#then promptly went back to studying until my brain was fried

[sinfullyrosey]

Sometimes I come up with prompts and scenarios that have nothing to do with any specific character. And by sometimes I mean all the time. Here’s one I feel like is worth actually posting for all to see.

Unspecified Male X Fem!Reader

Warnings: Sexual Punishment, Spanking, Orgasm Denial, Cock Gag, Chastity Belt, Mentions of Blowjob, Sub/Dom Dynamic, Sub!Reader, Dom!Male

All characters are 18+

Your ass was still sore from the serious spanking he had given you, both cheeks painted a bright, cherry red and making your ass almost glow. It still stung and prevented you from sitting down any time soon. Not like you can just sit around in your current state, anyways.

The chastity belt was secured snuggly along your crotch, preventing any wondering touches from reaching your poor, neglected cunt. The only touches felt were that of the leather rubbing against your leaking folds, sticky juices spilling past and dripping between your trembling legs.

Your clit was absolutely throbbing, puffy and red, just begging to be properly touched already. A buttplug was shoved deep into your tight hole, making you feel full, but not in the way that you so desperately wanted to be.

You let out a soft whine, unable to speak with the cock gag in your mouth. The dildo was thick and long, and filled up your mouth nicely, making you in a constant state of deepthroating the phallic object. And just like your lower lips, drool seeped past the corners, making more of a mess to yourself.

The cherry on top was your lack of overall covering, only a pair of thigh highs and matching silk, elbow-length gloves were permitted for the time being. The rest of your body was left bare and on full display to his sharp, prying eyes.

You looked completely pitiful and desperate.

But what else was expected of a punishment? You knew the rules and you broke them, despite his gentle warnings. You just couldn’t leave him be to finish his paperwork for the day, could you. Too horny and hopeless for his attention, you interrupted his work and went too far. After not getting what you wanted for the fifth time in a row, you threw a tantrum and acted like a brat, knocking over some of his papers and scattering them all over the floor.

You were sorry, truly you were. He works hard for the both of you to afford the things you have, and you didn’t mean to cause such a fuss. But by then it was too late. You wanted attention, so he gave you attention, just not the kind you were aiming for.

Instead of his fingers and tongue working wonders on your very needy pussy, he instead used his hands to strike down your exposed bottom. With every punishing lick, your cheeks bounced and skin stung. Redder and redder your ass became until eventually you were sobbing and begging for some relief, for some mercy on his end. Your eyes grew puffy and red, face stained with your salty tears and snot, as you looked up at him with pleading, bleary eyes.

But he wasn’t quite finished with you yet. The spanking may have been over, but he wanted to make sure the lesson stuck. His fingers finally worked at your sticky, wet folds, massaging and rubbing against every sensitive spot, eventually slipping in a finger or two to reach that special bundle of spongey nerves that had you seeing stars. Your moans filled the room as he abused that spot, thumb sending bolts of pleasure straight to your core as it pressed against your other special little button.

And right as you were about to reach that oh-so mind-numbing release you had been waiting for, he stopped all together. You whined, upset that your orgasm had been stolen from you so cruelly. But soon whimpers turned to cries as he slipped on the belt, followed by the plug and gag. He had scolded you afterwards and told you that you would stay like this until he had finished his work and you had learned to behave for him.

You nodded obediently and let him be while you ran off to try and pretend that your lower region wasn’t completely on fire with unsated lust. You wanted to be good for him, really you did, but the burning flames of desire just wouldn’t dissipate and so you were left to try and quench your thirst by uselessly humping a pillow.

After about an hour and a half of getting nowhere, you let out a muffled cry of frustration and gave up. Desperate once more, you wracked your brain for a way to finally get off and get him to forgive you, so that he would, hopefully, make love to you and let you cum. Your haze-filled thought briefly cleared enough to come up with a plan.

Maybe you could make it up to him?

Maybe he’d be willing to let you replace this pesky dildo for the real thing, instead?

You grew giddy once more at the thought of getting on your knees for him. Your tongue poking out and lapping at his girthy length in a silent apology for being such a naughty brat towards him earlier. Lips wrapping themselves around his swollen head and slowly working his whole cock down your throat. The mere prospect making you drool through your gag some more.

That settles it then! You stood up and made your way back towards his office to get to work on your apology, a newfound skip in your step.

[saintorchid]

DJUNGELSKOG

On your last day of midterms and Nanami decides to buy you the stuffed animal you had your eye on for a while. 

___________

A/N: It’s midterm week for me and what's better than not studying for my exams? Writing about Nanami Kento <3

Warnings: mentions of sex

___________

"Oh my god, I seriously think that I am going to cry," you said in your frustrated laced voice. It was the last day of midterms, and you have spent the past several hours studying at your school's library. Every day since the beginning of the week, you set a routine: wake up at 6 am, head to school by 7:45 am, study before you head for one of your exams, go home, take a nap, wake up, have dinner, study, and finally ending the night sleeping. But that wasn't the only thing stressing you out. What you really needed was your boyfriend, Nanami Kento.

Due to your conflicting schedules, you rarely saw each other. Nanami was your biggest supporter in anything you did. You wanted to learn how to knit him a scarf, and he bought you a kit with pretty yarn. Did you want to maintain a small herb garden? Say no more. He surprised you with basil, rosemary, lemon balm, and thyme plant pot. He wanted you to succeed. Knowing that you rarely saw him made your heartache even more. You had an hour left until your final midterm then it was spring break. You thought about all the things you wanted to do with Nanami over your break. Slowly indulging in your daydream, you suddenly received a text from Nanami. 

"Good Luck on your last Midterm, Sweetheart <3. I know we haven't seen each other, but I have a special surprise for you when you get home. My break is over. I'll see you soon, my love. I love you to the moon and back." 

A surge of motivation hit you like a wave. You were going to ace this last midterm and head home to your boyfriend. Studying for a bit more, finally satisfied with your effort, you faced your last midterm. 

Your professor explained the details of the exam and gave the class two hours to complete it. After some time passed, fellow students got up around you and turned their exams in. You moved your pencil swiftly across the exam, making sure you have everything right. You were the last student to leave. After you turned in your exam, you wished your professor a nice spring break, and they wished the same to you. 

Feeling like you just conquered the world, you finally headed home, home to him. You entered your shared house only to be dimly lit with candles and the smell of Italian food cooking on the stove. You saw Nanami pick some of the basil you were growing and put into his famous pasta sauce, which he refused to share until the two of you were married. 

You kept staring at him until you notice that his tall figure was right in front of you.

You were about to say something, but Nanami silenced you with a kiss before saying, "Welcome home, sweetheart."

His hand was on your cheek, and you raised your hand to caress his hand slowly. 

"I'm home, Nanami."

He pulls you into a swift hug and promptly tells you to take a shower. 

You follow his command and head towards the bathroom. The hot water washed away your tiredness. You stood still, enjoying the water trail down your body. 

Once you were done, you changed into a set of comfy pj's and were greeted to a table filled with Italian dishes that you couldn't name, but you weren't complaining. 

The both of you took a bite of the delicious food. You moan audibly because all you had this week was quick, easy meals like instant ramen. This is the first day you had a home-cooked meal, especially if Nanami made it. 

Nanami sets his fork down and asks, "How come you don't moan like that when we have sex?"

You choke on your food and reach out for the glass of water next to you. Chugging the water, you see him smirking in the dim kitchen lights. You miss him and his teasing so much it made you beet red. 

You answered, "Because you fuck me so hard that no sound comes out of my mouth, dummy."

He is pleasantly surprised at your retort, which leads him to smile and say a quick sorry before giving you a wink. 

The both of you conversed, talking about school, work, and deciding which movie you two wanted to see tonight. After eating, Nanami took your plates and put them in the dishwasher. At the same time, you headed to your shared bedroom and turned on the TV using the remote to put on a movie on Netflix. 

You made yourself comfortable on your shared bed, and Nanami opens his arms so the two of you could cuddle. Still, before you can fall into his arms and cuddle, he leaps out of bed. "I have a surprise for you. It's a gift for you finishing your midterms and studying so hard," Nanami said with a proud voice. 

He leaves the room. You got lost in deep thought, wondering what type of gift he was going to give you. 

He pokes his head through the door and tells you to close your eyes. You follow his order. You hear him shifting on the bed and place the gift right on your lap. You kept thinking what it was, but before you could continue your thought, Nanami tells you to open your eyes. 

You open your eyes and screeched in happiness. Your brain was fried due to studying, and all you could do was babble. 

He laughs at your reaction, happy that you love it so much. You finally come back to earth and reach for the gift he got you. It was the famous Ikea bear, otherwise known as a "Djungelskog". 

Before you could bombard him with questions, he tells you what you wanted to hear. 

"Remember when we went to Ikea like a month ago to buy new plate wear ." You nod at his response, listening intently. He continues, "When we passed by the stuffed animal section, and I noticed you holding the bear. I asked you if you wanted it. Your mouth said no, but your eyes said yes." After dating him for 3 years, now embarrassed that this man can still see right through you. 

"Since you were busy with midterms and I barely saw you, it was perfect timing. I went to Ikea this past Tuesday while you were at school. I bought the bear and took it home and hid it in the spare closet in the hallway." 

You immediately hugged him and peppered his face with kisses. Your heart was beating rapidly, and a faint blush appeared on your face. He smiles and gives you the same treatment back. After a few moments of you two kissing softly, he pulls away, opening his arms to cuddle. With a swift motion, you lay on Nanami's chest while hugging your precious djungelskog. 

You were finally together again, and this moment the two of you shared right here was, love. 

The End. 

[cinnaminsvga]

🌸 social media au where y/n posts a fake boyfriend application on twitter as a dare but ends up seeking something real in the long run (aka how to fall in love the zillennial way) 🌸

A/N: This... fried my brain cells. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to WRITE... I’m not sure if any of this flows properly but it’s 5AM right now, I am tired, I am jetlagged, I’ve forgotten how to speak English, but this is the best I can do and I guess that’s all that matters. Anyway, RIP Y/N you’re about to have a bad time. *megalovania intensifies* || W.C. 2.7K

prev // part 27 of ? // next masterlist here.

[updates every 6PM PST]

Despite the summer heat already dwindling as the cooler months start to settle in, the sun still shines strongly in Ilsan. Sweat drips down your back like a faucet, the shade of the trees doing little to protect you from the midday heat. Namjoon had offered to relocate to one of the small air-conditioned cafes just outside of the park, but you chose to bear the heat instead, more interested in enjoying the packed lunch his mother had prepared for the two of you and observe the people milling about.

“Your mom is a cooking goddess,” you say with a large grin, moaning unabashedly as you chowed down on her homemade kimchi. Completely immersed in the pleasure that is Mrs. Kim’s food, you forget all semblance of dignity as you make it your goal to get all the food into your body as quickly as you can. “God, her food is so fucking good. How can you even bear leaving home?”

Namjoon chuckles, eating at a significantly more humane and dignified pace. “Believe me, it was hard choosing to study in Seoul for university, but it was a sacrifice I had to make. I’m just lucky that I live relatively close, so I can visit them every once in a while.”

“Then you oughta invite me over again some time. The dinner last night? I dreamt about nothing but her galbitang,” you say with bits of food still in your mouth, but Namjoon doesn’t seem all that phased. He’s gotten used to it, or so you hope. Habits die hard when you’ve been stuck with animals (read: boys) as friends for the last ten years.

“You can come over anytime. Though I’m not sure if you would want to, since then you’ll have to keep pretending to be my girlfriend if we do…” Namjoon trails off, his gaze lowering back to his food. His lips purse, brow crumpling in that way you’ve come to realize was he was overthinking again. “N-not that you’d have to. Pretend to be my girlfriend, that is. I can p-probably just bring home some packed lunches to Seoul whenever I come over, or something then you could—“

“Namjoon,” you call out to him, snapping him out from his rambling. You place your container of food down on the grass, raising your hands up as if in surrender. Confused, Namjoon is about to ask what you’re doing before you promptly smack him (gently), grabbing his cheeks and squeezing them together until he looks like a cute (and incredibly bemused) pufferfish.

“Huwah?” Namjoon tries to speak, but your grip on his face prevents him from moving even an inch. “Y/N?”

“Namjoon, I know we’re fake dating and all and I did agree to go with you to see your parents just this one time, but is it that hard to get it through that thick skull of yours?”  you say, eyes boring into his as you try to communicate your feelings. After a few moments of staring, you sigh tiredly when the look of confusion refuses to leave his face, his eyebrows raised in both astonishment and uncertainty. This fucking idiot, you think tiredly to yourself, but it’s hard to stay annoyed at him, not when he looks so cute with his cheeks squished between your hands.

You continue, “Aren’t we friends? Doesn’t that mean I would do anything for you, even if that means pretending to be your fake girlfriend as many times as I have to?”

Realization finally dawns on Namjoon’s face, but it is quickly replaced by sheepishness. “Oh, I guesh sho…” he says dejectedly. “Showwy.”

“Good. Now stop being so insecure!” you huff, pinching his cheek for good measure before you release him. He rubs his jaw gingerly, pouting like a child who had just been scolded.

“Okay, I promise… Sorry,” he repeats, rubbing his neck in shame.

But even then… you aren’t satisfied. Not until he can really get over his insecurity, but you suppose this is going to have to suffice for now. You can tell that Namjoon still has some ongoing conflict happening inside of him that he doesn’t seem willing to share with you as of now. You desperately want to pry, but you know more than anyone how frustrating it can be when someone tries a little too hard to help you, even if getting into right up in your business comes from a place with good intentions. He deserves to set his own pace, and you are more than willing to be patient with him (most of the time, at least. Some pinching and prodding may be useful along the way.)

“I’m not gonna leave you, you know? You’re stuck with me for life unfortunately, so you’re going to have to deal with me for the rest of yours. That was my only condition when I agreed to be your fake girlfriend, remember?” you say, giggling lightly at his dumbfounded expression. “Unless you’re tired of me already? I can always leave,” you tease.

“No!” Namjoon exclaims suddenly, nearly slapping himself in the face when he brings his hand to his mouth. A few families also eating at the park look at the two of you in alarm, but Namjoon can only bow to them apologetically. When he turns back to you, his cheeks are reddened slightly, though that could also be from being under the sun for so long. He scratches his nose: another nervous tick of his. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scream like that. I just… No, I’m not tired of you. I don’t think that’s even possible. You’re one of the greatest people I know and I like hanging out with you.”

“I…” You’re shocked by his sudden proclamation, stuttering as you try to formulate a response. You cough in embarrassment, shifting your gaze elsewhere, anywhere, away from Namjoon’s earnest expression. It’s a complete 360 from the shy schoolboy persona he had just moments ago. “Thank you… I guess? I’m just… Wow, how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Switch modes so quickly like that? One moment you’re a bumbling buffoon and then the next second you’re saying sweet shit like it’s nothing!” You huff, hoping that your own cheeks aren’t heating up. “Seriously. Are you sure you don’t have a girlfriend?”

Namjoon lets out a short guffaw; the sound familiar to you as the one that he makes when he doesn’t know what to say. You don’t know how or when you had gotten so adept at differentiating his multiple ticks, but it makes you feel… special, for lack of a better word. You wonder if he notices things about you, too.

“I think I would be the first to know if I had a girlfriend. I suppose you’re the closest thing I have,” Namjoon says. When you look back at him, you can see that he’s smiling, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Well, at least my parents think you’re the real deal. You were really good last night, by the way. My mom wouldn’t stop gushing about you when you went to bed.”

“Oh God, you guys talked about me when I went to bed?” You gasp in horror, worst-case scenarios flying through your head even though realistically, you know you had been perfectly normal during the entire evening. You had even practiced in front of the mirror the week before, rehearsing the lines you’d have to say should his parents ask the usual relationship questions. You memorized the story the two of you came up with: how the two of you had met, how you’d gotten together, how long you’d been dating… It was all so ingrained in your brain that it almost felt real, sometimes.

Namjoon rolls his eyes, poking you lightly on the nose. “No, it was nothing bad. You were perfect, like always. I doubt my parents could ever hate you even if they tried. You were wonderful.”

You nod slowly, still slightly unconvinced. “Okay… If you say so. I just don’t want to mess things up for you, you know?”

Namjoon slings an arm around your waist, inadvertently causing you to scoot closer to him until you could comfortably lay your head on his shoulder. You tilt your head upwards, your breath hitching when you realize how close your faces were to each other.

“I suppose we’re both dummies then, huh? I know this is hypocritical of me to say, but don’t be so insecure, okay? We got this. We’re fine.” Namjoon’s voice dips into a whisper, his forehead nearly touching yours. When he’s close like this, you can smell the kimchi in his breath; not an unpleasant scent by any means, but you do wonder if he’d taste good if you’d leaned in right now and kissed him—

“Y/N, you have rice on your chin,” Namjoon interrupts your train of thought, catching you off guard. You yelp, sitting straight up and separating from him like you had been shocked. Namjoon doesn’t seem to notice, as he seems more intent on wiping away the stray rice grains than anything else. When he flicks them away, he smiles at you endearingly, his dimples on display for your mortal eyes.

“Um,” you stammer, rubbing your chin belatedly. “T-thanks…”

“Y/N, are you okay? You’re getting kind of red. Maybe we should head back? We’ve been under the sun for a while.” He grabs his phone from his pocket, nearly dropping it as he fumbles with it before he finally manages to take a look at the time. “Oh, damn. It’s already almost 4. We better head out if you want to go look around the shopping district,” he says, packing up his mom’s containers. “Do you want to finish your food?”

You still had a bit of food left, but your appetite had strangely disappeared. So instead, you help him pack up, ready to get out of there and get your mind off of weird things. This is fine, you’re just being weird because of the bad week you had. Let’s try to relax, you remind yourself, but even you think your words sound weak.

Disgruntled and shaky, you trail after Namjoon in silence, content to just listen to him explain certain landmarks to you as you walk towards the nearby shopping street.

“I don’t know if I ever mentioned this, but if we have time, we could probably visit my old high school on our way back. There’s a small park near it where I used to hide whenever I didn’t want to go home,” Namjoon says, chuckling at the memory. “My life used to be a constant cycle of going to school and coming home to study some more, so my mom would throw an absolute fit whenever I came home late, but she could never figure out where my hiding spot was.”

You snort, smiling at the thought of a rebellious Namjoon. It’s hard to imagine, especially with how hardworking he is with all his side projects that you’ve caught glimpses of when he had shown you his workshop. “Are you sure you want to show me your spot? What if I tell your mom?”

Namjoon laughs, eyes crinkling from the sheer force of it. The sight of him laughing causes you to pause for a moment, caught off guard by how… good he looks, when he looks so honest, so vulnerable. Namjoon smiles a lot, but you’ve never seen him this cheery, like the sun had come down to earth for the day. You like it a lot; you want to be able to make him express himself honestly like that all the time.

“If you tell my mom, then she’ll know for sure that you’re the one for me,” he jokes, the remnants of his joy still present in his eyes. He winks cheekily at you, making the tips of your ears redden ever so slightly. “There are many nooks and crannies I’d love to show you around Ilsan, but we only have a weekend here, unfortunately. If you could stay another day, I could probably show you around more.”

“I mean… I could, if you want me to,” you mutter, the words slipping out before you can stop them. You inhale sharply, both yours and Namjoon’s eyes popping out when you realize what you had said.

“I just! I don’t mean to intrude, of course—“

“Y-you don’t have to stay! It was just wishful thinking, of course—“

You both speak at the same time, talking over the other as you both try to explain yourselves. You both stop speaking simultaneously as well, causing the two of you to burst into laughter. You’re doubled over, giggling as tears of mirth slide down your cheeks at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

“God, why are we so awkward together? I thought I was bad, but I guess pairing two socially inept losers really has doubled our power, huh?” you say.

“I know. You’d think we only just met yesterday or something.” Namjoon scratches his nose bashfully, but the same honest smile is still on his face. “But if what you said was true, then… I’d love to have you around for another day, if you want to stay? Like I said, I love hanging out with you. This is honestly the most fun I’ve had in a long while,” he says shyly. He coughs into his fist, pupils shaking as he stares resolutely at your chin.

“Me… me too. I’m having a lot of fun too,” you admit, your cheeks heating up involuntarily. You both turn to look away, embarrassed by each other’s sudden confession. What is going on with me today? you wonder idly, forcing your rapidly beating heart to calm.

“Er, well. We’re almost at the shopping district,” Namjoon clears his throat, trying his best to wave off the suddenly awkward atmosphere. He points ahead, where you can see rows of shops and booths of all shapes and sizes, selling anything and everything you can imagine. “You’re the guest here, so you choose. What shop do you want to head to first?”

“That reminds me. Jimin had asked me to buy this skin product from some store around here. Let me check the brand; he texted me the photo before we left,” you say, rummaging for your phone in your bag. Admittedly, you haven’t been using your phone all day asides from taking and posting the occasional photo, keeping it on silent and do not disturb to stop unwanted text messages from disturbing your time with Namjoon. You know you had a few messages from your group chat that you’ve left to read for later, but it’s only now that you realize that you had another message waiting from a person you would rather not speak to at all.

“Oh geez, what does that whore want?” You sigh, going against your better judgment and opening it anyway. “I swear, if Seokjin is using me as a booty call now of all times, I’m going to rip his ass in two the next time I—“

“Y/N? You okay?” Namjoon asks when he notices you have suddenly stopped speaking. He had been walking continuously, assuming that you were following behind him only to find that you were frozen in place a few steps away, staring holes into your phone screen. He walks over back to you, concern flickering in his eyes when he approaches you. “Hey, what’s up? Did you get an important text or something?”

“No, it’s nothing important. It’s…” You sigh, not knowing what to say. Your lips begin to wobble as your senses are assaulted by confusion, pain, and heartache all at once—all because of a single text message. Your eyes start to well up, but you blink them away. You’re quick to wave off Namjoon’s slow growing panic at your sorry state, not wanting to ruin his day with your stupid emotional breakdown.

“Y/N. Who texted you? What is it? You can tell me, I promise I won’t judge you,” he whispers kindly, taking your free hand in his own. He rubs comforting circles into your palm, his brow scrunched up in worry as he watches you fight to keep your tears at bay. “Y/N?”

You take a shuddering breath.

[vannahfanfics]

Unexpected Guest

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Characters: Chrome Dokuro, Ken Joshima

Ken’s eyes were lidded as he gazed disinterestedly out of the cracked window in the Kokuyo Land administrative building. He’d flipped a wooden chair around to sit on, leaning against the wicker back to stare out into the abandoned amusement park. Though it was only the beginning of December, the snow fell heavily, smothering the collapsed attractions and dilapidated building in a thick blanket of white. The winter chill seeped in through the small crevice to spread a numbing cold over his nose. He wrinkled it to stave off the deadening sensation creeping into his face, then groaned and pressed his cheek into his forearm. He bounced his legs incessantly, but the repetitive motions failed to channel the nervous energy sparking inside him like a roaring fire. 

“Boooooored-byon!” he whined loudly. His voice bounced in the empty room to echo hollowly in his ears. He half expected Chikusa to come scold him for his troublesome loudness, but the bespectacled boy failed to take Ken’s bait. Ken whined and licked at his fanged teeth, watching the snow continue to fall outside. He traced the fluttering paths of the snowflakes with dull brown-orange eyes. 

Ken managed to occupy himself with that for about ten seconds until the agonizing boredom crept back in. Yowling angrily, he jumped up from the wooden chair and kicked it. The chair rattled a few inches to the left before becoming unbalanced and crashing onto its side. Ken grimaced as portions of the old, worn wicker fragmented onto the concrete floor. Old piece of garbage, he thought and shoved his hands into the pockets of his deep green uniform pants. 

A certain pineapple-haired girl suddenly sprung into his mind. 

“I wonder what Chrome’s doing,” he pondered aloud, rubbing his chin. Though she’d transferred to Namimori Middle School and spent a significant amount of time with the two girls who hung around the Vongola Family, Chrome still lived in the abandoned amusement part with Mukuro and the rest of his subordinates. 

Her unconditional support for their boss was endearing but bordering on annoying, at least to Ken. She follows him around like a lost puppy-byon, he thought with a small growl. Sometimes it felt like she wanted nothing to do with Ken and Chikusa… Humph. Not that I care-byon! I don’t need her, just Mukuro-sama and Kakipi! he thought haughtily. Ken told himself that, but it never erased the dull ache that bloomed inside him whenever he thought about the timid girl. 

With another wolfish growl, he kicked the overturned chair again. 

Ken whirled on his heel and stomped out of the room. He certainly wasn’t going to find anything entertaining in there. Slouching with irritation, he trotted down to the lower level to see if he could find anyone to satiate his boredom for a little while. 

He happened upon Chikusa after about five minutes of wandering the complex, stretched out on a ripped sofa while lazily flinging his yo-yo around. A wide window stretched across the wall’s expanse, showing the snow-laden area surrounding the administrative building. “Kakipi!” Ken called as he trotted in. Chikusa leisurely rolled his head to blink lazily at Ken. 

“Oh. Hey,” Chikusa responded calmly. He continued to slowly swing his yo-yo in circles as he regarded the blond boy. Ken realized immediately that Chikusa would be useless in satiating his boredom, so he looked around interestedly. 

“Where is she-byon?” Chikusa knew exactly who Ken was referring to. The boy exhaled as he pulled himself into a sitting position, finally stowing his yo-yo and looking at Ken with a slightly raised eyebrow. 

“She went to Vongola’s. She said that the girls- Haru and Kyoko- were throwing her a birthday party.” Ken blinked blankly at Chikusa. A birthday party? “Chrome’s birthday is today.” Chikusa continued to throw the reeling Ken over the precipice of realization. When he finally fell over the edge, Ken’s cheeks brightened with embarrassment, and he flailed his arms a little. 

“B-birthday-byon? She never told me!” Ken complained angrily. Chikusa shrugged indifferently and rose to his feet. 

“I’m pretty sure you were present when she mentioned it in conversation, but it’s also likely that you weren’t listening.” 

Ken scowled and pointed vexedly at Chikusa. 

“That’s mean-byon!” He refrained from agreeing that it was also probably true. With a huff, Ken slammed his hands back down into his pockets. That silly girl… Ken wasn’t frustrated that she wandered off to hang out with the Vongola family; she did it frequently. For some reason, he was frustrated with himself for forgetting her birthday. Why should I care-byon? Loathe as he was to admit it, care he did. Snorting, he whirled on his heel. “I’m going out!” he announced to Chikusa before promptly making his exit. 

When he pushed the glass doors of the administrative building open, the wind jumped forth, blasting snow flurries into the lobby. The skin of Ken’s face prickled as little barbs of ice slammed into his flesh, so he hurriedly turned up the collar of his army-green uniform to shield at least the bottom half of his face from the gale. Absently, he hoped Chrome had decided to wear leggings. She always pranced around in that skirt, after all; if she stepped out like that in such inclement weather, her legs would be icicles before she even left the complex. Who gives a damn? Let her freeze if she’s gonna be that stupid-byon! He thought gruffly to try and distract himself from the little beast of worry gnawing on his insides. 

Ken trotted through the well-worn and disheveled concrete pathways meandering through the forgotten amusement park. The snow crunched loudly under the repeated plops of his boots into the calf-high snowdrifts, complimenting the wailing wind and rattling bare tree branches in a strange, ghostly harmony. He cursed as the hems of his pants legs grew sodden with ice-cold water and clung to his ankles and lower calves, siphoning his body heat away with frightening efficiency. “Soon it’ll be my legs that’re icicles,” he grumped to himself. 

As he came to the base of the inclined path and onto the road proper, which was thankfully plowed, he shook his legs vigorously to dislodge the clumps of snow and water droplets as much as he could. With a small sigh, he looked off into the distance, bitterly observing the cloud-choked, bleary gray sky and the snow piled on the horizon. Was he really about to hike to Namimori for that spacey, dopey girl? 

Of course he was. Eyes lidded as he resolved himself to follow his incessantly nagging shred of human decency, he began tramping down the fringe of the road. 

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Ken cursed through chattering teeth as he kicked the gate to Tsunayoshi Sawada’s front yard open. As the black metal clanged harshly against the concrete wall outlining the quaint little home, clumps of snow slipped off the gate to plop into the drifts below. Ken was grateful that the stone pathway leading to the small porch had been cleaned because his socks and shoes were so soggy that he’d scream if they absorbed any more water. 

Hands buried as deep into his pockets as they could go and collar snug against his face, he stiffly stomped up to the front door and rang the doorbell by hiking up his leg and planting his shoe against it. A chorus of surprised voices echoed in the small two-story homes as the pleasant chime rang through the rooms. 

“Oh? Chrome, dear, were you expecting any more guests?” came an older woman’s voice that Ken assumed belonged to the young Vongola Tenth’s mother. Ken hunched a little further into his damp jacket when the woman opened the door, revealing a pleasant smile and a friendly face framed by orangey-brown hair. “Hello there! You must be one of the boys I’ve heard so much about. Ooooh, let me guess-” she interrupted before he could introduce himself, placing the pad of her index finger on his lips as she studied him with bright eyes. He jumped a little when she clapped her hands together. “Are you Ken?” 

A faint blush deepened the already pink, wind-raw skin of his cheeks. He just nodded in affirmation, making the young mother trill and do a little dance of joy. “Ahaha, I guessed right! <3” By this time, Chrome had meandered out of whatever room she was hanging out with the Vongolas to peer curiously around the woman’s form at the snow-sodden blond. 

“Ken? What are you doing here?” she questioned innocently. Anger brought a blush to his cheeks this time, and as he stamped his foot hotly against the porch, a few blobs of wet snow shifted off the awning to join the white layer coating the yard. 

“Why do ya think I’m here-byon?” he mocked arrogantly. Chrome’s big purple eye blinked slowly and uncomprehendingly. Tsunayoshi’s mother hummed puzzledly as she looked back and forth between the clueless Chrome and the irritated blond dripping water on her porch. Finally, she laughed good-naturedly and grabbed Ken by the shoulders to all but yank him over the threshold of the door. 

“Now, now, no need to stand outside! Oh, look at you; you’re covered head-to-toe in snow! How far did you walk to end up like this?” she tutted as she bundled him inside, unzipping and removing his windbreaker jacket before he could even comprehend what was happening. The rest of the Vongolas, attracted by the commotion, came traipsing out of the kitchen to behold the shivering, cold, blushing Ken with mixtures of surprise, amusement, and indifference (in Kyoya Hibari’s case). 

The strange turn of events fried Ken’s brain, so all he could focus on is why the hell Kyoya was even there because he was an insufferable asshole with a stick constantly up his ass and didn’t seem the type to attend parties. Meanwhile, Tsunayoshi’s mother wandered off with his windbreaker in tow, humming a pleasant tune. 

“Nn,” Kyoya tutted and shoved a piece of hamburger steak in his mouth. “It’s one of the Kokuyo brats. Did you come so I could bite you to death?” he asked in that aggravating flat tone of his and drew his tonfa out of his uniform jacket. Why the hell does he have that-byon?!

“Now, now, don’t act like that, Hibari!” Takeshi laughed pleasantly. “He’s Chrome’s friend; I’m sure he came to wish her happy birthday.” 

“Yeah? Why didn’t he just do it before she left?” Hayato grumped, slouching with his hands in his cargo pants pockets as he regarded Ken distrustfully. Ken’s face took on a bright pink hue from forehead to chin, and he swallowed the shameful admission that he’d not had any clue it was Chrome’s birthday at all. Thankfully, the girl refrained from outing him, continuing to stare inquisitively. 

“Humph. Why the interrogation-byon?” he snapped, turning up his nose disdainfully at the collection of young mafioso. “I just happened to be nearby! Do you really think I’d march all the way here for some lame birthday party?” The group collectively looked at the darkened fabric of his uniform pants, making him bristle. “Oi! The snow’s just deep! Stop staring-byon!” 

“Ken-kuuuuun~” Ken stiffened as the older woman’s voice floated down the stairs, ears reddening further as she so casually trilled his first name. “Here! I brought some of Tsuna’s clothes for you,” she announced brightly as she hopped down the steps carrying a few light garments. 

“Mom! Why?” Tsunayoshi protested loudly. She just tutted scoldingly and flashed him a disapproving look as she dropped the clothes into Ken’s arms. 

“Now, Tsuna! He is a guest just as much as anyone else. He trekked all the way here in the snow to come see Chrome! Why, it’s almost romantic~” she sighed and pressed her hand to her cheek with a girlish giggle. Ken choked on his breath and squeezed the garments to his chest, face turning an ugly purple-red color. Romantic-byon?! What’s with this lady? There’s nothing romantic about it! Nothing! I just-! I just wanted-! 

Ken’s gaze slid to Chrome, watching her purple eye sparkle, and her cheeks flush with a carnation-pink hue. Huffing, he buried his face into the white shirt the woman had loaned him, sensitive nose flooding with the aroma of floral laundry detergent. “Ahaha! Anyway, Ken, dear, you should go upstairs and take a bath, hmm?” Tsunayoshi’s mother hummed as she pushed his upper back to propel him towards the stairs. “Tsuna, be a dear and show him where it is.” 

“What? Now he’s using our bath, too?!” the small-statured boy complained. Ken peered sourly at him, orange-brown eyes flashing just above the cloth of the shorts smooshed against his face, and Tsunayoshi squealed. “Okay, okay, okay! Fine, follow me,” he sighed in defeat and began tromping up the steps. Ken followed stiffly after him, ignoring Hayato’s comment that he should bathe because he smelled like a wet dog. Ken smiled slightly when the loud girl, Haru, slapped him upside the side of the head and called him rude. 

“Here we are,” Tsunayoshi said unenthusiastically as he stopped in front of the door to the bathroom. Ken continued to sulk at the unintended turn of events as he stared blankly at the door, waiting for the spiky-haired boy to retreat before entering. Tsunayoshi went to return down the stairs, then paused and looked up at Ken uncomfortably. “I, um… I know we aren’t exactly friends or anything, but…” he trailed off with a blush, twiddling his thumbs together as he fumbled over his words. “B-but I know aren’t a bad guy or anything, so you’re free to, you know, hang out as much as you want.” 

Tsunayoshi released a small “eep!” as Ken’s orange-brown eyes critically examined him for any distrust. I don’t think he’s even capable of tricking someone, Ken then thought with a small snort. 

Tsunayoshi hurriedly scampered to the stairs, so Ken huffed and opened the bathroom door. He paused when Tsunayoshi came bounding up the steps again to breathlessly add, “B-by the way, Chrome is really happy you came to wish her a happy birthday!” Ken’s face flushed red, and he gawked at Tsunayoshi with wide eyes before looking down at his snow-soaked shoes. 

“Get lost-byon. I wanna shower.” Tsunayoshi blinked at him, but then smiled pleasantly. Ken’s blush darkened as the boy chimed something about seeing him downstairs before hurrying down to the first floor. 

Ken purposely avoided looking at his reflection as he shambled into the bathroom and set the clothes on the counter. He shrugged out of his shirt, grimacing at the way the cold fabric clung to his skin, and threw it into the corner. It landed against the tile with a wet slap. Before he shimmied out of his cargo pants, he carefully retrieved a small wrapped package from one of the deep pockets. He set it on the counter beside his change of clothes. 

He’d hate for her present to get crushed, after all. 

“Jeez, you guys are impatient-byon,” Ken whined loudly as someone knocked timidly on the door. He jumped up to tug the waistband of the pants around his hips before yanking up the zipper and clasping the button. Tsunayoshi was slightly shorter than him, so the pants’ hem rose above his ankles, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. It wasn’t until Ken had sunk into the steaming warm bath water that he’d realized just how cold he was, and he had no care to slip back into his ice-cold clothes. 

Ken refrained from putting on a shirt to unlock the door instead. Tendrils of steam tickled his bare chest and droplets of water vapor exploded over his slightly heat-flushed skin as he did so. “What?” he asked bluntly as he swung the door open. 

He blushed as red as a tomato as Chrome unabashedly looked him up and down. Her big purple eye blinked once before she looked up at his bright red face. 

“A blizzard,” she said simply. It took a few seconds for Ken to articulate the word, simple as it was. 

“A blizzard?” he echoed dumbly. Chrome nodded lightly and pointed a slim, dainty finger at the hallway window for good measure. Ken’s wide, orange-gold eyes followed the invisible line to the frosted glass pane. He then gasped and barreled past Chrome to adhere himself to the cold surface, too shocked to register the chill seeping into his exposed skin. “What the hell-byon?!” 

The wind shrieked voraciously beyond the thin clear panel. Snow flurries billowed in wild swirls through the neighborhood, darkened by the thick layer of stormy gray clouds choking the sky and blotting out the light. The snow piled up in giant plumes, burying cars and lawn ornaments deep beneath its thick white sheets and spilling over the fences to encroach upon the doorsteps. 

Ken felt his stomach plummet to his feet. There was no way that Tsunayoshi’s mother would let him leave the house with such inclement weather. To be quite honest, Ken absolutely did not want to trek back to the abandoned amusement park in the raging blizzard anyway. 

Ken peeled himself away from the window with a frustrated sigh while running his hand through his dampened blond hair. Great, he thought bitterly. When he turned around, he believed that Chrome would have descended back to the party; instead, she remained in the hallway, staring at him. Ken jumped. 

“Damn it-byon! Don’t sneak up on me like that.” 

“I’ve been here the whole time.” 

Ken growled under his breath and scratched at the back of his neck. His gaze slid to the bathroom, and then beyond to his wet pants still draped over the bathroom counter dripping icy water onto the floor- and then to the small white wrapped in simple blue yarn. A flush blazed across his cheeks. Chrome finally seemed to think that Ken did not want to hold a conversation; out of the corners of his eyes, he saw her twirl on her toes to head for the stairs. 

“W-wait!” he called before he could stop himself. Chrome turned around with her head cocked inquisitively. She regarded him with that big owlish eye that he thought so unnerving but so damn cute too. Grumbling and alternating his arm positions to try and nonchalantly cover parts of his chest when he realized he was still shirtless, he gestured lamely at the little box she’d failed to notice. “P-present,” he offered sheepishly. 

Chrome continued to turn on the cloth pads of her socks until her gaze settled on the unassuming little package situated on the counter. With a small gasp of wonder, she padded into the small space to gingerly retrieve it. She tossed him a slight glance, almost as if asking permission to open it. “J-just don’t look at it, dumbass! Open it up-byon!” 

Perhaps it was the wisps of hot steam still curling throughout the room, but Ken noticed her cheeks turn slightly pink as she looked back to the small gift box and slowly pulled the string. 

Ken held his breath as she opened it with so much care that it was painful. Damn, did she want to kill him with anticipation? Why the hell did he care, anyway? His fingers twiddled anxiously by his thighs as he watched her flip the lid off. He couldn’t help but smirk satisfactorily as a delighted little gasp slipped past her lips. 

“Malt chocolate candy…” Chrome whispered. Once more, she turned that intense yet innocent gaze upon him, and a strange, warm sensation bubbled up inside of him. Happiness sparkled inside those amethyst depths. It spread the warmth from the tips of his toes up to the crown of his head. 

“It’s your favorite. I remembered-byon,” Ken shrugged dispassionately, trying to belie the giddy lilt attempting to seep into his voice. “... Happy birthday,” he added after a few moments of silence. Heat began to creep into his face, and he rubbed compulsively at the wispy hairs hugging the back of his neck. Chrome hugged the package of chocolate to her chest and flashed him a rare, elated smile. 

“Thank you, Ken.” 

Normally, Ken would snap something snarky and shut her down, push her away before she could come too close. But not this time. Basking in the honey-glow of that serene smile pervaded down to his soul, Ken allowed her in, enabled her to see just a glimmer of the feelings he tried so desperately to suppress. 

“You’re welcome, Chrome.” 

The softness in his voice surprised them both. Their eyes simultaneously blew wide, and their gazes snapped away at the same time. Chrome covered his mouth as his entire face burned pink. Why did I say it like that-byon? I can’t believe myself; dumbass…! As Ken reeled in his stupidity, he paid no attention to Chrome. That is until he was forced to- when she scampered up to him with the open package of malt chocolate candy. 

“Here. Have some.” 

Ken jerked at her soft voice suddenly sounding at his shoulder. He glanced wildly from her face down to the candy, struggling to process the turn of events. 

“That’s yours,” Ken finally sputtered. Chrome’s purple eyebrows twitched, the only flicker of emotion on her once-again blank slate of a face. 

“I want to share it. It’s my present; I can decide what I want to do with it, and I have decided to share.” Her infallible logic obliterated any chance Ken had of refusing. Frowning, he dropped his hand from his still-burning face to break a piece of the chocolate away and pop it into his mouth. It was okay; Ken didn’t know why the girl adored the stuff so much. 

But, when she slipped her piece of chocolate past her lips, and her face immediately softened into bliss, Ken felt the hot rush of pride flush through his system. He put that expression on her face. 

“See?” Ken blinked when she interrupted his silent gloating. “Isn’t it good?” 

“Yeah.” Not really a lie, but not really a truth; Ken just wanted to keep that smile on her face. Chrome giggled, and the sound almost made Ken faint. 

Ken never could understand how Rokudo could rope such an angelic, pure girl into his devious little network of pawns. Chrome was so pure that it almost burned Ken’s eyes to ash every time he looked at her. Angelic, sweet, innocent… Everything Ken definitely did not deserve. 

As he was reminded of that fact, the bitterness seeped into his features, poisoning whatever happy expression that had appeared on his face. 

“I have to put finish getting dressed,” he grunted as a lame way to excuse himself from the discussion. Chrome blinked curiously at him as he shouldered past her to walk back to the bathroom. He was fully intent on closing the door behind him, but limber Chrome had planted herself in the threshold sooner than he could even grab the wooden door. He scowled but decided it was not worth arguing. He instead grabbed the graphic tee patterned with some dorky anime character and slipped it over his head. 

“Ken?” 

“What?” he sighed, popping his head through the hole in the shirt to glare exasperatedly at her. Chrome’s dark lashes fluttered before she continued. 

“Thank you for coming all the way here.” 

Ken thought she would leave it at that, and so opened his mouth to gripe some abrasive response. Whatever he had intended to say died an ember in his throat when she leaned forward to place a feather-light kiss on his cheek. The flesh instantly flooded with blood, spreading fire through the tissue and making his nerves spark into overdrive. He gawked stupidly at her as she retreated with a coquettish smile. 

“I do hope you’ll come join us downstairs. Maman made dinner. She’s an excellent cook.” Without waiting for an answer, she whirled on her feet and descended rapidly down the stairs. He could hear her munching on the chocolate as she plonked down the steps. She paused halfway down and looked up at him blankly. “You should come with me more often. Maman’s favorite guests are the unexpected ones.” He watched her go with a mixture of feelings swirling around inside of him, robotically slipping his arms through the sleeves of the tee-shirt. 

A smile spread wide across his face. His heart fluttered in his chest like a baby bird fumbling into its first flight. As he walked out of the bathroom, he glanced back at the window and the blizzard raging beyond. 

“Unexpected guests,” he scoffed with a dopey smile. “Yeah, okay…” 

Ken followed after Chrome, tromping down the steps two at a time. Who was he, an acknowledged guest, to say no to a free dinner? Besides… He wanted to make sure those yahoos of the Vongola family didn’t ruin Chrome’s special day, too. 

After all, he’d come here to make sure it was the best one possible… Regardless of whether he was ready to admit that to Chrome yet or not. 

The blizzard yowled faintly at him as he passed the front door, but Ken didn’t mind it. The storm whirling inside him had dimmed considerably, and the winds all but died as Chrome smiled prettily at him from her seat at the kitchen table. He stopped just out of sight for one brief second to savor the expression that was just for him. 

Unexpected guest, huh? Sure beats hanging out at that old dump all the time. Next time, at least I won’t have to hike the whole way alone. 

Smiling, Ken strolled into the room and was instantly greeted with many loud voices and Chrome’s sweet, quiet one.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[hyper-juice]

Futaba tries and fails (for once) to hack a shady totally occult "meteorological" agency.

Fumi Kanno sees a hacker who could conceivably match her skill one day.

Both of them get a friend.

Once upon a time, when Futaba was but a fledgeling genius hacker chasing leads on her mother‘s coworkers, she tried to hack into an organization called JP‘s. The name apparently stood for “Japan Meteorological Agency, Geomagnetism Research Departemnt” (which made no sense! What sort of acronym is JP’s?) but if they were actually studying geomagnetism and nothing else, Futaba would eat her black hat.

Why would a meteorological agency end up as a sponsor for cognitive psience? What was JP’s hiding?

Back then, when she hadn’t hit the bottom of the barrel just yet, being Medjed, Hacker of Justice, might’ve gone to her head. Because of this, she failed to realize that hacking a shady totally occult organization was a bad idea, and even worse, she failed. Full stop. Her first (and so far last) failure. Even worse-er, JP’s was packing big guns and actually hacked her in return. She hit that High Counter and it punched back hard.

As she looked in despair upon her rig, pulling back as far as she could to cut her losses, she received a message.

‘Aww, cute. Little Medjed thinks they can get through me?’

Futaba, in an epic gamer moment, replied swiftly.

<Screw you.>

<I know you’re hiding something>

‘Nothing litte kids need to concern themselves with.’

She wanted to punch that patronizing text so bad.

<How’d you get my number?>

‘You might have skill, but I have experience.’

‘Now hurry along before my boss catches me slacking. Try again in a couple of years.’

‘Who knows? Maybe you can actually beat my firewalls by then?’

Three dots, still typing. A pause specially designed to aggravate Futaba further. Taunting her was just slacking for this JP’s hacker?

‘Provided I happen to drop dead.’

‘Bye now.’

And with that, all her curses were met with a cheerful rejection, a trick that would infuriate and inspire Futaba in equal measure, until she would eventually apply it to the Phantom Thieves.

However, this would scarcely be the last encounter Futaba had with the JP’s IT department.

‘I almost had to use my actual PC! Someone’s getting better.’

‘Just kidding, that was nothing.’

Far from it.

‘How’d you like that experimental code? Just for you.’

Futaba tried again,

‘Thanks for helping me patch out all my backdoors, you’re a great tester.’

and again,

<One day!>

‘Sure thing.’

and again.

‘Did you seriously think a new moniker would help, Medjed?’

<It’s Alibaba now.>

‘Scared of the fame?’

<Copycats, more like.>

‘As if they’re as good as you. Just doxx them or something’

<Why bother.>

Wait a second!

<Was that a compliment?>

ERROR: Recipient not found

“Dang it. I can’t believe they’re a tsundere.”

At some point, it devolved from actually trying to hack JP’s to just.. talking to someone with the same interests. Even if their method of contact was a tad eccentric. After the first time, the other hacker could’ve had her in jail, but they simply didn’t want to. Even if it’s all some sort of game to the other, even if it’s just a bit of entertainment on the job.. chatting with an equal was fun.

<I GOT THRU SUCK IT>

‘Check again’

<Oh come on.>

<WAIT I GOT SOMETHING>

<It sayyysssss…...>

<haveanicewhee.wav?’

Audio wasn’t exactly what she’s shooting for, but she pulled her headphones over her ears nontheless and pressed play, only to promptly drop them as a high pitched voice yelled “Have a nice wheee!!!”

<You did that on purpose>

‘Guilty as charged.’

Eventually though, as Futaba passed from relative to relative, she shut herself in further and further, even from these brief encounters.

Sitting still in her chair, Futaba didn’t even bother. A half-hearted attempt for a half-hearted person. What did it matter? She would never get through, she didn’t even know their name. Her mother killed herself and it was all Futaba’s fault. What truth was there to find?

‘Alibaba?’

‘Medjed?’

‘Kid?’

‘You haven’t tried anything in months.’

‘Are you still alive?’

Now that’s a first. The other hacker initated contact instead of waiting on Futaba to steal secrets, Too bad they probably just mourned an opportunity to mess around on company time.

<What do you care?>

‘People have been telling me to use this thing called “empathy”’

‘I’m suspicious but it might exist?’

‘I’ve grown to expect you, is all,’

<You don’t care.>

‘I didn’t.’

‘At first.’

‘I thought you were an idiot.’

<Thanks>

‘Do not interrupt me.’

‘You see, a lot of people are idiots. A lot of my coworkers are idiots, and explaining the concept of concepts to idiot teens is incredibly annoying.’

‘What sort of idiot tries to hack JP’s? If they know of us, they should know not to mess with us. So, what sort of idiot indeed?’

‘The answer is you. You did.’

<No shit.>

‘And people call me rude.’

‘No interruptions, I’m being genuine for once in my entire life.’

‘You were an idiot, except you kept coming back.’

‘And you kept getting better.’

<Point being?>

‘I can see you’re smart. Your efforts remind me of myself a bit. I started out like you.’

<Hacking shady government agencies?>

‘Punching upwards.’

‘So this tiny little hacker girl made insignificant chemical reactions fire off in my synapses, and then she disappears from sight for months, Alibaba’s activities grind to a halt, and I find a large quantity of searches implying a rather.. questionable mental state in your browser history.’

‘Honestly, you might as well just ping me. That last attempt was pathetic.’

‘So, in layman’s terms, because all of my coworkers always complain my vocabulary is simply to broad for their uneducated minds, I’m worried about you.’

<You shouldn’t be.>

Something swelled up in Futaba as she read these words. This, this stranger, this weird person missed Futaba? Wanted her to take another crack at their roadblocks? How could they? She didn’t understand. How could anyone care about Futaba?

<Why?>

<Why bother with others?>

‘My test subject almost died.’

 What?  First the other hacker actually expressed sincerity for the first time, and now they’re offering personal information?

‘I was so absorbed in my work, the electric shock from an equipment malfunction would have fried his brain if someone else hadn’t been present.’

‘He wasn’t even mad at me.’

‘I’m not letting people die when I can prevent it anymore, not for my own hubris.’

‘My name is Fumi. Are you alright, Futaba?’

 Her tear ducts burst and she leapt off her chair. She couldn’t deal with this, somebody,  Fumi  , showed concern for disgusting horrible monstrous  murderous-

 Before she knew it, she ripped her computer’s plug out of its socket and her room went dark.

[sososdelightfullydumbimagines]

Stray kids reaction to sharing a bed with their s/o for the first time

Requested: Yessss Thanks to @ep-ip-ha-ny

Summary: How would the boys react to the first time you two slept in the same bed

Warnings: Mentions of puking and insecurities

Hey babes! I hope you guys enjoy, I'm sorry this took so long I went a little over board with this. Don't forget to request!

-Admin SoSo

Chan:

It had been a long day. For both you and Chan. He sent you a message asking you if you could comme over the dorm. You quickly agreed. You changed your route and headed for the dorm. Once you reached your destination you promptly knocked on the door. Chan opened the door and dragged you inside. You barely had the time to greet the other boys who were hanging out in the living room. Chan hauled you into his room. Once he closed the door behind you, you pulled him back towards you.

"Chan - Chan, what's wrong you haven't said a thing since I got here..."

"Nothing's wrong. I just really need to spend time together..." He looked down, sheepish

"Alright, are we watching a movie?"

"Yeah, yeah..." You both laid down on his bed and Chan pulled his laptop closer. You snuggled closer to him for some warmth. After two or three movies, your eyes started to droop.

You were dozing in and out of conciousness and Cham noticed. He held you tighter until you officially fell asleep.

He felt nervous. Very nervous. Although he felt nervous it felt right. He knew it would only be the first of many. He loved to be in bed with you after a long day.

Woojin: 

You felt cold, cold and scared. Usually your nightmares weren't this bad. But tonight you were scared and you didn't know what to do. No matter what you did you couldn't fall back asleep. You had nothing else to do but to call Woojin, he was the only one who could calm you down when you were like this. You picked up the phone and dialled his number. The phone rang a couple of times before Woojin picked up.

"Hello?" It was clear you woke him up, guilt bloomed in the pit of your stomach

"Hey, umm c-could you come over?"

"Yeah, of course. Is everything alright?"

"No actually, not really..."

"Alright I'm on my way. I'll be there in five" Shuffling was heard in the background. You pulled your knees up to your chest and rested your chin on your legs.

There was a knock on the door and you scampered to the door ripping it open. You dove straight into his arms. You some how shuffled into your bed. He pulled you onto his chest and rubbed your back.

He felt nervous but his protective instinct took over. He just wanted to take care of you. He would do anything for you including scaring away the nightmares.

Minho:

Your breath was shaky. You couldn’t contain your sobs. You were hunched over the toilet puking your guts out. You felt like crap. You were supposed to meet up with Minho soon for a date but you definitely couldn’t make it. You shot him a text briefly explaining the situation. You were too preoccupied with not puking that you didn’t hear the door open and close. Suddenly, a voice called out

“Y/n?!” Your head dropped against the toilet seat.

“In the bathroom!” Soft footsteps made their way to you

“How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better...”

“How about we get you to bed?” He slowly pulled you up and walked you down the hall. Making sure not to rattle you, he slowly pushed you on the bed and tucked you in.

“Minho, wait! Don’t go... please” He smiled softly and laid down with you.

He loved taking care of you, because he knew you would also take care of him. He loved you in the purest form and would do anything for you.

Changbin:

There were suppose to be six beds. Eight of the boys were going to share four of the beds and then you and the remaining member were going to have one bed. But of course there were only five beds. Meaning you and the other member had to either share a bed or somebody had to sleep on the floor. The left over boy was Changbin. You didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by offering to sleep in the same bed. Looking at him you reviewed your options.

“I could sleep on the floor” you offered

“No, no. How about we both just sleep in the same bed.”

“Alright” You felt grateful he offered it first.

He didn’t want to snuggle too much so that the boys don’t see it and poke fun at him. He’d feel super soft and warm inside. He was certainly grateful for that missing bed.

Hyunjin:

It’s hard being in the lime light all the time. The judgement, paparazzi, tabloids, the stress. He could feel overwhelmed at times. Unfortunately, today was one of those times. He called you asking if he could come over. You waited patiently for him on the couch. 

The door clicked open. you stood up to meet him in the hallway. When you saw him he dove for your chest. He held onto you tightly letting out a chocked sob. You wrapped your arms around him in hopes of comforting him.

“C-Can we go cuddle?” He let out softly

“Yeah, of course...” You both walked to your room and laid down. He put his head on your chest. Hearing your heartbeat comforted him.

Hyunjin didn’t feel nervous at all. You were his safety blanket, his little teddy bear. Nothing could ever touch him when he was with you.

Jisung:

It was your weekly movie night with Jisung. You were cleaning up your place and laying out some snacks for the both of you. Tonight was all about Christmas movies. A knock resonated in the apartment. You headed for the door and let him in,

“Hey”

“Hey” He looked horrible. Exhausted, sweaty and pale. Like he just ran a marathon.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m just a little tired...”

“How about we take a little nap and watch the movies later.” You pulled him closer and ran your fingers through his hair. Heading towards your room you ignored the awaiting living room.

You both dropped onto the mattress and quickly doze off.

Jisung really didn’t over think it at first. The next morning he did get shy but more rested than ever. So expect him to drop by more often for a nap.

Felix:

It was the big finale. You and Felix had been battling it out for the whole day now. Who was the best at Mario Kart. Up to now it was a tie. Understandably it had been a very high energy and intensity. No wonder your eyelids were so heavy. With Felix’s voice droning on and on, the warmth of the blanket strung over your lap and a tummy full of junk food, just made you even sleepier.

“Babe... y/n do you wanna go to bed?” You cracked your eyes open to see him hovering above you. 

“Yes please.” He slipped his arms under your knees and behind your back. He carried you over to his bed and slipped in after you. He drew your back closer to his chest and buried his nose into the crook of your neck.

He felt totally at peace. After such an amazing day with you, it only made sense to finish it with you. You were always high energy with each other it felt nice to spend some calm time together.

Seungmin:

Your stomach was in a knot and your heart was launching itself into your throat. Earlier that day you stood at his door with your bag under your arm. It was the first time you and Seungmin were gonna sleep in the same bed or even the first time you two had a sleepover.

Now you were getting ready for bed. Brushing your teeth while shooting subtle glances at each other through the mirror. 

“Are you ready to get to bed?” asked Seungmin. You spat out the rest of your toothpaste into the sink and slipped your hand into his awaiting one.

You both pulled the covers away and laid down. It was really awkward. Neither of you knew what to do. You both just laid there for a while. Until you took a hold of his hand for the second time that day. He turned his head to look at you and gave you a fond smile. He turned his hold body on his side to face you and so did you. Intertwining your legs and fingers together, you just admired each other.

At first it was awkward, neither of you had done this before and didn’t know what to do. But of course love just knew the way and you both quickly fixed it.

Jeongin: 

You were horrible at math but you excelled in languages. Miraculously, the exact opposite was true for Jeongin. Which is why you always studied together. You needed his help as much as he needed yours.

You were both sitting on your bed reviewing for your exams. You were bored out of your mind. Your brain felt fried and all you wanted to do was sleep. 

“Jeonging, can we take a nap?” you whined.

“Uh.. sure, I-I’ll go...” Scrambling to pick up his stuff, he turned as red as a tomato. You quickly grabbed his hand.

“No. actually. Could you stay?” You looked down, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure”

You both laid down facing each other. Both of you were feeling very bashful.

He was terrified something would go wrong. Yet he knew everything would be alright. As long as you were in each others arms.

[fursttimes]

Pandemic trip to South Korea

10/22/20 - 11/22/20 If you haven’t yet been to South Korea, I highly recommend it.

Why South Korea?

I wanted to visit South Korea for over a year since I discovered K Pop (and especially K R&B) and started watching K Dramas.  Here’s a gorgeous scene from the historical romance Mr. Sunshine.

My goal is to consume K content without subtitles. After studying on my own and hiring two different language teachers, I wasn’t improving much. In this situation, I rely on immersion.

I also listened to Miyoko Schinner’s Home Comforts where she cooks every Friday on a theme. That day, she was cooking Korean food inspired by her recent trip to South Korea. She said there was an entire vegan street in Seoul.  Then she said she brought a rescue dog back to SFO as the volunteer courier and that it was really easy.

As a 1st world country, South Korea shouldn’t be as challenging to navigate as other places.

Why now?

Yes, it’s odd that I’d be traveling during a pandemic where there’s a deadly airborne virus spreading across the globe.  Don’t get me wrong, there were a few bright spots during the year, Animal Run’s 1st Virtual Event being one, but combine the factors of

South Korea being a model for having one of the best containment strategies in the world (they never truly had a shut down)

Random lock downs in California

Weight gain from working from home

Working from home all by myself (with my cats)

I was buying useless things online

One cat passed away

Heat waves

Multiple forest fires

An extra-depressing day of being trapped underneath the dark smoky skies without sunlight

6 months left in a contract job that doesn’t require much brain power

Another crazy presidential election looming

I haven’t gone overseas since 2014

I’ve never been there before so my anticipation level was high

I wanted to bring a rescue dog back with me

My partner was OK with holding down the fort for a month without me

My job approved working remotely for two weeks and then taking two weeks off

10 days after getting approval from work, I boarded a plane to quarantine for two weeks and then explore the small but mighty country.

What’s the worst that could happen?

I could die. But when it’s time ...

I could catch the virus and spread it. But I was quarantining so bringing it back to the US was more likely than bringing it into South Korea.

My work laptop wouldn’t work.

Flight to Seoul

The direct flight was 12 hours and super easy. The plane was only 1/3 full so I was able to lie down and sleep for most of the trip. When I woke up, there was only 1.5 hours left before I landed at 4am. 

Stuck 4 hours at Incheon Airport

I pride myself on my research. Sure, I only had 10 days to study but I’ll watch a few YouTube videos and do some Google searching of what quarantine would be like. Then once done with my quarantine work day, I’d plan how to navigate the country which I knew very little about. 

Fact: When you don’t know what you don’t know, that’s just life testing you.

The plane landed smoothly and I turned on the airport wifi which was much stronger than SFO wifi. We walked over to immigration and they asked me why I was here. I’m a tourist. Do I know anyone in South Korea? No. I was able to pass to the next section. 

Down the hall, there were several tables with young military people interviewing everyone who just landed. I sat down and they asked what I was doing here. I’m a tourist. Do I know anyone in South Korea? No. Do I know anyone with a South Korean phone number. No. 

They explained they needed to call a South Korean phone number with someone on the other end who would pick up and say that they would be my “guardian” during my time in South Korea.  I told them that I thought the procedure was to install a sim card in my phone so I could be tracked wherever I went. They said no, they didn’t know about that, but I still needed the Korean phone number. 

I told them to call my hotel which I reserved for after quarantine. The hotel denied my request. Until I could come up with a phone number and guardian, I could not leave the airport. 

This was the moment I became worried. I wracked my brain for someone I knew might have a contact or relative living in South Korea.  I called Greg first to tell him the situation and to see if he had any patients who could help.  He did not. 

Next, I called a co-worker from several years back and several companies ago. She picked up and suspiciously said “Hello?” I explained my situation and it was a VERY awkward conversation. Ultimately, she was not able to help.

I decided to text a friend of a friend whom I’ve never met. A good runner friend FB introduced me to him a few days before my flight. He was kind enough to give me some recommendations of places to visit. I explained my situation in text. If I was lucky, maybe he would respond in the next hour or two.

After 3 strikes, I felt some panic and decided to sit down on the airport floor and take several deep relaxing breaths. After a few minutes of sitting quietly, it occurred to me to call the US Embassy. This thought came directly from my Peace Corps experience where I learned that embassies are there to bail out their citizens in trouble. So I requested a call to the US Embassy and he thought that was a great idea ... except that they are closed on Sundays. Sigh.  

I knew they have an emergency number though. I hesitated in calling that number since my situation was not life or death, but I thought about sleeping overnight at the airport ... so I asked the guy to call the emergency number.  

The woman on the other end was confused. She told me she had not heard of this requirement and thought that the procedure was to install a sim card on my phone. But she spoke to the guy and said she would straighten this out in 15 minutes. 

WHEW!!!!!!  

While we were waiting for her to call back, I learned that these full time military guys (not the 2-year mandatory military people) are rotated into the airport twice a week to do this interviewing job. I asked if there were other people like me who didn’t know about this requirement. He said yes. I asked him what those people did.  They also panic dialed people they knew, but I was the first (that he knew about) to call my Embassy.

I made it it through that critical step. My next step was to go ahead and install the sim card anyway. Another nice English speaking guy said he would help me, which was great, because the sim card lady spoke no English. Everything was going well until she hit a screen on my phone asking for an unlock password. 

UGH!!!  

I had paid AT&T in full to own my phone so it could be unlocked for this trip. This was a big missed step.  Oh well. The nice lady gave me my receipt, instructions on how to install my personal sim card back into my phone and a Customer Help number to call from my hotel during quarantine.  

Just one more interview before I was allowed into baggage claim. This guy asked me what I was doing in South Korea. I’m a tourist. Did I understand that I’d be quarantined for 2 weeks and that I would be paying between $1,400-$2,100 USD and that these prices are set by the Korean authorities?  Yes. 

Finally I was allowed to get my bags. With my brain completely fried, I descended to baggage claim and promptly made a wrong turn. I wandered through the intimidatingly cavernous baggage claim section. It was a strange experience to be in a fully lit air hanger with no other soul around, with no sound and where nothing moved. I certainly got my steps in.  After what felt like forever, I finally saw someone who pointed in the right direction. I picked up my bags and was told to board a bus headed to my quarantine hotel.  My plane landed at 4am and I boarded the shuttle at 8am.

Quarantine

It took 30 minutes from Incheon Airport to Gimpo’s Ramada Encore Hotel. This is a random quarantine destination probably depending on the time of day each bus leaves from the airport. 

I was excited. I officially entered South Korea ready to experience a two week quarantine in a new country. Hopefully, this was going to be the closest thing to prison that I will ever experience. 

When we parked in front of the hotel waiting for our instructions to disembark, a Russian woman with an infant started to cry.  She had an apartment in Seoul so the quarantine thing was a mistake. She didn't pack any diapers or formula for her baby.  She decided to stay on the bus because she didn't want to implicitly agree to the quarantine. I hope it worked out for her. There were about 10 other people on the bus with me.

We disembarked and lined up in front of people in hazmat suits who told us to line up, leave our luggage, and enter the processing room.  This was the hotel dining area or conference room which looked like a semi-organized mess.  Tables and chairs were stacked on top of each other.  The hotel was no longer a hotel but was a "processing center" so it looked like things were just shoved aside to make room for processing equipment.  There is no hotel staff.  These were employees of some agency.

The hazmat people taught us how to use the daily temperature check app (we need to take our temperatures 2x day) and assigned our rooms. I asked how many people were quarantining in the building? ~300. How many quarantine centers there were? 5-6 hotels. I told them I was vegetarian since vegan was not an option. They charged my card $1,450. I was lucky.

I got room 901. Once I went in, I cannot step outside of it for 14 days. As I took the elevator up and walked down the hall, I noticed orange bags filled up in front of the doors.  Those were the orange garbage bags with the hazard sign on it so that it would all be disposed of like radioactive waste.  

I entered my room and it was HOT.  I looked at the temperature gauge and it was 28C (82F).  I tried opening the window and it opened, but not enough to let cool air in. I tried the air conditioning setting but it was broken. 

There was a sign on the inside of the door warning me not to leave the room but to call the command center for questions. I called that number and told them that my air conditioner was broken and they said they turned it off, because it was fall, but they'd send up a fan. Sigh.

There was a white plastic bag on the floor with my welcome kit. 2 bottles of water, a toothpaste tube, a toothbrush, several small hotel hand soaps, slippers, five small hand/face towels and what looked like a cigarette box but had 10 small servings of instant coffee.  

I heard a knock on the door and it was food along with the fan, both wrapped in plastic bags. The food was AMAZING!  It was in a plastic tray and the main item was cauliflower and two awesome banchan, chillied perilla leaves and sweet yellow pickled radish.  So much flavor!  Whatever I suspected containing egg or dairy was thrown out along with the rice. With three meals a day, I was never hungry and I even managed to lose 4 pounds during quarantine.

I started unpacking and took a shower because it was so hot. When I stepped out, the hotel PA system turned on and a woman's voice said in English "Sir on the 9th floor in a red shirt, please go back to your room immediately."  Oh boy. I would find out later that my room has a hidden camera, because the PA system would go on reminding people not to smoke inside the room.

I checked if my laptop worked. It did!  Whew!!!  Then I heard a knock on the door.  It was two guys in hazmat suits ready to give me my first covid test.  I asked the first guy to help set up the TV screen as my 2nd monitor. BIG win since I didn't need to struggle with the Korean instructions. 

Then the 2nd guy took my temperature, swabbed my throat (I gagged) then told me the last step was going to hurt and which nostril would I prefer? I said "suprise me" and he proceeded to invade my brain through my right nostril. It was HUGELY uncomfortable but not quite painful. It felt like that nostril was drowning while I was still able to breathe through the other nostril.  Once it was over, I had a headache. I decided to call it a day and knocked out hard.

Quarantine Days 2-13

I woke up Bay Area time at 8 am which is midnight in Korea. The deal was to work during Bay Area hours then take 2 weeks off to explore.  I arranged the room to make it a home for the next 13 days. 

I pushed up the twin beds to give me more floor space. I set up my work station. Hung up my clothes. Placed all wastepaper baskets outside my door so that I wasn't collecting garbage inside my space.

My biggest fear was that something would happen to my work Chromebook during the trip from my house to the hotel. I was SO pumped to know that it was working once I popped it open. The following morning though, I noticed the battery was really, really low.  OMG!!!  I only had an hour of charge left. 

I checked the cord connections were firmly attached and looked up the voltage requirements.  The US has 110V and South Korea has 220V.  The plug said the laptop was fine to use in both. I verified online as well. Basically, I didn't need to have the cord plugged into the $50 voltage converter I bought specifically for this trip. I could plug it straight into the wall with an adapter. 

My humidifier, my toothbrush and my monitor had appeared "broken" as well. I plugged in my humidifier directly into the wall and it started working straight away. Although I was VERY nervous about it, I did the same for my laptop.  I listened for a “pop” sound in case the higher voltage fried the device, but I didn't hear one and saw that the laptop was charging normally.  WHEW!!!  That made me realize that most of our electronics are made in Asia and probably had to be modified for the US.  I didn't need to spend over $100 on two voltage converters from Best Buy. Lesson learned.  

I needed Greg's help with contacting AT&T to unlock my phone screen. That was a huge help. But then, I realized that I wasn't getting text notifications, required for some apps for identity verification. So I contacted Korea Telecom (KT) hotline to ask them how to fix it.  They sent me an email with English instructions but the texting still didn't work. Ugh!  They told me I needed to talk to tech support but but since they don’t speak English, I would need help from a Korean speaker. This ended up being very inconvenient but not terrible. 

Lesson: Next time, I’ll just rent a phone from the airport with a separate data card installed. 

Luckily the room was non-smoking so I didn't have to deal with a bad smell. Plus, there was ample shampoo/conditioner and body gel wash in the shower so I didn't have to use my supply. But what I saw in YouTube videos, I didn't get detergent and daily coffee. One YouTube video guy, who also quarantined at the Ramada, did mention that the floor was dirty, which I can confirm.  

I asked for a vacuum, detergent and coffee from the command center.  They gave me a sticky roller for the floor (I used two of them), an extra bar of soap for my clothes and told me they don't give more coffee. I can have as much water as I wanted though. I went through two sticky rolls, used the gel soap for my clothes and ordered coffee online from GMarket. Delivery takes 3 days so I had to ration my little mini sticks of instant. Rationing those sticks was my biggest challenge during the quarantine situation. Otherwise, it was fairly pleasant because I stayed busy working, exercising and vacation planning.

I strapped my phone onto my body to track my steps and tried to surpass it every day. The highest I got was just over 5k steps and averaged around 3.5k steps. I wrapped the 50-pound band to the door handle and did rows every time I threw something out on the other side of the door. I used the other 50 pound band for triceps and biceps. 

The early morning wake ups are cold and that's the best time for me to cardio. Then once 8am hits, the sun hits my window and it gets warm very fast so I have to use my blackout curtains and turn on the fan. I wash my clothes while I'm in the shower and let them dry overnight.

I would also get infrequent Covid cell phone alerts (like Amber Alerts) related to the residents in Gimpo. 

As I traveled around the country, I would get these alerts for the region I was in. When I returned to Seoul, I noticed the alerts were more frequent, but then again, 50% of all South Koreans live in Seoul. 

Day 14 Covid-Free and Freedom

If I had someone to pick me up, I could’ve left at midnight on my last day. But I had to wait to take the shuttle at 8:30am to be dropped off at Seoul Station, which is the main hub to the rest of South Korea via KTX train or subway.

When I finally left my room to go back down that elevator to Floor 1, the wind hit me like a jump into Lake Michigan. My room had been so warm that the 45 F degree weather shocked me.

Once we were dropped off 30-minutes later, I took a taxi to the hotel, initially to the wrong hotel, but eventually landed at the Nine Tree Premier Hotel Myeongdong II on 28 Mareunnae-ro.  There are three Nine Tree hotels so getting the address correct is important. 

Check in was at 3pm, so I left my bags and hit the streets like a race horse out of the gate. I happily overdid it by getting lost on the subway and walking over 10 miles on Day 1.  Four of those miles were pure stairway climbing because the subway system in Seoul is like navigating an underground mountain range. I continued to overdo it on Day 2-3.

My Itinarary 

Some pics and videos from each place

Seoul 3 days

Jeju Island 2 days

Busan 2 days

Gyeongju 2 days

Seoraksan 1 day

Seoul 4 days

Seoul - Olympic Park

Seoul - Museum of Modern History - Picasso’s Massacre in Korea 1951

Seoul - teamLab at Dongdaemun Plaza

Seoul - Royal Palace

Seoul - itseoulgood.com Mike Kim took me on a Vegan Food Tour 

Jeju Island - Iho Tewoo Horse Lighthouses

Jeju Island - Haenyeo Female Divers

Jeju Island - Hallasan

Jeju Island - The best vegan yogurt @ Cafe 901

Busan - Landscape. The buildings look like fake cardboard cutouts

Busan - Steamy Cart

 https://youtu.be/M9Sy3zvg17U

Busan - Seaside Temple

Busan - Gamcheon Culture Village

Busan - Cinema Center (Skater kids enjoying the enormous public space)

https://youtu.be/NHoiDJoiMUY

Busan - Cinema Center (Busan International Film Festival)

Busan - Joung Eunsun and her three challenges (which I brought home)

Gyeongju - Incredible Photo of Korean Refugees at a Restaurant

Gyeongju - Tumuli Park Burial Mounds

https://youtu.be/6pnKCMYgnIY

Gyeongju - “Cheomseongdae is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in Asia and possibly even the world. It was constructed in the 7th century in the kingdom of Silla. Cheomseongdae is mentioned in the popular Korean drama Queen Seondeok. In the 2009 drama, Cheomseongdae was constructed when Queen Seondeok was still a princess; this was her first decree as a princess. Cheomseongdae was meant to share the knowledge of astronomy with everyone, rather than letting one person (Lady Misil) abuse the knowledge of it. By doing so, she also abdicated her divine rights. Because this was uncommon at the time and unsupported by many conservatives, at the opening of Cheomseongdae, barely any nobles showed up.” - Wikipedia

Gyeongju - Wolji Pond

Travel Day! View from Gyeongju to Seoul on KTX

https://youtu.be/7LOpwQHFKpk

Travel Day! View from Seoul to Seoraksan on bus

https://youtu.be/XtUWWYcWjDE

Seoraksan - Giant screen at the park entrance

https://youtu.be/ZuTFW3acURg

Seoraksan - Yes, that is a guy riding down outside of the gondola

Seoraksan - Temple

Seoraksan - Reunification Buddha

https://youtu.be/HUo4IhzdWoU

Seoul - Insadong entrance mural of Royal Painting of Sun and Moon

Seoul - Art in Insadong

Seoul - Art in Insadong

Seoul - Subway scene (this is far from crowded)

Seoul - Night Hike along 600 year old Seoul Wall

Drinks afterwards

Seoul - My first makgeolli. It was good!

Seoul - While waiting for the Secret Garden Tour to start

Seoul - Secret Garden

Lessons Learned

[365-money-diary]

DAYS 70 - 76

DAY SEVENTY 

8:15 AM - I wake up feeling stuffed up. I had a cold all weekend and it’s not doing amazing things for my overall wellbeing.

8:45 AM - On my way to work, I stop at Dunkin’ Donuts and order a large hot black coffee and an order of hashbrowns. I stopped buying coffee Monday - Friday, but I have a little money leftover on my DD card for special instances. Today I am sick, out of toddy in the office, and I have a meeting at 10:00 that I have to prepare for and my intern will be at the office promptly at 9:00, so this seems like a good day to cash in. (No charge since I previously paid for my card to be loaded.) 

10:45 AM - After my meeting I check my accounts and see that nothing I spent over the weekend has hit #NOTSIMPLE. I check their support page and it says they’re aware of the issue and working on a solution soon. I also make more toddy for tomorrow, so I don’t have an excuse to stop at DD if I’m still feeling under the weather.

12:00 PM - I check the fridge and see that all of my Sprouts salad ingredients have held up over the weekend. I walk over and grab a bunch of kale and a can of ginger ale in case my stomach doesn’t react well to eating. $1.76

12:30 PM - Broth and salad. I save the ginger ale for “dessert.”

1:30 PM - I check my email and see that Facebook has sent me a $150 Amazon gift card for participating in a research study. Yes!

5:45 PM - I start prepping dinner before the game.

6:45 PM - Fries in the oven, we eat at half time.

8:30 PM - Cavs lose. Our house is very sad. My brain isn’t working very well from being sick, so we call it an early night. I’m asleep by 11:00 according to Fitbit.

DAY SEVENTY TOTAL: $1.76

DAY SEVENTY-ONE 

8:00 AM - I’m awakened by my boyfriend who is already dressed and out the door which is super weird for him. I shrug as I’m still a little pokey from NyQuil and sleep for another 45 minutes.

9:20 AM - “Late” for work. I’m still feeling super gross, but I pour myself a toddy and toast some bread which I accidentally burn. It doesn’t matter because I have no tastebuds.

2:00 PM - I am having a terrible day at work and I need nutrients. I get an Asian salad wrap from Chop Shop and a Cold Buster juice. $13.76

6:00 PM - Home from work. I am really exhausted and drained from the day. Boyfriend is not feeling well, but I push him out the door we go to AZ Mills. I buy a dress from the Levi’s store on clearance. $27

8:00 PM - We head back home. I’m not hungry from being upset from work and still stuffy.

10:00 PM - Pringles for dinner.

DAY SEVENTY-ONE: $40.76

DAY SEVENTY-TWO

7:45 AM - I am awake and anxious from last night 

8:45 AM - I arrive at work and I’m pulled into a meeting and before I know it, it’s 10.

10:15 AM - I get an unexpected text from my sister telling her she loves me and it lifts my spirits a little.

10:30 AM - I am finally starting to calm down, so I pour myself some toddy.

11:00 AM - I grab Fashion Square Food Court with colleagues. I end up getting a pizza from Fired Pie, but can only eat half. $9.17 

11:30 AM - I know I could use a little juice pick-me-up so I decide to try one of Jamba Juice’s concoctions. It’s not very good and I only finish half. $5.88 

2:00 PM - Our paychecks come. I deposit it into my checking account.

4:00 PM - I eat the rest of my pizza.

5:45 PM - I pull records for my set tomorrow at Valley Bar while boyfriend plays NHL on the X-BOX.

7:00 PM - We run to Phoenix to pick up some enamel pins I placed an order for. I’m starting an ecommerce freelance project soon, but I’m not including those expenses in here because they’re not personal.

8:45 PM - We order JJ for dinner. $21.80

10:30 PM - I’m exhausted from last night so I hit the hay. 

DAY SEVENTY-TWO TOTAL: $36.85

DAY SEVENTY-THREE

9:00 AM - I arrive at work and pour myself a toddy. I skip the toast because my appetite is still fucked.

11:00 AM - We all go to Noodles Ranch. I order a bowl of veggie pho. $10.64

4:00 PM - My face hurts so bad from my sinuses being clogged. I leave early to run home and take Allegra-D and Advil.

6:00 PM - My head finally starts to feel better. I put all my records in order for my set tonight and make sure I have enough tracks to cover 4.5 hours.

7:30 PM - I eat some chickpea salad for dinner.

8:00 PM - Off to Valley Bar! I load in and am ready to play by 9:00. There are a lot of friendly faces around tonight and I get compliments on my set. I know I still need to buy some more records to make it something I’m completely happy with, but overall I’m happy with it. I drink a few complimentary ciders throughout the night as well.

1:30 AM - Set is over! I pack up my stuff and get my check ($125) and head home.

2:00 AM - Bed.

DAY SEVENTY-THREE TOTAL: $10.64 

DAY SEVENTY-FOUR

8:30 AM - I am alive.

9:15 AM - Toddy. No toast today. We have a half day anyways and are going to eat lunch at 11:00, so what’s the point, really? I’m definitely super stuffy still, but am way better than I was yesterday.

9:30 AM - I deposit my check from last night into #NOTSIMPLE. I’m saving all the money I get from DJing for a new mixer. Only $1475 left to go.

11:30 AM - We all head out to Farm & Craft. I get a kombucha cocktail and some black bean tomato tofu thing. It’s so overpriced, but whatever, it’s Friday. $33.07

1:00 PM - Home. I am pretty exhausted and still super stuffy, so I lay down and watch 60 Days In until my boyfriend gets home from work.

3:00 PM - I get an email from #NOTSIMPLE saying they can’t deposit my check because it’s made out to my middle name. I contact support and start working on getting it squared away. Within the hour, they say I can redeposit it, but I left the check at work, so I’ll have to try again on Monday.

6:30 PM - Boyfriend is home. We watch a couple episodes of Cold Case Files and eventually drag ourselves out of the house.

8:30 PM - We go to Zia and I buy a used Kesha record and a Lost Balloons LP that came out today. I also see two new books from David Sedaris and Chuck Klosterman. I make a mental note to download these to my Kindle. $36.73

9:45 PM - We eat dinner at Red Robin. My Boca Burger is cold. Boyfriend pays.

10:30 PM - I am so exhausted. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

DAY SEVENTY-FOUR TOTAL: $69.80

DAY SEVENTY-FIVE

9:00 AM - A phone call from my sister wakes me up. We chat for about an hour and then I call my mom. Boyfriend wakes up around 10:45 and I cut my mom loose.

11:30 AM - We head to Cartel and Einstein’s. Boyfriend pays for both today.

12:30 PM - We try and figure out something fun to do today, but after going through all of our options, we eventually decide it’s way too hot (It’s already 105) and head home. We stop at CVS on the way so I can buy Allegra-D and some saline nasal spray. Damn, this shit is expensive. $35.44

2:30 PM - My boyfriend colleague is in Tempe and wants to grab lunch. We head to Haji Baba and all get falafels and hummus. I cover the tab for all of us and my boyfriend tips. $20.15 

4:00 PM - We binge watch some Cold Case Files before leaving the house again.

6:30 PM - We head to AZ Mills to play some arcade games at Tilt and to hit up the Nike Store. It’s very rare that I see shoes in my size that I actually like, but I spot a pair of Kobe’s that I can’t resist. They’re $100 at 20% off. $86.47

7:00 PM - Tilt is so great! I play a girl in Dance Dance Revolution who isn’t very good at all but we have a lot of fun. I show her some fun songs to play on light while I blast through them on standard and heavy mode. I used to be super good, but my stamina is terrible now that I am out of shape. Afterward, I am coughing uncontrollably and I feel like shit, so I just play pinball for the rest of the time. $21

8:15 PM - We head out and I grab a water from the vending machine. I carry a water bottle with me most of the time (especially during summer), but we both decide it would be an asshole move if I had them fill it up at the bar at Tilt. $2.25

8:30 PM - We stop at Walgreens on our way home and buy our friend a birthday card, some travel tissues, and a couple other goodies. Boyfriend pays.

9:30 PM - We arrive at The Whining Pig in downtown Phoenix for our friend’s party. I help myself to a blueberry sour on my boyfriend’s tab. It’s so yummy. I also find that birthday girl has saved me a vegan banana cupcake! I’m so stoked. I split it with another girl who seems to be super into nutrition. I laugh about how vegan food is still terrible for you (I mean we’re eating cupcakes), but she doesn’t seem to think it’s very funny. 

11:00 PM - We head to Cornish Pasty downtown and head to the basement. I order a New Belgium Kriek. At this point, I’m really not starting to feel well. I kind of regret drinking while sick, but because I went three months sober recently while dealing with UTI and vaginal issues, I kind of jump at every opportunity I get. At some point, boyfriend and I are both not feeling it, so we bounce. $9

12:30 PM - I eat a fig bar and we head to bed.

DAY SEVENTY-FIVE TOTAL: $174.31

DAY SEVENTY-SIX 

8:30 AM - I wake up coughing. Boyfriend suggests urgent care. At this point, I’ve been sick for 10 days and I know I’m dealing with a sinus infection. I agree.

10:30 AM - We grab coffee at Cartel and bagels at Einstein’s. I pick up the bagels. $7.56

11:00 AM - Off to urgent care. Not having insurance is lame. They prescribe me with Augmentin. I ask for a paper script so I can price match various places, but they accidentally call it into CVS. $170

11:30 AM - I show GoodRx coupon code to CVS folks and they run it through. I also grab some cough drops. Boyfriend pays because he feels bad for me. (He’s the one who got me sick after all.)

 3:30 PM - Fuck. I have a yeast infection. I google side affects of Augmentin and it’s on the first line of issues. I am eternally bummed. I text my sister (she’s a doctor) for support. She assures me that it won’t be like last time and that I’ll kick this super quick. I run back to CVS (I know we go there a lot and it’s really pricey but our closest grocery store is way further away.) and grab a Monistat 1. $24.85

5:00 PM - I am feeling terrible so I lay down and take a nap.

6:00 PM - Boyfriend wakes me up and says he wants to go back to the mall to play pinball. I am feeling better, so I join him. I still have money on my card from yesterday so it’s “free.”

8:15 PM - I am really hungry from not eating much today so I order Jimmy Johns. $10.12 

8:30 PM - We watch an episode of Cold Case Files and are in bed by 9:30.

DAY SEVENTY-SIX TOTAL: $212.53