#the club who's signing him) hahah

[garciapimienta]

Omg it was sooo cute🥹 up there with caicedo’s announcement with his mom

https://x.com/chelseafc/status/1691140184316719112?s=46

noooo this is so cute

[sunny6677]

The Red Robed Boy.

Summary:

Two boys from very different households end up befriending one another during the period of their youth—but, circumstances begin to complicate their friendship.

Chapter 1: PUERITA: Away From The City, Into The Town.

————

"Hey, kids—look."

Spoke the friendly but gruff sounding old man from up in the front of the vehicle, his wrinkly hand wrapped around the plastic black and round wheel. The interiors of the vehicle felt somewhat humid despite the air conditioning. Then again, Pump was told that this town would be a lot more warmer compared to the busy city he and his family lived in.

The outside was filled with rows of dark green trees, tall and looming over the gray roads. They cast a shadow. Sometimes, vehicles would pass by and seep a blinding light into Pumps eyes. One of them did. And he gave a shake of his head.

His older sister sat next to him, tilting her head to the side while she gripped her small plastic phone in her soft palm. Her long brown but wavy hair cascaded down the pink shirt over her back. She gave a roll of her eyes at the slight movement he made. Turning her head back over to the window on her side. Even now, she didn't exactly seem too happy at the mere idea of being around him.

Pump looked again. The trees that were sprung from several fields of grass began to lessen in numbers. Multiple houses of average size, and some of larger size began to appear among the paths that led up to the driveways. The sun from up above glistened onto the houses from below, bathing every single thing it touched in the Sedonah afternoon.

"We're here." Gruffly spoke Pumps grandpa from in the front, his wrinkly smile curled up and somewhat crooked like it always was. The town was.. smaller than Pump thought it'd be. Compared to the overly crowded, colorful, bustling nature of the city who he had moved far away from. The city decked with multiple children running along the streets, several people attending to their duties (walking by on the sidewalks), expensive bright cars driving past. Even though he was in the interiors of the car, the area itself sounded way different compared to the city. It sounded.. quiet. Despite the number of cars that occasionally went by.

The curly haired boy with locks of brown springing from his round head gave a blink, tilting his head to the side while his eyes wondered over the various buildings of the town. He heard his sister click his tongue from beside him. Sounding irritated. His grandpa sounded happy.

But—what was he feeling?

"Is there a graveyard here?"

Pump asked as loudly as he could.

His grandpa paused for a few moments. The vehicle they were in drove past a large, luminous building with several rays of artifical golden light coming from the sign up on it. He couldn't read what it had said. But the building had brown walls, and a red roof—with posters lined up on both sides of the entrance. A movie theater, it appeared to be.

"Uh—yes, son!" His grandpa finally said, his gruff voice muffled by the ambience of the air conditioning. "I believe there is. Hahah.."

Pump blinked. The idea of it somewhat excited him. Getting to see a graveyard that was maybe like the one in his city. Maybe even better. With long stretches of stone statues, tombstones, and scary-looking darkness in the night.

He laughed. "Eheheh.. that sounds spooky!"

Pump then continued to look out, squinting each time the rays of light seeped into his retinas. They turned a corner. He saw.. many things. A few birds up in the sky. A white orchid vase in a nearby shop. A rather interesting looking store with bright pink and white coloring apparently called the 'Candy Club' according to its sign. There were so many things in this town already. He couldn't really tell if he liked that or not though.

Pump turned his head. In the front of the car, on the artifical screen that played the radio, the date had read:

"OCTOBER 12TH, 2010."

He glanced away, and let his eyes continue to watch along the road.

————

They had driven for a while. Pump wasn't sure for how long, but he had known it must have been for a while. He was starting to feel his eyes flutter shut. A lump forming in his throat as he thought of this place. Of his actual home. Then again, this place was going to be his home now, wasn't it?

His hair bounced. There were multiple houses from outside of the window as they turned into a slim narrow road. Mailboxes. Dogs. Even cats were outside. Yellow and black wasps flew from on high past the car occasionally. He even heard it buzzing a little as they went by.

Still—the neighborhood was different. The houses were smaller. There wasn't anyone at all on the street except for a few people. The moving van from behind them was still following closely, with all of their stuff packed firmly into it. He could hear the soft sound of Susie snoring from beside him, her head lowered, her gaze shut.

There were of course wasps where he came from since it was in the same state anyway. And he had seen a few small houses in the time he had lived.

But something felt off anyway.

Before he could think any further, Pumps body gave an odd sensation as the car began to slow down. He looked up. And then his mouth began to slightly part.

His grandpa laughed again. "Here it is, son. Our house."

It was a white house. Somewhat bigger in comparison to all the others he had seen. Round glass windows formed on its upper half. A black entrance. A green front yard that appeared fresh with a red mailbox right in front of the path leading to the doorstep. A backyard visible from behind it.

Flashes of the exteriors of their actual house came into his mind. A lot bigger, with square-shaped windows at both the bottom and front. Black walls, a white entrance. Their frontyard fresh like the one he was staring at but somehow greener anyway. A blue mailbox up at the front rather than a red one.

His gaze softened.

"..you okay, son?"

"..yeah. I'm okay."

His grandpa stared at him in the rear view mirror, and gave a sigh.

"Hey, it'll be okay, son. Just wake your sister, yeah? I'll be getting the boxes into the house in no time, and then we'll be all good to go."

Pump nodded after a few moments, giving a frown. Slowly, he turned his head toward Susie. Lifting his head, he began to prod the skin of her arm with his small finger.

"Susie?" Spoke he softly. "Susie."

Susie squinted, tilting her head.

"Susie."

Susie gave a tired grunt.

"Susie—it's time to wake up!"

His grandpa cheerfully announced. At the sound of his voice, her eyes appeared to finally flutter open. She groaned, looking out the window. Her gaze remained fixed upon the window. Then it slightly widened, as if finally processing that it was in fact the house they had been moving into.

Her lips parted. Just like his own. They just stared at the house. Their eyes locked upon it. Their expression about the same.

..Pump felt a heavy feeling begin to rise within his chest. He could only swallow down the lump that formed in his throat, remaining quiet.

————

His grandpa had decided to show him which room would be his, and which room would be Susie's before he helped the moving van employees move everything else into the house. The door at the front of the hall would apparently be his, while the door a bit farther from his at the opposite side would be Susie's.

His grandpa opened his door for him. Dark orange walls inside, along with a light brown tiled floor. He had even opened the large curtains at the back of the room for him, revealing beautiful light seeping into the windows. The warm air felt humid against his skin though. It was much warmer compared to the city he had moved in from. So warm it felt almost like he was in a dessert sometimes.

There was almost no scent in the house at all aside from the faint scent of wood, the odor of boxes and even of sweat coming from the moving van men. The air conditioning was on. But it was still so unbelievably hot anyway.

It smelt nothing like the scent of his old house. Sweet-smelling from the various flower vases in and outside of it. The scent of whatever dinner, breakfast or lunch his parents had made. Another faint scent he couldn't quite describe.

The sound of the moving men talking from outside with his grandpa. Shuffling noises outside in his current residence.

The sound of his actual residence—with the faint but comforting ambience of his family moving or talking from outside. The TV playing whatever channel he or his family had put on. Laughter. Banter. Sizzling from in the kitchen.

Pump was interrupted from his thoughts by a new sound. A slam. Presumably from the door or one of the boxes.

He flinched, a part of him feeling a flicker of anxiety upon hearing such a sound. He looked.

Slowly, he walked over to the door that just loomed almost ominously, as if to say he weren't welcome. He stopped before it, and.. well, curious, he grabbed the door handle. Twisting it, he slowly opened the door.

"Grandpa—?"

He stopped almost immediately. Of course, everything seemed fine. His grandpa was just standing outside in front of a small wooden desk he had seemingly moved beside the entrance. He grunted a little.

Pump didn't speak. Just watching as he.. slowly pulled out something in his wrinkled hands. A square shaped—no, it was a dark brown photo frame. With a woman and a man standing beside eachother on it. A man with a firm jawline, a dark brown beard on his chin, curly dark brown hair sprung from his head as he wore a black suit. A woman beside the man with poofy long black hair that went to his back—glasses worn over her face with a nice-fitting suit and a black skirt.

He blinked a few times, something flickering in his chest. That was—that was his mom. And his dad.

And above it, written in white cursive, were simply the words: "We Love You So Much".

...he processed the words. A smile felt like it was going to twitch on his lips. But it faded away as a hardened feeling rose up deep within him. And he found it difficult to ignore the wetness eager to pour from his eyes.

He took a step back, shaking his head. With a frown, he tightened his hold around the doorknob, shutting it completely once more.

[nightingaelic]

Fnv Companions react to Fem Courier being trans girl (sorry feel abit of self projection today hahah)

Don't feel sorry for wanting to see yourself reflected in the world around you, we all want to know that we belong.

The Forecaster frowned, and his eyes moved rapidly from left to right as if scanning some hidden radar. "Your face does the thinking... two to the skull, yet one gets up," he said.

The courier who stood before the boy nodded and touched her fingers to her temple, almost reflexively. "That's me."

"Odds are against you," the Forecaster went on, squinting. "But they're just numbers after the two-to-one. You've changed suits once, clubs to diamonds, and now you're playing the hand you've been dealt."

At this, the courier stiffened suddenly. "Um..."

The Forecaster went on, unaware of his customer's discomfort. "But you don't let it rest, you shuffle and stack, and a gamble... a gamble that may pay off? But how? Forecast: Rapidly changing conditions."

"Um... thanks." The courier counted out the caps and handed them over to the boy, then beat a hasty retreat from beneath the overpass.

Once back atop Highway 95, she took her traveling companion aside. "Before you think I worked for some Mojave faction and deserted, that thing he said about changing suits... I didn't think he'd... what he meant was... I wasn't always..."

She sighed and ran a hand over her head. "Hell, it's about time I told you anyway. I'm trans."

Arcade Gannon: Arcade stopped her before she could stumble into an over-explanation. "It's, uh, it's okay. I... may have already known."

"You..." The courier's eyes widened. "You did? But who told you?"

"I, um..." Arcade straightened his glasses and looked up at the sky, avoiding eye contact. "Oh boy. Doctor Usanagi..."

Immediately, the courier's eyes narrowed. "... doesn't betray doctor-patient confidentiality, but I was in one of her medical clinics that day you came in for the NEMEAN sub-dermal armor," Arcade finished hastily. "She, uh, asked me and a couple of the others to help her close you up."

"Oh." The courier relaxed her stance a bit. "Oh yeah, I remember. I mean, I don't remember you, but I do remember signing the form that said I was okay with med student assistance. Why didn't you say anything, when I first asked you to tag along?"

Arcade shrugged. "I don't betray doctor-patient confidentiality either. Usanagi hammers that into you pretty hard on day one. Besides, something like that doesn't matter much outside of a doctor's office."

Craig Boone: Boone shrugged. "Okay."

The courier's eyes darted around his countenance, looking for some kind of stronger reaction. "Nothing? Not even a 'congratulations' or a disapproving grimace? Who are you, Boone?"

"Unconcerned," he shot back testily. "Unless it affects your aim somehow, it's not a problem. If that's what you're asking."

The courier sighed. "No, it's... you're fine. I guess I'm still pretty defensive about it. Especially around NCR types."

Boone nodded. "There were a few officers that Manny and I operated under who weren't the open-minded sort. They didn't last long."

Lily Bowen: Lily looked positively stormy. "Did that young man just air your personal business for the whole trading post to hear without a care in the world?" she thundered, with all her grandmotherly might. "Let's go back, dearie, I need to give him a piece of my mind."

"Lily, no," the courier protested, grabbing the nightkin's arm before she could stomp off toward the overpass again. "He probably doesn't even know what he said, it's just part of his gift. And no one's going to put two and two together unless I tell them outright, like I did you."

"If you say so, pumpkin." Lily smiled and settled herself. "But I can always ask Leo for a little help if anyone has cross words for you about this."

The courier sighed and patted her companion's arm. "No need for that, Lily. That reminds me, you should take your medication today."

Lily wrapped her up in a hug. "You take such good care of Grandma, my sweet girl."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: "Mija." Raul smiled. "How long you been holding onto that for?"

The courier let out the breath she'd taken, and her shoulders sank back to a normal level. "Well not everyone takes news like that too well. I didn't know if you would... mind."

"Mind?" Raul shook his head. "Oye. I've lived a long time, out here in the desert. It's a lonely place, even if you're surrounded by a crowd on the Strip. You can lose yourself pretty easily, lose sight of what you want, what you are. I'd know better than most. If you held onto who you want to be, then that's a victory, in the Mojave."

"Um..." The courier's eyes were shiny with tears, but before Raul could comment or pull out a handkerchief, she'd enveloped him in an unexpected hug. "Thanks, viejo."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Well, I'll be a gecko's uncle." Cass grinned. "You're serious? All this time on the road together, and you didn't think you could tell me that? I'm wounded, Six."

"Hey now, you were slow to trust me, too," the courier pointed out with a growing smirk. "I was gonna tell you after the Silver Rush situation, if we made it out alive, but then we did and you were riding so high at the Atomic Wrangler that I didn't want to dampen your memory of that day."

"Dampen my..." Cass chuckled and clapped the courier on the shoulder. "Better fix your metaphor there, Six. Rain in the desert is a good thing. And trust between friends would never dampen my day."

She held up a hand before the courier could protest. "I know, I know what you were worried about. Trust me, I'm not the type to froth at the mouth over propriety or 'family values.' Thought you'd've picked up on that, with my smart mouth and wanderin' eyes."

"Wandering..." The courier ducked out from under her arm and danced away, laughing. "Uh-uh. I helped you with your vendetta, now you help me with mine. Then we'll buy a drink at the Tops and talk, whiskey rose."

Veronica Santangelo: "You..." Veronica's eyes went as wide as the Mojave's full moon. "Oh. Oh."

Slowly, the Scribe sank into a sitting position on the cracked asphalt. "That explains a few things, I suppose."

The courier sat down next to her. "Like what?"

Veronica started ticking things off on her fingers. "Both that guy in Primm and the bartender in Goodsprings called you by a different name, but they were the same name and it sounded kind of like yours so I wrote it off as a coincidence. Benny didn't recognize you right away, even though he shot you in the head. And Arcade locked us all out of your room that time you took some shrapnel to the torso and were laid up in the Lucky 38 until you weren't covered in bandages."

"Oh yeah." The courier grinned. "Surprised you didn't piece it together sooner, then."

"I sometimes forget that's something people can do," Veronica admitted. "Remember when I said that some in the Brotherhood don't look too kindly on those who choose relationships that don't produce new children? Well, ditto and worse for those who want to transition. Most of the ones brave enough to do it anyway don't stay Brotherhood for long."

ED-E: The eyebot beeped in mock surprise, then whizzed around the courier three times playing triumphant music. She giggled and swatted the bot away playfully. "Go on then. I have no idea how you could've known, but there it is."

ED-E beeped quizzically once it came to a stop.

"Why hide it?" the courier responded. "Well, unlike robots, some people think it's strange to change your... parts. Or even just your classification. Honestly, it's old-world thinking, no clue."

The eyebot beeped long and low, almost like a coo of affection and reassurance.

"Thanks, ED-E," the courier said with a smile. "I'll try to remember that."

Rex: Rex cocked his head to the side. The courier knelt down to his level and scratched his ears, inspecting his new brain and cybernetic limbs as she did.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this," she murmured, increasing her attentions as Rex leaned into her. "You probably already knew, with that amazing nose of yours. I think your owner knows, otherwise why keep spouting that line of his whenever I come around?"

Rex whined, and the courier smiled. "You know. 'Do what's right for you, so long as it don't hurt no one.' Got that seared into my brain as surely as that bullet, thanks to him. I bet that king he's worshipping never even said that."

[heavcnslyre]

ricky bowen x reader series! part two

— starstruck au!

series masterlist, part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven, part eight, part nine, part ten

IN WHICH you’re dragged along to camilla’s plans to try to meet ricky bowen— but the wrong one out of the two of you ends up in an encounter with him instead.

WARNINGS a lot more swearing this chapter rather than last, you have to get stitches

NOTES this chapter is actually pretty long. i’m not super happy with how it ends but it’s going to pick up in the next chapter exactly where it left off in this one, i just didn’t want to keep adding onto this one lmaoo. also there are some parts that are lowkey written poorly but i’m tired and it’s not too bad HAHAH enjoy!

edit 1-16-21 i changed the song he was singing if u saw it before no u didn’t!!!

(y/n) - your name

text dividers from @writeyourmindaway !!

lowercase intended.

“bye ash! have a good time!” you called as ashlyn was leaving. she waved goodbye and drove away in her parents car. it had taken a couple of hours for her to be happy with her outfit and hair/makeup, but she ended up looking really nice (not that she didn’t before, she just seemed to glow when she felt prettier). as you turned back into the house, camilla grabbed your arm and pulled you into your bedroom.

“what the hell cam?” you asked as she closed the bedroom door.

“mom and dad just agreed to me taking you around the city tonight and we’re going to nini’s party,” she said, turning towards the still packed suitcases and digging through them. you watched, eyebrows raised.

“really? what’s in it for me? i’m not just going to follow you to la to stalk this poor guy.”

camilla rolled her eyes and holds a dress up against herself in the mirror. “you can meet nini, maybe. you like her music, don’t you?”

“that dress is mine. and yeah i like her music but i’m not crashing her birthday party just to meet her.”

“whatever. you can wait in the car. i’ll just.... buy you something later.” she put the dress she had down and grabbed another one.

“how about you stop talking about ricky? i’ll go if you stop.”

camilla gave you an incredulous look. “stop talking about him? have you met me? or seen him?”

“fine. at least for the rest of the trip. take it or leave it.” she sighed and paused for a second, before nodding and grabbing the first dress she had.

“alright. but i’m wearing your dress.”

after the short drive to los angeles, camilla drove around, trying to find parking. but, naturally, it was los angeles, and there was no available parking. after more than ten minutes of searching, camilla sighed in frustration and pulled over, directly next to a ‘no parking’ sign. you pursed your lips and pointed up at it.

“cam, this is very clearly a no parking zone. you’re going to get a ticket,” she ignored you and dug in the backseat for her bag.

“i’ll be back in less than half an hour. stay put. if someone tries to talk to you... ignore them. or punch them, or something. i don’t care. just be safe.”

“you too,” you said, although it came out as more of a question. she moved the mirror to face her, made a few adjustments to her hair, then left the car quickly. you sighed and sank into your seat. it was going to be a while.

after almost half an hour with no sign of your sister, you texted her a simple ‘you okay?’ but recieved no response. you fidgeted in your seat, switching between random apps on your phone, trying to pass the time. eventually, close to 50 minutes pass and you sighed, realizing that you should probably go look for her.

you wrung your hands out and grabbed your bag, opening your door quickly and rushing across the street. the street was crowded and the main entrance to the club was packed full of fans wanting to get into the building. you stood on your toes, trying to find camilla, but you didn’t see her anywhere. ready to give up, you spot an alleyway by the building. you considered it for a moment before mentally saying fuck it and walking towards the alleyway. you’re busy looking for an entrance when a door opens suddenly and you ram into it, head first, knocking you onto your butt.

“ow, fuck,” you said, rubbing your head and wincing as you saw you were bleeding.

“oh, god!” the person who opened the door exclaimed as they knelt onto the ground to be at your level. “i’m so sorry— i didn’t know you were there.”

“it’s... it’s fine,” you said. “how could you have known?”

“can i help? i might have some bandaids in my car...”

you shook your head and look up at the person. “no, it’s... wait, are you ricky—”

he put one hand over your mouth and the other on the side of your face. “i’ll give you tickets to my next concert or something if you don’t scream my name.”

you shoved his hand off of you. “didn’t have to make it sound so kinky. i don’t want tickets to your show.”

“i...i didnt—” ricky stuttered but trailed off as a car pulls up in the alley. someone comes out of the drivers seat quickly.

“ricky, what the hell is going on?” the person asked as they advance towards you quickly. the person in the passenger seat gets out shortly after the first person and walked towards you as well.

“i... i hit her with my door on the way out. should probably take her to the hospital?” he asked nervously. the person knelt next to you and you recognize him as the guy ashlyn’s talking to from a few pictures she’s shown you.

“wait, you’re—”

“(y/n)?!” the person from the passenger seat exclaimed as they approached you. your eyes widened as ashlyn kneels in front of you, putting her hand on your cheek.

“ashlyn? what the hell?”

“i was about to ask you the same thing, what are you doing here?” she asked, worry written on her face. she moved your hand to look at the mark on your forehead.

“cam forced me here, she came to meet...” you looked over at ricky. “came to meet him.”

ashlyn rolled her eyes, not looking away from your face. “of course she did.”

“wait, how do you guys know each other?” ricky asked. “and who’s cam?”

“(y/n)’s my cousin, camilla is her sister. huge fan of yours,” ashlyn explained. “i should get her to a hospital.”

“let me take her,” ricky piped up. “i was the one who hit her.”

“ricky, you’re not even supposed to be out of the house right now. imagine what the press would say if you show up with.... a girl you don’t know at a hospital. you’d never get the role,” big red said firmly. ashlyn gave him a similar look to what big red was giving.

“i know but... i should take her. it’s only fair, i hit her,” ricky said, and him and red stared at each other for a minute. “besides, she just said her sister’s here. someone needs to find her, it’d be easier to explain coming from her cousin than me.”

“she would probably have a heart attack if it came from you,” ashlyn agreed. red sighed.

“fine. but just be careful, and stay out of the light. lurk in the shadows, or whatever. i’ll see you at your house in two hours.”

“okay.” ricky said. ashlyn stood up and helped you up.

“ricky, if you do anything to her, i will kill you. be careful. (y/n),” she turned to you. “i’ll try to distract cam and i’ll meet you at grandmas. text me what the doctor says.”

you hugged her quickly. “okay, i will.”

ashlyn gave one more stern look to ricky who raised his hands in defense before walking away with big red. ricky grabbed your bag off the ground and offered an arm for you to lean on to help bring you to the car. you shook your head, telling him you were fine and climbed into the passengers seat of his fancy car. he looked around before getting into the car quickly and putting on sunglasses.

“are you like on the run from the cops or something?” you asked after a minute of silence. he lookedcat you quickly, eyebrows knit.

“what do you mean?”

“well, you were coming out of a club through an alleyway, your friend was pulling the car into the alley and you’re acting super paranoid. should i be worried?”

he laughed. “no. running from the press, more like. i’m not supposed to be out this weekend. i’m.... up for a lead in a new tv show and any press this weekend, good or bad, could ruin it.”

“then why are you out? you could have easily avoided this whole situation by staying home,” you said pointedly. he sighed.

“i promised nini i’d sing at her party. i didn’t want to let her down. and i didn’t think someone would be walking down the alleyway at close to midnight anyways.”

you scoffed. “yeah well, i was there because of you anyways. your fault all around.”

he looked over at you with the same confused expression as before. “you were there because of me?”

“not like that. don’t get your hopes up,” you said. “my sister is obsessed with you, remember? she told me to wait in the car while she went to find you. it had been a while and the main entrance was packed. i needed to find a way in.”

“so... more your sisters fault, huh.”

“yeah. i guess so,” ricky grinned at you. you gave him a small, unamused smile back and turned to look out the window.

once you made it to the hospital, a doctor came to greet you almost immediately, as there were few people there. the doctor closed the curtain around you as he did the examination and ricky sat on the other side of it. you ended up getting a few stitches but he confirmed that you didn’t have any serious damage. the only thing he suggested was to keep an ice pack on it.

“so she’s okay?” ricky asked, peeking in through the curtain. the doctor laughed.

“yeah, she’s fine. let me go grab the ice pack, i’ll be back,” he left you and ricky in awkward silence for a moment. but, it was broken by his phone ringing loudly. his eyes widened and he answered the phone quickly.

“mom? what’s up?”

you couldn’t hear what she was saying on the other end, but he seemed to tense up after every second she talked. you watched, raising your eyebrows.

“okay, alright. stall him. i’ll be there in...” he looked at the clock on the wall. “twenty minutes. okay. thank you!”

ricky ended the call and turned towards you, a sheepish grin on his face. “yeah... so we may have to take a quick pit stop before i take you home.”

you glared at him. “you’ve got to be kidding.”

he wasn’t kidding.

as soon as you pulled up to his house, you text ashlyn.

you; help ricky is kidnapping me he just brought me to his house

ashlyn; if i didn’t know ricky i would be really worried rn

you; HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW HIM???

ashlyn; pretty well we’ve hung out a few times

you; oml

you; well he’s a kidnapper. and he made me get stitches

ashlyn; no way you needed stitches? what are you gonna tell your parents?

you; no clue!!!!! do i just casually tell them ricky bowen ran a door into my face???

ashlyn; fuck they probably wouldn’t take that well. i’ll figure it out and save ur ass. hang on.

you; you’re my favorite person in the entire world

ashlyn; i know

“you coming?” ricky asked from outside the car. you looked up from your phone, not even realizing that he had been waiting.

“oh, sorry.”

“no problem,” he mumbled. you get out of the car and he lead you into his house (past his six cars). it was huge. tall ceilings, brand new looking leather furniture, huge doors leading to the backyard, a spiral staircase. if you were being honest, it was pretty close to your dream house (or, one of your dream houses). you stared at it in disbelief.

“you, a seventeen year old, live here?”

ricky doesn’t look at you. he was staring into the yard, searching frantically. “yeah. been in the industry five years now, makes you a lot of money. i guess.”

“you guess?” he didn’t answer, instead suddenly pulled you out of the view of the backyard. he looked around, sees that it’s clear, and pulled you towards the stairs.

“keep your head down for a second,”

you put your head down and walk quickly next to him. “ricky, what the hell?”

“just... hang on.”

“why the hell are you pulling me?”

“shut up for a second.”

you stared at him, taken aback. “fine.”

once you got upstairs, he pulled you into a random room.

“here’s my guest room. make yourself comfortable i’ll... be right back,”

you folded your arms over your chest. “why the hell did you bring me here just to hide me?”

ricky looked at you with wide eyes. “no, no! i’m not trying to hide you, necessarily. i just... don’t think either of us want anyone to see you.”

“harsh, but fine. go, mingle or whatever. just be quick. i don’t want my parents to be more pissed than they probably already are,” he thanked you and ran out of the room quickly. you sighed and sat in a chair in the corner of the room, pulling out your phone.

ashlyn; talked to ur parents. told them that you’re with a friend of mine because you fell and he wanted to take care of you. they’re not... happy, necessarily. less pissed than before tho

ashlyn; u still alive over there?

you; yeah. ricky hid me in his guest bedroom so he could go mingle at some party i’m assuming his parents are throwing

ashlyn; OHH yeah his parents threw a party tonight, i don’t see why he needs to be there?

you; he told me on the way here that a producer of the show he’s trying to get a role in is here and he wasn’t supposed to leave home this weekend

you; idk or at least that’s what i think he said i didn’t rly pay attention

ashlyn; aren’t you just a kind ball of sunshine

as you were typing your response, you heard a guitar strumming from outside. looking up and realizing that the balcony door was open, you decided to go see what was going on. you looked down and saw ricky sitting on a stool, strumming his guitar. he started to sing— a song you didn’t recognize. you knew most of his music (in result from camilla blasting it around the house every chance possible) but this one sounded new.

you say you gotta think it over

i can't stop thinkin' of you

is he the guy you want to hold ya

i'll be here when you need me to

you listened, suddenly intrigued. this song was nice— gentle, almost. you actually kinda liked it. and he seemed at peace as he was singing in front of these people, he seemed genuinely happy.

make you feel beautiful in the morning

light you up when the rain won't stop pouring

'cause there's a million little things I haven't told ya

it kills me every time he's with you, so

ricky made eye contact with you and his expression almost softened when he saw you watching. he smiled gently at you.

he continued the song. he seemed to be in a trance, so focused on the song and perfecting it. as you listened to the lyrics of what was obviously a love song, you sighed. it was beautiful, but you didn’t think it was appropriate for you to just be standing here watching him, as if this was a big romantic gesture in a movie. before he finished singing, you turned away and left the guest room.

you made your way down to the garage, trying to avoid anyone who happened to be inside— for both yours and ricky’s sake. you slipped into the garage quickly and before you even took ten steps inside, ricky was behind you.

“what are you doing?” he asked, a happy expression still on his face from singing. your eyes widened at his expression but you shook the feeling off quickly.

“i want to go home,”

“alright. were you planning on walking?”

you rolled your eyes. “haha. no dumbass, i was going to wait for you in here. not walking to glendale.”

he grabbed a pair of car keys from the hooks. “hey, glendale’s not that far, you’d make it there alright.”

“yeah, a teenage girl walking the streets of california at random hours of the night by herself. definitely make it there alright.”

he hummed. “you did it earlier,” he winked at you and moved to open the passenger door of his blue car for you. you got into the car and he closed the door, going to the drivers side.

“what’s your grandmas address?”

you told him the address and he pulled out of the garage, checking to make sure no one was watching, pulled out of his driveway, and drove down the street.

“so, what are you in california for?” he asked after a couple minutes of silence.

“holidays. we haven’t spent christmas with my family in a while, and california with my grandma seemed like a somewhat neutral place for us and my aunt and uncle to come to.”

“and where are you from?”

“western new york.”

ricky whistles. “completely across the country. yikes. different time zone too, right?”

“yeah. and the jet lag is an ass, i’m exhausted.”

“oh i get that. when i go on tour... i do nothing but sleep, eat, and perform.”

“that is quite the life to live.”

“tell me about it,” although he obviously meant that as a joke, there was a lining of bitterness in his tone that you picked up on. you looked over at him, but he stared straight forward at the road.

“so,” he started again, obviously eager to change the subject. “ashlyn’s your cousin?”

“mhm, has been my whole life,” you joked and he rolled his eyes playfully at you. “i had no idea you guys knew each other.”

“you didn’t know she was talking to big red?”

“i knew she was talking to a boy, she didn’t mention who he was, other than showing me a couple pictures. didn’t even tell me it was nini’s birthday party she was going to tonight.”

“oh. yeah, ashlyn’s the best. big red’s really happy with her.”

“and she seems happy with him. turn left here,” you pointed and he moved over into the turning lane. he turned onto your grandmas street and her house was the second on the right.

“thank you. for the ride,” you said awkwardly as you opened the door to his car.

“yeah, sure. thank you... for not getting too pissed at me for making you have to get stitches.”

you give him a small laugh and sit for a moment, feeling like you should say something else, but finally deciding to just leave. you said a small bye and he gave you a small wave and you rushed into the back door of your grandma’s house.

[delaber]

Hahah it’s working now!!

How about ER nurse/doctor and Rafa?

Thank you ❤️

Title: Poetic Justice

Pairing: Rafael Casal x Reader

Note: Hey! Thanks for the ask! ER nurse x Rafa just for you!

Words: 2.7K

Warnings: mentions of drug use, blood, bar fight.

The fact that you were tired was an understatement. Night shifts were never fun but they especially weren't fun on July fourth. Working at a hospital on a stressful night like tonight was enough to turn every nurse's hair grey. The drunk idiots, the bar brawls, the 15-year-olds who for some reason thought they could hold their liquor, the firework injuries, you could go on.

Eager for a coffee break and a slice of the delicious apple pie that your mom had dropped by earlier, you hurried towards the break room in the other end of the hallway. Getting there in one piece was always tricky, and you knew from experience that if you didn't keep your gaze down low, one of the doctors would hijack you to come see a patient. So with your eyes fixated on your white tennis shoes against the linoleum flooring, you hurried past multiple doctors before your cover was blown.

"Hey!" You heard a doctor give out a loud whistle behind you, "hey; you in the blue scrubs!" He called. You froze in place and took a desperate look around in the hallway, praying that he hadn't referred to you, but you were the only nurse in sight.

With a sigh, you turned around and faced your least favourite doctor in the entire unit, "yes, dr. Helms?" you said politely although his face was even more smackable than usual.

"I forget your name," he said and pushed his horn-rimmed glasses further up his nose without allowing you to answer before he continued, "I have a patient in 302. Bar fight. Possible concussion. Could you see to him before he dismantles the entire emergency room?"

"I was actually just about to go on a break," you tried, your mind fixated on your mom's pie in the fridge.

"The hospital doesn't pay you to go on breaks," the doctor said sternly before he pushed the information clipboard in your hands and walked past you with an arrogant strut.

"Arrogant ass," you mumbled to yourself and looked over the patient information sheet. Helms hadn't even bothered to fill it out.

With a great sigh, you tried to shrug off how annoyed Dr. Helms always made you. And because you were a good nurse, you put on a smile before you entered room 302, ready to face the room-splitting-drunkass that Dr. Helms had been too arrogant to take care of himself.

When you opened the door to the room, you were surprised to see a man eating a can of yoghurt while quietly watching the price is right on the tv screen. The only thing out of the ordinary was the fact that his nose looked particularly swollen and that his face and t-shirt was soaked in blood.

"Hi," you sent him a warm smile, "I'll be your nurse for tonight."

The quiet man shuffled around on the bed and sat down his can of yoghurt, "hey. I hope it's okay I ate in here. I've been waiting for quite some time and I grew hungry," he chuckled slightly and finally looked up at you, "Oh! Hey!!" He said once more, this time with a bit more familiarity. A smirk crept up on his face.

You on the other hand had been frozen for a couple of seconds as you immediately had recognised his husky voice, "...Rafa?"

"Hey," he said once more, this time a bit more softly and with a small laugh as his broad signature grin spread on his lips. He was hard to recognise beneath all the blood but it was definitely him. "You changed hospital. How are you?" He asked you in a nasal voice as he let his eyes run all over your body as if he was scanning you.

"Better than you it seems," you nodded, finally free of your trance, and started filling out the patient information sheet with all of his personal information. You knew everything by heart after all. "What happened to you?" you asked without looking up from the clipboard.

"Eh, I got in a fight at this club downtown," he said cockily.

"Of course you did," you mumbled under your breath.

"-But you'd be happy to learn that it all started because I defended a young woman who was being groped by a creep," he looked oddly proud of himself.

"Don't care. I'm just here as your nurse," you said as you scribbled down his parents' phone number under emergency contacts.

"Yeah, you never did put up with my shit. Glad to see that nothing's changed," he tried joking with a small chuckle but winced in pain by his own movements, carefully touching his nose with his fingers.

"Looks like you could use some pain killers," you said, trying to keep it professional, "I just need to know if you're in any way intoxicated. Alcohol? Drugs?"

He looked at you with a hurt expression on his face but he didn't answer.

"I personally don't care if you're high as a kite right now, Rafa," you said softly, "I'm asking you as a professional. I need to know if you're on drugs or I might give you a dose of something that could end up killing you."

"Just alcohol. Whiskey and tequila - if that matters," he said quietly.

"No drugs?" You shot him an unimpressed look and for the first time since your encounter revealed that you definitely weren't feeling very professional on the inside, "that doesn't sound like you."

"No drugs," he repeated with a small nod.

"Alright then," you muttered under your breath and handed him a pill from a pink jar and a glass of water. You let him swallow it before you continued, "lean back so I can clean your face." You demanded.

Rafa leaned back on the bed, wheezing slightly, "I quitted you know."

"You quitted what?" you said as you wetted a cloth and draped it across his face, cleaning off the blood. You couldn't help yourself and applied just a bit more pressure to his wounded face than what you'd normally do with patients in his situation. He groaned in pain. Served him right.

"The drugs," he said, "I quit the drugs..."

"Good for you," you said, your voice emotionless.

"What, you don't believe me?"

You kept cleaning him off without answering him. His familiar scent was filling your nostrils and it annoyed you how soft it made you. How it reminded you of what had been between you and Rafa.

"Wow, you really don't believe me!" he tried again.

"I haven't seen you in three years. Why do you care if I believe you or not?"

"I quit because of you. The things you said resonated with me after you'd left. I tried telling you. Multiple times."

"If you're referring to the thousand messages you left me, I never listened to them."

Your statement made him clench his jaw tightly and he finally shut up. At least it made him easier to clean when he wasn't talking. It didn't take him long to emit a small whine, however, as you draped the wet cloth over a cut he had on his cheekbone.

"Would you stop smiling like that?" He chuckled slightly, "or is causing me pain turning you on?"

"I have to admit that I'm enjoying it just a little bit," you smiled and threw away the now completely red cloth.

"So you admit that you are happy to see me - even if it's just because I'm whining like a wounded animal in front of you," he smirked.

You looked at his perfect set of straight teeth and the familiar grin that was framing them. You weren't much for admitting it but there was definitely something intoxicating about being this close to him again. Looking at him grinning up at you, you were reminded of the fact that you hadn't left him because you'd fallen out of love with him. You'd left him because he had been ruinous and immature. You cleared your throat to bring your thoughts back on track. "Okay," you said in a professional tone, "you're gonna need an x-ray but with this type of bruising on your face I think it's safe to say that your nose is definitely broken."

"I got head-butted in the face. Of course I broke my nose," he grinned, "how does the rest of my face look? Am I still pretty?"

"You look like a boxer," you joked.

You earned yourself a small laugh from him followed by a series of painful moans as he had accidentally scrunched up his nose while laughing. He had always looked awfully cute when laughing - still did, even with his nose all crooked and swollen.

"You say you got head-butted?" You continued in your professional tone.

"Very much so," he groaned.

"Okay, let me just check your neck then," you said and put your fingertips on the tense muscles in his neck, desperately looking anywhere but eyes.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but what are you doing?" He asked quietly, looking up at you with a soft expression.

"Checking for whiplash," you said and touched the muscles where his spine met his skull. You could feel a shiver all the way down his body, as your fingers found the muscles running across the edge of his hairline. You should've remembered. He loved being touched there.

"Mmh," he said as he closed his eyes, "your fingers still feel good against my skin."

"Stop enjoying it so much," you chuckled and gently pressed in on his cervical spine, "you're having a medical procedure done. Not a massage."

"Wouldn't mind a massage," he groaned with his eyes closed, "I may be a little drunk, but this is quite amazing," he whispered as your fingers found his spine beneath his hairline. He emitted another groan and you hated the effect it had on you. It was almost sexual.

"No signs of whiplash," you said loudly and retracted your fingers from his hairline, pulling out a small flashlight from your pocket, "Sit up straight and follow the light please."

Rafa groaned as he repositioned himself on the bed. You moved the flashlight from side to side in front of him. "Oh man, you must really be enjoying bossing me around like this," he chuckled slightly, but followed the light obediently.

"Very much," you said and examined his eyeballs, "your pupils are dilated. How's your head feeling?" you were looking him straight in the eye. The green irises cutting through you.

"Dizzy," he smiled, "and I feel like throwing up."

"Then why are you smiling like that?" you arched an amused eyebrow at him.

It took him a few seconds to answer, "no reason..." he smirked, "I forgot."

"Okay. Definitely a concussion," you nodded with a small laugh and noted it on his information sheet, "you need to be under observation tonight."

"Okay? I need to stay here?"

"No, you can go home. You just need someone to wake you up every hour and ask you a simple question like your name or your date of birth or something of the sort. Is there anyone you could call? A girlfriend or something?" It was a loaded question and you mentally gave yourself a small smack for it.

"I guess I could ask Diggs," Rafa shrugged.

"Ah, yes. The love of your life," you sighed slightly, thinking about Rafa's vibrant best friend while pulling out needle and thread from a small tin.

"He misses you too, you know," Rafa said quietly, "the house was never really the same with you gone."

You thought about the house that the three of you had shared. You'd loved living there with your two best friends. You thought about Daveed too. Rafa had won him in the break-up. "You still live in the old house? Daveed too?"

"Yeah," Rafa nodded and sent you a somewhat hopeful smile, "we had a new kitchen installed. You should come see it."

You thought about it for a minute. Seeing the house and Daveed again would be great but it would be too painful, "no, Rafa..."

"Why not?" He looked at you with puppy eyes.

"I don't want to."

"Because of what I did?"

"Because of what you did. Now shut up. I need to stitch up the cut on your cheekbone," you said and put the needle in the skin right below his eye. He emitted a whimpering noise when the needle penetrated his skin and you felt the corners of your mouth turn upwards.

"Oh, you are so enjoying this," Rafa gave out a soft chuckle, "don't you normally give a local anesthetic for this?

"Not with such a swollen face," you gave him another stitch, "sorry, I'll stop enjoying your pain," you chuckled.

"No, don't. I've always liked this slightly sadistic side to you," he laughed.

"Shut up," you smiled at him as you put in the last stitch with just a small whimper escaping his lips. "Although I gotta say," you chuckled, "hearing you in pain like this is slightly therapeutic."

"Glad to be your personal punching bag," he mumbled with a small smile, his fingers brushing against your scrubs as you leaned over his body to cut the black thread.

You took a step back and examined his face where the bruising had spread considerably in the short amount of time you'd nursed him. An unwelcome voice in the back of your head stated that he looked good even with his swollen nose and the rainbow of colours in the area below his green eyes. You had to clear your throat to stop yourself from going down that road, "alright, mr Casal. You're ready to go to radiology. Just show them this slip," you handed him a piece of paper with his medical details on it.

"Alright," he sighed and stood up from the hospital bed, towering above you.

He gathered his denim jacket from a nearby chair, threw away the yoghurt can and looked at you, "Hey. I know you've probably spent the past three years hating me but do you want to have dinner with me soon?"

"I never hated you, Rafa," you sighed, "we just didn't work out."

"I'm better now. I'm clean."

"I'm very happy for you. You seem to be doing much better."

"I am," he nodded, "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too..."

"But no dinner?"

"No dinner," you shook your head.

"Alright..." he nodded sadly, "I've been waiting for the day I bumped into you again. Although I imagined it to be under different circumstances, I'm still glad that it finally happened. I know that I owe you an apology. When you're ready to hear it I'm ready to offer it."

"Goodnight, Rafa," you said and sent him a small smile.

"Goodnight, nugget," he said before he walked out of the emergency room and closed the door behind him.

Something about hearing him word your old nickname made time stand completely still.

Everything came rushing back to you; the long afternoons doing homework in his backyard, you and Diggs in matching graduation caps while Rafa was cheering for you even though he'd been kicked out months prior to graduation, the three of you moving into a rental house in L.A., pool parties in your backyard, your drunken kiss with Rafa at one of said parties, your drunken night with him too. Suddenly holding hands in secret on a daily basis, sneaking past Daveed's room at night. A while later kissing openly in front of friends and family. Rafa's first signing, the parties that followed, the drugs that followed too. The many times you'd found him passed out around the house from various substances, the night he was so far gone that you thought he would die. The long talk you'd had with him, and how he'd promised to stop. How you had truly believed him only to find him passed out after a party a week later.

If he was ready to apologise, you were ready to listen.

You made a quick decision and poked your head out in the hallway; "hey Rafa!" you called after him

He whipped around in an instant, "yes?"

"Are you hungry? I have a slice of apple pie in the fridge. My mom's."

His signature smile grew wide on his face, "I never could resist your mom's cooking."

[cvrsecaster]

Do you ever have dreams so vivid they feel very real?

“LanZhan? LanZhan. Wake up. You’re drunk again! hahah! Come on now. Don’t give me that face.”

“Wei Ying…”

“Wei Yin?”

“Wei..”

“LanZhan? You’re cutting out. What?”

“We!”

“WEI YING!”

A pillow hits me in the face rather harshly, and my body jolts forward from the impact. Eyes widen as that nice dream fades, and the sound of an obnoxious alarm fills the room. Looking around, my eyes catch the time. 7:30…oh. They then flicker towards a very angry brother Cheng. Also, Oh.

Very quickly do I rush out of bed, and do what I need to do. Late on the first day of joint practice. On a Saturday. Why did I sign up for this again? Ah yes father. What were his words? Something, Something, you’d learn from the Lans. You see, we are all dancers in this world! Or aspiring to have some kind of artistic talent. Whether it be painting, music, singing, dancing…Those Lans, are pretty great at everything! Especially the flying Twin Jades. The top two students who happen to be brothers. WHO also happen to be the vein of my dreams. Well the youngest brother. I’ve never actually talked to them in this world, but in my dreams, we’re dressed like in one of those Historical Dramas Yanli always seems to be delving into. Oh how will this all pan out! How exciting.

“I can’t believe you’ve made us late on our first day!”

Jieng Cheng yells, as he sped walked down the bustling street past shoppers and tourists. Phone in my hand, I keep up with his fast paced walk letting out a laugh.

“No one asked you to wait for me! I was having that dream again! Not my fault.”

Stopping he grabs me by the arm, face always so serious. Well trying to seem serious. “Father took you in, you could at least try for him. Also keep your strange homosexual fantasies to yourself!”

I laugh again, and this time he’s dragging me. We had just managed to catch the bus on time, standing awaiting the stop for this darned academy. Glancing at my phone, the time read 0750. We had ten whole minutes to rush through the gates of that academy. Luckily the stop wasn’t too far leaving us to a five minute sprint.

How long was this road to the gates!

It seemed to stretch longer than the Main Street!

But here we were sprinting for our lives. The giant golden gates beginning to close rang through our ears, and the decal clouds on front were beginning to face us. 0759. We got this! Grabbing Cheng by the hand now, I pick up the pace and he seems to be protesting knowing what I was up to.

Three, two, one!

Leap.

I wasn’t in the athletics club for no reason at our school! The man down below had seemed to freeze in place as we soared right up and over the wall near the gate. Of course I didn’t calculate how we landed, and well let’s just say we were lucky the bushes were right under us.

“Gah! Wei Yin…!”

“You’re welcome!~ we made it!”

(To continue this or Naw? I always feel so insecure about my writings lol! Especially if it’s for fandoms 😅)

[hiraemy]

dear dream

“After spending half of your life with your crackhead friends, the last year of highschool finally pounds on your door. At first, you’re more than eager to finally finish school without regrets, but as the year comes to an end, you realize that you’re running out of time.”

tags:  fluff, comedy, a bit of angst, 7dream assemble, highschool!au, bestfriends!au, a lot of references to HSM, Camp Rock, MCU, disney animations, and Naruto (you don't have to know all of them, those are just extras)

warnings: a lot of swearing, drinking, shitty past relationships, mentions of mental problems, implied parents issues

word count: 25,5k

10 Months Until Graduation

“I’m sad and lonely, can someone please—  “ 

“No.” Renjun interrupts you, not even letting you finish your sentence. You pout, showing him your best puppy face and your cringiest aegyo, but he doesn’t bat an eyelash, already used with your bullshit “For fucks’ sake, what is it?” 

“I need human contact. 'had a sad, depressing thought last night.” You whine, dramatically leaning your head on his shoulder and making a scene. Renjun doesn’t waste a second before pushing you off him, and you just sulk around for the sake of drama. "I'm going to die as a single cat-lady"

“And? I like being single, and I also like cats, so I don't see the problem here” Jeno pops his tongue out, trying really hard to open the kimchi jar his mom packed for him. You blink twice at that, but you decide to not question why the fuck Jeno has a big jar of kimchi to eat at 9 fucking am, preferring to focus on your issue. "There's more important things to think than getting laid. Exams and Basketball, for example,"

"I disagree, but do your best" Donghyuck mocks him, fake saluting as he takes a bite of meat in his mouth.

"I don't see why you're making a scene" Renjun groans, also taking the time between bites of food to voice his opinion "It's just high school. You'll have an awfully long time to find your destined one later on life. They say that high school relationships never last long anyway,"

“First of all, fuck you Renjun,” You narrow your eyes at him, the male snickering amusedly at you, making you roll your eyes. “C’mon, guys. It’s senior year, there’s prom! I just realized no guy in this school will have the guts to invite me because of my fuckin’ ex and all of you"

"Why are you blaming us?" Jaemin asks, quite bewildered. You shrug at him.

"Dunno. Why don't you tell me? I don't understand how the male species work!" You roll your eyes, poking your vegetables with your chopsticks, but not making any move to take them to your mouth. "Just heard some guys in the tennis club sayin' that the expectation bar was too high because I hang out with you. It doesn't even make sense, what the fuck?!"

"I still don't see how your love life problems involves us—" Renjun chips, drinking his juice.

"You guys do know that you have to invite someone, right?” You wriggle your eyebrows at them, grinning like a mad woman. 

“Not going to invite you.” Hyuck immediately deadpans and you roll your eyes at him

“Ew! Are you insane? I’m not going with you— That’s, like, incest!” You pretend to vomit, scrunching your face. "I'm not asking any of you to invite me. I'm just saying that, if I don't get a date to prom, I'm going to concentrate all of my efforts on getting y'all a date!"

"Ten bucks says you'll forget about this plan in less than two months" Jisung raises his eyebrows and you gasp dramatically at him

"I'll give her five weeks" Chenle grins and you also give him your best betrayal look. “Well, Jisung and I are going together anyway, since we're not actually seniors—” Chenle announces, exchanging looks with the younger one and crossing their arms in the most bro-way possible. "By the way, how are we going to sneak in?"

You try to ignore them for the sake of your sanity and you narrow your eyes at the rest of the group, half-expecting them to say something.

“Chill, we have more than half of the year to get a pair.” Mark says with his mouth full of watermelon, making you crunch your face in disgust at him. 

“Why are you so obsessed with prom anyways? It's not, let's say, mandatory to every girl to have someone to escort them to the party. It won't be a big deal if you go alone” Jaemin shrugs and you glare at him

"It's not about having a date to prom. The point is, we're graduating! We have to make it special, right? A night to remember, the night of all nights and everything! We're ending highschool—"

“If we pass, which is not easy as you sound—” Mark shivers, but you ignore him for sake of your speech

"...and we have to make it special! So, I'm getting y'all dates to prom!"

“Can I quit?”

“Shut up Injunnie. And no, you can’t”

9 Months Until Graduation

It’s a sunny, tiring day. You’d gone through two tests today, one in chemistry and another in physics, and you were sure you’d failed both of them. You and the rest of the squad go to a nearby coffee shop, your mind still working non-stop in a foolproof plan for setting up your friends with someone, lowkey feeling bitter about Chenle, who was right saying you were almost giving up in less than five weeks.

You realized too late that your friends were hopeless when it came to their love lives. You tried playing cupid, but no one was successful, except for Donghyuck, who had a notorious reputation of being a fuckboy. Jisung was too shy to even talk to the girl. Chenle had absolutely no chill, treating the girl in a bro way. Jaemin was lowkey rumored to be gay because of the way he interacted with Jeno, and those rumors made no one take you seriously when you asked to go on a date with him. Jeno’s love was clearly limited to his three cats, Bongshik, Seol and Lal. Renjun didn’t even try. 

So, in summary, Mark was your last hope.

"Go ahead, she’s single" You said, pointing to a pretty girl that was in the waiting line for her iced tea. Mark awkwardly stood up from your table, moving almost like a robot to talk to her.

“So… Sooyoung, right?” His face is a mix of embarrassment, cringiness and fake confidence as he leans on the wall awkwardly, trying for the cool guy image but doing poorly on it. The girl is confused and takes a few steps back, slightly creeped out.

“Hmnn, no? I’m actually Soyeon, but nice try, I guess...”

Donghyuck had his fist stuffed into his mouth trying to conceal his snorts. Jeno and Renjun had curled into themselves, heads buried in their arms, hiding behind the backs of two unsuspecting girls on the table ahead of them. Jaemin was smiling openly, whispering new ideas, while you try to suppress a giggle behind your hand. Chenle’s rich ass is recording everything in his iPhone 11 Pro Max with 512GB, making sure he captures everything in the highest quality possible— even if all of you know it will be blurry in the end, because he keeps giggling and his hand is shaking—  and Jisung is half amused, half cringing at all the judging stares they’re receiving from everyone else in the store.

“Oh, yeah, right, Soyeon, totally knew that, hahah!” Mark’s glare turns back to your table and sends a middle finger behind his back, and everyone loses their mind. He messes with his hair, trying really hard to not cringe as he speaks the next sentence. “So...  I’velostmyphonenumbercanIhaveyours— ”

“What?” Soyeon frowns and Mark turns so red that Jeno chokes on his own saliva and Donghyuck has to muffle his laughter on his hoodie. Renjun pokes you and points towards his phone, who has Jaemin’s contact on it. The other boy is messing with his settings, changing his ring tone and putting on the loudest volume possible. He gives Renjun a thumbs up, exchanging a smirk with him.

“I’ve lost my phone number, can I have yours instead?” The poor boy manages to say, regretting all of his life choices. In that exact moment, Renjun presses the call button,

“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy~ But here’s my number— ”

Call Me Maybe blasts off as Jaemin’s ringtone making everyone crack up, even Soyeon, who seems to understand the situation in the moment your squad— aka, mainly you, Donghyuck, Chenle and Renjun, — falls to the ground howling. She glances at your group and gives a peace sign to Chenle's camera(that now was in Jisung's hold), amused as fuck. She gives Mark a pity pat on the back and leaves him behind with slumped shoulders.

“I hate y’all” He says as he comes back to your table, sitting next to you and burying his head between his arms. You give him a pat on the head, smiling slightly.

“Well, at least that was funny” You tease, sipping on your iced cappuccino. “Never thought I would see someone being more awkward than Jisungie when it comes to speaking with girls, what the fuck”

“Sooyoung, right?” Renjun mocks, not bothering to hide his cackles. Jaemin mimics a disgusted expression, putting his hand on his chest 

“My name is Soyeon! How dare you?!” He overreacts, slapping Renjun’s shoulder sassily. You laugh as Mark’s nose scrunches painfully

“It’s not my fault!” Mark whines, cheeks red. You sigh, shaking your head. Again, your friends were hopeless after all.

“I give up,” You admit bitterly, pouting when Chenle smirks. He extends his hands to both you and Jisung, wriggling his fingers quite cocklily. Both of you groan as you give him a ten dollars bill each. 

8 Months Until Graduation

You don’t know how the fuck things turned out this way. At first glance, it was one of those days where you’d think that nothing could go wrong— and that’s exactly when everything went to shit. 

You were okay until now, it had been a long time since one of your ex-friends wasted their time spreading rumors about you. But today, at least half of the entire school was somehow convinced that you were some kind of child problem who raided innocent convenience stores? 

Donghyuck was also in deep shit. He had this fling going on with some girl you didn’t know personally, and he was really interested in making things serious with her, something that wasn’t very common to happen in his fuckboy life. Then, karma came kicking his butt, the girl saying she didn‘t want to have any serious relationship right now.

Jisung was lowkey in one of his bad days, when he’d let mean comments get into him. This time, he was feeling bad about the boys in his and Chenle’s class, the assholes ones. In general, Jisung was a shy kid, so the other kids took that as an advantage to make fun of him behind his back, and today, they messed with his lunch box when he wasn’t looking. 

You don’t know who suggested it, but at the end of the day, all eight of you were buried under the blankets in your house. You pushed the sofas to the wall, leaving enough space between the couches and tv to lay down mattresses in the floor. Chenle bought enough snacks for all of you, including McDonalds fries for Jisung, and Haribo gummy bears for you. 

Avengers Endgame was playing on the big screen, a classic that you’d watched and cried a million times before, being a great fan of the MCU and the greatest Iron Man agenda between your friends, who were all Captain America supporters, except for Donghyuck, who was your only ally in this war. 

Talking about Donghyuck, the boy was feeling especially cuddly tonight. He convinced Renjun to lay down on the couch with him, but both of them were fighting constantly to see who was going to be the big spoon (Renjun won). Jisung and Chenle were sitting down on the mattress, with their backs also on the couch, taking their sweet time with the food Chenle had bought. They weren’t paying that much attention to the movie, but rather, making fun of Renjun and Donghyuck arguing. Jaemin and Jeno took over another couch, and the pink haired boy had his legs all spread over Jeno’s lap without a care in the world. Jeno didn’t seem to mind that, tapping rhythmically on Jaemin’s knee while paying attention to the movie. You and Mark were laying on the mattress, at some point, you had asked him to cuddle as you were lowkey feeling needy for human contact. 

Welp, no one can be a cold hearted bitch for too long, you thought amusedly.

The mess of limbs was strangely comforting. You had your back pressed against his chest, his arms wrapping around you firmly, keeping you close enough for you to feel his muscles moving when he took a deep breath. For a moment you wondered if his arm that was under you didn’t feel numb because of your weight, but you didn’t ask, as Mark never voiced a complaint about that.

"Y'know, I lowkey feel like you're the Black Widow of our group," Mark whispers as the camera zooms on the red haired woman's worn out state in the Vormir planet. You blink slowly, confused, turning your entire body to face him, adjusting your position, so now you can snuggle into his warmth, your hands slowly finding a good spot to rest in his back.

"But she’s the one that dies in the end? Are you implying that I’m gonna die?" You tease, smiling at how Mark quickly becomes flustered. 

"That’s not what I meant!" He whines, playfully pinching a bit of your skin. "It's just that you share a lot of things. Like, she dies for the sake of her family—"

"Yeah, she still dies. Am I supposed to be flattered by that?"

"Oh god, shut up and let me finish" He groans, the muscles on his neck moving with the deep sound he lets out of his throat. You try to not focus too much on that, concentrated at how his face muscles move at each unique expression he makes. "Natasha is one hell of a woman, no one can deny that. She's strong and badass, and sometimes, her humor actually reminds me of you? The part when she dies, she is sacrificing herself for the soul stone and for all of her friends-slash-family, because she wants all of them back, even if she doesn't know if the plan is going to work out in the end"

"Hmm, that's true" You hum in agreement, raising your eyebrow questiongly. "But I still don't get how you think we look alike. Except for being the only female in a group full of testosterone, of course,"

"You're pretty, strong and badass." Mark says, as if stating the obvious. You feel your heart beating faster, being your turn to feel flustered with his straightforwardness. "And I think you would be a team player too, the type of person to go to that extent to save everyone else, to put a hundred percent of faith in your family just like that" 

"Wow," You chuckle nervously, looking away for a moment to recover your posture. You fake a cough on your fist, staring at the screen— That’s the exact scene where Natasha's sacrifice happens, the beautiful scenario and its color palette stunning you for a single second. Then, you remember that you’re still talking to Mark in hushed whispers to not annoy anyone else, and he half-expected you to continue the debate. "Hmmm, If I’m Natasha Romanoff, I guess you would be Peter Parker, then?" 

"Why?" His eyes shine with curiosity at your words, and you can't help but to feel lured in his gaze, almost as if he was some time of magnet you couldn’t take your eyes off.

"You're almost the real life version of him," You let out a tiny chuckle, impressed with your own analogy. "You're both nerds, awkward as fuck, but still a sweet and pretty good looking bastard— Like, how the hell can you get the best of the two worlds? Being handsome and smart at the same time, that's like, cheating, but in real life" You complain pettily, pretending to be upset just for the sake of drama. 

Mark smiles, and you’re shy enough to let the topic die just like that. You turn around  again, thanking the gods that the room was dark, so no one could see the color difference in your heated cheeks. His hands never leave your waist, and you feel safer than ever in his arms. 

"Are the babies asleep?" Jaemin asks after the post credits scene finishes, the black screen of the tv staring back at them.

"Chenle and Jisung passed out before the Battle of Earth, pussies" Renjun teases, taking the opportunity to jab freely at the unsuspecting boys. He looks at you and Mark, both of you in deep slumber in each other's arms. "Awww, how cute. I'm going to puke, but it's worth it"

"Indeed" Jeno nods, smirking at your peaceful expression. Mark moves around his head and groans, making the four awake boys tense up, afraid of the older waking up. He mutters something incomprehensible under his breath, but quickly settles in burying his nose on your hair, making everyone let out relieved sighs.

"Well, now that the babies are all asleep, it's time for us to watch some real grown man stuff" Donghyuck states, taking the tv remote on his hand.

"Are we going to watch Frozen or Tangled?"

"Tangled, what type of guy do you think I am?"

7 Months Until Graduation

“I’m going to die!” Donghyuck cries dramatically, shaking you by your shoulders and you just let him do whatever he wants, your head bouncing to every direction possible without resistance, soul almost dead at this point. “I’m going to be crushed— Oh dear lord, please, save me from being stomped by giants on court—”

“Oh shut the fuck up, no one has ever died playing basketball” Renjun sasses him. Renjun would never admit, not even on his deathbed, but he was also scared shitless of the players of Busan High.

He was pretty sure he had a clear reason to be intimidated, after all. One of the players was almost 2m, and at least four of their team had over 185cm. As if that wasn’t enough, they were built like titans, not resembling high schoolers at slightest.

“Is this fucking anime?” You couldn’t help but hiss, making people laugh at the bitter tone you had. While Busan’s players were all damn trees, Jeno, Donghyuck and Chenle were at the average height for teenagers— something between 170 and 175. The only member on their team that was above 180 was Yukhei and some another freshman that was almost 190 or something, but that freshman wasn't exactly on the good side of the ability spectrum, so he was pretty useless.

“Think positive” Everyone turned to Mark, waiting for him to finish his sentence. He scrunched his nose and seemed to think hard, trying to come up with an excuse “If everything goes to shit, you can sub Renjun in. A great strategy if you were to ask me, because they won’t notice him running between their long ass legs!” He grins proudly at the reactions, being successful at helping their friends to relax before the game. His bliss barely lasted three seconds before Renjun had him in a chokehold, making everyone burst out laughing again.

“Being serious, now,” Jeno’s face morphed to an early defeat with a heavy sigh “I doubt we’ll be able to do something against them. Height is a big advantage in basket. They also say that Busan are the favourites to win the championship, so we're in deep shit”

The changing room was in a tense silence at his words, everyone silently agreeing with him and not quite knowing what to say as comfort. 

"You could say this is a championshit— Ah, Park Jisung, why did you hit me?!"

"That was absolutely horrible, even for you" The younger one grimaces, while Chenle rubs his shoulder, the grin on his face unwavering despite the disapproval of the pun. You were in deep thought, until you suddenly gasp and clap your hands, expression lighting up as having a great idea.

“Let’s dye our hair!”

“Suddenly?” Donghyuck raises his eyebrows, but you just smile at him

“No, no! I’m being serious!” You say proudly, closed fist hitting your open palm “Let’s make a bet! If you guys win, I’ll let you do whatever you want with my hair— dye it the most ridiculous color to ever exist, make me bald or shave one of the sides— you can choose, I don't really care!”

"You already want to do it, there is no point in betting on that" Renjun deadpans. You prompily ignore him.

“Actually, I think that’s a good idea—”

“Great! Jaemin will also do it with me!”

“What?! I never said anything—” He protests indignantly. You give him a smug peace sign

“Ya, hyung is screwed~!”

“Oh, am I hearing right? Our Jisungie will also do it for the sake of the team? What a cutie!” You tease him in aegyo, making it extremely cringy as your fingertips poke him from the sides.

“Cutie? Ha, never in a million years—”

“Ah, Injunnie, no need to be shy! We all know you also want to do this~!”

“Ah, shit—”

Before you could trap Mark into dying his hair, the manager from the basket team came into the room searching for the three missing players. Donghyuck, Chenle and Jeno stood up from the bench and were about to leave, before Mark called up to them, silently pleading with the girl to give him more time. She sighs heavily and nods, lifting three fingers to wordlessly say that you had three minutes.

“Hey, come here for a second~” He said cheekly, forcing everyone to form a circle and join hands in the middle “Let’s cheer up, will ya? Nothing is lost until the very end as long you have hope. You guys can win, believe it"

"Is this Naruto or something?" You joke, raising your eyebrow and high pitching your voice "I'm gOiNg tO bE hOkaGe, BeLieVe it!" The boys laugh at your impersonation as you made a hand sign for the sake of anime weeb antics

“Stop that, I’m being serious!” Mark whines, nudging you slightly on the shoulder.

“Hyung, are you daydreaming?” Chenle deadpans and everyone bursts into laughs again 

“Maybe? Dreaming or not, I still believe in you—” He sighs in defeat "...dattebayo."

“That’s cheesy” Donghyuck teases, his face reveals how touched he actually is. 

“That’s cringy as hell, but lowkey heartwarming. How the fuck?” Jeno is exasperated. “Fuck it. Our dear Lee Markie took the precious time of day to bless us with this amazing and inspiring Naruto speech, so, daydreaming or not, let's win this shit, dattebayo!” Jeno laughs with his whole chest and we all cheer.

"By the way, if we actually win, you're going bald" Donghyuck nudges you, making you whine dramatically. “A bet is a bet. No backing down, pussy”

“Ha, as if!”

"Hm— Three minutes are up, can you please, wrap this up?" You tilt your head to see the manager, awkwardly standing on the door. She seems uncomfortable interrupting your group moment, so you take pity on her and gather everyone’s attention on you again.

"Alright~ Let's do a cheer" You say you stand up, closing your fist and motioning to everyone to form a circle. "What are we going to say? Team 7? Konoha Ninjas? Ninja Alliance? Or maybe we can do something like Wildcats? Like, from High School Musical—"

"Hell no!" They groan and you giggle satisfied with their reactions. Chenle mutters his suggestion quite hesitantly "Well, if we're aiming to win, let's do this properly. So, how about Dream? Because we're being highly illusional, or whatever—"

"I like that" Jeno encourages him, putting his arm around Chenle's shoulders reassuringly. He sends a look to Mark, eyes turning into crescent moons “Hyung, you can do the honors~”

“Alright, let's wreck this shit. Yo, Dream!”

“Jjeoreo! Juja! Fighting!”

“Am I allowed to reference High School Musical 3 now?” You ask no one in particular, although Mark, Jisung and Renjun all let out a groan at your antics. Jaemin just chuckles, amused. "This is just too perfect to let it pass without any references. Senior year, tense basketball game and everything. We just need someone to dramatically shout some encouragement out of nowhere"

"Are you going to suddenly sing Now or Never?" Jaemin teases, but he instantly regrets when he sees the look on your eyes. "Wait, shit, don't do that!"

"Why? It's a great idea!" You whine, smiling. Your voice is drowned by the screams and cheers, but you still hum to yourself as you watch the fast-speed plays in court “This is the last time to get it right, this is the last time to make it all night—”

“First of all, you got it wrong. It’s this is the last time to make it or not, not all night. If you’re going to sing this shit, at least do it right” Jaemin scolds lightheartedly and you pout at him, sticking your tongue childishly

“Whatever— Oh, NICEEEE CHENLE!" You suddenly scream at the top of your lungs, also hearing the boys screaming excitedly with his successful basket. After that, Jeno made an awesome steal that made the crowd roar again, passing it to Hyuck, who scored a 3-pointer. Everything was great until Chenle was knocked back harshly by the 2 meters guy, falling on his back into the ground.

You swore loudly, worry consuming you, but Chenle was okay. He got up with Yukhei offering him his hand and the referee gave the team two free throws, which were the points you needed to tie with Busan High.

"Quick, Jisung, you have to stand up and shout Troooooooy!” You nudge his side, teasing him now that you were reassured that Chenle was fine. Jisung looks at you startled, caught off guard. "C'mon, think of that as public demonstration of love for your bestest friend in the entire world—"

"No way" He shook his head, cheeks burning. You chuckle, deciding to take that task for yourself.

“Chenleeee!” You scream in a singing tone, making everyone around you turn their heads. You see the boy squeezing his eyes through the benchers, trying to find where that came from, until he found you and let out a snort of amusement. You’re satisfied when he gives you a thumbs up, even more when Renjun hides his face behind Mark’s back, extremely ashamed of being friends with you.

Even if you made your friends want to lowkey kill you on the spot, you still sang loudly Gabriella’s part everytime Jeno, Chenle or Donghyuck got a free throw in game, which gladly weren't that much. It didn’t matter if your friends had second-hand embarrassment, because in the end, everyone else was extremely amused for your antics. Also, they crushed the Busan team. 106 - 94.

Ps: you were almost sure the school’s cheerleaders also sang with you a few times, chanting WILDCATS as a joke, but Renjun refuses to believe in you. 

6 Months Until Graduation

“We’re really doing this, huh” Jisung cringed at the volume of bleach sitting on the pot, sniffing it and scrunching his nose at the horrible scent. “Hey, Chenle, smell this”

“Why— OH GOD! Park Jisung what is that—”

“I didn’t think you would keep the bet, if I’m being honest” Jeno admitted and you just laughed, taking the coloured dyes out of their boxes

“Nah~ This was a win-win situation for me. I always wanted to dye my hair, and now I have an excuse to do it without anyone coming for my ass!” You say smugly, smirking satisfied as you put all the bottles on the table. 

“By the way, where are your parents?” Mark worries and you try very hard to not grimace, heading into the bathroom to properly prepare the dyes and hiding your expression from view for a few seconds. Your eyes are fully concentrated on the task, so you don’t notice that Mark can see your expression by the mirror.

“They’re out, again. Some meeting in Kyoto or something— I don’t know. But we have the house to ourselves, so it’s okay.” You say it nonchalantly, even if it’s fairly obvious that you actually care about not having your parents here. Before Mark or Jeno can say anything about it, you give them a big smile, passing by them and returning to your bedroom, where everyone is messing around “The bleach is ready! Who wants to go first?”

“Me!” Chenle shouts, jumping in a plastic chair you placed in the middle of the room, with a journal already covering the floor and a towel on his shoulders. You smile tenderly at him, running your gloved hands through his hair and imagining yourself washing his scalp— except for the fact that you had bleach, not shampoo on your hands. You were really counting on the youtube tutorials for this one

“I bought every single color I could find on the shop” You giggle, trying really hard to not forget any step, but also paying attention to Renjun and Donghyuck bickering to decide what game they were going to play on your tv. “What color do you want, Lele?”

“Injun-ah, we’re all tired of playing Overwatch~ Let’s play Just Dance for once~!”

“Are you out of your mind? How can we put that if you all will dye your hair—! The dye will just fly around!”

“Green” Chenle replies with a shit eating grin, ignoring all the noise that the duo were producing “They say, go big or go home, right?”

“Well, technically, we’re in my home already, so—”

“You know what I meant!” You snicker at him, smiling like a proud parent for some random reason. 

“I’m going for pink!” Jaemin decides all of sudden, taking the pink bottle in his hand and messing with it. You gasp dramatically and hit his hand, forgetting that you have bleach on your gloves and making a small splash on his skin

“No, no, crap, you’ll drop it—!” You scold him, scarred for life, and you take the open bottle from his hands, seeing that the few seconds were enough to make a big pink stain on Jaemin’s hands. You sigh like a tired mother

“I know I don’t need to, but now I also want to dye my hair!” Donghyuck pouts, eyeing the bleach on Chenle’s hair as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. Chenle sends the older boy finger guns, winking smugly.

“Do we have enough bleach for extras?” Jeno asks and you nod, already wrapping aluminum paper on Chenle “This is dumb, and I’m propably going to regret it tomorrow— but screw it, I want blonde.”

“Okay, okay.” You agree, internally screaming, because your hands were going to suffer bleaching everyone’s hair, including yours. “Mark, put something on your phone?” 

“What kind of vibe do you want?” He asks in return. You hum, distracted by the sounds of Call of Duty on the tv, the controller in Renjun and Jaemin’s hands. 

“Dunno. Your call,” Is your response. Since you’re not facing him, you don’t see Mark sending you a shit eating grin before he decides on a playlist.

It’s not long before We’re All In This Together is blasting on your room, the most iconic and cheesy song possible, and you can’t say that you hate it. As Jisung and Donghyuck try to remember the original choreo, accidentally slapping each other in the process, the rest of you scream the lyrics on the top of your lungs, and for a moment, it seems like the world’s problems don't exist inside of your house.

For once in a long time, your house finally feels like home.

 (Chenle and Jisung decide later to try to make a cover of Breaking Free— Jisung as Gabriella, of course, and the charming Chenle Bolton with aluminum paper on his hair. It went viral on your Instagram, thanks, Chenji!)

5 Months Until Graduation

“Would you rather have no ears or no fingers?”

“Totally no ears!” Jaemin giggles, his fingers itching in the air and pinching Jeno’s cheeks with affection “If I didn’t have my fingers~~~I! Wouldn’t! Do! This!”

You choke on your spit, laughing your ass off at the state of Jaemin, his messy pink hair shining a different tone with every light of the party. He was long ago drunk and you and Jeno had to take care of him while everyone else wandered around some random guy’s party. Jung Taehyun? Jeon Taeyeon? You didn’t know exactly his name, but you knew that he was an older friend of Mark.

“Nono~~ y/n~~ You guys know I love you~~ right?” Jaemin whined, giving up on standing still and plopping down on top of Jeno. The sober male sighed and gave a few pats on Jaemin’s back, already tired. You couldn’t stop your laughter and he flipped you off, continuing to sip your drink giddily. You were careful to not be completely drunk, tho.

“Wait a second, it’s that Renjun?” Jeno asks, pointing to a spot far from you three. You squint your eyes and you confirm that yes, it was Huang Renjunnie making out with some girl you didn’t recognise in the middle of the dance floor.

“Junnie? Whaaaat. Where? I can’t see himmmm~”

“Holy fucking shit” You grin like a madwoman, ignoring Jaemin’s frustrated whines and you cup your hands around your mouth “Yo! Renjunnie! Let's! Get! It!” You scream, even if you know no one will hear you because of the heavy bass. You laugh and take a sip of your drink, extremely amused with yourself.

“I’m going to puke…” Jaemin chokes out and you blink in alarm. Jeno sighs and puts Jaemin’s arms around his shoulders, supporting almost all of his weight and standing from the bar with a bit of difficulty.

“I think it’s time to go home, Jaemin-ah” He states, already moving. You follow both of them, catching Jaemin’s phone that he almost forgot behind and putting it in your jeans’ pocket. 

“No! But I’m having fun here~~ I don’t want to go home” He whines, pouting, and you chuckle at his aegyo, making funny faces at the back of his head just for the fun of it

“Chenle and Jisung texted me, they already went home” You speak, cringing at the brightness of your phone when you unlock it. “Mark and Hyuck said before that they were going to crash somewhere, I just don’t remember where. And Renjunnie is having fun~ Not going to interrupt that!”

“Just text him. He’s sober, so it won’t be a problem” Jeno says and you agree “Jaemin, do you think you can hold it for a while? The puke, I mean,”

“Maybe. Maybe yes, maybe no—” Jaemin almost crashes with a random stranger, and you cringe, saying sorry before rushing both of them to the exit

“Very helpful” Jeno deadpans and Jaemin chuckles dreamily. You smile and open your mouth to say something, just to be suddenly startled by a hand on your shoulder

“y/n? Is that you?” You freeze at the voice, grin vanishing off your face. You turn around with a blank expression to meet Hyunjin, his eyes glinting with so much hope that your heart was crushed in a single second.

Jeno notices that you’ve stopped moving, turning around and grimacing at the sight of the other boy. All of the previous cheerfulness disappears from his face in milliseconds, and you can’t say that you don’t share the sentiment. 

“Wow— You look really good tonight” Hyunjin says, eyeing your exposed legs, and you roll your eyes, suppressing the urge to slap his beautiful face

“Yeah, I know” You fire back sassily, glaring at him and trying really hard to not let your real emotions show on your expression. Your chest squeezes painfully at the sight of your ex-boyfriend, and all you want to do at this moment is to cry and shout all your pent-up frustrations at him, but your voice is lost somewhere deep in your throat.

“Blue hair looks good on you” Hyunjin compliments after a few awkward seconds of silence, not even intimidated by Jeno’s glare and your clear discomfort, never ceasing eye-contact. His hand comes closer and cups a lock of your hair, admiring the blue, almost purple shade, and you falter slightly as he pushes it behind your ear.

Deep down, you hope that Hyunjin can see what he has done to you. You hope that he can see the mix of anger, betrayal, heartbreak, disappointment and pain in your eyes. You hope that he knows every seed self-doubt he has planted in your chest since the two of you broke up last year, and that he feels guilty for every painful word thrown on you.

But you also hope for things that you know aren’t right. You search in his dark eyes for something— anything that could convince yourself he still loved you, that he knew what went wrong last time. Even if you passed half of last year crying and moping around the corridors, forcing your friends to give a long pep talk to assure your self-worth every two weeks, ten seconds of eye contact with your ex were enough to break down long eight months of healing, resurfacing old wounds in your heart. 

“Y/n, let’s go” Jeno calls you, breaking the magic between you and Hyunjin. You sigh, reality crashing on you like a heavy, unforgivable truck. You push his hand away quite harshly and bite your lips, already feeling the familiar burn of tears in the back of your eyes. 

“Yeah, right. Sorry.” You mumble under your breath, not sparing Hyunjin a second glance and turning around to the exit, following Jeno with a heavy heart. 

You find a sealed can of beer on top of a coffee table and you scoff, taking it without second thoughts.  

“Fuck, I’m not drunk enough to deal with this shit”

You open the backdoor of Jeno’s car and you help him set Jaemin in the backseat, both of you ignoring the pink haired boy’s drunk whines and protests as you let him lay down with his head on your lap. You also ignore the lightheadedness caused by the alcohol that you consumed and the worried glances Jeno throws you every fifteen seconds. You know that he has good intentions, but you can’t help but to feel overwhelmed with everything— it’s not like you were going to break down any second now!

Okay, forget it. You don’t know if you can hold your tears until you arrive at home.

“Jaem, is auntie at home?” You ask, stroking the pink strands softly. He groans, burying his face on your belly

“Nooo… Don’t take me home… Mom will kill meeeee! She said last time that… if she catches me drunk again, she’s gonna...” He whines and closes his eyes. You wait for him to continue speaking, but it takes a few seconds for you to notice that Jaemin had fallen asleep on your lap.

“Can Jaemin crash into your house for tonight?” Jeno asks, looking at both of you through the mirror. You know that he is hesitant about bringing Jaemin to his own house because his parents are quite strict with drinking.

“Yeah, but I don’t know if I can carry him” You say without making eye contact, looking at the world outside the window. Your fingers make loops in Jaemin’s hair, almost like a nervous tick to ground you in reality. 

“Don’t worry about that, I’m helping you” He states, eyes focused on the road. You don’t notice his eyes looking at you every once in a while checking your facial expression, as your mind keeps backtracking to Hyunjin and your past relationship, along with all the hurtful words both of you exchanged when it ended.

Jeno lets out a sigh, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel and forcing himself to stop looking.

“No one is looking. You can cry now.”

4 Months Until Graduation

“y/n, the smartest and beautifulest person I have ever met—” Donghyuck speeds down the corridor, tacking you and grabbing your shoulders as if there is no tomorrow

“...what did you do?” You deadpan, not taking any of his bullshit. The boy straightens up and moves his neck to search something in the crowd of students that are in the corridor, sweating bullets

“You know Kang Mina, right? Pretty, cute, same biology class as you—”

“And Mark’s crush since middle school?” You add, raising an eyebrow and not really caring for the skinship, since it was usual between you and Hyuck.

“Yes, that one!” He whisper-shouts. “I heard from Seulgi, who heard from Joohyun, who was in the bathroom when Eunwoo and Nayeon were talking about Sejeong, who said—”

“What—”

“Kang Mina is going to confess to me!” You blink, trying to process the information.

“ ‘the fu— Wait, I thought Mina liked Mark back?” You’re open mouthed, the surprise showing clearly on your eyes. Hyuck nods, wanting to pull his hair off his scalp “Did you tell Mark?”

“No! What do you think I am?” He is almost offended, but you just shrug it off. “I don’t know what to do! I didn’t do anything, but Mark will kill me and—”

“Just dump her nicely, it’s not that hard” Donghyuck whines and shakes you again, making you dizzy

“But I don’t want her to confess!” He argues, saying as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “If she confesses, everyone will hear about the rumors— so, the solution it’s quite simple! If we can stop her before she finds me, we can—” Hyuck pauses, his eyes widening and seeing something above your head. “Oh my fucking god, Mina’s coming in this direction!” 

“Ah, Donghyuck, can I talk to you—” You hear her voice, a bit far, and you sigh as you feel a pair of eyes burning on your back. She’s pretty and a really good person in general, but you can’t help but pity her in this moment.

“Put your hands on my waist.” You whisper quickly under your breath and he nods. 

You raise yourself on your toe tips and catch Hyuck’s cheeks on your hands, trying to not cringe outwardly. You place a peck almost on the corner of his mouth, hearing a shocked gasp behind you, and you know that your plan worked. Based on the angle Mina was, she probably thought you were kissing him on the lips.

You’re quick to distance your body from his, disentangling your shoulders from his grasp and you sigh, lowkey feeling bad for the other girl. 

“Is she gone?” Just for the sake of the drama, you pretend to clean your lips from all traces of Hyuck, sticking your tongue out “Disgusting— Really, I thought I was kissing my grandma, what the fuck—”

“C’mon, I don’t kiss that badly~” Donghyuck whines and you narrow your eyes at him, noticing a bit of your lipstick on his face. 

“Shut up!” You made a move to slap him on the shoulder, but he barely moves out of the way, making you huff. “You’re owing me lunch”

“WHAT? But you’re loaded! Why do I have to pay~?”

“Jesus fucking christ—” Renjun plops down on your usual lunch table, dumping his bag on the bench without ceremony. 

“Injunnie, you’re not even christian” Donghyuck snickers, not bothering to swallow before talking. You make a face at that, but you don’t comment on his horrible manners

“Fuck that too. Why the hell is everyone saying that you two kissed in the corridors? And Mina’s name is on the rumors too, but I don’t get how the hell is she involved?” Hyuck chokes at Renjun’s words and you chuckle, deciding just to sip your tea peacefully and watch the drama unfold.

“Well, you see—” In that moment, Mark arrives, a puzzled and slightly annoyed expression on his face. Donghyuck panics even more at the sight of the older male, already planning his testament on his mind. You guess Mark heard what happened too.

“So, you two a thing now?” The canadian boy raises his eyebrow and you double over, fake puking with the absurdity of his suggestion.

“Oh god, please no. I may be single since last year, but I still have standards!” You whine, putting your hands on your chest feigning hurt. You notice Mark’s face changing and he’s not annoyed anymore, just confused. You don’t even know what caused that— It was almost as if he was relieved...?

“So why is everyone saying that you’re together?”

“That’s what I was asking too,” Renjun adds. You and Donghyuck exchange glances, and you shrug it off, silently saying that he should settle this mess on his own.

“Uh— I just needed help to solve something”

“Hi, I’m something~” You can’t help but tease, laughing obnoxiously loud. Hyuck shoves you slightly, but you don’t stop cackling “Relax, we didn’t kiss. I just took one for the team and did a self-sacrifice of my public reputation— By the way I’m a great actress, aint I?”

“No one thinks that,” Renjun deadpans and you pout. “Why the trouble, tho?” Hyuck sighs and you focus on him on the corner of your eye, wondering what he was going to say

“I’m sorry, bro” He decides to be fully honest with the oldest, who is confused as fuck. “Mina likes me and was going to confess. I panicked.”

Renjun is just surprised as you were when you first heard that. You carefully observe Mark’s reaction, expecting him to be angry or hurt, but he isn’t. He has an unreadable expression and just shrugs, shaking his head.

“Ah. It’s okay, I already knew.” You’re dumbfounded, eyes wide and mouth wide open. The other two have similar reactions to yours, and Mark chuckles at that. “I found out last year. Not gonna lie, it hurt like a bitch— But it’s okay now, I moved on” 

“Wow.” Hyuck looks half surprised, half pissed. “So all of the suffering I passed just to make sure you wouldn’t be mad was useless?”

“Yes?” You chuckle, amused. Donghyuck lets out a groan, dramatically falling on the table and Renjun smirks

“You’re a dumbass.” He snorts, making Hyuck whine. You cross eyes with Mark for a millisecond and you send him a smile, which is returned immediately.

“It’s not my fault that Mark fucking Lee doesn’t tell me things!” He cries out, sniffling. “Everything would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to run away from Kang Mina for the entire fucking day!”

“Well, in my defense, my pride was really hurt—” The canadian tries to defend himself, scowling 

“In your defense, I think you should shut up or I swear to god I’m gonna fucking kill you—” 

3 Months Until Graduation

It’s 11:27pm. You should be asleep at this time— or at least, ready to go to bed, but you don’t think you can sleep any time soon. Your gaze is fixed on the ceiling of the bedroom when you hear your phone ringing under your pillow. You stretch your hand blindly under the covers until you find it, not checking the caller before accepting it.

“Noona?” Jisung’s voice breaks the quiet of your house, and you’re immediately alarmed by his tone. It’s almost as if he’s tired, throat hoarse after crying for a long time. You know that tone very well.

“Hi…” You trail off softly, not knowing what to say. You hear a sniff form the other side, making your worry increase ten times.

“Can I come over? ...please?” He asks and you’re already out of your bed, the socks on your feet protecting the skin from the cold floor as you soflty agree.

Exactly seven minutes and forty three seconds after, Jisung arrives at your home. You furrow your eyebrows as you take in his light clothes and the cold weather outside. His nose is red and his eyes are puffy, the usually neat hair reduced to a bird nest. 

“What happened?” You urge him in, catching a fluffy blanket from the sofa to throw on his shoulders and forcing him to sit on your couch. “Where is your car? Where were you? Your house is too far to come here on foot, Jisung-ah!”

“I was at a park nearby, not at home” He mutters, head down. 

You purse your lips, deciding to shut up for now and give him space to think seeing as he doesn’t seem very comfortable to say anything for now. You go to the kitchen and come back quickly with a mug of warm milk and chocolate in your hands, which you give to him. You sit down beside him on the couch, turning on the tv and searching something on Netflix to put as background, while you wait patiently for him to open up. The film starts, and the soft piano music that plays in the start of Inside Out successfully manages to make Jisung relax a little bit.

“Do you look at someone and wonder,” You say simultaneously with the woman’s voice, wiggling your eyebrows playfully at Jisung.

“What’s going on inside their head?” The corner of his lips lift and he completes the sentence, his whole posture softer and slightly happier. You’re proud of his mood change, humming satisfied.

Three minutes into the movie and you hear a sigh escaping from Jisung’s lips. It’s a subtle gesture, but when he moves closer to lean his head on your shoulder, you know that he’s ready to talk. You lower the tv’s volume a bit, just enough to have it as background, but not disturbing your conversation.

“Are you going to forget me?” His voice is small as he speaks with hesitation, as if he fears saying out loud would make it become true.

“What do you mean, Jisungie?” You face him, not daring to point his childish choice of words. 

“In three months, you and the hyungs are all going to college. The next year, it will be Chenle and me, and then—” He chokes, tears staining down his face, and all of sudden you feel your heart break in a million pieces. “Are things going to change? Between us, I mean”

You fall silent at his words. As you think hard about what to say, you rub circles on Jisung’s back, as it is the only thing you can do to provide comfort for now.

“I don’t know, Jisungie…” You admit, sighing heavily as you feel the emotions growing on you. You don’t dare to actually cry, feeling that it would be extremely selfish of you to not be the stable one right now.

“You guys are all I have…” Jisung breaks down, sobbing, and you pull him in a tight hug, hiding your own face on top of his head. “I’m afraid— Noona, what’s gonna happen? Our paths are too different, are we going to depart?”

“I don’t know,” You start, the tap of your fingers creating a rhythm on the back of his head “We all have different dreams— for starters, Mark wants to pursue music. Renjun is going to do art. Jeno? Probably something along the lines of profissional basket. Hyuck is trying for Journalism, I think, and Jaemin is going to be a physician. I don’t think all of us can go to the same college, but that’s okay.” Jisung hiccups “No matter the distance, we’re under the same sea of stars every night. If someday, you feel lost, we’ll be here to guide you. We’ll be your compass and your lighthouse.”

He stays silent, and you make a lot of circles on his hair, tangling the blonde locks between your fingertips.

“There is a saying that I really treasure... Ohana means family. And family means—”

“...no one gets left behind or forgotten” 

“Yeah, that’s right” You let out a weak chuckle, “You’re my family, Jisung. I—, no, we won’t ever leave you behind or forget your name.” You let go of him to stare directly at his eyes. When Jisung looks at you, he’s surprised to encounter a small smile on your lips, despite the light tears making their path through your cheeks. “Time may pass, we may go different ways— But we’re always going to be each other’s home.”

2 Months Until Graduation

Girls and boys are separated during P.E, everyone knows that (it was a pity, because surely you would’ve loved an free-opportunity to throw a ball at Donghyuck’s face), but one day, when the teachers decide to merge the class, you’re dumbfounded. All of the seniors are in the gym, separated into girls and boys on opposite sides of the benches. There are big speakers connected to an old and beatdown radio, making you shudder, lowkey knowing what is going to happen.

“So, as all students already know, the date of your prom is coming soon!” Mrs.Park claps her hands loudly to shush a bunch of girls that couldn't stop giggling, sending a dirty look at the girl's side of the students. 

You pretend you don’t notice Hyunjin staring at you from across the gym, praying internally for every single god you know to save you from this situation. You accidentally make eye contact with Mark and you mouth “save me” to him, forcing a panicked expression, trying to use your eyes, then your chin, and soon you’re shaking your head like a mad-woman to point at your ex, while not actually pointing to him. However, Mark was far from understanding your failed (and pitiful) attempt to use telepathy.

“It’s a tradition of more than fifty years in our school that we vote on a king and a queen for prom. The fortunate pair are the ones to open the dance floor, so, it’s quite mandatory that all students learn how to properly dance, as everyone has a chance of becoming king or queen!” You don’t miss how Hyunjin’s eyes spark with hope at Mrs. Park’s words and you shudder, groaning.

“If you already have a pair, please, go towards them and help yourselves to an empty spot. We have the entire sport court for us, so feel free to use the space, as long as you don’t leave the gym, of course.” Mr. Jung, the Male P.E teacher says. “If you haven't invited anyone yet, you can practice with a friend, that’s okay too.”

“Shit” You whisper dreadfully, your fingertips trembling on the side of your body. As the first students break out from the groups to join their pairs, you try to conceal yourself between the bodies in the crowd, your eyes traveling to anything that could possibly help you.

You could hide under the bleachers and pray that no one catches you. Or you could make a run into the locker rooms. Or you could beg to a random stranger to pretend to be your pair— no, that wouldn’t work, knowing Hyunjin, he wouldn’t stop even if you were engaged to someone.

Okay. Lockers it is, you decide, already turning in that direction with adrenaline in your veins. That didn’t last long, as you feel a cold hand grabbing your wrist before you can make a run for it. You freeze on your track, cursing every single divinity above. You’re certain that they were mocking you in this exact moment, saying something like “oh, look at that dumb, stupid kid!” ang giggling as they watch you suffer.

“y/n. Can we talk?” You slowly turn back, meeting Hyunjin’s dark eyes with your own. They held so much sincerity and fondiness that almost made you believe that maybe, the two of you could be happy. Almost.

“No—” You try to free yourself from him, but his hold on your wrist is firm. You give up and look away, but you can’t force your body to reject his touches. It’s been a long time since Hyunjin last touched you like this, without anger or resentment. For a single second, you’re caught up in the past again, dreaming awake of when you and Hyunjin were the perfect couple.

“Please… I just want to make things right this time.” He pleads softly. When he notices that you refuse to meet his gaze, his hand cups your cheek with all the care in the world, gently turning your head to look at him. You want to scream and cry, but surprisingly, you also don’t feel the need to. 

“How so? Are you finally going to apologise?” You can’t help whispering those harsh words, surprising even yourself by your boldness. Hyunjin has a surprised look, eyes wide and lips parted, but you don’t feel as bad as you’d have felt if it was last year. 

“What—” He mutters, but quickly composes himself, sighing. “Look, y/n, I know you were hurt when we broke up—”

“That’s an understatement.” You interrupt him pettily. He glares at that and you surprisingly feel nothing. If anything, you were lowkey satisfied that you were giving him a hard time.

 “...but I regret that. Everything.” He continues, ignoring your words. You inhale sharply, already feeling the annoyance build up. “I had a long time to process things. Nothing is the same without you— We were the best things that happened to each other. You’re the piece that was missing in my puzzle.”

“Wow. Nice speech.” You force your expression to be blank, your words being filled with all the sarcasm you could reunite. “But you had almost one year to think about things and you only realize that now? That’s impressive, even for you. Einstein would be impressed, ha!”

“It was at that party, two months ago. I tried everything, but nothing could fill the empty space on my chest. On the start of the year, I tried leaving a letter on your locker, but you never answered, so I thought that was it. But seeing you again made me understand what I had lost.” He takes a deep breath and moves his body to come closer to yours, still ignoring every word that you said. “I still love you. Please, y/n…”

“Don’t do that.” 

In a second, you’re out of his arms. Hyunjin blinks, seeming lost, and you scoff. His hand that previously was on your face now is hanging in the air, as you slapped it away. You see from the corner of your eye people hushing around both of you, trying to peep, but you ignore them easily.

“A year passed, and you still don’t understand anything, Hyunjin!” You almost spit the words, glaring at him. “You were the one who broke up with me. You were the one who said you deserve someone better than me, who said that I wasn’t enough for you. You also were the one who thought that I had sex with my childhood friends— oh god, that makes me sick just remembering it— and forced me to choose between them and you!”

“I’m sorry—”

“No, you’re not.” You hiss lowly, self-conscious of the fact that you were still in the gym. “Did you know? Since last year, I have been trying to understand what went wrong with us. I cried, every fucking night for two months after we broke up. I thought the problem was me— Hell, you made sure to highlight in your speech that day—, and for a long time, I hated myself for not being enough! Then, when I thought I was getting better, you come out of nowhere to suddenly say you regret everything? Fuckin’ shit—!”

You’re crying. You realize that too late, aggressively wiping your tears with your blazer. A quick turn of neck and you also realize that, gladly, people didn’t make a crowd around you. However some of the students noticed the argument and were stealing sneaky glances. 

“But in the end, I have to thank you.” You don’t see around any of your friends, and you’re lowkey glad for that. “If you weren’t such a shithead and said all those things now— I think I would’ve never really understood what everyone always says about you, Hyunjin. Hell, you don’t even care about me, you just want someone to kiss your fucking feet!”

You take a deep breath and you’re more than ready to continue your monologue, exposing yourself emotionally after everything, but a hand on your shoulder breaks you from the rush of adrenaline, bringing you down from the adrenaline in your blood.

“That’s enough, y/n…” Mark whispers, squeezing your shoulder as a reassurance, and you’re startled by his sudden appearance. You inhale and let out another sigh, wiping your face again, trying to remove all traces of the previous breakdown. “You made your point, hm? By now, I think Hyunjin understands that things won’t end well if he tries to approach you again.”

You let out a chuckle unintentionally with his slightly threatening tone and both of you walk away from Hyunjin, Mark’s arm wrapped around your shoulders to carefully guide you between the students, knowing that you weren’t paying attention to anything right now. 

You’re lightheaded and a mess of emotions inside. You feel like you’ve said too much, that you exposed ugly parts of yourself that you’d rather no one knowing about it, but you also feel like you didn’t rant enough to be satisfied. Many words are stuck in your throat, feelings that you would’ve preferred to be thrown on Hyunjin’s face like a petty revenge, just to see him flinch, instead of being bottled up inside.

But you’re okay. It hurts, but your heart is slowly healing. You’ll be okay.

“By the way, I already asked, but Mrs. Park won’t let us skip off the slow dance practice… And almost everyone already has a pair, so…” Mark says sheepishly and you let a small smile appear on your face. He shyly offers you his hand, the other one behind his back like a gentleman. You carefully put your hands on top of his, finding amusement on how his doe eyes widen, as if he didn’t expect you to actually take him. 

“I guess we’re stuck together” You complete his sentence shyly

You would kill yourself if anyone else had seen you in this vulnerable state, but when it’s Mark, you guess that you don’t mind his company.

1 Month Until Graduation

It’s been a while since you last used the school’s music room. Senior year and exams were taking a toll on you, even if you tried to deny it, and you almost had no time to properly have fun. 

But exams were over. All you had to do now was wait for the results— and find someone to take you to prom, but you didn’t want to think about that.

“Hi, sweetie-pie!” You say, in a honey-filled tone that would make yourself gag if it were in another situation

“What the fuck, y/n—”

“Shut up, I wasn’t talking to you!” You snap at Renjun, looking at the piano again changing back your expression to the loving one. You lean on the black, elegant, and probably expensive instrument that the school had, giving it a full peck on the lid. “Oh, my love, I missed you too much~ I’m really sorry for not visiting you soon”

Renjun furrows his eyebrows and pretends to puke with your antics and you let out a big laugh by that. He has a paper on his hands with a big logo full of mandarin characters on behind and he stares intensely at it, as if he wished it could bring itself to life and give him the answers he needed. You sit on the piano stool silently, your hands moving swiftly through the keys in a warm-up, without actually playing any song.

“I actually feel like Kelsi” You hum, your voice taking him out of his concentration on the paper. 

“Who?” He raises his eyebrows, confused

“High School Musical. The pianist, shy girl.” Renjun sighs heavily and you giggle at his tired eye roll

“After all these years, you still reference High School Musical at every fucking opportunity you get” He complains, making you grin

“Of course!” You beam, your hands producing a soothing and calm background noise. “We like music. Also, we’re in high school. And, the cherry on top: some of our squad are on the school’s Basketball team, the most cliche thing to ever happen. It’s almost a sign from the gods, saying ‘Do it!’. It’s only natural that I should be following the legends’ example, right?”

“No” He deadpans

“Ah, okay then,” You say, pouting. You shift your attention to the piano again, “I won’t sing or play to you anymore!— You’re also banned from this room. Yeah, yeah, that sounds right— Leave, you’re not allowed to listen what I’m going to play!”

“If you sing any of High School’s discography again, I swear to god—” he ignores your childsh remarks, scoffing and mumbling quite bitterly, also appearing on your peripheral vision and sitting beside you on the bench. You drop the brat attitude and stop playing for a second, making a comfortable silence fill the room. 

“No, it’s not that” Your tone is uncharacteristically soft. You watch as recognition flares in Renjun’s eyes right in the firsts notes you play, and you look away. “It’s been a long day, without you my friend.”

“And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again” He joins in, the harmonization of both of your voices not failing to make a chill run down your spine. The good kind of chill. You let him continue the song, bobbing your head and smiling slightly. “We’ve come a long way from where we began. Oh I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. When I see you again”

“Damn. Who knew? All the planes we flew, good things we've been through. That I'll be standing right here, talking to you about another path. I know we loved to hit the road and laugh. But something told me that it wouldn't last, had to switch up, look at things different, see the bigger picture. Those were the days, hard work forever pays. Now I see you in a better place” He raps, but his voice lacks the edge that a rapper normally displays. Instead, his tone is soft, almost singing rather than rapping. That style suits him, you think.

“How could we not talk about family, when family is all we got? Everything I went through you were standing there by my side. And now you gonna be with me for the last ride” You join him, even if your voice is on the weaker side as you’d have liked to let him have this moment solo. He notices this and nudges you, signalling to take the next part.

“So let the light guide your way, yeah… Hold every memory as you go” You sing with confidence and emotion, your voice vibrating, but not cracking. You lock eyes with Renjun, hoping that he could understand all of your feelings. “And every road you take, will always lead you home… Home”

“It’s been a long day, without my friend. And I’ll tell you all about when I see you again… When I see you again.”

Your hands leave the piano and fall limp at your sides. You purse your lips, feeling your eyes starting to water and you suddenly can’t bear to maintain eye contact. Renjun has his neck upwards, looking to the ceiling.

“What’re you doing...? You look stupid...” You mutter, still mocking his position despite your own emotions. You watch him from the corner of your eyes, as a single stray tear escapes and he gulps. You feel yourself breaking apart with him, the pain in your chest being ten times more intense than when you broke up with Hyunjin last year.

“...nothing” He manages to say, his hand searching in the air for a few seconds before he catches your own, intertwining your fingers for reassurance. You also feel your throat closing and you finally let yourself cry, lowering your head and making your hair cover your face from the sides.

“...did you tell anyone yet?” You whisper, afraid that if you say the words out loud, they’ll be even more frightening. 

“...no.” He sobs, covering his face with his other hand. You whip your head back, throwing all your hair behind your neck and rubbing your own palms harshly through your face as if punishing them for breaking down would solve anything. “I don’t even know what to do yet… I don’t want to leave, but—” 

Renjun leans his head on your shoulder, crying freely. You wonder, if the pain on your chest was already insufferable, how was he feeling? You didn't want him to leave, and neither did he wanted to do so, but if things were to this point… How could you ask him to stay? How could you be selfish?

Reality was cruel. Renjun was an exchange student. Deep down, you already knew since the beginning that things weren’t set to be permanent. You knew that he wasn’t like Chenle, whose parents came to live in Korea. Unlike you, Renjun had his own father, mother, sister and grandfather waiting for him to come back to home. Knowing that, how could you hope for him to stay?

You bring him to a tight hug, burying your head on his shoulder and crying your eyes out. You didn’t want to, but you started to fear the future. You wanted time to stop, to never graduate, to never go to college, so you all of you could be together without worries. You were being selfish and you also knew that, but you couldn’t find in yourself the willpower to stop that ugly feeling.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Renjun chants like a mantra, and you feel a wet patch on the fabric of your shoulder. You don’t mind, as your tears had already formed a bigger stain on his blazer.

“This is not a goodbye” You choke, swallowing with difficulty “We’ll see each other again”

3 Weeks Until Graduation

“Mrs. Park asked me if we could do something to perform in prom” You say as you enter the music room, counting the presence of all seven heads before nodding satisfied to yourself.

“And why should we do that?” Hyuck whines, laying down on the couch and facing you upside down “School is almost over, she can’t bribe us with extra points!”

“Well, I think we all forgot that Chenle and Jisung aren’t seniors, and theoretically, can’t attend prom—” You giggle nervously, tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear “But Mrs. Park said that if the music club performs, she can let it slide”

“It’s not that bad” Jaemin arches his eyebrow, glancing at the two youngsters and shrugging it off “We were planning on sneaking them from the kitchens, but this works too— It also prevents anyone from getting to jail from food poisoning”

“What the fuck Jaemin” You deadpan, the boy just sending you a peace sign. For the sake of your mental health, you decide to ignore that for a while.

“But it’s still such a bitch” Donghyuck sighs, rolling his body so he is now with his belly on the sofa. He supports his hands on his elbows in the classic flower position, which, may you add, makes him appear more innocent than he’ll ever be. “We have 3 weeks to come up with something original? Are you kidding me?”

“She said it’s alright if we cover something, as long we perform it live” You explain, breathing deeply to not lose your patience

“But it’s no fun if we do it like that~~!”

“Then why are you complaining in first place?!” You bicker, glaring when Donghyuck smirks, fluttering his eyelashes innocently. You roll your eyes and flip him off, making him snort.

“What are you? Five?” Renjun deadpans, shoving the other male on the side. Hyuck pouts, sending finger hearts at him(Renjun ignores all of it.)

“Guys, I think I have something—”

“We all know Lee Haechan has a single-digit IQ” Jeno mocks, earning another whine from Hyuck.

“Don’t use my artistic name like that!”

“Artistic my ass” You pretend to cough, “It’s more like a nickname you made when you were in middle school because you thought it was cool, but backfired badly when you grew up"

“Who even calls themselves Full Sun?” Renjun teases. Donghyuck gasps dramatically, fully sitting up so he can put his hand on his chest.

“Excuse me, Haechan is a fucking amazing name!” He pouts, his reaction making you snort ungracefully

“Guys—”

“Hey, children, let’s stop bullying your friend~” Jaemin speaks in his aegyo tone, taking Donghyuck’s cheeks in his hands and making kissing faces at him “Let’s spread love~”

“No, fuck! Mooooooooom! Save me!” Hyuck screams, terrified. You smirk amusedly and finally turn to Mark, who had already given up on trying to speak. 

“Sorry, what was it?” You tilt your head, noticing the papers in his hand. You take a seat on the office chair beside him, sneaking a glance through the computer and the music files in it. You don’t understand anything about producing, but Mark was good at it, so all of you could record songs even if you were just highschoolers. 

“I have something in my drafts that could help us” He says, giving you the paper with the lyrics on it. Both of you ignore the chaos rising behind you, already being used to the loudness that came up with your group. 

You raise your legs into the chair, sitting cross legged, leaning slightly forward. You don’t even notice yourself resting the back of your hand on Mark’s thigh, fingers playfully wiggling around as a silent request for him to take his hands in yours. He takes your demand in no time, tangling his fingers smoothly with yours in a firm, but gentle grip. You smile at that, a warm feeling consuming your body entirely.

“Puzzle piece? That sounds cute” You giggle, watching as Mark clicks in a file that you see that hasn’t been edited in more than a month. He stretches out for a headphone, putting it on your ears carefully before starting the track. The entire time your eyes are glued to his face, observing each feature in him as he’s distracted. Suddenly, you’re afraid of being caught staring for more time than it should be considered okay for friends, so you quickly turn your eyes to the computer, feeling your chest bubble with something you quite don’t know what it is.

“I started working on it before finals, but I didn’t do much because I had to study” He explains as you squint your eyes through the multiple layers and notes that you didn’t understand. Your eyes travel again to the lyrics sheet, a smile spreading in your lips unconsciously.

“You’re my missing puzzle piece~ Finally I solved it. You filled every piece of my heart, even the scarred part of it to the fullest. And somehow, you’ve become my everything, my missing puzzle piece” You test, the lyrics leaving your mouth quite smoothly with the incomplete song melody. “I liked it” You say, spinning your chair to face the dreamies again, noticing that they had calmed down and were quietly enjoying your voice. You feel shy with the sudden attention and you clear your throat with your fist in front of your mouth to hide it, passing the lyrics sheet to Jisung, who’s the closest. You lowkey miss the feeling of Mark’s hand trapped in yours, and that realization makes you even more shy. You take a deep breath, calming yourself down.

“Jaemin and I to wrote the lyrics” Jeno announced proudly, Jaemin nodding with him

“You did a good job” You smile proudly, raising a high five to both of them. Jaemin came to hit his hand with yours, but you troll him in the last second, changing your fingers to scissors. 

“You’re impossible” He deadpans and you roar with uncontrollable laughter. Jeno smirks, giving Jaemin sympathetic pats on the back

"I did something just for the overall feeling, but it's pretty nothing yet" Mark says, not seeming to be affected by the general chaos. "But I think we can finish it in less than a week? So there will be time to practice,"

“So, what were you thinking about? The melody, I mean” Chenle asked and you gave space for him to come closer, moving your chair. Mark pulled out his guitar supporting it on his thigh.

“Mostly C, E, A minor, G and F” He says the accords as he plays, switching the order to get other verses, but not playing any note besides those. The difference between stroking up and down the strings, along with the occasional change of chords are enough to bring a simple and aesthetic feeling. “Since it’s more in the heartwarming side, I think we could try for an acoustic vibe, y’know?”

“It’s good” Renjun nods, holding the sheets. “”Hello, it’s been so long, isn’t it?” The small piece that I put in my pocket and carry around everywhere, please be with me so it can be fuller and prettier. Na Jaemin, what the fuck are these—”

“Hey!” He protests, pouting “What’s wrong with my lyrics?”

“It’s cringy as fuck”

“The whole song is cringy as fuck, I don’t see your point here, hyung” Jisung mocks, and you giggle, agreeing with him

“But it’s cute” Chenle shakes his head, smiling slightly. “More than having everything, not losing that one thing is more important.” He reads the lyrics, nodding along

“Whoop whoop— Who were you thinking about when you wrote it, hm,~~? Was it me?” Hyuck leans down to support his weight on Jeno’s back, much to the other boy's dismay. 

“Ah. I won’t say, you’ll tease me to the end of the world” He sighs, earning a giggle.

“I knew it!” He exclaims, deep down already knowing the answer without even asking. 

"Ah, shut it, will ya?" Jeno grunts, rolling his eyes. "It's not about just one single person. It's more about us. There's eight of us, a pretty big group, might I say, but it somehow feels empty if a single person is missing. That's why, Missing Puzzle Piece"

"Wow." You say, caught off guard. Your lips curve upwards and there is a soft look in your eyes as you take in Jeno's flustered face by his own confession. "Why are you so good at writing lyrics?" You tease him lightheartedly.

"Maybe it's because Lee Jeno is the most awkward person I have ever seen" Renjun ponders, smirking.

"Nah, that's just Mark. Jeno comes in a second close, he's more like, the type that doesn't know how the fuck are you supposed to express yourself" You argue, Renjun having no choice but to agree with you.

"He's one of those talented composers that uses music to confess their feelings!" Chenle giggles like a teenager girl, poking Jeno's biceps. The latter has a suffering expression, apparently, giving up on having a peaceful environment.

"I can totally see Jeno using music to confess to someone" Jisung ponders out loud, making you cackle. "Imagine this: it's two am, Jeno has a guitar on his lap and is sitting on the couch. In front of him, on the center table, are Seol, Lal and Bongshik. They're the only ones he loves anyway, so he's serenading them!"

You think you're having an aneurysm from the intensity you laugh and shake your shoulders, feeling your belly burn with every snort you let out. Your eyes travel across the room and they stop at Mark’s expression, admiring how his muscle faces contort with every laugh that escapes from his lips. 

“Ah, fuck, why am I being so attacked right now?” Jeno curses, slightly pissed but his body completely still against the couch.

“Don’t worry, Jeno-ah, everyone has their moments” Donghyuck teases. Jeno narrows his eyes at him, gripping his shoulder in a tight grip and applying force enough to make the other boy whine, while giggling happily “Ah, ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please, don’t— Ack!”

“We’re getting off track” Mark warns, although his smile reveals that he’s having fun watching Hyuck suffer. “Guys, let’s focus right now, right? We can mess later”

You’re scared of what this fuzzy feeling in your chest means. But at the same time, you feel safe, as nothing in the world could hurt you. It’s a giant mess of feelings that you didn’t want to tackle right now, so you just let it be.

2 Weeks Until Graduation

All of you were reunited in Chenle's backyard. His house was big enough for you to decide suddenly that you wanted to do a sleepover— More exactly, you wanted to sleep outside. The first option was to go to a beach, but you still had school to attend, so camping on the grass with multiple tents set up seemed fair enough. (Also, Chenle’s parents were the only ones that had a house big enough for eight teenegers and didn’t care if those eight teenagers were screaming and being hormonal kids)

Three tents were set up. You didn’t mind sharing with one of the boys, but Mrs. Zhong was really worried, so you decided to at least give her some peace of mind. You had the smallest tent to yourself, while Chenle and Jisung shared another small one and the others shared the large one. Mark brought his guitar from home and was mindlessly playing with the strings, producing a soothing background music to fulfill the silence. The rest of you were sprawled on the grass, looking at each other, or in your case, the starry sky. There were some lamps on the outside of the house, but you guys chose to put a cheap yellow lantern in the middle of the circle just to set up a sappy mood, almost like a city-version of camping. 

“Did you guys get your exam results?”

For almost a month, all eight of you made a silent deal to never mention college and exam results. It was painful to even consider that you weren’t going to see each other every day, so it was easier to pretend that it wasn’t going to happen any soon. That, and you were silently trying to not upset Jisung. The episode of three months ago was still clear in your head— you hated yourself for it, but his words messed with your emotions. It was hypocritical as fuck of you to assure him that everything was going to be okay when even you didn’t know if it was true or not. You didn’t spill the tea directly to Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck or Jaemin, but they already knew that Jisung and Chenle were highkey worried about all of you graduating. 

So, when Jisung finally addressed the elephant in the room— To say that you were tense was an understatement.

“I passed. Seoul National.” Jaemin breaks the silence, a grin on his face. 

“What?!” You exclaim, immediately rolling around so you were on your belly and you could face him. You had the biggest and proudest smile on your cheeks. 

“SNU? Wow” Jeno exclaims, punching him on the shoulder, being joined by both Renjun and Donghyuck. Jaemin whines, but his smile never leaves his lips even once.

“That’s amazing!” You feel your shoulder relax a bit at the news, beaming at him. 

“Yeah. And it’s not that far either” Jaemin adds, you notice that Renjun’s expression falters a bit. You don’t dare to mention his change out loud. At least not for now.

“It’s not a big one like Jaemin, but I passed too. Hanyang University. I tried for Architecture, actually. Changed my mind at the last second.” Jeno giggles shyly and you also beam at him.

“What do you mean ‘it’s not big’?” You whine, being your turn to slap his thighs. “It’s seventh in South Korea! Be more proud of it!”

“I thought you were going to go after basketball” Mark wonders, tipping his head

“I was.” Jeno shrugs at him. “But there are a lot of things to take into consideration when you choose a sports career. The most obvious of them is height, and well— I have 1.77. It’s pretty good for the average korean man, but I don’t think I would’ve made it into a basket team.”

“Ah, true. That sucks, tho” Chenle groans, tucking his leg into himself. “I have 1.78. It’s not a lot either.”

“It happens.” Jeno finishes “I’m not upset about it, actually. I’m really looking forward to study architecture— I have an uncle that works at a construction company and if I do well, he said that he can take me under his wing”

“Well, as long you’re satisfied—” Hyuck pats his back, also using the situation to snuggle into him. “We’re happy for you”

“Thanks” He smiles, his eyes turning into small moons. 

“Music, Sungkyunkwan University. ” You take the cue, announcing proudly with a peace sign. “It’s not the closest, but still is around Seoul, so it’ll be okay. At most i’ll have to take long rides on the train to meet you guys, so it still works”

“Sungkyunkwan is awesome” Jisung’s eyes sparkle and you let out a shy chuckle, nodding “I want to try for them next year, but I’m not really sure”

“Whoa, imagine that? Park Jisung as my super duper cute junior?” You tease, poking his leg. Jisung makes a face at you and you laugh.

“Well, for me, I’m at Kwangwoon. I’m going for Journalism and communications” Donghyuck announces, pulling you closer and forcing you to sit up for him to sneak his arm around your shoulders. “It’s far as fuck from the other Universities here in Seoul, but at least, we’re close.” He says that last part directed at you, making you nod.

“I passed in Music in Chung-ang” You widen your eyes at Mark, but not in the good way

“You’re going to Anseong?” Your voice wavers, but he just chuckles.

“Nope. They have a Seoul campus.” He explains, chuckling “If you guys think Kwangwoon is far, just wait until you see on the map where it’s located—”

“I’m going back to China.”

Mark’s voice dies and you almost break your neck with the speed you turn to look at Renjun. His gaze is fixed on the grass, not daring to maintain eye-contact with anyone.

“Sorry...” He mumbles. Before you can say anything, he sniffles and wipes a stray tear. “I— My parents—” Jaemin engulfed him in a tight hug. Renjun buries his head on Jaemin’s shoulders, sobbing. You don’t even notice when the tears start to flow down your own cheeks.

“It’s okay… We aren’t mad, Injunnie…” Jaemin soothes, tapping the other male’s back.

“It’s just that... I miss them… Too much”

Renjun was an exchange student, you remember again for the nth time this month. His parents still are in China. He was living almost three years on his own, going home only on holidays. You can’t even imagine what he’s thinking or feeling, being conflicted between his biological family and his heart family.

“I got into Sichuan Conservatory of Music. They’re great and have an interdisciplinary background in music and art, so I was really conflicted, but—” He chokes. Chenle and Jisung also come closer to comfort him as he talks. ”I spoke with my mom. She said I could choose to stay in Korea if I really wanted to, but I miss her and my dad too much”

“Oh, Injunnie, that’s amazing…I’m proud of you”  Jeno encourages and you lift yourself from the ground, immediately tackling Renjun, hugging him from behind. After a few seconds, everyone is in a big and messy group hug. You hope that Renjun doesn’t care about tear stains on his shirt the next day.

“When are you leaving?” Jisung’s questions break your heart in countless pieces, making you bury your face even more in Renjun’s back.

“Three weeks after graduation.” He mumbles almost incoherently and you sniff.

The hug lasts a good ten minutes before Jisung complains that his back was hurting from bending it to reach Renjun’s height, making everyone let out a good laugh. Renjun wipes his face and you follow his example. His face is slightly swollen and his eyes are red. You notice that Donghyuck also has reddish eyes, but you don’t comment on that because you’re also certain that you look worse. Jeno was trying to hold it together, but even he couldn’t hide the sorrow in his eyes. Jaemin was consoling Jisung, who was still sobbing despite the earlier joke, rubbing the younger one’s shoulder. Chenle had an arm loosely above Renjun’s shoulders, not crying, but obviously affected by the news. Mark sighs loudly and takes back his guitar, back to playing some random tune on it, trying to make the atmosphere less depressed and awkward.

“There isn’t a campfire here, but…”

You recognize the first strums, as your lips quirk up.

“Camp rock? Really?” You laugh, but your chest starts to grow warm with the choice of music “That’s, like, the cheesiest thing in the story of cheesy things.”

“I hate to admit, but it fits the moment.” Jaemin mutters, a teasing tone. 

“Shut it, both of you” Mark scolds slightly, but you just widen your smile.

“So let’s sing na, nanananana, hey~, yah” Donghyuck starts. He makes eye contact with Mark, and both grin. Mark joins him, their voices blending softly in the night “C’mon and sing na, nananana, hey, ya.”

You sigh, pretending to be annoyed, but the smile on your face can’t fool anyone.

“This is our song, that’s all it matters, cause we all belong, right here together, there’s nothing better than singing along~ This is our summer” You grin, maintaining eye contact with Mark and Donghyuck at all times. “This is our song”

“And this is our song~” When all of your voices join, you can’t help but to feel emotional. All of your hands (except Mark’s) maintain a nice rhythm, clapping as your voices fill up the backyard. Hyuck takes charge of the adlibs, his honey-tone enhancing everyone and perfectly synergizing with all the voices.

You take a look at everyone’s faces. There’s a kind of understanding, even if no one said anything out loud. The song is happy, but it holds an emotional baggage to it as each one of you already knows that you won’t be able to sit down and sing carelessly like this in the future. 

You all sang multiple times together. None of you were professionals yet, but you liked to think that music had an important role in holding your friendship together. You couldn’t count the amount of random moments when one of you was humming a song, and out of nowhere, there was a full choral singing, even if it was the silliest song humankind has ever produced.

“This is our song…” Mark finishes, his hand falling limp on his lap. 

“Wow. Out a whole list of emotional, happy, but sad songs to choose from, you take one from Camp Rock.” Jisung sasses, even if it’s clear that his words don’t hold a real bite. “Real shitty taste, if I must say, even more for someone who’s going to take music”

“Excuse me? Camp Rock is great!” He defends, offended. You giggle at that.

“You’re going to be a professional musician one day. You’ll write your own songs, right? If you don’t do anything else inspired by us, I swear to god, I’m ending this friendship” You joke, nudging his side. 

“I’ll think about it” He smiles at you, making your chest fill up with warmth. His fingers suddenly pause the music and you watch as he gulps nervously and looks directly at the eyes of everyone “Even if we’re physically distant from one another, let’s try to be in touch, right?”

“Yeah…” You mutter along the boys and you lift your head so you’re staring at the stars. They twinkle and shine at you, almost as if they understand the bittersweet situation you have on your hands.

“Markie-poo” The older boy is startled as Hyuck brings back the old nickname he had given him when they were children. “Why don’t you do a chant for all of us?” 

“What— Why me?” He whines and you chuckle.

“You’re the oldest. It only feels right.” Jeno interferes, half teasing, half touched. 

“C’mon, Markie-hyung~~” Jaemin shakes his shoulders, forcing aegyo with a full pout that makes you cringe. Mark groans, shaking his head,

“Ah, you guys—” He scolds, but there is a fond smile on his cheeks. You smile, taking your time to admire your friends.

When you first met Mark, you thought that he was a goody two-shoes. You were ten, and at that time, you were constantly upset with him because he was the type of student that would remind the teacher that she had passed homework last week(and you also weren’t the type that would actually do your work sheet). You don’t even remember when you two started to be actually friends, and you don’t even know where you would be right now if you didn’t have him in your life. 

Jaemin and Jeno kind of came like a package. You’d known them since you were children— since you were five, actually. You remember playing with them sometimes in the playground, bickering because you thought insects were gross, while they loved to hunt for butterflies and bugs. Sadly, you’d moved from the neighborhood when you were eight, and your parents decided that the tiny house wasn’t enough for them. Despite that, five years after that, you find them in the same school and class as you— Also, same class as Mark and Donghyuck. 

Although they were inseparable, they were different on their own. Jeno was more laid back, the chill kind of guy. His humor was underrated— but that was expected, considering that you had a lot of pranksters and screamers on your group—, his jokes sometimes passed over your heads as not everyone had enough braincells to actually understand.

Jaemin had some crazy mood swings. One day, he was the calmest person to ever exist, and another, he spoke as if he was high on drugs and would say questionable things. He was either a patient and loving guy, or he would nag you until you rip your ears off. It was slightly unsettling how good he was at reading you and giving advice, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

You hated Donghyuck at first. He was a cool guy that made everyone laugh, but you couldn’t stand his teasing jokes at some moments. You and him formed a friendship only when he dropped his carefree mask. You found him crying behind the bushes of the garden because of a mean comment some kid made when they thought he wasn’t listening. In fifteen minutes of real, heart-to-heart conversation, you’d finally seen that he wasn’t just a jokester, and he wasn’t always happy, like everyone else assumed.

Chenle came when you were 13. He was a cute junior, but he had slightly language barrier problems because he didn’t know how to speak korean well. As a canadian kid himself(but living in Korea since he was a child), Mark took upon himself to help Chenle adapt to school, even if their languages weren’t the same. You thought that Chenle was cute— and that didn’t change even now, almost in adulthood—, and you did all you could to help him. He was thrilled and hyped for everything, making your heart melt for him like ice cream on a sunny day.

Jisung came almost at the same time as Chenle. Both of them were in the same class, and Chenle took the other boy to meet his older friends when he realised that Jisung hadn’t any friends in school. Your mother instincts were activated almost instantly. He looked up at you as an example (you were a mess at studying and procrastinated to do every single assignment, but he still idolized you) and you pushed yourself to not disappoint him. You and Jaemin also bickered, trying to compete for Jisung’s love, but at some point you had achieved a mutual agreement of sharing his heart—much to Jisung’s dismay.

Renjun came much later, in freshman year of high school. He first met Chenle, as both of them were chinese, but he had more practice in speaking korean then the other boy at the time he had arrived. He was the one you clicked with the quickest. You thought that he was a shy, innocent boy at first, but his witty remarks matched perfectly your group dynamics, and everyone warmed up to him in no time. 

For three years, the group was complete. You took them for granted— You thought you were going to be each other’s anchor for the rest of your lives, and you’d never separate even if you had the biggest fight. You didn’t consider that you didn’t need a fight to go on different paths. 

The sound of bickering and teasing was so familiar to your ears that you were afraid of the future, when you wouldn’t hear Chenle’s high pitched laugh, or Jaemin’s whines and aegyo everyday. Or Donghyuck’s teasing, Renjun’s sass and Jeno’s deep chuckles. You wouldn’t witness Jisung’s nose crunching when he cringes, or Mark’s entire face blushing when he was embarrassed. You would lose that.

Maybe you were being dramatic. It’s not like any of you were dying— You just were going to college, for fucks’ sake. But you couldn’t help the painful squeeze of your chest, as you were missing something that was still here.Renjun was staying in Korea for 3 weeks after graduation. That gave you exactly a month until you’d have to say goodbyes. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it.” Mark gave in. He straightened his posture. “Yo dream!”

A single tear made his path down your cheek, but you didn’t bother to wipe it off.

“Jjeoreo! Juja! Fighting!”

You still had time

Five Days Until Graduation

“Hm, hi—”

“It’s three am,” You state groggily, “Why the fuck are you calling me at three fucking am, Mark Lee?”

You hear a gulp and the line stays silent for a whole minute. You close your eyes for a few seconds, dazed, not even registering the time passing as you’re half asleep. Mark finally speaks after two minutes

“—an we meet up?”

“...what?”

“I said, can we meet up?” He repeats, slightly exasperated. You yawn and he sighs. “It’s important, I swear,”

“...how important…?” Your voice is muffled by the pillows and Mark can’t help but to release a deep chuckle. You swear you’re in dreamland again, as you think that his laugh had some kind of spell that made your entire body relax at the same instant.

“I’m at the front of your home” Your eyes are wide and you immediately jump out of the bed, kicking the warm covers to the floor and rushing to your window. You push the curtains, looking through the glass

“What the fuck— Mark, why are you outside? What in the world—”

“It’s okay. Just come down, please…”

Your eyes soften and you sigh. You have known Mark Lee for more than nine years by now. You were sure you could recognize every emotion that passed in his eyes— That’s why you believe that he holds some kind of emotion that you’re not even aware of, and he desperately wants to hide it from the world. It’s almost like you’re in middle school again, when he lied about being fine, and insisted on being the perfect student, overworking himself to the limit and refusing to admit that he was human too and was likely to fail sometimes.

But it’s also different this time. His chuckle is bittersweet, most likely not sincere, but it’s not a hundred percent fake. The only thing is you can’t point out why you think that.

“Also, it’s cold outside, so wear something warm, okay?” He adds, interpreting your silence as agreement. You catch a hoodie that was thrown on your chair and you wear it over your pajamas, putting your fluffy slippers on your feet. 

You quickly go downstairs, not really caring if you made any noise. Your parents weren’t home anyways, so you didn’t have to worry about that. You unlock your door, only to see Mark in your yard, staring at the road. He’s not looking at the cars, you realise, he’s looking at the stars. Mark has only a white t-shirt, jeans and a black blazer that you guess that doesn’t do wonders, considering the way he hugs himself searching for warmth.

“Wear something warm, that’s what he said” You mock him, but deep down, you’re slightly concerned.  “What are you doing? Come inside, quick!”

“Sorry” He apologises, but you give a light slap on the shoulder as he passes by, muttering something about he shouldn’t apologise under your breath. He makes a beeline for your couch, hiding his face in his hands that were supported on his thighs.

“What’s up with you and Jisung, coming at my home late at night for pep talks?” You try to joke, failing as your voice cracks. Your chest is squeezing and you feel like you can’t breathe properly even if Mark hasn’t said anything yet

“I’m sorry” He mumbles again. You bit your lower lip, frowning.

“It’s all right, you know I don’t mind if you guys decide to raid my home at random times—”

“It’s not that... I’m going back to Vancouver.”

You go blank. Mark raises his head, doe eyes wavering. He’s not crying, but all the pain and despair are clear in his gaze.

“W-what…” Your own eyes are wide. You feel your throat dry and you can’t think of any words that made sense to be spoken out loud, the living room suddenly spinning and closing on you. “As a travel…?” You know it’s not, but you still hoped that, somehow, you had overanalyzed and misunderstood all of his red flags.

“No… I’m moving”

You suddenly can’t breathe. You stumble back to the table room, your knees giving up and forcing you to sit on the glass. The first tears drop from the corner of your eyes, but you barely register them.

“Fuck, I’m sorry—” Mark pleads again, standing up and walking around the room nervously. “I wanted to go to college with you guys— or at least be here in Korea, but—” He massages his forehead, hands dropping down to his lower face to drown a scream.

You force your legs to stand up, slightly wobbling in your steps as you walk to him. You launch yourself at him, circling your arms in his waist and clutching him as if your life depended on that, drowning yourself in the sensation of being squeezed between his own embrace while you had the chance to.

“It’s my grandma,” He talks after recovering his composure, burying his chin on your shoulders. You lay your forehead on his collarbone, afraid of letting him see your own despair “She has alzheimer. We thought she was doing okay, but last night, my auntie called… She said that grandma had an episode. She wasn’t eating, and was almost forgetting how to breathe during her sleep, so she was rushed to the hospital” You finally feel his tears dripping down your hoodie and you raise your hands to his upper back, drawing circles on his skin. “Mum and auntie agreed that granny probably doesn’t have much time… So we’re going back.”

“W-when—” You choke on your saliva, moving away for a second so you could cough and wipe your ugly tears. Mark catches your hands in his, not wanting to completely cease contact “W-when you’re going?”

“...wednesday.”

“But that is—”

“Five— No, actually, four days from now.” His hold gets tighter and you slowly process the information.

“So… You won’t attend prom, right…?” You want to slap yourself for that question, shaking your head. His grandma is passing away and the first thing you say it’s about some stupid party. Wow, way to go, you thought bitterly. “Sorry, ya’ don’t need to answer that.”

“I’m sorry” he shakes his head

“Stop apologising!” You scold, breaking down in tears once more. You feel your shoulders shaking and you try to wipe your face again, but you can’t win against the flow down your cheeks. “It isn’t your fault, so stop being so sweet and caring and everything! Shit, why the fuck am I the one crying—?! I should be the one supporting you, not the other way around…I’m so stupid, why—”

“Don’t say that, you’re not stupid...” Mark brings you again to his chest and you sob, your fingers gripping the fabric of his t-shirt fearing for the future. His left hand snakes up to your neck, making you lean your head on his shoulder again as he plays with his fingers through your hair strands. “Prom is important, I know that… If I could choose, I’d stay one more day, just to wrap things up properly, but…”

He doesn’t finish his speech, his voice dying a bit. You feel a gentle tap on your shoulder, and the next thing, you’re staring directly at Mark’s eyes. Despite the overall depressing situation, he still gazes at you fondly, wearing his heart on his sleeve without any second thoughts. His hand is nothing but caring as he moves the hairs on your face behind your ear, leaving traces of warmth in your skin in the trail. He withdraws a bit, only enough to tinker with his phone quickly.

“Y’know… We were partners at that dance lesson a month ago... And since neither of us has gotten ourselves a date to prom, I guess we’re still in game, right?”

You recognize the first notes of Perfect easily. A little laugher escapes from your mouth, your lips curving themselves to match Mark’s own smile. He drops his phone somewhere on the couch and casually messes up his black hair, somehow managing to make himself twenty times more attractive than the usual, also making exaggerated motions of fixing his blazer before curving down to an elegant bow from the 90’s.

“It’s not exactly what I had in my plans, but…” He reaches out, his hand open right in front of you. “y/n...Can I have this dance?”

You wipe the corners of your eyes one more time before nodding quite shyly, which is a feeling so foreign that you suddenly don’t know how you’re supposed to act. Mark seems to notice that as he takes upon himself to connect your hands, his fingers intertwined with yours and his touch burning through your skin. He lets out a content hum, slowly taking some steps back to reach a free space, far from both the couch and the table. You watch mesmerized as he confidently guides your hands to his shoulders, his arms wrapping around your waist with ease, almost as if your bodies were meant to complete each other. 

You’re dumbfounded, to say, at least. It was almost as if the roles were reversed. Since you were children, you had always been the confident one, while Mark assumed the more awkward type of boy— You’d made fun of him more times than you could count, repeating the iconic quotes he spilled when he was pressured and nervous (“this is so high, it’s like my grades!”). Suddenly, he’s not horribly awkward with skinship anymore, and you don’t know what exactly to think. Did you like it? Yes. Did you hate it? Also, yes.

“Cause we were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing what it was.I will not give you up, this time” You whisper the lyrics, swinging side-to-side. You don’t dare to sing the next verse, though. Mark nods, looking at you as if you were the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his whole life. His hands are nothing but gentle as he spins you around, something that was never taught in Mrs. Park’s class last month. 

You hate the things he makes you feel. Your heart is full, but at the same time, it crushes within itself painfully every single time you’re reminded that Mark is going back to Canada. His hands made your skin tickle— in the good way. It brings chills, because it’s cold, but it also is extremely warm. You’re hyper aware of his arms circling your waist tenderly, your fingertips squeezing his shoulder with tenderness. Deep down, you already know that this isn’t how friends would interact with each other, but you’re too afraid to acknowledge that, and eventually make things even more difficult.

“We are still kids, but we're so in love, fightin' against all odds… I know we'll be alright this time” He sings, his raspy voice echoing in the walls. You feel the tears coming back to your eyes, “Darling, just hold my hand, be my girl and I’ll be your man. I see the future in your eyes”

You’re tired of crying. You’re afraid that you were being overdramatic with all of this graduation thing, and for a second, you started to question if you were being annoying, all of your self-confidence dropping for a swift moment. You bring your arms upwards from Mark’s shoulders, wrapping them around his neck in a deep embrace, taking the opportunity to hide your face in his collarbones again. Mark lets out a tired sigh, unspoken words flowing around you with a deep melancholy. 

You’re tired of people leaving you behind, you finally realize. Some old memory comes flying in your mind, one time that Jeno mentioned that you might have some abandonment issues, and you had denied it back then with all your might. However, if he said the same thing to you today, you would have no choice but to agree with him.

First were your parents, who had never cared for you in the first place, leaving you behind while they went on long business trips since you were eight. Then your girl friends at middle school, who ganged up on you one day and said that you weren’t cool enough to hang out with them. Hyunjin, your ex, who made sure to blame you for all mistakes made in your relationship. Maybe all of that justified your anxiety of losing your friends, the only ones who had stayed until now. You knew that people could easily keep being friends, even if they were in different countries, because they had the internet to chat even if they were miles apart. A part of you screamed inside, extremely dull as you couldn’t help but to think that you wouldn’t talk to any of your friends if you weren’t in the same classroom everyday.

“We’ll be okay” Mark whispers in your ear, as if he could sense your thoughts going spiral. 

You close your eyes tightly, letting yourself imagine you and Mark, in prom, with fancy clothes. You imagine him wearing a tuxedo, leading you into the dance floor, the fabric of your dress swaying in the air as if you were in some kind of Hollywood movie. Your friends would be cheering you on, and everyone else from school would be looking at you dreamly, as if they wanted to be in yours or Mark’s place. 

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms

Barefoot on the grass, listenin' to our favorite song

When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful

I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight

Zero days until graduation

“Yah, if you don’t stop crying, your eyes will get so puffed that not even the best foundation in the world will help you” 

“What you’re talking about, Jaemin, I’m not crying—”

“Yeah, sure, everyone believes that—”

Your last week has passed in a blink of an eye. Before you could even process what was happening, you and the rest of your friends were in your house, drinking and spending your last hours with Mark before he had to leave for Canada.

It was dramatic. Since his flight was at 2 am (who the fuck thought that flights at 2 in the morning were a good idea?), you decided to spend the whole day together. Once every three hours, one of you would burst into tears, mainly you, Donghyuck and Jisung, the crybabies of the group. 

You didn’t go to the airport to see him off. In fact, Mark didn’t let any of you see him— He said it would be more painful that way. That didn’t prevent you from crying your eyes out anyway, and at this point, you think you actually dehydrated yourself from the alarming amount of tears you spent in the last 48 hours. 

“Fuck you then,” You hiss, hearing the laughters of Jaemin and Chenle from your computer. You were on discord, in a server that had all of you, including Mark. Just seeing his name appear on the members’ list made a jab straight into your chest, your eyes watering effortlessly. “—not gonna cry tonight. My tear ducts are dry already”

“I smell bullshit” Jisung pops out of nowhere and you sigh. 

“Anyway, not gonna happen. Not crying tonight, nuh-uh” You shake your head, slightly pissed “First, it’s extremely humiliating to cry on prom— Even more if you’re alone, that’s just… Sad.”

“And who the fuck said that?” Jisung roasts, making you sigh. Ah, so much for raising him, you think.

“I did” You counter, extremely concentrated on your current task: putting on your makeup. The boys were playing PUBG, not bothering to prepare themselves, for now. You still had more than four hours until prom, but you were anxious and couldn’t help yourself. “Whatever, what I’m trying to say here is that I won’t cry tonight. I don’t need to make everything more depressing than it already is, so I’ll just dance my worries away. It sounds like a good plan to me”

“Wow,” Chenle gasps suddenly, and you pause your artwork to briefly look at his icon flashing on your screen— A childhood picture of him holding a giant gun, smiling brightly as if nothing was happening. “Your levels of bullshit just hit the fan”

“Ah, you’re both so mean to me~” You whine, pouting even if they can’t see it. You’re unconsciously trying to deflect the situation, even if you’re not aware. “Both of you are younger than me, but why am I being so disrespected like that?”

“Because you’re lame” Jisung fires and you let out another whine. Chenle yells something about Jisung’s poop hands almost killing them on the game, but you’re not paying enough attention to understand whatever they’re arguing about.

“Okay, now, back to the topic,” Jaemin cleans his throat and you feel your shoulder tensing up. “I’m worried”

“You don’t need to, I’m fine” You’re a bit defensive. Jisung opens his mouth to say something sassy, but you don’t understand what he said, as Jaemin’s voice drowns him.

“I think we know each other long enough to know that’s completely, utterly, totally, entirely, absolutely full of bullshit”

“Wait, doesn’t all of that mean the exact same thing?” Chenle pipes up, confused. Jisung, Jaemin and you let out a synchronized sigh. Right, foreign problems.

“Like I said, you don’t need to worry, Jae” You spoke in a soft tone, halting your hand that was blending the foundation. “I will be fine, I guess. There’s not much to do about Renjunnie and Mark leaving anyway, so it’s no use to waste your time worrying about me.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that,” He scolds, but his words didn’t hold a real bite. It kinda reminds you of how a mother scolds her child— You didn’t actually experience that, but you suppose that’s how it’s meant to be. “It’s okay to feel hurt, even if there’s nothing to do about. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t bottle it up. Renjunnie was really worried these days, because you wouldn’t say anything about your feelings.”

“Yeah” Jisung butts in, only because he didn’t know what to speak, but he felt the need to be verbal. You can almost see Jaemin rolling his eyes in his house, but that thought doesn’t humor you like it should.

“Well, it’s just that...” You start, but you can’t find the exact words to express the mess in your head. “All of us are passing for the same thing, so I feel like it’s unfair of me to be complaining and crying at all times while you guys are not”

“And why the fuck do you think we don’t complain and cry at all times?” Jaemin is quick to counter, making you sigh for the nth time. “Hyuckie didn’t answer anyone yesterday because he was busy crying and eating ice cream while he watched Toy Story 3 and 4”

“Toy Story is sad, it’s normal” Chenle defends, as he cries every time single time too. 

“Yeah, he also cried over Spiderman: Far From Home and the last episode of ICarly. You know, the one when Carly goes to live with her dad and everything” Jaemin shrugs, but you don’t actually see it, you just imagine him doing that. 

“That’s tough, buddy” Jisung mutters

“Well, do you see a pattern there?” Jaemin continues, ever patient “That’s Hyuck’s way to cope with Mark leaving. He’s not that good either, but at least he lets himself feel bad and he talks to someone about what he’s thinking. That’s way more healthier than closing yourself and not talking at all, if you ask me.”

“So, do you want me to spill all my inner insecurities and ugly cry again?”

“Basically, yes”

“What the fuck Jaemin” All four of you chuckle at that, even if it wasn’t the best moment to actually be funny. Somehow, you feel a bit less overwhelmed with everything, as Jaemin’s words helped you understand that you weren’t being annoying, as your low self esteem suggested. You fall silent for some seconds, taking your time to process everything— Chenle shouts again at Jisung for dropping the wrong item and you take a deep breath, their casual bickering grounding you to reality. “... and thank you, I guess…”

“It would make me ten times happier if you kept on talking, but that’s also okay, I guess. Can’t have everything we want,” He jokes, using your own words and a light hearted nagging tone, making you smile a bit. “We can have more deep talk some other time, when you feel like you’re ready. Just, please, don’t cry again. You’re going to have giant dark circles and puffy eyes on prom night,”

“Fuck you, they’re not that bad” You pout, returning to your task of preparing your skin.

“By the way, do you want a ride? Jeno’s mum offered us,” Jaemin changes the topic and you can also hear shuffling and muffled voices in the back “Hey, auntie, I’m talking right now with y/n, can you say hi?”

“Oh, hi my dear!” Mrs. Lee says, giggling. Your heart warms up at the woman’s voice, her sweet image being always kept on your brain as a comforting one. “It’s been a long time since you last came to visit, right?”

“Yeah, since the beginning of the year” You nod, not registering that this was a call and no one could see you. “How are you, auntie? Are you good these days?”

 “Yes!” She shouted, her voice distant from the microphone. You heard water running, so you presumed she was washing something—Maybe the dishes? “I’m proud and very emotional today, you see. I remember taking watch over you, Jaemin-ah and Jeno when you were just children playing in the park, and today, you’re going to prom”

“Ah, yeah, auntie! About that, I was just convincing her to go to prom with us” Jaemin adds, and you can see his scheming face from miles away

“Oh, that’s right, dear!” Mrs. Lee agrees, the water dying down and her voice much closer this time. “Jeno told me your parents were in Japan this week, so we can take you and the boys. I will take a lot of photos, don’t worry!” She giggles and you smile

“Are you sure I won’t be a problem? I don’t want to intrude” You say shyly 

“Nonsense!” Mrs. Lee assures, her tone indicating there was no other option “It’s always good to see you, honey. Don’t tell Jeno, but I love you more than I love my own son~”

“What about me~~?” Jaemin whines, making you both chuckle. 

“At this point, I think you’re like our adopted son” Mrs. Lee muses out loud “Well, anyways, it’s been good to talk to you. I need to iron Jeno’s clothes, so we can speak later~ Ah, Jaemin, can you go bang on the bathroom’s door? Jeno’s taking too long on the shower!”

You chuckle as Mrs. Lee’s voice starts to fade in the background, the male probably walking off to the bathroom. Chenle and Jisung continue to bicker about PUBG, and right now, your heart is unexpectedly warm and fuzzy, unlike the feeling of emptiness you had until some hours ago.

“Yah, Park Jisung, how could you miss that shot?!”

“He was moving!”

“HE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!”

You and Jaemin snicker, amused with the duo’s antics. At some point, Chenle’s words became slurred enough for you to not understand his chinese accent, while Jisung kept making strange and confused noises. You hear some shuffling on Jaemin’s end, background voices, and something that seems like Jaemin taking off his headphones.

“Are you on the server?” You recognize Jeno’s voice and you suppress the urge to scream in everyone’s ears just to annoy him.

“Yeah? Why?” You doze off for a bit, staring at the wall in front of you expressionless. You don’t understand what Jeno says next, only waking up from your daydream when the Jaemin says “Hey, I’ll have to go now, and it’s better if the kids also start to get ready for prom too.”

“I’m not a kid anymore” Jisung mutters, and you can imagine the pout on his lips even if you don’t actually see it.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that—” Jaemin snorts, “Anyways, y/n, I’ll text you later whenever we’re picking you up or if it’s better to come here to Jeno’s house”

“Tell them I said hi!” You hear Jeno scream and a smile pops up on your face without even realizing it.

“Jeno said he hates all of you” Jaemin lies shamelessly, and you hear the other boy screaming at him while he laughs his ass off. “Whatever, bye!”

The party was mesmerizing. 

You weren’t going to lie, you’d thought the school wouldn’t spend this much effort on prom, judging by the ex-students that graduated last year, who said the school barely paid any effort on decorating the hall. But his year, they seemed to be redeeming themselves for their previous mistake.

There was an elegant chandelier hanging from the ceiling right in the entrance, each shard reflecting a different light in the walls that made you mesmerized. The hall was decorated in golden tones, giving the ambient a luxurious vibe that really made everything feel like you were finally entering adulthood. Each table had a delicate flower arrangement with candles, which honestly, made you flabbergasted. 

The moment your eyes laid on the dancing floor, you felt an inexplicable unease deep down in your stomach. The lights were perfect, the DJ contracted by the school had only played good songs in the short five minutes you were in the party, and everything was absolutely flawless, so why were you upset?

“Do you miss him too?” Donghyuck’s quiet voice snaps you out of your trance, only then that both of you were frozen right in the entrance, where everyone was taking their pictures. You eye Chenle and Jisung, both going ahead, already saving a table for all of you. Their fancy tuxedo contrasted with their green and pink hair, making a funny sight overall.

“Stop talking like Mark is dead” Jeno laughs weakly, elbowing him. Renjun had his eyes lost in the view, obviously, head flying over the skies. It didn’t need a genius to guess what was going on inside his head.

“It feels incomplete” Renjun mutters, and you swear you saw his eyes watering. You purse your lips and look away, already feeling the emotions wanting to pour out. “I mean, we started as eight. Why are we ending with only seven?”

“Actually, we started with six— Chenle and Jisung are younger, even if we forget that sometimes” Jaemin shrugs off and Renjun rolls his eyes.

“You know what I meant, don’t try to be funny!” Renjun snarls, making grabby hands at Jaemin, wanting to choke him. 

“Well, let’s stop this depressing conversation. I miss Mark, but it’s really lame if we end in ugly tears right on prom night.” You finally say, taking a deep breath. To try to lighten up the mood, you smile teasingly “Ah, by the way, my mascara is waterproof, but I’m not sure about the rest of my makeup, so you fuckers better behave!”

“Won’t promise anything,” Donghyuck chuckles and you slightly slap him. He runs his hand through his hair, making a mess on top of his head, but you had to admit that he looked good that way “We have a show to do, right? Let’s do this, so we’re free to drink”

“They have drinks here?” Jeno raises his eyebrow, surprised. Hyuck smirks knowingly, a shit eating grin that you knew too well.

“Nah, I brought them” He snorted, and you couldn’t help but to laugh along. Chenle and Jisung came back, the latter without his blazer, as he used it to mark the table you were taking as occupied. At the sight of them, Hyuck smiles and raises his fist to the center, nudging everyone to form a circle. “Let’s do a cheer, hm?”

“Who will lead this time?” You can’t help but ask, a bittersweet feeling taking over your emotions. You observe quietly as they gaze at each other’s faces, silently debating who was the most proper one to take the honor. 

“You should take this one, noona,” Jisung says after seconds of silence, making you widen your eyes in surprise. 

“What?” 

“I agree,” Jeno nods approvingly, a proud smile on his face that you don’t quite understand. He exchanges glances with Jaemin, who has a similar expression on his face, and you can’t help but to feel left out of some hidden information both of them have. “It’s only right. The one to lead the cheer has to be some type of leader, and you fit that profile.”

“Ah, fuck” You raise your face suddenly, looking up to the ceiling and wiping tiny tears from the corner of your eyes. Your voice wavers a bit and you hear the boys laugh fondly, a tiny smile also appearing on your lips. “I said I wasn’t going to cry now, why the fuck are you guys making it so difficult for me?” You whine, sounding more like a crybaby than teenager-slash-adult.

“C’mon, let’s end this properly, right?” Renjun laughs and you feel his hand resting on your shoulder, squeezing it softly. You gulp, taking another deep breath and extending your fist alongside the other ones. Your hand is slightly smaller than theirs, but the image of them forming a circle is something you’ll certainly hold deep in your heart for a long time.

“Yo, Dream!”

“Jjeoreo! Juja! Fighting!”

“1, 2, 3… Testing, 1, 2, 3” You send Chenle a pointed look, but the boy just giggles cheekily. You shake your head, smiling with his antics, and you take your sweet time to adjust the microphone stand to your height. 

The lights dim slowly, until nothing could be seen upstage. You sigh, closing your eyes for a second and allowing yourself to take in all the things. Every student’s expectant gaze, some school staff and buffet staff who were also enjoying the moment and the weight of the future on your shoulders. All the uncertainty and fears you held deep inside your chest, along with the unsaid feelings for someone who was out of reach.

For three minutes and forty seven seconds, you let go of all of that. 

“As the world I’m heading towards and matching up to is getting bigger, it makes me feel an emptiness somehow”

“As if solving up the scattered pieces, we are matching up our stories. Inside the empty spot in my heart, there’s a piece called you taking place”

“You’re my missing puzzle piece, finally I solved it. You filled every piece of my heart even the scarred part of it to the fullest and somehow, you’ve become my everything. My missing puzzle piece”

“The fact that I have a flaw, the truth that I am imperfect. All of it makes me feel small. But in between those gaps, we can fill one another with it, so I don’t even realized that it was empty”

“More than having everything, not losing that one thing is more important. Through you, I came to know that”

“You’re my missing puzzle piece, very dazzling, it becomes one scene inside the world that I’ve been trying to put together alone. Like the hands that are interlocking tight together, because without you, it can’t be completed, so that we won’t lose each other, my missing puzzle piece”

The performance runs smoothly, your voices complementing each other in beautiful harmonies. You pour all of your emotions into each part, feeling like you’re letting go of a burden. When the music ends, you feel slightly lost, but at the same time, as if you’d never lose your direction in the future. 

"Thank you, the music club, for this heartwarming performance." The principal says as you leave the stage with a bow. He clears his throat to continue with his speech "Friendships like yours are beautiful and incredibly rare, so I advise you, young ones, to treasure all the tiny moments you spend with each of your friends. High School is the first time you came in contact with a bit of the adult world. And sadly, High School probably is the last time you're still able to be a kid freely, to live without worrying about responsibilities. From now on, you're adults. You're responsible for every action and every decision you take, being them wrong or rightful ones. You're free to choose whatever path you want to pursue in your life, and which ones you will want to have with you in your journey. Hard times will come— but don't forget everything you lived until now. It's okay to lean on your family and friends when things become too heavy to handle alone. Hold each other close, and I'll assure you, you're going to be fine"

You can't help but to feel touched by the principal's words. The corners of your lips curve upwards and you take a quick glance through the faces of your friends, memorizing them in your mind. 

"Okay, now I'm skipping the cheesy part. I'm sure no one wants to hear the long speech I prepared about college and responsibilities anyway" The principal fumbles with his papers comically, erupting a roar from the crowd. He smiles satisfied. "Now, for the interesting part you all waited for! For years now, our school keeps the tradition of choosing a king and a queen to prom. Now, I'm inviting our dear Mrs. Park to come up to the stage to help me announce who is the charming couple who will receive the title of king and queen!"

"Hello, our dear graduates!" Mrs. Park cheered, the happiest you have ever seen her in your life. "As you know, the voting took place one week ago in the end of day at school, and today, we will have the pleasure of meeting our most loved couple—"

You tune her out, the principal’s speech still lingering in your head and making your thoughts run a hundred miles per second. The party’s walls felt too suffocating, almost as if they were closing on you, and you knew you couldn’t stay there for much longer.

“Are you okay?” Jaemin whispered, his hand squeezing your shoulder comfortably. You sighed, shaking your head

“Yeah,” You said, your voice wavering and clearly stating that even you weren’t sure “I just need some fresh air” 

“Alright” He nods, tapping lazily on your head. You take that as a good sign and you flee your group discreetly. You pass the golden arch by the side entrance, admiring silently the shiny decoration that made the hall look ten times more illuminated than it really was. 

When you finally cross security and find somewhere more private, you’re at some kind of garden. It’s not fully in the open, as you can see the tall walls that limit the building, but it’s a nice spot to admire the night sky. The first thing you notice is the chilly air— You clearly remember the weather being warmer when you were outside, so you guess that the sun fully setting was enough to make the temperature drop.

The stars are bright in the sky. They twinkle at you, and for a second, you think that they’re trying to pass a hidden message to you. Strangely, you feel your shoulders relax, releasing all the tension you built for the past minutes just by being with the comforting presence of stars. You close your eyes, breathing deeply and taking a few seconds to calm down the flood of anxious thoughts that invaded your mind. 

“Oh, you’re here”

You go blank. You feel frozen in place, your entire body refusing to move a single muscle. Your eyes are wide open and you feel like you’re not physically able to turn your neck, almost as if there was something on it preventing you from looking behind you. That something was anxiety, you soon realize, ready to cry on the spot.

Your lower lip starts to tremble and you feel thousands of different emotions burning in your chest, ready to burst at any moment. Taking a deep inhale, you shyly turn your head, afraid that the voice was just a cruel prank of destiny.

“Mark” His name leaves your lips along with all the air in the lungs. You don’t cry— You were shocked enough to make all brain power short circuit completely.

Mark Lee stood in all his glory, right here, right now. Less than three steps of distance. In Seoul, not in Vancouver, like you were thinking until a minute ago. You were sure this was an image you would be able to see only in your dreams, but somehow, you were living the real thing, seeing Mark Lee attend the school’s prom. His dark hair was styled handsomely, parted exactly in the middle and showing his forehead for the entire world to see. He wore a black suit, his blazer left open lazily showing off the navy tie and the white blouse under it.

“What— Mark—” You gasp, the words losing themselves in your throat, “Weren’t you supposed to be in Canada right now? What the—”

“Hm?” He raises his eyebrows in surprise, and you’re more confused than ever “Didn’t Jaemin and Jeno tell you?”

“Tell me what?” You shriek, almost screaming on the spot. Mark chuckles at your reaction, making that annoying, warm feeling bubble up again. He takes a timid step forward, so you’re face to face, an arm's distance from him. You hear a tiny voice in the back saying that you were dreaming— Maybe you were still in bed, probably in deep slumber, that was the only fucking way—

“There was a problem in our plane,” He starts explaining, doe eyes never leaving yours. His stare slightly overwhelms you. It’s full of unsaid feelings and memories, and you’re afraid of what will change if you admit your own feelings. “I got one more day until the next flight, so here I am"

"Wow…" You say, not being able to think of anything else to express yourself out loud while trying to understand what the fuck was happening. Mark smirks, amused with your shocked expression and lack of words. "Why didn't you say that sooner? Oh fuck, wait, you said that Jaemin and Jeno already knew? What the actual fuck— Why did you get late? Well, I'm not complaining, since you're here when I actually thought that I would never see you again because you were going to stay with your family and there was no guarantee that you would actually come back, and if you even came back to Korea how was I supposed to deal with— Oof"

Mark efficiently shuts you up by bringing you to his chest by the shoulders, your face hitting his body gently in a hug. He is chuckling fondly, and you note (quite embarrassingly, if you were to add) that you can feel the way his heart beating fast because you were leaning directly on his chest. 

"Calm down, you're hyperventilating" He whispers in your ear, making a chill run down your spine. Again, you have to actively remind yourself to breathe properly. You take in his scent, burying your nose in his collarbone, and you feel his fingers tracing random patterns over the fabric of your dress. "Well, for starters, I was in the airport since midnight— The flight was supposed to be at 2am, but it was delayed to 4am. After that, they delayed again to 6am, and then to 8am. At that point, my parents were pissed and decided to speak with some manager, and he said he was sorry and that he could reschedule us into a first class that was going to leave tomorrow, so boom! Here we are," 

"That's great—" You choke out. Mark's face softens and he removes one of his hands in your waist to carefully wipe something in your face. Shit, were you crying? "Ah, shit, I had a bet with Jisung that I wouldn't cry today. You're making it really hard for me, Mark Lee!" You whine, and the boy just chuckles.

"I guess I'm sorry?" He smiled sheepishly. "By the way, I called Jeno and Jaemin his afternoon after a good nap and told them. Didn't they tell you?" 

"No!" A pout appears on your face. You sigh, wrapping your hands in Mark's waist and burying your head again in his collarbone. For some reason, you really liked the smell of his cologne. "Can I murder them?"

"Nah, at least hear their reasons first. Then you can do whatever you want" He shrugs off. You hear the music booming inside the hall and you don't even notice when Mark starts swinging around lazily. "By the way, you don't have to worry too much, okay? It sounds bad if I word it like this, but I'll be back from Canada in no time"

"Are you implying that your grandma—"

"Damn, I already said that it isn't like that!" He whines, making you chuckle. He sighs deeply, leaning his chin on the top of your head. "I mean, I don't plan on staying in Canada for too long. Even if my parents decide to stay back there, I'm still coming to Korea after all the mess finally gets finished. My whole life is here, after all"

"...whole life…?" You repeat, leaning your head back so you can stare at Mark's dark eyes directly. He blushes, a shy smile appearing on his lips

"Yeah," You smile at him, your chest covered in warmth despite the chill weather "I grew up here in South Korea. I might be born in Canada, but what Vancouver has to offer is absolutely no match for what I already have in Seoul. You and the other kids"

You don't say anything, although it is more like, you can't think of anything good enough to express what you're feeling right now. Mark breathes deeply and his face changes to something more serious. He breaks the hug gently, instead, going for your hands and taking them in his own.

"Y'know, five nights ago, when I told you I was going to go back, I said that I wasn't going to say anything," He shakes his head, as if reviving a memory "I told myself that it would be too selfish to burden you with my feelings and to go away for months or years, with no predictions of when I was going to come back."

"I already knew, tho" You reveal shyly, staring at your connected hands. "Your feelings, I mean"

"Yeah, I'm not the best when it comes to hiding them—" Mark laughs and you chuckle, raising your head to look directly at him again. "Anyway, that night, when I left your house, I felt horrible. You know, those anxious thoughts? I didn't know anymore if I was sure of what I was doing. For one part, I want to see you happy, more than anything in the world. Even if that happiness lies with another person, that would be okay for me as long you were happy and satisfied. But the other half of me is selfish— What if I had lost my chance? What if I messed things up? What if the long time really tears us apart?"

"It won't" You assure weakly, gripping his hands more firmly. He nods, agreeing with you.

"Those were like, 3 am insecure thoughts." He clarifies, "I was going to leave without saying anything, I swear. But this plane problem came up, and fuck, call me stupid or any shit like that, but I feel like it's a sign? Like, really, what are the chances that something happens exactly like this?" 

"Maybe the airport manager is some kind of angel?" You joke, making him chuckle with you.

"Yeah, maybe" He takes a deep breath before returning to his monologue "So, fuck everything I thought was right until like, a night ago. I'm going to be really selfish, and I'm really sorry for it, but... I love you. I don't know how, or when it happened, but I love every part of you, no matter how much you dislike them."

"Mark—"

"No, please, let me say everything at once, okay?" He pleads. You nod, letting him have his moment "I realized it too late. All the protectiveness over the whole Hyunjin thing, I thought it was a normal thing to feel as friends, because the other kids also hated him— But there was a moment that everything clicked, and I was like, fuck, I really like her, and then, it was like a switch being activated. I started seeing everything from a different point of view and slowly it came to me why I wasn't upset about Kang Mina back then. It was never her, y'know? There is such a big difference between the things I thought I felt for her and the things I actually feel for you— Wait, why are you crying again?"

Mark pauses his speech, looking at you bewildered. You sniff loudly, the tears pooling on the corner of your eyes, and you shake your head.

"It's just—" You look upwards overwhelmed, trying to reduce your tears "Sorry, this feels too much like a dream and a nightmare at the same time. I'm scared of what I feel about you— I'm scared that I'll love you too much, and then you'll end up leaving"

"I'm sorry" Mark's face falls and he has guilt written all over his eyes. "I'm being extremely selfish right now"

"No, no, it's okay" You reassure quickly, shaking your head, "I'm just a crybaby, as usual.. Ah, is my makeup fucked up right now?" You chuckle nervously, trying to change the tense mood.

“It’s a bit smudgy here, but you’re still pretty” He says, his thumb wiping the corner of your eyes with so much care that you feel like you’re going to melt under his touch. You take a deep breath, locking your own eyes with his and forcing yourself to maintain them there

“Look, I don’t know if I made it clear enough, but…I do like you—” You shake your head at your own words “No, wait, I think it’s safe to say that I love you at this point. I feel like I’m about to combust every single time, and I lowkey hate it, because at the same time you make me feel funny inside and also trigger a lot of anxious thoughts— Those aren’t your fault, of course, but they still happen every once in a while”

“What are you worried about?” His voice is quiet, almost as if he was stepping on eggshells. You’re again, reminded that Mark Lee was one of the sweetest and most caring boys you’ve ever met, and that he was worried about you.

“I feel like I’m not enough. Like, hell, you’re fucking Mark Lee and I’m just same, old, me” Your voice cracks painfully “Jeno was right— I think I have some abandonment issues, and lowkey speaking, I think I’m a big burden to carry around, even more if you’re going to the other side of the globe in less than one day”

“You’re not a burden” He is quick to counter, his grip on your hand making a good job on grounding you to reality. “Having abandonment issues or not, you’re still you at the end of the day. I think I already said this before, but I love every single part of you, even the bad ones that come around. I’m not going to leave you behind for anything in this world— Fuck, I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I did that”

“...” You’re speechless, feeling the urge to cry, but also not wanting to ruin what was left of your makeup. Your nose scrunches into a cute pout and Mark lets out a soft chuckle at your funny expression.

“If you’re up to it… I think we could try something?” His voice wavers, slightly hesitant. “You don’t have to feel pressured to agree, of course! It’s just that— I want you to know that I’m willing to wait until we can be together properly. That I won’t meet anyone else, because you’re the one that—”

“Yeah, it’s a good idea.” You cut Mark’s ramblings, a small smile appearing on your lips. His shoulders relax immediately, relieved that he didn’t make a fool of himself. You stood in a comfortable silence, taking your time to process all of the information that was dumped on you in the last fifteen minutes. Mark suddenly gasps and looks at you with wide eyes

“Holy shit, does that mean that now we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” He squeaks, making you raise your eyebrows at him amusedly

“You were the one who asked!” You can’t help but to tease him, finding extremely cute how his cheekbones moved around in his many expressions

“Oh yeah, right,” He mutters to himself. “Does that mean that I can kiss you? I mean, now that we’re boyfriend and—”

You raise yourself on your toe tips, your hands cupping Mark's cheeks and bringing his face closer, connecting your lips and efficiently shutting him up. It feels strangely like a bunch of fireworks being set off in your chest, with sparks of electricity running in your body by every second. Mark's lips are soft, perfect against your own. All of his previous awkwardness disappears in question of seconds, as he pulls you by your hips against him, your own hand moving from his cheeks to the back of his head, messing with his hair mindlessly. His tongue is the first to ask entrance in your mouth, and you part your lips without second thoughts just to feel his tongue clashing directly against yours in sync. 

The kiss breaks off with your lungs burning, both of your breaths heavy, but that doesn't stop you from giving one last affectionate peck on his lips before backing down with your feet fully on the ground. You give him a bright smile, not paying any attention to how you feel your entire face and neck burning, focused only on Mark Lee and how your heart feels like it's going to burst out of your rib cage soon.

"That was… great," His smile makes his entire cheekbones go upwards, exposing some cute dimples on their way. He looks at you like you're his entire world, and for a second, you're lost in the way his eyes twinkle, almost if they are lost brothers of the shiny stars in the night sky. He leans his head towards you again, his forehead against yours and eyes staring at your soul. His left hand goes to his blazer pocket, taking a red pendrive from it and offering to you.

"What is this?" You take it, fingers carefully touching the device as if they were some kind of lost treasure. Mark grins at you.

"It's called Dear Dream, actually—"

“MARK FUCKING LEE, HOW DARE YOU”

You let out a high pitched scream, feeling someone throw all their weight on top of you, almost making you lose your balance and fall down if it wasn't for Mark and his spidey-sense reflex, supporting you with his arm behind you. 

"LEE DONGHYUCK, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" 

You finally come down to earth after near death experience— Is your heart still beating? Just to be sure, you put your palm on your chest, feeling the unsteady beats combine with the deep breaths. Donghyuck has one arm around you, and another in Mark's shoulders, crocodile tears on his face. You see Renjun running through the entrance, screaming something at the other boy, Chenle and Jisung after him with some big smiles and Jaemin and Jeno at the back, grinning like some twisted version of proud parents™

"You absolutely fucking bastard! How dare you?!" Hyuck shrieks, and you take a step back just to make sure you're not caught in the crossfire, however, you don't let go of Mark's right hand. "I come to make sure y/n hasn’t killed herself and suddenly you appear out of nowhere?! What the fuck— I'm feeling extremely betrayed right now what the hell"

"Hyung!" Jisung exclaims, wide eyed "What are you doing here?" 

"None of you actually know?" Mark gasps, glaring at Jeno and Jaemin, both of them shrugging off "What— I thought I asked you two to deliver the news?"

"Nah, too much work." Jaemin smirks innocently, making his best to show puppy eyes to be let off the hook. "We were like, debating if we should let the crybabies know, because it would be really cool if we were drowning in tears in one moment and in the next— boom! Mark Lee is fucking back! Oh, no, not actually back, but you got the hang of it"

"What do you mean crybaby?" Hyuck whines, still clutching Mark as if he was afraid of letting him go. "I'm not a crybaby, what are you saying? I’m suing you for spreading wrong rumors about my cold, totally devoid of emotions—"

"You're crying" Chenle deadpans, an amused smile decorating his face. 

"Besides, it was a nice surprise, wasn't it?" Jeno grins sheepishly, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "The plan worked— Hyuck is crying, y/n is crying, Jisung is trying to disguise his tears but we all saw it anyway and Injunnie is crying somewhere deep inside!"

"I cried a lot and ruined all of my makeup, I hope you're proud," You sniff bitterly, making everyone laugh at your miss fortune. You feel Mark's thumb caressing the back of your hand fondly.

"Donghyuck has the worst timing ever, I swear to god—" Renjun rolls his eyes, glaring at said boy who whines again in response. You feel the heat going back to your cheeks, suddenly shy under the knowing gazes of your friends

"I dunno what you're talking about?" You pout childishly, hoping that they save you from all the teasing and embarrassment, but of course they won't.

"Good try, our dear y/nnie!" Renjun smirks at you, finding amusement on how your cheeks redden up, along with Mark's neck turning a slight pink colour. "But well, you see, Mark has his lips tinted in red, and he hasn't let go of your hand since we found you two— So tell me, are you finally together after all this time of simping for each other like some kind of dumb Disney movie?"

"Fuck you Renjun," Mark sighs, earning another laugh from the dreamies. He raises your connected hands in the air, showing them to the world, and you watch with a dumb smile as your friends' faces lighten up one by one until all of them have that same genuine smile. 

"It happened?" Jisung mutters rhetorically, awestruck. You feel your eyes water with all those overwhelming emotions, but you limit yourself to a simple nod, curving your lips upward. Mark smiles shyly, not answering the youngest with words, but rather with actions. He gives you a light peck on the top of your head, proud with how their faces soften.

"I'm happy for you. You deserve someone good, hm? Not that our Markie is the bestest example, but c'mon, he's at least decent!" Donghyuck says teasingly, letting go of Mark to envelop you in a bear hug with a little laugh, his hand messing with your hair. You nod against him, not trusting yourself to come up with a verbal response, "I still hate Mark for not telling us earlier that he was coming to prom, but I guess that everything ended well, so perhaps we can forgive him, right?"

"Yeah," You chuckle, amused with Hyuck's antics and your boyfriend's absolutely done expression. 

Boyfriend, hm? That sounded good in your ears.

"Hey, now that we sorted this mess, let's go inside" Jeno pleads, sighing. "We're kinda losing the whole point of prom being outside like this—"

You hum in agreement and all of you set off to go back inside, your hand finding Mark's one naturally as you match each other's pace. He suddenly stops, clearing his throat and successfully gaining the attention of everyone.

"Hey guys, let's do this" His voice is firm, confident. You send him a confused look, but he just smiles proudly at all of you. "Yo, dream!"

it's all flooding back, this is only one part

this is just a bit, believe this is our bookmark

we were swept away by the current so naturally

but i don't want this to sound like

we're about to depart

 if i ever get lost

i won't turn to dust

i'mma call back,

don't forget my tone

whenever you shout out like we used to

hope we always feel like,

“Let´s do it! Fighting!”

[monsterthorst]

Could we get Jaxon meeting his human mate for the first time? Perhaps she’s a bit of a small thing working at a bar, bringing drinks to tables and typically being harassed. Despite her size though, she may be sharp and witty, not having a problem with much of the harassment that came with her work but in no way tolerating being degraded. Perhaps she uses her wit to bring them down a few notches or she’s stronger than she looks. Up to you.

Dude, Jaxon got SO much more attention than I EVER could have anticipated. I mean, just look at his notes versus any of my other monster boys, like DANG IN THE HUNDREDS???? I’d never even done a dialogue prompt before! I think it was the ‘werewolf boyfriend’ tag, if I’m gonna be honest, hahah. Not gonna lie, though, the boy’s a snack. So yes please????? Let’s get this show on the road, shall we? Oh, did I mention Jaxon’s half-Hispanic? No?? Oop, have fun.

Jaxon- The Meeting

The Red Dahlia, a local bar named after its ginger spitfire of an owner Miss Dahlia, sat in the middle of a gravel parking lot a handful of miles from town. It brought in all manner of creature and, according to a certain utterly baffled reporter, was a “breeding ground for drunks, lechers, and perverts”. Jaxon chuckled at the memory, his wide palms tucked within the depths of his jackets leather pockets as he stared up at the flashing red neon sign, swinging dangerously from rusted iron chains in the wind. He’d been there when the ‘reporter’(blogger, actually) had come into the bar, working on an article about ‘local, underrated hotspots’; she’d come in, head held high and brown, hair-sprayed curls bouncing, red lipstick so crimson it had called him a peasant, and eyebrows as thin as Miss Dahlia’s patience. She was a target from the moment she walked in.

Miss Dahlia had greeted the middle-aged housewife, a wide smile across her full lips, and the entire bar erupted into outrageous laughter when the woman introduced herself as ‘Karren’(two ‘r’s, she’d elaborated for a Miss Dahlia who hadn’t asked). Karren loathed every inch of the Red Dahlia, insults and back-handed compliments lashed harmlessly through the air, and, when Knash(a local, grungy gnoll with a wicked grin and a short muzzle) grabbed a handful of her bottom, she‘d stormed out with an unintelligible screech. Jaxon missed it.

He’d left the small town, Arrowway as it was known on maps, around a year ago and he’d only just gotten back in town a few seconds earlier; his motorcycle engine rumbling like distant thunder and pressing hotly against his long legs. He’d been in New Mexico, chasing down hunters and beasts alike and digging up any information he could find on his father. Aaron Bluewater, Jaxon’s dad, had been missing for months; the police declared him dead and the investigation had stopped, but that didn’t mean Jaxon was ready to. Nowhere close.

A rowdy group of girls burst from the double doors of the wooden building, laughing and stumbling across the parking lot in their stilettos. A black-haired fae, dressed in what Jaxon would simply call a wasted fish net, caught sight of the sun-tanned male and hollered across the way at him, “Wh-hello, han’some! Wan’ join ‘s?”

“No, thank you,” Jaxon couldn’t help the grin that tumbled across his face as he tucked his thoughts away and approached the old bar. As flattering as the slurred compliment may have been, Jaxon furrowed his eyebrows at the red-faced girls and kept his hands tucked in his pockets, “You have a ride home, right?”

A blonde harpy girl spoke then, her shimmering top see-through and her pink lip gloss smudged, “Why don’t you be our ride home, hmm?”

“I’m not into narcolepsy, but thank you.” Jaxon grinned, his canines illuminated by the flashing red ambiance of the ‘Red Dahlia: Pub and Club’ sign, “You girls call in a taxi, yeah? You’ll get someone killed driving around like that.”

The girls fell into a stunned silence and, as one of them whispered ‘Yeah, I-I can call’, Jaxon pushed opened the bar doors and stepped into the pulsing, Latin music. Jaxon ran a nervous hand through his thick, black hair and cast his light blue eyes across the familiar space, as though he were looking for something, before he took a quick seat at the empty table closest to the door. He noticed a little, plastic menu in front of him and he raised his thick brows curiously. Taking it in his hands, he read over the contents; all of the drink options were as he remembered, with a few new, interesting concoctions listed, but now there was a small section for food, many of which he could recall from his early childhood. A grin swept across his face and a nostalgic warmth fell across his chest as he read over the menu.

“Hello!” Jaxon nearly jumped from his seat, shoulders instinctually squaring and his curved claws peeking forward in anticipation. You stood before him and the warmth in his chest crawled up across his throat and burned at his face. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!”

Jaxon, for the first time in a long time, couldn’t formulate the proper, English words and a gentle, “Tan hermosa…”

“Hmm?” You intoned curiously, your silken hair tumbled across your forehead and cheeks as you slightly turned your head up to him.

Jaxon’s mouth went dry and English failed him again, “Nada. I mean-I… Nothing. Sorry, you’re fine. Wait, no-I mean, yes, but… Thank you.” Jaxon whispered quietly as he forced himself back down into his seat, he cupped his forehead and groaned softly, “I’m sorry. I’m just… Tired.”

“I completely understand! I feel the exact same way too, sometimes words are just so hard.” You spoke sympathetically, a giggle punctuating your sentence. The sound, unsurprisingly, did not help Jaxon piece his thoughts together better. You introduced yourself politely, the sound of your name echoing in Jaxon’s head for a few moments after wards, “So, what can I get for you, sir?”

Jaxon fumbled with the menu for a moment, reading over the laminated words(despite the fact he already knew exactly what he wanted), “Uhmm, I-I’ll just have a Whiskey Sour, please.”

“Ohh, interesting choice. I was expecting an Old Fashioned. Would you like anything to eat? We just recently added some things to our menu.” You reached over the table, pressing a plain nail against the bold-printed ‘Appetizers’ at the bottom of the small paper. “I personally like the Cheesy Beef Empanadas, they come with Sofrito sauce. The best you’ll ever have in your life.”

Jaxon nervously ran a hand across the baby hairs along the back of his neck and cast you a gentle grin, “The best?”

“Scouts Honor.” You ran your fingers over your heart in an ‘x’ and your smile made Jaxon’s chest feel tight.

“Alright, I’ll have a Whiskey Sour and an order of Cheesy Beef Empanadas.” Jaxon extended the menu out for you to take and he hoped you couldn’t see the way his hands shook slightly under your gaze.

Whether or not it was intentional, when your fingers ran across the back of Jaxon’s hand, a shiver coursed up his spine and his skin tingled where you’d touched him. “Coming right up.”

“Thanks,” Jaxon whispered quietly as he watched you stride away from him. You wore a long-sleeved, black shirt with a red Dahlia sewn into the back, a matching pencil skirt, and dark black stockings tucked into your zip-up wedges. Your hair shone in red-tinted lights of the bar and brushed across your neck and face as you moved. You were beautiful and, much to his dissatisfaction, Jaxon wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

An elf, as white-haired and lean and feminine as any elf he’d ever seen before, watched you lecherously as you approached his one chair table. Rather than letting you pass by, the elf stood up quickly, his oily hands closed around your back and arms as he pulled you against his shimmering, leather shirt. Jaxon’s blood roared in his ears and he felt a sharp pressure growing in the beds of his fingernails and dancing along his canines.

“What a pretty, little thing I’ve found.” He slurred into your face, inching himself closer to you with each word, “What say we get out of here, doll? I’ll have you screaming ‘til dawn.”

You grimaced at the reek of alcohol on his breath, placing your hands against his shoulders and attempting to politely push him away, “No, thank you. Now let me go.”

“Oh-ho-ho! Mmmm, no, I don’t think so. I’m not quite finished with you yet, human.” Silence fell over the patrons of the bar and club as they all turned from their drinks and rambunctious stories to glare at the outsider man-handling you.

A bouncing cackle echoed across the hushed space and Jaxon recognized Knash, just as grungy as he’d been the last time the young man had seen him over a year ago, tucked in the corner amidst the center of a young pack of gnolls. “I’d do what the little lady says now, ya’hear? A mean left hook, that’n.”

“Excuse me.” Jaxon found his voice as he heaved himself upright, stalking towards the elf as his eyes burst into life with blue flame, “The young lady asked you to stop. So stop before I make you.”

Your startled expression found Jaxon’s glare, and the gentle furrow of your eyebrows and the frown across the curve of your lips sent a scorching wave of anger straight through him. The elf grabbed your face then, cupping your chin in his long fingernails and pressing your cheek against his own, “Oh? Is she your girlfriend? What sort of magic could a mutt like you have possibly gotten your grimy, little hands on to-“

A fist drove itself upwards into the delicate curve of the elf’s jaw, crushing his teeth into his tongue and sending him to the ground in a pitiful ‘thud’ of leather and Axe body spray. You uncoiled your hand and shook your fingers loosely, eyes a blaze of color as you glared down at the unconscious pervert. “I can tolerate a lot of things, sir, but the insulting of my customers is not one of them.”

Laughter erupted throughout the bar, noise echoing loudly between the walls as hands pounded on the tables and hollers rang through the air. Jaxon turned to you, his anger dissipating from his system as an impressed amusement began to fill its place, “Are you-?”

“What do you borrachos think you are doing!?” A heavy ‘thwack’ echoes through the air as a wooden bat slammed against the bar top. Miss Dahlia herself, all five feet and two inches of her, cocked her hip as she swore around her cigar. Her beautiful caramel eyes caught the blue reflection of Jaxon’s gaze and her full lips split into a wide smile, “¡JAXITO!”

“Hola, Tía Dahlia.” Jaxon grinned bashfully at the childhood nickname, but his heart grew warm at the sound of her voice all the same.

Miss Dahlia, dropping the bat and extinguishing the cigar in a crystal ashtray along the bar top, gathered the thick, faux-fur bottom of her red nightgown and hurried around the bar counter. Pausing as her eyes fell down upon the crumpled mass of elf before she turned a firm stare up at you, “Again? ¡Está es la tercera vez está semana!”

“Lo sé, ¡pero él fue siendo grosero!” You answered Miss Dahlia quickly, your Spanish was better than Jaxon had expected(considering the fact that he was unaware you spoke any at all) and listened in amusement as you went back and forth with his spitfire Aunt.

Miss Dahlia began to wave her hands dramatically; gesturing between herself, you, the bar, the unconscious elf, Jaxon, and anything else she could jerk her fingers at quick enough. “¡Eres imposible, estás tan cerca-! KNASH!!”

“Yes’m?” Knash jumped to his flat feet, scurrying forward until the thick fur on his chest brushed against Miss Dahlia’s shoulder. Jaxon narrowed his eyes at the action.

“Take this puta and drop him outside, por favor!” Miss Dahlia’s words blurred together as she wildly gestured towards the front door. Knash nodded, his muzzle brushing across Jaxon’s aunts shoulder and the black-haired male clenched his fist with a frown.

“I’ll go with him.” You whispered quietly, pointing quickly over your shoulder before you helped Knash pull the unconscious elf to his feet and drag him to the front doors.

Jaxon turned towards his aunt, watching as her expression turned from an angry exhaustion to a wide grin. She cupped Jaxon’s cheeks and cooed endearments at him in Spanish, they made his tan face flush and eventually he took her small hands into his own, “Tía. She was only defending herself, she didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Aye, I know, mí sabrino. But,” Miss Dahlia paused for a moment as she shook her head, rubbing her manicured thumbs over the back of Jaxon’s hand, “the police system is not what it was when you left us. They’ve all fallen into the pockets of politicians and businessmen. I’ve had to buy my way out of three lawsuits because of those bastardos!”

Jaxon furrowed his brows at the news, but he remained unsurprised. Their little town had been free of corruption and swindling for a long time, it was bound to fall to greed sooner or later. He only hated that it had all come sooner rather than later. The door jingled back open and Jaxon turned to watch as you and Knash slunk back into the bar. Knash lumbered right up to Miss Dahlia’s side and, with a scowl, Jaxon watched his aunt rub the top of the gnolls head. “Okay, what’s going on here? Knash, are you dating my aunt!?”

“Well-“

Knash began to explain himself with a bashful tilt of his head, but Miss Dahlia cut him short, “Ohh, Jaxito, I was going to tell you, but it just never came up!”

“Meaning you weren’t going to say anything at all, huh?” Jaxon shook his head with a sigh before he pointed a finger at his old friend, “You better not pull anything funny with my tía, got that?”

Knash chuckled, running a large paw along the back of his neck as he gave Jaxon’s aunt a not-so-subtle look of adoration, “Yeah, I got it… Jaxito.”

“Don’t you-“ Knash threw back his head with a rambunctious laugh as he bounced off to rejoin his pack.

A gentle hand pressed against the back of Jaxon’s arm and he turned to meet your mesmerizing gaze once again. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Jaxon whispered quietly down at you. Your head fell just below the curve of his shoulder and he found himself lost in the way you looked up at him.

“Thank you. For standing up for me, I mean.” You tucked a strand of hair behind your ear before you clasped your hands together in front of your waist and fought the blush growing across your nose.

Jaxon smiled, acutely aware of his aunts surprised gaze scouring across your faces, and opened his mouth to respond before you interrupted him, “Oh! Your drink and food! I completely forgot, let me-“

“Wait!” Jaxon wrapped his hand around your waist as you began to dart away from his side. You turned back to him quickly, studying his warming face, “Actually, uhmm. Forget the food. Can-can I walk you to your car?”

“Oh… I, uhh, I have to help Miss Dahlia close the bar.”

“Aye, forget about it today, girly.” Miss Dahlia interjected your explanation, shooing the both of you away with a cocked hip and a grin. “Go on. The Lord above knows you need a date.”

“Miss Dahlia!” You exclaimed, burying your face in your hands with a laugh.

Jaxon cupped your hands in his palms and pulling them away from your burning face, “So, is that a yes, then?”

Jaxon will never forget the look on your face- the brewing grin, the gentle glimmer in your eyes, the soft blush across your cheek- as you said “Yes.”

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Spanish is not my first language so I hope the phrase I used are correct! I hope you enjoyed this despite the delay. I’ve really started developing Jaxon and his background, I think there’s definitely more to come with him. WINK WONK

Translations:

Tan hermosa- “So beautiful”

Nada- “Nothing”

Borrachos- “Drunkards(masculine)”

Jaxito- “Little Jaxon”(endearing term used for children)

Hola, Tía Dahlia- “Hello, Aunt Dahlia”

¡Está es la tercera vez está semana!”- “That’s the third time this week!”

¡Lo sé, ¡pero él fue siendo grosero!- “I know, but he was being rude!”

¡Eres imposible, estás tan cerca!- “You’re impossible, you’re this close-”

Puta- “Pussy”

Por favor- “Please”

Mí sabrino- “My nephew”

[tillmays]

Tequila

It's Halloween 8 months has passed since Riley left to her mission. The boys are having a party at Mac's place. Bozer made the food, Mac and Desi helped with the decorations. The place was packed they were having a blast.

Mac was dancing with Desi to a slow song. Bozer started playing old romantic songs he drank all night. Desi- hey Bozer after this one. I will choose the next song. Bozer- uh uh no I am the DJ here. Desi- ugh it's supposed to be a party you know! Bozer- I'm just a little tipsy. One of Bozer’s friends- Tipsy?! Boy you are more than that. Bozer- hey leave me alone. Bozer went to grab more beers for everyone. He opened the fridge and saw a little box that said “Mac” he looked round with an extrañe look on his face until he saw Mac. Boz- Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac- geez Boz what wrong stop yelling. Bozer- sorry a lot of people in here you know. Mac- so what up?. Mac opened a beer. Bozer- I opened the fridge to get more beers and a saw this with your name on it. Mac- what? He grabbed the little box and walked a way into his room. Bozer stayed in the kitchen. He was all alone took a deep breath and nervous not knowing what was inside of who was it from Mac opened the little box. It was to little bottle of tequila shaped in the form of skulls. He grabbed them and laughed and smiled. He rushed outside and started looking for her expecting to see her, for a sign of hope he though is she here? It can't be, finally she's home. , but he didn't find her he went back to his room.

Bozer knock the door and walks in. -bro what up you ok? “Yeah” he was sitting by the bed with the two little bottles on his hands. So who is it from? Bozer already had a feeling that he knew who it was from. At that moment Desi was walking to Macs bedroom the door was a little open. She was about to knock when she heard Mac say. “Her. It's from her.” -what? you serious? “Yes. There's a story behind this” -oh it better be a good one, let me see them what is it vodka? “Tequila” -oh so you were getting lit then. So tell me the story. “It was at a mission back in Mexico. It was her second year at the phoenix. Jack stayed at a town for orders of Matty, so Riley and I had to keep driving to the next town. A little one by the way. It was “Dia de los muertos” and the guys we were tracking wasn't there yet, so anyways we were bored, and we were at this club restaurant I don't know how to call it, but we ate and it was late at night the band was playing, and we were bored. Were actually I was the one who was bored. She's the life of the party everywhere she goes, she looks the good side of everything. she was dancing and hahah the guys playing the trumpets was dancing with her on stage she's wearing this white dress a little tight but at the same time something loose...” -ok.. Mac eyes illuminated for a second and his smile was big and radiant just of thinking of her.

Flashback

Riley is dancing and sees Mac watching the bottle of beer in his hand. And at the same time alert of the door in case something happened. She walked to the bar. -hey two shot of tequila here plis”. The bartender approaches her and grabs a basquet that was at the other side of the bar. And grabs the two little bottles shaped in form of skulls. “What is this?” - oh tequila. We are giving it to the “outsiders” you know. Make it “festive” according to my boss. “Well I think they are cool.” - it's on the house. “Oh well thanks” she walks to the table Mac was distracted she appears from the back and scares him. “HHAA” - JESUS RILES.. Stop playing. She was close to him talking behind him. “Uh boo hoo you have been contemplating that beer for most then an hour. Here are pretty girls music and alcohol” she puts out the two bottles. -what is that? “Uh water duh. Its tequila” -we can't drink that. We are working. “Oh god if I knew you were going to be this lame I wouldn't have accepted this job. In fact, I would rather be in the other town with Jack” -oh now you're just being mean. “Well your boring me to dead. Come on drink it lets have fun. Those guys are not coming right now so.. drink it drink it drink it! -ok ok fine. Give me that. “yees. Come on” Riley took him dancing. The bad guys walks in and start shooting. They start running and hide behind the bar. -oh so they weren't coming? He said sarcastically. “Ups” he looked at her upset. -hey! You were the one that listened to me. since when do you hear someone else that not your head? It's your fault too. Riley grabs two more bottles. -what are you doing? “For the road” - leave that. “Alright” Mac walks out first. But as we know this girl has problems following the rules and do what she's told. She grabs them. And catch Mac, and she put them on the pocket of his jacket without him noticing. They took the truck of the bad guys. They leave the place. She said laughing. “See you have to relax more. Live the moment. Or as Jack says they said at the same time. “CRAPE DIEM” hahaha. “Here give me your jacket” -what for? I'm not giving you my jacket. “Fine” she got closer to him -what are you doing?. She put her hands inside his pocket. “One for me and one for you” - you took those? “Well yeah”. - you stole those?! “They were free! Look I don't care if you believe me. it yours now. Take it or leave it. - are you sure they were free? “Yes scout boy, they were free. Happy?” Mac was driving, so he asked her to open it for him. “Cheers” they were exchanging looks. A very very full of mischief looks. End of flashback. “And that day she reminded me that sometimes you just have to breath and live the moment. Just be and enjoy”. - mh I get it. that's sweet man, that was very Riley of her. “ahha yeah it was”. -wait dude you said Mexico right?. “Yes??” - she could be there maybe we can track her and.. “bozer no. calm down, we can't. Matty will kill us. and Riley is not dumb. She knows we will try that. She's very careful. In fact, we are the morons for thinking that she wouldn't think of us making a plan to find her. Maybe she just sent this to let us know that she ok. we can't risk it” - Riley is worth the risk. “ I know buddy. But things are what they are. That's here work now, and you have to accept it” -accept it? Dude she has been gone for 8 MONTHS when she was supposed to be gone for TWO MONTHS she should be home by now. And you're telling me to let it go? Don't you think its weird? Don't you miss her? “Of course I do. but we can't. At least for now. So chill Boz” -im sorry im just drunk. “It's ok just go have some fun”. Desi was behind the door listening to their conversation. She didn't know what to feel or think. It was weird for her. She didn't know what to do. she felt in a difficult position, but she took a deep breath and knocked the door. -hey so here you are you two! Boz let me play something it's my turn. She decided to act cool with it, like she did not hear the conversation. -no IM the dj here! -Mac help me here. I don't want to get tough on him, not today. “ Ok just give me a moment alright” Desi looked a little out of place, but she just played along with it. - ok I will be outside strangling him. “I will be outside before that happens ok” -ok. Mac took the bottles and looked at them and smiles and drank them. He put the two empty bottles on his cabinet of his nightstand. He was about to leave the room when he saw a photo in his desk. 

* Just the two of us by Grover Washington Jr  plays in the background.*  

He grabbed the photo and smiled. “uh.. * he let out a big sigh* I miss you guys. yep your worth the risk...”  his eyes focused on Riley. “you better be safe”

Desi- Bozer i swear im gonna kill you give me the phone!

Bozer- No! Mac! Mac! she's going to kill me! 

Mac- uh God.. Bozer give her the phone!!

[tdystmr]

college student! jackson x sugar daddy! mark // sugar daddy x baby socmed au

b a c k g r o u n d i n f o 🍓

jackson is THE popular kid despite him having his own set of financial problems. he lives with a foster family because his parents died in a car accident when he was 11, but still grew up to be a well-mannered, cheerful boy

mature 21 year old who knows his strenghts and weaknesses. very motivated and hard working, but tends to fall for the bad type rather than good influences. is also too nice and sweet to point out other’s mistakes and flaws so he usually goes along with whatever his friends do. has always wanted to move out because as much as he loves his foster family, he knows that they struggle with their own swt of problems as well and feels like a burden now that college fees are piling up

mark is a millionaire, successful bachelor at the fine age of 29. recognised for his success in starting and building his own business at 22, took him only 7 years to reach his current success of a multi-million enterprise in Seoul trading and exporting goods.

is a very mysterious figure to the press because he is extremely private about his life outside of work. lives alone, has no known dating history, only known family is his family in USA ands seems to be completely disinterested in relationships under than a tight-knit group of friends. the press would love to get some dirt on this successful businessman.

jjp are mark’s close friends and a power couple of Korea ( lgbtq+ rs are supported in korea in this au ) and have always wanted him to look for a partner. yugyeom, mark’s other close friend, also wants him to not be so lonely anymore since he’s pushing 30 already.

meanwhile, youngjae + bambam are jackson’s best friends. youngjae’s fam is jackson’s foster fam while the three of them all attend Seoul University tgt. they’re close friends because they all share an interest in music and just enjoy each other’s company. they’re the same age in this au, so they met at the usual freshmen orientation drinking session and bambam almost puked on jackson’s crotch. ever since then, they’ve been inseparable.

youngbam are also well known in the school - youngjae for performing on stage every year at the annual talent show while bambam is known for his cool style and being the vice president of the dance club.

p l o t 🍓

jackbamjae are joking arnd in their gc abt life after college when jackson finally tells them his plan to move out of his foster home after they finish their second year of college. yj ofc objects because he doesn’t see js as a burden, but respects jackson’s decision because js insists.

bambam suggests a sugar daddy website to get money. ofc, both of the other two question him on how he got to know such a site existed. he tells them that ten ( pres of the dance club ) got to know his bf through this site. bam tells them that it isn’t super shady or wtv and the men aren’t so bad at all

js says wtv and gives it a go, so he signs up with the help of bamjae. he has a basketball friendly match, so he rushes off after that

at the same time, mark’s bday is approaching. jjgyeom are planning a surprise for him and hopefully, it’ll include some sort of a date that mark will agree to go on. yugyeom had also come across the sugar daddy website by simply lurking on the nsfw side of the internet and jjp have learnt not to question him too much on what he does in his free time.

he found js’s profile and knowing mark’s type, immediately suggested the idea to jjp. jb, who’s been mark’s longest friend, says that mark might not completely be opposed to it because he knows that mark has been stressed lately and a way to let out that frustration would be good. jy, on the other hand, cautions that mark might not like the idea because mark is the kind of guy to value genuine relationships over meaningless hookups, not to mention paying someone for sex and whatnot. despite that, the three arrive at mark’s place on the night of his bday to surprise him

yg suggests the idea to mark after they’ve all had some dinner and mark obv gets mad at first. he says exactly what jy had said, but calms down after jjgyeom explain that they’ve all been worried about how he’s coping and don’t want him to be alone and stressed anymore. mark sees that his friends have good intentions and decides to give it a go, starting the convo with jackson over the website that night after all his friends have left

after about a week of weird dms and some actually good interactions over the site, jackson is about to give up because he hasn’t found anyone truly interested in talking and not just sex. then, he gets mark’s dm

the two hit it off immediately and they end up texting till 3am. they exchanged socmed accounts before they went to bed as well, and js decides to tell bamjae in the morning abt it.

they obv know who the hell mark tuan is and are freaking out over this. jackson rmbs that mark had told him not to spread this and realises that’s the reason why. he warns bamjae not to tell anyone, even their other close friends. bamjae suggest for him to keep texting and to even meet mark on the weekend.

they meet and it goes well and stuff, them slowly establishing their own sort of relationship. they’re more platonic than sexual most of the time, but they do look for each other when they’re horny and in need of release

one day, the press captures mark waiting for js after school at seoul uni + js getting into his car. they post an article with a caption insinuating that mark has a secret relationship, which he fires down with an instagram post about invading his privacy and posting false rumours. he does this because he’s scared that js might be affected.

js is affected, because he realises that he doesn’t mind being in a genuine relationship with mark at all. he tells bamjae ofc, and they help him to realise that he might have developed feelings for the older man. he freaks out because that isn’t part of the deal of being a sugar baby but he doesn’t want to cut mark off either

it’ll end happily, definitely, but the angst will come right after this and i hope it’ll be good :<

e x t r a c t f r o m f i r s t c o n v o 🍓

Yien_duan_

Hey, is this Wangpuppy825?

Wangpuppy825

that’s me! you can call me jackson ☺️

Yien_duan_

Oh, okay sure. I’m Mark. How old are you again?

Wangpuppy825

i’m 21 this year 🤩 wbu?

Yien_duan_

I’ve just turned 30

What’s your major in college?

Wangpuppy825

just? when’s your birthday? 🧐

i major in Sports science studies at SNU

Yien_duan_

4 september

Woah, you sound like a pretty smart kid

Wangpuppy825

oh, belated birthday mark hyung 🥳🥳

i can call you that, right 🥺

also, i’m not that smart hahah i just study hard 😌

Yien_duan_

Yeah, hyung is fine

Thank you, by the way :)

Wangpuppy825

no prob, hyung ☺️

quick qn though, do you look really old?

Yien_duan_

Ummm.....no?

Wangpuppy825

do you mind sending a pic 😖

i’m sorry if this sounds weird it’s just i’ve gotten lots of dms from 50 year olds posing as 20-30 year olds and it’s creepy 😳

Yien_duan_

Okay but you can’t tell anyone about this, okay?

Wangpuppy825

why? is it embarrassing for you 😮

Yien_duan_

[image attached]

It’s not really about being embarrassed, I guess

Wangpuppy825

omg

Yien_duan_

Why?

Wangpuppy825

you look so hot wtf 🥵

and you look so young????? you look my age 😳😳

god is unfair for making you so pretty 😤

Yien_duan_

Oh

You mean you...

Wangpuppy825

i...???

Yien_duan_

Oh, nothing hahah

I’m just surprised you think I look good because well...

You’re really cute, Jackson :<

Wangpuppy825

wow okay you have no idea how different it feels to hear that from a hot person rather than just my friends hyping me up 😳😳😳

Yien_Tuan

Your friends? Did they persuade you to do this?

Y’know, my friends actually set me up with you as sort of a birthday present

Wangpuppy825

oh? then i guess i should thank them 😳

and yes, my friends did persuade me to do this hhahaha

Yien_Duan_

Thank my friends? What for?

Your friends did a good job with the basketball pictures. I think those were what made my friend Yugyeom choose you

Wangpuppy825

thank them for setting me up with such a hottie 🥵

oh! you play?

Yien_Duan_

Ahh, you’re making me embarrassed... 😳

Yeah, I played when I was in college in USA

Wangpuppy825

omg you used an emoji for the first time 🥰

usa? you’re a foreigner too?

Yien_Duan_

Hahah, I don’t really use emojis because I’m used to texting formally at work 😅

Wow, it feels like we’ve got a lot in common huh

Wangpuppy825

use them more 🥺

it does! you’re probably the most interesting person i’ve met on this site the whole week 😌😌

Yien_Duan_

Then I’m honoured I got your attention first :)

Tell me more about yourself? Unless you’ve got to go to bed already

Wangpuppy825

oh, no no hahah

i usually sleep way past midnight so this is fine 🤩

anyway, who would be crazy enough to turn down a conversation with someone like you 😖😖

Yien_Duan_

Flirtatious, are we?

Wangpuppy825

only because you’re adorable 🥰

t a g s 🍓

sugar daddy x sugar baby au

social media au

possessive mark

switch jackson

dominant mark

sexting / nudes

fluff / angst / smut

college student! jackson

friends with benefits-ish to lovers

[shiro-0197]

God no I'm sorry 😭😭😭 the way Tumblr eats all my drafts, and now your replies. (Someday I'm gonna eat Tumblr grrrr) that must've been so frustrating tho, I'm sorry love.

someday we could go to a country with Highlands together. It'll be super cold and nice. And the views would be really really pretty too!! WE COULD EVEN BE AMONGST THE CLOUDS >//< aww yes I hope you'll be able to try them soon in the future!! I died and had to stay in bed for an hour, (because my spice tolerance is nonexistent <3) but yeah I'm better now! Name is: "대박 ghost pepper noodles" the Korean word 대박 literally translates to "awesome" but— 😭😭

oh I see!! I hope school goes well, it's good that you're excused for a part of the day :D and aww I understand. Replying can be lengthy sometimes, so please please only do it when you're free and comfortable >:(( we're in no rush, after all :D

I was studying earlier too. and I texted my principal about the exams ( because apparently none of my teachers know anything about it, and I was so frustrated with everyone being so clueless ) she just replied with a : "hi Ariana, will let you know on Friday" like excuse me, ma'am. GRRRRR >:( STOP BEING CLUELESS.

awww that's okay!! I'm sure those prep slides were really pretty too :D aww that's sweet of you. some of my online friends sometimes sit in on my Leo events (if it's open to everyone) and it's pretty fun when they do (once, one of them had to talk for like, an activity and my club mates were like "SHE HAS AN ACCENT??". It was hilarious hehe) zoom is great for that reason, and only that. they're just ready-made slides tbh, I use canva :D

Shiro, love, you won't disappoint anyone, I promise you that. I'm sure your mom is more proud than you know, and from the way you talk about her, I can tell that she truly adores you. tho I also understand your worries. If you want to rant or anything, you know I'm here. And I'll just continuously reassure you of how amazing you are :)

that's my boy 🥺🥺 grr, you're so feisty, please imagine me holding a "you go, Shiro" sign everytime you tell someone to fuck themselves :D Laurent is indeed amazing. He's my favourite character for that exact reason >//< there's another character, from a book I read, just like that. His name was uhh, Kieran. And he knew so many different languages, and was just in general; super smart. I remember being so in love with him when I first read it (The title of the book is "genius")

HAHA. ikr. They're all hot, and most importantly; smart. nevermind, when I meet you someday we can cry over them together 😭🤚 pffft no offense, but being evil is hot sometimes 😾 (I mean, Kieran was evil. So's Moriarty :] and I am: a simp for them all)

aww bae that's okay 🥺🥺 your feelings are valid, and it's not wrong to express them whenever you feel like it. Grrr if I ever see your dad, he might be missing a limb >:( sorry, that was violent, but I get especially mad if anyone upsets someone i love )

exactly?? It's been a year?? Where's that blink meme where someone blinks and it's suddenly 2021. Oooh that sounds really nice!! Adding it on my list of things to try in March >.< Honey is really delicious. especially all those desserts which have a lot of them.

glad I made you laugh >////< grr my sense of humour is just so weird tho, so I'm glad you aren't freaked out by it.

KAJDKSJSKS SIR WAIT. There was an explanation for that u but I guess it got cut off in my notes 😾😾 IT WAS MEANT TO BE A Ü (smiley) but I was using my computer and I couldn't add the two dots above, so I typed "imagine the eyes" (but apparently that part got cut off and now it just looks like a random alphabet SKJSKSK IM SORRY 😭😭😭

I understand, the lack of opportunities can really get on one's nerves. But oh yes, Japan and Norway are beautiful countries. Apart from Japan, I've been really into Korea and Switzerland. The Alps 😻

grrr y'all have tough exteriors. But it's so rewarding when you finally get them down, tho I think, you guys have tons of other layers to yourselves. I guess that's just the charm, I find it endearing, because it just means there's a lot more than meets the eye :)

MY FRIEND MAKES FUN OF ME FOR LIKING PINK. HE TEASES ME MERCILESSLY SKSJSKSK (so I published a poem line in the school magazine to get back at him for it, because I'm petty like that)

that's so funny >.< There are two girls, and a girl and a guy, who share the exact same names in my class, and it's so funny because they're opposites of each other xD

he really is precious. The best leader, I would literally die for him, he's wonderful. yeah the book actually started out different, with them just being best friends. Best plot twist 😭😭 AWW

NOOO I'm sure it's cute, in it own way? :P tho that meme tho. LDJCJSBSKS. Don't worry, hehe, the character may be .... Unpleasant to look at?? , but you're not the least bit at all :)

how was your day btw? My day sucked ass and was literally the worst day in the history of uh, days. Yeah. sad. tomorrow will be better.

God, you're so adorable wtf. Marry me rn. AKDJSKSJS I didn't find it lame at all, (tho were you flustered? Because that was cute as hell xD) I love you too 🥺🥺

—☃️

It's okay, it's not your fault. We could storm the Tumblr building together or something..:3

Oh I really hope we can!!! I love cold weather. You can wear sweaters and hoodies and all that💞 and you have an excuse to cancel everything and cuddle up with a blanket or someone else😝

Im so glad you're better now!! Spice sickness or whatever is the worst😔 WBHDJWKX that's hilarious I hope I come across those soon! Let's see who wins😼

Yeah, about that, they started making us do after-class activities, which now leaves less time for the stuff I have to do .... which sucks . But I'm managing, I think, so it's cool xD yeah, I've always been kind of cautious about the timing, it's nice to have a little freedom now, thank you so much <3

Wow😭😭 our teachers usually have the dates set two weeks before the exams, we always recieve a message. Though I've been there, where the teacher have no clue, it's so annoying😭😭

Ohh, that's so cool! I hope I will be able to visit one someday. Though I dont think itll be too soon, but I'm looking forward to when I can😝 also that's funny, whenever I speak people go "he doesnt have an accent???" Even though I so obviously do. They just have no idea 😭

Okay..... that's the best words of encouragement I've ever received, I'm so touched- thank you🥺💘

Bwahah, that's gonna make my day every time 😭 Yeah, hes my favorite too!! He seems like a simple himbo at first, but the more we see of him the better he gets. (That sounds cool!!! I'm gonna check it out when I can!)

Thank you🥺 also, dont worry, I wouldn't mind that. I'd love that, actually, wanna go rip off guys arms together?

MZJXKGJJAKXKAKX IT'S ALRIGHT HAHAH, ITS REALLY FUNNY SO DONT WORRY😭😭

JSNFNMWMDMS IM GONNA MAKE FUN OF HIM FOR MAKING FUN OF YOU how could he . I will eat his eyeballs. Also I 100% agree with the poem and I'm glad you posted it. I hope some people thought about it.

Wow😭😭 its honestly so funny, because they're all so different and yet their names fit them so well either way.

Also, wow I feel so bad it's been almost a week since I responded😐 I'm really sorry. I've been writing snips of this message any time I could and yet it still took me days xD I'm getting free, though, so I'll try to respond faster now. I missed talking to you so much😭 thank you for your patience🤍🤍🤍

How've you been? I'm pretty good, tired but feeling good because I can finally respond😩 I hope your day went well. Love you!♡

[godlymvmi]

who is your fav player from the current chelsea squad

argh i have a soft spot for all of them dont i 😭

i proper love kova, think he’s so so adorable and just want him to adopt me, he seems like such a decent lad and like he just goes to training and then home to his wife, arghh love him. but i love mase, tbink he’s worked so hard this season despite what everyone’s said and really showed he’s willing to work and play for that jersey and badge, i’m so excited for him. but then, i’ll be honest, this one will be unpopular but i proper love willian too, i know i said i hate his hair 😭 but i truly do want him to stay cos despite everything he’s been there for years now and i do love him. argh but then oli man, what a man. to sign a new deal when he wanted out in january and then basically become our saving grace (other than puli) and i honestly proper love him and hope he does have a place in this team next season too cos he deserves it, he seems like such a kind hearted man as well. ARGH but then jojo, i curse him out all the time but i do love him, every time i think about his “chin up” gesture to the young players, i almost shed a tear. but ruben, argh, im so happy for him😢😢 sure hes nkt hit the ground running since his injury but he’s tried despite everything, he jusy needs time to get back into it and we need to give him it cos he’s so willing. but puli, ah my captain america, i was a bit skeptical when he first came ngl but he’s really just become a left footed hazard for us innit😭 hes had an injury and all, been benched quite a lot but now has really come and jusy saves us time and time again. zouma, i proper love him, seems like such a genuine lad as well. FIKAYO, mate i proper proper love fikayo (fikayo if u see this, want to date? xx) and i feel so bad for him at times but i truly hope we don’t swap him or sell him this window cos i do think he could do great things for us. AH KANTE, my sweet little bean, i proper love him, reckon he’s the cutest man in the world, i just wish he wasn’t injured so much😢 hope he never leaves, hes sort of like hazard2.0 in the sense that i’ll never be over it if he does leave😢 AZPI SKSK, i give him so much shit at times but he’s truly so so sweet and he proper loves this club, he’s not gotten enough credit this season i reckon. james, you know, i won’t take adris man but i think he’s such a sweetheart, seems like a proper decent lad and yeah he’s not been amazing after the restart but he’s had a great season with us despite it all. i’ve given ross more shit than anyone probably (except kepa) but he’s truly helped us quite a bit this season especially when he’s been used as a power sub, i almost want him to stay purely for that reason, how many players are willing to achuallt be power subs and not regular starters? billy, little billy😢 i’m so sad about his injury and operation but im hoping he’ll be just as good if not better next season, truly shows everhone what he’s made of. PEDRO, rhe little weasel, just think he’s so funny and cute and sigh, adopt me too let’s be honest. michy, i really do have a soft spot for michy and i’m sad it’s gone the way it’s gone but he’s just not good enough, however i truly think he’s so sweet and just a little bean. tammy, i know i’ve given him a bit of stock but he’s actually done so well for us considering everything, i really hope he signs a new contract and stops fidkedjfkf stalling. caba, think he’s just such a dad HAHAH, i do love him anyways i’ll stop now i just love the whole team

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #195

Thur Aug 22 2019 [01:12 PM] Wack'd: Marv Wolfman: is he a wolf? Or is he a man? If he's a man, he's a wolf of a man [01:12 PM] Wack'd: Also he's our writer for the next, like, two years, give or take an annual [01:12 PM] Bocaj: Marv Wolfman of Teen Titans fame [01:13 PM] Bocaj: His fellow of Teen Titans fame George Perez was already here [01:14 PM] Wack'd: This is not his first Fantastic Four rodeo. He did the Giant-Size with the alien Horsemen of the Apocalypse whose weakness is literally any form of physical resistance [01:14 PM] Bocaj: huh [01:14 PM] Wack'd: And 190 which is the recap issue because Len Wein cannot do deadlines [01:15 PM] Wack'd: But now he gets the chance to do actual long-form Storytelling with the Fantastic Four. Let's see how he handles it, and also the fact that he's stuck with this dumb "end of the Four" plotline because Reed had a midlife crisis [01:19 PM] Wack'd: So that's confirmation that Imperial Pictures is a renamed Sado-Masochism Sub-Mariner SM Pictures

[01:20 PM] maxwellelvis: That crosshatching on Namor's chest makes it look like he's spontaneously grown chest hair [01:21 PM] Wack'd: Every swimmer's worst nightmare [01:21 PM] Wack'd: Impy interrupts Sue's moping basically just because he's bored and then gets irritated that she won't engage [01:22 PM] Wack'd:

Hollywood person: Good heavens! What was that? Sue: I can't possibly explain him. He's an experience all to himself.

[01:22 PM] Wack'd: I prefer Garnet, personally [01:23 PM] Wack'd: Back in NY, Reed is concerned he hasn't heard from Sue, which--yeah, fucking obviously, Namor's a dick who had his number blocked [01:24 PM] Wack'd: Reed is becoming suspicious that none of the folks at the lab he's at know the whole truth about the project they're working on, and Reed's mystery employer--who continues to just be a Mr. Claw-esque hand in a chair--cackles that it's Reed's paranoia is all part of the plan or whatever [01:26 PM] Wack'd: So in a shocking twist, Namor is not trying to win Sue back. He's trying to reconnect with his "only friend", because he has issues he can't talk to anyone else about [01:26 PM] maxwellelvis: Lady Dorma: Apparently chopped liver. [01:26 PM] Wack'd: Why hasn't he let her contact Reed? I dunno, ask Len Wein, I guess [01:28 PM] Wack'd: So basically, Namor's current issue is that, in other books, he's successfully rebuilt Atlantis, with himself on the throne [01:28 PM] Wack'd: The prooooooblem is that he's literally saved Atlantis from certain doom a lot. And literally every time he leaves or is dethroned, something awful happens to it. And this has put certain...ideas...in his subjects' heads [01:29 PM] maxwellelvis: Dear god, they've become self-aware! [01:29 PM] Wack'd: Basically they think he's a God. Like, capital-G, supernatural-powers, heal-the-sick, God. [01:29 PM] maxwellelvis: Oooohhhhhhh dear [01:30 PM] Wack'd: (Presumably why Dorma is off the table--for all we know, she's buying into it) [01:30 PM] Wack'd: So basically, after one too many times being swarmed by worshipers begging for help he cannot provide, he got fed up, fled Atlantis, and went looking for Sue [01:31 PM] Wack'd: And was informed by Willie Lumpkin that, by sheer coincidence, she'd signed a deal with the movie studio he's still financially on the hook for and which he'd frankly kinda forgotten about [01:31 PM] maxwellelvis: Namor should consider looking into a therapist. [01:31 PM] maxwellelvis: So, about as attentive as your typical studio head, then? [01:31 PM] Bocaj: Hahah [01:31 PM] Wack'd: Pfffft [01:33 PM] Wack'd: Back at NASA, Johnny flies in for a visit, and is immediately shot at by the military until Ben calls them off [01:33 PM] Wack'd: I swear, you can't take him anywhere [01:33 PM] Wack'd:

[01:33 PM] Wack'd: Ben's been feeling kind of lonely since Alicia's work took her back to NY [01:35 PM] Wack'd: And after that brief interlude, back to Hollywood, where Sue has encouraged Namor to take a more active interest in his studio to clear his mind [01:35 PM] Wack'd: It...doesn't last

[01:36 PM] maxwellelvis: Why would they give their robots scales? [01:36 PM] Wack'd: Ladies and gentlemen, your 1978 Atlantis Hockey Club starting lineup! [01:36 PM] InbarFink: Aesthetic [01:36 PM] maxwellelvis: Good answer [01:37 PM] maxwellelvis: I have to say, these are some of the silliest-looking robots I've seen in a Marvel comic. [01:37 PM] maxwellelvis: And that's including the Living Brain [01:37 PM] Wack'd: Honestly those faces have big DC Reach energy [01:37 PM] maxwellelvis: In that they look like space wrestlemen? [01:38 PM] Wack'd: I guess? [01:38 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, Sue uses her force fields to force all the cast and crew off the set [01:39 PM] Wack'd: uuuugh

[01:41 PM] Bocaj: Is she going by Girl still at this point? [01:42 PM] Wack'd: Sue manages to dispatch two robots, one by flattening it with studio lights. Another tries to stretch around her force field so she just keeps making the field larger until it explodes [01:42 PM] Wack'd: Like putting too much air in a balloon, and then a thing happens [01:42 PM] maxwellelvis: Yeah. And in fact they've mocked the idea of her changing her name to "Invisible Woman" [01:42 PM] Wack'd: She switches to Invisible Woman in 1985 so we're still a few years off [01:43 PM] maxwellelvis: Yeah, that sounds like a Byrne-ism, iirc [01:45 PM] Wack'd: Anyway she gets a third to run into a wall that borders Namor's office fish tank [01:45 PM] Wack'd: Thus providing Namor enough water to get back to his feet since the robots earlier kicked his ass [01:46 PM] maxwellelvis: Popeye spinich theme [01:46 PM] Wack'd: IT'S 1978. DO. BETTER.

[01:47 PM] Bocaj: Its a bad trend in Fantastic Four sometimes that Sue needs to be told what to do with her powers [01:48 PM] Bocaj: Same thing with Hank Pym and the Wasp, even to the point where it makes the art make no damn sense [01:49 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Namor attacks the lead Retriever and then Sue turns him invisible so when the leader calls for help the robots attack the leader by accident [01:49 PM] Wack'd: And this destroys them all because no ontological inertia [01:49 PM] Bocaj: Of course. Don't you know anything about robotics? [01:50 PM] Bocaj: Its desirable to have everything explode when the lead unit does [01:50 PM] Bocaj: Its just tidier [01:50 PM] maxwellelvis: Like when the Master Mold was destroyed and that caused all the mk.I Sentinels to shut down. [01:50 PM] maxwellelvis: Or when that Droid Control Ship was destroyed and an entire planetary invasion force of Battle Droids just slumped over. [01:51 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Namor learned a thing. At some point. Because of robot fights? Possibly.

[01:51 PM] Bocaj: The droid control ship thing is particularly a weird example because the droids are self aware enough to have some personality and hopes and dreams and fear of death [01:52 PM] maxwellelvis: These droids aren't. The ones in Episode 1, I mean. [01:52 PM] maxwellelvis: They were basically drones. [01:52 PM] maxwellelvis: "Not like us! We're independent thinkers!" "Roger roger!" "Roger roger!"

[irondadgroupie]

Tony starts an LGBT- club

@marvelstheavengers and I have had the best time spewing out headcanons! This one we had many many weeks ago. I was going through our convos and this one is way too precious. LOTS OF IRONDAD AHEAD!!!!

irondadgroupie

I believe both Tony and Peter are Bi

Tony is canonically Bi in the comics

Tony would take Peter under his wing and take him to Pride or they would have their own little party in the Tower, with themed cupcakes

marvelstheavengers

Tony is hella bi

*bi

that man is the most bi man in the universe

And I think Peter would be too with his crush on Thor and maybe even Cap!

marvelstheavengers

And I love the idea of pride parade led by Tony and Peter

Or even just a casual rainbow party

irondadgroupie

Peter and Tony watch LOTR trilogy in the party, others complain about the lack of women but they just say ARE YOU KIDDING A BUNCH OF HOT MEN THIS IS HEAVEN!

marvelstheavengers

Hahaha yesssss!

And I can totally see them getting into like every action movie ever because MUSCLES

irondadgroupie

Skimpy clothed women plus hot men :D

And Tony pointing out cute teens when they are out, which always makes Peter blush

marvelstheavengers

Awww yes I love Tony trying to set Peter up

irondadgroupie

Tony always building up Peter's self confidence

"You're a good looking kid, why not go out there and ask him out?"

marvelstheavengers

“How could he say no to those eyes?”

And Peter just blushes so much

irondadgroupie

"As easily as you said no to me using the Iron Man armor."

marvelstheavengers

When he does ask someone out Tony stands by closely gesturing with encouragement

irondadgroupie

"Hey, that is a weapon, totally different"

marvelstheavengers

Ahahahahah I love that line

irondadgroupie

Tony behind the crush with thumbs up

And if Peter is rejected, he gives him a sidehug and buys ice cream to cheer him up

marvelstheavengers

And mouthing stuff like “doing great, go for the hug”

Ice cream occurs literally no matter what

Can you imagine Peter practicing flirting with the Avengers

Each one gives him style tips

Like Steve is all classy and “open doors, be polite, be classy, etc”

And Natasha is all like “SHOW THEM HOW BAD ASS YOU ARE SHOW THAT ASS BE PROUD YOU KNOW WHAT JUST FIGHT THEM ITS SUPER SEXY”

And Bruce claims he’s the worst person to ask

marvelstheavengers

Thor gives  Asgardian advice “Court them sweetly, leave honeyed nectar for them each morning, and be sure to ask them out with great grandeur... fireworks are always a success!”

Everyone tries to help plan him the perfect date

irondadgroupie

Eventually Tony comes in and brushes them all off, telling them not to confuse his kid

irondadgroupie

"Do what makes you comfortable? You like cafes- go there. Want to take a walk- a great idea. I can't give you a guidebook on this, kiddo. It's all trial and error."

marvelstheavengers

“Trust me, I’ve had a plentyyy off dates. They go bad if you’re out of your comfort zone. Or if you’re an asshole like I was.”

“Just go with your gut, Underoos”

And don’t forget the safety lectures from Tony

“Safe sex is good sex, Peter.”

irondadgroupie

Tony giving Peter the talk :D Oh, I need to see that

"Even if neither of you could get pregnant, always use protection. Use more than one if you want to."

"Also, masturbation is a great way to find out what you like and don't- "

"MR STARK!"

marvelstheavengers

“Kid, it’s a perfectly natural bodily-“

marvelstheavengers

“STOP!”

irondadgroupie

"There is nothing embarrassing about it and it doesn't grow hair in hands or anything ridiculous, so just go on if you feel like it"

"And if you don't want to have sex yet, no pressure. Never let anyone pressure you. Sex should be fun!"

marvelstheavengers

“And don’t forget, no one chooses when you’re ready, that’s all you.”

irondadgroupie

Wow, mind sync :D

marvelstheavengers

“If you don’t like it you can stop anytime!”

Hahaha that was perfect

Gosh that would be adorable

And of course even if Peter didn’t want to talk about it

The next day he’d find condom, lube, and various other safety and pleasure devices with a smiley face note

irondadgroupie

"And if anyone ever tries to force themselves on you, kick, scream, hit them in the balls. Anything is allowed in that situation."

Oh yeah, Tony does some late night shopping and Peter hides the box, he can't even look into it :D

marvelstheavengers

“And tell an adult what happened, especially me. I promise I won’t kill them. Ok, maybe a little but they’d deserve it!”

irondadgroupie

He can't imagine his mentor picking out stuff for him

marvelstheavengers

Hahah yesss!

And can you imagine Tony walking in on Peter researching how to be intimate with males (like whether you need lube, etc)

And Tony didn’t realize he was bi, so of course he’s happy for Peter and gives him advice on how to be intimate with both genders

Peter might be embarrassed at first, maybe he hasn’t come out yet, but Tony would be so loving and helpful!

irondadgroupie

"I'm serious, kid, if someone tries anything, tell me. That kind of a situation can be very traumatizing. And remember, it is never your fault, it's the fault of the person who can't control his urges and doesn't respect you"

irondadgroupie

At first Tony walks in on Peter masturbating. Tony immediately covers his eyes, apologizes and closes the door. They avoid each other for the rest of the day and next morning are overly polite.

irondadgroupie

Yes, Peter didn't really ever come out as Bi, Tony just found out. Peter was nervous Tony was going to treat him differently, he knew Tony was Bi but would he be alright with Peter being one. Would Tony even believe him or would he say it is just a phase and avoid the topic? What if Tony abandoned him?

marvelstheavengers

Oooo yes! Imagine the awkwardness, Peter is worried Tony will make him give up his room after that display, since he’s heard a lot of people are against masturbation, but Tony explains its natiral

And Peter is super worried when Tony finds out

irondadgroupie

"Kid, I know all about this so if you have any questions, I am more than happy to help. Or if you don't feel comfortable with talking about this stuff with me, I can recommend you to some good websites. You know, there are groups for LGBT youth, would you be interested in that?"

Yep, Tony is totally cool with masturbation

"Hey, I do it also!"

marvelstheavengers

So Tony starts his oan

*own

Peter says he doesn’t want a stranger leading him in an LGBT group

irondadgroupie

"I knew it but I DID NOT need a confirmation"

marvelstheavengers

It actually starts as a program at the tower

irondadgroupie

"Just lock the door next time, alright. Saves us both from embarrassment."

marvelstheavengers

Hahahah yes!

Peter would be so awkward over that stuff

Tony offers to make him a do not disturb sign

irondadgroupie

TONY LEADING A LGBT CLUB!

Peter uses the sign every time he can, eventually it is extremely difficult for Tony to tell what Peter is doing in that room since the sign is always on the door. Peter doesn't want to signal the world he is pleasuring himself :D

marvelstheavengers

Isn’t that the best?!

irondadgroupie

YEAH!

marvelstheavengers

Tony just starts ignoring the sign, which leads to more issues, which leads to a lock installation

marvelstheavengers

which eventually causes problems when Peter sneaks out to be spiderman

Tony would be the best LGBT leader

I’m talking rainbow cakes, walls, food, fucking parades

He’d try to normalize it

Especially after being ostracized by his own father

He’d give safe sex, flirting, and other tips

irondadgroupie

They have snacks and Tony makes it a very relaxed event, the kids can talk if they have any issues, catch up with each other. Tony doesn't really make it LGBT themes, they don't really talk about politics but rather about normal life

marvelstheavengers

And each kid member would have his personal phone number in case they ever needed advice

irondadgroupie

Tony also offers one-on-one time if someone has a sensitive issue

marvelstheavengers

Yes! I love that!

marvelstheavengers

He’d totally want to normalize it, just talk about normal things, movies, etc

And when he notices two boys who have heart eyes for each other he goes to work trying to set them up!

irondadgroupie

They have movie nights, outings to interesting places and once have a pajama party, Peter and Tony realized neither of them had ever been in one

marvelstheavengers

It’s all about normalcy and being able to accept themselves, as well as provide advice if they ever need it

Oh my gosh I love pajama party fics!

It’d be an EPIC PJ party too

Maybe even some of the other Avengers would stop by

And tell the kids how they’re the true heroes accepting themselves and braving a world that can sometimes be ignorant

irondadgroupie

Exactly, Tony wants kids to accept themselves, they don't need to become active members of LGBT community, just to be functional adults. Peter makes many friends and gets lots of support for his thoughts.

Tony also makes sure there is no Bi-phobia since sometimes LGBT people don't really look kindly on them

irondadgroupie

Tony even accepts Bi-curious people, the more the merrier "It's not like we are arranging an orgy"

marvelstheavengers

Hahaha I love that!

He’d be the most welcoming person eber

And any signs of discrimination or phobia he would shut down so wuixk

quick

irondadgroupie

EPIC party alright. They have pizza, get to go to the Avengers gym where they try all the machines. Peter amazes them all with his gymnastics and Tony nearly has a heart attack as the boy does crazy tricks. Tony has the intention to go to his own floor but all the kids want him to stay. They all camp on the ground in sleeping bags and just gossip until Pepper comes and tells them to go to bed

marvelstheavengers

“Who the fuck still cares about sexual orientation? We should care about Earth’s orientation because my God we may have some future issues in that department”

Oh yes!

Pepper is *this* close to kicking Tony out, because he’s having the most fun of all!

In fact he encouraged it

marvelstheavengers

“Babe, every teenager stays up too late at a sleepover it’s only natural! And adds to childhood experience! I read a whole book on it”

irondadgroupie

Tony placing all kind of crazy bets and giving money to those who complete them succesfully

"The one who can fit most marshmallows in their mouth gets a dollar!"

marvelstheavengers

And the bets are ridiculous amounts, Tony practically throws money at the kids since he knows most can’t even afford college

Like $200 for whoever can do the best Shania Twain impression

irondadgroupie

Peter managed to get twenty marshmallows into his mouth, Tony still doesn't know how he did it

But the boy did need quick Heimlich since he started choking

marvelstheavengers

No more marshmallow contests after that 😂😂

irondadgroupie

Tony gives money away like crazy!

marvelstheavengers

It also turns out the quietest boy in the class can belt a tune

irondadgroupie

Peter would have been eager to do a round two :D

marvelstheavengers

Oh for sure! That boy grew up on food competitions after all.

irondadgroupie

500 dollars on who can eat most wasabi!

marvelstheavengers

Imagine Peter starting a youtube channel for “life advice from Mr. Stark” based off the group

Peter did not excel at that one

irondadgroupie

They have singstar battles, Tony is amazingly good singer

marvelstheavengers

Turns out his enhanced senses can NOT handle spice

irondadgroupie

Yep, Peter had tears in his eyes and had to forfeit :D

marvelstheavengers

Tony has a whole John Travolta combined with AC/DC vibe

He’s a great dancer, an even better air guitarist

irondadgroupie

Tony tries to avoid challenges that he knows Peter will dominate. Some teens ask for a handstand competition but Tony knows Peter would win it hands down

marvelstheavengers

Eventually, he has to appoint Peter as a judge for all gymnast competitions

irondadgroupie

They have all sorts of WII games in their space

marvelstheavengers

Tony competes instead

They also have an entire laser tag course

irondadgroupie

PETER AND TONY ON OPPOSING TEAMS!

They are determined to take each other down

marvelstheavengers

OH MY GOSH YES

Turns out Peter has an entire strategy board

irondadgroupie

Like, of course they work well and usually, if it is an Avenger challenge, they are paired up but now, war is on

irondadgroupie

Peter and Tony know the other's moves and plan based on that

"Peter favors heights, so be very careful when you see a ledge, try to keep the edges, that makes it harder to hit you."

marvelstheavengers

“And Peter also has really good... hearing, so try to be quiet. It’s best to go for him from a distance”

“Tony is great at setting traps, try not to move in predictable patterns, and don’t walk down one way paths”

irondadgroupie

It ends up with all of the opposing team members trying to take down Peter :D

"This is not fair!" Peter screams as he runs into cover.

marvelstheavengers

Peter is the biggest threat, he’s great at gymnastics and seems to have these super great instincts (woah what a shock)

So Tony’s strategy is definitely to have everyone corner him first

Peter is totally pissed about it

Once he’s out he ends up shouting advice to his teammates from afar

irondadgroupie

"Hey, no participating! You are dead!" Tony shouts

"I'm a ghost! Their guiding spirit!"

"Hush, you, RIP."

When they finally get Peter cornered and done for, Tony begins a small eulogy but Peter's kicks him in the shin in annoyance

marvelstheavengers

Hahahahahahaha I love that!

marvelstheavengers

“Peter was a good kid who always tried his hardest, but in the end he succumbed to laser tag. Let it be remembered that Tony outlived Peter in laser tag, and he’s nearly 50. RIP.”

Peter mumbles something about coming back to haunt Tony

And he makes sure next game to immediately target the man, not for strategy but REVENGE

irondadgroupie

Oh yeah, Peter is out to get Tony from now on :D In every game they play

irondadgroupie

Like once the group play football with Tony and Peter on opposing teams and Peter is dead-set on NOT giving Tony the ball.

irondadgroupie

Tony also doesn't want to give up.

At one point the ball is cornered to a wall and neither lets the other go

marvelstheavengers

And of course when someone fumbles in American football Tony and Peter are the first to dog pile on top, both refusing to move because oh my gosh what if the ball slips

In fact there’s a running tally on a chalkboard of Tony and Peters’s competitions

Members take bets, it’s all very serious

Of course at the end of the day, though, Tony ruffles Peter’s hair and slings an arm around him, Peter smiles and hands him a Coke.

irondadgroupie

Oh yes! All their fights are in good nature and they make sure to never injure each other!

By the way, Peter would be the ultimate Twister champion

How about Tony and Peter being a pair in Trivial Pursuit. Others think they are crushed but even that pair has things they don't know

irondadgroupie

Once they played basketball and Peter, being the smallest of the group was accidentally knocked down and sprained his wrist

marvelstheavengers

Tony totally freaked out and had Peter checked out by no less than three doctors

marvelstheavengers

Also don’t forget that one time at Twister when Peter’s sticky hands would NOT detach from the twister tarp, which ended up in one big burrito wrapped Peter Parker as everyone fled for their lofe

r from

*life

and idk why it added random space and words lol

marvelstheavengers

Also in Trivial Pursuit Peter discovers Tony is useless at geography

marvelstheavengers

“You’ve literally been to Spain 10000 times how do you not know the capitol?!”

“You don’t ask ‘excuse me is this the capitol’ while you’re in a Spanish city!”

irondadgroupie

Peter in turn knows NOTHING about history

"When did World War 2 end?"

"Ummm- 19...82?"

irondadgroupie

Tony snorted. "Oh, yeah, I remember it so well. Fuck it, Peter, that's embarrassing."

Yes! Tony being a mother-hen is the best!

"Mr Stark, I just need some ice. It's fine, I have had much worse."

"Hush, now, rest. How many fingers am I holding up? I'm gonna tell you five words and I want you to repeat them in backwards order."

marvelstheavengers

Peter is totally just bad with years in general

In fact he frequently confused what year Tony was born

He alters between asking him what the Great Depression was like and what it was like to be - kid in the 90s

Tony has learned not to be offended that Peter thinks he was born in the 30s

The kid practically doesn’t even know when he was born

And yesssss! Tony totally mothers Peter when he’s injured

marvelstheavengers

He also obsessively worries

“When will he be able to walk again?”

“He... he sprained his elbow, Mr. Stark...”

“Exactly! Bed rest for a month, right?”

Peter of course is always insisting he’s fine

“Mr. Stark I have super healing! I’m practically invincible!”

“You think you’re WHAT NOW”

irondadgroupie

Yes! Peter forgets dates so easily "I know what you are talking about but I have no idea when it happened." Like Peter knows about 9/11, he knows where it happened, has been to the site, knows everything about it and still never gets the year right

"Peter, you were literally born the year it happened Jesus Christ! I am about to banish you!"

irondadgroupie

At first Tony was offended when Peter got his birth year wrong. Once Peter asked if Tony fought in Vietnam. Nowadays, if they play any kind of quiz and the question beings with "When", Tony immediately knows to cover Peter's mouth

irondadgroupie

Tony is not generally a mother-hen, he does not care if Peter eats healthy or goes to bed at a reasonable time but when Peter is injured or sick, he is out of his mind with worry.

"Mr Stark, it was just a sneeze. It's dusty in here."

"Yeah, nope, not taking a chance," Tony says while wrapping the boy in a million blankets

marvelstheavengers

Peter even has a single goosebump, you better believe Tony is bundling that boy up

He also consistently reminds Peter to eat

Like CONSTANTLY

Tony actually has FRIDAY make sure a sandwich is always made at regular intervals

Just in case

marvelstheavengers

Peter also once tried to get Tony to study with him, asking him questions about what the 40s were like

Tony knew not to get offended at this point, so he just dragged Cap in to tutor the boy

irondadgroupie

At first Tony went along with it, he knew some stories but then Peter started talking with "you" pronoun and Tony just dragged Cap into the picture

It is a miracle Peter passes history

marvelstheavengers

It’s pretty much only due to his amazing memory, which apparently expire the day after a history test. He retains absolutely nothing from that class.

Everything else, however, he’s an absolute genius with.

Tony doesn’t even realize how brilliant the boy is until they’re working on a science project

marvelstheavengers

Peter is trying to figure out a way to use bacteria to produce methane readily available for energy use

And Tony suggests adding a mechanized aspect, like a way to use nanoparticles to extract the bacteria’s respiration profucts

marvelstheavengers

And Peter immediately draws up plans for them to rely on sensory mechanisms

Idk I’m just kinda making this up as I go

Or Peter has an idea to upgrade Tony’s suit and probes him wrong about soemtjing

Regardless, Tony is shocked and realizes just HOW smart Peter is

[groovyzombiellama]

Why Do You Care? 2

(I couldn’t wait to write about this that it took only one person asking for a part 2 for me to get right on it, can you see how in love I am with writing about Jax Teller by now hahah?)

Title: Why Do You Care? 2 Requested? Yes. Plot: Jax tracking you down in LA after breaking up with Tara and telling you he made a mistake. Word count: 1738

Part 1

---***---

It’s been about two weeks since you moved to LA, and you were still working out some stuff to start working for your family’s company there. However, something was a bit off. You missed Charming, the quiet small town where you feel like you can count on everyone. You missed Gemma, and all those girl talks the two of you would have. She was always there for you when you needed her, and you couldn’t help but feel that you were betraying her in a way by being far away from her in case she needed you for something. You missed the club, and all the of boys, Jax in paticular. You were still so hurt by what happened, but you just couldn’t forget all those feelings. People say that people might forget what you said to them, they might forget what you did to them, but they will never forget the feeling you caused in them. You still loved Jax with all of your heart and you couldn’t get him out of your head. You would find yourself at times wondering what his life is like now and does he even care that you are not with him. But then you would remember seeing him and Tara together again and you would just shake your head in disbelief and go back to sorting out youw new life, without Jax.

You had no idea how devastated he was, as much as you were. He broke things off with Tara and has been trying to find the best way to get you back, but he also wanted to give you some space to think about everything and let him know when he comes over if he can have his hopes up or not. But by the start of week three, he just had enough, and was on his way over to LA to find you. To you it was just another day at the office, dealing with clients and paperwork, and you had no idea about the biker on a mission. You had just come back from your lunch break, it always helps you destress and get your batteries charged enough to make it through the rest of the workday. You were going through some paperwork on your desk, trying to sort it all out and clean the mess that accumulated as the rest of your coworkers were just piling up their reports on your desk, and you were supposed to be the one to send them along to the boss.

And that was why you haddn’t noticed Jax walking through the door of your office, and thought it was just another client and told him you’d be right there, without even turning to look at the person. When he saw you, Jax let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. There you were, right in front of him, in arms reach, and he wanted nothing more then to hold you close, repeating how sorry he was for not seeing that he was making a mistake. But he had to pull himself together and he found that the only way he could calm his nerves down even a little would be to have a smoke. Jax noticed the sofas next to the door and took a seat in one of them, lighting his cigarette. The moment the smoke hit your nostrils you felt your breath hitch. You don’t smoke, and there is a written note on the wall and the door that state there is no smoking in the office. But you knew deep down that the only person who would not care about that rule would be Jax.

And as you turned around, not fully bracing yourself for the shock, you saw the one person that caused you so much pain and yet so much happiness too. You couldn’t just forget all the happy moments you two shared and you didn’t want to. You wanted to forget the bad, and just have him as a memory of the one time you were perfectly happy in your life, when you were around him. He kept his cool facade, but in reality, he was a nervours wreck. He looked over at his lit cigarette for a moment, before lifting his gaze, and your eyes finally met, after what felt like forever. On one hand, you wanted to jump into his arms and tell him how much you missed him, but on the other, your head was telling you that you probably shouldn’t do that, no matter how much your heart was screaming it at you. After a moment of silence, you asked Jax how did he find you and what he was doing here. “It took a while to find this place, but I asked a couple people on the street using the information you had told me once. So with their help, I managed to find you. And what I’m doing here? I came to see you. It’s been so long, I just wanted to see how you were doing. And also, to talk to you.“

Talk to you? Didn’t the fact that he chose Tara already establish that the two of you had nothing to talk about? You really weren’t in the mood to be someone’s second choice just because things didn’t work out with the first person and they are feeling lonely. But then again, Jax was not just a someone, he was your someone. “After everything that happened, you still want to talk to me? I thought you made it pretty clear when she-who-will-not-be-named moved back into your house. What changed, really?“ Jax’s eyes were burning into you and you could feel the heat rising to your cheeks, and them truning a redish color. Why does this man still have this effect on you? Jax took a drag from his cigarette, and after letting the smoke from his mouth fill the air, he answered your question. “What changed was the fact that I realized I had made a mistake. If I had known that you had the same feelings for me that I do for you, I wouldn’t have chosen her. She does her best to keep me away from that life, my life, while you were there for me and everyone else in the club. Even my mother likes you, hell she loves you, and that never happens.“

He noticed that there was no ashtray in the office, his eyes just then registering the sign that said ’no smoking’, so he put his cigarette out on the insade of the lid of the pack, even though he only took one drag and threw it into the trash. Nex thing you know he’s up on two feet and he’s stepping closer to you. You start walking backwards until you hit the desk behind you and that stops him in his tracks, and he swallows hard before speaking again. “I know I hurt you, a lot, but I still dare to stand here, just like that girl in one of those romance crap movies that you made me watch that one time, with my heart in my hands, asking a girl to love me, no matter how big of a fuckup I am. It’s probably not gonna be the first mistake I make, but I know that not matter how much you try to deny it, there is a part of you that loves me, even now. And it took me a long while, but I realized I love you too. I need you, every inch of you.“

You heart was close to jumping out of your chest, and your head was swarming with if’s, maybe’s and but’s. You love him, he’s right about that one, and you need him too, more than you want to admit it, but are you really strong enough to handle what will be thrown at you if you start living this life? Just as you were thinking that, Jax came up to you, taking your hand in his, and putting it on his chest. “Can you feel that? My heart never beat that fast, for any girl, not even Tara. You are the puzzle piece I’m missing to get my life on the right track. Please, just at least consider coming back to me. I will do anything and everything to regain your trust, I promise.“ If someone were to hear Jax speak, they would think he was practically on is knees, begging you. But, in reality, he was more put together than you were. Both of your hearts beating at the same rhytm, and your eyes just showing love to each other, you didn’t even think you had to answer for Jax to see that you loved him. Ad you could see his bottom lip shake slightly, as if he was doing his best not to cry in front of you. In that moment you noticed that he was still holding your hand on his chest and pulled it out of his grip.

As soon as you turned your back to Jax he felt devastated, his heart breaking into a million pieces, and he felt like he had no other choice then to live his life without the woman he loves most. His hand was on the knob when he heard your voice call his name. He loved the way his name sounded coming from your mouth, and he would love to spend the rest of his life listening to that. He turned around to look at you again, and instead of saying anything, you ran towards him and wrapped your arms around him. He was taken aback at first, but soon realized that he was finally able to hold you again and he wasted no more time in doing so. The feeling of you in his arms made his heart skip a beat, and he felt like the happiest man alive. Once you parted, he placed his lips to yours gently, into a loving yet passionate kiss, full of love. He promised he was going to work his ass off to gain your trust again and let’s just say, he did. It took a while to finish the paperwork, but you managed to get back to Charming, and back to your man. You never regretted your decision to get back to Jax, and as he treated you like a queen, you treated him like a king.

---***---

I hope you guys like this second part to my original dedicated fic. I really wanted to write about the reader and Jax getting back together, just because I love him too much, and I somehow always imagine myslef as not just the writer, but as the reader too, so I just wanted a happy ending. I hope you guys agree :D

@innerpaperexpertcloud I just wanted to thank you so much on all the love you gave all of my Jax Teller fics, even the ones not many people like apparently :) Hope you like this one too :D <3

[khiphop-discussions]

Buzzer Beat Festival 2019

OK so there was SOOO many artists and acts that I won’t even begin to go into all of it.

The show was great! My standouts:

Coogie: He came around 4:35pm so that meant I waited a bit over 4 hours for him. He didn’t disappoint. He was lit, crowd was lit. I was lit. I got videos of SaimSaim, Movin&Movin, and part of Suzuran cause my camera stopped since I ran out of space. I had to go delete some stuff. His set was lit. I’m going to see him again at Henz on July 19th

Basick: He killed it! He air hi-fived me hahah. Also, at the end he brought out Vegabonds Crew which is Changstarr’s crew. they were only supposed to perform on the other stage but they came to ours anyway so that was nice.

Ash Island: I got some pics and videos just for y’all who are big fans of him! I got “DeadStar”. Sorry for all the Ash fans but he kept his shirt on lol

The Cohort: B-Free thought he was a rockstar. I guess he’s not wrong. Hip-hop IS rock and roll music. He was having a lot of fun but some people in the crowd were like “WTF” at his extraness. Let B-Free have fun lol! Also, they brought out PaloAlto and they (palo, B-free, Bryan) were hugging at some points so that was cute. Then Okasian and Keith came and “It G Ma” was lit of course.

VMC: Was SOOOO lit. Obviously my highlights involved Nucksal. He came out last. They performed 1/N and Jakdu/Cut Cut Cut which are two of my favorite songs with Nucksal. Too bad they didn’t do “The Villains” but that’s ok. This whole performance (Odee, Rohann, QM, DeepFlow) was lit but I’m focusing on Nucksal obviously cause he’s literally like one of my top 5 in KHH.

BeWhy: I missed Super Bee for him because they were on at the same time on different stages but I wasn’t gonna leave because I was in the second row at this point. Also, I’ve never seen BeWhy anyway and SuperBee + Yng & Rich Records is having a solo concert this month anyway so no point in losing my spot to go to the other stage. He was really good and interacted with the crowd a lot. When he announced “Day Day” I thought Day Day (David Kim) was going to come out but then I realized that it was just the song...which is named after David Kim anyway lol. I forgot he had a song named that.

Mkit (I’m only gonna say nice things, ok? About EVERYONE, not just my faves): It was fucking lit! Just wanna note that Young West’s hair is actually SUPER healthy and nice in real life. It looked really clean and pretty. His bangs are really long so you can’t really see him face hahaha. I actually enjoyed his set. Sang along to Swish and Zombie Walking since I know a little bit of both songs lol. Bloo was good. I nodded my head along to Owen’s set. He signed someone’s autograph after his first song ended so that was nice. Then Niahn came out. He was cool. His songs are more laid back though. Not the club banger type stuff we’re used to hearing from Mkit. It was cool though. Nafla’s set was dope. Then came LooFla. Then the best part, LOOPY! He performed “Save” and I got the whole thing recorded *cries*. It was CRAZY! I’m glad he performed it because when I saw him at Henz he didn’t.

Also, when AP came out for Weathermen he shook a bottle of Champagne or SOME type of alcohol and threw it on the crowd....Thanks Andy. PLEASE stick to water son. It smelled SO gross lol. (Note: I don’t drink so it was kinda gross to have alcohol on me)

Small honorable mentions: Moon, Cherry Coke, and Jungigo. I  enjoyed them I have some clips/pics of Cherry and Moon. I have a whole video on Jungigo cause I know some of y’all like him so I got it just for y’all. His voice is SOOO nice. Also, Club 33. I’m definitely gonna look up some of their stuff. Their songs were good and Sumin (?) has a really pretty voice, as does the guy! (Kirin I think?)