#the second one i still 100% stand by as a connection NOBODY else seems to make and it still drives me crazy
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Losing it for a second bc I'm scrolling through my phone notes and came across my middle of the night screaming from when I was first going through Trails of Cold Steel 4 as I was turning into one of those conspiracy theorists with the corkboard in my mind
And then ended both of my rambles with I'M GOING TO CHEW GLASS lmaoooo
#ink thinks#the legend of heroes#trails of cold steel#its fun going back and reliving them as i read them#one of them was prior to the end and while i was a bit off i still agree with the general rambling#the second one i still 100% stand by as a connection NOBODY else seems to make and it still drives me crazy#i shld get back to drawing trails. or just drawing. in general. WHSHAGAFS
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The very last bauble. The very last hangout. As we move towards the conclusion to it all, we've heard from Vivia about what he wants us to bear in mind. Now it's time to hear what guidance Yakou has to offer us.
Oh, okay, we're gonna give him a pep talk. Disappointing to the very end, aren't you?
Really. We're really going to spend the last hangout yet again shilling the OTP that remains mired in the exact same place it was in way back in the Chapter 2 rooftop epilogue?
The answer, Yakou, is that it's not. Things are not going. There's been lots of blushing and lots of awkward pauses but nobody has said or done a single thing yet because writers despise romance despite how hard they try to inject it into their stories.
Ooh, Yuma doesn't know but that is a painful question.
*spit take* NOT SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT, FUCKING HELL.
God fucking dammit man. Even if you're making it up, "I was so great at cheating, you wouldn't even BELIEVE" is a terrible thing to make up. It doesn't need to be true to reflect poorly on your values.
I'm going straight back to the homunculus testing site so I can push you dipshit ass off a cliff.
This is the worst final hango--
Why was that Fubuki's final conversation topic!? Ew ew ew ew DX
This is the second-worst final hangout!
...wait.
Hold up.
Is he talking about actual kittens?
Or that, I suppose. Still, the way he chose to play this up has caused my opinion of him to nonetheless sink lower. It's not about whether he did or did not "three- or four-time". It's about the fact that he considers the image he tried to sell to be an admirable presentation of masculinity in the first place.
"LOL It's so cute how they'd get jealous whenever they'd find out about my other girlfriends!" This kind of casual misogyny is exactly the kind of behavior that makes me loathe "guy talk". Men will take one look at you, see a kindred bro, and then proceed to say the grossest shit to you with absolutely no filter whatsoever.
Too late, damage already done. There is no salvaging your reputation from here.
Now we're getting to the meat of it. I expected Yakou to give a counterargument to Vivia, but they seem to be on the same page.
Vivia asks, "Is it always right to reveal a cruel truth?"
Yakou says, "You need to put Kurumi's wellbeing first."
These both feel like things that are going to be important for Yuma to carry with him in the final confrontation with Makoto. Which is why the two baubles were put here.
It's not, and I hate that you think that. This exact mindset, that men only exist for women and nothing else, is a major contributing factor to toxic masculinity.
This conversation must be, like, right before Chapter 5. Yakou's getting ready to carry out Huesca's murder. That's why he's trying to connect with Yuma like this.
Yakou Furiou. I didn't think very highly of him when I met him. But then I got to know him and see new sides to his personality. And through that journey, I was able to learn that I was overestimating him and adjust my opinion even lower.
I don't like Yakou on a personal level. I don't hold his drinking or his grief against him. He's a damaged man who's been through some trauma. But he's also a frequent obstacle who has gross opinions and mostly gets in the way.
Nonetheless, I still stand behind him 100% in the murder of Dr. Huesca. Like I said before, I'm not fond of Yakou the Detective but I adore Yakou the Murderer. That we were all able to pull together and carry off the Crime of the Century to avenge Yakou's wife and assassinate the most well-guarded man in Kanai Ward?
Yeah. I'm proud of that. We did it. Huesca isn't Yakou's victim. He's our victim. We made this happen for Yakou and I have no regrets about it. I'd kill Huesca again if Yuma would let me. Shove him over that railing and let him be a malfunctioning immortal in a pit at the bottom of the secret lab.
Yakou isn't someone I would want to hang out with for an evening. But I'm glad he found his closure, even if this was the only way he could.
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[Lee Felix] Leap of Faith
Fandom: Stray Kids
Pairing: [Felix x GN! Reader]
Warnings: fear of heights, jumping from high places (into water), mention of accidental death
Word count: 1.3 k
Requested by: AvatarKyarra on Quotev
Prompt: Lee Felix. "Why are you taking off your shirt?" and “Well, this is new”
“Lee Felix if I die today this is going to be your fault and you’re going to have to explain to my parents how you killed their child!” you howled into his back with screwed shut eyes as you clutched your arms around him in a nearly bone-breaking way.
“You’re not going to die,” he wheezed out after you knocked the air out of him and he awkwardly reached around to try and pat your head reassuringly.
That did nothing to make you feel better as you continued to screech as loud as you could, “I’m scared of heights you numb nut!”
“Oh.” His body stiffened under your grasp and became awkward, “well, this is new.”
“Even Chan knew about this!” you couldn’t believe this betrayal. Felix. Your boyfriend of over a year still didn’t know about your crippling fear of heights. Though, in his defense, the two of you haven’t gone to an amusement park or looked at the view from atop a building.
“Don’t worry, I’m right here.” He continued in his soothingly deep voice.
"But if you fall I fall!" You continued to shout, refusing to look down. How Felix managed to convince you to climb up this rock in the first place was a mystery to begin with. Okay, maybe not. You loved the human embodiment of sunshine and trusted him (almost) whole-heartedly. So when he asked you excitedly if he could show you something fun, you were quick to join him as he gently pulled you away from the beach where everyone else was playing and up a small trail. You didn’t even question it, especially since you could see his excitement nearly rivaling that of the shining sun beating down on the 9 of you. And when he pulled you onto the nearly car-sized rock, you assumed there would be more earth beyond it, just like the rest of the rocks the two of you had clambered across. So when the two of you came to the crest and you were met with the gorgeous view of the coastline to both sides and the blue ocean spanning to the edge of the earth, you screamed.
"We're just going to jump into the water," he tried to coax you in a sweet voice.
"What if we hit our head?"
"That's why we jump." He managed to pull himself out of your grasp so he could meet your terrified eyes with warm brown ones. "I'll be with you the entire way, it's fun. I promise."
"Nope." You declared and tried to back down the rock.
"Don't be lame (y/n)!" You heard Jeongin's voice scream.
"Then you get up here and do it!" You shouted back to the teen without looking to find him. You didn't hear a response, so you assumed he chickened. Serves him right.
During the whole exchange, you didn't notice Felix gently let go of you and only realized when you saw him with his shirt covering his face and his abs on full display. "Why are you taking off your shirt?" Your terror was forgotten for a moment as you became a little more than distracted by his toned body. Not fair, how was he able to make and eat all those brownies and cookies while still having a fit body.
"I'm not going to swim with my shirt on," he shrugged nonchalantly as he shook out his shoulders before extending a hand to you, "coming?"
"I can go first to reassure you it's not dangerous," you looked to see Jeongin's form climbing up the rock where you and Felix were standing.
You frowned at him, "you took great joy in pointing fake guns at Chan and Changbin." He merely shrugged. You were right.
"Well if both of you are gonna be losers, I'll see you later." He waved before taking a running jump off the rock. With a joyful woop and a cry of "cannonball!" You watched him sink to the ground before a loud splash was heard. There was only a second of silence before you heard his melodious laughter. Adrenaline junkies. The lot of them.
"Please?" Felix asked with puppy dog eyes that could rival Seungmin.
"No."
"For your boyfriend?"
"No."
"For your ray of sunshine?"
"No."
"For yourself?"
"Myself doesn't want it."
Felix let out a sigh of defeat, "all right.” He stepped away from the edge of the rock to hold your hand and guide you back down, grabbing his shirt in the process.
You didn’t miss the dejected lilt in his voice, though he was hiding it behind smiles and reassuring you that it was all right. You knew Felix had an adventurous streak and loved the thrill of doing something exciting, and he seemed so excited to show you. Felix would never purposefully do anything to harm you, and nobody’s gotten hurt yet (you noticed Changbin, Seungmin, and Chan playing around over there earlier). Plus, then you could rub it in Minho’s face. You needed to get even with him after he was a literal cat whisperer and was correct in pointing out the cat hiding in the bushes, even when you, Jisung, and Felix firmly believed against him. You steeled yourself and stopped in your tracks at the top of the small trail, causing Felix to turn around and look at you in confusion. “You’ll be with me the entire way?”
There was a pause of confusion before his face brightened with excitement, “we’ll jump together. I’ll make sure you’re safe, promise.”
“Okay,” you nodded timidly.
“But you’re scared of heights.” Felix frowned, he didn’t want to push you into doing something you didn’t want to do. Especially considering how tightly you were holding onto him earlier, he thought a rib was going to break.
“I trust you,” you added with a nod as you turned to pull him back up, “now let’s go before I change my mind. I really want to rub this into Minho’s and Han’s faces.”
Felix let out a laugh as his grip around your hand tightened, “let’s go.” Once again, the two of you clambered to the top of the rock and you refused to look down, opting to focus on Felix’s face (and abs) instead. “You’re sure?” he asked you one more time as he connected both of his hands with yours reassuringly, making sure to connect eyes with you and show on his face that he was 100% okay with you backing out.
“You can do it (y/n)!” you heard the reassuring cheer from Seungmin.
“You can’t do it (y/n)!” Minho antagonized immediately afterward.
“You can shut up Minho!” you screeched in response, not turning to look in his direction. “Just jump?” you asked for confirmation. You could feel your entire body trembling to the point where it was tingling, from your fingertips to your toes. Your heart was pounding loudly in your ears and you felt like your vision was tunneling onto Felix. Were you really going to do this?
“Yes.”
The two of you jumped.
You hardly got a chance to scream before you crashed into the water with a great splash. You kicked and rose back up to float as you choked out some water and pushed your hair out of your face. Your hearing was a little fuzzy from the adrenaline rush plus the pounding from your heart only seemed to get stronger and louder, so you didn’t hear the excited cheers from the rest of the gang. But you didn’t miss the bright smile on Felix’s face who was still in front of you just like on the top of the rock. “Not so bad, right?”
“Never again.”
#stray kids#kimi's writing#skz#stray kids fic#stray kids scenarios#stray kids felix#stray kids imagine#felix#lee felix#felix lee#lee yongbok#stray kids x reader#skz x reader#felix x reader#lee felix x reader#felix lee x reader#reader insert#x reader#stray kids fluff#skz fluff#lee felix fluff#stray kids beach au#skz beach au#stray kids boyfriend#skz boyfriend#skz fic#stray kids x y/n#stray kids x you#skz x y/n#skz x you
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Maeve//i don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you
Request: Could you please do something else with Maeve? Perhaps something where reader works with Maeve on an English project and she's surprised that they have so much in common. She realizes she has feelings for her somehow after that? Sorry that's sort of rubbish, have a swell day/night.
hey! what’s up everybody! i hope everyone is well, and i hope you like this!! title is from ‘the lakes’ by taylor swift!
- English projects are never fun
- I mean, who finds constant stress and a deadline that’s always far too close fun?
- Nobody
- That’s who
- Well apart from Mrs Jones
- Your year 9 English teacher who made every minute of her classes a living hell
- And who mysteriously went missing half way through the year after having a screaming match with a fellow English teacher
- When she was supposed to be teaching you Romeo & Juliet.
- One day she was accusing Miss Newman of being a terrible teacher and purposefully bumping up students grades so she looked better
- And the next day both her and Miss Newman were gone
- And you only got a replacement teacher when you moved into year 10
- Right now though
- Its seems Miss Sands is going through some stuff
- Because not only did she give you an assignment on Friday with a deadline of Monday
- She also chose your partners instead of letting you choose your own
- Which is why you’re stood outside of Maeve’s in the pouring rain
- On a frankly miserable Saturday morning
- It seems the weather knew exactly what sort of weekend you were facing
- And decided to make it even worse.
- By the third knock
- You’re about to give up
- The curtains are still drawn
- And you’ve seen more movement in a graveyard
- Plus
- You kind of already assumed you would be doing the project alone
- Maeve Wiley was known for being very...
- ...independant
- And group projects are no different
- You actually think she may be more independent during group projects
- So as soon as Miss Sands paired you together
- You knew
- You were 99% sure that
- You’d do your thing
- She’d do hers
- And then five minutes before the presentation
- You would figure out a way to connect the two.
- Anywayyyy
- While daydreaming about a time when you won’t have any assignments
- And making awkward, accidental eye contact with Maeve’s neighbours
- The door in front of you opens
- Simultaneously giving you a fright and almost knocking you out
- She yawns and scratches the top of her head
- ‘what are you doing here?’
- She sounds both tired and annoyed and you blink at her a few times before answering
- ‘er - i - the project. for english.’
- It takes her a few seconds to process what you’ve said
- But when she does
- She looks even more miserable than she did five seconds ago
- And you brace yourself for a long weekend
- She sighs and rolls her eyes
- Before slowly opening the door properly and letting you in
- You feel slightly nervous as you walk in
- But you really have no idea why
- It’s not like she’s a complete stranger
- But then again
- She’s not exactly a friend
- ‘don’t worry, i’ve hidden the drugs. i don’t really like to share anyway.’
- ‘what?’ you ask confused and she rolls her eyes again
- She huffs and crosses her arms before nodding to the slightly messy living room
- ‘i get it. we’re a bunch of benefit fraud chavs that do nothing but drink and smoke all day.’
- ‘that’s not what i was thinkin-’
- ‘sure it wasn’t.’ she rolls her eyes and you stare down at the floor. ‘i need to get changed so make yourself at home I suppose.’
- She walks into what you assume is her bedroom and slams the door behind her
- Leaving you to stand awkwardly in the middle of the living room
- It’s small and slightly cramped
- And most people would say that all the stuff makes it look busy
- But to you
- It’s wonderful
- It’s filled with stories and memories
- Some self explanatory
- Some slightly more bizarre
- Like the wonky blue and yellow clay swan living on the coffee table
- You really want to know the story behind it
- But decide it might be a little early in your partnership to start asking about her attachment to a half swan, half moth looking ornament
- So instead you pick up a pile of books on the dining table and move them onto the floor
- You can hear Maeve opening and closing drawers while humming a familiar tune
- And you feel yourself relax slightly as you place your laptop and books where the books were previously sat
- Even if it does feel like you’re using all of your braincells to try and figure out where you’ve heard it before
- ‘wow, do you actually trust me around that?’
- ‘what?’ you stop humming and look up at her
- She looks between you and the laptop, staring at you expectantly
- ‘oh no. i mean of course i do.’ you blush and she shakes her head before sitting opposite you
- ‘so what do we know about women in fiction?’
- ‘historically they are written as either a femme fatalle type or some sort of innocent angelic being.’
- ‘they still are’
- ‘true’ you agree and flick through your textbook
- ‘why don’t we write about that then?’
- ‘what? how we’re still depressingly far back in the equality movement, despite being told otherwise?’
- She stares at you for a few seconds
- A mixture of shock and surprise
- Before nodding
- And smiling
- An actual genuine smile
- You didn’t even know she could do that
- Well you did
- Of course you did
- But you just haven’t seen it a lot
- Usually when you see Maeve
- She’s either mad, grumpy or very, very, very angry
- But her smiling
- Puts a smile on your face
- And this was definitely not where you thought this was going
- ‘yeah...that’
- ‘okay.’ you shrug. ‘you can do classic literature because i know you prefer them and i’ll cover modern works.’
- ‘how do you know i prefer classics?’
- ‘the pile of books’ you nod towards the floor and she follows your gaze, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. ‘they’re all ripped and folded. you either love them or really, really hate them’
- ‘okay’ she eyes you suspiciously as you focus on your laptop
- And you can feel your cheeks heat up under her gaze
- However as quickly as they were there
- They disappear
- And the two of you fall into a surprisingly comfortable silence.
- After about half an hour
- Maeve stops what she’s doing to stretch
- ‘is it okay if i play some music?’
- ‘sure, it’s your place. do what you want...as long as its not awful’
- ‘and what constitutes as awful?’ she asks, a smirk playing on her lips
- ‘well’
- And with that one question
- Your entire day disappears in front of you
- Laptops and books are closed and long forgotten
- And instead you talk about music and movies
- Books and plays
- Characters that you love and hate
- And the fact that her favourite character is the one you hate the most
- She makes you lunch while you debate between movies and books and which adaptations are good
- And which ones should never have been made
- And you clean up and apologise profusely after a stray cushion (possibly thrown by you) ends up knocking the pan over
- Surprisingly
- She finds it quite funny
- And you let out a relieved sigh
- Soon the sun goes down on another day
- And you’ve barely written two paragraphs done between you
- ‘do you want to stay?’ she asks while your putting your jacket on
- If she’d asked you that this morning
- You would have thought she had lost it
- But now it feels almost inevitable
- And you feel genuinely lucky to be asked
- Not many people get to know Maeve
- The real her
- And that last person she told all of this to broke her heart
- Very publicly
- And she told herself she would never let herself be that vulnerable with someone ever again
- But this just feels right
- For some reason you feel right
- She feels safe with you
- And part of her hates herself for it
- But then again
- She hates herself for not getting to know you sooner
- She feels far too attached to you
- And it’s barely been twelve hours
- You of course agree to stay
- Shocking yourself and her
- And while she sorts to sofa out
- You excuse yourself to the bathroom
- Under the pretences of telling your parents where you are
- It takes two seconds to text them
- And the other 28 to ask yourself
- What the fuck are you doing?
- Why are you agreeing to this?
- Why do you feel like this?
- What are you feeling?
- Who knows?
- Not you
- Great
- Now you’ve been in the bathroom for a suspicious amount of time
- Just get it together, Y/n
- It’s just a study sleepover
- Maeve gives you a questioning look as you leave
- ‘you know how mums are. always worrying about where you are and what you’re doing’
- ‘i wouldn’t actually’ she shrugs and your eyes widen
- ‘oh shit, sorry. i’m so sorry. god, i’m an idiot.’
- ‘it’s fine’ she forces a laugh and you wince. ‘i got you an extra duvet and little women is ready to watch so i can show you that the book is better’
- ‘that’s not what i said and you know it’
- ‘i’m sorry. i can’t hear you over the sound of me being 100% right and you being 100% wrong.’
- ‘you may be good at english, but you suck at maths’
- The next day you wake up to the sun shining through the curtains
- And a clump of Maeve’s hair in your mouth
- You splutter and cough and wake her up quickly
- And she jumps away from you and smacks her head of the table
- The two of you ended up moving the blankets to the floor while watching Pride and Prejudice
- And neither of you bothered to move back
- Maeve yawns and scratches her head
- Exposing a small part of her stomach and you feel yourself become a little breathless
- ‘are you okay?’
- ‘ye-yeah’ you nod and she eyes you suspiciously
- ‘whatever’ she shrugs and starts making breakfast
- You watch as she pours to bowls of cereal
- Giving you the last of the milk
- And for a second you’re a little worried as to how she knew you liked it
- But then you remember that she also likes it and you had a whole discussion about the best and worst types of cereal at 2am
- And half way through breakfast
- You remember the original reason you’re here
- And both of you curse loudly
- Before rushing to finish eating
-You get half way through your project
- When Maeve asks if you want to go out for a bit
- And well
- She doesn’t need to ask you twice
- And by the time you come back
- The feeling you had last night returns
- And has settled in your stomach
- For the foreseeable future it seems
- It makes you feel both light and heavy at the same time
- And when you look at her
- You feel dizzy
- So you rush to finish the project
- So you can go home and pretend nothing has changed
- And yeah
- With the need to leave
- You get the rest of the assignment done fairly quickly
- But you end up leaving feeling more confused about Maeve as you did when you started this
- Maybe Miss Sands was right about a weekend project
- Any longer and you would have gone insane trying to figure out whatever the hell this is
- You just have to get through tomorrow and then you’ll be okay
- Everything will go back to normal
- You and Maeve can go back to being neutral to each other
- And you won’t have to deal with all of these confusing feelings that have decided to make an appearance for some reason
- Wellll
- Turns out Miss Sands was wrong
- A weekend is not enough time
- And the first few presentations are awful
- To put it nicely
- So you spend the next week in a permanent confused state
- Confused as to why you start looking for Maeve whenever you enter a room
- Confused as to why your heart skips a beat whenever you hear her laugh
- Confused as to why you never want her stop talking in class
- Even if the bell has rung and it’s lunch
- Confused to why you keep looking for excuses to go over to see her
- Despite your assignment being long done
- And even more confused as to why you feel anxious when you’re waiting for her to answer the door
- The next Monday rolls around both painfully slowly and far too quickly
- And while you wait for Ola and Danny to finish their presentation
- Your hands shake with anxiety while your grip your papers
- Maeve reaches over the table and gives them a reassuring squeeze
- But it just makes them shake more and she slowly pulls back
- Your turn can’t come quick enough
- But then it’s over far too quickly
- And you slump back down in your seat disappointed
- Despite Miss Sands’ praise
- Because it’s over
- You no longer have an excuse to hang out with her
- You never talked before
- So why do you care about after
- But there’s so much about her that you want to know
- Like the weird swan/moth hybrid
- And the ugly plate that sits on top of the bookshelf
- You want to be part of these stories
- You want to be able to point to these things and say
- ‘yeah, i know exactly why that is special to you’
- You want to be the reason to add to this random collection of stuff
- You want her to smile when she looks at them because they’ll remind her of you
- You want her to smile when she looks at you
- ‘y/n? are you okay?’ she asks making you jump
- The classroom is now empty and you didn’t even notice the bell go
- ‘ye-yeah’ you nod and grab your bag
- ‘are you sure?’ she grabs your arm forcing you turn around
- ‘whats the weird swan thing on your coffee table?’ you ask and she furrows her eyebrows at you. ‘it’s just i saw it when i first came over and i really want to know the story behind it’
- ‘oh. aimee went through a pottery phase last year and that was the only thing she made that didn’t have a hole in it.’
- ‘and the plate?’
- ‘birthday present from my neighbours’
- ‘they got you a plate?’
- ‘yeah, they don’t have any kids’
- ‘clearly’
- Silence fills the room and you stare at the peeling posters behind her head
- You can feel Maeve move closer to you and your breath hitches when she stops a few centimetres in front of you
- She grabs your hand and squeezes it again
- And your heartbeat increases
- ‘y/n?’
- ‘yeah?’
- ‘i’m really, really confused right now. like more confused that i have ever been in my life. but what i do know, is that if i watch you walk out of that door without saying anything first, then i’d regret it for the rest of my life. i’ve only ever felt like this about boys before, but now i feel this and more about you and i have no idea where it’s come from or what i need to do, but i do know i need to tell you. because otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair for either of us’ she whispers and you stare at her wide eyed
- ‘can i kiss you?’ she asks and you nod your head quickly
- Slowly she leans in
- Her eye flutter closed and you follow
- Your lips brush over hers
- Her hands wrap around you waist to pull you close
- And then your lips connect
- And you feel everything change
- She kisses you slowly
- And when you pull away you both feel breathless
- Her cheeks are bright red
- And there’s a shy smile playing on her lips as she looks at you bashfully
- And all of a sudden you feel really grateful for Miss Sands and her personal issues
- Although you really hope they are resolved now
- For your sake as well as hers
support my writing! if you want!
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When the honey showed up, we all just took it inside. That was one of the things about it - it was always a little warm, always in the same simple jar and the nice plaid bow. Handmade-like. Most of us put it in our pantries or in the back of our cabinets, some put it in the fridge. we just thought to ourselves: gee, what a wonderful present.
I don’t know how long it took before we all had one. For a while, the most that would happen was two-minute feel-good op ed pieces in local newspapers. People would run little letters to the editor to find out the “culprit”. Sometimes there were faux-serious “investigations” when that parent freaked out about the possibility of drugs in honey. Most of the time, it ended quickly. After all, it was a nice gift from a neighbor, and it was yours. that was another thing. A house could be 122 people, and we’d all find our own jar on the doorstep, one at a time. we would know when it was ours and when it wasn’t, no matter how alike they looked. nobody ate it, at first. It was yours, and you wouldn’t eat it, and you couldn’t eat another person’s. it just wasn’t done. and the thing is - in that imaginary house, of 122 people? we’d all buy other honey. it was both there and took up space - but none of us thought of it as actually existing. we’d put down our storebought honey right next to it and think - why did i buy another? i’ve wanted to try this one for a while. and then the thought would simply be out of our head, because this is our third bag of baby carrots we have bought to let spoil again.
it was that one person who mentioned it on youtube. actually i think it was a vimeo “urban legends” series. some person with 6 followers who deleted like instantly. but then 6 people said something similar: everyone they knew had this one specific honey story. and then 12. and then all of a sudden we all woke up to “#honeyonthedoorstep” globally trending. we all posted our pictures of our honey and called each other liars and got into discourse fights with vegans and people without a sweet tooth. In 24 hours, it was running the media. 9-at-night serious news anchors leaned over to each other and said “now john, did you hear about this?” and despite their disbelief, they’d admit: i got the honey too. I think somewhere in march. maybe around the 5th. but i never ate it or thought anything of it. i just thought - what a nice gift.
By the end of the week, there were YouTube challenges and instagram memes and a netflix miniseries in the works. Lots of people tried to eat their honey, and most who “succeeded” were deemed a hoax - but truth be told? it’s not good tv to watch someone pick up honey and say “actually it’s not ready” or something similar and just decide to go do something else. i tried once, winedrunk and thinking i could be famous because it’s just honey. and i remember thinking that exact thing - it’s not ready. i realized i needed to go do dishes, this was stupid and kind of cringey.
and people freaked out, of course. outside of the jokes were parents who were asking if their children would get a jar one day, if this was a one-time thing. there were so many conspiracy theories the government finally had to say something (not that any of us were actually listening), there were massive hunts to find “the team of honey dispatchers”, there were plenty of false confessions, there were rallies to destroy the things. i don’t know if anyone actually did, because in the end? it was just a jar of honey, and it was yours, and it would be a shame to throw it at the floor just because the internet told you so. I moved three times that year - grad school, job, other better job. i always took mine with me. it wasn’t a real choice, it was just... like taking a plate that belonged to your grandmother, or carrying a song stuck in your head. it was just something that was going to come with, but it bore no special attention. and then back into the pantry it went.
two weeks later? we all just... moved on from talking about honey. it was in some memes, it was in BuzzFeed’s “top 5 weirdest stories (that are actually true)”, it was going to be the central plot of books and horror movies. but it wasn’t interesting, not really, anymore. it was like saying “all people need food”. it was just true, and not really changing. every consecutive conspiracy video got less likes, and by the end of the year, it was old enough to be a staple in bad stand-up comedy and in coming-of-age children’s shows.
nobody believed the first ones who ate it. the most traction that those posts got were from friends and family who barely remembered the whole fad. we all just figured it was a weird annual resurgence kind of thing.
but then people were definitely, absolutely, 100% eating their honey. i think i heard about one of my coworkers first. i didn’t know her; she was in another department. she told everyone it was very similar to “normal” honey. just a little tarter than she’d expected.
twitter was in an uproar. the honey was sweet to some. spicy to others. horrible, bitter, like a thousand stingers. it was perfect, it tasted like summer. most people said: it’s just honey, and absolutely regular.
those of us who weren’t ready were biting our fingernails for a while, going to our pantries, wondering - what the fuck do i mean it’s not ready? but it wasn’t ready.
like i said, it’s warm, always. But you just... know. one day you realize you really want honey on toast. or honey on tea, honey on a banana, just... honey. i remember opening it, but it didn’t feel like any more interesting than going to the cabinet for honey ever feels. i pour mine, usually, skipping a spoon because i’m usually too lazy. i was already in the middle of my meal before i realized - this is the honey. it’s not just a normal breakfast, it’s the breakfast, holy shit.
mine is just, you know. honey. it has a little hint of spice and sweet to it, which i actually quite like. it reminds me of this red pepper jelly my family used to get, and it makes me happy. but in the end? it’s honey. i don’t feel like i’m connected to a seventh realm. it’s good on oatmeal and bad in coffee no matter what some of you will tell me.
it’s just, you know. once you get your jar, and it’s ready, you have a little honey roughly every 24ish hours. it’s nothing absurd. it’s just honey, i mean - it’s like saying “you’re alive, so at some point, you should probably eat.” Most of us, it hasn’t really changed our schedules. it doesn’t seem to ever run out, which is good, because we’re always forgetting to check to see if we need more before we go shopping. for most of us? you don’t die if you miss a few days, even a few weeks, you don’t go crazy trying to get it back. sure, there’s weirdass cultists who worship it, but most of us just seem to think - it’s nice to have, and it’s okay to want this thing.
now, there’s some stuff out there, you know, about what it all “means”. and honestly, we all notice things. i’m not the only one who has seen that good people tend to think their honey tastes good and eat it normally. bad people tend to eat their honey frequently but hate every second of the eating. there are plenty who will snort and say “i’m a good person and i think it tastes like dirt” and plenty who will say “i’m a shit person and i think it tastes like the summer i finally kissed her”. and i don’t know, not the way i knew if it was ready, but it feels like a simple thing amidst all the messy. and it’s probably helpful that i think mine is, like most people’s, just a nice in-the-middle. i mean, the other day i heard it asked like a star sign - what’s your honey like?
there’s this one thing, though, you know. i choose to believe, because it might make me secretly happy. it’s like believing in nessie. i know realistically it’s probably just hearsay. but there’s this underground rumbling that, over time, the honey changes. just a little, every day, unnoticeable to most of us who go to work and do our best by others but still sometimes steal toilet paper. there’s these stories of people who made it rich by selling out their friends, who stole patents, who argue that others should charge for insulin - that they liked the honey, at first, but over time, it’s gone rotten. and similarly, every so often, there’s these stories of people who were normal “regular” honey people, who helped someone out of the bottom. who chose to be just a little bit better than they were the day before. who had moments of decisive kindness that changed them. they all say the same thing: since then, the honey has been amazing, and they work to keep it that way.
my grandmother and my mother were never surprised. they have this saying about bees and their secrets. my mother said to me: we have always had these tiny angels. they’re just giving us each a taste of the world we are making.
my grandmother later tells me, while watering the flowers, almost the exact same thing: they will haunt us when they go, because they keep books in their combs. and they see us giants, and no matter who we lie to? the world of bees will know.
#spilled ink#prose#short story#honey#i originally wrote this in my car while binge eating doritos happy mardi gras style#but then tumblr deleted it lmao bc i walked between 2 wifi connections#so if it sucks its bc i had to half-remember a good version
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he loves me, he loves me not | c.sb
pairings: choi soobin x reader, some choi yeonjun x reader genre: college!txt, best friend!soobin, best friends to lovers trope, reader is pretty blind to soobin’s obvious feelings for her, you’re going to be team soobin 100% of the time summary: in which your best friend soobin tries to help you get your mutual friend yeonjun to like you back, despite the fact that he’s in love with you word count: 9.9k i got really carried away oops requested: by anon 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝
You can still remember the first time Soobin introduced you to Yeonjun. During your and Soobin’s first year of college, Yeonjun and Soobin had met in their dance class and immediately clicked. Yeonjun had been a sophomore at the time; he was a year older than you and Soobin, and the dictionary definition of perfect. You were convinced that if you opened any dictionary to the word, a picture of Yeonjun’s handsome face, thick lips, and bright eyes would appear on the page. Topped off with the sweetest smile in the whole wide world, and a gorgeous everything, you were instantly infatuated with Soobin’s new friend.
Soobin had been surprised when you and Yeonjun hit it off so well instantly; you often took time to really befriend people apart from Soobin, but you and Yeonjun shared a similar sense of humour and enjoyed being loud and boisterous the point that Soobin felt second-hand embarrassed around the two of you. And yet something about the way you gazed at Yeonjun had made this experience of his two closest friends getting along bittersweet.
You liked Yeonjun. The same way you liked Park Seonghwa in high school, when Soobin would have to watch you stare at the older boy during lunchtime when you were supposed to be finishing your math homework.
Since Soobin had observed your behaviour when you had a crush many times before – having been your best friend in the whole wide world since preschool – he could tell the signs easily. Even two years after knowing Yeonjun, your eyes still lit up with excitement every time you saw him. Your gaze would be glued to the older boy the whole time he was around, paying careful attention to his expression and hanging on to every word that came out of his mouth. Soobin could see you smiling at Yeonjun any time you thought nobody was looking at you; you would smile at him as if you were seeing an angel for the first time and you wanted to capture the image in your mind forever.
It made Soobin’s chest ache.
After so many years of friendship, Soobin had always thought that his crush on you would go away. Surely the fact that you were the only person he ever had romantic feelings for should have ended in high school at the latest. But it had been eight years since he started liking you – his very first crush – and he hadn’t liked anyone else since. And even though Soobin knew that he wasn’t the one you liked, it didn’t stop his affection for you from growing. Every time you gave Soobin your attention, his heart sped up a little bit; he had to actively work to make sure he didn’t blush when the two of you made eye contact.
He was ridiculously, stupidly, exceptionally and completely in love with you.
But you liked Yeonjun.
Why wouldn’t you like Yeonjun? He was a senior, the highest ranked dance student at the college, and he had an effortless charm about him that everyone around him was drawn too. Soobin was drawn to him too. This was why the two of them had become friends. Yeonjun was undoubtably handsome and charismatic, and because he and Soobin were such good friends, Soobin could understand why you liked Yeonjun so much.
It didn’t make it hurt any less, though.
“You have to help me,” you had said with a pout, facing Soobin with puppy-dog eyes and a desperate expression. You and Soobin had been at a party thrown by one of the fraternities at your college for over two hours now, and yet you had been in a bad mood the second the two of you arrived.
The reason to this was clear to Soobin. Yeonjun was always surrounded by people during parties, but during this particular party, he seemed to be in deep conversation with Chou Tzuyu. Not that you had anything against Tzuyu herself – she was sweet, beautiful and kind. The problem was that she was being sweet, beautiful and kind right in front of your crush of two years.
“I don’t know,” Soobin said slowly, trying to distract himself from your puppy-eyes by searching the crowd for a familiar face. He knew that Beomgyu had to be around somewhere, and his presence would be the perfect opportunity to get out of this conversation.
“But you’re my secret weapon,” you told Soobin, grasping his hands in yours. Soobin jumped slightly at the sudden contact, feeling his breath catch in his throat as you gently laced your fingers together. Swallowing deeply, Soobin had no choice but to slowly trail his eyes back to yours. “Nobody knows me as well as you, and nobody knows Yeonjun as well as you!” You concluded, feeling happy with the connection you made.
“And?” Soobin said in a cracked voice, trying to keep his heart rate down enough to focus on your conversation.
“You can find out what kind of girls he likes,” you explained to him. “And you already know what kind of guys I like.”
“Yeah, guys named Yeonjun,” Soobin muttered under his breath.
“You do know,” you teased him, grinning at Soobin’s sarcastic addition. “C’mon Soobinie, I’m not going to ask anything super personal that he wouldn’t want me to know. Just what kind of girls he likes, how he likes his girls to dress and things like that…” you elaborated, trailing off as your gaze shifted to where Yeonjun and Tzuyu were moving closer.
Noticing your distraction, Soobin followed your eye line and saw that Yeonjun was simply leaning closer to Tzuyu to hear what she was saying, but he could see how you would think that the two of them were getting closer in the romantic sense. Seeing the downtrodden expression on your face, Soobin frowned. The last thing he wanted was for you to be upset or to feel as though you weren’t good enough to go after your crush.
“I don’t want you to change, though,” Soobin said quietly, causing you to glance back at him. “I like you the way you are.”
You felt yourself unable to stop a smile from appearing on your lips. You were certainly lucky; Soobin was the best friend in the entire world and you knew it. “You’re an angel, Choi Soobin,” you complimented, which made Soobin look at the floor shyly, dimples appearing on his cheeks. “And I don’t want to change my whole personality or anything. Just to make a few adjustments that would take me from friend-material to girlfriend-material,” you stated. “But if it makes you uncomfortable to ask, I won’t make you.”
Great. Soobin wanted to say. Because this makes me really uncomfortable. Not because I’m awkward around Yeonjun but because I’m deeply in love with you, and the thought of helping you and Yeonjun get together breaks my heart.
“Of course I’ll help you,” Soobin said instead. Stupid. You’re stupid, he thought. As your eyes lit up with excitement, however, Soobin couldn’t find it in himself to take back his words. You were always beautiful to him, but when you smiled at him like he was the solution to all of your problems, Soobin thought you looked utterly ethereal. “If I can help you then I will.”
“Soobinie!” You cheered, wrapping your arms around your best friend in a hug. “You are the best friend any girl could ever ask for and I love you,” you told him, standing on your toes in order to reach his cheek – which was significantly higher up than yours – and press a soft kiss to it. “You’re my favourite,” you added with a wink, feeling a swell of pride and love for your friend.
“Oh, am I?” Soobin teased, rolling his eyes. “I thought Yeonjun was your favourite,” he stated, raising an eyebrow in a challenging manner.
You grinned back at him. “You’re always going to be my favourite, Soobinie,” you retorted. “No matter what.”
Soobin was surprised by this answer, and felt that he had nothing to say. So instead, he gave you a dimpled smile and held out his hand for you to take. “Let’s go dance,” he suggested. You accepted, allowing his much taller frame to push through the crowd and get towards the living room area that doubled as the allocated dance floor.
“Hey!” you called suddenly. “Why didn’t you tell me I’m your favourite?!”
Three days later, dance practice had ended later than usual, mostly because Soobin and Yeonjun stayed back late to practice together. Yeonjun could tell something was messing with Soobin’s head to the point where his dancing was impacted, so he decided to help Soobin out a little bit and make sure that he got the new choreography so he wouldn’t be scolded by the teacher.
“What’s up with you?” Yeonjun asked in between gulps of water, leaning back against the mirrored wall to observe his younger friend. His expression was less lively than usual; Soobin never believed Yeonjun when he told him that he had that sort of shy, charming, boy-next-door type of personality that made people like him. Today, Soobin was completely devoid of his usual charm and enthusiasm.
Soobin slumped in his place on the floor, running a hand through his slightly damp hair with a sigh. “It’s nothing,” Soobin lied. In reality, the girl I’m in love with likes you and I agreed to help her, didn’t seem like an appropriate answer to such a casual question. “I just have a lot going on,” he made an excuse.
“I told you that double majoring was going to be hard,” Yeonjun teased, but his concern didn’t waver at Soobin’s excuse. “Can I help with anything?” he offered.
“I’m good, thanks,” Soobin waved it off, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his courage. “Hey hyung?” Yeonjun perked up, glancing over at Soobin in order to give him his attention. “What kind of girls do you like?” he inquired, trying to sound as curious as possible.
Yeonjun rose an eyebrow at the question. It seemed pretty random, but Yeonjun considered that Soobin might be having girl problems and made his way over to sit next to his friend. “Well,” he began, thinking it over. “I don’t know. I guess I like girls who are confident? About themselves, I mean. If they know what they want and go after that, I think that’s attractive,” Yeonjun said. “Why do you ask?”
Soobin’s eyes widened. It was a question he was expecting, but he had yet to come up with an answer. “Oh, ah-“ he paused. “Just curious, I guess.”
Yeonjun frowned. “Are you having girl troubles or something?” he wondered.
“Not really,” Soobin denied. “I’m just- I’m trying to figure out what kinds of girls are out there. What I should be looking for, what kind of looks I like…” he trailed off awkwardly.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Yeonjun said. “Be honest, do you need sex advice?”
Soobin turned bright red, surprised that this was the conclusion that Yeonjun had come to. Oh Lord help me. “What!” he exclaimed, eyes wide and brain going into overdrive. “No! No, no I do not need- that kind of advice!” Soobin declared loudly, causing Yeonjun to burst into laughter as Soobin sat there, enveloped in his own embarrassment.
“Just checking,” Yeonjun said cheekily, giving Soobin a smile. “You were asking about looks?” Soobin nodded shyly, cheeks still flaming and unable to speak. “I guess I like girls who dress kind of girly and feminine?” he said, sounding like it was a question. “Not that I should dictate how anyone dresses, I just think that it’s really pretty.”
“Right,” Soobin nodded.
“What about you?” Yeonjun asked.
Soobin paused for a moment. “I guess I prefer a more casual style,” he said, thinking of the way you dressed. “Nothing too fancy or feminine or whatever, just something that’s comfortable and simple.”
“Like Y/n’s style?” Yeonjun suggested innocently, unaware of how perfectly on-the-nose he was with his diagnosis.
“Uh, kind of,” Soobin tried to play it off. “I don’t know. I don’t really pay that much attention to what she wears,” he lied easily. He had been hiding his crush on you for so long that it was easy.
A knock sounded on the practice room door – perfectly on time, in Soobin’s opinion – and the door opened shortly after to reveal you standing there with a takeout bag and a sweet smile. You were dressed in light-wash blue jeans, a long-sleeved black crop top, and a pair of white Adidas sneakers to top off the casual look. “Am I interrupting?” you asked innocently, holding out the takeout bag as bait.
“Not at all,” Soobin said before Yeonjun could utter a word, standing up to greet you with a nervous smile. “I didn’t know you were coming by,” he added, feeling his heart beat climbing as you gave him a wink.
“Well I remembered Yeonjun saying that he was craving chicken recently, and I figured my two favourite boys would be together anyway so…” you trailed off happily, not realising you were breaking Soobin’s heart as you mentioned that you had two favourite boys.
“You’re a saint,” Yeonjun sighed happily, pushing aside the takeout bag in favour of pulling you into a hug. You shrieked, yelling about how he was sweaty and gross as you tried half-heartedly to get away from him. Soobin watched as Yeonjun began chasing you around the practice room as the two of you giggled together, unaware of Soobin’s dropping mood.
“Just eat!” You eventually said, giving up and falling to the floor next to where Soobin had made himself comfortable. “Hey,” you added to your best friend. “You doing okay?�� you asked, helping him unpack the food and and nudging him gently with your elbow.
Soobin nodded, slapping a smile on his face and wordlessly handing you the fries that you had ordered with the chicken, knowing that you didn’t actually eat chicken and had just bought it for your friends. “I thought you had an essay due?” he asked instead.
You sighed, rolling your eyes. “That stupid essay took me forever and I knew it would, so I stayed up late last night to finish it in favour of sleeping in until the afternoon today,” you announced.
“That’s going to mess up your sleep schedule,” Yeonjun said through a mouth full of chicken, having joined you and Soobin on the floor moments ago. You stuck your tongue out at him in retaliation, causing Yeonjun to giggle.
“Hey,” you whispered to Soobin as Yeonjun got distracted by something on his phone. “Did you get anything?” you asked hopefully, eyes shining.
“Sort of,” Soobin whispered back. “Just what kind of style he likes on a girl? And a really awkward conversation about- I don’t even want to tell you,” he shivered, making you raise an eyebrow in confusion.
“Okay,” you said, shrugging off the fact that Soobin had something he didn’t want to share with you. Usually, the two of you shared everything, so this was new. “Thanks so much, Soobinnie,” you changed the subject. “I’m sorry it made things awkward, I didn’t mean for it to.”
“I was the one that was awkward,” Soobin corrected quickly, realising you hadn’t been the cause of Yeonjun thinking he needed sex advice. “It wasn’t the conversation, so don’t worry about it,” he assured you.
You beamed. “What would I do without you?” you asked dramatically, biting into your fries before attempting to get Yeonjun’s attention away from his phone.
Soobin huffed quietly, watching as you and Yeonjun began playfully bantering as you got into a footsie fight from your positions on the floor.
“You said feminine, right?” You asked unsurely, biting your lip as you observed yourself in the mirror. You were on the phone with Soobin, making sure that he recapped everything that he and Yeonjun talked about during dance practice.
“Right,” Soobin’s voice rang through your phone. “And remember to act confident! He says that he likes girls who go after what they want,” he added.
“Okay,” you nodded, even though Soobin wouldn’t be able to see it. “I’m just not sure this outfit suits me. I want to wear something that he’ll like but I don’t want to look like an idiot.”
“Nothing you wear could ever make you look like an idiot,” Soobin assured you. “I’m sure it looks great!”
“I guess we’ll see,” you sighed. “Hey Soobinie, you’re pretty good at this whole wing-man thing. After Yeonjun and I get together, we should go on a double date!” You realised excitedly.
Soobin chuckled. “No thanks, I’m good,” he said, waving the idea off immediately.
“Aw,” you pouted. “Why? That sounds like fun! You’ve never wanted to date anyone ever since I’ve met you.”
“So what?”
“I met you in preschool,” you reminded your best friend. “You’ve never even had a girlfriend or a crush!”
“Yes I have,” Soobin argued with you.
“Oh really? Name one.”
That stumped him. “I’m just not really looking for anything like that,” Soobin said instead of admitting his feelings for you.
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right person yet,” you decided, going to your wardrobe to look for the perfect pair of shoes to match your outfit. “I’m sure that I could set you up with someone who you’ll really like! Someone sweet who loves music, and bread, and adorable boys with sweet smiles and dimples,” you said firmly.
“Ah, you’re really over-selling me there,” Soobin said modestly.
“Are you kidding me?” You exclaimed. “Soobin, you’re gorgeous. Like, gorgeous. A 6’1” prince charming with a beautiful voice, gorgeous. And you’re really funny in a cheesy way and you’re an amazing friend. Anyone would be lucky to have you, you hear?” You told your best friend, trying to see him in the way that you and everyone else around him saw him.
“Well when you say it like that, how can I disagree?” Soobin asked, smiling with reddening cheeks as he lay onto his bed, covering his face with his pillow to muffle his squeals.
“Great!” you sighed happily. “Okay, I’m almost ready. Meet you in the library in fifteen?” you asked.
Soobin said his affirmative and the two of you hung up the phone as you began to put on the lace-up espadrille wedges that went with your outfit. In order to achieve the more feminine look that Yeonjun liked, you had decided to dress up a little for your study group with Yeonjun, Soobin, and Beomgyu. You wore a sleeveless, white dress with a lilac floral print and threw a purple cardigan over it to cover against the cold library air-conditioning, and left your hair down in order to achieve a more feminine aesthetic. They were all things that you already had in your wardrobe, so you didn’t feel like you were necessarily changing your style too much. Rather, you were picking parts of your style that you knew would appeal to Yeonjun and wearing them more often.
After packing your charging laptop into your book bag, you made your way out of your dorm and walked to the campus library where you would be meeting Yeonjun, Soobin and Beomgyu. Usually, the four of you occupied one of the private rooms in the library so you could be as loud as you wanted while still staying productive.
When you arrived, the three boys were already waiting for you in the room you usually used; they all glanced at you when the door opened and found it difficult to look away.
“Y/n,” Yeonjun said as you took your usual seat next to Soobin and opposite Yeonjun. “You look beautiful,” he complimented, eyes scanning your outfit before meeting your eyes and smiling.
“You do,” Beomgyu agreed from his place next to Yeonjun. “It’s kind of different, though,” he observed, tilting his head and looking at you with knowing eyes.
“Just trying a new combination of clothes I already own,” you shrug off the attention. “And thanks, Yeonjunie,” you add sweetly, giving the boy your full attention as you share a look.
Seeing Soobin’s expression, Beomgyu cleared his throat. “Okay,” he said, clapping his hands together once. “Confidence Intervals: the hell is that about,” Beomgyu asked, referring to the Statistics class that you all shared and what your semester project was about.
You grinned. “It’s a bunch of busy work,” you sighed, tucking your hair behind your ear.
“We better get started if we still want to go to that party tonight,” Beomgyu suggests.
“Are you going, Y/n?” Yeonjun asks, seemingly unable to take his eyes off of you today.
You smiled at the interest he was taking in your whereabouts for the evening, nodding as you motioned over to Soobin. “We’re both going to be there.”
“Great,” Yeonjun breathed out, a wonderful smile gracing his features and lighting up his eyes.
“Great,” you agreed, nodding and returning the smile at the same capacity.
“Great,” Soobin sighed, gently tossing his pencil on the table in front of him and frowning.
“Oh boy,” Beomgyu mumbled, opening the page he needed in his Statistics textbook.
“What about this one?” you ask Soobin, modelling a rose gold slip mini-dress for your best friend and giving him a twirl. “The silky material is really comfy, and I really don’t feel like trying another dress on,” you added for emphasis, sliding on a pair of black ankle boots on to match.
“You look great,” Soobin said. He was lying on his back on your bed, head hanging off the end so he was looking at you upside-down. “You looked great in every single dress you tried on, Y/n. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Then we’ll go with this,” you shrugged, no longer interested in looking perfect and more conscious of arriving on time to the party. You started applying a dark red lipstick to your lips before carefully blotting the colour and making it more natural and subtle.
“I hardly think you can say we considering all I did was lay here and let all the blood rush to my head,” Soobin mumbled to himself, getting up and straightening out his clothes.
You glanced at your best friend, scrutinising his outfit and beaming. “You look so handsome,” you complimented. The unexpected comment made Soobin flush red and scoff, waving his hands as if to tell you to stop. “You do!” you insisted. “We’re finding you a honey, tonight,” you told him happily. “You look hot!”
“Let’s just go,” Soobin protested, grabbing his phone from your sheets and stuffing it into the pocket of his black skinny jeans. “We don’t want to keep Yeonjun waiting.”
“No we do not,” you agreed, grabbing your phone and making your way into the living room space that you and your dorm mate shared. Luckily, your dorm suite had individual rooms for everyone and a shared living room and bathroom. This meant that you and Soobin could have as many sleepovers as you wanted without bothering anyone else. Smiling at your suite-mate Sihyeon, who was sat on the couch frantically typing on her laptop. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with?” You offered.
“I’m a STEM major,” Sihyeon said instead of answering your question. “We don’t write essays. I’m going to be here all night finishing this,” she sighed, glancing up from the screen and smiling at you. “You guys have fun, okay? Don’t worry about me,” Sihyeon assured you. You went over to give her a one-armed hug before making your way to the party with Soobin.
“She seemed stressed,” Soobin mused, causing you to laugh.
“That poor girl is cool as a cucumber unless she has to write an essay,” you explained as you walked through campus. Suddenly, you gasped and stopped, causing Soobin to bump into you. “I should set you up with Sihyeon!” you exclaimed.
Soobin’s eyes widened. “No,” he said as you spun around to face him excitedly, walking backwards to keep up with him as he tried to get away from you.
“Why not?” you whined. “She’s super smart and she’s like, model pretty for sure! Besides, she’s a senior and I always felt like you’d like more mature girls,” you thought aloud.
“I’m not interested in your suite-mate,” Soobin declined your offer.
“Fine, fine,” you gave in, pouting before turning around and walking the right way, nudging Soobin every once in a while to tease him.
When you arrived at the party, you immediately started searching for Yeonjun. This wasn’t anything unusual, and yet it still made Soobin feel more uneasy than usual. Your eyes lit up when you saw the familiar blue-haired boy mixing drinks with Wooyoung and Yeosang. “Yeonjun!” You called, pulling on Soobin’s shirt sleeve so you wouldn’t lose him in the crowd.
“Y/n!” Yeonjun said, sounding happy to see you.
“Holy- gorgeous,” Wooyoung told you, causing you to laugh and cover your face shyly.
“You exaggerate,” you told him, cheeks burning.
“He does not,” Yeonjun denies. “You look amazing, Y/n. You always do, of course,” he added, just in case you thought he was giving you a back-handed insult.
“Thank you guys,” you said, feeling bashful at the sudden attention. “I have to give credit to Soobin, he helped me pick it out,” you added, causing the boys to greet Soobin happily.
“Hardly,” Soobin denied, accepting the drink from Yeosang and cringing after taking a sip. “Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the camel!” he exclaimed. “How much liquor is in this?” he asked, pointing down at his cup.
Yeosang made an apologetic face. “Sorry, I can make you something lighter?” he offered.
Soobin caught sight of you leaning forward to hear Yeonjun better, placing a hand on his shoulder and placing your face impossibly close to Yeonjun’s. “It’s okay,” Soobin thought better of it, downing the cup in seconds. He made a face afterwards, trying to ignore the burning sensation that now filled his stomach and smiling at Yeosang. “I’ll take another.”
Yeosang was all too happy to comply, making Soobin another drink until he was more than a little tipsy. “I’m going to find Beomgyu,” Soobin slurred slightly as he informed you, causing you to nod and giggle as he walked away.
“For someone so tall, he gets pretty uncoordinated when he’s tipsy,” you commented, causing Yeonjun to laugh and agree.
“I can’t really hear you well,” he admitted to you. “Let’s go somewhere a bit quieter,” Yeonjun offered, taking your hand and leading you out of the kitchen and towards a corner of the living room, where people had taken to playing games instead of dancing and it was easier to have a conversation.
Soobin found Beomgyu playing a game of Truth or Dare with some familiar people – he felt a little nervous playing with little devils like Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai but he decided to join anyway – and more unfamiliar people.
“Newcomers take shots,” Beomgyu told Soobin, passing him two shot glasses. Soobin sighed, downing the shots despite knowing that he would regret it the next day. “Excellent,” he said happily. “Kai, truth or dare?”
The game was more of a way for Soobin to pass time than it was for actual entertainment, so when it was Soobin’s turn, he jumped in surprise. “Truth or dare?” He recognised the speaker as Mina, a friend of your suite-mate Sihyeon’s.
“He’ll take a dare,” Beomgyu said for Soobin. “He really needs to let loose a little.”
“Okay,” Mina smiled, glancing around the room before landing on the corner and grinning. Soobin followed her gaze and felt his heart drop at the sight. You were leaning against the wall with Yeonjun standing in front of you. The two of you were in deep conversation, and Yeonjun had placed his hand on the wall beside your face to get even closer, if that was possible. “I dare you to kiss your crush,” Mina said, causing the group to make teasing sounds.
Soobin wasn’t sure if it was jealousy or the liquor that made him do this (he would decide the next day that it was a combination of both, and a moment of utter insanity), but he got up from his seat and stumbled over to you and Yeonjun.
When he neared, you met eyes and opened your mouth – most likely to greet him – but before you could say anything, Soobin leaned down and pressed his lips against yours. You gasped into the kiss, surprised, before pulling away. “Soobin!” you exclaimed startled by his actions. “Why did you do that?”
Soobin only grinned goofily at you before giggling. “I-“ he cut himself off by bending over and throwing up on the floor, only centimetres away from your shoes. You cringed. Partially because you knew that he was far too drunk to remember any of this the next day, and partially because you could see Beomgyu filming everything from his seat on the sofa.
“Oh, Soo,” you cooed, pushing your hair behind your shoulder and gently rubbing Soobin’s back. “It’s okay, Binnie, just get it out,” you said, trying as best as you could to stabilise him when he finally stood upright again.
“Is he okay?” Yeonjun asked, wide-eyed and bewildered by the many things that had happened in such few seconds.
“He will be,” you reassured him. “I should probably get him back to his dorm, though.”
“Do you need any help?” Yeonjun offered. Knowing that Soobin was too tall for you to carry, you accepted his help. Soon, the both of you were doing your best to distribute Soobin’s weight and carry the boy back to his dorm. After tucking Soobin into bed and making sure that he was safe, Yeonjun offered to walk you back to your dorm since it was late.
“Drunk Soobin really is a lot crazier than I thought he would be,” Yeonjun mention, causing you to giggle.
“Yeah, he gets pretty wild,” you admitted. “Thanks for walking me,” you acknowledged once you reached your suite.
Yeonjun looked shy all of a sudden, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing at his shoes. “Yeah, of course,” he said, finding the confidence to look back at you.
Confidence, you reminded yourself. He likes girls who are confident and go after what they want.
“Would you want to go out some time?”
“Do you want to go on a date?”
The two of you asked at the same time. Upon realising this, you both let out nervous chuckles. “How about a movie and dinner?” Yeonjun suggested.
You could hardly hold in your excitement. “That sounds perfect.”
It had been days since you had seen Soobin. You had texted him multiple times to see if he was okay but had yet to receive a response. At the one week mark, you knew something was really wrong when you went to your weekly study group with Yeonjun, Soobin and Beomgyu, only to find that Soobin was absent.
“Is Soobin not coming?” you had asked, taking a seat next to Yeonjun instead, since Soobin’s seat was vacant.
He looked surprised at your question. “I thought you would know,” he replied. “I haven’t seen him all week.”
You sighed. “You should go see him,” Beomgyu spoke up, looking at you with a look you couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“I’ll visit him after we study,” you agreed, worried about Soobin. You hoped that his drunk encounter with you at the party wasn’t the reason that he was being distant.
After you wrapped up your study session and were packing up your book bag, Yeonjun grabbed your attention. “Is tomorrow night good for our date?” he asked.
Beomgyu stopped what he was doing to stare at you and Yeonjun in shock.
You quickly thought of your schedule and any assignments you had due. “Tomorrow night should work,” you smiled. “Just don’t pick a trash movie,” you warned him.
“Are you kidding?” Yeonjun asked. “We’re definitely going to watch Little Women. I’ve been dying to see it and you read the books as a kid, right?”
You were touched that Yeonjun both wanted to see the film and had remembered a small detail about your childhood that you mentioned once in passing. “Yeah,” you said, your heart swelling. “Yeah, I did.”
“Perfect,” Yeonjun smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then!”
You said your goodbyes to Yeonjun and Beomgyu and made your way to Soobin’s dorm for the first time in a week. After knocking at his door, Soobin tiredly opened the door to you. “Hey Soobinie,” you greeted before noticing his tired demeanour. “Were you sleeping? I’m so sorry,” you apologised, feeling bad that you had ruined his rest time.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” Soobin denied, opening the door wider for you to come in. “I haven’t been sleeping,” he corrected with a sigh.
“Why have you been avoiding me?” you asked him, taking a seat on his bed next to him. “If this is about the kiss then it’s fine.”
Soobin glanced up, narrowing his eyes slightly. “What’s fine?”
“Well, you were drunk,” you reminded him with furrowed brows. “People do crazy things when they’re drunk.”
Soobin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not wanting to say anything rash or upset at your words. “I didn’t just do something crazy,” he said in a hushed voice. Somehow, the quiet tone started making you nervous. “I’m going crazy,” Soobin breathed out, resting his elbows on his legs and running his hands roughly through his hair.
“Hey,” you scooted closer, putting your hand on his back. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that I’m going crazy,” Soobin repeated, throwing his hands down. “I feel like I can never be honest with you!” he added, voice increasing in volume and frustration.
Ouch, you thought. Well, that hurt. You cleared your throat. “What do you mean?” you felt confused. “Have you been lying to me about something?”
Soobin laughed, though it was void of any humour or joy. “Yeah, I’ve been lying to you,” he sighed. “I can’t share my real thoughts or feelings with you. Not about this.”
“I don’t understand,” you confessed. “What can’t you share with me? I’m always honest and open with you because I trust you and I love you. Do you not trust me?”
“No,” Soobin denied. “It’s not that I don’t trust you or anything like that. I just- I can’t talk about this. And the more I can’t talk about it, the more it hurts and I hate this feeling.”
“Then why don’t you just tell me?” you suggested. “Maybe if you share it with me then-“
“I can’t,” Soobin almost wailed, sounding like the was on the brink of crying. “I can’t tell you this because it’s going to ruin our friendship and you’re going to hate me.”
Your heart dropped into your stomach. “Soobin, you’re scaring me,” you confessed. “What’s going on?”
“I think you should go,” Soobin replied instead of answering your question. “I don’t want to fight and I don’t want to say anything that I don’t mean.”
“Soo-“
“Please.” the desperation in your best friend’s voice was enough for you to sit beside him for a few more moments before reluctantly getting up and leaving him be.
You were less excited for your date with Yeonjun than you expected to be. After two years of crushing on the boy, you figured you would at least feel butterflies or some kind of excited nerves while you were getting ready. Instead, all you could focus on was Soobin and how you felt like you had done something to hurt him. What did it mean, feeling like you couldn’t be honest with your best friend?
“You look beautiful,” Yeonjun complimented when the two of you met at the cinema for your film. You were dressed in a pretty blouse with jeans and heeled boots for the occasion, but even the cheerful pattern on your shirt didn’t make you feel better.
You smiled. “Thank you. You look great, too,” you replied, accepting the popcorn from Yeonjun before making your way to the theatre that was showing Little Women. Yeonjun was adorably excited about the film, raging about how Greta Gerwig was absolutely snubbed at the Oscars and how amazing Saoirse Ronan really was the perfect Jo March.
It was rather odd. On any other occasion, you could have written an entire essay on how beautiful Yeonjun looked in his outfit and how the fact that he was slightly shyer than usual around you was perhaps the cutest thing that you had ever experienced. But instead, your head was filled with thoughts of Soobin. Soobin sounding like he was about to cry because he couldn’t share his feelings with you. Soobin burying his face in his hands out of frustration with you or about you, you couldn’t remember.
The film was great.
Or, at least, you assumed it was great. There were few scenes of the film you could really remember, even after the credits rolled and you and Yeonjun made your way to his car to go to the restaurant you both picked for dinner.
When you arrived, you managed to banter with Yeonjun as usual while waiting to be seated and then waiting for your food. All the waiting was making you anxious and only further reminded you of how you were waiting for a text from Soobin.
Yeonjun had enough of being too shy to ask you if everything was alright. “Are you doing okay?” he asked you as you stared blankly at your pasta.
“Hm?” you hummed, blinking before realising that your food had arrived and Yeonjun had asked you a question. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if you were okay,” Yeonjun repeated, brows furrowing together in concern. “But it seems pretty clear that you’re not,” he added.
You smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry,” you mumbled. “I guess I’m just in a weird headspace. I’m sorry for making this date really boring and weird.”
“It’s not boring and weird,” Yeonjun contradicted your statement. “What’s wrong?”
You sighed, picking up your fork. “What does it mean when your best friend tells you that they feel like they can’t be honest with you?” you inquired. “And that if they reveal the truth to you, they think it will ruin your friendship?”
Yeonjun was startled. “This is about Soobin,” he mused quietly. “I guess it means exactly that. He’s keeping something from you because he doesn’t want to lose you.”
“But I’m losing him,” you retorted. “He’s distancing himself from me. So either scenario means that he and I aren’t the same anymore,” you sighed, eating some of your pasta and chewing on it slowly. “If that’s the case, isn’t it just best that he tell me?”
“I can’t answer that, I don’t know what he’s keeping from you,” Yeonjun reminded you.
“I just feel like a failure of a friend,” you disclose your feelings. “The one thing you should be able to do as a friend is be honest and share your feelings. I can’t even make my best friend feel comfortable doing that.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Yeonjun acknowledged her feelings. “If it helps, I don’t feel that way about you.”
You smiled. “Thanks, Yeonjunie,” you paused, thinking of his words, and the most ironic thought popped into your mind. “On the basis of being honest, then… Is it just me or does this not feel like a date?”
Yeonjun gave a small giggle. “You’re right,” he agreed. “I think you’re beautiful, and smart, and funny. But maybe we’re better off just being friends,” he admitted to you.
“I was thinking the same thing,” you said, surprised at how truthful the words really were. “Huh… I spent two years of my life having a crush on you but as it turns out, we’re better off as friends.”
“You couldn’t have liked me for two years,” Yeonjun exclaimed in surprise. “No way!”
“It’s true!” you insisted, joining in on Yeonjun’s laughter. “Maybe it was just a small crush but it was there.”
“Well, I had a crush on you too,” Yeonjun smiled prettily. “But I’m actually okay with this whole being friends thing.”
You smiled back at him, pleased that the date had gone in this direction. “I completely agree.”
With this in mind, the rest of your date turned into a friendly hangout, which both took the pressure off of the both of you and made for a much more fun evening.
[10:48pm]
y/n: hey soobinie
y/n: i’m sorry
y/n: i’m sorry for whatever i did to make you feel like you can’t be honest with me
y/n: i don’t ever want to fight with you
y/n: let’s just talk it out and solve this
y/n: please?
seen by soobin at 10:52pm
soobin is offline (10:55pm)
You always knew how much you loved and needed Soobin in your life.
From the very first time that you were in preschool and one of the boys had stolen your packed lunch, all you could do on your own as a significantly smaller human being was sit there and cry. Until Soobin came. He was your knight in shining Converse, telling the boys that stealing was wrong and mean and demanding that they give your lunch back to you. From that day onwards, you had a lunch buddy, a protector, and – most importantly – a best friend to always support you.
And you supported him too. Throughout middle and high school you went to every one of his performances and cheered him on until you lost your voice. Soobin would go onto stage, a nervous bundle of adrenaline and hormones, but the moment he saw your face in the crowd he would feel completely at ease. You helped him with his english homework while he helped you with math, and you always came to each other when you felt sad.
Being without Soobin felt like you were missing part of your personality; jokes passed without being laughed at, study sessions were far quieter and more lonely, and you walked back to your dorm at the end of class alone.
Sitting in your room in the library with Yeonjun and Beomgyu still went on, but it didn’t feel nearly as fun or productive with the empty chair next to you.
Hearing how your date with Yeonjun went, Beomgyu was reluctant to keep coming the study sessions. When he realised that you and Yeonjun remained good friends on amicable terms, however, he was persuaded to continue joining you. That and the fact that he was completely lost on Statistics without you guys.
“Do either of you have the answer book?” Beomgyu had asked during one study session. You and Yeonjun had been defacing university property by doodling all over the tables in pencil while Beomgyu stressed about his Statistics grade. Noticing how inattentive you two were being, Beomgyu looked up from his textbook and made a face of disapproval. “Seriously?” he asked rhetorically. “Can one of you make yourself useful and get the answer book from the Stats section?”
You and Yeonjun glanced at each other and Yeonjun – being just a moment faster than you, and a whole lot smarter – placed his finger on his nose and declared loudly: “Not it!”
You whined, feeling cheated by the situation. Still, you put your pencil down and got up to look for the book Beomgyu needed in the library. Sifting through the Statistics section, you pulled out a few books from the same company as your Statistics textbook and read the titles to see if any of them matched the answer book you were searching for.
A familiar giggle pulled your attention away from reading book titles.
You knew that giggle anywhere.
You ducked slightly in order to look through the shelf closest to your eye-line and saw Soobin at one of the tables in the library, talking to Mina and Sihyeon and laughing. Your suite-mate and her best friend were seated by the tables in the middle the library while Soobin stood next to them, backpack slung casually over his shoulder.
Something in your chest ached at the sight of your best friend whom you hadn’t seen in almost a month now. It was obvious to you that you would miss him, but this feeling was different. This feeling was fierce and unexpected and burned deep in your belly, causing your eyes to narrow and your jaw to clench.
The green monster. Envy. Possessiveness. Jealousy.
You were jealous of your suite-mate for talking to Soobin. But really, did you have any excuse to be jealous? It was was your idea to set the two up when you were swept up in Yeonjun-land and only had eyes for your blue-haired friend. And Sihyeon was amazing, you would be first in line at the Sihyeon fan club meeting, declaring your love for your suite-mate and her funny and nurturing personality. In fact, she was probably perfect for Soobin.
But the jealousy went deeper than just seeing Sihyeon and Mina interact with Soobin. You were jealous at the idea of Soobin and Sihyeon flirting. You didn’t want Soobin to be flirting with anyone, nonetheless someone you loved and admired.
“You okay?” you jumped at the sound of Yeonjun’s voice right next to you. “Geez, Y/n, why are you so jumpy?” he asked, far louder than you would have liked.
At the sound of your name, Soobin turned in your direction and the two of you made eye contact through the gaps above the books in the bookshelf. Quickly, you turned around to face Yeonjun and avoid Soobin. “I found the book,” you declared, grabbing it and placing all the other books back. “Let’s go,” you said, pushing Yeonjun in the direction of your private room and pushing your feelings for Soobin even further down into yourself.
To prove to yourself that you were okay with Sihyeon and Soobin dating, you decided to invite Sihyeon to the party that you were going to that evening with Yeonjun and Beomgyu. “It’ll be fun!” you convinced her happily as you curled your hair and picked out an outfit. You decided on a pretty lace bralette top and a pair of black jeans in order to be comfortable but still cute and even helped Sihyeon pick out a pretty dress.
I guess Soobin likes more feminine styles like Yeonjun, you thought to yourself as you admired how beautiful Sihyeon looked in the body-hugging, off-the-shoulder dress that she was absolutely rocking. And she’s far more confident than me, so I guess he’ll be into that too.
You tried to act like you were proud of yourself for being a neutral party in the whole ordeal, but in reality it felt like your world was falling apart. Everything that you thought was a universal truth – liking Yeonjun, being best friends with Soobin – was no longer true. And everything that seemed like a good idea before – dating Yeonjun, setting Soobin up with Sihyeon – were now a nightmare waiting to happen.
“You look really pretty, Y/n,” Sihyeon complimented.
“Not half as pretty as you,” you replied, meaning every word of it. “C’mon, let's get going."
The two of you linked arms and made your way to the party. In order to get through this party, you would need to do it the way that Soobin did last time; hopefully minus the sudden vomiting. You knew that Mingi and Yeosang made the strongest drinks in the ATZ fraternity, so you and Sihyeon made a beeline for the kitchen the moment you arrived at the house.
“Mingi!” you said happily when you spotted him. “I need a drink as strong as you can make it,” you asked him, giving him a pout and puppy eyes to convince him.
“You're kidding,” Mingi said in a monotonous voice. “I can’t give you that, you’ll pass out straight away.”
He probably had a point. “Then as strong as you can make it without me passing out,” you corrected yourself. Mingi saluted you playfully and got to work on your drink as Sihyeon accepted a much milder drink from San. “Have you guys seen Yeonjun?” you inquired.
“Are you guys still heart-eyed for each other?” San replied, making fun of you by imitating what you assumed was the way you used to look at Yeonjun when you were infatuated with him.
“No,” you sighed. “Didn’t you hear? We went on a date and it was weird as hell so we’re just staying friends,” you explained.
Yeosang nodded. “Good, I always liked you with Soobin,” he mused, making you glance at him with wide eyes.
“What?” you asked, bewildered.
“Me too!” Sihyeon raised her hand enthusiastically, nodding along with Wooyoung, San, Mingi and Hongjoong. “Mina and I always thought you guys would be really cute together.”
“Yup,” Mina agreed, appearing in the kitchen and giving Sihyeon a hug. “That what lesbians talk about when their straight roommates aren’t around,” she joked, causing everyone around to laugh.
Oh my god Y/n you’re a god damn idiot for trying to set your best friend up with a lesbian who already has a girlfriend, you thought to yourself, resisting a face palm.
“Your drink, madame,” Mingi said, passing you a drink. You took it wordlessly and immediately chugged it, feeling like the evening had already been eventful enough to warrant an excessive amount of drinking.
“I’d love a refill,” you announced, handing the cup back to Mingi. He and San cackled at your behaviour but did as you asked.
“You’re a messy drunk, Y/n,” you heard Beomgyu’s voice remind you. He was staring at you with a disapproving look on his handsome face. “Don’t be messy, I beg you.”
“Hello to you too,” you teased with an eye roll. “Yeonjun around?”
“He’s talking to Soobin,” he admitted. Your heart jumped at the mention of the boy’s name, and your reaction must have been obvious because Beomgyu grinned. “You’ve finally caught on, have you?”
You sighed. “Has everyone been hardcore shipping Soobin and I since day one?” you asked sarcastically. A loud chorus of affirmatives chimed in the kitchen, prompting you to actually face palm this time. “Great. I love being a blind idiot. Thanks for the heads up, guys.”
“It’s not our fault you’re ridiculously oblivious to your feelings,” Taehyun commented, having appeared with Beomgyu and Hueningkai.
You narrowed your eyes. “You babies are too young to drink.”
“Don’t worry,” Hueningkai raised his hands in defence. “Taehyun and I aren’t drinking, we’re just here for the drama,” he added with a grin.
You observed the younger boy for a moment before shrugging. “Seems fair,” you allowed, chugging the second drink that Mingi had made for you. “Wow,” you said afterwards. “Is it just me or did you say you didn’t want me to pass out?” Mingi gave you an innocent expression, causing you to shrug and decide to join Yeonjun where he was sitting with a larger group of people.
“Hi there,” Yeonjun greeted as you took a seat next to him. “You look nice,” he flattered, giving you a once-over that no longer made your heart leap into your throat.
“Thanks Yeonjunnie, you’re a peach,” you sighed happily, feeling the effects of the drinks Mingi had made you already.
Yeonjun giggled. “You’re tipsy. You only ever call me a peach when you’re tipsy.”
“Y/n!” Changbin, another friend of Yeonjun’s – since the boy was beyond popular – chimed. He seemed just as buzzed as you, but you knew he was already confident enough to stir up some trouble without the liquid courage. “Truth or dare?”
“This again,” you sighed. “Dude, I don’t know. What are the options again?” your brain was beginning to be fuzzier and fuzzier by the minute.
“Dare it is,” Changbin laughed. “I dare you to… kiss the guy you would most like to date in this room,” he declared before facing Yeonjun. “Pucker up Junnie,” he teased, making a kiss face at your mutual friend.
Everyone in the room hollered, seemingly all knowing about the crush that you had on Yeonjun over the course of time you knew one another. Amidst all the chanting and cheering, you glanced around the room to find the only person that was on your mind at the moment.
You found Soobin sitting a few seats past Yeonjun, nursing a small drink with a distinct pout on his lips. Soobin always looked good. You had always told him how handsome he was, but in this moment – perhaps enhanced by how drunk you were, or the fact that you hadn’t seen him so closely in so long, but most probably a combination of the two – Soobin just looked ridiculously, out-of-this-world hot.
You got to your feet, slightly wobbling as the cheers turned into howls and cat-calls as you neared Yeonjun. Their voices hushed when you passed Yeonjun and took a seat in the empty place next to Soobin. The last thing you saw before closing your eyes and pushing your lips against Soobin’s were his wide, surprised eyes staring into yours. Screams sounded around the room as you and Soobin proceeded to kiss, lips moving comfortably against one another as if you were born to kiss each other. Something like fireworks erupted in your body, except faster, louder, and hotter; with a ferocity far stronger than anything you had ever felt with another boy.
It was you who pulled away, forcing some distance between the both you before you couldn’t stop.
“Why me?” Soobin had asked, just loud enough for the others to hear.
“You know me best,” you replied. “You care for me above everyone else and have always been there for me, since the first day we met when I was four years old. You know what I like and you know what I hate and you would do uncomfortable things like help find out what kinds of girls Yeonjun likes just to make me happy,” this revelation made everyone glance at Yeonjun, who held his hands up to show his innocence in the situation. “That’s why you would make an amazing boyfriend.”
Your words seemed to have sobered you up even more than the kiss, and you realised the weight of your actions. “Excuse me,” you muttered, getting to your feet and tossing your empty cup in the trash by the kitchen. Beomgyu stood there, holding an unopened bottle of water out for you with an expression similar to pride painting his face. You accepted it, unscrewing the cap and taking sips of water to sober up even more as you exited through the kitchen and into the back yard of the ATZ frat house for some fresh air.
You didn’t know how much time had passed since you sat outside, but at one point the bottle was empty and you felt almost completely sober again. The weight of your actions crushed your shoulders and the crisp evening wind felt sharp against your bare arms. You shivered, trying to use your hands to rub warmth into your arms until you felt a jacket drape over your shoulders.
Glancing up, you saw Soobin standing next to you, no longer wearing the flannel shirt he was wearing before. You thanked him quietly, slipping your arms into the warm fabric and relishing in the smell. “Are you sober?” Soobin inquired, taking a seat next to you and raising an eyebrow. His eyes were playful, but a hint of concern existed there nonetheless.
“Sure am,” you replied half-heartedly, unsure if you still wanted to be drunk so you could avoid this conversation.
Soobin hummed, nodding to himself. “Did you mean it?” he asked. You almost wanted to play innocent and ask: Mean what? in the most clueless tone but you decided against it.
“I did,” you confirmed. “I do,” you corrected as an afterthought, knowing and feeling that everything you said while you were drunk was still applicable.
Soobin paused for a moment. “I heard that you and Yeonjun went on a date,” he told you. “Beomgyu mentioned it to me the other day.” The fact that Beomgyu and Soobin were in close contact was not something that you knew about, but you were glad that Beomgyu didn’t feel like he had to pick ‘sides’. “Why didn’t you pick him as the person you would most like to date?”
You laughed lightly. “I guess he didn’t tell you much, then,” you mused, mustering up the courage to properly meet Soobin’s eyes. It almost took your breath away how close you were to his gorgeous brown eyes; appearing deeper and darker due to the low lighting in the back yard. “Yeonjun and I… The feelings I had for him were more physical attraction than anything else,” you explained. “The feelings I have for you are… different. More emotional.”
Soobin took a sharp breath of air in. “Does the mean that you aren’t physically attracted to me?” his voice cracked halfway through his sentence, a tell-tale sign of Soobin being nervous.
Amused, you gave Soobin a knowing look. “Did that kiss in there not feel like physical attraction to you?” you wondered, causing Soobin to get shy and blush. “I just meant that Yeonjun and I had very base-level attraction. You and I have history and over a decade of emotion and love for one another. It’s like we punched a hole in the roof and created a completely new level.”
Nodding to himself, Soobin was silent for a moment, thinking of what to say next. “We’re best friends,” he began. Oof, you thought to yourself, here comes the rejection. God, this hurts more than I thought it would. “And you’re right. We have history and friendship and love and I don’t want to ruin that,” Soobin told you.
You nodded as well. “You don’t have to make excuses,” you reminded him. “We’re best friends. And this is the first time we’re both being honest with each other and ourselves about our feelings, so if you don’t like me then you should just say s-“
Soobin cut you off by leaning over and pressing the softest, sweetest kiss to your lips. It was something like a long peck; beautiful, too short, and wonderful in every way imaginable. He pulled away, leaning his forehead against yours. “Don’t you dare think that,” Soobin said. “I’ve been in love with you for eight years. Don’t ever doubt my feelings for you, okay?”
You nodded, agreeing with him before wrapping your arms around his waist in a hug. “Will you be my boyfriend, then?” you asked, feeling cheeky but also really, desperately wanting Soobin to be yours forever.
“I’m not sure,” Soobin joked, hearing your laughter ring in his ears like the happiest song he’d ever listened to.
“Fine then,” you teased back. “I can always ask Yeonjun if he-“
Once again, Soobin cut you off with a kiss, this time allowing himself to take his sweet time with you and making it as long and rough as he wanted. “Don’t you dare,” he stated firmly. “I only just got you. I’m not about to let you go.”
You grinned. “That’s a really nice way of telling me to shut up.”
my first txt fic officially done!! i got very inspired by this request and got kind of carried away and i honestly really love this fic and i hope you guys do too!!
also sorry if you’re not straight lol i’m not trying to be heteronormative (i’m literally bi lol) but i feel like your college roommate’s girlfriend might not know your sexuality?? so she just assumed anyway bye thanks for reading
#txt#soobin#tomorrow x together#choi soobin#soobin imagines#soobin scenarios#txt imagines#txt scenarios#soobin x reader#txt x reader#yeonjun imagines#yeonjun x reader#choi yeonjun imagines#choi soobin imagines#tomorrow x together imagines#soobin imagine#txt imagine#txt social media au#kpop#kpop imagines#requests
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Ok so I loved your ‘Anakin gets shrunk’ thing but now I’m also imagining a scenario in which the tiny is suddenly as tall as their giant friends.
AH THANK U i’m glad you liked it 🥺🥺 but also yes i think about this all the time too..... mayhaps it would go something like this
————
It happened suddenly, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment where only a few people were paying attention because nobody thought it was going to work. They had finally made significant progress on their mission to reverse engineer the Separatist weapon that shrunk Anakin Skywalker to just a few inches tall, and a few members of the Jedi Council were eager to see if the nonstop work had paid off. Standing near him was Jayla, his lifelong tiny friend who had helped keep Anakin sane during the worst month of his life. There was a non-zero chance this antidote wasn’t going to work, so she was on standby in case something went wrong.
It worked, though. Maybe a little too well.
There was a blinding light that filled the medical bay as the growth ray was activated. Anakin felt like his body was being torn apart before the pain melted and his eyes adjusted to the room. Wow, everything is so much brighter.
“Anakin!” came the excited and relieved voice of Obi-Wan.
“Did... did it work?” Anakin asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Yes, thank the Force, it did— oh my...”
Sitting on the table to Anakin, there was a new person in the room. It was Jayla, who was no longer four inches tall and instead seemed to be taller than even the five-and-a-half-foot Ahsoka. A splitting headache was all that was left after the fire in her body subsided. No matter how many times she blinked, she couldn’t see clearly.
Anakin turned, following Obi-Wan’s gaze. His jaw just about hit the floor. “What the...”
“Ugh, why do I feel so—woah...” Jayla slurred through her words, and her voice suddenly sounded like she was screaming. It felt like the words were traveling from her brain to her mouth in slow motion. Through the pain in her head, she strained her eyes to try and make out the figures in front of her. She took a shortened breath. Why did everything feel so closed in?
A concerned Jayla? was the only thing she heard before her eyes rolled back and she passed out right on the table.
Anakin and Obi-Wan rushed to help her as Ahsoka, Yoda, Plo Koon and Mace Windu watched in subdued shock.
Ahsoka was the one to break the silence. “Uhm... what just happened?”
Nobody really had an answer. They threw out speculations as Anakin stood at Jayla’s bedside, making sure she was okay. It didn’t take long for her eyes to start fluttering.
Anakin waved his hand and shushed the group as Jayla stirred awake. At first, her eyelids remained heavy and she could barely make out what she was seeing. But suddenly, the face in front of her took shape. Anakin was shockingly close to her, and yet, he didn’t look big at all. It must not have worked.
“Anakin...” she muttered, finding her voice. “What happened? I got the worst headache... oh kriff, that thing didn’t work, did it?”
“Jay,” Anakin cut her off. “It... it did work.”
Jayla blinked, thoroughly confused. “Um, are you joking? You’re still tiny.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Then why—“ she started, but once she looked over to where Obi-Wan’s voice was coming from, she nearly swallowed her tongue. Obi-Wan was eye-level, but he wasn’t bending down, and his face didn’t take up her entire view. In fact, he was several feet away, but it felt like he was right next to her. She tried to reach into the Force to figure out what was going on, but she flinched away when a thousand different sensations flooded her mind. It hurt almost as bad as the headache.
“Take it easy!” Anakin cautioned as Jayla shot up, her eyes wide. Stars flashed briefly in her vision. Her limbs felt like jelly. “You don’t look so good.”
“Stop, stop...” Jayla squeezed her eyes shut as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. “You’re talking too loud.”
Anakin turned to Obi-Wan, a look of concern passing between them. The Jedi in the corner stayed put, partially so they didn’t startle Jayla and partially because they were still in shock.
Jayla stared at her feet and took a few deep breaths as she allowed the world around her to normalize in her brain. Even though the floor was so far away from her now, she could still see it in excruciating detail. She swung her legs a few times, gasping when the tips of her toes brushed against the cool tile. When she remembered the Jedi standing in the corner of the room, she glanced up, only able to hold eye contact for just a few uncomfortable seconds before moving her head back down. The Force confirmed what seemed too impossible to be true — not only did the antidote grow Anakin back, but it grew her, too.
“I’m... uh. Wow. I’m really... wow,” Jayla breathed, eyes still trained downward. “This is... really weird.”
“How do you feel?” Obi-Wan was now standing next to the bed. His mind was racing to find a potential explanation for what was in front of him.
“Um. Confused,” she said, still getting used to the projection of her voice. She was too afraid to look Obi-Wan in the eye. “Everything feels loud.”
“How can something feel loud?” Anakin questioned.
“I dunno! It’s... it’s like my senses have been dialed up to 100. Like something is bound to happen at any moment.”
“Sounds like you’re just a bit anxious,” Obi-Wan said. “I don’t blame you.”
“No no, it’s more than that. Like... like I can hear what’s going on outside the door. All the people walking by, how their footsteps sound. And how Rex is standing in the hallway and trying to act like he’s not nervous but he’s really freaking out ‘cause he doesn’t know why it’s taking so long and he’s assuming it didn’t work. And the medical droid — the one over there, across the room — it’s making some sedative. Mixing bacta with... something green. It smells awful in here, too, and it’s really distracting.”
Obi-Wan and Anakin stared at her in stunned silence for a moment. Neither of them had sensed Rex outside the room, much less what he was feeling, and the medical droid was too far away to make out the labels of what it was mixing. They certainly couldn’t hear anything going on outside of their little huddle. And the room didn’t even have a smell.
“Hmm.” Obi-Wan calmly rubbed his chin, casting a sideways glance at the other Jedi masters in the room. They seemed to all be thinking the same thing. “We can discuss this later, Jayla. Right now, we need to make sure both of your vitals are stable.”
Jayla nodded, again closing her eyes in an attempt to reduce her bubble of perception. She couldn’t take all the noise.
“Ahsoka, please keep Anakin and Jayla company and let me know if there are any anomalies in their readings. Masters, if you don’t mind?” Obi-Wan jerked his head to the door. Yoda, Plo Koon and Mace Windu, who had stayed surprisingly silent through the whole ordeal, followed Obi-Wan into the hall. They were a little astounded to see Rex as described: leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his fingers gripped tightly around his armor. He perked up when he saw the group of Jedi, but didn’t say anything as they moved off to the side. If they didn’t know any better, they would have just assumed he was tense about being in the Jedi Temple.
“I don’t know what to make of this,” Obi-Wan started. “What went wrong?”
“Too close, she was standing, when we fired our antidote,” Yoda said with confidence. “Caught in its range, she was.”
“I agree,” Mace chimed in. “Though that doesn’t explain why it has the exact same effect on her when it was only intended to reverse what had been done to Skywalker.”
“Maybe the effect wasn’t the same. She seems to have this... heightened connection to the Force,” Obi-Wan offered. “I knew she was strong with it before, but now...”
“It seems that the strength of her abilities grew with her physical body,” Plo finished.
“But Skywalker’s connection to the Force was never diminished,” Mace said. “Besides, that’s not how the Force works.”
“Possible, it may be, that this is not a matter concerning the Force,” Yoda said, drawing the attention of the other matters. “Hyper-attentive, her species is. Always like this, she could have been.”
The four Jedi considered that possibility. It made sense on the surface — she had always been quick and perceptive, and seemed to sense things coming before they happened. Now that she was their size, she was just interpreting her surroundings like normal, but on a much bigger scale, which allowed for picking up on things that humans or togrutas or anyone else would miss.
“If that is the case, then I’m afraid our little Jayla is going to be very overwhelmed by her new world,” Obi-Wan posited. “It’s going to take some getting used to.”
“We don’t even know how long she’ll be like this,” Mace stressed. “The truth of the matter is we have no idea how either of them will react to this antidote in the long-term. We need to keep a close eye on both of them, at all times.”
“Leave that to me,” Obi-Wan said. He was growing increasingly worried about how Jayla was taking all of this. He wanted to be there for her.
“Master Yoda and I can analyze the readings to see if we can find anything helpful,” Plo looked down to Yoda, who nodded in acknowledgment. “It will take some time, but as long as their vitals are stable, I see no reason to keep them cooped up in the temple.”
“We still have this war to deal with,” Mace grumbled.
“We can’t send them back out there. Especially Jayla. Not yet,” Obi-Wan protested. “We need to run more tests first.”
“With all due respect, Master Kenobi, there’s only so much a medical droid can tell us,” Plo responded. “We may have to see them in action to get a better sense of their boundaries.”
Obi-Wan considered this. “For Anakin, I suppose I agree with that. But we don’t know what our antidote did to Jayla, or what it will do. We should keep her here for a while.”
“She won’t like that,” Plo said.
“It doesn’t matter what she likes or not. We have a responsibility to keep her safe.”
Mace turned to Yoda, who had stayed silent in the debate. “Master Yoda, do you feel comfortable letting Jayla go out on the battlefield with Skywalker and Padawan Tano once she settles down? If she’s really as perceptive as you think, she could be a huge asset.”
Yoda hummed. While the idea of throwing Jayla back into battle like nothing happened felt odd to him and he was concerned with putting too much on her plate, he also agreed with Mace’s reasoning. The situation in the galaxy was dire, and they needed all the Jedi they could get to fight off the growing influence of the dark side. Plus, he knew his former padawan would adamantly refuse to stay in the temple.
“She may go. But careful, we must be. Know not how she will react to such a chaotic environment.”
“Very well, Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan said. If Yoda thought it was okay, he supposed he could go along with it. “She’ll have me, Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex with her. She’ll be well protected.”
The Jedi all nodded, feeling slightly better about the situation. Obi-Wan watched as the other three filed back into the medbay. He made his way over to Rex, whose anxiety was easily sensible now. He sure had a lot of explaining to do.
————-
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Am I? I don’t think you understand how weird this is for me right now.”
“No, no, I think I understand perfectly. Did you forget the last month?”
“That was different!”
“Please! I wasn’t going around touching everything like I just woke up from stasis.”
“I’ve never held a book before, okay? I had to see what it was like!”
Anakin and Ahsoka were taking Jayla on a grand re-tour of the Jedi Temple. The place was almost unrecognizable at Jayla’s new height of five feet and eight inches. She didn’t understand how she was still so much shorter than Anakin.
“Come on, master,” Ahsoka dared to interject. “Don’t you think you’re being just a little unfair?”
“Psh, no way. Suddenly being tall is way less awkward than suddenly being small.”
“Is it, though?” Jayla said, finding a windowsill to lean against. She wasn’t used to this much walking. “I feel so... exposed. Everyone can see me now.”
“Isn’t that nice, though?” Ahsoka asked. “I mean, don’t you want people to notice you?”
“I guess...” Jayla trailed off, tracing her finger along her wrist. “It’s just really overwhelming. It feels like everyone’s staring at me.”
“I think they are,” Anakin muttered. Word traveled fast in the walls of the temple.
“I never realized you had a tattoo,” Ahsoka said, noticing for the first time the intricate symbol on Jayla’s wrist.
“Yeah. It’s, uh, it’s something everyone in my village gets. Or, got. Here.” She held her wrist out, still getting used to the fact that it was the same size as everyone else’s. “These symbols here, that’s a language. I never actually got to learn it fully, and I’ve forgotten almost all of it, but it means al’hora dessili. Clan of Al. The animal-looking thing is a corano. It’s part of ancient legend. It symbolizes intuition, which I guess was the trait that was most prevalent in me when I was young.”
“How could they have known?” Ahsoka asked. “I mean, didn’t the council come and find you when you were an infant?”
Jayla sniffed a laugh. “I think I was almost 10 when they found me.” She exchanged a knowing glance with Anakin. “And I think it was entirely by accident.”
Ahsoka blushed. “Oh. I had no idea.”
“That’s by design,” Jayla smirked. “Master Windu was the one who discovered me. Hah, out of all the things I’ve seen, that might have been the scariest day of my life. Even now, when we’re almost the same height, I’m still kinda freaked out by him.”
A gust of wind caught Jayla’s hair and she lost her words. Something like that used to knock her off her feet, or at the very least, push her back a bit. But now, that breeze was like a kiss on her cheek as she gazed out in wonder at the busy world below. The towers still towered, but in a majestic way instead of an imposing one. Everything seemed within reach.
“Excuse me, sirs.”
The three whipped their heads around to find Rex standing with his helmet resting between his arm and his side. Obi-Wan was deep in conversation with someone else across the way, answering many of the same questions that Rex had posited on the way over.
“Rex,” Anakin smiled.
“General Skywalker. It’s so good to see you back to normal.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Are you feeling alright?
“Yeah. A little sore, actually. And just a bit tired. But if that’s what it takes, then I don’t care, because I’m just glad to be me again…”
Anakin trailed off when he realized Rex was no longer listening to him. Once he had locked eyes with Jayla, neither of them could tear their gaze away from the other. They both felt like they were looking at an entirely different person. Jayla’s stomach kept turning.
“Hey, Rex…” Jayla said slowly, as if she had just learned those words and was trying them out for the first time. “You’re, uh. You’re taller than I expected.”
Rex blinked. “I could say the same for you, sir.”
Jayla bit back a smile. “Yeah.”
Several beats of silence followed.
“Well.” Ahsoka could barely take it. “This is awkward.”
Anakin tapped Jayla’s shoulder. “I think she short circuited.”
“I think you should stop poking me,” Jayla retorted, playfully punching Anakin in the shoulder. Well. She thought it was playful.
“Ow! Kriff,” Anakin reeled back. “That hurt, yknow.”
“What? Really? M’sorry,” Jayla stammered, staring at her hand. I didn’t hit him that hard.
“If this is how strong you’re gonna be, then you’ll have to take it easy on the punches,” Anakin jested. “Save it for the Separatists.”
“If that’s how strong I’m gonna be...” Jayla repeated anxiously. “I don’t know how much I like that.”
Rex gave the two Jedi next to him a concerned look. They didn’t need words to know that it was time for one of them to change the subject.
Ahsoka spoke first. “Hey, why don’t we go to the dining hall and get some grub? I don’t know about you all, but I’m starving.”
“Uhm, I don’t really think I should,” Jayla said tentatively, rubbing her neck. “I have no idea what eating food could do to me. Or Anakin, really.”
“I didn’t even think of that,” Anakin muttered. “Well, what about the gardens? We still need to finish our grand tour. Rex, why don’t you join us?”
Rex’s face flushed red. “Oh, I--I shouldn’t, sir.”
“Come on, it’ll be nice! How often are you in the Jedi Temple?”
“This is my first time, sir.”
“See? Now you have to come. Jayla thinks it’s her first time in the temple too. You can touch the plants together.”
“Okay, listen--” she started, but stopped when she realized how exhausted she was. Getting angry took up a lot of energy. “Ugh. Can we take it slow? We’ve done so much walking already.”
“We’ve been out of the medbay for an hour!”
“Well, when you suddenly grow 15 times the height you’ve been all your life, you tell me how you feel!” Anakin wanted to keep poking fun, but nothing about that sentence was funny. Jayla sighed. “Sorry. I’m just… really tired.”
“Fresh air will help,” Rex interjected, daring to enter the conversation. “Trust me.”
Jayla gave him a small smile. The butterflies in her stomach were still there, but not as bad as before. “Okay. Let’s go.” She turned to Anakin. “Oh, and I will be touching all the plants.”
Anakin snickered. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Hey, if this is gonna be a long-term thing, then I’m gonna have fun with it. And half the fun comes from annoying you.”
“I wish I could get away with that,” Ahsoka muttered under her breath.
“Come on, kids! The tour continues!” Anakin waved the group forward. Jayla chuckled and even Rex cracked a smile.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
#lol this turned into a whole ass thing#the power of size swaps#and the power of me launching into excrutiating detail#it’s like if you were to grow an ant#mfs could carry like 1000 pounds by themselves#jayla’s hulking out#also really just jumped at the opportunity to dive into jayla lore#dont flame me for copying anakin's story beats it has a purpose#me: i will be answering more prompts!#also me: spends the whole day on this#it's not a phase mom this is just who i am#okay that's enough#obwrites#star wars g/t
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COERCION AND HAVEN
CHAPTER - 5 : NOT AN IDEAL PLACE
Pairing: (dark) Steve Rogers x Reader
Warning(s): MCU spoilers, slowburn, Stalking, Obsession, Non - con, Dubious content, Kidnapping, Sexual themes, Strictly 18+.
*****
<- Previous Chapter
*****
To say that the team was shocked when he told them that he will be moving out soon will be an understatement of the century. They all immediately shot question after question at him.
“Why?”
“Did we do something that made you angry at us?”
“Did we hurt you?”
“Are you crazy?!”
“Have you gone nuts, punk?”
“Are you mad at us?”
“From where did this come from?”
“Why did you decide that, out of nowhere?”
All the while, Tony was the only one who remained quite while the rest of the team kept asking, talking, rambling and that went on and on.
But the most hilarious question asked was “How are you going to survive out there, all on your own?”
Steve sighed in exasperation. He wasn’t a five year old. Not appearance wise and definitely not chronologically. The team wasn’t giving him a chance to speak, let alone reply to any of their questions. At this point, Tony popped into the conversation.
“He’s a grown ass man. He’ll be doing just fine” he told them making all of them look at him.
“Plus, it’s not like he’s quitting the team. He’s just moving out and getting a life” Tony added.
“Are you saying that we don’t have a life?” Wanda asked.
“No, we do. He doesn’t. All he’s done till now is fight. Let him do something else now” Tony replied and walked out of the room, patting Steve’s shoulder as he left.
The team looked like they’re processing what Tony said and Steve followed Tony to his lab.
“Thank you, Tony” Steve said, entering the lab and billionaire just waved it off.
“Well, just so you know, I’m gonna add some upgrades to your new home before you move. Just some safety precautions. We all have enemies, cap. It’ll be better if we take some safety measures” Tony said while moving towards a table with what looked like a metal arm on it and Steve nodded.
“By the way, who’s she?” Tony asked while tapping on the screen beside the, setting some configurations.
Steve stilled hearing that.
“You know?” he asked after a moment.
“Of course, I do. You keep on going out in the evenings, come back at midnights, suddenly have loads of sweets with you, I connected the dots” Tony replied.
“Oh, by the way, Morgan may or may not have seen the wallpaper of your phone and asked me who that pretty woman was. I thought it might have been Peggy Carter, but Morgan said that the woman on your phone was not Peggy Carter and gave a three minutes 12 seconds lecture saying that she knows who Peggy Carter is” Tony added and Steve sighed.
*****
“You’re planning on doing what?!” Tony asked, as if he’s not sure if he heard it right.
Steve sighed “You heard me.”
“Yeah, I did. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want you to get a life, but an abduction, cap? Do you know how much of a PR nightmare it’ll be if this gets out?” Tony asked with wide eyes.
“I’m aware of it, Tony. Look, I don’t have any other choice” he said.
“You do have another choice. Ask her out like any other sane person does instead of going out all caveman on her” Tony told him.
“Don’t you think I’ve already tried that?! She’d rather stay closed off from the whole world than go out on one single date! I’ve seen men trying to woo her, hell, I know I’ve tried to do that over the weeks and everytime I do that, she just closes off!” Steve exclaimed.
Tony dropped into the seat by his desk and sighed. He rubbed his face with his hand and asked “When are you going to do it?”
“As early as possible. I’m thinking about as soon as we come back from Hangar” Steve said.
“Wait, I thought we’re not gonna bother about Hangar for a few months” Tony said, siting up.
“Me too, but Fury sent an intel a few hours ago and trust me. Hangar needs immediate attention. The abandoned Hydra facility is showing a lot of secret activities, I’m afraid. Hill confirmed it with a few photographs sent by another Agent that was nearby the location” Steve said.
“When are we gonna strike? Do we even have the intel we need? And who all are going?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, we have the intel we need. We don’t need the whole team. Just Nat, Bucky and I. Sam will be staying as backup” Steve said and added “We’re going to strike on that base tomorrow.”
*****
This time, Steve approached her while she was locking the back door of the bakery after closing up. She turned around and a shriek left her when she spotted Steve standing right behind her.
She placed a hand on her chest and sighed out in relief.
“Captain America... Rogers... Steve... You gave me quite the scare” she told him and Steve had the decency to look embarrassed.
“Sorry about that doll” Steve chuckled.
Y/N just smiled and frowned.
“You didn’t come in today” she said.
“Yeah... Work happened” Steve said.
“A-are you going home?” Steve asked her.
Of course she’s going home. He knows that. The girl has nowhere else to go. And nobody else to go home to. Just her, all alone with that little plant that she placed by the window.
After days of following her to her home at nights, Steve started tracking her entire day schedule. Apart from the bakery, Y/N also works as a waitress at a diner and during her free hours, she goes back to her tiny apartment and spends her day, doing some chores at home and reading a book if time permits. The she gets refreshed and comes to the “Sugar Shack” to start her shift their and mostly, she’s the one who’s closing it. Steve also became brave enough to stalk her inside her apartment by hiding on the terrace of the apartment complex beside the one she lives in and gazes into her apartment. If he wanted to observe with a little more detail, he used the binoculars that he brought with him. He even took it upon himself to install some security cameras and keep them hidden inside her apartment, just for her safety. The place was not 100% safe and he didn’t want to risk it.
“Yeah, I’m heading home” she told him, looking down at her shoes and moving and curling her toes inside them.
“I was hoping that I could walk you home, doll” Steve told her.
That surprised her.
“What? Why?” she asked, not really liking where this was going.
“I have to talk to you about something. It’s already late now and I don’t want to delay you this late” he told her.
“But I don’t really live close” she told him, giving an excuse to just stop him from accompanying her.
“I don’t mind, doll” he told her.
Y/N thought about it. Really thought about it and came to a conclusion with a sigh. He’s Captain America. He’s pretty harmless. What could he do to me? Literally nothing was what she thought.
With that, she gave him a nod and Steve smiled at her. They both made their way to her place.
*****
Steve and Y/N reached Y/N’s place and stood right outside the apartment complex. Steve set his best acting face and looked around the area as if he’s seeing it for the first time, pretending that he has not been there a trillion times before. Hell, he has even sneaked into her apartment while she was not present or awake just get a little closer look at things. On their way back, they made some talk here and there, but nothing seemed important for him to come with her just to talk.
“So... This is me” Y/N said, turning around to look at him.
“Not an ideal place to live for a woman like you” Steve told her what he thought that first time he saw the place.
Y/N on the other hand didn’t know whether to get offended or not. Is he insulting the place or her? She didn’t have the answer to that. At the end, she decided to play it cool.
“Well, New York is not exactly and easy city to live in” she told him.
Steve smiled hearing that “Agreed.”
She too smiled at it and they both looked at each other.
A moment later Steve smiled and said “I won’t be coming to the bakery, doll.”
That surprised her.
“What?” she asked in surprise.
“I’ll be out of town for a couple of days. Don’t exactly know when I’ll return” he told her.
She frowned hearing it.
“Are you moving or something?” she asked him.
Steve laughed hearing that “No, doll. I have to go out of town on a mission.”
“Oh!” her voice held relief and Steve reveled in that.
“Yeah...” Steve tucked a stray lock of her her behind her ear.
“In the mean time,” he cupped her cheek and added “I want you to be careful around here and take care of yourself” while her eyes widened at this.
It was a strangely intimate act for two strangers who barely knew each other. But Steve literally knew everything about her. It was her who doesn’t know Steve.
“Do you hear me?” he asked her, make his voice more deeper, like he’s giving a command.
Her eyes widened a bit and she nodded quickly. She was not comfortable with this and didn’t know what to do. Steve on the other hand, read her like an open book. He just wanted to push things a bit more and dropped his hand to her elbow and caught it and moved closer to her, kissing her forehead. Her eyes widened and her skin flushed up her neck.
Both of them looked at each other’s eyes until she broke the eye contact, awkwardly clearing her throat. He loved how she reacted to him.
“Right umm... You too take care of yourself Capt- uh... Steve” she told him and Steve smiled.
“Will do, doll” he said and decided to put a stop to her temporary misery.
“Good night” he told her and she nodded “Good night. Take care” she said and quickly walked inside the complex, but not before casting a look back at him one more time before making her way to her apartment.
Steve waited till he saw the shadow of her silhouette by the window and started walking away from there with a smirk on his face, loving how she reacted to him.
*****
Next Chapter ->
*****
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#Chris Evans#chris evans x reader#chris evans x oc#Steve Rogers#steve rogers x oc#steve rogers x reader#dark steve rogers#dark steve rogers x reader#dark steve rogers x oc#dark! steve rogers#dark! steve rogers x reader#dark! steve rogers x oc#dark!steve rogers#dark!steve rogers x reader#dark!steve rogers x oc#coercion and haven#chapter 5#avengers#The Avengers#age of ultron#infinity war#endgame#peggy carter#morgan stark#captain america#captain america x oc#captain america x reader#the first avenger#the winter soldier#civil war
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Season 8, Episode 11: Changing Times
Well, as it turns out, my second Covid vaccine kicked me down hard. After sleeping for quite a long time, though, I’m tired of sleeping and ready to try and get this write-up done.
Surprisingly, or...perhaps not so surprisingly, I don’t think I have that much to say about last night’s episode. I think we’re just too close to the finale for me to feel “safe” in guessing/hoping for anything in particular.
Let’s hit up the plot points like before:
The Triangle
Carson & Faith
Rosemary’s Purpose
School District Problems
Jesse’s Disappearance
The Triangle
I’m probably one of the few people who liked Nathan who felt like the whole beginning scene was super weird and uncomfortable. Homegirl held his hand for one second in the last episode and now she’s going to warm his serge by the fire (while he just stands there awkwardly??? He could have done that himself while she got him some tea or something idk) and then dress him???
I think we’re meant to see that as her going back to...I don’t know...old habits die hard or something? But she was barely married for any time at all and it’s been three years since Jack died. No way would she be so far into those old habits that she’d fall back into them with Nathan lmao.
Like, it’d be a REALLY GOOD PLOT for a character who had been married for years and lost a spouse (cough Abigail cough) but considering the circumstances it felt like a cheesy fanfiction! I wanted to like it, but I just felt weird about it. Tonal whiplash out the wazoo.
Especially when we had to watch Lucas drive by and see Nathan’s horse at Elizabeth’s house.
Lucas sadly watching Elizabeth talk to Nathan was also awkward, but at least it gave him the courage he needed to break things off with her.
You’d think I’d have a lot to say about the triangle, but I’m saving all of that for some kind of...post-season discussion. Who is she going to pick? Nathan seems like the most logical writing choice, but it could yet be Lucas. I genuinely don’t care who she chooses so long as she picks someone.
--
Carson & Faith
I like to hate on these two a lot, so you might be surprised to know that I’m enjoying their storyline. I’ve criticized this series over and over for never bothering to portray realistic relationships and one thing I can say about Faith and Carson this season is that things actually feel...plausible.
I also appreciate how they try to tie Carson into the town a bit more: he talks to Henry and Minnie and even Lucas trying to figure things out! It makes perfect sense to me; how do you choose between someone you care about/the potential life you could make with them, and a career that you’re really and truly passionate about?
This is the most interesting Carson has been since Season 5.
Anyway, the pudding scene was genuinely funny, and a great way to break up the stress that I’m sure we were all feeling about his impending proposal. Faith’s reaction to thinking he might propose was...pretty telling. I really wish they hadn’t saved so many dangling plotlines to solve in the final episode, though. I was hoping Faith and Carson’s storyline would be fully figured out in the penultimate episode so that we could let him go (or whatever) in the season finale. It just seems to me like it would be a good, smooth ending for them.
Also, for what it’s worth, they tried doing this kind of plot with Frank in Season 5, but it was rushed and pulled out of thin air; he’d never shown an inclination toward pastoring toward dying children in the past and it was clear that they just needed to write him off the show. With Carson, this sort of plotline works VERY well; he was a surgeon, and he was passionate about it, but that passion took a hit when his wife needed surgery and she died on the table under his hands. He’s had some time to move on from that and process his feelings, so it makes sense that he’d find that passion again. I just wanted to point this out because it’s interesting how well it works for Carson and how...well, not-well it worked with Frank. I really felt like with Frank, it was just a storyline that could have been given to anyone with the same success rate, whereas with Carson they took a look at the character and what we already know of him, and built the storyline specifically for him. That’s good writing, babes!
Anyway, Carson trying to propose in the vague hope that Faith will come with him, even knowing she doesn’t want to leave Hope Valley, is pretty manipulative and awful, but it really goes a long way toward making his character feel like an actual person. Like yeah, he does actually want the best of both worlds. Do you blame him?
--
Rosemary’s Purpose
I know a lot of people are really into this storyline but I found it boring. The only good part was when Lee called the other desk in his office “hers.” Everything else just felt like a bit too much to come to the conclusion that she should run a paper. We already had her “advice” column in the paper and it was...amusing while it lasted, but eh. I just don’t see good storylines coming for her from this angle, especially when they went the route of her finding out she wants to start the paper back up to share information with the town. Are we really going to trust Rosemary’s integrity when it comes to writing news stories, especially when MOST of the time the things she’ll be allowed to write about are, you know, who grew the biggest cabbage? It makes me dread the potential for Round Two of Nosy Rosie.
I dunno. I used to really like Rosemary but this season’s been pretty rough on her character. Good for you for wanting to find your passion career, but most of us work so that we can eat, not for a fun way to pass the time and stay busy. :/
--
School District Problems
Mr. Landis is right and Elizabeth is an idiot. Sure the school board is being assholes for no reason (as if they’d care if one blind child was sitting in a classroom in one western town lol), but Elizabeth’s really going to dismiss his concerns about how she can juggle the added work necessary to teach Angela while also keeping up with everyone else?
It sucks that Angela will get left out, but Elizabeth should be working with Mr. Landis to come up with a plan to teach Angela without sacrificing the education of her other students. Better yet, she could rely on her friends for advice. Like Rosemary.
Still no apology there...
Anyway, a projected 100 new kids? That’s outlandish. The only way that will happen is if they open a factory in Hope Valley, and even then it could take years. I MEAN, WHERE IS THE HOUSING GOING TO BE FOR ALL THE ADULTS THAT WOULD GIVE YOU A HUNDRED NEW STUDENTS LOL. I think we have to assume the plotlines are connected.
I also find it hard to believe the board would care about Elizabeth being certified to teach Angela. Where else is she going to get an education? It’s 1918 in the middle of almost nowhere???
This show drives me nuts with its attempt to be a “Frontier Show” while also shying away from the characters actually being stranded/cut off from society at large. You still had unlicensed teachers teaching in western towns in this time period because nobody cared!!!
ANYWAY, if Union City was like 3 miles away I could see them trying to combine schools. But it isn’t. So.
I dunno. I hate this plotline. I feel like they stole it from a better show (Road to Avonlea, where the bigger school was just a few miles away and it made sense to consider combining the schools for a better education system for the students as one-room schoolhouse teaching was proven to be less effective) but didn’t bother to consider any of the logistics of the storyline.
Maybe it’s my passion for education and history that makes me hate it, though. I know too much to find this storyline believable. I should also mention that I haven’t enjoyed Elizabeth’s role as teacher for a very long time. (I think they suck at writing Elizabeth as a teacher.)
I’m just not interested in wherever this is going to go because I can’t imagine it’ll have a lasting impact.
The only good thing I can say about the whole plotline is that I REALLY LIKED HOW BILL CAME OUT OF IT. I think he’s the only person who knows how to speak to Elizabeth. She struggles with blunt honesty at first, but ultimately tends to appreciate it, and that’s pretty much what she always gets with Bill. Also, the scene where he shuts her down didn’t make her look stupid, either (just worried/anxious), so I could appreciate it.
--
Jesse’s Disappearance
I couldn’t care less about this plotline if I tried. Jesse’s gone missing in the mountains before (was it last season? I don’t even remember because I didn’t give a damn about it then either) so this felt like a multi-reused plotline...for the same character, no less.
It’s also poorly implemented. Why doesn’t anyone else care about Jesse? Why is Clara pouring her heart out to Lee while her friends are failing to support her in the slightest? Why should any of us care when we know he’ll be fine?
It just feels so forced for the sake of drama, and it’s made 10x worse because there’s too much else going on at the same time.
Also, how convenient that they have to tell us how hard-working and dedicated Jesse is to his work to force this plot to even make sense... C’mon, he has never been a particularly dedicated to work. They just needed to explain why he would have left the car so that he could be “missing.”
Boring. I also don’t care that much about their “stolen” money.
The only good thing in all of this is seeing how soothing of a voice Lee actually has.
--
The best parts of the episode:
Henry calling Florence “Flo” GOT ME. It was so surprisingly cute???
I love Bill, and he really came out of this episode looking great! Finally, it seems they’re done writing him as a grouchy old man who hates everyone! In this season (and particularly in this episode), he is allowed to be capable, smart, helpful, loyal, and in possession of a great deal of integrity. I couldn’t believe that guy tried to bribe the judge in town right off the bat lmao...but the way Bill handled it felt very in character—very reminiscent of him from S3 or 4. He never shuts things down immediately, preferring instead to get more information to use against his, erm...opponent. Should he need it, of course. I was really happy to see him written well in this episode.
HENRY’S LETTER FROM HIS SON. STARTS OFF WITH “DAD,” AND SAYS PS. I LOVE YOU AT THE BOTTOM. Good for Henry.
Fiona’s backstory! Finally, we get some FIONA LORE. Neat.
PUDDING HANDS CARSON.
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C.O.D.E.N.A.M.E.S. - chapter two
Sorry it’s taken me so long to get this chapter out! With school and soccer season starting back up again my schedule has been really busy. I will try to get these chapter out as consistently as I can, but this fic will most likely be updated sporadically whenever I have time. Without out further ado, here is chapter two of C.O.D.E.N.A.M.E.S.
<<chapter one * masterlist * ao3 *
~~~
“Really Gavriel, everything's gonna be fine,” Rowan consoled Gavriel while he assembled his pistol. “They might be one of the best we’ve hunted yet, but you know they won’t see me coming. It’s going to go just the way we want it to.” The captain really had to have more trust in him. Sure, Rowan could go off book sometimes, but it was always for the best and he always managed to complete the mission no matter what, so Gavriel had nothing to worry about.
“You know I trust you to get it done, but the director is very adamant that this mission gets pulled off efficiently with no casualties on either side,” Gavriel emphasized either, as if he knew that Rowan would sacrifice their mission if it meant saving someone on their side. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. “If we don’t complete this mission soon, she’ll order us back to base and put someone else on the job. I think I’m speaking for everyone when I say none of us want to go anywhere near that place anytime soon.” There was a resounding agreement from everybody in the room, including Rowan. “You’ll take Lorcan with you. He’ll have them in his aim in case anything goes wrong.” Lorcan groaned from across the room, slumping on one of the couches as Rowan raised his brow.
“Honestly, Gavriel. I don’t understand why you don’t just send me in alone. I can get them from 100 yards away, knock them out, and bring ‘em in. It would be much simpler for me to go in alone and drag Rowan along with me simply as the muscle. He can’t even fit in tight places. He’s too big.” Lorcan smirked at Rowan as he started collecting his gear. “Trust me Gavriel. I’ll be more efficient by myself than Rowan could ever be.”
“Stop it, both of you. You have your orders and I expect you to follow them. Unless you want to be on dishes for the next week?” Both Rowan and Lorcan received a pointed look from Gavriel. They stayed silent. “That’s what I thought. Now stop moping and get your asses out of here. You don’t take a step in here unless you have them with you.” Gavriel dismissed them, promptly walking out of the room. Right before he shut the door, Rowan swore he could hear Gavriel mutter under his breath Sometimes I feel like I’m raising children. Rowan chuckled at that.
~
The abandoned hotel that Rowan found himself in looked like a jungle had washed through. There were vines crawling up the walls and spiderwebs in every corner and available space of the building. The side wall on the westside was decimated, the sunset shining through, almost mocking him as though it knew that something was going to go wrong. Rowan spotted a stairwell to his left that would take him up onto the roof, where presumably his target would be. Climbing up the stairs, hearing nothing but the wind even though the door to the roof was open, he realized that something was about to go wrong. His unit had already scouted this building hours before, in response to the tip they had received a couple days ago.
It had seemed to appear out of the blue, Fenrys finding it in the mailbox at their current station, which hadn’t been used since their first day at their house to deliver all the necessary information for their assignments. It had everybody looking over their shoulders, considering that nobody was supposed to know their location or who they really were. But once Fen had seen what the letter was actually about, they decided to throw caution out of the window.
~
Looking up from his reports, Rowan noticed Fenrys standing outside like he had seen a ghost. Following his line of sight, Rowan looked towards their mailbox with its red flag sticking up. Rowan dismissed it at first glance, but then took a double take when he realized why exactly Fenrys looked like he had seen a ghost. The flag was up. On their mailbox. That should never have been used. It didn’t even have a street number on it.
Trying to look inconspicuous, Rowan called out to Lorcan to pull up the security cameras, and sprinted outside to join Fenrys. Calling out to him, Fenrys threw an arm across Rowan’s chest, stopping him from advancing any further. “Don’t take another step. Until we know what exactly is in there, we shouldn’t even be in the vicinity of it.”
Staring wide-eyed at the mailbox, Rowan responded to Fenrys. “Lorcan’s pulling up the cameras. We should head back inside and wait for Gavriel’s decision before we do anything more.”
As it turned out, the package appeared to be harmless and once Lorcan was able to get a good visual of the package, deeming them to be safe at the moment, Fenrys received the package from the mailbox. It turned out to be a letter with only a single address written on it. The North Stag
~
Considering that The North Stag was an abandoned hotel and had old connections to the assassin they were hunting, Gavriel decided to follow through on the tip, sending the team to scout out the building so they would know what they were dealing with. Considering everything now, Rowan really wished they had known more information about their target. Because when he got the call over the comms from Lorcan that he had eyes on them, they were both woefully underprepared for what came after that.
Climbing the stairwell that led to the roof, Rowan approached the door as quietly as he could, as to not disturb anything and alert the target to his presence.When he opened the door there was a slight resistance but he was able to get it open without making any alerting noises. He credited it to the rusty hinges and it not being used in years.
Creeping through the doorway, Rowan scanned his surroundings. The entire ground was covered with gravel and overgrown weeds crawling over the edges of the roof and the box above the stairwell. He assumed that the target was on the other side of the box, seeing as he could not see them and the assassin’s intended victim would be inside of the building that Rowan was facing away from. There were several rusted over ventilation vents scattered around the roof. They could be helpful if there was a struggle, but as long as Rowan could get the jump on the guy, he could have them down in mere seconds. Of course, Lorcan was aimed and ready across the street, but Rowan wouldn’t need his help besides being muscle to drag their prisoner back to the base.
Rowan still didn’t understand why Gavriel insisted Lorcan be there. He should know perfectly well how Rowan worked best on his own and backup always messed everything in the end instead of actually helping out. Rowan rounded the corner as quietly as he could, keeping his eyes open and trigger finger poised so he could take the shot as a last resort. Rowan wanted to be the sneak attack and not the other way around. He didn’t want anything backfiring on him. When he had eyes on the target, Rowan zeroed in on their position and proceeded as he usually would.
Rowan answered Lorcan over the comms, ~Approaching the target. In view and ready to engage.~
Lorcan responded in his usual manner with a grunt. That was all the confirmation he needed.
Rowan glanced over his target before closing in, noting that they were dressed in very loose clothes, which didn’t seem the most ideal for a stealth mission. He pushed that into the back of his mind to use for later and snuck up on his target with his pistol poised and ready to shoot. He placed the black, cold barrel on his target's head and said “If I were you, I wouldn’t pull that trigger.”
~~~
Thank you so much for reading! Comments are encouraged and appreciated...I really want to work on my writing and they are one way to help me grow. Let me know if you would like to be added to the Tag List!
#codenames#throne of glass#agents of shield#modern au#sniper au#double agents#rowaelin#rowaelin au#tog fanfiction#rowan whitethorn#aelin galythinius#the cadre#throne of glass fanfiction
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Do you accept prompts? Cuz I had an idea about X27 in which Tsuna harmonizes with Xanxus and Xanxus just loves basking in his flames to the point where gets kinda drunk on them and it's adorable. Meanwhile Tsuna's guardians, the rest of the Varia, and literally everyone else is going wtf laince when did Xanxus turn into a cat?
So... I know I took forever but I hope you like this hahaha
I'm honestly happy with it.
(Sanity is overrated)
Summary
Tsuna has come to believe, after years of Reborn induced chaos, that sanity is far too overrated. Also, cuddling your enemies is a valid strategy to win. You can fight him on that. Or don’t, Tsuna’s hugs are known to be the best.
Story
No matter how much of his attention is being essentially sucked in by this fight, Tsuna can't help but be a little amused by the whole situation. Probably Reborn's influence, to be honest. Three years of absolutely crazy training and his sanity has no doubt cracked. In multiple places, all over the place. If one's being honest, Tsuna isn't even sane anymore. He's just very good at pretending that he is.
Woop, there comes the gun. Tsuna ducks under the attempt to brain him, steps into Xanxus's space and connects an uppercut into the man's solar plexus. Xanxus wheezes, folds forward until Tsuna is mostly holding him up. Big all over and hard muscles everywhere. How distracting. Not the moment Tsuna, concentrate. He wedges a foot between Xanxus’s legs and pushes the man back with his shoulder.
He’s expecting Xanxus to fall back, regroup somehow. Shoot at him. Again. Good luck to him, Tsuna has spent the last three years of his life being shot at by Reborn. Varia Commander or not, Xanxus has nothing on the hitman. Also, a part of Tsuna’s brain has learned to identify warning shots as expressions of affection and Xanxus sure is fond of them.
It’s mixing Tsuna up. Tsuna is a bit of a mother-hen with his people and, in his professional opinion as a manager of strange traumatized mafia guys, what Xanxus needs isn’t a fight over some stupid jewelry but rather a bed, some warm food and maybe some disguised or undisguised coodling. Tsuna doesn’t have that part pegged yet.
Xanxus, however, decides to surprise Tsuna by not only actually falling but actively dragging Tsuna down with him. They end up as a tangled mass of limbs, Tsuna covering Xanxus with his body almost protectively, Xanxus’s head bracketed by Tsuna’s arms. Now, no matter what Reborn will despairingly say in the future, this is 100% Reborn’s fault. It is, after all, Reborn who has normalized violence to Tsuna.
Even more, it is Reborn who made Tsuna not only comfortable with being around guns but also made him feel all warm inside when they’re aimed at him. Therefore, Reborn’s fault. The point is that this is not a position Tsuna is unused to being in, the violence, the spar and then the almost aggressive start of what seems like a cuddle.
All of his guardians, not counting Lambo yet, do this. They fight him until they get exhausted and then drag him over them for protection and affection or something of the like. So when Xanxus falls instead of falling back and drags Tsuna over him. Tsuna reacts on instinct. He flares his flames wide, warm, comforting and inviting and smoothers Xanxus in them.
Then, of course, he winces. Because it’s one thing to do this to his guardians and another all-togehter to do it to another Sky. A rival one at that. But when Tsuna moves to stand up again, Xanxus makes a tiny sound on the back of his throat, a little thing that could be complaint or longing and Tsuna hesitates long enough for Xanxus to tangle his hand on Tsuna’s shirt.
Alright, then. Tsuna licks his lips, smothering Xanxus in his flames with a little more confidence, and then he casts a look around, deciding how to move them. As nice as the position can be, Tsuna doesn’t exactly look forward to being run through by a sword or something if Xanxus’s guardians find them first.
He ignores Xanxus’s slight grumble and rolls over, sitting on the floor among the rubble, with his back against the half destroyed wall. Xanxus, for his part, sighs like all of this is the biggest inconvenience to him. A deep, loud sigh that sounds so overly dramatic that Tsuna can’t help but smile. “Come here,” he guides Xanxus to straddle his lap, legs at either side of Tsuna’s waist and forehead hidden against his neck. “There you go.”
Ha! Tsuna is an expert in this shit. Also, there’s no way he’s complaining about 80kg of pure muscle being draped all over him.
“Oh, fuck,” Xanxus mutters, curling tighter around Tsuna. “You little shit, am drunk.”
Ah, that explains it. Then again, Xanxus can’t be all that mad, not with the way he is all but crawling into Tsuna, nuzzling his forehead against Tsuna’s neck. Now, when he comes out of it, it might be a different story but for now, Tsuna might as well enjoy this surprisingly sweet side of his rival. “Yeah?” He tangles his fingers into messy black hair and pets Xanxus carefully, waiting to see if Xanxus will allow it. “Like that?”
“Hmm,” Xanxus arches into the caress like a cat and then a big hand is grabbing Tsuna’s free hand and pushing it to join in.
Alright then, Tsuna is taking that as an agreement. “Greedy,” he teases but concedes, petting Xanxus back in slow long strokes. Like he’s trying to make a point, Xanxus’s flames latch onto his and pull, attempting to burrow under his. Cute. Tsuna smiles and gives him what he wants, sighing ruefully when he feels the bond settle into place. Tsuna doesn’t regret it for a second but if anybody asks, it was entirely Reborn’s fault.
Xanxus goes boneless with a satisfied little sound, pressing his nose into Tsuna’s skin. Honestly, people as deadly as this man have no right to be this cuddly. It’s like hugging a tiger. Yes, it’s cute as all hell. Magistic, even. It can also kill you by accident with one big swipe. But then again, for Tsuna it just adds to the charm. Reborn has already cracked Tsuna’s sanity. He has nobody to blame but himself.
Still, cute. And sexy. But mostly cute. Giving in to impulse, Tsuna kisses the crown of Xanxus’s head, finger rubbing back and forth against Xanxus’s cheek.
Over him, Xanxus hums, smug and satisfied, “‘gain.”
“Greedy,” Tsuna repeats but complies regardless, dropping another kiss on top of Xanxus’s head.
It’s to that scene that Squalo and the rest of the guardians arrive to, “VOOOI! What the fuck, trash?!”
To be fair to him, the swordsman sounds more surprised than insulting and Tsuna snickers. Xanxus is not nearly as amused, he unfurls from on top of Tsuna with a snarl, reaching from his guns. Tsuna shushes him gently, he’s honestly more used to handling violent elements than he should be. Even more used to handling in-fighting when somebody’s pride gets unavoidably trampled on.
“Come on,” Tsuna murmurs gently, carding gentle fingers through Xanxus’s hair.
Half-out of Tsuna’s lap, Xanxus scoffs but looks consideringly between his Rain and Tsuna. Finally, he decides on taking one warning shot towards his guardians even as he crawls back into Tsuna’s arms. Eh, good enough, Tsuna decides and turns his head to kiss the cheek that Xanxus is rubbing against him, smiling at the contented grunt it earns him.
“Mine,” Xanxus declares, still clearly flame-drunk but just as clearly possessive. He’s watching Tsuna from under his lashes, once more draped all over him.
“Hmm,” Tsuna cups Xanxus’s cheek, pulls him up so that he can reach and pecks the man’s parted lips. “Yours,” Tsuna agrees, letting his other hand grab a hold of Xanxus’s hip. “Mine.”
At that, Xanxus shudders and nods, “yours.”
#fanfiction#khr#xanxus#katekyo hitman reborn#sawada tsunayoshi#superbi squalo#dearcat1#reborn#x27#sawada tsunayoshi/xanxus#Sanity is overrated#ask#cat-from-the-moon
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[Weird Sisters AU] "in tenebris magicae: a story's beginning"
Words: 2,495
Chapters: 1/17
Characters: Lena Sabrewing, Webby Vanderquack, May Duck, June Duck, Violet Sabrewing, Black Heron
Summary: Following the tragic loss of her mother, Lena finds herself returning to the Magical Realm to piece together the truth behind the fall of her mother. However, the deeper Lena digs, the worse things become.
(Text Under 'Read More').
Do it for her.
Because she certainly didn't want to do it for herself: If it were up to her, she wouldn't even be here. But the stakes were high, and her next move relied on her being here.
If anything sucked the most, it was that she didn't have her own room anymore: Her roommate, a human named Violet Sabrewing, had woken her up at 5 A.M with the blaring sound of her alarm.
"I like to start early when I study throughout the day," she said.
Lena had managed to get some sleep after being rudely awakened, but not much: It was 7 A.M., and now she had to be awake.
Dragging her legs out of the bed, Lena sat up and stared out of the window for a good five seconds: Everything about this place felt like Earth, but it also didn't. The Sun still rised and shined the way it did on Earth. It was a bit comforting to Lena.
"Late start?" Lena took this as some kind of a joke, but considering what had happened merely two hours prior, she didn't find it any funny. She flashed a glare at Violet before trudging out of the room into the bathroom in the hallway.
Five months ago, Lena felt like she had everything, that the life she had on Earth made her not even want to come here and find out about her roots. Now, she had virtually nothing, and that predicament forced her to be here.
Lena's eyes became fixated on her feet as she neared the bathroom day, replaying the past five months of her life over and over again in her head. The day it happened, the feelings of panic and hopelessness that swallowed her body, how lifeless she looked. It was hard to forget, it was an image that would be burned into her brain for the rest of her life.
Caught up in her mind, Lena didn't notice that there was someone leaving the bathroom as she was walking to enter it. Her body collided with another girl's, sending them both to the ground.
"Hey, watch where you're-" The girl cut herself off once she got a better view of Lena on the ground, "Wait, you're one of the new girls right? Don't tell me you're that human."
Word seemed to spread fast around here.
"You're thinking of Violet," Lena half-smiled, extending a helping hand to the girl once she pulled herself off of the ground, "I'm Lena. Nice to-"
The girl swatted Lena's hand away, glaring at her as she found her composure and stood up on her own. "Either way, watch it." Before Lena could respond to that remark, May stormed off.
Rolling her eyes, Lena pushed the bathroom door open and began her morning routine for the day. Great, Lena thought to herself, I've been here for less than 5 minutes and I already have a target on my head.
--
Lena could feel the eyes burning the back of her head as she took her seat for her first class. From the looks of it, Violet didn't seem to mind to curious and judgmental stares, but Lena hated it. Part of Lena wanted to tell them to find something else to stare at, but another part of Lena just wanted to sit in silence to not make her already rough start, any rougher.
The teacher hadn't entered the class yet, but Lena was sure that they'd ask her and Violet to stand up and introduce themselves, so Lena spent the down time she had now mentally preparing for it. Lena wasn't really a nervous person, but these stares she was getting from classmates whose names she didn't know yet, were enough to melt her into a puddle of timdity.
"Hi, I'm Webby!" Lena hadn't even noticed that this girl had walked up to her, but the piercing shriek she let out was enough to make Lena jumped out of her skin. "Lena." Lena responded sheepishly, looking over Webby's shoulder to notice the girl from the bathroom was shooting daggers at either her, Webby, or the both of them.
They looked exactly alike, so Lena assumed they were sisters.
"You're from the Earth, right? Oh, I have so many questions! What is it like on Earth? What are the animals like? Ooh, what is the foo-"
"Webby, enough," The girl from the bathroom cut her off, and Lena was somewhat grateful for it even though she knew a condescending comment would be following this, "I doubt it's anything interesting compared to what we have here. You don't need to drown her with your questions."
"May, you're no fun." Webby pouted, crossing her arms. She turned back to Lena, saying "It was nice meeting you though!", before she scurried back to her seat next to May and... another girl that looked exactly like them. Triplets?
Her attention on them being triplets was shortened when she went back to thinking about how off putting this May girl had been acting towards her. It soured her mood a bit, thinking about how this girl, for whatever reason, had to make it known that she thought she was better than Lena.
"So you're the human." May seemed to turn her attention to Violet, who just silently nodded in response. Lena felt no connection to this Violet girl, not enough to just mindlessly defend her anyways, but she wasn't opposed to kicking May off of her high horse in defense of her.
"What brings you here?" The other sister, whose name Lena had yet to catch, asked seemingly with innocent intent, "Do you have any powers?"
"Um....no... at least not yet," Violet murmured, fiddling with her hair, "I was actually recruited through the school." Webby and this other sister gave Violet looks of approval, but Lena couldn't help but notice the scowl on May's face.
"Not yet? What do you mean not yet? Either you're born with it, or you're not." May snickered, gaining questioning looks from both of her sisters, not that she seemed to particularly care. Violet bowed her head in embarassment, and that's when Lena decided that she had finally had enough of this May girl's attitude.
"What's your issue? This pretentious little mean girl role you're trying to live up to right now, really isn't a good look, you know." Judging from May's reaction, Lena could tell that this girl never had anyone stand up to her before, and that was just pathetic.
"Well thank god I'm not trying to look good for the likes of you." May hissed, and before Lena could get another jab in, the entire classroom was silenced by the arrival of the teacher.
"Welcome to the first day of the new semester." The professor looked like a character straight out of the kinds of old movies Lena's mom used to watch, her hair having flipped ends, and her red dress resembling the style of a Go-Go dress. The professor's prothestic arm, which seemed to be made completely from metal, caught Lena's eye, but it wasn't something she paid too much attention to. Her eyes drifted over to the sister, the one that wasn't May and Webby, and noticed how her entire demeanor changed once this professor entered the room.
"It seems like we have two new students here, Violet Sabrewing, and Lena Duckwell. Nice to meet you two, I am Professor Heron." Lena could've sworn she saw a smirk when the professor had read her name, but she was too busy feeling shocked that she didn't make them stand up and introduce themselves.
Lena's mother always told her that if she were to come back here, if she were to start a new life here, she'd have to conceal her identity. "Duckwell" wasn't the most creative fake last name, but something told her she couldn't exactly waltz in here with the last name "DeSpell". She never knew why she needed to keep her identity a secret, but she wasn't exactly trying to figure out, either.
"Students, you know that I am expecting nothing but the best work from you this semester, especially knowing what's ahead. Now, open your books to page 14..."
--
Lena went to school on Earth, so she knew how dreadful and boring the school days could be, but this first day really drained her of any energy she had left. She had almost ran out of the classroom as soon as Professor Heron dismissed them, and she waited for nobody.
"Hey!" Lena felt a tap on her shoulder, turning around to reveal none other than the other sister whose name she hadn't caught yet.
"Hey."
"My name is June, nice to meet you!" She extended her hand for a handshake, and Lena took it. This June girl seemed much nicer compared to May.
"Nice to meet you," Now that she was here, maybe Lena could get some clarity of the things from class she was still confused about.
"What did the Professor mean when she said something important was ahead? Is it a test?"
"I guess you could say that," June explained, "But really, it's the total eclipse. You know what that is right?" Lena shot her a look that said 'I'm not dumb.' Was it that obvious that she hadn't been touching up on her magic?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I just didn't know if it's ritual on Earth like it is here!"
"So what do you do for it?"
"On Earth, the Total Eclipse only happens every 100 years, but here, it actually happens every 10 years. During the Total Eclipse, all magical forms at their highest level of power. So, the ritual is kind of made to celebrate that, but also to show off that power. But it's not any time soon, actually it's exactly three months away."
Three months? There was no way Lena could master the power that she did, in three months. She didn't even know what she was fully capable of, because on Earth, both her and her mom stressed her living a normal "human" life, and not using any magic. And the rare times that she did use magic, ended up in haywire. Surely, three months was not enough time for Lena to perfect her craft.
"Hmm, sounds like fun...."
"I wouldn't know, this is the first time I've actually been old enough to attend and participate in one!" June flashed a bright, friendly smile, and in a way, it sort of put Lena at ease. After all, she was the first person here that Lena was able to maintain a normal conversation with.
"Oh, and sorry about my sister earlier, she can be a bit.... overbearing," June said, her cheery tone of voice shifting into a more serious one, "But if it makes you feel any better, I'd take it as a compliment. It means she sees you as a threat." Lena sent her a halfhearted smile in response.
"Oh, thank you. That's... great." The last thing Lena wanted, was some onesided rivalry with a girl she barely knew and barely cared to compete with, especially given said person had the advantage.
Lena and June had reached the end of the corridor, preparing to part ways with each other.
"Well, it was nice talking to you! I'll try to... talk my sister down from whatever pedal stool she's on right now, but I can't guarantee it'll work!"
"As long as you try."
Lena did like this June girl: She seemed to be the middle man of her sisters, the overly hyper Webby and the overly confident May, and Lena thought it was nice. She was definitely the kind of person Lena would be friends with back home, if Lena allowed herself to have friends back home.
But based on the 15 second interaction she had with Webby, she didn't have any negative feelings towards her either: She just had a lot of energy that Lena hadn't dealt with before, and Lena wasn't all to sure she was willing to deal with that energy level now.
Lena had finally made it to the door of her and Violet's dorm room, unlocking the door. Violet was nowhere in near sight, probably utilizing the last couple of hours the library was still open for.
"Well, at least I have some alone time, for now." Lena sighed, flopping onto her bed.
She allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts, reflecting both on the events of today and what happened five months ago. Maybe this total eclipse was exactly what would give her the answers she needed. But for five months, she began seeking answers, trying to piece together what happened and who could've possibly done it. It was caused by Magic, and to her recollection, besides a family residing in Finland, her and her mother were the only magical beings on Earth. But nothing was adding up, and it was starting to look like she would have to figure everything out with the help of someone else.
Lena remembered staying temporarily with the family in Finland after everything had happened: They were familiar with her mother, but knew next to nothing about her. But they offered her shelter, food, and some support whenever Lena wasn't pushing them away, and that felt good enough until it started to feel like time was closing in on her. Until what happened to her mom, would happen to her. So she, with the help of the family, devised a plan to return to the Magical realm during the beginning of the new school year, to get more practice with her magic, and to find the culprit. She didn't know what she was expecting, but she felt a weight of disappointment that she had been here for all of three days, and not even the slightest new discovery appeared.
Suddenly, she heard the door unlock, and knew that Violet was back from her study trip.
"Back so soon?"
"No, I'm actually going back. I just forgot a book."
Lena hummed in response, turning her attention to her phone. There wasn't anything eventful going on social media wise, but it was better than the awkward and forced conversations she and Violet had so far.
"Also... Thank you. For sticking up for me today."
"Don't mention it." Lena sent a grin in Violet's direction, waving goodbye as she left the room again to return to her studies. Maybe Violet was the kind of person she needed on this case: She had no magical powers, at least to both of their knowledge, but she did seem to know an awful lot about the magical realm, especially compared to Lena herself.
It had only been 3 days since she was here, but she was already feeling the weight of the stakes: Lena had to do to whatever it took to avenge her late mother, even if it meant facing the culprit head on.
#weird sisters au#ducktales#ducktales 2017#lena sabrewing#webby vanderquack#may duck#june duck#violet sabrewing#xol writes#black heron
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chasing butterflies | jjk
you never meant to be a jock in school. the volleyball team had just needed people and you were there and then you had a knack for it. you just happened to be good at it and went with it. similar to how you saw jeon jungkook in your friend’s orientation group and thought he was absolutely radiant and just went with it. for two years. you’ve spent the entire time pining from afar, mostly because you always seem to make a fool of yourself when he’s around, but also because jungkook is part of that exclusive crowd, the ones that you never can seem to penetrate: the weebs. that is, until your friends get sick of your hopeless pining and decide to do something about it.
pairing | jeon jungkook x reader
genre/warnings | fluff, college au, coffee shop au, pining, somewhat idiots to lovers, jock!reader, nerd/weeb/otaku!kook, swimmer!kook, jock!jimin, kook smiles a lot, reader is a dumbass, jungkook is a dumbass, everyone’s a dumbass tbh, love confessions, profanity, like a lot of profanity, smut: oral (f receiving), face riding, grinding, hickies, unprotected sex (wrap ur willy before things get silly kids!), creampie, soft!kook except when horny, this is somewhat crack-y, there’s also a very fair amount of secondhand embarrassment in this just fair warning i cringed a lot while writing it
word count | 12.8k | cross posted to ao3
a/n | i busted literally all of this in one day because i couldn’t sleep and had the idea for a coffeeshop au with pining nerd/jock, but i didn’t want to do the trope of pining nerd and i also kept seeing @strawbxxymilk‘s tags saying she was going to fight jungkook, so you can partially blame her for his (love u reni xx) i’m honestly REALLY in love with this fic, it was so much fun to write and even edit, like i honestly have never been happier with how a fic turned out.
If asked, you don’t think you’d be able to point to one exact moment that led to this. You aren’t sure why anything about your college life has been the way it is. You went through almost all middle school and part of high school intending on coasting through under the radar. You didn’t have many friends and you didn’t mind that, citing quality over quantity, and you definitely expected that to continue into your extended school career.
Somehow, though, you ended up on the volleyball team - the captain had seen you playing in a gym class and recruited you. She was adamant that with practice and training, you’d be great, and also they needed at least one more person if they were going to have any chance at competing that year. So you agreed, started practicing, got good, and…kept doing it. You were a talented player, and you made several close friends through the game, ones that had lasted you until even now.
You only got better and better, too, earning you more than one offer from various universities. It was exciting when you finally chose one, and even more exciting that your friend group almost tripled overnight. University teams were large, you discovered, and while that meant more competition, it also meant more friends. More friends that had more connections to people on other teams, in other sports, who were also fun and extroverted and threw really good parties.
You like to think you’re still that little nobody from middle school. You enjoy your readings and your coursework, and a lot of nights you choose to stay behind in your shared apartment instead of going out. As much as you like to think that, though, you can’t help but face the truth every time you look in the mirror after practice or a game or a workout.
You’re a jock.
You don’t even know why. The labels were supposed to end when high school did, and yet here you were. You pretty much only hang out with other sporty people, since no one has much time to make friends with anyone they didn’t see five times a week and every other weekend. You have a strict workout regimen that you run through with other girls from the team. Your class schedule is built around your volleyball schedule. You call yourself an athlete. You get looks sometimes, from the smart kids who think they’re better because you’re ‘only’ an athlete and they’re not. It reminds you of the people who look down on other sports because theirs is the only ‘true’ sport. Those people used to piss you off, but you’ve grown used to them now; there would always be people who thought they were better because of some imagined divide.
Realistically, there is no divide. People are free to associate with whoever they want, fuck the social norms that become ingrained in high school to contrast class differences. Okay, your Societal Influences class may have skewed your thinking a bit, but your point stands. You had no good reason to conform to the antiquated ideas of high schoolers.
So why, why, are you still standing by a waffle maker and staring helplessly at him?
Jisoo nudges you and you move to let her at the waffle, not looking away from him. She follows your line of sight and laughs when she sees him. “Seriously?” She asks, shaking her head.
“Shut up,” You groan, popping part of a roll into your mouth.
“It’s been almost three years,” She teases. “How have you not worked up the nerve to talk to him?”
“Two years, three months,” You correct as you follow her to where the chocolate syrup and fruit await for her waffle monstrosity. You can’t even look at it anymore, sickened by the mere sight of all the sugar stacked atop it.
“That is not helping your case the way you think it is.”
“I can’t just…talk to him, he’s gonna think I’m weird. Who just walks up to someone and says ‘hi, I saw you in my friend’s orientation group two years ago and thought you were the most beautiful man in existence, and still think that in fact, would you mind going out with me?’” Jisoo levels you with a look that could make cacti wilt.
“Uh, plenty of people do that every day. That’s how relationships happen. I know you’ve got this big hard-on for this whole…pining, lovesick idiot look,” She barrels on, ignoring the squawk of defiance you let loose, “But it’s getting kind of hopeless. That one guy asked you out, like, last month, and you literally laughed at him.”
“In my defense, he was like way older than us! I don’t want to go out with a grandpa!”
“I cannot believe you just called Kim Seokjin a grandpa, the entire team is going to revolt against you for this.”
You huff and lead her to the table you picked out, which she very kindly does not mention gives you a perfect view of him while you pick at your food. She continues to rant at you about your hopeless crush, but you don’t even hear her anymore, because he’s laughing at something across the dining hall and it makes your chest tighten.
God damn, you don’t know how in the hell someone so fucking nerdy can make you so fucking weak in the knees.
Across the room, Jungkook adjusts the round lenses that have been sliding down his nose, and it makes your heart flutter. He laughs again at something someone beside him said. His nose scrunches as he does it, and the cute bunny teeth are obvious, and it makes you want to die a little inside but also throw him off a bridge a little bit. He starts talking, animated and excited, and you wonder what it is he’s talking about. You can almost pretend that he’s talking about you for a second, until he pulls something out of his bag and sets it on the table, covering it with his hands before pulling them back in a dramatic effort to reveal–
God, it’s a fucking Hatsune Miku figurine.
You feel like sobbing at the sight. “God, he’s such a fucking weeb,” You say, hatred for yourself rolling off the words in absolute waves. Jisoo huffs, probably annoyed that you haven’t been listening to her rant, and waves a hand.
“You knew this,” She tells you bluntly. The issue is that she’s 100% correct; the first time you ever remember seeing Jungkook, he was in a God damn Naruto cosplay, dumbass wig in his hands while he adjusted his ninja headband, and he was still the most beautiful human being you’d ever laid your eyes on.
His eyes dart over like he could hear your thoughts and he makes eye contact; you get whiplash, you look away so fast. Your face is burning, you can feel it, and you’re actually in danger of staring a hole into the table with how hard you’re looking at it.
“You’re safe, he isn’t looking anymore,” Jisoo eventually says. You chance a glance to see that Jungkook is focused on whatever conversation he’s having, Hatsune Miku nowhere to be seen and replaced with a very pretty red flush across his cheeks. You audibly coo over the sight and Jisoo pretends to gag.
“Don’t you have class?” She says. It’s obviously an attempt to distract you, she’s always so transparent about those things. Jungkook looks over again and suddenly your phone becomes the most fascinating thing in the entire world. You balk at the time, because fuck, you really do have class in two minutes.
“Bye Jisoo, love you, don’t gorge yourself on waffles, or Rose will kill you at practice!” You shout over your shoulder as you bolt from the dining hall.
You don’t see nor feel the eyes on your back as you go, too focused on making the five-minute walk into a sixty-second sprint.
Work is boring. It always is. You work the overnight shift, 9 pm to 4 am, so that you can balance your volleyball schedule and your classes and your bills. If there were less 24-hour coffee shops around, it may be busier, but alas, the trend of having spaces for haggard and exhausted college students to roll into at all hours of the day had caught on, and thus, you work at one of four all-night coffee shops. And that’s only on this side of campus. There were even more on the other side, where the dorms were, and they see much more traffic than yours. Kids never want to go very far to get caffeine, so the ones across the way were always bustling and packed full of people writing last-minute papers and emailing for sources and who knows what else.
Which meant that only the stray customer wandered in after dark, usually people getting off work and wanting to unwind for a second before heading home. You got a lot of homeless people, camping out in corners away from other people and sipping on one coffee for hours at a time. Some of the other workers complained about them, but you didn’t really care one way or another. If it kept them off the street and out of the cold, then you’d let them sit there as long as you could. It wasn’t like there were many people around to complain, anyway.
Of course, the few customers meant that there were fewer interruptions to the daily tasks you had to do, so it only takes an hour or two, max, every night to get everything clean, stocked, polished, and counted. Which left another five for you to fill.
You sigh, staring at a blank page of your notebook. You’re lucky your boss doesn’t care if the workers do schoolwork on the job, so long as the work gets done and the customers are happy, but just this once you curse him for being so kind. You’ve been procrastinating this essay for a week and it was due next class, but you had absolutely no idea where to even start. You sigh again and straighten as the bell over the door rings, the customary 'Welcome to Brew’d Awakening, what can I get for you today?’ already halfway out before you actually look up.
You choke on air as Jungkook smiles at you, small and shy and sweet, and you can actually feel part of your soul shrivel up and die along with every single one of your brain cells. You stare at him for a solid six seconds as he peruses the menu hanging above your head, and you’re so focused on memorizing the way he looks this close up that you nearly miss his order.
“A large iced black, please?” He phrases it like a question and it’s adorable, despite the countless times you’ve bitched to Jisoo about people doing the exact same thing in the past. You tack on your customer service smile as best you can and ring him up.
It’s a relief to turn away from him to actually make his drink. He’s gorgeous, even with the dumbass hoodie with some naked anatomy model on it that has to be from some anime, that it makes it hard for you to breathe. He’s not even wearing the nerd glasses and it just makes his eyes so much more obviously beautiful, and you know Jisoo is going to whine about hearing you wax poetic over them for weeks after this. Your hands shake as you pour the coffee into the cup and click the lid into place, but you force yourself to steady them as you hand it to him.
He’s blushing again, and you want to kiss it so badly, and he waves. “Thanks,” He says as he starts to leave. Your brain is torn between responses, one half reverting to your generic response and the other wanting to assure it him it was absolutely not anything he needed to thank you for, and you can feel the stupidity coming, but you cannot stop the words as they claw up your throat and you nearly shout–
“Your problem!”
He falters in his steps, turning to give you a confused look, and you’re honestly disappointed the earth doesn’t quake and part to drag you directly to the pits of hell, because even that would be less painful than having to maintain your professional demeanor like you didn’t just say the absolute stupidest thing you’ve ever said in your entire fucking life.
Jungkook just nods and strides out of the coffee shop, bell dinging in his wake.
The screech you unleash in the break room a few seconds later is inhuman and chilling, and yet Rose doesn’t seem at all fazed.
“I would say you should just talk to him, but clearly you can’t even do that like a normal person.” She pats your arm as you bang your head into the table, and you consider the option of getting new friends.
You’re no stranger to wild Jungkook sightings. You both go to the same university, you both have similar classes, you both take full advantage of the dining hall at every opportunity, you both use the library. It’s hard to go ten feet on campus without seeing someone you know, and it’s even harder when you’re actively looking for that person everywhere you go.
So you’ve already seen him a couple of times after the Your Problem Incident - and you may have turned around and completely avoided even thinking about it, but who’s going to judge you for that, really - when you walk into an extra-credit lecture for one of your science classes to immediately zero in on the familiar grin.
You’d foolishly believed this would be a popular lecture and as such would be held in one of the big lecture halls, the ones that seat 100+ people, but no. Of course not. This was in a regular ass classroom, with regular tables and regular students and regular everything, including the dumbass that regularly stars in every single one of your daydreams. The impulse to turn and run jolts through you, but before you can do exactly that, Nayun is calling your name and waving you over to the seat she saved just for you.
Right in front of him.
Several people turn at her call, but you focus your gaze on the chair and refuse to look to see if he’s looking at you. You refuse, you will not be that girl, you have standards, dammit, and grades to keep up, and immense public humiliation to pretend never happened.
You have to pass him to sit at your chair since Satan himself designed the classroom and put the door at the back of the room, as only a literal demon would do. You focus on not falling flat on your face, as you’ve been prone to do when Jungkook is in your range of vision, and as such you’re wholly unprepared for the way his scent floods through your brain.
You’re able to sit before you collapse entirely, legs shaking because he smells so fucking good. You’ve become accustomed to the boys’ volleyball team, who’re known for always wanting to hang out right after practices but not ever wanting to shower after practices. You’ve been friends with guys before. You are very close with several of the guys on the volleyball team. You’ve been around college dudes for three entire years. You know how guys smell, you know they all tend to get wrapped up in whatever boys think about and neglect their own hygiene unless gently reminded that no, Taehyung, girls do not like it when a guy is sweaty.
Apparently, one dude didn’t get the memo, because Jungkook smells like fucking heaven. Clean linens and summer flowers and rainstorms, with a lingering and faint whisper of chlorine that shoves you into the nostalgia of high school summers at the pool with your friends. It’s glorious and wonderful and you’ve never been close enough to smell him before, which you also never thought would ever go through your brain.
You wish you could say you’ve never thought of how he might smell, you really do. But the truth is you are a girl in love, with an overactive imagination and a lot of time spent not writing essays. You’ve imagined a lot of things. And yet. Even in your wildest daydreams, there is no possible way you ever could have expected it to floor you the way it did.
Nayun is saying something and you’re nodding along, but she could be telling you the secret to life itself and you would never know. You’re too focused on him. You can’t look at him - a blessing and a curse, because now you may be able to pay attention to the lecture, but you’ll also be too distracted to think about anything but if he’s looking at you - but you can hear him. You’ve heard him speak before, you’ve built up somewhat of a resistance to his voice and the way it slides along the air, which is such a sappy romantic thing to think but here you fucking are.
You have not, however, heard him speak for such a long period of time about the continuity errors in Boku No Hero Academia. You don’t even know what the fuck that is, never heard the phrase in your entire life, but he’s so passionate about it that you can’t help but listen. He’s making all sorts of points and giving all kinds of examples and you want to nod along just to encourage him. For all you know he could be wrong about every single instance he mentions but fuck, he just sounds so sure of himself and so absolute that it has you wanting to agree.
The sheer confidence in what he’s saying has you getting weak in the knees. He’s such an absolute fucking weeb, and yet it’s always been so sexy to you when someone knows their shit and can prove it. You could have gone your entire life without knowing that that particular kink extended to fucking anime.
The professor walks in shortly after and you are blessedly saved from more of Jungkook’s rants about anime inconsistencies. You’re impossibly wet and you curse yourself for the millionth time for somehow falling for the biggest dork the planet has possibly ever seen. You focus all of your attention on the lecture, doing your best to take notes even as you find yourself doodling the best (read: atrocious) representations of Jungkook in the margins of your notebook.
You groan on the way out. You’d spent the full hour and a half taking sporadic notes between doodles of Jungkook as a prince. You still couldn’t decide if you were imagining the feeling of someone watching you, either. Nayun just laughs and leads you to the dining hall for dinner before you both had to head to practice.
You are blessedly free of Jungkook for exactly four days. It is, in fact, a new record, since the first time you saw him.
It’s turned your life into a hellscape and you hate it.
You look for him around every corner and past every door, and more than once you’ve caught yourself expecting him to walk through the door at the coffee shop for absolutely no reason. You’ve only ever seen him there the one time. There was literally no reason to expect him to show up ever again, and yet each time someone walked in, you responded as if it was the 1500s and the king himself had entered the building.
If you’re being honest, though, your biggest issue with not seeing Jungkook’s dumb ass for four entire days is that it is just long enough for you to start to expect not to see him. It’s just enough time for you to get so accustomed to not seeing him around that you stop turning corners and looking for him immediately. You don’t immediately think 'this is it’ when the bell above the shop door rings. It takes a second to kick in, a delayed response that is still habit but one on its way out.
You miss him, that is definite. You find yourself wishing that he would show up out of the blue one day, spouting some nonsense, just for the sake of hearing it again. His rants about which Bleach character would actually win a fight because 'well, according to the manga,’ his tirades about how the revamp of Voltron is nowhere near as genuine as the original and is clearly pandering, you just…miss it. You never understand a goddamn thing he’s saying but it’s so fucking attractive. He’s so passionate about all of it and he’s so knowledgeable that even the discussion you overheard in the library about the top ten most powerful moves in the entirety of YuYuHakusho had you dripping and running for your apartment, and you miss that.
At this point, though, you should know the universe fucking hates you.
It’s late, close to 2 am, you haven’t slept in too long because you had an away game that afternoon that you lost on a fucking bullshit call and then had to stay to watch the boys’ team play. They, of course, crushed their opponents, which you were proud of, but it only made your defeat that much more bitter. You were still pissed about it when you rolled into work that night, Rose lagging behind to talk to the coach and Jimin glowing beside you with how well his team had done.
You’re tired, you’re pissed, you’re starving, you have a test in six hours that you haven’t studied for, the cafe is mercilessly dead, there’s a guy in the corner building an actual literal scale model of a castle, and all you can think about is the bullshit ref insisting that the ball touched Jisoo’s elbow after she made contact and completely fucking over the last serve of the game in favor of your opponents.
Jimin, the light of your life and angel among men, had gotten your food before your break. It isn’t fancy, two quick drive-thru burgers with fries and a drink, but it may as well be the nectar of the gods with the way you’re inhaling it. The angel and future father of your immaculate conception babies sits on one of the stools against the counter, chin in his hand as he watches you eat. He looks torn between horror and fascination and you can’t blame him for it. It must be a sight to behold: you, behind the shop counter, elbows planted for maximum efficiency, mouth stuffed full of French fries, ripping viciously into a burger as you continue to go off about the bullshit that was your match that day.
Really, you wouldn’t be this mad any other day. But the combination of so many shitty things - hunger, exhaustion, stress, frustration, not having seen the love of your life Jeon Jungkook in y e a r s - has you absolutely livid. You’re well past the end of your break by now, but Rose knows all too well how you are and is graciously letting you vent until you’re less ready to rip the head off the next person that comes in the door.
You express the sentiment to Jimin, who laughs, the fucker, and fail to realize that someone has, actually, just walked into the coffee shop. You’re halfway through your sentence - “I swear to God, Park, if I see that fucking ref again, I’m gonna rip his balls off and shove them so far up his ass that he starts to digest them, what kind of bullshit even was that, her elbow was nowhere near the ball, that foul never would’ve stood if we had been on our court,” - when it registers that Rose is taking an order. You glance over, out of habit more than anything, and proceed to attempt to inhale the food crammed into your mouth as you gasp.
Of course, of fucking course, Jungkook would show up while you’re like this. Your hair is a mess, still damp from the post-game shower, you’ve got some kind of stain on your shirt from the food that’s absolutely smashed into your mouth, and you’ve just been basically shouting expletives all over your workplace, which he definitely heard. It’s made worse because he’s staring at you, eyes wide behind his stupid round glasses, and his striped shirt with fucking ridiculous overalls. You’re torn between planting one on him since he looks so fucking cute and bewildered, decking him straight in the face because where the fuck has he been, and just bolting straight out of the shop because the guy you’ve liked for two fucking years witnessed all of that and you want to die.
You stare at him and he stares at you, looking as shocked as you feel. Jimin is just looking between the two of you, a shit-eating grin overtaking his face as he starts to connect dots you never ever wanted him to connect, because-
“Jungkook-ah, I didn’t know you came here!” Jimin says, grinning at the younger boy and one of his very best friends. He’s got a glint in his eye that you recognize and you contemplate not for the first time if you could actually impale him with a coffee stirrer.
“Oh, yeah, well…” Jungkook stutters and you hate that it’s so cute. “The others close to my dorm are all really busy at this time of night, y'know, so I like to get coffee on this side of campus so it’s still coffee and not watered down when I get back to my dorm.”
“Why don’t you just drink it here?” Jimin asks as he stirs his own coffee that had long since gone cold, as if he had every right in the world to offer up your coffee shop to a literal God among men. “It’s quiet, you could probably get more work done here than in your dorm. I remember you said your neighbors have been keeping you up.”
Jungkook turns red and looks away. Rose takes the opportunity to slide his iced coffee across to him and he takes it with a smile that makes your heart melt. You watch the exchange with more focus than you probably should, and the food is forgotten in lieu of your future husband right there in front of you for the first time in days.
“I guess I could,” Jungkook eventually says, eyes darting all over. They rest on you every few minutes before quickly flying away, and it makes you even more self-conscious of the stain on your shirt and the way grease has no doubt pooled around your mouth. You grab a napkin to try to clean yourself up as Jungkook continues. “I just don’t know if I could focus here, y'know, there’re a lot of…distractions.”
The silence that follows the statement is deafening, only broken by the quiet huffs of the guy building a castle in the corner.
Jungkook turns even redder and ruffles the back of his hair. It’s impossibly cute and you’re halfway to offering to ruffle it for him, either between his sheets or in the alley out back, when Jimin cuts you off.
“Well, you should consider it, at least. I always have the best times here, even with all the distractions.” Jimin sips at his coffee as he speaks and you get the very distinct sense that he’s teasing Jungkook about something you don’t know. The younger boy just smiles and gives a quick bye to Jimin and Rose. You like to think his smile softens as he looks at you, and the way he says your name as he waves will forever be embedded into your mind.
He’s gone before you can respond and you’re glad, sure you must be at least as red as the strawberry syrup. Jimin whirls on you the second Jungkook is out of sight, Rose doing her best to pretend she isn’t mortified for you.
“I cannot believe that you didn’t tell me - me - that the guy you’ve been pining after all these years is Jungkook.” Jimin sounds scandalized and betrayed and his face just makes you think of- “Top Ten Anime Betrayals, really.”
“Fuck, this is exactly why I didn’t want you to know! I used his codename for a reason.” You whine, dropping your head to the countertop with a resounding thud.
“Oh, yes, because Dumb DumbDook is oh-so-subtle,” Rose mutters. You ignore her.
“I could have been doing wingman work this whole time, though! Imagine how much further along you’d be if I’d been able to hype you up every time I hang out with him. You’d be able to talk to him, five words at least.” You smack Rose when she laughs.
“No, absolutely not. There’s no way it’s gonna happen, Jimin, I can’t set myself up for that failure.” You shake your head and go back to your food, though you’re much less angry after seeing your weeb. “Besides, we’ve got like…nothing in common, what would we even talk about?”
“Are you serious?” The deadpan is what catches your attention, and when you glance up, the look Jimin is giving is scathing. “I’ve heard you gush about his nerd rants, alright, you said yourself you could listen to him talk for weeks without getting bored of hearing his voice.”
“Conversations are a two-way street, Jimin. What the fuck could I contribute to that?”
“Uh…you’re kidding me, right? You didn’t see that face he made while you were doing your whole 'I’m gonna shit talk the ref because he made a call I didn’t like’ thing.”
“It was bullshit and you know it, he never would’ve done that shit for the other side.”
“Point stands, dude. Kook could listen to you go off about your sports shit for just as long as you could with his anime shit. I’d put money on it.”
“You’re delusional, Park, but I’m gonna let you live in this fantasy world because it’s nice to have company here.” He scoffs but doesn’t press the topic, which you’re thankful for. Instead, you fish your study guide out of your bag and hand it to him so he can quiz you about the test you have in four hours.
It seems that Jungkook takes Jimin’s word as law because he starts to show up more and more often. At first, it was just the coffee shop, where he would order his iced black and then leave with a shy smile that had you melting. Then he was at the library at the same time you were, one table over and typing furiously away at his laptop. You assumed it was for a class until he disappeared and returned with a printed copy and you caught the “Neon Genesis Evangelion: A New Order, Chapter Five” at the top.
You won’t lie, you did judge him just a bit for that because you don’t even know anything about the show but no way in hell would you be caught dead printing your fanfic on wireless school computers when cloud hacks are a thing.
He appears at your favorite takeout place, too; not that he saw you since you dove behind a fish tank to avoid getting caught. You’d watched carefully through the water as he waited, looking around in the meantime as if in search of something. He almost looked dejected when he left, though you didn’t know why until you got your food and found out they were out of crab rangoon like you hadn’t just been playing peekaboo with one in the fish tank for twenty minutes.
The thing that really gets you, though, the one that grinds your gears, is how he makes the coffee shop his thing. He just keeps showing up, night after night, and while at first he just left with his coffee, he apparently decided that wasn’t enough, because now he stays. He parks himself at the corner table near the outlet and taps away at his laptop while you try to do any semblance of work. He’s so distracting. He makes the most adorable faces - the brow furrow and slight frown when he’s focused and trying to figure something out, the clenched jaw with tongue in cheek when he’s irritated or frustrated, the cute ass bunny smile that makes you want to jump off a bridge and/or push him off a bridge.
Honestly, if you’re being truthful, you could’ve gotten used to that. He’s quiet and doesn’t talk much and even though you can feel him nearby like a sunflower to the sun, you could’ve managed eventually.
The issue is that his nerd friends start joining him, and they are not quiet. They are loud and argumentative and enjoy debating their dweeb things and they especially enjoy dragging Jungkook into said dweebates, if you will. Which in and of itself is not terrible. You’ve had a literal debate team in here practicing, you’re accustomed to that kind of thing.
No, the issue is that Jungkook is like the king weeb. He seems to know everything about everything complete with sources to back it up and even if he doesn’t know something he can either find out in ten seconds or he can bullshit his way to being right. And it’s so goddamn sexy. He just fucking…owns the other nerds, no matter what the subject is, and he’s so confident and sure and he gets sassy with them when he knows he’s right and they’re wrong. The body language, the expression on his face, the way he just stomps them into the dirt…it gets you hot and bothered every fucking time, and it’s a problem, because you’re at work. It is not socially acceptable to kidnap someone into the break room to fuck their brains out because they just won an argument about whether Yu Gi Oh or Pokemon was a more successful trading card game.
It’s made even even worse because Jungkook has started to pay attention to your rants. Every time you have a game or watch one with the team, you and Rose spend at least part of your shift talking about the ups and downs, what can be improved, what you specifically need to work on and how you can do it. One night the two of you spent upwards of an hour debating whether Lang Ping or Mireya was a better overall player and why, and when you finally stopped to restock the coffee beans, Jungkook was staring at you with a look in his eyes that you couldn’t place.
Of course, that was when you turned and hid in the storage room for the rest of your shift, but the point fucking stands.
Jeon Jungkook is a menace and he is taking over your life and you really should be more mad about it. It almost comes to a head when Jimin drags you to a swim meet, which you have attended exactly zero times in your entire life because who the fuck cares about swim meets.
“Trust me,” He had pleaded. “I want to go to support some friends, but I’m gonna be bored if I have to sit alone on the bleachers.” You’d eventually caved when he promised to buy you food, and now your ass was planted on the most uncomfortable stand seats you’ve ever been on and you were about to pop a blood vessel because Jimin was being so fucking infuriating about everything. He’d pulled you straight from practice, not letting you change or shower or anything, and he’d been trying to goad you into a debate the entire time you’d been waiting for the meet to start. It was legitimately starting to get you riled up, even as you stretched your legs out, thighs spread wide as your fingers massaged the muscles in your familiar post-game routine.
“For the last fucking time, Jimin, no, the Canada/Mexico save was not better than the fucking Italy/France save!” He rolls his eyes, but he opened this can of worms so now he has to suffer with you. “It was flashier, sure, with the sliding and the moving of the barriers, but the Italy/France save was more technically sound and less likely to result in any kind of ref interference. They were both good, sure, but there is no way you can truly believe that the flashier and less technically sound and less safe of the two is actually better.”
“Oh, your boyfriend’s waving,” Jimin says as he smiles and waves, eyes turning into crescents as he does.
“What? I don’t have a-” You stop when you look. You really should have expected this because life is a cruel mistress and the universe itself is even crueler, but here you were. Rendered speechless by the sight of Jungkook. In swim pants. Shirtless.
“You’re drooling,” Jimin comments dryly.
“Fuck off, it’s not my fault he’s sculpted by the gods.” You don’t even bother to look at Jimin, too focused on the way Jungkook’s back flexes as he pulls himself out of the water. Time legitimately slows, water falling off of him and trailing down abs you did not know were there, and your heart honest to God stops beating. “What the fuck is he even doing here?”
“He’s on the swim team,” Jimin smirks and calls Jungkook over before you can shove your hand over his mouth. “Kook-ah, good luck! You’re gonna do great!”
“Thanks, hyung,” Jungkook says with an excited grin as he jogs over. You don’t think you take a single breath in the five minutes they chat. Your chest may actually explode, and you’re tempted to dive into the pool not two feet away to cool off. Jungkook steps back like he’s going to leave, giving you a small smile as he does.
“Wait, Jungkook, remind me, how did you get into swimming? Someone was curious,” Jimin nods ever so subtly to you but you can’t even find the strength to be upset because Jungkook’s chest is right there and you want to run your tongue along his muscles.
“Oh, there’s actually this anime called Free! I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, it’s really good, but it’s about these swimmers. They complete and a lot of it is them learning how to get better at their techniques so I thought, 'well, that can’t be that hard can it?’“ You let out a quiet sob. He’s just…you clench your fist in your lap and sigh. He’s just such a fucking nerd. Jungkook shoots you a somewhat worried look but continues. “It’s how I learned archery and boxing, too. I saw them in manga and got really interested and figured if the characters can do it, why can’t I?”
“God, that’s so fucking nerdy,” You mutter. It doesn’t register that you spoke out loud until you see Jungkook’s reddening face and hear Jimin’s soft choke. “In a good way! I mean, I think it’s…it’s really awesome that you just saw it and did it, that’s really…” Don’t say sexy. “…cool.”
Jungkook stares at you, cheeks reddened, and you struggle not to start digging your own grave here and now in the middle of this indoor pool area. You’re about to stand and do exactly that when Jungkook’s face brightens and his nose crinkles and the most blinding grin you’ve ever seen in your life takes over his face as his shoulders bunch up. Your eyes are probably actual fucking hearts now, it’s easily the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen on a human male as tall and buff as he is, and it kind of makes you want to shove him in the pool.
You really don’t have to, though, because he just shakes his head and turns to go back to the swimmer’s benches or whatever they’re called in swimming. He’s ruffling the back of his hair again and watching the ground, but he keeps turning back to beam at you and Jimin. You see it before Jimin does, and both of you start to call for him when his heel slips and he falls completely back into the water.
Every face in the area turns to look at where Jungkook is surfacing, wiping his face and slicking his hair back out of his face. The sight of it nearly sends you into heart palpitations because you honestly didn’t think he could get more fucking attractive but you were wrong. You force yourself to calm down because Jimin is too busy rolling on the ground beside you to be of any use in resuscitating you if your heart actually gave out.
“Ah, nani,” You hear Jungkook mutter as he climbs out of the pool and you wish you had a brick to hit yourself with because of course, of fucking course, he looks so fucking good and is so fucking bone-meltingly hot and still says weeb shit like ‘ah, nani’ when he falls into a goddamn pool.
You’re honestly legitimately fucked and the fact that you don’t even care anymore says a lot more about you than you want it to.
It all actually comes to a head nearly a week after the swim meet. The sight of a wet and dripping and half-naked Jungkook doesn’t leave your mind, forever burned into your retinas, but even more wonderful is the shy, bashful Jungkook that greets you the next day at the coffee shop. It’s almost like he thinks you’re going to tease him, as if he didn’t see you shoving your whole mouth full of junk while cursing out a ref, as if he didn’t fully hear you tell him ‘your problem!’ with a happy grin and death in your eyes the first time he came into the shop.
It’s just…it’s so fucking cute that you physically cannot contain it anymore, and you find yourself bemoaning your state of perpetual adoration with Jisoo and Rose while you all shower after the latest match.
“I’m just going to suffer for the rest of my life aren’t I?” You say, speaking louder than you typically would in order to be heard over the several showerheads currently running. “It’s too much for my heart to take, absolutely too much, he’s too fucking…ugh, clenches fist, he’s too fucking cute.”
“Did you just verbalize the ‘clenches fist’ meme?” Rose shoots from her own stall. You shoot a face at the wall separating you, not that she can see it. “Listen, you know how I feel about this. You need to make a move because that boy never will. He’s a mess.”
“Wow, who else do we know that’s also a mess at all times for the guy they’ve liked for years?” Jisoo comments from her own shower across the way. You groan and kick your stall door, which only results in a muffled curse and you cradling your toe as you balance precariously on one foot.
“Do not injure yourself, we have a tournament next weekend,” Rose says offhandedly. You huff.
“Why would I even make a move? He’s got…Hatsune Miku and anime girls and shit.”
“Oh, of course,” Rose says. “I forgot, every guy would willingly give up a gorgeous, real-life girl willing to fuck him senseless for a pretty cartoon. Silly me.”
“What I don’t get,” Nayun calls from the locker room proper. “Is why you think he isn’t interested. He gets a chub every time he so much as looks at you, and don’t think Jimin didn’t tell me about the swim meet. The boy fell into a pool.”
“Yeah, because he’s a goddamn idiot.” You shake your head and wash the conditioner from your hair.
“What if we dare you to do it?” Rose’s voice echoes from too close. You turn and see her silhouette against the plastic shower curtain. She takes your confused silence as permission to continue. “Seriously, if we dare you to ask him out, will you?”
“What the fuck,” You say, sticking your head out of the curtain to level a glare at her. “I’m not ten years old, why the fuck would I do something just because you dare me to?”
“Bet, then,” Jisoo says as she wraps her hair in a towel. Your eyes must be wide as saucers because she laughs. “Bet on it. If the boys lose this game, you have to ask him out.”
“No no,” Rose says, and a familiar and all-too-dangerous grin spreads on her face. “If the boys lose this game, you have to confess. Do the gift and the letter and the whole fucking anime thing for him. If they win, we’ll drop it, and listen to your moaning and groaning for the rest of forever without complaint or comment.” Jisoo and Nayun look much too excited at the prospect, but you’ve been watching the boys play all season.
“What kind of bet is that? The boys haven’t lost a game all season.”
“Then you don’t have anything to worry about, do you?” Rose says, grinning as she saunters over to put her street clothes on. “Five minutes before game start.” You curse and rush to finish your shower, determined not to run laps for being late again.
As fate would have it, you do have reason to worry, because apparently, the rival university recruited some fucking professional athlete super mutants or some shit. It’s a close game, the boys only losing by one, but with the level of skill they’ve been playing with all season, it should’ve been an easy win.
And yet.
You’re standing outside the boys’ locker room, waiting patiently for Jimin. It’s a routine you got into when you first met, just after you’d both joined the respective teams. He would wait for you and you would wait for him, as long as it took, especially after a loss. You’re still in shock, still reeling from the game itself. You would almost think Jimin had found out about the bet and thrown the game, just to get you to shut the fuck up about Jungkook, if you didn’t know him.
If you didn’t see the dedication he put into the game, the perfection he expected of himself and his team. It rivals even Rose’s, and you can hear him yelling from where you stand, slamming what is probably his fist into a locker several times before he falls silent. As much as you had riding on this game, as pissed as you are that you lost the bet, you know it’s minuscule in comparison to the way Jimin feels, and you can’t even summon up enough energy to fool yourself otherwise. You’ve known him too long.
When he finally does emerge, you help wrap his knuckles with a clean bandage and ruffle his hair. “It’ll be alright, Park,” You tell him, quiet. He doesn’t say anything, just nods, and you sling your arm around his shoulder to lead him to your car. He’s quiet the rest of the night, even as you eat shitty fast food burgers in your car, even as he sits at the counter at the coffee shop, textbook open in front of him but not reading it.
“So I bet the girls that I would do an anime confession for Jungkook if you lost, you wanna help me plan it?” You ask him towards the end of your shift, long after said dork is gone from the shop. It’s the only time you see Jimin smile all night, but it’s worth it for the way his eyes crinkle and he starts outlining ideas.
“Did you even sleep last night?”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Jimin responds as he chugs the rest of his coffee. Calling it coffee is generous, if you’re honest because it smells like he put twenty espresso shots in a cup and added some sugar. You force back a gag and shudder at the thought. “Everything’s in place?”
“This isn’t a bank heist, Jimin, I’m giving him a fucking box and a letter.” Even behind sunglasses you can tell the look he’s giving you is withering. “Whatever, yes, everything’s in place.”
“Good. Target sighted. Commence mission.”
You huff, grumbling as you move forward to the door. Of the cafe. Where you work. Where Jungkook is sitting, surrounded by his dork friends and heatedly arguing about something you no doubt have no clue about. Looking absolutely delectable, despite just being in a regular ass fucking jacket and a beanie that almost matches his skin and his hair looks so soft that you want to rub your face in it and also maybe bury your fingers in it while he’s between your legs.
You open the door and are immediately hit with the sound of Rose choking on her drink, the sudden conversation about which dps character is better - what the fuck that means, you don’t know - screeching to a halt, and every single person in the shop staring at you. Which is only like three people that aren’t Rose, Jungkook, Jimin, or the six people around Jungkook, but still. You force yourself not to throw up and move, cursing the itchy and uncomfortable dress the entire way.
Really, it was Jimin’s fault. You’d been brainstorming ways to confess and how to make it so perfectly Jungkook that he at least had to respond. He’d been the one to suggest dressing up as Hatsune Miku, which you, of course, nixed immediately. You weren’t about to spend who knows how much on a fucking wig and costume of one of the most popular cartoon characters of the modern age, not when you were only going to use it one fucking time.
So here you fucking are, dressed up like god damn Haruhi Fujioka, in an itchy yellow dress that doesn’t move where it should and feels like fucking sandpaper against your skin, that Jimin just happened to have on hand, like that wasn’t super fucking weird, and now everyone at your place of employment is staring at you and the small white box in your hands with a little pink envelope on top of it and you can hear Rose’s muffled laughter as you step further into the shop.
You stare at the ground as you walk, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. It doesn’t take more than a few steps before you’re staring down at Jungkook’s Timbs. You take a deep breath, and then another, and then another before you look up. He’s openly gawking, jaw nearly on the floor as he looks you up and down. Not a single soul is making a noise in the shop, so your voice rings out loud clear as you say–
“My chest hurts when I think about this person. When this person is happy, I am happy. When he smiles, I feel like crying. I distinguish his voice better than other people’s. I think this person is respectable. I want to become this person’s strength. I have scored more than 80 points, and it’s official. I-” You stop, cursing the fact that you’re doing this at three in the fucking morning on your day off in your workplace all because of a fucking bet and the fact that you couldn’t shut up about Jungkook’s stupid fucking face for more than two minutes without being in danger of combustion. “I like him, and I hope that he feels the same.”
You shove the white box into his hands and turn on your heel. Without looking back, you march out the door, grabbing Jimin on the way even as Jungkook calls after you. You keep going, walking quicker than you ever have to get to your apartment as fast as possible. Jimin just laughs as he follows you.
“I can’t believe you actually did it, holy shit. I hope he likes the chocolates, you worked really hard on them.”
“This is going to end up on the internet, I just know it, and I’m stating right now that this was not how I ever wanted to fucking tell him.” Jimin laughs again and hands you the coffee Rose had made you. When you finally make it back to your apartment, he helps you take the dress off and gets the pint of ice cream out of the freezer so you can wallow in peace.
“You don’t even know what he’s going to say,” Jimin protests, though he heaps his own spoon with ice cream in the process.
“I walked up to him in a jank cosplay of a shojo manga character and confessed my fucking love for him, Jimin.” He balks at the look you give him. “I don’t care how much of an otaku he is, he’s gonna think I’m fucking weird.”
“Well, don’t count yourself out just yet, alright?” Jimin ruffles your hair and you swat at him. “You never know. Maybe he’s really into Ouran and you just don’t know it.” You groan and bury your face in a pillow in an attempt to smother yourself. It doesn’t work.
It still hasn’t worked the next day when you wake up around noon to find Jimin gone and your dishes done for you. You grumble about it since you had every intention of doing your own dishes, but you send him a quick ‘thanks for washing my grime bitch’ because no matter how capable you are, you never want to do them.
It’s later that night when you’re fresh out of the shower and getting ready to head to your practice except for the fact that you can’t find your fucking keys that there’s a knock on your door. You open it without looking and dive back into the couch, bent nearly in half while you dig through the cushions. “Hey, Nayun, I’m almost ready, I just have to find my keys. I think Jimin threw them somewhere last night, after that fucking debacle at the shop-” A choked noise that definitely does not sound like Nayun reaches your eyes and you bolt upright, eyes wide.
Jungkook stands in the doorway to your apartment, wide eyes darting up from where he most definitely was staring at your ass and his face bright red. “Jimin gave me your address. Um…can we talk?”
You really want to say no. You want to tell him that no, you can’t, because you have volleyball practice, as he can tell from your uniform, and you absolutely cannot be late because Rose will literally use your entrails to make a new net.
Instead what comes out is, “Sure!”
You wave him in and close the door behind him, shooting off a quick text to Rose to let her know you might be late or may not show up at all, you’re not really sure because motherfucking Jeon Jungkook just showed up at your door. All you get back is a string of the cry-laughing emojis, and you curse whatever deity decided she should walk this earth with mortals.
“So,” Jungkook says. It’s long and drawn out, like he doesn’t really know where to go from here, but you’re distracted because he looks so good. Matching grey hoodie and sweats that are just the right side of baggy, standard Timbs, hair pushed to the side slightly to show off a bit of forehead. God, what is the world coming to that you’re this worked up over some fucking forehead?
“So,” You echo.
“Did you mean those things you said yesterday?” You hesitate and he takes it as an answer in itself. “Listen, I…I get it, y’know? You’re this super cool volleyball star, and I’m a big nerd who swims, haha, let’s tease the kid about his crush, but…it didn’t really seem like you were teasing. And now I’m confused because I can’t tell if you actually meant any of that or if you were just…dared to do it.”
“I was. Kind of. It was a bet, actually.” Jungkook’s face falls and you wince. “No, not like that, it wasn’t. Fuck, okay, it wasn’t a mean bet. I made a bet with the girls on the team that if the boys lost their game, then I would confess my feelings to you in some big dramatic anime way, like all that shit you like, right, and then the boys actually lost their game, so I had to do it, and then, wait.” Your brain catches up. “Did you say you have a crush on me?”
Jungkook’s face is still slightly pink, but he’s got the most tentative bunny smile on and he looks so unbearably fond that your heart is breaking. “I did,” He says softly. “So you really have feelings for me?”
“I’ve been in love with you for more than two years,” You blurt. You immediately want to take it back, want to suck the words back in before they can escape and embarrass you further, but it’s too late. “I mean…I was an orientation leader with Jimin right before my second year and you were in his group, and I saw you talking to some people and you were just really super cute and you have a really nice smile and I was kind of hooked and then later that year we were both at the dining hall and I was sitting near you and this guy said something about some anime and you were all, ‘really, because if you’d bothered to watch the show then you’d know blah blah blah’ and it was the single hottest anime takedown I’ve ever seen.”
Jungkook is silent through your babble, though his smile just grows and he fluffs the back of his hair. He looks around your apartment briefly, like he’s looking for words, and he’s got the prettiest flush on his face and you want to kiss it but he hasn’t said anything.
“I went to your first volleyball match that year, and you spiked a ball into a girl’s face,” He admits. You remember that match, mostly because- “And then you argued with the ref for almost ten minutes about whether or not you deserved a penalty for it because technically she was the one that tried to hit the ball with her face, you hadn’t tried to hit her in the face. I’ve never been so turned on by sports in my entire life.”
“I once spat water out my nose because you said hi to me in the dining hall.”
“I fell into that pool because you looked really fucking hot in your uniform and I couldn’t process the fact that you thought my anime shit was cool.”
“I want to lick your abs.”
He stops at that, and for a second, for a single second you think maybe you went too far, but then he’s glancing around at the apartment as if he’s actually looking for something now. “Is there anyone else here?” He eventually asks. You can’t even finish shaking your head before he’s on you, pressing his mouth to yours in a feverish kiss.
You want to say that it was soft and sweet and gentle at first, but it wasn’t, at all. The two of you had too much pent up sexual frustration for that. Instead, his lips move against yours with a ferocity you didn’t expect, and his hand on the back of your neck is unforgiving as he tilts your jaw to get deeper into your mouth.
“Fuck, Kook,” You moan, hands already roaming along his sweatshirt. “Please take it off, I’m begging you.” He chuckles, the sound low and rumbling against your lips and it sends a wave of arousal crashing through you even as he strips his hoodie off to reveal nothing underneath. You feast your eyes on the muscles he keeps hidden away, hands hesitating as they start to run along the skin. Jungkook doesn’t seem to mind, seems to actually bask in it, and he chuckles again as he lets his hands fall to your hips.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this?” He whispers in your ear, and you find yourself shaking at the way it feels. Erotic and sensual and hot as fuck, you want to return the favor, but you find yourself at a loss.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this?” You ask, pushing against his chest and walking back with him until his knees hit the couch. “Do you know how often I’ve thought of this?” You push again and he falls back onto it, hands coming to grip your thighs as you straddle him, and you make sure to grind your hips against his as you move to whisper into his ear. “How often I’ve touched myself thinking of you?”
Jungkook moans, and you want to etch the sound into your fucking skin, it’s absolutely glorious. He says your name like it’s a curse and you’ve never wanted someone more. You grind yourself against the stiffness you can feel through his sweats, your own volleyball shorts leaving little to the imagination. You’re absolutely soaked, and you know it’s going to be a bitch to wash but you could not give less of a fuck right now.
He rolls his hips up to meet yours and it’s your turn to moan, hands coming up to brace on his shoulders as your tongue slides along his neck and down to his throat. His breath hitches when you graze the skin there with your teeth, so you repeat the action. His hands tighten at your hips and slide to palm your ass; you never thought a guy’s hand on your ass would feel as good as it does, but you also never thought you’d be making out with Jeon Jungkook on your couch instead of going to practice.
“Fuck, Kook,” You moan into his mouth as he slides his right hand up your shirt to cup your breast. It’s more difficult than it usually would be, as you wear your sports bras to practice, but it doesn’t seem to faze him. “Need you.”
“Don’t wanna fuck you on your couch yet,” He replies between the slide of his tongue against yours. “Your room, wanna make you come in your bed first.” Your legs tremble at the thought and you push yourself up. It’s hard to stand, your legs are wobbly, but Jungkook doesn’t even seem to notice it as you turn. His chest is pressed against your back immediately, one arm wrapped around your waist to keep you steady while the other gropes your ass. His mouth is harsh on your neck and you can feel the bruises forming but at this point, you don’t even care.
You press yourself into him, and you can feel him. He curves, you can already tell; the heat radiating from the hardness pressed into the swell of your ass is delicious, and another wave of wetness seeps into your shorts as you think about what it’s gonna be like with him inside.
“You have no idea what these shorts do to me,” He whispers, nipping at the skin of your neck one last time before he slaps your ass - hard. You yelp, more in surprise than anything, but before you can say anything he’s pushing at your hips to force you through the apartment.
You’ve only made it to your bed faster once before this, when you thought you were being chased by an ax murderer that turned out to be a coat rack.
Jungkook isn’t gentle when you get to your room. He doesn’t even pause, just flips you around and shoves you onto the bed. It shouldn’t be nearly as hot as it is, and you’re quivering a little because of it. He slides between your legs, hands running slowly up your thighs, and it seems that now he’s decided to take his time.
His touch is feather-light against your skin. You can barely feel his hands as they slide up your thighs and over your hips, around your waist, and between your breasts, but you can’t ever deny where they are. You’re hyperaware of him, and the smirk on his face tells you that he knows it. The competitive side of you, the one that makes you so fucking vicious during games, swells; he needs to know you’re not one to take it lying down, and he needs to know now.
Your legs move up around his waist and you push, using all your weight to flip the two of you so he straddles you once more. He’s rock solid against your ass and you grind back into it. His hands slide along your waist again and he pouts a little.
“Wanted to taste you,” He whines, fingers dipping just below the waistband of your shorts. You hook your thumbs in alongside his and pull, letting the material slide down just enough to tease.
“So do it,” You tell him. He looks confused for a second before recognition washes over him. His dick twitches behind you, but you pay it no mind. You rise up enough to slide your shorts off, a true feat of excellence considering how tight they are, and when you settle back down on your knees, his tongue runs across your slit. You gasp at the feeling and he takes this as permission to continue.
Whatever you expected him to be like in bed, every sexual fantasy you’ve ever had about him, none could ever live up to the reality of Jungkook’s tongue sliding between your folds to flick your clit. You moan, nails digging into your thighs.
“You like that, princess?” He asks, muffled by your thighs and pussy. You nod before realizing that he may not be able to see you.
“Yes, I do,” You tell him, and your nails dig in harder when he flicks it again. He continues, tongue darting out to tease you but not giving you enough to get you where you want to go. You growl, and he laughs.
“Maybe you should be kitten instead if you’re going to growl at me.” You shudder at the name, and when you look down with red cheeks, he has one brow raised. “Really? Kitten?”
“Shut up, I know you have a Hatsune Miku body pillow,” You tell him. He looks ready to protest but you lower yourself so his lips brush your folds. He takes the hint, thankfully, and lets his hands curl up to grip your hips. “Put that fucking mouth to work, Jungkook, or so help me-” You’re cut off by an unexpected moan. He slides his tongue along you once more, from clit to hole, and you whimper.
You can literally feel the smirk against your pussy and you rock down onto him. He laps up your juices, swirling his tongue around your clit and back down to your hole. You grind your hips down into his mouth, desperate for more friction, and you feel soft breaths against you as he chuckles. You whine and he takes pity, angling himself better before sliding his tongue tantalizingly slow into you. You clench around him and are left unsatisfied. As wonderful and skilled as it is, it’s not nearly big enough to do what you need it to. Still, it feels damn good as he thrusts it in and out of you, good enough that when he starts to pull away, your hands dart down and tangle in his hair to keep him right where he is. You can feel your orgasm coming, it’s so close you can taste it, and when he slides a finger over your clit, you break.
Your hips stutter in their rhythm and you slide yourself to the side so he can breathe properly once more. He’s got a grin on his face and looks entirely too pleased with himself. He moves to lay between your legs, pressing soft kisses to your torso and thighs with every breath, and the fondness in your chest swells.
You can see him straining his sweats, it has to hurt, and yet here he is, showering you with kisses and sweet nothings instead of immediately trying to get off himself. What a refreshing change of pace.
“Thank you,” He mutters with a laugh, and you realize you’d been talking out loud. “I do really, really want to fuck you, though.” He trails kisses up your neck to your ear and you shiver. “Would you like that, kitten?” You whine and arousal courses through you once more. He trails kisses back down and unsnaps your bra; you would have to remember to thank Jisoo for suggesting you get a clasped sports bra, because it’s never been helpful before but thank God you don’t have to try to peel yourself out of a regular one now.
Jungkook presses his lips against your nipple lightly, fingers ghosting over the other to stiffen it. “You didn’t answer me, kitten. Do you want me to fuck you? Do you want me to slide into that pretty pussy?” You whimper, doing your damndest to pull him far enough that you can grind against something that isn’t air, but he holds his body just far enough away that you can’t. He gives your nipple little kitten licks, his saliva making the air that much colder and your nipples that much harder.
“You’re so wet for me, kitten,” He mutters as he lets his free hand rest on your thigh, thumb swiping lazily over your hipbone. “Can you feel it? Because I can, even from here. You’re absolutely soaked, I could probably just slide right in. Do you want that, kitten? You want me to pound that little pussy of yours until you can’t walk straight?”
“Fuck, Kook, please,” You moan. Your hands slide along his body, looking for any kind of purchase and finding none. He’s enjoying himself too much, and you’re too desperate right now to do anything about it. “Please, Kook, please fuck me already. I swear to god, I’m gonna send your fucking Evangelion fanfic to your professors if you don’t get in me soon.”
“How do you even know about that?” He asks, momentarily stunned out of character. You give him a satisfied grin.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” You lift your hips off the bed completely, letting them brush lightly against him. He stifles a moan and closes his eyes for a moment. When he opens them, your entire body shivers with delight; he’s still that dumbass weeb but fuck, he looks like he’s going to absolutely wreck you.
“I’m gonna fuck this slut pussy of yours until you’re gushing, you hear me, kitten?” He says, kicking his sweats off. You don’t even get a chance to appreciate the sight of his dick before he’s lining up with your hole, the tip brushing against your clit in the process and making you moan. “I’m gonna fucking pound your pussy until it’s so fucking full you can’t remember your own name, let alone random shit about me. You’re gonna be begging for my cock, all day every day.”
“Fuck, Kook, yes, please, I want that,” You grind your hips up again and he moves, sliding inside of you in one easy movement. The stretch burns at first; he’s fucking huge, and he does curve, and it presses against every inch of you in such a phenomenal way that you never want him to stop. Your eyes must have rolled back in your head because when you open them, Jungkook has one hand stroking your cheek as the other supports his weight.
“Are you good?” He asks, soft and gentle. You nod, rolling your hips in a quick circle to let him know how good. He lets out another groan, soft and muffled, as if he’s containing himself. “You’ll let me know if you need me to stop?” You nod again. “Fuck, kitten, you’re so good for me.”
He starts to move then, dick dragging against your walls as he pulls back out slowly before slamming back in. Your moan echoes through the apartment, but all you hear is the soft call of your name from his lips as he repeats the motion. You raise your hips to meet his thrusts and it only takes a couple of minutes before you’re both panting. Your legs lock around his hips to bring him in deeper and he moans at the contact. He sits back on his knees and brings you up with him.
You’ve wanted to ride his dick for years, and it’s so much better than you ever thought. Every drag of his cock has you clenching, every thrust with this new angle has him hitting your g-spot and you’re seeing stars. He’s got one hand on the small of your back to keep you steady and the other on the back of your neck so he can bring you in close and kiss you deeply, whispering sweet nothings in your ear when he has to breathe.
The two of you move in tandem, hips gyrating against each other’s as you chase that high together. Having him inside of you feels like heaven and you never want it to stop. He starts to pull out and you shake your head, slamming your hips down onto his with renewed vigor.
“Gonna cum,” He huffs, and you press a kiss to his cheek.
“Good,” You tell him. His grip on you tightens and he slams into you harder. “Fucking cum inside me, Kook, please.” He moans, loud and unashamed, as he hits deeper inside of you with more force than you expect. You’re bouncing on his dick now, there’s no other word for it, and you fucking love it.
“Fuck, kitten, gonna fill you up so good,” He mutters. You nod, feeling the pressure inside of you tighten. “Gonna paint you with it gonna cover your pussy with my cum, want you to feel me inside you for days. Fuck, take it, kitten, take my cum inside, all of it, don’t let a single drop fall out.” He slams into you, again and again and again. Your throat is raw from the screams, you’re pretty sure he has scratch marks on his back, but you can’t bring yourself to care because, fuck, he feels so good.
He slams into your g-spot again, at the same time he kisses you deep and moves his hand to rub against your clit, and your orgasm slams into you like a freight train. You can’t even say anything, moans swallowed up by Jungkook’s mouth, but he knows by the way you clench and spasm around his cock, you can tell, because it only takes a few more shallow thrusts and he’s over that edge with you. You can feel his hot seed settling inside, spreading to fill you completely.
He lays you back on your bed, gentle, and slides out. His cum starts to seep out of you, you can feel it on your thighs, and when you open your eyes, he’s staring at the sight.
“Is this…something to be worried about?” He eventually asks. You shake your head and tap your bicep.
“Implant,” You tell him. “We’re good.” He nods and leans forward, and you feel his finger slide up your slit once more, gathering all of his cum before he pushes it back inside of you. When he’s satisfied that you’re as full as can be, he lays down next to you and tugs you into a lazy embrace. You take his hand and lick it clean, surprised at the fresh wave of arousal that hits despite your exhaustion. He smiles, cute and bunny-like, with the nose scrunch and everything, and you let yourself get lost in it.
He traces invisible shapes on your skin with his hands, all over your thighs and belly and arms and chest, and it’s an intimacy you’ve never had before. You watch him, eyes following each curve he makes, and trying to figure out what he’s drawing.
“It’s not Hatsune Miku,” He eventually says. You raise your brows at him and he grins. “I don’t have a Hatsune Miku body pillow.”
“Oh,” is all you can say. “Well, then, I’m sorry I misjudged you.”
“It’s Nami from One Piece,” He admits. You roll your eyes and grab a pillow to smack him.
“This is why we can’t have nice things, Kook.”
“I disagree.”
“What do you mean, you disagree?”
“I’ve got you, don’t I?”
The blush on your face gives you away even as you suppress the smile, but Jungkook lets you pretend, content to continue drawing on you with his fingertips. It’s the first time you’ve felt content and at peace in two years, and - you can’t believe you’re about to think this - you’re glad you put on that fucking cosplay.
#fic: chasing butterflies#bts#bts fanfic#jungkook fanfic#jungkook smut#jungkook fluff#jungkook x reader#nerdy jungkook#weeb jungkook#kpop fanfiction#bts fanfiction#reader insert#ddaenggtan#swimmer!jungkook#college au!jungkook#bts college fic#jungkook college au#jungkook coffee shop au#jimin x reader friendship#mentions of jisoo#mentions of rose#mentions of chaeyoung#mentions of nayun
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YASMIN DOUGLAS—
IG info/Bio: @/imyasmin_d | 11.6k followers | hello & ahlan 🎶
23-24 years old depending on her birthday (I’m thinking too much about timelines since i know some shows aren’t live and if they filmed it prior & it’s just being shown to us now...then there’s the boat party that comes in after, you get what I’m saying right? No? Okay)
Moroccan heritage
she was born in fes along with her baba
Father works in the carpet & rug manufacturing industry and worked in his father’s business from the young age of 16
her mother is from Essaouira & has often stated that she couldn’t stand Yasmin’s father the first time they met but she wouldn’t want to travel through this life with anyone else
Her father and mother came from two different lifestyles. All he knew how to do was hard work yet he had a sarcastic but playful side to him whereas her mom came from a family that was more financially stable & she was free to do whatever! mainly hanging at the beach with her friends without a care in the world, she was privileged and a little uppity while her father’s life seemed to be planned out from the day of his birth
Yet they still fell in love and decided to leave Morocco months after they got married at 21 & 24 & not too long after they had yas they left for England
She was raised in Kent, England
The Atmosphere led to her boho lifestyle...being exposed to castles, gardens, and underground tunnels from time to time shaped her into what she felt she was meant to be. She loved her second home
they call her “yazzy”
Parents follow islam...Which Yasmin respects but is not strongly devoted to
Can speak & write in Arabic but seems to do better in writing
Her paternal grandparents fault her parents for not teaching her to excel at both & feel that if they weren’t in such a rush to leave home she would speak Arabic better
Which made Yasmin feel like shit. Her paternal grandparents were strict on keeping their customs alive whereas her maternal grandparents were carefree as long as they got to see their granddaughter alive & well that was good enough for them
Idk maybe a only child or has a older brother? I don’t feel like she comes from a big family sibling wise
her mother made her a stuffed purple sheep that she took everywhere with her as a kid & continues to keep close to her. Y’all had imaginary friends? Well Yasmin had a real friend she could see & squeeze the life out that didn’t require talking and hugging the air, but that’s fine do u
100% collects beanie babies until this day but lil yamb is the number one princess in her household
As her significant other you have to be okay with lil yamb sleeping in between y’all that’s just the way it is
These stuffed babies are her comfort when no else can be
she’s a singer/songwriter. Went to uni for it & finished a semester early
Went through multiple hell experiences when it came to interning & temping while still in school & after
Let’s just say she wasn’t down to f*ck her way to the top
this made her anxiety act up, these people made her feel like she wouldn’t be good enough to show the world her craft & it’s didn’t have to be the world, just someone who would listen
But she couldn’t give up, there was nothing else she saw herself doing. She knew this is what she was meant to do but she couldn’t lie and say that her insecurities didn’t get the best of her most days
Although the cons seemed to out way the Pros some days, she kept at it & found herself a solid team that knew what she was about and understood her soul
Was definitely the student who loved all her English classes & when she spoke up everyone found it shocking since she preferred to just write everything out rather than “participate in group discussions”
I feel like her singing voice sounds similar to Jessica mauboy’s (if you don’t know who that is & you’re a fan of r&b/pop check her out or if you’re just curious that works too lol)
Knows her music notes like the back of her hand, duh!
Fav color is royal blue, especially on her eyelids & nails
Occasionally sleeps in rollers to keep her hair wavy
Needs her space when it comes to disagreements, they stress her out & she panics a bit when things go wrong so she feels like she needs to leave the situation rather than talk it out right then and there
She’ll talk when she’s ready, she just needs someone that’s a little patient with her that’s all
Words of affirmation is her love language? When she figures out how to balance her love life with her work life that is. When she’s feeling confident she’s smooth with words but when she needs to show you how much you mean to her & she really takes the time to think it out & feel her emotions, she’s writing you a song or you’re the inspiration to it or a poem, leaving you little love notes on blue post-it’s around the house, will write 50 reasons why she loves you on Valentine’s Day, and will say so when it’s just the two of you in your own comfort
Isn’t too crazy about public displays of affection but will deff hold your hand if that’s something you or she wanted in that moment
I think she’s fluid
Hasn’t been in many relationships. Sure she goes on tour every other year and gets to meet many people but they’re not solid relationships, they’re hookups and she hasn’t done many of those either
Had maybe one or two solid relationships: a androgynous woman that uses she/they pronouns & was in a rock band & a cis male she met at a tattoo parlor his step-brother owned (he kinda favored seb but we’re not going to speak on that)
I believe she wants to get married someday but isn’t so keen on the idea of kids. The furthest she’ll go is adopting a couple of animals. She’ll be a pet mom! I feel like she’ll be anxious looking after the life of a human being when it’s extremely hard to do so not only for herself and the love of her life & you want to add kids to the mix?! Fucking hell! but that could change? Who knows what life can throw at u
Has a hedgehog named Sonia that she drops off at her parents for their weekly sleepovers
Loves lace—mostly bralettes & crotchet clothing
I see her as a corduroy girl too. She has at least some rusty brown low-rise corduroy pants or/and a jacket
owns a crotchet kit, she’s bloody good at it too
Loved pink & purple (still likes them, they’re her 2nd & 3rd fav colors) so much as a kid that she tried to dye her hair half & half while her parents went out on their date night...it was also the weekend before school pictures :)
Says she got her inspiration from starfire & raven. She was only 13 at the time & had braces. Her father approved saying she’s a kid and she should be allowed to express herself. He only said that because his own parents barely let him & his brothers have their own fun
Her mother thought it was atrocious and did her best to get it out with the help of her other hair stylists friends (her mother worked in plenty of beauty shops once she got to England, until she decided to convert their basement into her own shop) who she invited over to see what her daughter had done but when you use certain permanent dyes...
It didn’t completely damage yasmin’s hair plus it was just hair, Yasmin didn’t see the big deal. She thought she looked splendid
Anyway, massive fan of ballroom dancing
She’s got a great ear to begin with so it was extremely fun twirling around while wearing pretty ballroom gowns
Took boring etiquette classes as a form of punishment? After the whole teen Titans inspiration thing “went wrong”
Enjoys western films
yes she owns a cowgirl hat & some boots too so sue her, she likes what she likes
Knows how to lasso but hates doing it to animals but she’ll do it to you :) (*gags* lmao why???)
Also loves visiting western towns & learning some history or at least experiencing what it was like
Type of significant other that will do her best to persuade you to stay in a treehouse airbnb, a cabin, the fucking Idaho potato, or camping out in her Volkswagen van in the middle of nowhere!
Has faux cow rugs, wicker baskets, wicker chairs in her flat, hangs some plants in glass jars & bottles all over her house
Her flat is very bright & vibrant: white, mocha brown, tan, yellows, & pastel purple
When it comes to decision making, she’ll make them pretty quick but only if it comes to choosing desserts
nobody is touching her mom’s meskouta orange cake WITH syrup
the dessert eater that always picks the one that has a surprise inside, meaning it has to ooze out with SOMETHING to make it 10x more satisfying
Leaning towards Buddhism, had studied some of their beliefs and found it resonates with her spirit
Fan of neon lights, probably has a few neon signs in her flat preferably on her brick wall in the loo, “to give u comfort as you go!” “that...actually makes sense.” Tai commented as he rubbed his chin coming to terms with yasmin’s reply. While Iona scowls, “no, no it doesn’t. I feel as if it’s an invasion of my bits!” “...Sorry you feel that way.”
tai & ciaran are automatically deemed as her brothers since she came into the villa with them. She had time to connect with them unlike anyone else. It was just the way the stars wrote their story and it showed outside of the villa too. they often crash at her place all the time when they’re in town & vacation all the time together when their schedules line up + it never feels like she’s third wheeling
“TaiTower” & “BB-Ci” are their names in her phone, Tai picked his own name while the “bb” stands for “best buds” for ciaran —which is a joke since he drunkly called himself so + he loves everyone when he’s drunk
You can always count on her to belt the lyrics to a Chaka Khan, TLC, or paula abdul joint when she’s drunk lol
As for the girls? She’s close with miki 😒 they just seem to be on the same wavelength when it comes to the pressure of the media since they have some sort of fame which increased with them being on the Telly. They bond over that & from there they’ve built a solid friendship
She could also be friends with AJ too (if you didn’t get swiped from her that is lmao!) they’re sorta opposites with aj being high energy/active while Yasmin is more mellow & “mysterious” but seem to connect in different ways: their sexual indentities, insecurities/anxieties, having something to be passionate about but at the same time maybe not? She might lean towards elladine or Genevieve if she had to make a choice?
Aquarius sun + cancer moon
so she’s still 23 y’all, I got it! I can’t do math sorry
“Freddie Mercury was probably my dad in my past life.”
Can play the banjo, guitar, & oud
Participates in hot yoga weekly
If she’s not with mc in the end and continues dating around if anyone from season two: LUCAS, Kassam, Gary, Rocco, maybe Blake? I originally thought Elisa but she’s probably too much for yas let’s be honest here lol they’d be better off as friends
Omg I forgot marisol! Imagine that?! Whew!!!
Season three: maybe Lily? But what if? Me being the slightly messy bitch that I am? Something happening with her & AJ. Now that?! Would be some chaotic shit “from the outside looks of it” name the irrelevant person behind the quote...now!
I’d like to see her interact with allerga but there could be something with her & cherry. I’m thinking cherry, Yasmin, & priya would bond well but we’re not here to talk about that
Getting rid of the physical aspect I genuinely think she’d do well with marisol, Lucas, or kassam. They’d mesh well I think in a relationship
She’s a body shimmer girl for sure!
Loves silk or satin robes
she’s a shortie, 5’2 to 5’5
Is learning Spanish
Loves arcade games, come see her in pinball & Pac-Man!
Quarantine life did not change her lifestyle much, but it did slightly mess with her mental health :/
loves the fall time, feels like she can slow down some and really spend time with family and friends
I feel like she has one best friend outside of the villa & that’s good enough for her!
They met their first year in uni & been close ever since
She doesn’t speak to the temporary friends she grew up with anymore & is often confused why they feel the need to keep up with her in the media which added more annoying worries to her heart but whatever right? Keep your eyes on the horizon
celebs she finds/found attractive: Aaliyah—especially when she played in queen of the damned, Kehlani, Zazie Beetz, Fivel & Booboo Stewart, Lakeith stanfield, Leah Lewis, Sofia Carson, Ryan gosling, & Nick Jonas
She listens to: jade bird, Yebba, Elli Ingram, Wafia, Zeina, Summer walker, Tanerèlle, Mariah the scientist, Teyana Taylor, Tove Lo, lady Gaga, Ra Ra Riot, Empire of the sun, & smallpools
Anthem? Diana Gordon — Rollin’
#litg#litg3#litg s3#litg yasmin#litg tai#litg ciaran#litg mc#litg aj#litg2#litg s2#litg cherry#litg allegra#litg oc#litg iona#litg elladine#litg genevieve#litg seb#litg lily#litg headcanons#litg moodboard
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Miraculous Ladybug Fic Idea - The Djinn Kwami
I have too much fic already on my plate so this is not turning into an actual fanfic, but given what’s happening in the fandom thanks to early releases, I thought those relying on the ML Distractathon tag might appreciate this as a distraction.
- Some kind of amulet arrives in Paris, which happens to host the Djinn kwami. Thanks to it’s nature, the Djinn only appears every 100 years, grants 3 wishes, and then is sealed away again. Chat Noir wonders if the Djinn’s wish could solve their Hawkmoth problem, but Fu tells him that the wishes are always cursed in some way, so it’s vital to grab ‘Genie’ and bring him to Fu before anyone makes a wish. It could have ramifications that even Hawkmoth doesn’t want.
- Hawkmoth of course, doesn’t care. When he realises that the Djinn Kwami is active, he’s heading straight for it. Knowing that he’s facing Ladybug and Chat Noir and possibly the Guardian, he also brings Mayura, and uses an Akuma on Lila as extra muscle.
- However, when Lila learns that they’re hunting a GENIE KWAMI, she double crosses Hawkmoth and grabs it for herself. Before anyone can stop her, she’s transforming, and making her first wish. She doesn’t have a lot of time to plan, because Hawkmoth, Mayura and the heroes are all lunging for her, so she thinks fast. What she wants more than anything is admiration, and Adrian’s attention. So…
“I wish I was Ladybug!”
- She gets a moment to enjoy the look of absolute horror on Ladybug’s face, before everything goes dark, and she wakes up in her room – wearing a new pair of earrings and a rather sour looking red Kwami asking her what’s wrong.
- She’s suddenly hit with altered memories – her mother came to France several months earlier, and when she was walking to school, there was an incident.
- (Fu was looking for a new ladybug, tried to test Lila, ‘accidentally’ got pushed into traffic, and loses the Ladybug kwami box. By the time he’s gotten out of hospital, he has no clue where the box is or who has it).
- Lila brushes off Tikki, who goes to sleep, and then she pulls out ‘Genie,’ who explains that he had to rewrite time in order to allow Lila to be in a position to get the earrings. She’s a little insulted that she could only get them through an ‘accident’ rather than being worthy, but she can live with it.
- She spends a good hour that night just looking through her calender. ‘Ladybug’ has dozens of media appearances and modelling set up, and she absolutely can’t wait.
- In fact, she decides to improve everything by adding a second wish. While she’s doing a good job on her own, she always preferred the easy way out, and wishes that ‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng didn’t have a single friend at Dupont.’
- The next day, she heads to school with a spring in her step. While she knows nobody can know she IS Ladybug, she can’t wait to bask in everyone’s admiration, while that little goody-two-shoes enjoys being unloved and unwanted. However, when she gets to school, while everyone smiles and greets her, they seem rather withdrawn and not all that excited. She’s sitting next to Alya, who greets her fairly apathetically. When she asks about Marinette, she gets a blank stare.
- New memories hit. Turns out, Marinette doesn’t go to this school – she’s never gone to school with anyone here. This means that Chloe never had her favourite target, and went after everyone else. When Lila arrived, people flocked to her and her connections, but when she could never follow through, people dropped her pretty quickly and treat her like Chloe.
- It gets worse when she asks about the Ladyblog. She ‘remembers’ that Alya more or less gave it up very early on. The biggest blog around these days is the ‘Chatcall’ run by someone else entirely.
- Apparently, Lila’s love of the spotlight and general bad nature has soured Ladybug’s popularity. Chat Noir is by the far the more popular of the two heroes.
- Her great morning has suddenly become a nightmare, and while she’s seething, she asks Nino when Adrian is going to get here. He’s still got to be into superheroes, surely.
- Nino however, just stares at her and asks ‘Who?’
---
- Meanwhile, Marinette wakes up in the morning, remembering exactly what happened, and is horrified to find both Tikki and the earrings are missing. But more strangely, her room is altered. The walls have photos of people she’s never met on them, along with several of Adrian – but not professional photos, photos of the two of them. There’s also a lot of random outfits midway through design that she barely remembers.
- Then, her parents come up to her room, and tell her she’s going to be late to school if she doesn’t hurry. School in this case, being an extremely exclusive private school she’d only ever dreamed of attending.
Then the memories hit. Her parents, after Chloe first bullied Marinette, decided to try her at a different primary, and without the constant bullying, she blossomed. She continually entered competitions regarding craftsmanship, and was eventually invited to apply for a scholarship at the private school. She continued to excel, befriending the Quantic kids and beginning her own MDC line.
- That’s quite a bit to take in, but it’s nothing compared to when she actually gets to school and finds Adrian waiting for her at the door. He greets her, calls her his girlfriend, and kisses her on the cheek.
– She immediately passes out.
- When she wakes up, she’s at the nurses office, and remembers – she met Adrian and Gabriel at a fashion shoot. She didn’t quite have a crush on Adrian at the time, but he was elated to meet another person his age – and she talked to him about her school...and somehow convinces Gabriel that letting Adrian attend such a prestigious school – used to handling high profile famous students – would be perfectly safe. Since they’d allow Adrian’s bodyguard on the grounds, have an almost legendary rep, and he does kind of want to lure Marinette-AKA-MDC over to Agreste and he’s not above using his son to do it, he allows Adrian to apply, thus removing Adrian’s need to use Chloe and go over his father’s head. As he and Marinette spend a lot of time together, they both fall for each other, and started dating before the whole Hawkmoth/Ladybug battle began.
- She barely makes it through school, and is very conflicted when she gets home. Especially since there’s an Akuma attack that day, and it’s very clear ‘Ladybug’ is nowhere near up to the task. Chat Noir’s definitely having to pick up a lot more slack that he usually does, but they do still beat him.
- That night, she’s visited by the Djinn kwami, (who waited until Lila was asleep) comes to visit and explain what happened. The nature of the kwami means he has to grant ‘cursed’ wishes, even when he doesn’t want to. So to get around that, he tries to find loopholes – in cases where a wish will cause someone who doesn’t deserve it misfortune, he tries to counter it by improving their life. Lila wanted to be Ladybug, but there was almost no reality in which that could happen as long as Marinette went to Dupont...so he fixed things so that Marinette never did. This happens to be the ‘best’ future Marinette could possibly have in which she didn’t attend.
- Marinette is genuinely surprised he’d go to this much trouble. He surely didn’t have to give her the best life possible, but Genie admits there’s a more malicious additional reason. Lila wanted Ladybug to hurt. She wanted Ladybug to remember what she’d lost. However, Ladybug might then try to undo the wish, and it’s the Djinn’s duty to fulfil his master’s wishes – so he had to make sure Ladybug wouldn’t WANT to undo the wish.
- And so, Marinette finds herself torn. On the one hand, she has an amazing life, with fantastically loyal friends and Adrian at her side. On the other, she no longer has Tikki, and Lila is struggling as Ladybug. Does she try and steal Tikki back and risk Lila using the third wish? Or does she try and steal the Djinn’s token and reset the world back to what it was?
- Meanwhile, Lila tries to figure out what the perfect third wish would be given how badly things have gone so far.
- (Oh, and Adrian is still Chat Noir. While he was being driven to school, he spotted Fu struggling on the pavement after one of the other Dupont students ‘failed’ to help him, and stopped the car to aid the older man. He was late for school making sure Fu got to his destination, and Fu decreed him worthy. Of course, he’s already head over heels for Marinette, and really can’t stand Ladybug. Chatcall is run by Felix).
#miraculous ladybug#ML fanfic#ml distractathon#fanfic#fanfiction#ml#I know#I fell to the tired trope of creating my own kwami#I'm only human#miraculous ladybug fanfiction
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91 Quotes I Enjoyed From 2020
Below are my favorite quotes from 2020. Though most occurred throughout the year, some took place before but were encountered during.
1) “You don’t have to be new to make new.” - Rick Rubin
2) “He put the beat on and go to sleep then wake up with a verse.” - The Lox
3) “Every opinion is bad.” - Blink-155
4)
(via Twitter)
5) “At the start of every disaster movie, there’s a scientist being ignored.”
6) “Be brave enough to suck at something new.”
7) “Comedy is the only job you can have where you can use everything you know” - Robin Williams via Dave Chappelle
8) “What’s the worst swear word where you live?” - Josiah Hughes
9) “Cookies are a really great way to get everybody to like you for a short period of time” - YSAC
10) “The worst dancer at a wedding is the one who’s not dancing.” - John Mulaney
11) “I never saw the end of the tunnel. I only saw myself running out of one." - Kobe Bryant
12) "A good movie begins as you're walking out of the theater" - Ethan Hawke
13) “When I was young and starting in cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart which is, 'The most personal is the most creative.’ That quote was from our great Martin Scorsese.” - Bong Joon-ho
14) “Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow” - River Phoenix via Joaquin Phoenix
15) “Thank you -- I will drink until next morning.” - Bong Joon-ho
16) “Men will bury their emotions for decades and then take it all out on children tubing while they drive the boat.” - @krauter_
17) “They help you with the dumb face stuff, but they don’t tell you how to fix it” - Adam (Nate’s friend), on having older sisters
18) “We all had our connections, but it’s not the details themselves that matter, it’s the feeling behind them. There are a million coming-of-age tales. Lady Bird’s secret sauce is how deeply its creator gave a shit. The older I get, the less I care about anything but the sense of a filmmaker’s personal connection to the material. It doesn’t matter what it’s about, what genre it is, or whether it’s genre at all. I only really care that it feels like something the filmmaker had to tell me, and that it was that filmmaker in particular who had to tell it. It has to answer the ‘why are you telling me this’ question, and not just why are you telling me, but why are you telling me.
Lady Bird is a movie that feels like only Greta Gerwig could’ve made. And it’s only because it’s so specific to her that it can be so meaningful to so many people.” - Vince Mancini
19) "I have cast some lonely votes, fought some lonely fights, mounted some lonely campaigns. But I do not feel lonely now.” - Bernie Sanders
20) “Ever hear a Beatles song you haven’t heard before?”
21) “Drinking is an emotional thing. It joggles you out of the standardism of everyday life, out of everything being the same. It yanks you out of your body and your mind and throws you against the wall. I have the feeling that drinking is a form of suicide where you're allowed to return to life and begin all over the next day. It's like killing yourself, and then you're reborn. I guess I've lived about ten or fifteen thousand lives now.” - Charles Bukowski
22) “You shouldn’t have to hear a band to know if they’re good or not” - Josiah Hughes
23) “I was raised by OGs. Some of you were raised by IG. I understand.” - Ice-T
* * *
[Here is where I note the line of demarcation that was the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the US, pushed forward by Tom Hanks’ announcement, the NBA and NCAA shutting down, and, then, the nation itself.]
* * *
24) “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” - Vladimir Lenin
25) "Taken together, this is a massive failure in leadership that stems from a massive defect in character. Trump is such a habitual liar that he is incapable of being honest, even when being honest would serve his interests. He is so impulsive, shortsighted, and undisciplined that he is unable to plan or even think beyond the moment. He is such a divisive and polarizing figure that he long ago lost the ability to unite the nation under any circumstances and for any cause. And he is so narcissistic and unreflective that he is completely incapable of learning from his mistakes. The president’s disordered personality makes him as ill-equipped to deal with a crisis as any president has ever been. With few exceptions, what Trump has said is not just useless; it is downright injurious." - Peter Wehner
26) "Epidemics have a way of revealing underlying truths about the societies they impact." - Anne Applebaum
27) “A funny thing about quarantining is hearing your partner in full work mode for the first time. Like, I’m married to a ‘let’s circle back’ guy — who knew?” - Laura Norkin
28)
(Jojo Rabbit)
29) “The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. - Deadwood: The Movie
30) “All bleeding stops eventually.” - Deadwood: The Movie
31) “Our Father, which art in heaven… / Let him fucking stay there” - Deadwood: The Movie
32) “It’s like a power outage, but we still have power” - Ryen Russillo, on the pandemic
33) “Whenever Sox baseball returns, it’ll be weird to not have Farmer on the call any more. The relationship between a fan and longtime announcer is always built in the little moments. One afternoon, he’s the soundtrack as you clean the garage. On another night, he’s your bookmark for the game as you stand in line for churros or walk down the ramps at Sox Park to try for better seats in the 100 level. A voice like Farmer’s becomes so familiar that you only really notice when it’s no longer there.” - Kevin Kaduk, on the passing of Ed Farmer
34)
(via Twitter)
35) “In my songs, I try to look through someone else’s eyes, and I want to give the audience a feeling more than a message” - John Prine
36) “Observe everything. Admire nothing.” - Generation Kill
37) “Trump, by that definition, has always been a wartime president -- always willing to sacrifice people he doesn’t know to things he only sort of cares about” - David Roth
38) "Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen." - Michael Jordan
39) "Fiction is a bridge to the truth that journalism can't reach." - Hunter S. Thompson
40) “Airlines sending me “we’re in this together” emails. When my suitcase was 52 pounds I was on my own.” - Mike Dentale
41) “Sometimes you can be the worst source of your own story” - Ryen Russillo
42) “Family is not necessarily blood, but instead who you would bleed for.”
43)
(via Twitter)
44) "This is the deal that Jordan made, knowingly or unknowingly — that he would trade everything he had for everything he wanted. And then, when he won all those things, he found that he had nothing but that.” - David Roth
45) “I’m brand loyal, but the brand doesn’t matter” - Caitie Miller, on why she doesn’t like generic peanut butter
46) “NOBODY shitposts Gene Hackman!!” - Mark Dehlinger
47) “When a man concludes that any stick is good enough to beat his foe with—that is when he picks up a boomerang.” - G.K. Chesterton
48) “You can be appalled forever, but shocked only once.” - Jeff Weiss, on early Eminem
49) “Whether I’m pessimistic or optimistic, the fight’s the same” - David Simon
50) “Freedom can never be completely won, but it can be lost.” - Bernard Simon
51) “Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands.” -Kareem Abdul Jabbar
52) “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist -- we must be anti-racist.” - Angela Davis
53) “Start as close to the end as possible” - Kurt Vonnegut, on creative writing
54) “You can’t stay woke all the time — that’s insomnia.” - Dr. Cornel West
55) “No, I get it. I’ve dated a lot of Geminis.”
56) “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” - John Krakauer, Into The Wild (via Tyler Keller)
57) "I couldn't show them my For You because it's pretty much just lesbian stuff and depression memes" - Maggie Loesch, on showing TikTok to her coworkers
58) "It's 1 a.m. in Slovakia and I've already had one bottle of wine and I don't know how long this press conference will go, so good luck to me." - Marian Hossa, following his NHL Hall of Fame announcement
59) “All I want in life is to go on an Anguilla group trip” - Mandy Gilkes
60) “You miss old friends when you don’t see them, but you miss them more when you do.” - Chuck Klosterman
61) “The only way to appreciate the present is to pretend it’s already the past.” - Chuck Klosterman
62) Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh, never mind You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth Until they've faded, but trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back At photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now How much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked
(”Everybody's Free [To Wear Sunscreen]”)
Second time that essay’s been quoted on this list.
64) "I mean, it's just human nature to suck up to the people above you, crap on those beneath you, and undercut your equals” - Brian, Family Guy
65) “You never quit a job. You quit a manager.” - Brian Bedford
66) “All the pictures in my house are of people I’m not friends with” - Tracy Cunningham
67) “In order to leave something behind, you have to leave.” - Dr. Herman, Grey’s Anatomy
68)
(via Twitter)
69) “You can obsess about death if you don’t have to obsess about dying.” - Brendan Kelly via “White Noise”
70) “If it’s right to do, it’s wrong to wait.” - Andy, doorman
71)
72) “When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg
73) "America is mostly people who’ve never left their state saying we have the best country in the world." - Billy Wayne Davis
74) “A writer is someone who knows at least 80% of their writing sucks.” - Gabe Hudson
75)
(via Twitter)
76) “You’re dead twice” - Brendan Kelly
77) “Perfect is the enemy of good” - Voltaire (via Zach Lowe)
78) “I don’t want to be a savior, I want to be a mirror.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
79) “I get bad Twitter FOMO but not real life FOMO. That just goes to show I need to get off the Internet.” - Josh Thomas
80) “Is there anything you love in life that you engage with seriously that you don't also engage with humor?" - Sam Sutherland, on his relationship with Blink-182
81) “My favorite genre of music is my friends' bands" - Josiah Hughes
82) “Let’s fall in love like both our parents aren’t divorced.”
83) “Seabiscuit may be the only earthling that was on both sides of the stamp.” - Brendan Kelly
84) “There’s no shame in coming in second, except in, like, wars.” - Family Guy
85) “I feel like I experience writer’s block 100% of the time, and when I do write, I have impostor syndrome.” - Phoebe Bridgers
86) “We teach based on what we most need to learn.” - psychologist on Grey’s Anatomy
87) “Having too many choices is the leading cause of stress” - Grey’s Anatomy
88) “I think we've all gravely underestimated the extent to which this year has changed all of us, permanently” - Kelli Maria Korducki
89)
(via Twitter)
90) “I wonder if people understand why they don’t have polio” - Sandra E. Garcia
91) “Ending songs is terrible, so let’s keep singing” - Dave Hernandez
#covid19#2020#star wars#dave chappelle#volatire#ysac#kobe#kobe bryant#ladybird#bukowski#jojo rabbit#aoc#john prine#deadwood#bernie#rbg#notorious rbg#phoebe bridgers
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