#this is the first time in my life where theres nice looking clothes in my size and they're not hidden in the dark corner of the stores

[dunmertwink]

.

[asahicore]

love calculator - pjh (m)

this work contains smut - minors please do not interact

pairing. best friend!jihoon x fem!reader

synopsis. You were sure that Jihoon only took care of you so well because your brother had tasked him with looking after you when you started university, so you tried not to read too much into his actions until you couldn't deny your increasing sensitivity around your best friend anymore. What you didn't know was Jihoon was going crazy, finding ways to make his feelings for you more obvious than they already were.

genre. f2l, brother's friend, slight childhood friends action, college au, slow burn?, fluff, smut (mutual first time, they do it raw, dirty talking, very soft dom!jihoon)

warnings. jihoon is a menace, jihoon has a hot bod, junkyu is mean to everyone, mc is a bit slow, side romance but i dont actually ship idols i have a life, omegle, ok theres no actual stuff to be warned about its all good in there

word count. 28.2k dont ask me why or how idk either

a/n. there she is... i spent SO much time on her pls love it lots or i'll cry.. it was sm fun writing for jihoon omg i hope u love hoonyn as much as i do !!! @zreamy my dear sweet little zo ty for betareading this and freaking out over jihoon u rock

1K follower trope event - requested by @mosviqu, tysm for requesting and i really hope u enjoy it !!!! - listen to the playlist!

Oddly enough, it was Jihoon’s biceps that first made you think something was wrong with you.

It was the fourth week of the spring semester, that odd in-between when you knew midterms were creeping up but were still far away enough to be ignored. This meant that you could party guilt-free.

The plan for tonight was to pregame at one of those huge uni dorms where ten students shared a kitchen then head to an overpriced club downtown that always had the best music on Friday nights. You didn’t have any classes on Fridays, so you’d headed to Jihoon’s place around four p.m. to get ready together. Usually, that was something you’d do with Minjeong, your roommate, but that weekend, she was away for an excursion with her Geography course. 

He was in the shower when you rang the doorbell, so his flatmate let you in, and you made yourself comfortable on his bed while waiting for him. You were so engrossed in the romance Webtoon you’d started that morning that at first, when he came in, you didn’t even look up from your phone. 

“Hey, Y/N,” he said casually, unfazed by your sudden appearance in his room. The soft smell of his body wash filled the room, and you noted with smugness that it was the one you had jokingly given him for Christmas after you’d gotten fed up with his strong, ever-present Axe scent. 

“Hey, Hoonie. You smell nice. For once.”

He chuckled. “It’s all thanks to you.”

“What would you do without me?” you said with a sigh, then looked up. You shouldn’t have. “Oh.”

The sight you were met with was unlike anything you’d ever seen in real life - Jihoon in all his post-shower half-naked glory, a simple white towel hanging low on his hips. Small beads of water fell from his hair and dripped down his chiseled chest and onto the plush carpet lining his bedroom.

You were pretty sure you’d seen at least five scenes like this in your romance comics.

“Oh?” he parroted.

You squinted your eyes at your friend before turning your attention back to your phone. “You’re naked.”

From the corner of your eye, you saw his grin widen. “I’m wearing a towel.”

“A towel isn’t clothes.” He turned around to rummage through his closet, and you took that opportunity to observe him more closely. This was the first time you saw your friend without a shirt, and you were trying your very hardest to not freak out, but it was a bit hard not to. Who would have known that under his baggy shirts and sweaters, Jihoon was hiding firm abs, broad shoulders, defined back muscles and protruding biceps?

His arms were what really got you, because you felt like you should have noticed them before. You’d already caught yourself staring a little bit too hard at the veins on his hands and forearms during a lecture before, so you could’ve conjectured that the upper part of his arms was well-defined as well. As mesmerizing as the shifting of his shoulder muscles was, what you really couldn’t look away from was the bump that formed his bicep. 

“Jihoon, have you always had… arms?”

You had barely even realized you’d said this out loud until Jihoon turned around, a confused look on his face. His lips drew into a smirk when he saw how fixed your gaze on his biceps was.

“No, they just grew recently. Thank you for noticing.”

“No, I mean… arms. Muscles.”

“Oh, these?” he said, flexing his arms and pecking his biceps in such a cheesy way that it snapped you out of your reverie and made you burst into laughter. “I started working on them last year so, yeah, they’ve been around a while.”

“Huh,” you said, then picked your phone up again and resumed your reading. “Well, you should work harder, ‘cause it’s the first time I noticed them.”

Jihoon scoffed. “Don’t act like you weren’t just drooling over my dream bod just seconds ago.”

You looked up, outraged. “I wasn’t drooling, I was observing. And don’t call it a dream bod, that’s gross.”

“My bod is a dream bod.”

“Stop it.”

“Can you look away from my dream bod for a sec? I need to put some pants on.”

“I’m already actively not looking. This dude is way hotter than you, by the way,” you said, waving your phone.

“Let me see him,” Jihoon said, heading towards you after successfully putting a shirt and sweatpants on. Gray sweatpants, you realized with a frown. He took your phone and looked back and forth between the character on the screen and you, an expression of disbelief on his face. “Y/N, this is a two-dimensional fictional character that exists in a fairyland. It hurts my feelings when you call him hotter than me.”

A lip grew on your lips. “Yes, but he has pointy ears and doesn’t refer to his body as a dream bod, so he’s a ten in my books.”

As you spoke, Jihoon lay down on his bed, stretching his arms behind his head and resting it on his palms, looking up at you with a grin. You didn’t know what to make of the sudden flip of your stomach.

“Will I be a ten in your books if I stop calling it a dream bod?”

You laughed. “Dream bod doesn’t even sound real anymore.”

“I don’t think it ever was, to be honest,” Jihoon replied, laughing along. “Or maybe they invented it for me.”

--

After that riveting discussion, you watched the show you’d been watching together (which, you had been surprised to find, Jihoon had the discipline to not watch ahead for), then finished getting ready. That night out hadn’t been particularly extraordinary. Pre-gaming had been fun and chaotic, but the line at the club had been so long that you’d all sobered up by the time you were inside and none of you felt compelled to pay for six dollar shots. At least the good music and nice DJ that took all of your requests made up for it.

The interesting bit happened on the bus ride back home.

By some miracle, Jihoon had run into some of his friendly course seniors that apparently liked him so much, they decided to pay for all of his drinks. Only an hour after getting into the club, he was nothing short of wasted. In your five months of being at university with him, you’d not once seen him in such a state - disheveled hair (from dancing too hard or from getting his hair ruffled like a cute dog by all of his seniors, you weren’t sure), deep red blush staining his cheeks, forehead, ears and neck, unfocused eyes and constant lopsided grin. When he almost tripped over his own feet during Gimme More by Britney Spears, you knew it was time to go home.

Jihoon was usually the one that had to deal with a drunk you, so you didn’t mind taking care of him this time. It was actually kind of fun, seeing this new side of the person who had become your closest friend in the past months. 

Luckily for you, a night bus ran directly from the downtown area you were in to the street you and Jihoon lived on, and you managed to lug him to the bus stop. Getting him onto the bus and into a seat was an arduous task, but you made it, and were enjoying a calm, uneventful ride home until you felt Jihoon’s head drop onto your shoulder. You thought he’d just fallen asleep, but then the unmistakable sound of his voice made itself known to your ears.

“Y/N, Y/N…” Jihoon murmured with a muffled voice, burying his face in the crook of your neck. You tried to ignore the prickly feeling down your spine when his lips moved against your skin.

“Yes, Hoonie?” you asked, a tilt of amusement to your voice. You really had never seen your friend so intoxicated.

He sighed, lifting his head from your shoulder and resting it against the window with a bang. He didn’t even wince at the impact of his head against the glass - the alcohol had apparently rid him of the sensation of pain.

“Don’t call me that,” he mumbled, voice so quiet you had to ask him to repeat himself. “I said don’t call me that!” 

You were taken aback by his sudden burst of irritation, but he sounded more like an upset child than anything.

“Call you what? Hoonie?”

“Yes.”

“Why? I’ve always called you that.” You tilted your head at him, but he kept his eyes fixed on the road outside.

“Exactly. You’re the only one who calls me that. Everyone else says Jihoon,” he said, annoyance clear in his voice. It sounded like this had been bothering him for a while, but it was complete news to you. “Can’t you even be bothered to say my full name, or something?”

You chuckled and brushed some hair out of his face. Like an angry cartoon character, he puffed air out of his nose and crossed his arms over his chest. His frown deepened and a blush spread over his face that was already red from the alcohol. “Should I call you Jihoon from now on?” you asked softly.

His reaction was immediate. He whipped around, almost knocking your head with his, a look of total alarm on his face. His eyes were almost teary. “No!” he exclaimed loudly, garnering glares from some of the other passengers in the bus who probably wanted some quiet this late at night. “No,” he repeated, this time more quietly, and turned back to the window.

In slight disbelief, you chuckled again. “What am I supposed to call you, then?”

“Just-” he started, but cut himself off with a sigh. “Just call me whatever.”

A small smile tugged at your lips. “I’ll stick to Hoonie, then.” 

He groaned as he lifted his head from the window and let it fall back against your shoulder. The angle must’ve made it highly uncomfortable for his neck, but he didn’t seem to mind. He only stayed still for a few seconds before shifting slightly and burying his face in the dip between your shoulder and your neck once more, then let out a low hum of satisfaction. 

“You smell nice,” he mumbled. Your breath caught in your throat. He was too close, his lips were too soft and his breath was too warm against your skin. Your whole body felt hot, like the bus driver had suddenly cranked the heat up and turned the bus into a sauna. “Like almonds,” he added, pressing his nose deeper into the base of your neck and inhaling there.

You tried to laugh, hoping it would dissipate the tension in your body, but it only came out as a choked sound. “It’s my body lotion,” you explained, voice weaker than you’d intended.

“Hm.”

You didn’t know what it was about Jihoon’s proximity that made your head spin so - no one had ever made you feel this way, and the fact that your body was reacting so intensely to someone you had considered your best friend for the past months made it all the more confusing.

“Are you asleep?” you asked him in a small voice after he’d been silent for some minutes.

“Just sleepy,” he murmured, shifting in his seat again. You tried not to shiver at the tickling sensation of his hair against your neck.

A pause. “Jihoon?”

“Don’t call me that.” You smiled, but there was a slight whine to his voice that, for some reason, made your heart ache. 

You corrected yourself. “Hoon?”

“Mmh?”

“Why did it bother you that I call you Hoonie, all of a sudden?”

He took so long to answer that you almost thought he hadn’t heard you. “Because… every time you call me that, it makes me love you more,” he answered, voice getting gradually lower until it became a whisper.

Everything seemed to disappear around you. The other passengers, the seat underneath you, the blinking lights and the night sky outside the window. It was just you and Jihoon, his body warm next to yours and the only thing keeping you tethered to Earth.

“Makes you… love… me?” you echoed tentatively. 

But no answer came. When you bent your head down to look at Jihoon, it seemed like he had fallen completely asleep, mouth slightly agape and the blush of alcohol still red on his face. You didn’t know what to make of his words, but there was no point asking him about them now. So you let him sleep on your shoulder, only waking him once you were nearing his stop. 

--

Jihoon woke up the next morning with a pounding head and a bruised ego.

He had always prided himself in his ability to drink copious amounts of alcohol and yet only end up tipsy. Sure, it wasn’t exactly good for his body, but it meant that he never had to turn down a drink or watch on the sidelines as his friends did shots, and he could still get home just fine and not wake up with a head-splitting hangover the next day. Unlike you, who started giggling for no reason after one pint of beer and who tore it up on the dancefloor or talked to strangers like you’d been besties for years after two shots of tequila.

It only made his state of the previous night that much more embarrassing. He wished he had your amazing memory-erasing superpowers - but sadly, he didn’t, and what happened in the bus was glued to his brain. 

Before he could even lift his head or get a cup of water, his phone rang, the sound invading his ears and splitting his head in two. He slid a thumb across his phone to accept the video call and was greeted by a close-up of Junkyu’s smiling face.

“Rise and shine! I heard someone got their party on last night.”

Jihoon groaned loudly, chucking his phone somewhere on his bed so he didn’t have to see his friend’s face anymore. His was definitely not the face he wanted to see first thing in the morning. Unfortunately for Jihoon, Junkyu had been blessed with an extraordinarily loud voice that still rang clear even when the speakers of Jihoon’s phone were stifled by his blankets.

“Y/N sent me a video of you. You looked ridiculous, man.”

“I hate you. I hate your face, I hate the way you talk, I hate how mean you are to me-”

“I can’t hear you. What was that?”

With another groan and a lot of difficulty, Jihoon raised his upper body and retrieved his phone. “You suck.”

Junkyu’s smile widened. “Well, that’s all from me. Have a glass of water!” he said cheerily before hanging up. Jihoon had never wanted to kill someone so badly.

His murderous feelings softened when he turned his head to find a plastic bottle of water and a headache pill along with a handwritten note on his bedside table. Have this and text me when you wake up! with five hearts at the bottom. It wasn’t signed, but he knew it was from you.

When the two of you met up for brunch sometime later, he kept searching your face and reading into your actions for any sign that what he’d said last night had made you uncomfortable. He’d expected you to be awkward around him, but your attitude almost made him think he’d imagined the whole thing. You joked around with him as usual, as if he hadn’t practically confessed to you last night, and he was desperate to know what might be going through your mind.

Had you forgotten? Had you chalked it up to him being drunk and talking nonsense? Had he had just thought it very hard, and not actually said it out loud? Or, worst of all, had you heard it all and understood him and decided to just ignore it for the sake of your friendship?

Jihoon was going crazy. He could barely taste his chicken and waffles.

The truth was, you just had no idea what to make of his words, and you were scared bringing it up might make things awkward. Jihoon could have forgotten all about it, or he could have meant something entirely different from where your wild, romance-comic-filled imagination went. Save for his tired eyes and groggy voice, he was no different at breakfast than he usually was, so you dropped it.

--

“Okay, Y/N, I think it’s time for you to go home now.” 

Different Friday night, different party. A week had passed and neither of you had mentioned what Jihoon had said on the bus - it wasn’t quite out of your minds just yet, but you’d both separately decided to pretend nothing had happened.

This time, Jihoon had found you in the hallway playing beer pong and downing the cup of beer your opponent had thrown the ball into. Everybody cheered you on as you gulped the cheap liquid down before lifting the empty cup over your head, eyes screwed shut at the unpleasant bitterness in your mouth. Jihoon wasn’t sure why you were playing - you hated beer, and you had one of the worst throws he’d ever seen. But even he, who was supposed to look after you, couldn’t suppress a smile at your attempt and inevitable total fail at scoring a point for your team. Even with all the concentration in the world, the sheer amount of alcohol in your system would’ve made it impossible for you to make it.

Back against the wall and arms crossed over his chest, he watched amusedly as you squinted your eyes at the cups across the table from you, even sticking out your tongue as if that would make your aim any better. After a few tense seconds, you threw the ping-pong ball and hit Lee Jeno right in the chest. You’d giggled at your own failure, letting people pat you on the back for trying and reassure you that it’s okay (even though you really didn’t care) before stumbling right into Jihoon. 

As soon as you’d recognized your friend’s face, you’d thrown your arms around his neck and pulled him down into a hug as you yelled his name happily; his hands had come up to your hips and gently pushed your body away from his. Then, he’d said the words you always hated to hear at a party.

“But we just got here!” you cried, the same answer you always gave him when he wanted to leave. You started walking away from him and back into the kitchen for more alcohol. He sighed but was quick to follow you.

“We got here three hours ago. Plus we did pres at Yoshi’s place. You’ve had way more than enough to drink,” he said, snatching a cup you’d just filled with punch from your hands.

“I was gonna drink that!” you complained, leaning against the counter for support. 

Jihoon took in your swaying body and your dazed eyes and knew he had to get you home. Any more alcohol and you’d pass out in this stranger’s apartment. Usually, he’d let you drink to your heart’s content and just make sure you got home safe afterwards, but midterms were coming up, and you’d planned on studying the next day - he was just trying to minimize the severity of your hangover. 

You mustered your most pitiful expression - to drunk you, there was no way Jihoon could resist your pouty lips and sad eyes. “Do we really have to go?” you asked, and Jihoon had to read your lips because of the loud music. 

He smirked, seeing right through your little act. He bent his upper body so that his lips were right next to your ear. “You’ll thank me tomorrow,” he replied, making you drop your fake sad expression.

“I should go say bye to Minjeong and the others first.”

“I’ve already told them we were leaving.”

You rolled his eyes at him and his stupid smile and lifted yourself from the counter, immediately losing your balance. Maybe you had drunk too much. At least Jihoon was there to catch you and prevent you from falling. He tried to put his arm around your shoulder to support you but you stepped away from him and fixed him a pointed look.

“I can still walk, you know.”

Jihoon smiled but said nothing, gesturing at you to go on and walk. You turned around and started making your way out of the place, ignoring Jihoon’s snickers as you bumped into various party-goers and pieces of furniture.  

When you reached the front door, you decided that actually, no, you couldn’t walk. Sliding against the wall, you let yourself drop into a crouching position. Your head suddenly felt like it was twice its normal weight and you regretted those last few shots of whatever it was you had drunk.

Jihoon sighed as he lowered himself and grabbed you under your armpits to lift you up. He had never been more thankful for an elevator and a bus stop only a minute’s walk away from where you were. Standing under bright lights in a desert and quiet street, it appeared like an oasis to Jihoon. Whoever’s party this had been, they lived in a really calm part of town. At this time on a Friday night, Jihoon’s street would be teeming with drunk students deciding which bar or club they should head to next.

You had never been more thankful for a bus stop with seats. You plopped yourself down on one of them, resting your head on the glass behind you and tightening your jacket around your shoulders. You closed your eyes, deciding this was the perfect time for a nap. 

“Are you cold?” Jihoon asked, his voice keeping you from nodding off. You let out a non-committal hum in response which he wasn’t sure how to interpret. He chuckled and you heard a rustling sound before feeling an added weight on top of your body. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he murmured, then sat by your side.

Next thing you knew, Jihoon was making you stand again, and your feet moved of their own accord as he led you inside the bus. As soon as you were seated, you drifted back off to sleep. You jolted awake when your head drooped over, making you feel like you were falling. You sat up straight and looked around the empty bus, frantically asking Jihoon where you were.

“I’m taking you home,” he answered, laughter clear in his voice.

“Oh, okay,” you mumbled, and closed your eyes once more, falling back asleep in a matter of seconds. 

Jihoon watched with a tender smile as your mouth opened slightly and let soft snores escape it. Scooting closer to you, he placed his palm on your cheek and pulled your head towards his shoulder so it could rest there.

“Why do you drink so much if you can’t handle it?” he asked quietly, even though he knew you were already in dreamland.

--

When you opened your eyes the next morning, you felt like a kid who had fallen asleep in the car on the way home from a distant relative's wedding and mysteriously woken up in their bed. You stretched out your limbs, enjoying the softness and warmth of your sheets covering your body until a headache and pasty mouth hit you like a ton of bricks. It felt like the alcohol had made your brain shrivel inside of your skull - your whole body was screaming for water. 

Some kind of miracle had made a large glass of water appear on your bedside table, and you gulped it down in mere seconds. The hour on your phone read 10:24 a.m. - so much for getting up early and going to study at the library. 

You’d have rather stayed curled up under your blankets and slept the rest of your hangover off, but some rustling noises from the kitchen (and an intense need to pee) forced you out of the comfort of your bed. You stumbled into the kitchen to find Jihoon placing a pancake atop an already dangerously high stack. 

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” he greeted you, glancing at you with a smirk on his face as you made your way towards him. You stood behind him and rested your forehead at the base of his neck, as if catching a few last seconds of sleep. 

The feeling of your hair against his skin sent shivers down his spine and he hoped his shaky intake of breath had gone unnoticed by you. His pancake was ready and he had to put it on the plate behind him, but as if a cat had fallen asleep in his lap, he couldn’t get himself to move. This was a moment he wanted to cherish - although you never particularly kept your distance from him, he was still always greedy for more of your touch.

“Hey, Hoonie,” you replied in a groggy voice. “Thank you for breakfast,” you said, moving to rest your lower back against the counter next to the stove. He missed you immediately. “And sorry for being a nuisance last night.”

Jihoon smiled at you as he turned to place the pancake on the stack. Then he leaned in slightly and you made sure not to breathe through your mouth so he wouldn’t smell your morning breath. 

“You always apologize, and yet who’s dragging you home every single weekend?” he asked with an amused grin that let you know he wasn’t actually bothered by it.

He turned back to his pan and ladled more batter into it, forming a perfectly circular pancake. “Sorry,” you repeated guiltily.

He shook his head. “I’d rather be there and make sure you get home safe. And it’s not like I don’t have fun at those parties.” 

A small smile on your lips, you nodded and let his words assuage your guilt. “I’ll make coffee as a token of my gratitude.”

“How kind of you,” Jihoon teased, beaming. 

No matter how many times Jihoon reassured you, you still felt bad that he thought it his obligation to do those things for you.

Although you’d only grown closer at the beginning of your first year of university, now six months ago, you and Jihoon had known each other since you were thirteen, and he fourteen. You still remembered his braces, wide boba eyes and round cheeks from your teenage years - when you saw him again five years later, you couldn’t deny your surprise at his much… manlier appearance. Sharper jaw, broader shoulders, taller figure, deeper voice - it was hard to recognize the Jihoon you’d known and the Jihoon in front of you as the same person.

His parents’ job made their family move around a lot - your town had been their fifth home since Jihoon’s birth already. The year and a half they stayed went by far too quickly, and before you knew it, you already had to say goodbye. Jihoon and Junkyu had grown really close in that year, and since you were always in your older brother’s business at that time, you’d developed a liking for your brother’s best friend, too. You liked the way he’d ruffle your hair whenever he came over to your house, the way he remembered strawberry milk was your favorite, and the way he’d wave at you in the school hallways, effectively making you cooler than all of your friends for knowing someone who was in the year above. At the time, you hadn’t known if what you felt for him could be described as a crush - all you knew was that for the rest of high school, you missed him. 

When you found out that he had not only come back to South Korea to study, but that he was attending the university of your dreams, you couldn't have been more excited. But you chalked it up to the relief of knowing someone in an otherwise unfamiliar place.

Jihoon had been even more welcoming than you’d expected. He had come to get you at the airport with a big, colorful Welcome Y/N banner, helped you move into your dorm and treated you to a meal the night you arrived in town. Over the following weeks, he’d introduced you to his friends, showed you around campus, and kept inviting you out “so you would know where the good spots were.”

Thanks to him, settling in had been a much less stressful and emotionally exhausting process than you’d expected. But no matter how grateful you were, you couldn’t help but wonder why he was going to these lengths to welcome you. 

Somewhere in the town center, there was a square that was extremely popular among skaters for a reason beyond your understanding. But at almost any time of the day and night, you could find people practicing their skating there. You’d just left a bar nearby with Minjeong, Jihoon and his friends, and to an intoxicated you, skating, something you had never attempted before, seemed like the thing to try out right then and there. You ran up to the first skater you found and asked him if he could show you how to ride.

Minjeong had run after you, finding a skater of her own while Jihoon’s friends either watched or talked about something else amongst themselves. Of course, the inevitable happened, and as soon as the skater let you try skating on your own, you’d fallen on your hands and knees. In a flash, Jihoon had been by your side, frantically asking if you were okay and making you show him your palms. They were only grazed, and one of your knees was bleeding very faintly, but Jihoon acted like you’d just broken something. He got you to get on his back so he could carry you to the nearest pharmacy, leaving his friends and Minjeong to wonder what the hell was going on. You tried telling him you were okay and could walk on your own just fine, but he wouldn’t listen. 

He’d sat you on the curb in front of the all-night pharmacy and asked you to wait as he got disinfectant and bandages. You watched his face closely as he rubbed medical alcohol on your wounds. A crease had plagued his eyebrows ever since you fell, and he would not stop mumbling something about you needing to be more careful and you’re lucky you didn’t get hurt badly.

You hadn’t realized you were crying until one of your tears fell on Jihoon’s hand, hot against his skin, and he looked up at you with worry, any of his previous frustration with you wiped from his expression.

“Y/N? Why are you crying?” he’d asked, voice soft, as if trying not to scare you.

You sniffled. “Why are you so nice to me?”

His eyes softened and a small smile grew on his lips. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

You couldn’t bring yourself to mirror his smile, and the more you cried, the sadder you felt. Inexplicably, your tears just fell and fell and fell. Under the bright white lights of the pharmacy, in the cold of a particularly chilly September night, Jihoon wrapped an arm around you and let you cry on his shoulder. He didn’t ask any further questions, just waited for you to calm down as he rubbed a hand up and down your back and whispered in your ear that it was okay.

When you thought back on it now, you knew that it had just been the alcohol making you unreasonably emotional - you weren’t actually sad about Jihoon looking after you, if anything, it made you happy. But once you’d started crying, you couldn’t stop.

“I’m just looking out for you,” he’d said once your sniffling had somewhat lessened. You’d leaned back to look at him. 

“But why?” you’d whined.

Your frown had deepened as his smile had widened. “Because we’re friends.”

“Is that it?” 

“Well, Junkyu also asked me to look after you,” he admitted sheepishly. 

You gasped in affront. “He what?!”

“Y/N-”

“So he’s been forcing you to do all of this?” you asked, voice breaking at the end. Your anger had lasted two seconds - you’d gone back to being sad at the thought of Jihoon only being nice to you because your stupid big brother had asked him to.

“No, no, it’s not like that, listen to me-”

“I can’t believe the two of you! I’m not a child-”

“Nobody said you were-”

“So you don’t actually even care-”

“I do!” Jihoon had exclaimed, louder than you’d expected, and it shut you up. “I do,” he repeated, voice softer. His hands were still on your upper arms, and he leaned in closer. “You’re his little sister. Of course he was worried about you leaving home. He just asked me to make sure you don’t get into too much trouble,” he explained, lightly tapping the tip of your nose with his finger. 

He sighed, smiling as he watched you try to keep an upset expression on your face. He took the bandages out of the pack he’d just bought and stuck them with caution on your wounds. “But I wouldn’t be doing all of this if I didn’t care, Y/N.” When your eyes met again, you hadn’t known what to make of the look in his. “I missed you, you know.”

Just like that, the ducts behind your eyes filled up again, and large, hot tears streamed down your face as you rested your forehead against Jihoon’s shoulders again. He chuckled at your dramatics but placed a reassuring hand against your hair. “I missed you, too,” you replied between broken sobs.

He’d texted his friends to take Minjeong with them and go on without the two of you, then carried you back to his apartment, which was thankfully only a five-minute walk away. 

Ever since that night, you and Jihoon had been inseparable. He continued checking on you consistently, bringing you food and coffee without you even asking and, of course, getting you home safe from nights out. 

You were thankful to have a friend like him.

“Pancakes?!” your flatmate exclaimed as soon as she walked through the door, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Hey, Minjeong,” you and Jihoon greeted in unison. 

She was wearing her clothes from last night and her hair was a mess, but she had a bright expression on her face (despite the faint mascara stains underneath her eyes). You narrowed your eyes at her but she made a beeline for the food, completely ignoring you.

“Hot,” she mumbled as she held a pancake between her fingers, but threw a piece in her mouth anyway. “You’re so lucky to have a boyfriend like him, Y/N,” she said around her food.

“Isn’t she?” Jihoon replied before you could say anything.

You rolled your eyes at the pair in front of you and poured a cup of coffee for Minjeong. She referred to Jihoon as your boyfriend so often that you didn’t bother to correct her anymore. “Not my boyfriend. And even so, he’s more like a bodyguard than anything.”

“Being a bodyguard is just one of the many duties of being a boyfriend,” Minjeong declared, easily ignoring you. “Don’t you agree, Jihoon?”

He nodded, a serious look on his face. “Absolutely. I take what I do very seriously.” When his eyes found yours, he shot you a wink. Your frown deepened. 

“Anyway, care to share why you’re coming home so late?”

A blush creeped on Minjeong’s cheeks. “Well, Yoshi’s place is quite a ways from here…” she murmured, looking down at her half-eaten pancake. 

“Called it!” you yelled, just as Jihoon let out a loud “no” of shock and defeat.

“Next takeaway is on you,” you told Jihoon with a proud smile. In a mature response, he stuck his tongue out at you.

Minjeong frowned at both of you. “You guys bet on this?” she asked, vexed. Jihoon exchanged a look, glanced back at her, and shrugged. “Not cool. I didn’t even know something would happen with him. How did you guess?”

You smiled. “You always go for the cute ones.”

She hummed in agreement, her expression almost a pained one. “He’s just the cutest little thing ever, I couldn’t help myself.” She took a sip of her coffee, cringing at the bitter taste before getting up to fetch sugar and milk.

You sighed at your friend. “You’re gonna break that poor boy’s heart.” You knew Minjeong wasn’t to blame for the boys that got attached to her when she made it clear she wasn’t looking for a relationship - but if it happened to Yoshi, you’d feel guilty. You’d met him in a tutorial for one of your Digital Media courses and he seemed like he wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’d invited you to do pres at his place, and you’d dragged Minjeong and Jihoon along, so they’d met through you. In a way, if Yoshi fell for Minjeong and got hurt, it’d be your fault.

“I told him I didn’t want anything serious,” she said, pouring as much milk as there was coffee in her mug.

“He doesn’t seem like the type to do casual stuff,” Jihoon chimed in as he placed the last pancake on top of the stack. But it was one pancake too many, and the whole stack fell over. Jihoon wasn’t rattled - he placed a few on his plate then rebuilt the stack.

Minjeong ate her last bite of pancake and got up from the stool. “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“We? This is your problem, babe,” you said.

Minjeong smiled at you, eyes crinkling as she pressed a wet kiss to your cheek. You were sure there was some pancake left on her lips. “You’re such a good friend, Y/N,” she said, making you laugh. Of course you’d help Minjeong if she needed - but you were starting to feel bad for all the hearts she kept breaking. “I’m going back to bed,” she announced. Then, she put her hand next to her mouth as if telling you a secret, but spoke loud enough for Jihoon to hear anyway: “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, is all I’ll say.”

Jihoon choked on his food and you let out a groan of disgust, but you both burst into laughter anyway. “I want details later!” you called out.

“You won’t be disappointed,” she said between giggles as she closed her bedroom door behind her. 

Just then, your phone buzzed with an incoming video call, Junkyu’s face taking up your screen. “Hey, ugly face,” you greeted, propping your phone up against the milk bottle.

“Hey, stink.”

“Hey, Kyu!” Jihoon called out and took a seat close next to you - you knew he was just trying to squeeze into frame, but the sudden proximity still made your breath catch in your throat for a second.

Your brother’s eyes narrowed. “What are the two of you doing together on a Sunday morning?”

You looked at Jihoon, then back at your screen. “Is there something wrong with Sunday mornings?”

“Not inherently, no…” your brother conceded. “But still.”

You rolled your eyes at him and his meaningless suspiciousness. “We just went to a party together last night and he crashed here afterwards.”

“She was so wasted I had to bring her home. And I made pancakes this morning.”

“Y/N, if you don’t marry this guy, I will,” Junkyu said with all the seriousness in the world, and Jihoon made a kissy face at him.

“What’s up with everyone today?” you sighed. “I’m going to shower. You two have fun.” You knew your brother probably didn’t have much to tell you anyway - he liked calling you for no other reason than to bother you. 

“Oh, we will,” Jihoon said with a suggestive tone, and you made a vomiting noise before disappearing into the bathroom. 

“When I told you to look after her, I just meant to make sure she doesn’t drink too much or get involved with weirdos. I didn’t mean to make her pancakes on Sunday mornings,” Junkyu teased, a knowing smile on his face. 

Jihoon looked down at his place, a small smile growing on his lips as well. “I know, but I like doing those things for her.”

Junkyu let out an odd noise, half out of disgust and half out of annoyance. “I can’t believe you. Just ask her out, already.”

“So you don’t like me at her place on a Sunday morning, but you want me to ask her out?”

Junkyu rolled his eyes (Jihoon thought this was a family trait, at this point). “I’m trying to help you out here, buddy. I know she’s my little sister, but you’re also my best friend,” he started, ignoring Jihoon’s aww, “and I don’t know how much longer I can stand you being in love with her but not making a move.” He paused to sigh. “I know you’re a good guy, so you have my approval, or whatever.”

Jihoon smiled somewhat sadly, picking at his food with his fork. “I appreciate it, Kyu, but I really don’t think she feels the same way.”

“How do you know that? Have you asked her?” Junkyu asked, not even trying to hide his impatience.

“No, but-”

“Do I need to do it for you? Do you want to hide behind my back while I tell my little sister, hey, my friend here has something he wants to tell you? Hey, my friend thinks you’re pretty, do you want to talk to him? Are you a big baby who can’t do anything, Park Jihoon?”

“No, I just-”

“You know, if this were a k-drama and you were the main lead, everybody would get Second Lead Syndrome. Me included. You suck.”

“Supportive as ever, Kyu,” Jihoon said, sighing.

“If you don’t ask her, you’re a bitch. I’m hanging up now,” Junkyu said before Jihoon could get another word in. He just shook his head, chuckling as he dug into his pancakes again.

The two of them had had this conversation about a thousand times, and they always came to the same conclusion: Junkyu thought Jihoon should confess his feelings to you, and Jihoon dismissed the idea, knowing he’d never have the guts to do it. To him, making jokes about being your boyfriend and relentlessly flirting with you was sign enough of his affection for you - you just needed to figure out that he wasn’t actually kidding at all. He was already doing half of the work for you, really. 

An hour later, the two of you were sitting on the fifth floor of the library, where nobody ever dared to venture because of its dark corners and maze-like rows of bookshelves. It creeped Jihoon out, but it was your favorite place to study, so on days he couldn’t convince you to go to a nicer spot, he sucked it up and followed you to the table you liked by a window that overlooked the park next to the campus. The window let some light in, but to get there, you had to go through dim hallways that looked like they hadn’t seen a human soul in years. Jihoon didn’t know how you’d found out about it in the first place. It felt like something a fourth-year would keep as a secret, not something a first-year would have discovered in her first months of attending uni.

As he observed your sleeping figure, Jihoon couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed. You’d gotten about twenty minutes of work done before resting your head atop your crossed arms, claiming you would just take a “power nap.” He couldn’t believe you’d emotionally manipulated him (pouted up at him and gave him puppy eyes - with that look on your face, Jihoon would agree to murdering someone for you) into going to this creepy part of the library only to sleep almost immediately after getting there. 

He bent down onto his arms, mirroring your position, and let himself have this moment. Even though he saw you all the time, it wasn’t often that he could shamelessly stare at you and get away with it.

He watched as your shoulders rose and fell to the consistent rhythm of your breathing, as the sunlight pouring in from the window made your eyelashes cast shadows against your cheeks. You looked so peaceful that any trace of his irritation towards you vanished. It wasn’t like he could ever really be mad at you.

Jihoon loved how little you had changed in the years you’d been apart. Of course, you’d grown into your features and didn’t quite look like the thirteen-year-old version of you he’d known, but still, you had the same face and same habits he’d fallen in love with in the first place. 

He still remembered the way his heart had swelled when he’d found your face amongst the crowd at the airport, how his whole body had buzzed with excitement at the idea of finally seeing you again after all these years. When you’d received your admission email from your university, the first thing Junkyu had told Jihoon was that he’d better look after you. It wasn’t like he didn’t think you couldn’t handle yourself, but it reassured him, knowing someone he trusted so much would be there to help you adjust to university life, since he couldn’t do it himself. 

Jihoon had taken this seriously. Junkyu hadn’t given him any sort of instructions - the picking you up at the airport, introducing you to his friends, making sure you were well-fed and well-caffeinated, that was all him. At first, he tried convincing himself that he was doing this in an old friend, big brother fashion - he knew how close you and Junkyu were, so he fancied himself a sort of Junkyu 2.0 for you to rely on. 

It had been when he saw your red, puffy eyes, trembling lips and tear-stained cheeks that he realized his old feelings had resurfaced. After all, don’t they say you never really forget your first love?

Truth be told, that whole night had been a dead giveaway. From the moment you met up at the bar to his little nurse moment in front of the pharmacy, his heart had not stopped racing. He kept checking on you, making sure you were having fun and handling your alcohol, and stuck by your side the whole time, like a bee to a flower. 

He remembered standing arms crossed over his chest and observing you with narrowed eyes as you tried out skating. He was telling himself he was just watching in case you got hurt, but he couldn’t ignore the way his stomach twisted with a hot, unpleasant emotion as the skater guided you, hands on your waist. He didn’t like that you held that stranger by his shoulders, relying on him and not Jihoon for support, or that you laughed together like you’d been friends for years. Jihoon was your long-time friend, not this random long-haired, baggy-shirted, vans-wearing loser skater that probably had a name like Mark or something.

When you’d fallen from that skateboard, his heart had dropped in his stomach. He’d been sick with worry that you’d gotten badly hurt, and even upon seeing your barely-grazed palms and knees, he hadn’t been reassured. 

Seeing you cry had made him panic like crazy. He tried his best to comfort you, but had no idea whether he was doing a good job. For days after that night, he’d replayed the conversation the two of you had under the lights of the pharmacy. 

“Why are you so nice to me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m just looking out for you.”

“But why?”

“Because we’re friends.”

“Is that it?” 

Jihoon hadn’t known whether you meant, is that the only reason, or, are we only friends? But he’d thought the second question was wishful thinking on his part. So he told you about the promise he’d made to Junkyu, and that had somehow made you even more upset. Even though he hadn’t said it outright, he’d thought he had made it clear that he wasn’t only doing this because Junkyu had told him to - he also wanted to be there for you. He did care, more than he wanted to admit. 

Over time, his feelings for you had grown far bigger than simple teenage nostalgia - he loved your present self impossibly more than fourteen-year-old Jihoon had loved thirteen-year-old you. He thought he made it obvious - he always made sure to compliment you, remembered your coffee order and favorite dishes from your favorite restaurants, rushed to your side whenever you needed him, and did everything he could think of to support you. Sure, he relentlessly teased you as well, but that was just Jihoon.

If you noticed him, you didn’t show it. He wasn’t sure whether you genuinely didn’t know he wanted you as more than a friend or were playing dumb, but he knew you saw him as something like a second older brother. But Jihoon had come to terms with that - he’d rather be in your life as a friend than not at all.

This was why he was grateful for moments like these, when he could just look at you without you knowing. 

After five minutes, Jihoon quietly got up and bravely made his way through the dark hallways and back outside to get you a drink - in case you woke up grumpy from your nap, he knew a matcha latte would appease you. He almost got lost on his way back, but when he found your table again, you were still sleeping. He couldn’t help himself - before rousing you, he snapped a quick picture of your sleeping face, making sure to get the drool pooling at the corner of your lips in frame. The photo went into his Y/N folder, full of pictures and videos he’d both secretly and not-so-secretly taken of you, which, no, wasn’t creepy at all, thank you very much.

When he pressed one drink to your cheek and the other to your forehead, you woke up with a gasp, then immediately winced at the pain in the side of your neck from the uncomfortable sleeping position.

“I wasn’t sure whether you’d want a hot one or an iced one, so I just got both.”

“Ooh, iced, please,” you said. “Thanks, Hoonie.” But before you could grab the drink, he snatched it away.

“No drinking until you get at least one thing done,” he said, a satisfied smirk on his lips.

You frowned. “But the ice will melt and it’ll taste all watery.”

Jihoon didn’t want to give in so easily. 

“Hm?” you hummed, tilting your head at him.

Jihoon gave in, handing you your drink with a tut. Seeing your excited grin and hearing your sigh of contentment after taking a sip made it worth it. 

About two (surprisingly productive) hours later, your stomach started demanding nourishment, and who were you to deny it? Your hangover was strong that day, and even the pancakes and coffee hadn’t completely rid your mouth of its sour taste. You needed something salty and greasy, so you pitched going to the fried chicken place a few blocks down to Jihoon, who agreed immediately.

On the way there, you tried to recollect some moments from the party yesterday, but quickly realized that not much was coming to mind. Pre-drinks at Yoshi’s were clear in your head, and so was walking to the other party - but the better part of your memories after that were fuzzy or non-existent. 

“Hoonie?” you suddenly asked.

“Hm?”

“Did I do anything embarrassing last night?”

Jihoon chuckled. “Not more than usual.”

You groaned and pushed his shoulder, making him laugh even more. “I mean, you just kinda danced like crazy and talked to absolutely anyone. At some point you were gone for like twenty-five minutes, and I found you in the bathroom taking selfies with girls I’d never seen before in my life.”

You pulled out your phone and checked your gallery - indeed, there were about fifty pictures of you and some random girls. “Who are they?” you asked, more to yourself than to Jihoon, in disbelief at how comfortable last-night-you looked with these strangers. “They seem nice enough, I guess.” You laughed with Jihoon before sighing. “Well, that’s not too bad. I’ve done worse things.”

Jihoon made a face as if to say, Yeah, I know, and you rolled your eyes at him. You returned your gaze to the path in front of you, but if you’d kept on looking at Jihoon, you’d have noticed the smirk growing on his lips as a joke formed in his head. After some time, with a shit-eating grin on his face, he broke the silence. “Oh, well, there was also that moment when you confessed your undying love for me, tears streaming down your face, begging on your knees, all the works. That was pretty embarrassing. But I get it.”

It was so ridiculous that you couldn’t help yourself from laughing as you slapped his shoulder. “You wish,” you said between giggles.

I do wish, he immediately thought, but kept it to himself. He laughed instead and could only hope his real thoughts weren’t so obvious. 

--

Two things happened in the fried chicken shop restaurant.

Well, three, if you counted their promotion on their chicken rice cake coleslaw menu, which was your favorite and which Jihoon always chided you for ordering (“Anyone who likes coleslaw is not human”), but in the grand scheme of things, that wasn’t so important.

First, your mom called. Now, this wasn’t anything huge in itself, but it was Jihoon’s behavior that got to you.

You had gotten maybe five words before he snatched the phone from you and lifted it to his ear. “Hi, Mrs Kim!”

You heard a faint but enthusiastic “Hi, Jihoon!” on the other side of the line. They made small talk for a bit, and you couldn’t believe your mom could have forgotten about her only daughter so quickly. You’d dived back into your fried chicken, pretending you didn’t care about whatever it was they were talking so energetically about, until you heard your name on the other end.

Your and Jihoon’s eyes met. A mischievous smile spread across his lips and your gaze hardened. “Yes, well, you know her, she’s a bit of a nuisance, but I’m keeping her out of trouble and all that. I saved her from joining a cult the other day,” he said, and you rolled your eyes at him.

“Oh dear!” you heard your mother exclaim.

“You didn’t save me from anything, I knew what that woman was up to.”

You’d been waiting for Jihoon outside of the movie theater when an older woman approached you. She seemed friendly enough, and you thought she was just a lonely grandma in need of a nice discussion - which it was at first, until it veered towards religion. Next thing you knew, she was telling you stories about the upcoming end of the world and how we had to beg for salvation. You didn’t believe any of it, but you found it captivating, so you stood there listening to her and egging her on until Jihoon showed up and forced you out of there. You thought it’d have been funny if he’d listened along, but knowing Jihoon, a small part of him might have actually believed her and started freaking out.

“I didn’t know you and my mom were so chummy,” you said when the phone call was over. She hadn’t even asked to talk to you again.

“Your mom’s awesome. I can’t believe such a lovely woman gave birth to two gremlins like you and Junkyu. Are you sure you’re not adopted?”

It had seemed like nothing at the time, but when you played the scene over again in your mind that night as you lay in bed, the fact that Jihoon got along with your family filled your heart with an unexpected warmth. It was almost like he was part of the family himself - not in a third child way, but more in a if you brought him home to your family, he’d fit right in, a thought that had made you panic as soon as it’d appeared in your mind. Because why were you thinking of bringing Jihoon home? Why did it make you so happy, knowing he’d be welcomed with open arms?

You shook your head against your pillow, hoping it’d make those thoughts vanish. You reassured yourself by telling yourself that you’d be just as happy bringing a friend like Minjeong home, and that you were sure she’d get along just fine with your brothers and parents. 

The other sign had been much more straightforward. You weren’t afraid to eat messily in front of Jihoon, so some honey barbecue sauce had spread over the corner of your lips as you wolfed down one of the wings. As soon as Jihoon started to lean in across the table, you knew you were in trouble.

Not only did he wipe the sauce off your lips with his thumb, but he licked it off of his finger, never breaking eye contact throughout the whole ordeal. Your whole body tensed and you swear you stopped breathing for a second. 

It only really lasted maybe five seconds, but felt like hours to you. You glared at him for a bit before diving back into your chicken, hoping you didn’t look as flustered as you felt. But Jihoon and his stupid, proud smirk probably knew what he’d done to you. As if that wasn’t enough already, he even had the audacity to whisper cute under his breath. Your eyes snapped back up to his face, but he just smiled and nodded towards your food, telling you to keep eating. 

Over the next week, the word cute refused to leave your mind. You kept replaying that scene over and over - the feeling of Jihoon’s thumb on your lips, the sight of his own lips around his thumb, his gaze through it all. It wasn’t the first time such thoughts of Jihoon plagued you - once, he’d guided you through a crowded club with a hand on your lower back and the way the warmth of his hand against you had made you feel prompted you to ignore him for the rest of the night. Another time, he’d kissed you on the forehead after dropping you off at your apartment and you hadn’t been able to look him in the eyes for the following week. 

You took the small but meaningful events of that day as your second sign of your new odd feelings directed towards your best friend, feelings that you didn’t know how to name just yet.

--

Crazy rich Yoon Jaehyuk was having a pool party at his house, and basically everyone was invited. If you knew about the party, you could go - all Jaehyuk had to do was to tell maybe ten people and let them spread the word. As his partner for an English Linguistics class you had together that semester, you were one of those privileged people who’d known firsthand about the event and had made sure to tell everyone you knew to come. You shouldn’t have been so surprised to find what must’ve already been a hundred people on the front lawn, inside the house and around the pool when you showed up with Jihoon and the rest of your friends there.

Coincidentally, this was when the third sign occurred. Third time’s a charm, as they say, and the events of that night and those following cemented your growing hunch that something really was up.

Pre-drinks at yours and Minjeong’s place had already taken quite a toll on you. Jaehyuk lived at the edge of town, quite a ways from your flat, but the vodka cranberry you’d snuck in on the bus prevented you from sobering up during the long ride. When your group arrived at the party, both you and Minjeong were ready to dance. But before you could rush to wherever the dancefloor was, Jihoon caught you by the wrist, effectively stopping you in your tracks. Your eyes went from his fingers around your wrist to his smiling face, a surprised look on your own. 

“We’re gonna head directly to the pool. Don’t drink too much, okay?”

Your lips blossomed with a smile. Typical Jihoon. “Okay.”

The alcohol probably had something to do with it, but a surge of affection for your friend hit you and you stood on your tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek before taking Minjeong’s hand in yours and making a beeline in the direction of the music.

I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas was calling your name and you didn’t think to turn around to look at Jihoon, so you missed the way he watched your figure retreating into the mass of drunk students as he tried to commit the warmth of your lips against his cheek to memory.

You and Minjeong made your way to the center of the crowd, shrieking with drunken excitement when you found a group of girls from one of your shared classes there and exchanging very brief pleasantries before falling into the rhythm of one of your all-time favorite party songs. In your humble opinion, no one understood partying like The Black Eyed Peas did.

You only leave the dancefloor on one occasion, which is to take a round of vodka shots with your new best friends for the night - Jihoon had said not to drink too much, not not at all. One of the girls (Yunjin, you thought, but she showed up to class so seldom you weren’t sure) had a trick of pouring a lick of strawberry syrup before the alcohol, so that you wouldn’t be hit with the nail polish remover aftertaste of vodka. You were delighted to find it worked (almost) like magic.

It’s about an hour later when you and Minjeong reach the pool, not quite sober but more so than when you’d arrived at the party. For a pool party, there were definitely less people there than inside the house, maybe due to the fact that it was the end of February and most people didn’t want to risk getting hypothermia from the temperature difference between the heated pool and the cold outside. 

The relatively small number of people makes it easy to spot Jihoon, in nothing but his swimming trunks and a towel around his shoulders, sitting on a longchair a dozen or so meters away from you. Something about half-naked Jihoon, you’re not sure what, makes you want to walk over to him and do… you’re not sure what, but Minjeong frantically slapping your arm and whispering your name stops you from doing whatever it was you wanted to do. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Yoshi is right there,” she whisper-yelled. Indeed, Yoshi was in the pool, not far from where you stood, playing with his friends you recognized from pre-drinks at his place the other day. Minjeong’s face was redder than you’d ever seen it, and you recalled a conversation you’d had earlier that day.

“Will Yoshi be there?” Minjeong had asked, trying to sound innocent.

You’d looked at your flatmate with an incredulous look on your face. “Yes, he’ll be there, you slut. I thought you never went for a second time?”

She’d shrugged, an unusually shy smile playing on her lips as she looked down at her feet. “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

This was very unlike Minjeong - in your six months of knowing each other, it was the first time you ever saw her even consider getting with someone a second time. You didn’t know what sort of spell this Yoshi guy had cast on your friend, but it must’ve been very effective. 

“Go talk to him,” you simply said.

“What?! No way, I can’t- Oh my God, he’s looking at us,” she said, words rushing out of her mouth, “he’s looking right at us, isn’t he?”

You just laughed at your friend and waved at Yoshi who was already waddling towards your edge of the pool. “Hey, Yoshi!” you called excitedly. At the sound of your voice, Jihoon’s head snapped towards you. He wasted no time in yelling your name, motioning for you to come over, so you gestured back that you’d be there in a minute. 

“Hey, Y/N!” Yoshi called back with the same tone. “Hey, Minjeong,” he added, tone somewhat quiet, but the blush that grew on his cheeks told you you weren’t the one he was most happy to see. 

“Hey, Yoshi,” she said so quietly, you weren’t sure the boy could even hear her.

“Nice to see you guys here,” he said, talking to you but glancing nervously at Minjeong. 

“You too!” you replied, and before he could add anything, you placed a hand on your friend’s shoulder. “Well, I’m sure the two of you have a lot to talk about. See you later!”

You grinned innocently at Minjeong as she called your name, eyes wide in panic. She was a big girl, and Yoshi was clearly into her - she could handle herself. Jihoon eyed you amusedly as you made your way towards him.

“Are you setting them up?” he asked when you were within earshot of him.

“I’d be a bad friend if I didn’t at least try. I’ve never seen Minjeong blush over a guy, so this must be serious.”

A few of Jihoon’s friends were hanging out next to him, people that you knew from the many parties you attended together but that you rarely saw outside of drinking contexts. You waved at them before sitting on the deckchair next to Jihoon’s. He pivoted in his seat to face you, seemingly not minding that he’d just turned his back to his friends, then scooched his chair closer to yours so that your knees touched. You rested your palms next to your thighs and kept your gaze down. Something about Jihoon kept you from meeting his eyes, tonight. Maybe it was the half-nakedness.

Jihoon eyed you for a little bit, wondering what was making you so unusually quiet, before looking behind his shoulder to check whether Minjeong had been able to make progress on her own.

“Looks like it’s going well,” he assessed.

You followed his gaze to find Minjeong sitting at the edge of the pool and kicking her legs in the water while Yoshi stood next to her, water up to his belly button. You smiled as they giggled and splashed each other - it was going well, indeed. 

“Have you been in the pool yet?” you asked, shifting your gaze to the party-goers playing in the water. The echoes of people talking and water splashing were quite loud, but Jihoon was so close that you didn’t need to raise your voice too much. 

“No, I just took my shirt off for the hell of it.” 

You had meant to bring your eyes up to his face, you really had - but somewhere on the way, they stopped on his abs, and got stuck there. It was probably a full five seconds before you could look away from the well-defined muscles on his stomach and finally meet his eyes. He didn’t need to say anything - the smirk playing on his lips and the slight surprise in the raise of his brows were enough to tell you he had not missed your stare. 

You looked back to the pool, eyebrows slightly creased in shame at having been so obvious. Thankfully, you had brought a drink with you and took a swig of it there. “I wouldn’t put it past you.”

You were trying to ignore the way Jihoon’s eyes burned into the side of your face, the way they followed your every move, but with each passing second, you felt more conscious of them. Not unlike one would try to escape a wasp, you thought that going into the pool might tear Jihoon’s eyes away from you at least for a little bit. It’s not that his gaze made you uncomfortable, like that of a random old man in the street would, but it definitely made you feel… things. Things that you didn’t necessarily want to dive into. 

The problem was that, to go into the pool, you’d need to get into your swimsuit. You’d thought ahead and had come already clad into your bikini underneath your clothes, a black, strapless tube dress that was easy to take off so you could jump into the pool at any time. But getting rid of that dress right in front of Jihoon and his watchful eyes was more nerve-wracking than you’d imagined. 

You downed the rest of your cup for some liquid courage and shot up from your seat, releasing a deep breath as you did so. You thought it was better to just get it over with than make it last any longer than it needed to. Jihoon’s eyes glinted with amusement as they followed your every move.

“Let’s go back in.” 

Your plan had been to lift your dress off of your body and head straight to the pool, but Jihoon’s gaze made you freeze in place after stripping. You couldn’t quite describe it as lustful, or as hungry, because there was a hint of surprise there that softened it. It was like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing and loving it at the same time, if the slowly growing smirk on his lips was anything to go by. Your whole body felt like it was on fire, a fire that made your knees turn to jelly and that rendered you close to breathless.

You let his curious eyes travel your body for a few seconds before clearing your throat. “Do you want a picture or something?” you asked ironically, hoping your voice didn’t sound as shaky as you felt.

His smirk only widened. “No need. The real thing is so much better.”

You tried not to cower under his shameless gaze, instead stood up straighter and stared right back at him. “My eyes are up here, you know.”

“I know,” he replied, but his eyes stayed trained on your body. You watched as they slowly made their way up your legs, took in your stomach and waist, then paused on your chest, which was quickly falling and rising with your shallow breathing. It was only when you scoffed and crossed your arms that he looked at your face.

Still that lopsided smirk on his lips, he stood up and languidly made his way towards you. He came so close that you had to slightly crane your neck to meet his gaze.

Your heart raced as he let a few seconds of silence stretch between the two of you, keeping his eyes locked in yours. “Nice eyes,” he murmured after a pause, the sudden depth of his voice sending a shiver down your spine.

After six months of seeing him almost every day, one would think Jihoon’s flirty personality would not have such an effect on you anymore. And most of the time, it didn’t - even back in the day, he was already fond of teasing you, so usually, him telling you how pretty you looked, patting your head or him tucking stray strands of hairs behind your ear went somewhat unnoticed by you. Or at least, it was easier not to freak out over “small” things like these.

But this was one of the times when you thought he was really pushing it, and you lost the ability to even eye-roll, which was your usual defense against his flirting attacks. You hated to admit, but you just couldn’t pretend it didn’t have an effect on you. You hated it because you knew he was just flirting as a joke, not because he was actually interested or anything of the sort, and you felt stupid that it still did something to you - although you sometimes doubted whether he really was doing it just for fun. You wanted to think he was acting the way he was on purpose, to get a reaction out of you. It’d make you feel less of a fool.

Before you’d even had time to understand the meaning behind his words, he’d already walked away from you and to the pool. When your senses had come back and you spun around, he was already inside the water. He looked like a cute wet puppy with his hair sticking out all around his head, especially when he shook it and let droplets of water fall off his hair and splash around him, and you couldn’t believe this was the same man that had essentially called your tits nice just moments prior.

The raging butterflies in your stomach were your third sign.

You must’ve stared long, because after a while, your eyes met again, and a smile reappeared on his face. An actual smile, this time, not a smirk or anything of the sort. As if nothing had just happened - as if it was absolutely natural for your best friend to practically devour you with his eyes like that. 

He waved you over and you noticed Minjeong and Yoshi were with him, seemingly waiting for you as well. When you reached the edge of the pool, someone entered the room with a platter of shots of God knows what, and you immediately reached out for one and downed it. Sambuca, you realized with relief as the sweet liquid burned its way down your throat. That way, if your body kept buzzing the way it had been around Jihoon, you could blame it on the alcohol and nothing else.

Minjeong and Yoshi were already back in their new little world, but Jihoon watched with an amused grin as you measured the temperature of the water with a foot, then, deeming it warm enough, made your way towards your friends. There, the water reached up to your shoulders, and the fact that it got up to just a little bit under Jihoon’s chest only marked your height difference further, which shouldn’t have made you as flustered as it did.

“Didn’t I tell you not to drink too much before going into the water?” Jihoon asked, laughter clear in his voice.

“How about you let me drink as much as I want, and make sure I don’t drown?” you bit back, even though you knew it wasn’t much of a comeback. You had spoken in an irritated tone that, going by the way his smile softened, Jihoon found cute.

“Okay, I will,” he said, and the sweetness in his tone only served to further unnerve you.

If he noticed your annoyance, he didn’t say anything. 

You let yourself be convinced to play a game of chicken fight against Minjeong and Yoshi, which (along with that shot of Sambuca) made your competitive streak kick in and allowed you to, at least momentarily, forget about your irritation towards your friend. The reason behind that irritation was something you didn’t even want to think about.

Somehow, you endured the prickling on your skin as Jihoon kept your thighs tightly pressed around his shoulders with two big hands. Even when he squeezed the flesh there or craned his neck to look up at you with those big, round eyes of his, you managed to not let the way your stomach flipped get to your head. 

You weren’t sure how you won all three rounds of chicken fight, if it was thanks to Jihoon’s devotion to the gym, or yours to the free weekly Sunday morning pilates class your uni gym offers. It might’ve been down to the level of complicity you and Jihoon had built over the months that Yoshi and Minjeong hadn’t reached yet (if that can even be a factor in chicken fight success) - all you know, is that you do, and that even underwater, Jihoon’s hands burn as they snake their way around your waist, and press your body flush to his in a celebratory hug.

Some time later, you sit at the edge of the pool by yourself, having been deserted by the two lovebirds who not-so-sneakily snuck away under the pretext of getting some drinks, as well as by Jihoon who was called by some friends to join him back in the pool. You were at the level of tipsiness that made you want to self-introspectively sit on your own and people-watch for a little bit.

Until someone broke your peace.

“Hey, Y/N,” you heard a vaguely familiar voice say. Before you could respond, Kim Sunwoo was sitting next to you, a bit too close in your opinion for your level of acquaintance, clad in black swimming trunks that let the band of his Calvin Klein underwear peek through. 

He wasn’t half bad-looking, you decided in that instant.

“Oh, hi, Sunwoo,” you replied, smiling as you unquestioningly accepted the drink he offered you and thanked him for it. You peered at the orange liquid and decided it was the right color for alcohol before taking a sip. It being orange vodka didn’t come as much of a surprise. “I didn’t know you knew my name,” you admitted.

You recognized Sunwoo’s face from the Introduction to Literary Theory lecture you’d had last semester, and had learned his name when the lecture had to be online due to the professor falling ill, and he was one of the few brave students who had turned his camera on. With a face like his, you understood where the confidence came from.

Then, one night out on the town with Minjeong and other friends, you’d run into him at the counter of a bar, and had exchanged a few (flirty, if you recalled correctly) words, but not your names, hence the slight confusion.

He chuckled and you watched as two deep dimples appeared on his cheeks. “I did my research before coming here. Sadly, no one knew what kind of drink you liked, so I went for something basic and prayed.”

“This is perfect,” you said, laughing.

“To be perfectly honest,” he starts after a slight pause, “I’ve seen you around campus, and we even saw each other at a bar once, didn’t we?” he asks, and grins when you nod. “I felt stupid for never asking for your name, or your number. So when I saw you sitting here, I thought it must be fate that brought me to this party.”

You had barely registered his words, let alone formed any sort of response in your mind when Jihoon suddenly appeared in front of the two of you, placing a hand right next to your thigh on the pool edge. You hadn’t noticed him swimming your way.

“Hey, Sunwoo. I see you’ve met my girlfriend,” Jihoon blatantly lies as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The shock is apparent on Sunwoo’s face, and if it wasn’t for the sweet, convincing smile Jihoon was looking at you with, you might’ve let your surprise show more.

Sunwoo didn’t know Jihoon like you did, so you didn’t know whether he noticed the tightness in his grin, the challenge in his slightly raised eyebrows, or the general way he was holding himself that screamed Leave. But he must’ve noticed something, because it only took him a few seconds to start nodding slowly and rise from his seat.

For some reason, you stayed quiet, letting the word girlfriend and the way it had rolled off Jihoon’s tongue so easily repeat over and over again in your head. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he had said it so convincingly that you almost questioned whether you actually were Jihoon’s girlfriend. Before you could think any more about it, however, Sunwoo broke the increasingly tense silence.

“My bad, man, I didn’t know she was taken. I’ll leave you two to it, then,” he said with a smile, and that was that. 

You watched his retreating figure for a bit, eyebrows creased in confusion, before snapping your head towards Jihoon. Head tilted, he was fixing you with a questioning look, as if to ask, What are you up to?, when he was the one that had just acted strangely.

“What was that all about?” you asked.

Jihoon shrugged. “I chased him away for you. I’ve only heard bad stuff about that guy, like he sleeps with a new girl every weekend and doesn’t treat them right.”

You thought for a second, bottom lip slightly jutting out in concentration. “Well, couldn’t you have told me about his reputation then let me make the decision for myself?”

“I-” Jihoon started but stopped himself. He seemed to mull over your words for a bit, then sighed. “You’re right, I guess I could have, but you’ve been drinking, who knows if you would’ve made the right decision?”

This made you furrow your brows. “So what if I did? Getting drunk and going home with a rando is not unheard of, I would’ve been fine. Just maybe ashamed tomorrow morning.”

A flash of annoyance swept across Jihoon’s features, and your curiosity couldn’t help but be piqued. The two of you had had your fair share of aimless arguments over the months, but he’d never actually gotten cross with you. For some reason, you were suddenly itching to know what angry Jihoon was like.

“I wouldn’t be fine with it, though. I’d hate knowing that I let you go home with a prick like that.”

This wasn’t the first time Jihoon had fended off guys for you during a night out, but to his credit, they weren’t ever guys you wanted to talk to. And, well, admittedly, after learning what he was like, maybe you didn’t want to talk to Sunwoo either, but Jihoon’s protectiveness tonight was bothering you more than it ever had. 

You let a silence stretch between the two of you before speaking again. “You- you can’t just do that, you know,” you declared, not meeting his eyes.

“Do what?”

“Act like you just did. Pretending to be my boyfriend just to get a guy away from me.” Jihoon was just staring at you silently, so you felt compelled to add,  “You’re not actually my boyfriend, you know.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because his jaw locked and a coldness you had never seen before appeared in his eyes.

“Aren’t I basically?”

That caught you off guard. Where was this coming from? Jihoon had never entertained the idea of being your boyfriend, ever, so why was he suddenly acting like he was? Like he had always been?

And yet, you found yourself toying with the idea of dating Jihoon once more. The one question that pervaded your thoughts was, would things be so different? You’d never had a boyfriend, so you weren’t sure what they did, but you thought it wouldn’t be too far off from how Jihoon treated you now. Keep you safe, bring you food, buy you random keychains or pencils that reminded him of you, text you throughout the day, compliment you. The only difference would be…

Your eyes drifted down to his lips, and you swore you heard a shaky intake of breath coming from the man right in front of you.

The thought had barely crossed your mind that panic rose in your chest. You could not be thinking about kissing Jihoon. You couldn’t think about him being your boyfriend, either. You weren’t sure why, but your sudden heart palpitations at the mere idea told you that you just couldn’t.

“No, you’re not.” You had wanted to speak firmly, but you feared your voice had come out shakier than intended.

To your surprise, Jihoon scoffed. “So if I went off and started dating someone else, it wouldn’t bother you?” he asked in a disbelieving, almost mocking tone.

“No, it wouldn’t,” you answered, and as soon as the words were out, you knew they were a lie. You scrambled to your feet, suddenly wanting to be away from this conversation and the way it made you feel. “I’ll, um, I’ll head back inside.”

You ignored his call of your name and picked up your dress, hastily sliding it back on as you made your way back towards the living room where most of the action was. You quickly found that it was too loud, too hot, too packed in there. You headed back outside through another door that led to a part of the backyard far from the pool, where people sat in small groups around a big fire, either nursing a drink or passing round a joint, the smell of weed heavy in the air. At least it was quiet here.

You walked around some before spotting Jaehyuk, the man of the house himself, sitting on his lonesome on a swing bench in a dark corner of the garden, looking down despondently into a red solo cup. A couple hours into the party, this was the first time you saw him, you realized. It made you wonder how long he’d been sitting out here on his own.

“Hey, Jaehyuk,” you greeted, catching him by surprise. You took a seat next to him, sliding your hands underneath your thighs to keep them warm.

“Oh, hey, Y/N. Nice that you came.” He mustered a smile for you before taking a swig from his cup and cringing at the taste of what must’ve been alcohol.

“What are you doing out here by yourself?” you asked softly. You were used to cheery, smiley Jaehyuk, and even though you weren’t very close, you couldn’t help but be saddened by seeing your friend in such a state.

Jaehyuk sighed deeply. “The girl I planned this party for isn’t here.”

“The girl you… planned… this party for?” you echoed, and he nodded. “You mean this,” you said, gesturing to the house and backyard full to the brim with people, “is all for one girl?”

He sighed and nodded again, taking another sip from his cup. He tutted at the drink, or maybe at himself for drinking it when he knew how awful it tasted. “I wanted an excuse to see her outside of class.” He chuckled. “I realize now that I might have gone slightly overboard.”

“Just a bit,” you laughed along, watching as a group of stoners cheered at their friend who had found marshmallows and sticks God-knows-where. “It’s not even midnight yet, she might still be coming.”

Jaehyuk shrugged. “I’ve stopped hoping. I think I just need to get into the party and forget about it for tonight.”

You smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

“What about you, what made you escape out here? The music not to your liking?”

“Are you kidding? This is the Danish alternative pop playlist of my dreams,” you said, earning a chuckle from him. “No, I just…” You realized you didn’t even know how to talk about this. What was making you so upset?

“I got into a bit of a… squabble with my friend, if you will. He-”

“Oh, so it’s a he?” Jaehyuk cut in, a knowing smile on his face.

“No- I mean, yes, he is, but it’s not like that, it’s- it’s…”

“It’s?” he egged on.

“Ugh, fine, it might be like that,” you finally admitted, as much to Jaehyuk as to yourself. Your irritation made him laugh.

“It’s okay, it happens.”

“I didn’t think it would happen to me, though.”

“Why not?”

You sighed. “Just ‘cause… him and I, we’ve known each other for such a long time, it feels weird that things would start changing now.”

“How long have you known each other?”

“We met when we were thirteen and fourteen. Then he moved away and we only met again in September last semester.”

“Did you keep in touch?”

“Not so much. I just heard from him through my brother, they’re much closer.”

“So… what I’m hearing is, you’ve known each other a long time, but you’ve only really become friends since September, right?”

“Right,” you echoed dubitatively, wondering where Jaehyuk was going.

“Y/N, that’s just a bit over six months.”

“...So?”

“So, that’s not nearly as long as you make it out to be. It’s not like you’ve been best friends for years and things are suddenly changing. Six months… aren’t that short, I’ll give you that, but I think it’s a reasonable time for people to get closer as friends and then start developing feelings.”

“Feelings?” you immediately echoed, panic evident in your voice.

Jaehyuk let out something like a chuckle, looking at you like he was figuring out whether you were joking or not. “Is that not what this whole thing is about?”

You dropped your gaze down to your thighs, frowning. “Feelings just sound so serious…”

“They can be, but they don’t have to.” After a few seconds of silence, he noticed your upset expression and nudged your shoulder good-naturedly. “What’s worrying you so much?”

“It’s just confusing. I… It’s not like I’ve been totally indifferent towards him up ‘til now, but there’s something about him lately, especially tonight. It makes me actually wonder about… you know. Whether I want him as a friend or not.” You sighed. “And even if I am feeling… feelings, I don’t know how he sees me. I could still be a sort of little sister in his eyes, for all I know.”

“What makes you think that?”

A small smile grew on your lips as you blew air from your nose. “Junkyu - my older brother - tasked him with looking after me when he learned I was going to attend this university with him. So, while I go crazy trying to figure out why he acts the way he acts and why I feel the way I feel, he might just be keeping a promise to my brother.”

“But have you ever seen him as an older brother?”

“No,” you replied immediately. Your surety almost took you aback. “Jihoon is… Jihoon. He’s definitely not Junkyu.”

Jaehyuk smiled. “Then I don’t think he would see you as a little sister, either. The way you act with a sibling and with a friend, potentially someone you like, is very different. I don’t think there’d be room for question if he treated you as a younger sister, you’d just know. Most guys I know are very obvious when they like someone, me included, so if you’re thinking about this so much just because of the way he acts with you… well, you’re probably onto something.”

“You think?” 

“I do.” 

You and Jaehyuk stayed outside chatting for a few more minutes until you decided to go back inside for some warmth and a refill of your empty cups. In the kitchen, you ran into some of your classmates, so you joined in their animated discussion on which version of The Sims is better (Asahi offended everyone by saying the mobile app was the best) instead of going looking for Minjeong and Jihoon like you had intended to.

A few minutes later, as your phone buzzed with six consecutive texts from your roommate, you found out where both of them were. 

minjeong girl do u know how many bedrooms there are in this goddamn house??!!!! yoshi and i are spending the night here xxx ask jaehyuk if he has a room for u or get home w jihoon whos that girl he’s talkin to in the kitchen btw??? love yaa xxxxxoooo text me if u need anything!! i’ll be busy but i’ll keep my phone on ;)

Usually, you’d have rolled your eyes at the exorbitant amount of x’s and the cheesy winky face, but something else had got your attention. Suddenly stepping away mentally from the conversation (which had turned into an interrogation on Asahi’s suspected addiction to mobile games), you looked around the crowded kitchen until your eyes settled on your culprit.

From where you were, you only had a view of his side profile, just as Minjeong had said, Jihoon was talking to a girl, red solo cup in his hand and stupidly attractive smile on his lips. She was leaning against the wall while he stood in front of her, both looking as relaxed as if they had known each other for years. What was up with all that eye contact? What was making them smile so hard?

You hadn’t realized how hard you were staring until Jaehyuk’s voice broke through your thoughts, asking if you were okay. 

“You look like you want to kill someone,” Sumin joked, not knowing she was closer to the truth than she thought.

You tried to laugh it off, saying you were just deeply disturbed by Asahi’s predicament, but you couldn’t keep yourself from glancing back at Jihoon and the girl every thirty seconds. Another girl arrived, and Jihoon shifted to make room for her so that he was now directly facing you. Over the chatter of the kitchen and music booming from the speakers in the living room, you couldn’t hear anything they were saying, but it seemed like Girl #1 was introducing Jihoon to Girl #2, placing a palm on his bicep as she did so. You counted - that hand stayed there for four whole seconds, and when she finally took it off of him, your eyes drifted back to Jihoon’s face.

Jihoon, who was staring right at you. Jihoon, who raised his eyebrows at you as if to say, What about it? while yours were creased in - confusion, anger, you weren’t sure what, but an ugly feeling you weren’t accustomed to. Jihoon, who, you decided, had to know what he was doing, had to know how this was making you feel.

The only thing on your mind was getting out of here and taking Jihoon with you. Without thinking much, you fished your phone out of your sweater pocket, texted Jihoon Let’s go and said bye to your friends, lying that your friend had suddenly asked you to leave.

After a few minutes of waiting by yourself outside in the cold, crouching to maximize body warmth, you started to wonder if Jihoon had decided to not follow you. But when you felt a weight drop on your shoulders, you snapped your head up to find him smiling down at you. 

“Where did you get this?” you asked, meaning the blanket he had given you.

“I stole it from the living room.”

“Jihoon,” you scolded.

“You know the guy right? Just give it back to him this week,” he said, lowering himself down to your level. Similarly to your eye contact in the kitchen, you were still frowning while he kept on smiling. “Not like you to want to leave before one a.m.. Is something the matter?” he asked, and you debated whether he was faking his innocence or not.

For about ten seconds, you tried to stay quiet, not wanting to betray your feelings to him. You glared ahead of you, watching your breath form wisps in the late February night air. 

But then he called your name so softly, it undid all of your resolve. The sound of it made you sigh.

“Who was that you were talking to?” you finally asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Hm? That was just Shuhua, she’s a Tawainese exchange student from one of my classes. Then she introduced me to her friend Yuqi.”

You nodded slowly, still not meeting Jihoon’s gaze. “I didn’t know there was a Taiwainese exchange student in one of your classes.”

“Y/N?” The unexpected seriousness with which he had called your name forced you to look at him.

“Hm.”

“I have something to tell you.” He must’ve noticed your sudden inability to speak, so he continued, lowering his head to be at eye-level with you. “There’s a Taiwainese exchange student in one of my classes.”

A smile broke through his serious facade and you had to look away to hide your own growing grin. “You’re stupid,” you said, but it only made Jihoon laugh.

“So is that what this is all about? A little bout of jealousy from my Y/N?”

You didn’t know what to focus on - the fact that he had finally put a name to what you were feeling or the face that he had called you his. It made you frown. “I wasn’t jealous,” you said, aware of how unbelievable you sounded.

“No? Then what made you want to leave so suddenly?”

“I- You-” you started, glaring at Jihoon when he snickered. “How come I can’t talk to guys but it’s okay for you to talk to girls?” 

“So you are jealous.”

“No, I just think you’re being unfair. I’m calling you out on your hypocrisy, Hoon. Double standards and all that.” 

Jihoon grinned. Had he known that he’d get such a reaction from you after talking to a friend that happened to be a girl, he’d have done it much earlier. And yet you had never had a problem with any of the girls in his usual friend group - if anything, the bunch of you often ganged up against him - so he wondered what was wrong with Shuhua in particular. Was it because you didn’t know her, and misunderstanding could arise?

His smile and eyes softened. No matter how adorable you looked to him right now, he wasn’t one to play games with feelings, his or yours. It was hard enough to make you realize how much he liked you (although he hoped that scene at the pool had made things more apparent), so he wasn’t going to make it even more confusing by letting you think he might like someone else.

Earlier, when he’d asked you if him dating someone else would bother you, and you’d answered no, he hadn’t formed any plan whatsoever to go off and talk to another girl right in front of you. Things just happened in his favor. He’d been talking with a whole group of people in the kitchen, but save for Jennifer, they’d all left for a game of spin the bottle (at their grown college age). Shuhua had a boyfriend back home and he had you, so they both had no interest for it. So it was just the two of them bonding over their love for Taylor Swift’s music when you appeared in the kitchen with Jaehyuk. 

Did he also feel a pang of jealousy seeing you with another guy, even though it was just Jaehyuk and he already knew of your friendship? Perhaps, but this wasn’t anything new with Jihoon. He didn’t think he’d be able to get rid of it until he had the surety that you were his, which had felt like a faraway goal until recently. Maybe it was due to his growing boldness or maybe you had managed to piece everything together yourself, but he was sure he’d felt a shift in your attitude towards him lately. There were times you would get shyer than usual, refusing to look him in the eyes; other times, like tonight, you’d defy him, as if trying to prove to both him and yourself you didn’t feel any sort of way towards him. But he hadn’t missed the way your eyes had drifted down to his lips and stayed there for a few seconds, hadn’t missed your panic when things seemed to get too real.

Just like you, although he didn’t know about that, he also found that there was something different about tonight, some tension between the two of you that was bound to explode. The fact that you were both in swimsuits had probably not helped. As soon as he’d seen you in your black tube dress, his imagination had started running wild. The way you casually had a gray zip sweatshirt of his in your room and donned it before leaving your place had made it harder to not just keep you in your apartment while the others went off to the party, and seeing you in your bikini was like the final boss he hadn’t been able to defeat. Keeping his eyes off of you was simply impossible. He wasn’t sure how he had resisted kissing you right then and there, showing everyone who the prettiest girl in the room - hell, at this party - belonged to.

(Jihoon had a bit of a possessive streak.)

Even now that you had somewhat made up, he still felt the changed air around you, like there was no going back from here. No pretending there were no unsaid feelings anymore - at least, that’s how he felt. If you needed the extra push to realize either his feelings, your own, or both, he didn’t mind initiating it. If anything, he had been waiting for it.

So he made sure to clear things up. “I didn’t want you to talk to Sunwoo because I knew he had bad intentions. Or at least selfish ones. Shuhua has a boyfriend, nothing was gonna happen there.”

“Oh, but if she didn’t, something would’ve?”

“No, Y/N. No,” Jihoon said firmly. 

“Why not? She’s pretty.” You knew you were being unreasonable at this point, arguing for the sake of arguing, but you couldn’t help yourself.

Jihoon sighed before placing a hand at the top of your head, brushing your hair gently. “I know someone who’s prettier.”

You turned your head slowly to look at him and were met with a sight you forever wanted to keep in your heart. Jihoon was looking down at you, eyes soft and filled with an emotion you wanted to describe as adoration, corners of his lips upturned into a sweet smile. You wanted to reach out and touch his cheek, feel the warmth of his skin under your palm and make sure he was real, but you were too stuck in his gaze to move.

“I actually know the prettiest girl in the world. I’m very lucky.”

You continued staring at each other for a few seconds or maybe a few hours, until he booped your nose and stood up. “Our Uber’s here, pretty girl.” 

You took his extended hand in yours and let him help you up, still in a daze as he opened the car door for you and rushed to the other side. You didn’t expect the relief you felt when he took your hand in his again as the Uber started driving. As the driver and him made minimal small talk, you watched out the window, but you couldn’t hear or see anything - you could only focus on Jihoon’s fingers intertwined with yours. Had hand-holding always felt so natural?

Even once you reached your apartment and you had to let go of it to get out of the car, the only thing you wanted was to have it again. 

You didn’t notice right away, as you punched in the code for the entrance to your apartment building, that Jihoon had stayed behind on the pavement. A light rain had started and his hair, all curled up from the pool, shone with small beads of water that the streetlights reflected on. 

“Aren’t you coming up?” you asked, turning around to face him and leaning against the door so it wouldn’t close.

“Not tonight,” he simply said, and you hesitated to ask him why. Whatever it was, he must have his reason, and you would see him again soon anyway, so you dropped it.

“Okay.” You nodded and hoped you didn’t sound as disappointed as you felt. 

You thought that would be it, but then he took a step closer to you, then another, until he was standing right in front of you. The doorstep made you taller so that your eyes were on a parallel with his lips, on which they naturally fell. No matter how confusing tonight might have been, if what you thought was about to happen actually did happen, you knew there was not a cell in your body that would resist it.

Jihoon leaned in closer and closer, until he was right there, and your lips would touch any second - but he leaned to the right, pressing a kiss to the corner of your lips instead. You stood with bated breath as he leaned back, wearing a proud smirk. “Good to know you wouldn’t push me away if I tried to kiss you,” he said, but on this rare occasion, you were speechless. 

His smirk softened to a smile as he ruffled your hair. “Good night, Y/N.”

It wasn’t until he had reached the corner, turning around and waving at you to go into your building before disappearing that you snapped out of it and made your way to your apartment. As soon as you’d shut your front door behind you, you realized just how disappointed you felt that Jihoon hadn’t come up like he usually did, how much you missed the reassurance of having him there, even if the two of you were a room apart. 

You also realized you didn’t want any walls to separate you anymore.

And there you had it - the signs were too obvious to ignore anymore. The heart flutterings, the thoughts of him invading your mind day and night, the jealousy. The constant longing to be with him.

You were in love with Park Jihoon.

--

You fell into a deep sleep for about four hours, before waking up with a start.

You were in love with Park Jihoon.

What had seemed like a comforting thought at the time now freaked you out to no end. Park Jihoon was your best friend, your brother’s best friend, someone you’d met so long ago he’d known you during your embarrassing bangs phase of 2015 (BangGate, as your friends from home inappropriately liked to call it).

You were great as friends, sure, but how would you fare if things went further than that? There was no way for you to know other than by trying it firsthand. Did you want to take that leap, and risk falling face first - or chance falling right into his arms?

For some reassurance, you got your laptop out and went to Google. At first, you intended to search some YouTube videos or blog posts about successful best-friends-turned-lovers stories, but something deep inside your brain compelled you to type Omegle in the search bar. Even if it was five a.m. for you, it’d be a reasonable time of the day for people with good relationship advice somewhere, right?

In your interests, you typed love, relationship and advice, hoping this would lead you to your savior. After skipping a few naked men who apparently were into love too, two young girls appeared on your screen who, going off of their accent, were British. They looked about eleven and were doing their nails, not paying attention to their screen. NewJeans was playing in the background.

They were perfect.

“Hey, girls!” you said, cringing at the sound of your own voice.

They raised their heads in unison, looking at you for a second before coming closer to the screen, all wide smiles. One of them had braces with pink elastics. “Hey, girl!”

You decided you had no time to lose, so you directly told them you needed advice with a boy you liked. They nodded vigorously. So you told them everything - from how you and Jihoon had met, to reconnecting in September, to the events of the past few months (including a detailed rundown of what happened at the pool, which they loved). They even insisted on seeing a picture and squealed when you showed them. Your Jihoon really was handsome.

“So? What do you think I should do?” you asked when you were done recounting everything.

“I have this thing I do whenever I fancy someone,” the girl on the right started, while the other one munched on some sour candy. You nodded for her to continue. “It really helps me know if I should keep fancying them or if they’re not worth it. It’s called a compibi- compa- combali- Rosie, what was it again?”

“A compatibility test,” Rosie said, tongue blue from her candy.

“Right, that. It works like magic. Just the other week I thought for sure Leo was the cutest boy in school but then I did the test thing and got forty percent with him and a few days later he was dating Sarah anyway.”

“Sarah is terrible,” Rosie chipped in.

“Oh no!” you exclaimed.

“Yeah, really bad,” the other girl said, nodding. “But then, I did it with Martin and got eighty-six percent and we’ve been dating for ten days now, we have,” she finished proudly.

“That’s amazing.” You didn’t know if it was the lack of sleep or the conviction with which the girl spoke, but you were hooked. “How do I do it?” you asked, although you’d probably done it when you were their age too.

“Oh, it’s easy. You just type the comp- Rosie?”

“Compatibility.”

“That, test on Google and click any one of them and type in your name then his. Any of them will do, I’m sure,” she shrugged, reaching for a candy. 

“Okay, let me do it right now. Gimme a sec.” After a few clicks, you’d reached an early 2010s-style website called lovecalculator.com, all pink and cupids shooting their arrows into the sky. You typed in your name, then Jihoon’s, then pressed a shaky finger to the Enter bar.

“Oh my gosh!” you squealed. “We got ninety-nine percent!”

“Oh my gosh!” the girls yelped back, clapping and hugging each other in celebration.

“Girl, you need to go tell him right now,” non-Rosie said firmly.

“Right now,” Rosie echoed.

You pouted. “I can’t, it’s five a.m. right now.”

“You better go later then! You two are meant to be! You’ll last at least like, a month or two.” 

“At least.”

After thanking and saying good-bye to your new best friends, you spent a good three minutes staring at the big 99% in bright pink on your screen. This randomly generated number made you so happy that you took a screenshot and printed it out on Minjeong’s printer in the living room, then put it on your fridge for you to admire. You used a magnet Jihoon had gifted you for Christmas - it was a four-cut photobooth picture of you two you’d taken at the Christmas market. You thought you’d only taken the paper version, but he’d made you go get food for the both of you while he bought the magnet version as well.

Your mind at ease, you started heading back to your room, but you ran into someone right as you walked out of the kitchen.

You looked him up and down. Yoshinori was standing in your living room half-naked, looking like a deer caught in headlights. 

“H-hey, Y/N,” he said, breaking the silence first. “I’m sorry, I thought you were sleeping…”

“I woke up early,” you replied, unable to keep yourself from smiling at his awkwardness. “What are you doing?”

“Just, um, just getting some water.”

“And you have to come to my apartment to do that?”

“No, I, um- Someone called the cops, so Jaehyuk kicked all of us out.”

“I thought you were in a room somewhere?”

“Yeah, but we went outside to see what was happening, and he saw us, so we had to leave.”

“Right… Well, glad you made it back home safe.” The strangeness of the situation suddenly hit you, and you realized you should probably let the half-naked man get his glass of water and leave. “I’ll go back to my room, then.”

“Oh, right, see you, Y/N. And sorry.”

“No worries!” you said, waving his apology off and scurried off to your bedroom. You plopped into your bed with a satisfied sigh, hugging a plushie Jihoon had won for you at an arcade close to your chest. He really was everywhere.

When you woke up next, sunlight was pouring from the window into your room. You checked your phone - nine a.m.. Not early enough to go to late sleeper Jihoon’s place, but definitely early enough to call your probably still sleeping brother. You had to tell someone about your newfound revelation, and Minjeong next door was either asleep or busy.

Your phone rang with an outgoing call for so long that you thought Junkyu might simply not pick up. “I’m in love with Jihoon,” you blurted out as soon as your brother’s face appeared on screen. 

He paused for a second, taking your words in, then yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Good morning to you too, Y/N.”

“I’m in love with Jihoon,” you repeated, more insistently.

“I heard you the first time.”

“Well, what do you think?!” you asked, impatience rising. You couldn’t believe your brother could be sarcastic in an emergency like this.

Junkyu frowned. “Uh, congratulations?”

You tutted. “Kyu, I’m serious about this!”

“I know, I can tell,” he said, chuckling. “Are you going to tell him?”

“I think I have to. I think… I think he feels the same way about me, actually.”

Junkyu rolled his eyes. “No shit, Sherlock.”

You paused. “Huh?”

“Everyone and their mom knows he’s in love with you, we were just all waiting for you to see it.”

“Huh?!” Junkyu shrugged. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Your brother sighed. “Some things in life, you have to figure out on your own, sis. Like taxes.” You just frowned at him. “Well, how did you figure it out?”

“Now that you say it, I guess I should’ve noticed it earlier. But really what happened is I saw him talking to a girl.”

“Put the man in jail!”

“Shut up. And then we talked for a bit, and he didn’t outright say it, but he heavily implied that he… liked me.”

Junkyu scoffed. “That’s an understatement.”

You ignored your brother. “But I don’t know if I should wait for a bit or go tell him now-”

“Y/N. Please, put that man out of his misery and go tell him now.”

“Don’t you think he’d get upset if I confessed first? You know Jihoon, he gets proud about random things like that.”

“Believe me, he won’t care. He’ll just be happy you like him back after all this time.”

You thought for a second, a small smile blooming on your lips. “Does he really like me that much?”

Junkyu sighed. “He’s been harping on about you since we were fourteen. He probably keeps a diary or a boyblog where he just writes about you. Just go get him, girl.”

Your smile grew wider and your heart started beating faster, excitement growing in your stomach at the thought of seeing Jihoon again. “Okay, I will.” You and your brother stared at each other for a second, eyes wide in anticipation, until something struck you.

“Wait… You don’t mind, do you? Your sister and best friend dating?”

“I l-word both of you, so no, I don’t mind. I trust you both enough to not hurt each other. But I’m still your brother, so if that prick does anything to hurt you, I’ll kick his ass, okay?”

“Kyu, he bench-presses your weight as a joke.”

He squinted his eyes at you. “I’ll metaphorically kick his ass, then.”

“And what if I hurt him?”

Junkyu thought for a second. “I’ll… give you the silent treatment for a few days.”

“How scary,” you laughed.

“Anyways, congratulations in advance and all that, but for my mental health please pretend you’re not a couple in front of me and remember that premarital sex is a sin.”

“Will do! Bye, Kyu!”

--

Right after hanging up with your brother, you texted Jihoon, asking if you could come over. You quickly got ready, doing affirmations in the mirror to calm yourself down, and as soon as your phone pinged with Jihoon’s answer (miss me already?), you were out the door. It was usually a thirteen-minute walk between your and Jihoon’s place, but with the power of love, it only took you eight.

You felt like your body had gone on autopilot - instead of practicing over and over what you would say to him in your head, imagining all the terrible ways it could go or pacing back and forth in front of his apartment building, you just walked, the loud thumping of your heart in your ears drowning everything else out. You’d just get there and get it over with. 

Even when you had to wait for seven seconds (you counted) for Jihoon to open the door after you’d rung the doorbell, you didn’t start panicking. 

“Hey, Y/N, I just ordered some-”

“I love you.”

“Breakfast… You what?”

“I love you, Hoonie,” you beamed. The relief of letting those words free made tears pool in the corner of your eyes.

Jihoon just stared at you, mouth agape and expression like he couldn’t believe what was hearing. Reaching for your hand, he brought you closer to him and shut the door behind you, eyes never once leaving yours. Then, he pulled you into a hug, one so tight you’d be worried about your blood circulation being cut off if it wasn’t Jihoon’s arms you were in. 

“Can you say it again, please?” he asked, nose buried in your hair and voice weak like you’d never heard it before.

You tightened your hold around his waist. “I love you,” you whispered.

“Again?”

“I love you,” you repeated, giggling.

He laughed too, more out of relief than anything. “I love you, too.”

He leaned back and raised his hands to gently cup your face in his palms. The both of you were smiling like idiots from ear to ear, gazing into each other’s eyes. Tears streamed down your cheek and he wiped them away with a thumb before pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Took you long enough,” he said, making you laugh again.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Jihoon shook his head. “Don’t be. You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

“I’m happy for you guys and all, but could you like, not do this here?” a voice interrupted you. You looked behind Jihoon’s shoulder to find Hyunsuk, one of his roommates, on the living room sofa, watching Brooklyn 99. You hadn’t even noticed him. In his defense, you were declaring your love for each other right next to him in the entrance hallway. 

“Oh, right, sorry, Suk. Let’s go into my room,” he said, tugging at your hand. 

The both of you burst into giggles as soon as the door shut behind you. Jihoon wasted no time in pulling you into another hug, and it felt like your whole body sighed as you let his warmth engulf you. You cursed yourself for not letting yourself have this earlier. You gently rocked from side to side together, as if slow dancing to a melody only the two of you could hear.

“I guess a little jealousy goes a long way, huh?” Jihoon said after a minute of silence.

“I wasn’t jealous,” you huffed, leaning back so he could see your frown.

“What made you realize your undying love for me, then?”

“I just… I thought we’d be good together. I realized how compatible we are, if you will.”

“Our compatibility? Did you only notice it last night?”

You grinned. “Guess I did,” you answered, just to tease him. Jihoon did not need to know about your love calculator epiphany.

He looked at you like you had hung the stars in the sky. You felt shy under his gaze, but you couldn’t get yourself to look away. “So does that mean we’re… boyfriend and girlfriend now?” he asked, making you burst into laughter. “Don’t make fun of me! It’s important to make things clear,” he complained between giggles.

“Yes, let’s be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Awesome,” he replied, then pursed his lips as if debating to say what he wanted to say next. “So, now that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend…”

“Yes, Hoon?”

“Does that mean I can kiss you?” he asked, a small smile playing on his lips that you mirrored.

“Please,” you whispered.

So he did.

When his lips touched yours, it was like a flower that had been waiting for the right moment finally bloomed inside your chest. It felt soft, and comforting, and just right. Like your lips had always meant to meet. 

At least, it started out that way. The fabric of Jihoon’s t-shirt bunched up in your hands while his cupped your face tenderly, your lips moving in a slow cadence against each other’s as if you had all the time in the world - and you did. You were both so filled to the brim with excitement that when you pulled away for a breather, you laughed together, foreheads resting against each other.

But then, you raised your hands and threaded your fingers through his hair, tugging on it gently as you deepened the kiss. You probably hadn’t done it on purpose, simply wanting to feel more of Jihoon out of some basic instinct - but it undid something in him. 

He slid his hands down the sides of your neck and your shoulders until they reached your arms, pulling on them to have your body closer to his. His hands then continued their journey down to your waist, where they sneaked themselves under your t-shirt. They ran up and up until almost your entire back was exposed to the fresh air in his room, the contrast between that and the fire-hot warmth of Jihoon’s hands against your bare skin making you shiver.

He walked you backwards until the back of your legs hit his mattress, unto which he helped you down gently, somehow not breaking the kiss as he did. One of his hands came to brush hair away from your face, while the other remained on your waist, after some time venturing onto your stomach, a sensitive spot for you that made you sigh into his mouth. He took that opportunity to slide his tongue against yours, yet another new sensation that made your head spin.

This was exceeding any expectations you had ever had for a first kiss. In fact, you had always thought first kisses were messy, awkward things, but this was nothing of the sort - your whole body was on edge, responding to every little movement on Jihoon’s part. Your fingers buzzed with a fizzy electricity that put your brain in a daze. You could do this forever, you thought. 

But forever was cut short by the sudden buzz of Jihoon’s phone. Jihoon started, practically leaping off of you and dramatically holding onto his chest when he realized it was just his phone that had interrupted you. The delivery person was calling him to announce their arrival. 

Jihoon pressed a kiss to your forehead, took a few steps, then came back to press another kiss, this time to your lips. Your stomach growled loudly while you waited for him, and you realized you still hadn’t eaten today. Add making out to that, you were ready to devour whatever it was Jihoon had ordered. 

The smell coming from the paper bag Jihoon held as he entered the room again made you close your eyes in bliss and take a deep whiff. “Johnny’s,” you whispered. “You know me so well.”

Johnny’s was your absolute favorite breakfast place in all of town. It had been opened a few years ago by a graduate of your university who had mastered the art of hangover food. From soups, to hash brown patties, to iced coffee, he knew exactly what it was that students needed after a night out. You could tell he had a lot of experience with that himself. He was kind of like a God amongst the student body of your university.

“Of course I do. I know your order from all of your favorite restaurants, and somehow you only realized yesterday that I was pathetically in love with you.”

You smiled sheepishly, taking a bite of your sausage and egg wrap. “How long are you going to hold this over my head?”

Jihoon grinned brightly. “Until I forget about it.”

“So never?”

“Precisely.”

He put on the next episode of your show, and for the next couple hours, the two of you stayed holed up in his room, cuddling once you were done with your food. Even though you had spent endless time watching shows or movies side by side, neither of you had ever dared initiate physical touch, no matter how much you’d wanted to. He’d been scared you’d pull away from him, and you’d been scared it’d be awkward. You hadn’t realized how much you’d longed for his proximity and warmth until you had it.

Save for his laptop screen, it’d been quiet for a while, and you thought you might fall asleep when Jihoon spoke. “I’m so glad I don’t need to pretend anymore,” he said as one episode finished and the next one started.

“Pretend what?”

“That I’m not desperately in love with you and that every single little thing you do doesn’t drive me insane.”

You giggled. “Does it?”

“Yes,” he whispered, his voice a heavy sigh, almost a groan. There was a slight edge to it, a deeper meaning behind that short yes that had your stomach suddenly feeling very tight.

“Oh,” was all you could answer. You suddenly wondered what you might have done without thinking that had had an effect on Jihoon, just as he’d done to you many times before. You also wondered what sort of effect you may have had on him, what sort of thoughts he may have had about you that he had to keep to himself all this time.

Tentatively, you cocked your head up, only to find he was already looking down at you. The glint in his eyes made your body burn. Just as he started to lean in to reunite your lips, your phone buzzed with many texts in a row. Jihoon closed his eyes in frustration and sighed. “I want to throw both of our phones away,” he said, making you laugh.

minjeong hey pooks idk if ur out somewhere or still sleeping but im going to yoshis placeee he needs some stuff there so we’re going together and i’ll prob spend the night over… we’re like inseparable rn or wtv. anyways dont set the place on fire while i’m gone x

you ok thx for letting me know xx im w my boyfriend rn

Minjeong’s response didn’t even take three seconds to come through.

minjeong HUHHHH??? GIRL ???

you hehe

minjeong park jihoon is one lucky man

you how do u know its him?

minjeong literally who else would it be wait does that mean we’ll go on double dates…

you yeah ur right and pls no

minjeong DOUBLE DATES !! girls night tomorrow night i want all the deeeets have fun having the place all to urselves and rmb to use protection xx

you why is that where ur mind goes first ?? down for girls night tho can we watch teen beach movie

minjeong duhhh

“Teen Beach Movie?” Jihoon said, startling you. You hadn’t realized he’d been reading over your shoulders.

“It’s a good movie,” you mumbled, frowning.

“Right.” He said nothing for a few seconds, but he just couldn’t contain himself. The question was burning his tongue. “Aren’t you on the pill?”

Your head snapped towards him at the sudden question. “Uh, yeah, I am. Why?”

His eyes scanned your face as a smirk grew on his lips. “Then we don’t need to use protection, do we?”

You gulped. Your whole face felt hot - after having just shared your first kiss, you hadn’t expected him to mention sex so easily. Not that you weren’t interested in that, far from it, you were just… nervous.

You turned away from him, unable to sustain his gaze any longer. “I guess not,” you murmured. You had started taking the pill at the beginning of university, mainly to regulate your period and lessen your hormonal acne. The contraceptive part was just a bonus, one you had never imagined would come into handy like this. 

Jihoon’s eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, I need to tell Yoshi about this! He’s gonna freak. I hope he won’t be mad he learned it from Minjeong and not me first.”

“Yoshi?” you asked as you watched him reach for his phone on his nightstand.

“Yeah, we’ve been updating each other on our love lives. He’s really into Minjeong, by the way.”

“That’s… strangely wholesome, actually.” 

While he typed away, you tilted your head and took the time to appreciate your boyfriend’s features. The round eyes, heart-shaped lips, sharp nose and even sharper jawline. He was so pretty, and now, he was all yours.

Without thinking, you traced a finger along his jaw, liking the feel of it against your skin. When his eyes found yours, you dropped your hand and straightened your head, expression like you’d just been caught red-handed.

“Should we go back to your place? We can pick up food on the way.”

You smiled. “We just ate.”

“And I’m hungry again,” he said, mirroring your smile and pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. Or at least, he had intended it as a chaste kiss, but he found that he couldn’t quite get himself to pull away. “Let’s go,” he said, lips moving against yours as he spoke, but made no move to actually go.

“Let’s go,” you repeated, staying perfectly still. You’re not sure who was the one to cross the millimeters between your lips, but before you knew it, you and Jihoon’s lips were stuck to each other once more. This kiss had none of the gradual intensity of the previous one - right off the bat, the feeling of Jihoon’s lips against yours flooded all of your senses.

Your hands found purchase in his hair while his found their way to your waist once more. With surprising ease, he pulled you to him so that you were straddling his lap. For a second there, you were conscious about how heavy you might be on top of him, but it was all forgotten when he pressed his lips to yours again in a passionate kiss. In this new position, you could press your body close to his, so close you could almost feel his heart beat against yours. He also had easier access to your back than before, and he quickly took advantage of that. 

Just like before, he sneaked his hands underneath your t-shirt, making you arch your back against him. He slid a finger underneath your bra strap and pulled away for a second to ask if this was okay. You looked at him - his eyes were darker than you’d ever seen before and his face had lust written all over it. You were sure you looked similar.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” you whispered before diving back into the kiss. One second apart felt like hours to you.

Your breath got shakier as he unclasped your bra. He didn’t do anything right away, settling on brushing his palm up and down your back while your heart raced with anticipation. You were so on edge that you couldn’t even kiss him anymore - you buried your face in his neck, gripping his hair so tightly you were probably hurting him. You didn’t care if he could feel how desperate you were. Then, finally, painfully slowly, one of his hands made its way to your front, and he gently grabbed your breast underneath your bra that was hanging from your shoulders. That was already a foreign sensation in itself, but when he took your nipple between two fingers and pulled on it ever-so-gently, the pleasure that overtook your body was so intense that it made you let out a loud gasp and you pulled away from Jihoon, startled as if you had been shocked by lightning. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, breathing heavily, a mix of worry and desire in his eyes. 

You nodded, holding onto his shoulders as you tried to make your breathing return to normal. “I’m fine, just… it’s all very new, is all. I’ve never done any of this before.”

Never had a boyfriend, never held hands romantically, never kissed - that was you. Not that you minded, though, since you’d never been interested in anyone and you were happy to do this with Jihoon, whom you trusted more than anyone else.

He smiled softly. “That’s okay. Does it at least feel good?” he asked, low voice making the hairs on your arms stand.

You whined, hiding your face in the dip of his shoulder again. “It does…” you admitted, voice muffled against his skin.

“You know, it’s my first time too,” he said after a while. 

You lifted your head to look at him. “Really?”

“Mh-hm. You’re my first girlfriend.” His eyes were full of affection as he gazed at you, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. You giggled. “What’s funny?” he asked softly, pressing a kiss to your jaw.

“We’re each other’s firsts,” you explained. “I think that’s nice.”

Jihoon made his way to your lips, giving them a small peck. “That is nice. And I promise I’ll make you feel so good,” another peck, “you’ll want me to be your last as well.”

You looked at him for a bit, taking in his features that looked even more beautiful to you now that you’d realized your feelings for him, and thought of a life with him. It might have been slightly premature, but you already knew you liked the idea of that.

“Okay,” you said, as if what he had said had been an offer. It made him smile.

“Okay.” He kissed you, softly like you could break underneath his touch. “You’re so cute, you know that?” he asked against your lips, but didn’t leave you time to answer before kissing you again. “Okay, I think we should take a break,” he said after a few minutes. “We can go to your place. And then we’ll have more… privacy.”

You agreed that spending some time not pressed up against Jihoon might help you think straight again. The walk to your apartment was nice and quiet, your interlocked hands swinging back and forth between your two bodies. When you walked past the grocery store, you stopped in your tracks, looking at Jihoon with a smile which he mirrored immediately, even without knowing the reason behind it.

“Should we bake a cake to celebrate our first day together?”

“That’s very cheesy.” His grin widened as he took a step closer to you. “I love it.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead and led you into the store.

The rest of that afternoon was spent baking and decorating the cake. It was a simple vanilla batter, but it took way longer than it should have, because Jihoon first insisted on having a flour fight (which took ages to clean), then on having two cakes and having a competition for whose would be prettier (yours, of course), but you loved every last second of it. It was like a scene out of a movie, and you could not have been more content. To really bring home the cheesiness of it all, you even recorded yourselves blowing out the number one candles of your respective cakes.

The evening came around, and, full of cake and Chinese takeout, you were holed up in bed together, watching the first movie that had popped up on your Netflix recommended. It was too easy, falling asleep in his arms. The combination of his comforting scent and the soft back rubs he was giving you lulled you to sleep like nothing else. 

When you woke up next, it was because of a sudden lack of warmth next to you. You lifted your head to find Jihoon opening your bedroom door and heading into the living room. He had just been going to get water, but you didn’t know that.

“Hoon?” you called out, raising yourself to a sitting position on your bed. He immediately turned around, walking back towards you and crouching next to your bed.

“Hm?”

“Aren’t you staying?” you asked, reaching for the hem of his t-shirt sleeve. He looked at your hand before his gaze slowly made its way back up towards your face, a smirk growing on his pretty lips. 

“Do you want me to?” he asked back, gazing deep into your eyes. His voice had dropped to a low volume that made it hard to breathe. Initially, you’d just wanted him back by your side, but now all sorts of thoughts were running through your mind.

“Of course. I mean, we’re dating, right?” 

In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, you tried to chuckle, but all laughter died in your throat when your eyes locked with Jihoon’s. You weren’t scared of his intensity - you were scared of the pace at which your desire for him was growing. One inch closer, and you knew you’d be wrapped around his finger.

He leaned closer.

“What are you trying to say?” he asked, tilting his head innocently to the side. Mindlessly, you rubbed your thighs together, searching for some relief for your core that had started to throb of its own accord, but Jihoon was following your every movement and had noticed it. “Are you saying you want to consummate our relationship?” he asked again, a hint of amusement in his voice as he placed his hands on your knee that wasn’t covered by the blanket.

You scoffed and looked away, hoping you didn’t look as flustered as you felt. “Not if you say it like that,” you mumbled.

Jihoon’s eyebrows perked up. “How should I say it, then?” he whispered. His hand slowly brushed along your sides until it reached your waist. Even over your layer of clothing, his touch burned. “You want me to make love to you?”

You kept your gaze fixed on something behind his shoulder, focusing on your breathing that was getting shakier and shakier. He drew the blanket away, leaving your thighs exposed to the chilly air for a second before he splayed his large palms on them, bringing you some warmth but intensifying the throbbing in your core. His hands inched closer and closer to where you most needed them, rubbing over your inner thighs but swerving right before he actually reached your core, setting them on your hip bones instead.

“Or do you want me to fuck you, Y/N?”

He took your chin between two fingers, forcing you to meet his gaze. Your eyes locked for a second before they dropped to his lips, watching the smirk that grew on them. “Guess it’s the latter.” 

As soon as your lips touched, you were overwhelmed by the immensity of your desire for him. Your whole body burned in want, in need. You had no idea what to do except hold on tightly to him and hope for the best, hope that he’d know how to guide you through this even if it was new for him as well. 

If you thought the kisses you’d shared earlier in the day had been intense, this one was on a whole other level. Your hands grabbed everywhere they could find and his gripped your waist firmly as your tongues danced with each other, resulting in a messy kiss that had your head spinning from lack of air in seconds. And yet, you couldn’t get enough. You kept pulling Jihoon impossibly closer by the hem of his t-shirt until he got frustrated from the layer of clothing between you two and simply took it off, discarding somewhere in your room. He gave you no time to admire his defined chest or abs, because he trapped your lips right away. 

He pushed you slowly onto the bed until he was hovering over you, alternating between kissing your lips and your neck, that you were sure would have a couple of purple marks for you to find the next day. Your skin burned wherever he touched it, and it was like a trail of fire had appeared as his hand made its way to your breasts once more, grabbing harshly at the soft flesh there. 

The whole time, he had been in some sort of a trance, drunk on your body, on your scent, on the way you were touching him - on the feeling that you finally wanted him as much as he’d wanted you all this time. But when he helped you out of the articles of clothing covering your upper body, and he had you half-naked underneath him, he had to take a double take and remember to take his time instead of just devouring you whole. For both his sake and yours.  

So he stopped for a bit, letting himself admire you. He noticed you shifting uncomfortably, so he leaned down again, pressing soft kisses along your cheeks and your jaw. “You really are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” he whispered before kissing you. He then continued his journey down your neck and collarbones until he reached your breast. “Really so beautiful.”

When he took one of your nipples in his mouth, your back arched against him and you let out a loud moan. He couldn’t keep himself from chuckling slightly - he found it adorable how sensitive you were everywhere he touched you. Your moans were like music to his ears.

Nothing had ever felt like this before. As he circled his tongue around your nipple - God knows where he had learned how to do this - it took everything you had to not just scream in pleasure. Even if Minjeong was out, you still had neighbors. Now that you couldn’t grab his t-shirt, you’d switched to his hair, and you were tugging at it so hard you wouldn’t have been surprised if you ripped a clump of it from his head.

Your panties were sticking to your core, all slick with your arousal, and you didn’t know how long you could go on anymore without attention down there.

As if he’d heard your thoughts, Jihoon started making his way down your body once more, trailing kisses all across your ribcage and stomach.

“I’m torn between taking this real slow and making it last as long as possible.” His lips found a sensitive spot on your lower stomach, right next to your hip bone, and he gently bit the skin there, licking it afterwards to offer you some relief. “Or just devouring you now that I finally have you.”

“Jihoon,” you sighed, desperation evident in your voice. “Please, just do something.”

“Like what?” he asked, clearly enjoying your lust-filled state of mind.

“Anything.”

He chuckled, and by the sound of it, you knew he didn’t have anything good in mind. He lowered himself some more until his mouth was positioned right in front of your pussy, and, with no warning, licked a long strip from your hole to your clit over your panties, humming at the taste of your arousal.

“Something like this?” he asked afterwards, but was only met with a whine. He kissed the soft flesh of your inner thighs while you squirmed in his hold.

“Don’t tease me, please…” you begged, and your voice was so weak and genuine that he could only give in. 

“Whatever you want, baby,” he obliged, the nickname rolling off of his tongue casually. He had no idea what it did to you. 

He helped you out of your underwear, finally getting you fully naked just for him. Jihoon was a man of his words, so not a second was lost before he dived right back into you, licking up the arousal spilling out of you before flicking his tongue at your clit. He held your hips tightly in both of his hands so you couldn’t squirm away from him and ate you out like a man starved. You were so sweet and warm against his tongue, and your taste was worlds more intoxicating than any alcohol he’d ever had. He’d do this forever if you let him.

He noticed quickly that attention to your clit was what got you moaning the loudest, so he alternated between circling his tongue around it and gently sucking at it, sometimes releasing it with a pop just for the hell of it. He slipped a finger easily inside of you, your wetness accommodating him immediately. He couldn’t wait to be inside you - his hard cock was throbbing in the confines of his underwear, but his only concern right now was to make you come undone for him. 

When he found that deep spot inside of you, the one that had you gasping in pleasure and moaning his name, he slid a second finger in, and just like that, you were done for. You came apart on his fingers and tongue, a complete moaning mess underneath him, and he lapped up the arousal leaking out of you like it was water. 

You’d already thought you were at the peak of pleasure when your orgasm came ripping through you like an avalanche, blindsiding you and making you see bright white stars behind your tightly closed eyelids. Your throat felt dry from all the moaning and heaving you’d been doing. You had to take Jihoon’s face between your hands and gently pull him up yourself, otherwise it seemed like he was happy to keep going, but it was starting to overwhelm you.

Jihoon held you in his arms as you came down from your high. You let out the laughter bubbling in your throat as your breathing returned to normal - not because something was funny, but because you had just felt so ridiculously amazing that you couldn’t help but laugh. 

“How was it?” Jihoon asked, a lot shyer than you’d expected.

You lifted your head to look at him, a bright smile on your face even though you felt close to exhausted. “I have a hard time believing that was your first time giving head, Hoon.”

He chuckled. “Very first time, I promise you. I must just have some God-given skills.”

“I’m not even gonna fight you on that, because that was amazing,” you conceded, nuzzling yourself closer to him.

“I’m glad I could do that for you,” he said softly, burying his nose at the top of your head and inhaling there. The scent of your hair was oddly comforting for him.

Before you let yourself drift off to sleep, you started raking your fingernails across his chest and abs, smiling proudly to yourself when you heard him breathe shakily or felt his muscles clench under your touch. He wasn’t saying anything, but you could tell he was holding himself back. “I think,” you started, pressing a kiss to the corner of his jaw, “That you deserve something in return.”

“You don’t-”

You knew Jihoon. He didn’t like it when you insisted on paying for coffee because he’d done it the last time, or when you baked him something because he’d stayed up all night with you studying for a test. He liked taking care of you, but you always had to almost force him to let you take care of him. You wanted your relationship to be fifty-fifty - you wanted to give him as much as he gave you. Even if he would let you, it wasn’t fair to just take and take.

So you insisted. Whatever he was about to say, it died on his tongue as soon as you placed your palm on his erection. It felt hot and hard under your hand, and saying you weren’t slightly intimidated would be a lie, but you wanted to do this. If you were able to give Jihoon half the pleasure he’d given you moments prior, you’d be satisfied. 

You rubbed your hand slowly up and down over his clothes. “Really, baby,” he managed to say between shaky breaths, “I didn’t do that to get something in return- Fuck,” he whispered as you hooked your fingers underneath the waistband of his sweatpants, pulling it down his legs so he was only left in his underwear. Under the black fabric, his bulge looked huge, and you gulped at the idea of having it inside you.

“This feels good, right, Hoon?” you asked, steadily getting bolder and pressing slightly harder against his bulge as you continued rubbing it.

“It- it does, but-”

You shut him up by pressing your lips to his. He reciprocated it immediately, almost unconsciously, before moaning into the kiss. “So let me do this for you,” you whispered before ridding him of his underwear.

“Okay,” he said, sighing as you rubbed your hands from his knees along his thighs.

The groan he let out as you took him in your hand sent shivers straight down your spine. You could finally put to use all the knowledge Minjeong had passed on to you over the past few months. You let go of Jihoon’s cock to spit in your hand, the moisture helping you glide your loosely closed fist along his shaft with more ease. Your movements themselves were probably very clumsy, but Jihoon didn’t seem to mind - he moaned shamelessly, head fallen back against the pillows and exposed Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

Seeing him like this and knowing it was all because of you drove you crazy, and soon, you became greedy for any sign of pleasure from him. You wanted to hear all of his moans, sighs, groans, watch his abs clench tightly and feel him grab your hair, which he did as soon as you flicked your tongue across his tip, already leaking with pre-cum. The endless string of curses and moans that flew from his mouth as you circled your tongue and shallowly bobbed your mouth around him filled you with satisfaction.

“Fuck, just like that, Y/N. You’re doing so fucking well, baby. Making me feel so good.” Those words had been the cherry on top.

Jihoon was of a more-than-decent size, and fitting all of him inside of your mouth was probably a task that would take a few tries to achieve - you still did your best to take as much of him as you could. You massaged his balls with one of your hands, using the other to hold the base of his shaft while you bobbed your head up and down. You did this with increasing speed then let him take control over your pace as his fingers threaded themselves in your hair, guiding your head around him. You didn’t even know if he was doing it on purpose or out of reflex, but you definitely did not mind handing him the reins.

“You’re gonna make me- Fuck, Y/N, I’m gonna cum, sweetheart.” You hummed around his shaft, and that seemed to do him in - with a loud groan, he released his load, hot and sticky inside your mouth. Taken aback by the bitter taste, you lifted your head and only swallowed what you had caught. You took him in your hand again, jerking him off to help him ride out the rest of his high.

You watched him, transfixed by his heaving chest, eyes screwed shut, the beads of sweat pearling across his torso, and the red blush that had spread from his face down to his neck. You’d done this. You’d gotten Jihoon in such a state. You let him rest for a bit as you wiped your hands and his body with a tissue and had a sip of water.

You then pressed a kiss to his cheek, taking the time to admire his smiling face. When he opened his eyes and found yours, you suddenly felt so shy that you returned to your usual cuddling position, head resting against his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you close to him. You were both smelly and sticky, but you couldn’t care less.

“You did so good, baby. You did such a good job,” he whispered, the praise going right to your heart.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. That was amazing.” He sighed contentedly, then lowered his head to look at you. “You feeling sleepy?”

You shook your head no, a shy smile on your lips.

Jihoon smirked slightly. “You wanna keep going?”

You nodded.

He shifted himself so that his back rested against the headboard. “Come here,” he whispers, pulling you to his lap. You both winced in sensitivity at the feeling of your core right against his softening dick, but you didn’t want to pull apart either. If anything, the small stimulation created a pit in your lower stomach for the second time of the night.

You wrapped your arms lazily around his neck while he rested one of his hands on your hips and used the other one to rub your back. “How are you feeling?” he asked, eyes soft and full of affection.

You pressed a long, gentle kiss to his lips. “Good. Really good,” you said, making him chuckle.

“Good. Me too.”

You made out lazily, lips moving languidly against each other, neither of you in a rush to get anywhere. But after some time, you started to feel Jihoon hardening under you, and when you rocked your hips against him, coating his growing erection with arousal, he groaned. His hands traveled down to your ass, grabbing hard at the skin there as he helped you rock back and forth against him. You started out slowly at first, moaning every time your clit brushed against his tip, but it wasn’t long before you sped things up and lost yourself in pleasure once again. Your arms tightened their hold around his neck and, burying your face in his neck, you pressed your chest flush to his and muffled your moans against his skin, in both pleasure and frustration at having him right against you but not inside.

You suddenly lifted your head, and the look on your face made Jihoon instantly stop. “Is everything okay, baby?”

You nodded, but your worry was still evident in the crease of your brows. “Yeah, I just…” You pouted. “I’m scared it’ll hurt, Hoon.”

Jihoon caressed the side of your cheek with his palm, brushing some hair away from your face. “We don’t have to do this today-”

“No!” you exclaimed, taking the both of you aback. “I want to.”

“Okay.”

“I’m just a little bit nervous.”

“Okay. That’s okay, baby.” One of his hands rubbed reassuring circles into your lower back. “We can go as slow as you want, okay? And we can stop whenever you want. Just let me know. Does that sound good?”

You nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, it does.”

Jihoon smiled and pressed his lips to yours. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” you whispered.

He helped you lay on your back against the mattress and hovered over you, propping himself up on one forearm. As he kissed you, he caressed one of your thighs, hand inching closer and closer to your core and making your blood rush with anticipation. Then he finally pressed two fingers to your folds, gathering up some of your arousal 

before sliding his digits inside of you. As you gasped out in pleasure, his lips trailed away from your lips and found a new home in your neck.

He scissored his fingers inside of you, stretching you out and getting you ready for him as he murmured words of “you’re doing so well” and “I’ll make you feel good,” as if he wasn’t already. When you seemed relaxed enough, he slid his fingers out of you, smiling at you mischievously while he sucked your arousal off of them. Then, taking his dick by the base, he rubbed his tip along your folds, making your body twitch and loud moans escape your mouth. He pressed a final kiss to your cheek and buried his face in your neck, trying to ground himself too as he slowly started pushing himself inside of you.

His dick was so much bigger than his fingers, and you gripped his hair tightly as you got used to the new sensation. Tears prickled in your eyes, the unexpected stretch making you frown in discomfort. It was a completely different pain to what you were used to, but the overwhelming pleasure mixed with it made it almost welcome. 

Jihoon was using all of his self-control to not pound you into tomorrow - your tight pussy was sucking him right in, and it was like his whole body sighed of relief when he bottomed out. He couldn’t believe he was inside you, feeling your walls clench around him and hearing your soft grunts as you got used to him. It was a scene right out of his wet dreams. 

“You okay?” he asked, voice muffled against your skin. His voice sounded strained and heavy. 

“I’m okay, Hoonie. I just need a minute.”

For that minute, as you breathed shallowly and relaxed around him, Jihoon pressed wet kisses wherever his lips could reach and twirled one of your nipples between two fingers to take your mind off of your pain. 

“Take your time. I know I’m big, baby,” he said. You could hear the smirk in his voice.

“No, you’re just right, Hoon. It feels nice now.” 

Objectively, Jihoon knew that this was a good thing, and that you had meant in a good way - better for him to fit right inside rather than cause you pain, but a part of his ego had still been hurt by your refutal of his claim. But then you told him he could move, and he forgot all about it.

It took him another superhuman kind of effort to go slow, slowly rolling his hips against yours with a self-control he didn’t know he had. He scanned your face for any signs of discomfort, kissing your small frown in the hope it might go away. He watched as your jaw relaxed and the soft hums escaping your throat turned into moans, as the crease in your eyebrows softened and turned into one of pleasure rather than pain. He allowed his movements to speed up, noting with satisfaction the increasing volume of the noises you were making and the way your fingernails dug into the skin of his shoulders.

He lifted himself on his palms and hooked one of your legs around his hips, the new, deeper angle having you seeing stars. He asked if you were okay again, and when you not only nodded yes, but asked him to go faster, Jihoon had to admit he got a little bit carried away, both in his actions and his words. 

Jihoon had a big mouth - you knew it, everyone knew it. What you didn’t know was that he would keep that big mouth even balls-deep inside you.

Maintaining a fast pace, he lowered himself so that his lips tickled your ear as he spoke. “You’re doing so well, baby. Taking my cock like the good girl you are. Isn’t that right? You’re my good girl,” he grunted, punctuating his words with harsh rolls of his hips into yours. You couldn’t even get yourself to answer, that’s how far gone you were, his words going into your one ear and coming out the other. All you could think about was how good it all felt, from his tip repeatedly hitting that delicious spot inside of you to the feeling of his warm, sticky skin against yours. The room smelled of sweat and arousal and was filled with all sorts of noises - your heavy breathing, your moans, your grunts, the wet sound of Jihoon’s dick inside of you.

“Can’t even say anything, can you? Am I making you feel that good, baby?”

You moaned, thinking that should be enough of a yes for him, but you should’ve known better. 

“I think you should answer me when I ask you a question, Y/N,” he commanded, slowing his pace down to get you to listen to him.

“Y-yes, it feels so good, Hoon,” you replied, out-of-breath.

“Attagirl,” he whispered, smiling as he bit the lobe of your ear. 

You hadn’t even realized you were crying until Jihoon halted in his motions, feeling one of your hot, wet tears on his palm. He was quick to wipe it away, searching for any pain in your features, but you only whined, asking him why he’d stopped. 

“Why are you crying, baby? Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” he asked frantically. The worry in his voice only amplified your already overflowing love for him.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong, I just… God, this is so embarrassing,” you all but sobbed against his skin, realizing that the pleasure had been so overwhelming, tears had started flowing from your eyes. 

“No, it’s not.”

You screwed your eyes shut for a second before meeting his gaze again. “I just- it feels so good, Hoon.”

A pause passed as he took a deep breath. “Is that it?”

“It is, I promise. Please, just… let’s keep going, Hoonie. I was so close,” you whined, and Jihoon couldn’t help but chuckle at your desperation. How was it that he still found you so adorable even in such a situation?

“Okay, baby. I’m relieved.” He wiped more of your tears that had fallen, but as soon as he moved inside of you again, taking a minute to return to his previous harsh pace, your tears resumed streaking down your cheeks. Jihoon kissed them, savoring their salty taste on his tongue.

It didn’t take long for the knot in your stomach to become tight again, and with every deep thrust, you felt yourself getting closer and closer to the edge. 

“You look so pretty like this, sweetheart. All fucked out for me.”

“Mm. I’m so close, Hoon, gonna- fuck, gonna-”

“You’re gonna cum for me, baby? Gonna cum and make a mess all over my cock?”

“Yes, Hoon, fuck-”

You gasped out loud as his hand found your clit again, using his thumb to rub quick circles into the sensitive bundle of nerves. “Cum for me, sweetheart, show me how good it feels.”

That did it for you. Your second orgasm of the night washed over you, making you release your loudest moan yet. You held on to Jihoon like you might fall apart if you didn’t. 

The quick clenching and unclenching of your walls around Jihoon’s dick as he fucked you throughout your high drove him crazy and, soon enough, he came undone himself, hot, white ropes of his cum filling you up. The squelch as he fucked his cum into you, the both of you moaning in overstimulation, was nothing short of pornographic. 

Jihoon all but collapsed on top of you, humming as you traced your fingernails up and down his back. You took a few minutes to collect yourselves, and you thought he might have fallen asleep, soft dick still inside you, when he lifted himself up with a sigh and slid out of you. You winced at the loss of his warmth. He pressed a kiss to your forehead and said he’d be back in a sec. 

When he entered your room again, he was carrying a towel, a tall glass of water, and leftovers from your takeout earlier. He cleaned you off and asked you how you felt, then you chatted as you ate your food. You could pass out at any moment, but it was nice, talking a little bit after the moment you shared instead of falling asleep straight away. 

He almost choked on his water when you asked him where he’d learned to talk so dirty - now that he was out of the moment, his cheeks reddened at the thought of everything he’d told you. “It just comes naturally,” he’d said shyly.

“Do you want anything?” he asked when you were done eating. 

You kissed him, smiling against his lips. “I’m all good, Hoon. You?”

He mirrored your smile. “All good, too.”

“I just wanna cuddle and sleep now. I’m spent.”

“Sounds perfect to me,” he whispered. He laid down on his back and you followed, letting him wrap an arm around your shoulder while you rested your head on his chest. He drew you close to him and pulled the blankets over your intertwined bodies. “Is it creepy if I just stare at you for a little bit?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

“But you’re so pretty,” Jihoon pouted.

“I’ll just sleep and pretend I don’t know anything about it.”

“Okay, just don’t panic if you feel a strange but very attractive presence looming over you.”

You snorted. “Noted. Night, Hoon.” You pressed a kiss to his neck and he hummed.

“Night, pretty. Sleep tight.”

--

When you woke up a few hours later, your room was bathing in the bright yellow glow of the early morning. You and Jihoon had shifted positions in the night and you’d ended up curled up on your side, back to him while he slept on his back, arms sprayed out next to him. It was the feeling of him shifting closer to you and wrapping an arm around your waist that had awoken you, a sudden warmth engulfing your body that made you feel like you might still be dreaming.

But no, it was all very real. From the man behind you, to the events of the previous night, to the dull but not unpleasant ache you felt between your legs. You sighed contentedly, taking his hand in yours and wrapping it tighter around yourself. 

Curious to see if he was awake, you turned around after a few minutes and faced him. He seemed pretty passed out until you pressed a soft kiss to his nose, then another to his cheek. His eyebrows creased for a second and his foot moved against yours. He didn’t open his eyes, but he pursed his lips for a kiss. He wasn’t content with just a peck, however, and you found yourself making out with him first thing in the morning, lips full of sleep and cotton-soft like your pillows. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve dreamed of this,” he says after a while, keeping his eyes closed, morning voice sending chills down your spine. “Waking up next to you.”

“You have?”

“I have. I don’t know if I should freak out over this and have a party or just be chill about it,” he said, smiling.

“We can have a party.”

“Really?” Jihoon asked, opening his eyes wide, excited like a kid who was just told they were going to Disneyland.

“Sure,” you giggled. “We can invite all of our friends and celebrate our one-week anniversary or something. Minjeong will probably want to plan it.”

He sighed happily. “I’m holding you to that. We’re celebrating.”

After lazing around in bed for a couple hours, going back and forth between chatting while cuddling and making out, your growling stomachs forced you out of your room and into the kitchen.

You and Jihoon noticed it at the same time. It was hard to miss, after all - a bright pink sheet of A4 paper with hearts and little Cupids everywhere right in the middle of the surface of your fridge, but more importantly, your name and Jihoon’s in big bubble letters with 99% in the middle. You wanted to rip it from the surface of your fridge, but the damage had been done - index pointed at the paper, Jihoon turned to you with an incredulous look on his face. You scratched the back of your neck and looked around the kitchen for a way to escape.

“Y/N, what’s this?” Jihoon asked, amusement laced in his voice.

You tried to find some sort of excuse, but to no avail. “This is just, um- you know, just a, uh, just-” The sound of Jihoon’s cackles interrupted you. You looked at him, unimpressed. “Don’t laugh at me. I was stressing out, okay? I needed something to reassure me.”

Jihoon was grinning wide as he pulled you into a hug, one arm around your waist and one hand on the back of your head. “You’re so adorable,” he mused, pressing a kiss to your hair. You wrapped your arms around his middle and nuzzled your nose against his neck, the comforting scent of his skin making you forget about your embarrassment. 

He leaned away slightly and took the paper off of the fridge, smiling down at it. “As cute as this is, you don’t need it. I’ll show you everyday that I’m the perfect man for you, okay?”

You mirrored his smile. “Okay.” Even when your lips found each other, you couldn’t stop smiling, giggles escaping from your lips into his. You only laughed harder when he started pressing small kisses all over your face, making sure to not miss a single spot. He pressed a final one to your forehead before resting his against it, both of you closing your eyes and relishing in each other’s presence. 

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

© asahicore on Tumblr, 2023. please do not repost, translate, or plagiarize my works. support your creators by reblogging and leaving feedback!

permanent taglist: @zreamy @sunghoonmybeloved @lalalalawon @sd211 @w3bqrl @raikea10 @wntrnghts @moonlighthoon @4imhry @rikisly @loves0ft @iamliacamila @theboingsuckerasseater9000 @chaechae-23 @baekhyuns-lipchain @hyuckslvr (ask to be removed/added!)

[lowkeyrobin]

still so disappointed that mr pennycrumb [fives dog in the comics] didnt rlly appear much in the show </3

ok ok so its the academy's birthday and the reader is insanely good at gift giving and never forgets to give presents if theres smth special happening. they hand out the gifts to everyone except they avoid five and disappear w/o them knowing where they went, only to come back at dusk w/ a larger box. obviously five went insane and rambles on how worried he was before the reader finally shuts him up by plopping the box on him, and boom. theres a puppy.

[loved the last viktor fic btw. literally bawled my eyes out]

- 🦇

OMG YES the only appearance we saw was in s3 when Luther went on a jog before he got napped :( ; and thank you!! I got bored and I couldn't extend it any further so it's kinda dumb but it's alr haha ; thanks for requesting, hope you enjoy! ; also sorry this is so short and dumb idk writers block is so picky

FIVE HARGREEVES ; mr pennycrumb

summary ; when the umbrella academys birthdays roll around, you get five a whole ass dog

warnings ; language

disclaimers ; some of the gifts are related to hobbies/interests that are more of hcs than actual canon

word count ; 738

masterlist

When you walked into Allison's with multiple boxes and bags for the Hargreeves, they all knew you were at it again with your insane yet accurate gift giving. They started with cake, then moved over to presents.

Gift giving in the family was like secret Santa in a way. Everyone would essentially get gifts for all the others, and they'd pass around gifts one by one, usually by number order. Luther was always first, Viktor always last. Lila usually snuck in around Diego, because duh. Viktor had gotten used to being last, the forgotten one. But around his family now, he knew it wasn't like that anymore. He'd rather go last so everyone else could have their special time on their special day.

So, the group sets the gifts tagged for Luther on the table in front of him. The kids halfway watch from afar, paying attention to the TV and their toys more than their celebrating parents, aunts, and uncles.

You were among the minority in the house that didn't share a birthday with them, thank God. You would've gone insane over big birthdays like this.

Five, meanwhile, was going insane over you basically ignoring him all day.

You'd gotten Luther some workout gear, knowing he'd taken up going to the gym within the past couple of years. Among other gifts were little trinkets and other things he wanted. He was a little hard to shop for, never really wanting anything, enjoying the quality time over any gift giving.

Next was Diego, and inside the gift you got for him, was a knife sharpening kit. He'd lost his old one just in time. Lila came up next, receiving a few nice outfits you found for her and a gift card to Cosmoprof, as she'd been thinking about re-dyeing her hair to white again.

Next up was Allison, grateful for the numerous acting job business cards you'd given her on top of a bunch of books that were on her Amazon wishlist. She was a serious reader who wanted to get back into acting, now.

Klaus was after her, ecstatic about a carry-around cleaning kit. You were going to go with a joint maker to make his life easier before he got sober. Now he wouldn't need a full bag of cleaning supplies, he'd have your perfect gift.

Five decided to go last, wanting to watch his family be happy more than open presents himself.

Ben was next, receiving some letters from modeling agencies. As he should.

Viktor was second to last, very appreciative for the new drink recipes you'd made and found for him atop the pile of clothes you'd gotten him.

You disappeared around dusk, leaving Five to open his presents without presence. He was physically eighteen, mentally sixty-two today.

As he looks up, seeing the lack of you around, he hides a soft frown. He noticed how you weren't standing near him all night, how you barely even spoke around him.

"Did you do something to Y/n?" Klaus asks out of the blue. "They just kinda... dissappeared"

Five shrugs. "I don't think I did. Even if I did do something, they'd talk it out with me"

Allison shrugs. "I think that's them" she comments, looking out the screen door to see you pull up in your car again. "Diego, could you get the door?"

Diego turns around, unlocking the door for you, holding it open as he sees you holding a big box.

"Why is that box bigger than you?"

"Also, why is it moving?"

You set the box on the table in front of Five, a wide smile on your face. "Open it"

He slowly sets aside the large box of coffee pods he received from Diego to the side, slowly reaching for the box flaps. As he pulls them to the side, out jumps a little dog.

"Oh my God?"

Five smiles, pulling the puppy into his lap. He looks up at you, a glimmer in his eyes. "Why did you get me a dog?"

You shrug, moving the box off the table. "You're a lonely old man, you need some company"

He chuckles, petting the pug's head.

"What're you gonna name it?" Ben asks, arms crossed.

"Him" You correct

"Mr. Pennycrumb" Five answers.

"Why?" Luther asks.

The physically younger boy shrugs. "Why not?"

"Interesting choice" Klaus mutters with a shrug.

Five smiles up at you, giddy like a little kid. "Thank you"

"I try"

[gatorbites-imagines]

Can you do a Tim Drake x M!Reader?

Where Tim's brothers are meeting Reader for the frist time, and they just go into full investigation mode to see if Reader is a good fit for their brother?

Like some may hate/ never talk to Tim, but they still wanna make sure he at least has one healthy relationship in his life.

- Crow

Tim Drake x male reader

Headcanons

Ill be gone all of next week, as my family is going to Greece, yippee. Unless you guys would be interested in me answering requests from my phone, which would mean shorter replies and less formatting.

Dating Tim Drake would be just like how you imagined it, and then nothing like it at all. Hes a little manic, or very, at times, he doesn’t sleep much, he’s always got bruises one way or another, and you have to put up with having a tracker and panic button on you at all times, courtesy of ingrained bat paranoia.

But other than that, he’s a pretty great boyfriend. Sure, he’s a little awkward in the beginning, and if you don’t know he’s Red Robin it takes quite a while to figure It out. Youd probably discover it when you find him banged up after patrols, as Tim doesn’t wanna scare you off by telling you.

Tim would wanna keep you apart from his family for a while, just to keep you to himself. Let’s also not go into detail about the batfams unhealthy attachments to each other, whilst also being weirdy distant at times.

So, if Tim and the family aren’t on speaking terms, it would take even longer for you to meet them. Theres a big chance you meet young justice a lot longer before you ever meet his family, because his team is like his safe place, and you are too. Plus, he would want them to know about you, to keep you safe.

You never asked too much into his family or their situation, since you could just sense most of it from what little he told, and what he didn’t say anything about at all. You know he would tell you if it was anything important.

When the day came where you finally met his family, it was probably during some celebration of some sort, or even for Tims birthday. He would have wanted to just spend it with you, but the batfam would have set something up, or rather, Alfred would have set something up.

At first Tim wouldn’t wanna bring you along, but you end up convincing him, since you wanna meet his family one way or another. It just takes some kisses and cuddling to get him to agree, since deep down he wants them to meet you too.

So, you get dressed up in your best clothes, but nothing too fancy since it’s just a dinner with his family, but still not too sloppy, since you wanna make a great first impression. Tim makes sure to compliment you before you guys leave to drive to the manor.

You could easily tell that Tim was nervous, so before you guys leave the car you make sure to give his hand a squeeze, and your boyfriend a kiss, which seems to work wonders in calming his anxiety, for now at least.

Alfred greets you both at the door, and whilst he gives you a raised brow, he doesn’t question who you are, or why you are there. It’s a different thing when you get inside though, multiple members of the batfam would immediately look you up and down and ask who you were.

They try not to act surprised and maybe a little hurt when Tim introduces you as his boyfriend or almost a year, surprised because they couldn’t imagine Tim having a long-lasting healthy relationship, curse of being a bat, and hurt because he never told them.

They play nice the whole evening though, but Damian might be looking you up and down in closer detail trying to discern if you are a threat. He and Tim might not get along, but only Damian gets to pick on him.

After that the entire batfam would look into you in their own ways, but if you end up getting a few, or multiple, followers at night watching your every move, you would be none the wiser.

You almost shit yourself when you return to your apartment one day after work to find the red hood sitting on your couch. It ends up with him giving you a very extreme and in detail shoveltalk, telling you exactly what he would do if you ever hurt Tim or his feelings. It leaves your legs shaking after he leaves, you thought the heads in bags thing was just a myth.

Some of the others would be more subtle about their stalking investigating, like Cass who would just observe how you act around Tim, and look into your body language. When she sees there’s nothing but love in you though and how healthy Tim looks nowadays, she would accept your relationship.

Dick is still hurt that Tim never told them, but he would try to ask Tim about you during patrol, gotta get some brother bonding, right? He can always come to Dick for dating advice, he knows that. It ends up with the others joking about Dick and his long list of partners, and how Tims held his relationship longer than most of Dicks, so maybe Dick should ask Tim for advice instead.

Damian doesn’t trust you for a long time, he always expects the worst, especially since Tim seems to attract enemies like a magnet. But after a while, he would have to accept that you have a positive influence on Tim and his wellbeing, so he guesses he will accept you for now.

Barbara would already have known, I mean, its Babs, how wouldn’t she have known. She would have accepted Tim needing time to tell the others though, so she kept it a secret. But she did a very extreme background check the moment she learned of your relationship, and when you came up clean, she accepted it.

Bruce would pull a move similar to Babs, and wouldn’t stalk you himself but look into your past and your families’ pasts, and your friends and their families pasts, and-

You get my point. Let’s hope you don’t have any embarrassing search history, because your boyfriend’s dad as seen it. But like Babs, when you turn up clean, he has to accept it, since its clear Tim is so happy with you. Bruce might end up feeling protective of you after a while, especially if you aren’t a hero yourself and have no training. Congrats you are now part of the batfam.

[thewritersaddictions]

Day Sixteen: Aaron Hotchner + Dirty Dancing

The shoes and clothes are stuffed away in a box in the garage. Your life is diffierent now, there's no need for the six-inch heels or the lace like outfits when you're now a mom of two beuatiful kids.

Every now and again you think about your past, how Aaron had met you. The lap dance that had turned into your talking more about your past, and where you wanted your future to go.

It was nice then just as it is now to talk to Aaron about the things that make it hard to go to bed at night. The kids are off at school, Aarons off at work, and well you're a stay at mom.

You tidy up, keep the house warm and light all, make dinners (Which Aaron tells you that you don't have to do). Tonight you're thinking of following his words. You pull the box down from the top of the shelf in the garage. Slipping the garage door close as you breath in.

The walk up to your bedroom is quiet. The alexa in the kitchen isn't loud enough to make it upstiars and into your bedroom. The box isn't heavy by any means, but the weight that it holds is immense. The black heels and the sparkly clothes is what catch your eye first.

Among other clothes. Like a red lacy set of bra and panites, mesh tights that you remember leaving imprints on your skin. It all comes flooding back, that night you met Aaron is so burned into your memories that it's hard not to want to recreate it again.

A plan is set and you can't help but grow excited. The afternoon you go pick up your kids from school, asking them all sorts of questions about what they learned and how they liked what you packed them for lunch. A few hours later your darling husband comes home.

Drops his bag by the door, and comes over to you first. Kissing your cheek sweetly before giving each kid a hug. Your heart beats faster as the night goes on. all through dinner which was take out by a good mexican resturant not far from you.

A good movie on the tv that has your two children giggling and then falling asleep without a single peep.

Aaron takes your son, lifting him up and into his arms. "I got her baby." He says sweetly to you as you go to lift your daughter up into your arms. You hum, and nod. Before following him up the stairs.

You press a sweet kiss to your sons head, before rushing into your room while Aaron gets your daughter up to bed. The rush to get into the bra, and panites with matching garter belt as you feeling a few years younger.

You don't except Aaron to come to bed just yet, he's got work and always leaves that for after you, and your children go to bed at night. So you quielty walk to his office. The light on the desk is on, giving the room an earthy mood. A perfect mood you might add, you as crawl on all fours to the side of Aarons desk.

When he turns to look at you, his jaw draps and thers something behind those pretty brown eyes. "What are you doing?" He asks leaning back into the leather desk chair. "I found some old things in the garage today." You answer.

"Hmm I can see." He swallows hard, his adam bobs in his throat and his bottom lips turns a little red between his teeth. "What are you looking for, sir?" You say in sultry voice, a smirk planted on that beautiful face of yours.

A quick quirk of Aarons brow and he pushes the chair back even further. "How about you come up here into my lap and show me what you go babygirl!" You don't remember it going this way the first time, but the way your body grows with heat inbetween your legs and your heart beats a bit louder, and a bit faster in your chest as you loving every fucking minute of walking into the garage this morning.

"There are rules here." You say to your husband as you sit in his lap. "Hmm like what darling?" He asks playing along with you. "Theres no touching the merchandise." You giggle a little inwardly of course, but the groan of frustatrion is so gratifiting that leaves Aarons mouth.

"Do I get to fuck the merchandise at least?" He asks, maybe after two kids you think he'd look at your differently, but he doesn't. You hum, and think about it for a second grinding yourself into his tight slacks.

"I think that can be arranged for the right price of course." You mutter when you press your lips into his. Sealing whatever game you've started.

Completed on: 10/19/24

Posted on: 10/20/24

Kinktober 24'-

[pinkandlilacroses]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

Angel - Paige bueckers

part 3

• summary {when an unsuspecting girl falls for the basketball star}

• warnings {drug use, angst}

• comment if you would like to be added to the taglist

bella’s pov

“ok you can go now” she says, emotionless

“oh”

“i mean, no offence but i have a girl coming soon, so you cant be here” she says laying on her back, breaking our eye contact

i don’t respond and put my clothes back on. this is fucked

“have a nice night”

i haven’t cried this much in months, walking through the halls, ugly crying.

‘paige’ has been blocked by ‘bella’

“bella whats wrong” avery says, empathetically

“i hate her, i hate her so much” i cry, barley being able to choke the words out

i look at avery after my response and i have never seen her that angry, there could fully be steam coming from her ears.

“please dont talk to her, please dont hurt her, please avery, please” i cry out, begging the infuriated girl

“why not bella, she deserves it” she yells

my tears dont stop and i feel like they will never stop pouring.

“tell me what she did”

i begin the tell her the events of tonight and her anger only grows.

“that fucking bitch” is all she can say in response

“but i blocked her, and im literally never gonna speak to her again” i say, trying to make a positive point, to counteract this negative situation

“you are never gonna speak to her again”

“im gonna go off to bed”

i feel broken, i got used. i wanted my first time with a girl to be meaningful, i know i like girls and i wanted to prove to myself that having sex with girls wasn’t wrong, but i feel wrong, i feel gross. i cant believe i would let myself be that vulnerable with someone i barley know. ive never been the one to have one night stands and ive only ever had sex with someone ive been in a relationship with.

i take my valium, something i swore to never use again after getting addicted, but its the only thing that works.

“hey, how are you feeling” avery ask’s, genuinely. i’ve never seen her be this gentle before

“wheres my weed”

“bella no”

“shut up avery”

i walk to the kitchen and unlock one of the drawers, and i see the stash. thank god

i know i shouldn’t smoke as a coping mechanism, but its the only thing that works, every time something bad happens to me, i turn to smoking

after going through 3 joints, im barley able to talk or stand up. perfect

knock

ugh

knock

fuck off

knock

“who is it” i say, it barley even sounded like words

“its azzi, is avery here”

who the fuck is azzi

“avery theres a bitch here for you” i say taking another drag

“oh my god! hey azzi” avery says, excitedly, why the fuck is she acting like that

“why are you so fucking happy” i ask, knowing full well how rude i sound

“this is azzi, shes in my psychology class and we have gotten pretty close” avery says, grabbing azzi and sitting next to me on the couch

“yo dont sit on my shit” i say, mad

“your bella right?” azzi says, happily. i hate happy people

“yeah”

“yeah avery’s told me alot about you” she says

“cool” i reply, dryly

“azzis on the basketball team” avery says, my eyes widen

“of course she is” i say, sarcastically. i hate basketball

“yeah, have you been to any games” she questioned, attempting to continue this boring conversation

“nah, i dont watch basketball”

“oh well you should sometime, avery keeps saying how she wants to go to a game” azzi says, looking at avery who begins giggling. sus

“bella your probably friends with some people on the team” avery says

“you wanna hit” i offer to azzi

“nah, i dont smoke”

“boring” i say, bluntly

“do you guys mind if some of my friends come over” azzi says

“no, no, thats perfectly fine” avery says, looking at azzi. basically eye fucking her

“who” i ask

“ice, kk, aubrey, nika and ashlee” she lists

fuck my life. im to high to care

“yeah whatever” i say, lazily

“ok perfect, ill tell them to come” azzi says, excitedly

“are you sure” avery whispers to me, being nice. for once

“i dont give a fuck, its fine” i say taking a drag

im so high. god damn

10 minutes later all of azzis friends turn up, why are they all so tall. what the fuck

avery introduces herself to them and points them to our couch

“hey im kk, your bella right” kk asks

“yeah im bella”

“hey im ice”

“hey im nika”

“hey im ashlee”

“hey im aubrey”

to many people to remember

until

“oh paige came to, i hope you dont mind” azzi says to us, mostly avery

avery says nothing, myself included

“hi paige” avery says, extremely cold

“come sit guys” azzi says, breaking the silence. i wish i wasn’t so high cause i wanna go to my room

everyone sits on the couch, paige sitting the furthest away from me. funny. not funny. not laughing

conversation begins and everyone is involved. everyone but me, ugh i’m so uncomfortable

paige keeps looking at me, and yes i’m noticing because i’m looking at her to.

paige’s pov

fuck. why do i keep looking at her.

she blocked me last night so obviously shes mad about my actions last night, its just a hookup, nothing more.

its not that deep

“i’m going to bed” bella says, slurring and barely able to stand up. i didn’t know she smoked that much, i guess i don’t know anything about her. but i don’t care.

“paige are you ready to go” kk and ice say to me

“yeah, aubrey, nika, azzi, u ready to go”

“yeah lets go”

“actually im gonna stay” azzi says. sus

“buy guys” is said in unison

azzis pov

“ugh finally” avery says, while smashing her lips onto mine

A/N: im being active rn lolll. how do we like avery and azzi

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

My Old man's tale about benetint (product) & review:

in summer 2008 i was 14 & my best friend's family took me to Vegas w them. she had only just moved to my school for 9th grade & i hadn't met her older sister til this trip. She was 21 & soooo insanely beautiful like if barbie was a hollister model she had the look so refined in every sense, i was dazzled by her.

& she was so sweet to us, my friends parents went & did their own thing so the whole trip we spent with her but she wasn't annoyed about it at all she seemed content to hang w us & protect us from vile men along the strip.

On this trip i went to sephora for the first time. hadn't heard of it before. it had huge windows so everything was glowing from sunlight & it was sooo overwhelming. my friend's sister liked this brand benefit so i picked out a little starter kit that came w bad gal mascara, high beam highlighter, booing concealer, and benetint.. Let me tell you for the next year i cherished this kit like it elevated me a new level towards Prestiged Adult Woman status. but the makeup was noticeably nicer quality for sure! from my memory at least.

the thing i remember most was benetint cus i wore it soooo much for the rest of the summer & beyond, i stretched that tiny bottle as far as it wld go cus i luved it sm.. but after it ran out i never tried to use it again idk just being a teen moving onto the next thing. But lately i jst rly wanted a goood lip tiiiint cus i dont wanna b wearing lipstick or gloss all the time its too much i just want chapstick but i like a little more color too.. usually i wld use lip liner but it always felt like it wld smudge off so quick n its kinda drying.

so i tried benetint again bcus i remember it being so easy to put on n then just forget about, it didnt get on ur clothes or teeth or nothin. after wearing for a couple weeks i can say this is still tru! i rly like it, very convenient, chapstick goes gr8 over top so my lips r never dry from it. its kind of expensive but it lasts a long time , for me i dnt have much makeup rn so felt nice to get st i actually use ^^ the taste & smell of it are mildly rosey, rly brings me back to those times..

being in vegas those 4 days w my friend n her sis are definitely a core memory for me it was totally surreal. i wish i had photos still but no clue where to find them, my friend's fb account got hacked years ago n had to get deleted, so many photos gone </3 we stayed at treasure island & across the street was this huge mall that was repeatedly playing an ipod commercial with the song Shut Up & Let Me Go by the ting-tings, like... ON REPEAT, ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT, so that song gives me the wildest flashbacls like i'm literally There. In the august heat. i can smell it like. its amazing thank you advertising :)

this is not an ad btw i mean obviously LOL i honestly just got thinking so hard about vegas '08 after purchasing The Product. oh yeah there was thunderstorms too... i went to hot topic at the mall which was wild for me since they didnt have one any where near my town.. i got some shorts from hollister i remember, also a rarity. friends sis got me my first ever drink, a peach daquiri...just one <3 it was such a nice break from my woeful home life lol i wanted to live in america so bad after this xD

thats my story...o and benetint is chill i mean i genuinely wanted to recommend it to ppl who want st simple it looks rly pretty cus until this i was struggling to find anything worthwhile. theres other shades too. Yup. Thanksyou for reading my LiveJournal Entry tonight minasan ^_^ Hope you're well x

-PMD9

[sugolara]

Disappear

ft. Katsuki Bakugo x Shoto Todoroki x Izuku Midoriya x fem! reader

Synopsis: After a deadly virus leaks all over the world, every country is forced to close down it's borders and airports to prevent anyone from coming in and out. Though, it's to late for some people. The dead has rose and is looking for revenge. Cw: gore, quirkless! au, apocalypse! au, zombie! au, weapons, death, angst, lots and lots of blood, cannibalism, suicidal thoughts, slow burn

previous || series m.list || next

Shoes crunching leaves of different shades, the three walked through the woods that surrounded the city Rhote. With the moon already up, they were thankful for the fresh cool air, though they had to be wary of any lingering rotter as they didn't have any flashlights to help.

At every noise they heard, they would still their movements and have their weapons ready. Occasionally, the culprits would be the critters that roamed the woods, a few being rotters that rested against the trees with moss growing on their melting bodies. After countless restless nights, it was evident that paranoia was showing.

F/n quieted her yawn, "Please let there be a house nearby."

Beside her, Katsuki swatted flies away, brows furrowed in annoyance at their buzzing, "I doubt it. Theres nothing but trees and these damn fucking flies that are begining to piss me the fuck off."

"Maybe they are attracted to you because you smell." She shrugged watching the blonde mockingly laugh as he glared at her. "Aren't you fucking funny. You smell like shit too."

"I meant it in a nice way." She said, waving her hand in the air to shake off the flies.

"There is no nice way when you're covered in sweat and blood and other different types of shit." He scoffed, examining her clothes, "Don't tell me that you spent your whole life smelling like ass and thinking it's normal."

"Actually, I did." She thought back to her camping days and she should have mentioned that part as the blonde gave her a disgusted face, "Not the normal part, but it was very efficient for attracting animals."

"What?" He wanted to laugh, but he swallowed it down, "What the hell are you even talking about?"

In front of them, Izuku shook his head as he let out a quiet sigh. He too had the same thought when he told her something about beavers. He had actually spaced out trying to imagine how she had done the process and it felt too rude to ask her to repeat it when the conversation finished. However, she probably should have left this one to herself as the blonde looked like he was about to run off.

"I'm talking about attracting animals." She waved her hand, "You know?"

"No, I fucking don't." He looked at her as if she was crazy, "Are you saying you have a thing for ...animals?"

This time she looked at him as if he was crazy, "What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about!?" He quietly shouted.

"I'm talking about attracting animals as a trap." She again waved her hand, expecting him to know, "So I can kill it for dinner."

"You could have said that in the first place." He rolled his eyes, "And why the fuck would I even know that information?"

"I don't know, you look like the type of guy to know that." She responded with a shrug.

"Well I don't and its pretty fucking weird how you even know that." He scoffed, giving her a suspicious look, "How do you know that?"

She hummed, her eyes on the back of Izuku's head, "My father taught me. He's...an interesting person."

"That explains." He eyed her. Then he shook himself off, placing his hands in his pockets, "Well, thank fuck you don't have some sort of weird fetish, otherwise we're going to have a serious problem."

"What's that?" Izuku let out another sigh at her comment. It really was like Shoto was with them, except a female version, and a rather unique one. Pushing that aside, he was glad that she seemed more open to them. Three months in the woods was all it took for her to come out of her shell, or perhaps it was the home where she felt safe. Either way, he was just pleased with the way she was turning out to be.

With the two behind continuing to chat, Izuku kept his ears trained on any other voice that wasn't theirs. As he looked around him, in the very distance he spotted what seemed to be a building in the open with the woods surrounding the place. When he stopped, it caused the two behind him to do so as well, their voice no longer being heard as they stayed quiet.

He pointed to what's ahead of them, his voice being kept low, "There's a building up ahead."

Katsuki squinted as he tried getting a good look, but he could only see an outline, "It looks big."

"Probably a warehouse." Izuku mumbled, "The doors look too big."

She glanced around them, expecting for someone to be shown, "Watch out, anybody could be nearby."

Izuku hummed, "I don't know, it looks too clean and alone."

"I don't see any shoe print either." Katsuki said as he looked down around them. With the little moonlight that showed, he was able to see partially.

"We should still be careful." Izuku said before carefully proceeding forward, "Stay low."

They crouched as they walked by the bushes to hide their figures and when they saw nothing suspicious, they quickly headed for the double wide doors. There seemed to be a chain lock hanging on one of the handles and thankfully enough, the lock was undone. So quietly, Izuku opened the doors, letting his friends inside before closing the door behind him.

The building was dark, much expected due being night, but the windows high above the walls did allow some light to enter. The blonde reached into the small pocket of his bag. He pulled out a lighter and with a click, the fire bounced off his face. He extended his arm, shining the lighter until he was shown next to him where a crate rested and on top of it was a flashlight.

"So damn dark in here." F/n said, her eyes trying to squint in the darkened. The boy next to her agreed, using the moonlight as help, "Watch your steps."

With a flashlight in hand, Katsuki placed the lighter away as he turned the light on. The bright light caused them to shield their eyes, but when they regained vision, their eyes had grew.

"Oh my..." Izuku eyed tall racks of shelves stocked with supplies.

"This is months of supplies." F/n mumbled, "Who the hell even managed to grab all this in a short amount of time?"

Snapping out of his daze, Katsuki glanced to find a couple duffel bags. Grabbing them he handed it to the other two, "Hurry up and grab everything. Someone isn't dumb enough to leave all this behind."

Agreeing, the three separated as they noticed the shelfs held different items. While Katsuki and Izuku stayed at the front, F/n headed to the back as she had spotted what looked like a gun. She ended up grabbing a flashlight on her way there and perched it above her as she crouched to place the weapons in her bag.

She could have smiled if it weren't for the fact that this place seemed to clean for it to be left abandoned. Not to mention, someone wouldn't leave this place unlocked if it contained many supplies. Either who ever claimed this building was around or was already in there with them.

And to her amusement, her thoughts were answered as she felt the tip of a gun press behind her head as well as the sound of a quiet cold voice, "Try anything and I'll shoot."

The guns laying around her were probably emptied and even if they weren't the person behind her had the advantage. It only took a second for the trigger to be pulled, so to keep her head intact she listened at his orders. "Stand up."

The male behind her watched as she carefully stood up, her hands were by her side though her fingers twitched. He saw a flashlight up ahead, but he couldn't pinpoint how many were with her due to their careful movements, "How many are with you?"

The last thing she wanted to do was endanger her fellow companions. If she tried to be cocky or if she tried to play something that he didn't like she already knew her outcome. To keep herself and the males safe, she carefully turned to face him, hearing the gun cock and the gun still aimed at her.

Taking in his figure, ignoring his two toned hair and a scar on his right eye, she let her eyes discreetly glance at his height. Due to the dark clothing he wore, she wasn't able to see how muscular he was, but she didn't mind, "I don't want any trouble. I'll grab my stuff and we'll be on our way."

He scoffed, eyeing her like the gum underneath his shoe, "No."

Taking his answer, she nodded and glanced away before quickly shifting her body to the side and hooking her arm underneath his extended one. She then elbowed him and the sudden impact allowed a chance for the gun to clatter. With the opportunity she unlatched from him and headed for the gun, but he refused to let her as he pulled her back, shoving her behind him.

However, before she could fall, she grabbed onto his sweater, both tumbling to the floor. A grunt was emitted from her mouth as he elbowed her stomach, right where her wound was. Thankfully, it had healed, but it still hurt.

Before he could get up, she wrapped her hands around his chest and with her legs she pushed herself off the floor, turning over to where he could be underneath her. She let her weight lean on him ignoring the male trying to pry her arms away as his arms stayed glued to his hide. While he did so, she looked around for the gun, the male struggling as he did his best to not alert her friends, but he wasn't sure how long he could take it as he needed the upperhand.

Though sure enough he got it when the girl had unintentionally placed her hand near his face and without hesitation he bit into it causing her to let out a yelp and soon her arms unwrapped. With her weight no longer on him he pushed himself off the floor before brutally kicking her to the shelf behind them, causing it to stumble with a creak before falling. The amount of supplies had tumbled over her and she quickly wrapped her arms to protect her head, but with her vision being blocked she failed to see the male grab the gun, ready to fire at her.

His heavy breathing failed to notice the rushing footsteps behind him as his mind wanted to pull the trigger, eyes watching the girl move the boxes of supplies off her. From when he first spotted her he just wanted to scare her off, but when saw others with her he figured he could tie them up and drop them off somewhere far away, giving him enough time to pack and leave.

But she just had to ruin everything and now as the girl removed a box from her face he was able to get a good look at her. For a girl, he had to give it to her. He really thought she had him there.

Gritting his teeth, his finger twitched against the trigger, his eyes never leaving her piercing glare and just before he could shoot a short gasp and what sounded like his name was heard behind him as he quickly turned only for a bullet to echo through the building.

Eyes widening, Katsuki briskly reached to grab Izuku before he could crash to the floor. His widened eyes stare at the blood that trickled down Izuku's shoulder, a nice round gunshot wound embedded. He turned to glare at the girl and boy, eyes hardened, "What the fuck did you guys do!?"

Releasing a breath, F/n stood up, her throat clogging up as she looked at Izuku's fainted figure. The gun in her hand, the one she managed to find suddenly and the one she pulled the trigger only to miss, fell to the floor, "I..I didn't mean to."

Hearing her voice, the scar eyed male once again spinned to face her, this time gun ready to fire at her but before he could pull, Katsuki stopped him, "She's with us, Icyhot!"

His hand didn't waver, but he did let go of the trigger as his glare did not soften, "She just shot one of us! You expect me to let it go!?"

Adjusting Izuku, the blonde scoffed, eyes going back to Shoto and F/n, "We'll figure it out afterwards, but right now if we don't help Deku, he'll bleed out! So work with me!"

The girl swallowed harshly, her eyes never leaving Izuku, "He's right, we can hash out our feud later."

As the girl went to pass by Shoto, he quickly used the handle part of the gun, hitting the back of her head before kicking her. He glared down at her, "I'll figure it out right now."

She let out a groan at the blunt force. She didn't have time to reach for her head as Shoto kicked her down. On her knees and hands she tried standing up, her vision swarming in darkness as another hit was marked and the last thing she heard was Katsuki's voice telling him to stop. 

[st4rrmii]

LuciBen/LoveBug HCs/Facts:Pt.3-Sillies

(Last part! This one won't be as lore based as the others and will mainly just be silly lil hcs/cute stuff-thank y'all for sticking around for my shenanigans 🙏)

-Ben's the lil spoon

-Ben isn't much of a hugger but he will always cling to Lucien when possible, whenever anyone questions him about it he just tells them Lucien's just "comfortable" to hold onto (not a lie tbh)

-Lucien has a service dog named Latte that absolutely adores Ben, like if she's "off work" then the second she senses Ben, she's BOOKING IT to him. S1 Ben would've been a little icked out (and scared) by a full-size Malamute coming at him, but Big Ben is always happy to give the big pup all his love

-Ben was nervous to come to Lucien's place at first since he lives on the sanctuary he works at, which means theres a lot more of a chance of running into dinos, but he does quickly learn the ones that he will run into are very chill and used to humans so now he can come over without being spooked

-Mia(Lucien's lil sister) is a mechanic and has done an ungodly amount of repairs on the Van, at this point, she's the only one Ben will let touch it

-Lucien and Ben share a pretty similar music taste, mostly because they're constantly introducing each other to new music, so long roadtrips are pretty chill when it comes to who gets the aux

-Whenever they go out and have to look at least somewhat put together, Lucien will put a tiny bit of eyeliner/mascara and lipgloss on Ben, at first Ben was iffy about it but he very quickly got used to it, and even carries around his own little pouch with chapstick, gloss, mascara and eyeliner in his dork pouch

-They absolutely do the little dorky couples' trends you'll see on tiktok (like the nail polish to match each other's eyes, those hug shirts where they paint each other's arms then hug, matching pjs, etc.)

-Neither will admit it, but they are hopeless romantics. Even small romantic gestures from the other will have them giggling n kicking their feet for days

-Lucien's main love language is acts of service, if Ben says he's been stressing about doing something Lucien will do it for him, if Lucien notices the trash/dishes are building up in Ben's dorm he'll take it out/do them for him. Sometimes, Ben won't notice until Lucien's already done it and left, but it always makes him smile.

-On the other hand, Ben's main love language is gift giving, little trinkets he finds that reminds him of Lucien, post it note doodles, plushies (Lucien adores plushies and will always love getting them), you name it. Lucien doesn't really buy many nice things for himself unless they're necessities, so it always feels nice to have someone that does love him enough to think he's worth the money/time spent on gifts.

-Ben does most of the cooking, Lucien knows how to cook but unless it's certain dishes or he's in a certain mood it just stresses him out, whereas Ben grew up cooking with his mom a lot since she was at work a lot and therefore dinner was most of the time they got to spend together, so he finds it actually helps with stress. The boot slop was a low point in his life that we do not talk about.

-Lucien will compliment Ben at whatever chance he can. His hair looks good that day? Compliment. He's cooking, and it smells good? Compliment. The sun hits him in a way that makes his eyes shine and his freckles pop? 100 compliments. Lucien just loves Ben and thinks he's perfect in everything he does, and he's going to let him know that. Ben always gets flustered no matter how many compliments he's gotten.

-If Ben has an essay or exam coming up, Lucien will always stop by to bring him food, make sure he's resting, etc.

-Ben is a notorious clothing thief, I feel like I've mentioned this before, but I am mentioning it again because of how much he does it, someone help Lucien he's running out of clothes.

-They'll spend hours cuddling and talking, nothing else, just taking in each other's presence. They've both "lost" each other at some point in their lives, so they know not to take these things for granted.

-They have inside jokes in ASL, the other camp fam know if they're signing at each other and trying to hide their giggles, then the joke is probably at their expense. Especially Kenji.

-Lucien gets "Love Zoomies" as Sammy calls it, where sometimes Ben will do something or just like- exist- that has Lucien doing laps in his head, stimming, just a huge burst of energy that usually contains him going on about how much he loves Ben while trying not to do a backflip

-Lucien looks like he'd be the scary dog but he is like- the biggest dork, literally and figuratively- especially when it comes to Ben, like I know I've stated it fifteen goddamn times but I genuinely do not think there are enough words for me to properly describe just how madly, insanely, hesd over heels in love with Ben Lucien is, like that is his soulmate, he would take the trauma of Jurassic World an infinite amount of times if it meant he got to love Ben every time.

-Ben has Lucien wrapped around his finger, if he wants something he doesn't even have to say it, Lucien knows and he's already doing it

-Lucien is a biker, and while Ben does very much find it hot, he is also terrified by the way that man drives. He will be a backpack if absolutely necessary, but he will nearly break Lucien's ribs every time with how hard he holds onto him

-Ben was never really a concert enjoyer, hurts his ears and theres just too many people, but after seeing how excited Lucien gets at concerts and how much fun he has, suddenly Ben is a huge concert person, as long as he's with Lucien.

-Lucien's favourite sound in the world is Ben's laugh, the way he squeaks at the end of it, or how if he's laughing hard enough he'll cover his mouth and just go silent, and you can only tell he's laughing because he's shaking and has tears in his eyes- it's just the greatest thing in the world to Lucien. There has been so many time Lucien has completely embarrassed himself, and if it was anyone else laughing he'd curl into a ball and die, but the fact that it was Ben laughing just made everything so worth it.

-Ben thinks Lucien somehow hates pteranodons more than he does, which is crazy, Lucien's whole shtick is that dinosaurs are just doing what they have to do to survive and they shouldn't be punished for it, but pteranodons are a completely different story, they are the wasps of the dino world, they are hell spawns and will be treated as such if they dare come near him. Man, wonder why he hates them sm 🤔

-Lucien is the type of bf to send Ben pictures/videos etc. Of two random things and just caption it "us"

[sloshys]

HI I WAS THE FIRST ANON AND YOURE SO FUCKING RIGHT. GOD.

I just think that Daan has this kinda like. Need to be towered over? I think thats why he interacts with the people who are kinda cold/uncaring/powerful most. I mean. He's found himself almost in every aspect of his life in a position where someone was constantly telling him what to do, and I feel like strong characters (like O'saa or karin) kinda fill that niche of "I need someone to boss me around and tell me what to do because I've lived my life at others whims and while I can hold my own for a good bit after a while I'm not sure what to do but asking for help would be too vulnerable so having someone be a higher up towards me gives me a sense of security but i will also kinda be a little shit about it so it doesnt seem so vulnerable" and with O'saa he's super blunt. Very much "I will do things my way wether you like it or not and you will follow my lead or get out my way." and I mean, hell he was a leader! He very much outwardly has control and leadership tendencies, even if inside he doesn't feel like he can ever truly fit the bill. Which is what Daan is looking for yknow? And O'saa, i just kinda think for O'saa its one of those things of he cant for the life of him figure out why he likes him so much, but then Daan starts talking to him about scholarly topics and they have discussions of religion, medicine, science, war, and other things and theres this draw of Daan's Intellegence paired with this strange need of "i want to see him happy, because his whole life hes been miserable and part of it reminds me of me and if i cant be happy then perhaps i can make someone else happy to fill the void" (touching on the whole joking between the two) but being as O'saa has an enlightened soul, i feel like he would be incredibly interested in what Daan has to say. If the two ever got the chance i feel theyd definitely debate between eachother. Imagine that one reaction meme image of the two scholars talking to eachother. Thats them i think. I feel like the two compliment eachother but in a way of like. They fill a niche the other is searching for. Neither are good with words, much less pda, but alone? I feel like if there ever was time alone in a different time in a different place their intimacy would be intense, passionate, and wordless. Nothing would really need to be said, just intimacy, a smoke on the balcony, and dinner in a perfect world. Other people may find their relationship seemingly loveless, but they just couldn't understand the wordless display of trust, of closeness, and of tenderness. How could they? The two have only ever really been truly vulnerable with the other, and I feel if conflict was to arise, they may argue, take a heated break, and then come back with a wordless apology and cook for eachother. Acts of service, cooking, and gift giving i feel would be something that again, if given the chance, the two would indulge in regularly. I feel if O'saa was being particularly sappy he'd maybe get Daan some expensive alcohol he'd been eyeing. As for Daan, I feel he'd get O'saa a nice clothing piece the other had been admiring. But that's in a life they'd never get, I suppose... sorry for rambling in your inbox, I care for them dearly PFT

Anon rn:

BUT FR LIKE IM SOSO GLAD TO RECIEVE THIS RESPONSE BC YOU EXPLAINED SO WELL WHAT I WAS THINKING

I put my thoughts down there i hope i was able to cover everything

Im going to start off in a daan analysis tangent real quick

Daan has been neglected by his cultist parents ever since he was a baby. He probably never got the proper feeling of security or personal growth as a child because he was always living to survive. Which worsened even more after the death of his parents, and was doomed to child labour very young. Im sure he never got to properly play or express himself as a kid until he got closer to Elise. But The only thing about himself he found worth talking about were his insane cultist parents. His life at the Baron’s mansion was everything he had, as were his studies of modern medicine. That's why he feels attracted to powerful and determined people like O'saa and Karin (and Marcoh too, I believe), who seem to know exactly what their own goals are and think they still have control over what is happening. Despite trying to do things on his own, he still craves company. He also wants to protect the younger ones, like Levi and Marina, because his ass is projecting! But the sad thing is that Daan can't be too dependent on these people and doesn't want to share too much of his past with them because it's very traumatic for him.

If the discussion had taken place, I think O’saa would have been very interested in Daan and his upbringing. Daan never followed the religions and cults of Europa and is aware of their danger. He prays to Sylvian not as an act of worship but to help those who are sick. He also ran away from Pocketcat his whole life and never wanted to give himself to him until depression hit him harder than before. This makes Daan rational, smart, and inquisitive. Which seem to be attractive traits for someone who possesses an enlightened soul.

TOTALLY AGREE ALSO ABOUT THESE TWO HAVING BIG BRAINED DISCUSSIONS O'saa proves himself to be a good listener to others feelings in the booth; Daan can be a very open-minded person; and they both have similar views about the use of magic. I agree that the way they show affection is when they’re both very intimate with each other. O’saa does not trust people lightly because, in his case, his greatest fear is manipulation due to the fact that his country is being invaded and controlled by Europa's religions, wars, and cults. So he only ever relied on himself, which is why he chose to be a yellow mage. I imagine it might take a great deal of time and trust for him to share his vulnerability and feelings with Daan. But they seem to both crave social interaction since they're both lonely at heart, so there might be a chance (we’re winning, girlies!). Either way, I agree with sappy O'saa, that's such an adorable concept and somehow fitting since he finds his own jokes funny. I hc that he’s very genuine when he talks about his emotions, and no matter how embarrassing they are, he always says them with a straight face. But Daan is so sappy too. They would write each other love letters; you cannot tell me otherwise.

Also, I thought of an ending for these two surviving the festival: Daan confessing to O’saa that he doesn’t have anything that waits for him and O’saa noticing the true meaning of those words. He feels a tinge of sympathy because Daan has lost everything to war and religion, and he can't bear to see him give up after surviving the gruesome festival. So O’saa proposes to make a deal to be his personal doctor because he plans to travel dangerously, defy the authority in his country to establish his own teachings, and rise to the top. Since Daan doesn’t have anything to lose, he agrees to it. I think that it is during those travels that they will slowly fall for each other. They might also find some closure on their pasts during those trips.

[therosebunpost]

Oh to be Steddie's crafty GF~!

So, im touching on this topic in my Steve x Manic Pixie Dream couple story, of course, but I just wanna take a moment to gush about this idea.

Like, making things for them would be lit. My first thought is making Sports merch for Steve!! Shirts, hats, shorts, whatever. You either hand dye it to match the team colors or upcycle already existing things to add some personality to it.

Oh!! And upcycling his old clothes! Bet, you take some of his old polos and make dresses out of them by adding fabric to it! I think he'd love seeing you walk around knowing that shirt used to be his once upon a time. You just look so cute, and he'll even buy a new matching polo. (Listen, Steve feels like the type of dude who would 100% be down for matching things. I just feel it in my bones.)

Personally, I headcanon that Steve isn't very artistic. Not that he doesn't get it or he doesn't like it, no. It's just, he's never really felt the need to pursue it. He'll join in on activities involving crafts, but he's more interested in the social aspect rather then the craft itself. Likes watching others be creative and supporting them in doing so!! He loves watching you and Eddie in your elements, offering support and opinions when he can but ultimately just vibing.

Speaking of our dear Metalhead, craft buddies!!! You can not convince me that man hasn't got a crafty bone in his body, because he absolutely does! Now, I feel like Eddie is the embodiment of those cross stitch/embroidered pieces where you expect some wholesome, grandmotherly quote but instead its "This isn't a whore house, its a whore home." Or he'd 100% be the one who makes something vaguely (lets face it, theres no subtly) phallic or vaginal shaped. My dude is putting dicks, butts, boobs and coochie where he can, if he can.

That aside, I do think he's very artistic and actually does have things to say with that talent. Be it music, his writing, or any art medium you'd think he'd pick up. Sure, there's goofy stuff, but mixed in are some deeper meanings. Messages about the world and his life. I also think that stuff is really good. He puts a lot of effort into it, even the joke stuff. Hell, especially the joke stuff because "obviously you gotta make the boobs sit correctly or else the whole bit is thrown off, Steve!" (Steve reacting to that art just sounds so funny to me. He's supportive but also how can they bring anyone over anymore when there's a painting of a weed leaf hanging over the couch, or the goofy art of butts in the bathroom???) Also, I do think Eddie would happily make you both things. In fact, thats his love language. He's written you both songs, made patches for clothes, has even helped you in making custom Sports merch for Steve. Beyond just crafts, I also think he likes fixing things. (Even if Steve tells him he'll just buy a new one, Eddie likes seeing if he can fix it.)

Okay i think I got on a Eddie craft rant right there, but!! Back to you!! So, I imagine you've helped Eddie make props for campaigns, screen printed shirts for Corroded Coffin, and Hellfire, and also just thing's he likes. Custom band merch, book merch, all the merch!

As for your own crafts for yourselves, they love seeing what you come up with! If you make clothes, they absolutely want to see them. If you make jewelry, they admire it on you all the time. If you do something else, like crochet or knit, they love watching your hands as you work with the yarn. If you cook or bake, you bet your ass that they want to eat it, whatever it is. Steve is just so in awe of your ability to create something out of thin air. Eddie is constantly inspired and finds a muse in both you and Steve.

Just, being the crafty GF of them sounds nice~

[class-1b-bull]

class 1-b kids having a best friend (or love interest teehee) that looks scary because of their quirk but is really super friendly and bubbly?

Not proofread we die like men

Awase - he honestly thinks its really cool. He may tease you ever so often saying your his guard dog and stuff like that lmao

Sen - he loves taking pictures of/with you and seeing peoples reactions when he shows them to someone (only because he knows they will get whiplash when they actually meet you)

Kamakiri - he honestly loves it ngl. Like you are both some intimidating fuckers that no one would dare to approach (and thats just how he likes thing lmaoo)

Kuroiro - he tries to get all emo about how your scary appearance and personality contradict yet compliment eachother (like yin and yang)

Kendo - shes a firm believer of not judging a book by its cover and you are a great example of why she doesnt do that <3

Kodai - she is an unbothered queen. She truly does not give a fuck and we love her for that. Seriously tho she doesnt care how you look as long as your a nice person to be around.

Komori - she constantly tries to dress you up in cute clothes that 'match your personality' but it somehow makes you scarier.

Shiozaki - she would honestly be a little intimated at first but once she gets to know you and relizes you were nothing like she thought she would pray for forgiveness lmao

Shishida - he was honestly a tad intimated when he first met you but now that he knows your personality he finds your contradictory looks to be kinda funny

Shoda - poor dude is already shy and a bit scared of interacting with people so he nearly jumped out of his skin when you went up to him to say hi for the first time. Over time he eventually found you to be a very calming presence for him

Pony - like komori, she tries to dress you up to make you look more like your personality and you both get a kick out of it. (Imagine your worst nightmare dressed as a cat maid lmao)

Tsubaraba - he honestly finds it hilarious and he jokes about it a lot (all light hearted jokes obviously)

Tetsutetsu - he finds your 'scary' appearance to be manly and cool asf. He constantly asks you to work out with him because you could look even cooler if you looked like you could beat the shit out of a bear :D - his words not mine

Tokage - when she first met you she almost got whiplash from how different your personality and looks are. She finds you to be cool asf tho (even tho she was a bit intimated at first)

Manga - he draws you two different ways. Way one is almost like the scary (but badass) and ominous villain at the end of a video game, the other way is like all the things nice in the world were blended into that drawing and somehow they are both correct.

Honenuki - he honestly adores it. Theres been once or twice in his life where hes been told he looks scary so he is kinda the same way lol

Bondo - he was scared of you at first, not because of your appearance but because of your personality. Hes one of the more quiet and shy members of the class so hes allways a tad nervous when meeting someone so energetic. (You both eventually became good friends tho)

Monoma - he teases the shit out of you but at the same time hes very wary around you. He doesnt want to piss off someone scary (especially if their in the better class)

Reiko - she thinks you look cool asf and she loves spending time with you. No metter how long she has known you tho, she will be caught off guard by your personality

Rin - he was a bit intimated at first but over time, once he got to know you, the two of you became good friends and he even forgot that he was ever scared of you to begin with

Sorry for not posting for a week my cat had surgery <3 I will be clearing out my drafts soon tho <3

(This is my cat btw) (she has a massive bald spot on her butt/thigh rn because of her surgery lol)

[eternalwritess]

Hii, i was wondering if i could request a romantic match up for mha! :)

My name’s Amanda but people close to me call me Ami for short. Im 5’3 and my pronouns are she/her. I dont really like using specific labels for my sexuality since it causes me to overthink (i used to think im faking being pansexual for whatever reason) So i just say that I have a preference for male however would gladly date a female.

I have below the shoulder length, dark brown, layered hair with curtain bangs, brown eyes and thick eyebrows. I’m Hungarian with pretty pale skin and I have a beauty mark in the middle of my right cheek and straight teeth. My eyes are my favourite part about me since they pop so much when I wear dark eyeliner. I’d say im skinny but do have big thighs and bust as well as more defined arms due to me doing weights. I wear more casual clothes with hints of y2k, i cant get a lot of unique clothing from where i live 💔 and i prefer darker colours. I wear a bunch of jewellery, especially rings (im wearing 10 atm). I have two lobe piercings on each ear, a nose ring and a belly button piercing.

My personality i’d say is very outgoing with people regardless if I know them or not, i try to be nice and polite with everyone unless they aren’t to me. Im also an Esfj. Im very understanding and I always take negative events as something to learn and grow from. I was told by someone that I was one of the most understanding and kind hearted person in their life who didnt secretly have any ill intentions towards them 🙏. I can get emotional pretty easily in sombre situations. I’m known as a pretty upfront person because when Im having issues with someone or I or the other person did something, i always go up to them and try to talk it out, communication is very important to me. Im pretty happy and smiley and laugh a lot most the time and try to see the positive in things but then theres times where I’m calm and quiet so it really depends on my mood and who im with since I dont want to be super talkative and bubbly with someone who’d prefer some peace and quiet.

I enjoy listening to music like A LOT, like I listen to music whenever and wherever I can. I also do archery and have been for over a year now so im pretty good at it imo lmao, archery is like the first thing I tell people because its the most unique trait about me. I also really enjoy working out, especially weights which I mentioned above, what motivated me to start was archery since I have to build my stamina and strength to shoot for a longer period of time, but also its just good for me and all that. I enjoy going out whether it be for a small peaceful walk in nature or out to town, I often go on the bus (since its free for me) for no reason just so I can watch the view while listening to music. My favourite colour is black (basic ik lmao) and my favourite video games are sally face and god of war. My favourite genres of music at the moment are sigilkore and dark r&b and I adore the scent of smoked vanilla and coconuts. Also this is random but I use cologne instead of perfume and everyone thinks its odd since its for men and all that ;;;

This is all, its pretty long so I apologise for that but hope u have a good day 😁

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙…

𝓔𝓳𝓲𝓻𝓸 𝓚𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓶𝓪!

Not gonna lie this man probably came up to you during the first day of school cause he noticed that it looked like you worked out

Not only that but your looks in general captivated him to no end and he would constantly find himself looking over to you and looking for openings to talk with you

He only got happier when he figured out how outgoing you were and friendly you were towards him. He thought you were the coolest person in that entire class

"My name is Ejiro Kirishima! You look amazing! I love your eyeliner!"

Oh yeah, he definitely approached you with a compliment in hand btw, he was prepared and ready to talk to you

He would also likely notice if you got a new ring of some sort btw and would also make an effort to get you new jewelry if he notices that you like some as he is a complete gentleman

If you told him to stop buying stuff for you he would get confused but oblige for a while, most likely toning down the gifts but still giving them to you every now and then

"I noticed you looking at this!"

He also found your mindset admirable and matching his of taking bad stuff and making something good off of it. The moment he found out that you think like that he was ecstatic about your positive attitude

He would also most likely share some of his experiences with you and say how it made him a better person, also probably ranting about how he had adapted that mindset

The moment you mentioned communication being key for you I just also thought about him. He would be more than willing to talk things out in the relationship, anything that makes you uncomfortable or etc.

He's always down for listening to you and sitting down and just talking about anything

"You look a little down... need a friend?"

Since turns out being a hero is anything but clouds and rainbows he would talk to you after anything major happens like the USJ incident, camp, and etc.

In those moments he would be a lot more calm and quiet with you, not constantly shouting or screaming like he does with Bakugo or Kaminari

He wants to show you that he cares and will do anything to do that

He'll even ask if you want to go anywhere or if you need anything to eat or drink

"I'm gonna go see if the vending machine has any water, do you need anything?"

BACK TO LIGHTHEARTED HEADCANNONS-

You two definitely work out together and he would spot you while your lifting, making sure that you don't get hurt as thats the last thing that he'd want to happen

But he wouldn't be totally overbearing either and telling you how much you could lift etc.

He would actually likely try to push you a comfortable amount into lifting more and would get excited when you did so

"Just one more rep!" "Lets add some more weights!" "Wanna see who can lift the most?"

Not only that but you would blast music when you work out and he would listen with you, humming along to the song and jumping up and down even if the songs not the most pumped up

You totally have a playlist together like... i can just see it-

Archery? He might not be that good at it or ever tried it before but I can see him trying and while it may not be his thing entirely he will always get excited if you're excited and will do it with you

"Dang it! Looks like I missed again!- You hit that!? Great job!!"

He would totally game just about anything with you but his favorite is definitely god of war for the action for all of the action and such

Also when he noticed you wore cologne instead of perfume he was gobsmacked and stared ranting about how cool and manly that it was

He also mentioned that he knew that he smelt it somewhere else briefly before laughing it off and giving you a hug

[whumpshaped]

My laptop died so thus us from my main account.

But how did El and Am’s first date go?

El and Bellamy eventually getting along is so sweet! The spk lives in my brain rent free with @livelaughwhump’s worthless series, @whumpsday Kane and Jim and your oc El! Also Grace from Dollhouse

/genuine

@rosewriteswhump

i think their first date went kind of like this:

el was a nervous wreck beforehand, despite bellamy being like "but el youve known him for months now this is not a stranger-"

i say bellamy because kane is still in the "i dont approve of this" stage, and also el would be an anxious mess specifically in bellamy's room because they're asking him for style advice

el is dressed in the cutest clothes. but the outfit is still fit for outdoorsy activities, because am said it would include a bit of a hike

when am arrives, he also reminds el that theyve known each other for a while now and theres no need to be nervous

el cries "BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT"

despite that, they finally relax a little

am compliments them on their looks, very sincerely, obviously being genuine

el cant help but wonder if hes lying or mocking them

el also compliments him, because as always, hes hot as hell. hes not in his regular gothy clothes though, hes also dressed for a bit of a hike. half his hair is up in a lil ponytail. el is very in love

am smiles and thanks them

APPARENTLY I DID NOT WRITE THIS BEFORE (despite me clearly remembering this scene-) SO ACTUALLY LET ME JUST

El felt pretty bad having to stop all the time. Their body was back to how it used to be, or as close as it'd ever get, the only problem was that they never used to be very fit. Not even before spending years rotting away in a cage, destroying what little muscle they had left.

Am never complained. He pointed out flowers, berries, cool rocks... He seemed more than happy to stand in one spot for minutes at a time, just talking about nature and his past experiences on that very trail. He never broke a sweat.

"We're almost there," he said gently, seemingly a little self-conscious about his choice of date activity. "I promise. It's just a little further up. I just- I really wanted to show you this place. I didn't realise it'd be pretty tiring for a human."

"No, no..." El took a deep breath, trying to force some life into their body. "It's not- other humans could probably do it, no problem. I'm just... I'm sorry, I'm not very... I'm sorry for being so slow."

"I can carry you, if you'd like."

El blinked up at him, considering the offer. It sounded really nice. Really nice. But they didn't want to be an inconvenience. "You, um... you wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all. In fact, I'm fairly sure having a little guy on my back would actually improve the experience. I've never explored the trail with a little guy on my back before."

They laughed a little, beaming up at him affectionately, almost adoringly. "It's your lucky day, then! I know just the little guy for you."

Am really didn't seem inconvenienced by the extra weight. He held them steady with both hands under their thighs, keeping up the same pace from before without issue. Maybe he was a little faster, even, without having to wait for them.

El hugged him loosely around the neck, half their face buried in Am's fluffy, curly hair as they rested their head against him. The trail was so beautiful. They couldn't help but wish they were just a little stronger, with a little more endurance... maybe then they'd be able to walk along the pretty forest path and have fun. Maybe one day.

At one point, El noticed that the trees were getting fewer and farther between, and they raised their head to see where they were. They had reached the top of the hill, it seemed like, arriving to a small clearing. It was almost like a balcony, with a little wooden fence to keep the hikers from tumbling down the hillside, and two logs to serve as benches.

They wiggled out of Am's hold, wanting to rush towards the fence as soon as their feet hit the ground, but he grabbed them by the arm and pulled them back. "Be careful, baby. I have fallen down there before, and it's not a fun time. The fence, uh... the fence was put up after that incident."

El winced at the thought. "I'm sorry. I'll be careful."

The response must've been sufficient, because El was let go of, allowed to wander out to the edge of the cliff (with ample supervision, of course). They rested their hands on top of the fence, wide eyes full of childish wonder trailing across the hundreds of small spots of light below.

"That's gorgeous," they whispered.

Am hummed, a small, pleased sound. "I'm glad you like it. It's... my favourite hiking spot, I think."

"Of course I like it! I mean, there could be an elevator from the foot of the hill that brings me up here, but-"

"And miss all the flowers and mushrooms on the way up? Or the little rabbits during springtime? And the squirrels?" Am looked positively scandalised, but El had to admit, the arguments were very sound.

"Rabbits?" they asked, hopeful and delighted by the prospect. "Little bunbuns? Tiny little creatures?"

"Yeah! We could bring some hay and feed them together. They're super friendly. Well, unless you wanna take the forest elevator instead," he teased, making them pout.

"I might just steal the bunnies and ride the elevator with them! I'll stuff it full of hay ahead of time, so, so by the time I get here and it's time to choose between the trail and the elevator, they're already in there! All of them! Just monching away... And, and you'll choose the trail, because you're soooo fit and in shape, and when the elevator door opens and you see all those cute bunnies, it'll be too late to take it back! And I'll say, aha, my plan worked as intended!"

Am listened to the monologue intently, looking absolutely charmed and in love, a fact that El only noticed when they got to the end of their evil genius plan. They blushed slightly, quickly looking away again.

"What?" Their voice was much quieter now, clearly flustered.

Am gently cupped their face, turning them back towards himself. "And you're saying you wouldn't let me change my decision? You wouldn't let me in your bunny-elevator?"

"Well- well... you, um, you denounced the idea of the bunlevator. So, uh, therefore, I have to stand my ground."

The forest around them seemed to fade away as Am leaned down, almost kissing them, but not quite. "Is there really no way to change your mind?" he murmured, pressing a little kiss onto their cheek.

"I'm open to negotiation," they choked out, making him grin.

"My lucky day indeed."

~

taglist: @whumpsday @whump-queen @lost-in-labradorite-halls @hidden-dreamland @lonesome--hunter @melancholy-in-the-morning @the-scrapegoat @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night

[acti-veg]

um, hi!

I've been looking into veganism since I was... 10? younger?

and I just wanna talk about my experiences you don't need to add and advice or anything. it's just my experiences, and it's annoying and I don't want to be so ashamed for feeling normal emotions you know?

TW animal abuse, animal death, and other animal cruelty's! I was on the internet in the late 2000s! it was not a nice time to be a child!

okay, since I was little i've seen very very graphic animal death. (which is one of the main reasons I want to be vegan.)

because theres only just so much a small little kid can take of seeing bloodied and gored pets and fish and farm animals before it starts to seep into your nightmares yk!

when I was little. like really little, (to the I was 10-12) I had some BIG food restrictions due to being really really allergic to eggs and dairy and other stuff. but eggs and dairy were big ones, so I've been eating vegan food and also meat all my life which is weird to say the least.

so anyway, I was first introduced to veganism when I was young, but I didn't know the core values of it until MUCH later when I was older.

my first introduction to the ethics side of veganism was peta (I hate peta, I think we all hate them. I can't excuse their fear campaign against autism being autistic myself.)

and through them I learned the horrors of the meat, dairy, egg, leather, fur, and fishing industry.

and I've hated eating meat ever since, and wanted to stop all the suffering and be vegan. but my parents are really against veganism and it SUCKS! :(

but I've always wanted to be vegan for the fish, and the sea creatures which everyone kinda always forgets about. because when I was little I had a fish tank, and the thought of eating fish made me wanna vomit! because it was so morally wrong to 7yr old me.

so, I tried my best. I didn't eat fish for so long and I tried not to eat red meat or anything but when it's either meat or starve and your like 5-8 you take what you can get.

but over the years I lost my way mainly due to life problems, being emotionally and verbally abused since I was tiny, other traumatic event's I don't wanna delve into! !!!

I am not one person in my head. which sucks because they don't think eating meat is bad or unethical, while I'm just having the worst time of my life. to be fair we didn't all know the other existed and we thought we were going CRAZY like it was not a good mental health year for 2019/2021 but now we are talking more and we are not fighting as bad and we are making plans to accommodate all of our conflicting interests at times!

so, how do you live as vegan as possible or live as ethical to animals as possible while the rest of the people in your head struggle to do so due to health reasons and just because they don't hate meat?

because man I tell you! it's NOT fun! but I get by, even though I may be a hypocrite to a lot of vegans. I can't change my head mates minds on this stuff, but at least we have agreed to let me make my own vegan meals in the future and we have a strained agreement to let me have 3 vegan meals a week. which I want it to be more but when your thrown scraps you take it yk?

so, I try my best to educate people on abusive business practices and animal care. and I share as much stuff as I can, but I still feel so awful because I can't be vegan YET hopefully idk.

but I will get there! and when I do I will be so happy.

that's all really, sorry if it's been really topic to topic and hard to follow it's just my writing style.

-your friendly catgirl alter who desperately wants to be vegan

ily!

I can’t speak on your specific mental health issues or anything since I know so little about this, all I can really advise is the same thing I tell anyone whose circumstances mean that they’re not always in control of their own decisions.

When a decision is in your control, you should be choosing the vegan option, whether it’s food, clothes, cosmetics or entertainment. If there are circumstance where you generally have no choice, then you can’t really do anything about that. You can only be held responsible for choices that you freely chose, under your own compulsion.

Seek out the support you need in the meantime if you haven’t already, but while you work on these issues you can only do your best, and you really shouldn’t beat yourself up about that, since doing so will be counterproductive. Focus on your mental health and use the fact that you’re looking forward to eating completely plant-based in future as inspiration for your mental health journey. Best of luck to you anon!

[marcothephoenixhusband]

Part 1 Your Isekaied to the one piece world

NSFW >18+< Minors DNI

Marco x F!Reader

PART 2 IS ON MY FEED

You bite into a golden devil fruit making you an angel

Your age is 27 for plot since Marco is 41 before time skip so just before the time skip Some plot errors sorry this has gotten too long.

Warnings: Taken virginity both ways, hard sex?, soft sex

The year is 2023

You were in your room, door closed listening to music when a giant portal opens in your room by your closet and a man who was super familiar walked in. Blonde hair, purple jacket, blue pants, sandels and abs. He looked around as you were in bed only wearing an oversized shirt. You took off your headphones and just said.

"Um hi there be quiet okay my dad is in the other room" you say as he nods. He goes over to your bed he towers over you.

'He has to be taller than six feet. Hmm purple jacket blue pants. An eight pack... oh my god its Marco the Phoenix!' you think as he asks

"What year is it Yoi?"

"Oh its the year 2023" you reply as his mouth agap

"Id say your some thousand years off Marco" you say as he seems to tense up by the mention of his name.

"How do you know me Yoi?" He asks flustered slightly.

"Whats your name? Yoi" he askes

"My name is (n) nice to meet you" you reply kindly.

"Your in books duh its historic so is Pops and everyone from that time period" you explain as he releases tension.

"Oh makes sense, I need to go back then before the portal close-"

"Wait! Can I come with you pleasee I wanna join the crew I promise to be good. I hate life here even if it is easier here" you plead. He just sighs seeming to debate in his head if he should or shouldnt let you.

"Okay but be quick, I dont know how long the portal will last Yoi" Marco says as he sits on the corner of your queen sized bed.

"Thank you you wont regret it" you say as you start packing your travel backpack some clothes, thigh high socks, panties, toothbrush, toothpaste, all the necessities. Once ready you want to take a certain outfit but have no more room youll have to undress and redress.

"Umm would you mind looking away as I change real quick?" You ask and he nods turning his head closing his eyes. As your now dressed your ready for adventure. You hike the backpack over you with some effort.

"All ready Marco, or should I say first devision commander?" You question but you know youll end up saying his first name anyways.

"Since your not from my time just call me either Yoi" the Phoenix says.

"Okay Marco lets hurry" you say in a hushed toned.

"I hope we get back to the right time Yoi. Hold my hand so we dont get separated. Yoi" You take his hand in yours with a blush that he cant see and you both walked into the portal as it closed.

~

Time passes as you hold on tightly so does he as your both transfered to the One Piece world and spat out on a deck? You open your spinning eyes to see Marco laying beside you. You shook your head and poked him.

"Oi Marco wake up" you rubbed his back awake as you didnt notice the eyes on you yet. He stirs. Getting up you take a look around its afternoon. As he gets up he stretches.

"That second trip got me Yoi" he says and gets up.

"Come on lets go talk to Pops" he says as the portal closes for good.

"Well looks like im stuck here if this doesnt work out" you say as he looks at you.

"Dont worry Pops is a good man." He just takes your hand and drags you with him to where Pops is. He let go of your hand once at Pops.

"Ahh my son your back so soon what did you discover? Whose this dainty thing" Pops asks staring at you.

"This is (n) from the year 2023 she wants to join the crew Yoi" the Phoenix says. Pops thinks for awhile which makes you nervous.

"Hahaha she can join though theres no spare rooms. Since you brought her here you must accept responsibility for her so you will share your room" Pops chuckles at his son. You raise your arm and Pops nods

"Is it possible to work under Marco are there any availabilities open?" You ask politely.

"Actually yes a assistant position opened up you can work under him to earn your keep." Pops says.

"Thank you very much Pops" you say.

"Thats all kids though its strange that it went through time, we thought it may take someone to Laugh Tale" Pops said as he chugged some sake.

"Its called a worm hole Pops they can lead anywhere, they randomly pop up in the world but there rare and dangerous" You say as he nods

"Ahh well go get settled child" Pops says to you both.

Marco gestures for you to follow him and you obey. You now notice guys staring at you as your wearing a black dress with a collar and short sleeves. Marco says in a whisper to you

"Most of these men havent seen a woman in years if you have problems just come to me Yoi"

"Allright thank you Marco" you whisper back.

Its short, revealing your thighs from your black thigh high platform boots.

"Try and remember where my room is okay? Yoi" your commander says

"Yes commander I shall try" you state all formally but then shiver at the formalities.

"Second deck first door to the right. Yoi" he says simply. As he unlocks the door which his key you both hear a whistle and a

"Good job Marco!" Which made you blush as you both walked in and he locked the door.

"Just ignore the others who talk about us. Their sure to say a lot about us since were in the same room now Yoi" he says.

'Am I blushing I hope not' you think to yourself.

"I didnt even think about that haha sorry to be a bother" you reply. After that you both walk into his room closed and locked the door.

"Ill take the floor tonight Yoi" Marco says.

"No really its okay I just need some blankets and ill be good" you respond.

"Im not making a woman sleep on the floor Yoi" he says stern.

You make a face puffing up your cheeks then say

"Well fine then well both sleep on the bed it is a king sized one, theres plenty of room" you realized what you said and look to Marco whose blushing a bit.

"Well it makes sense Yoi..." he says defeated.

"Itll be like a sleepover and dont worry cuddles are welcome" you giggle making him blush even more.

"Just get unpacked dinner should be soon you can sit by me Yoi" he says shaking the blush away. He walked over to the couch and grabbed a book to read while you unpack. After some time.

"And done ive organized everything!" You exclaim happily looking at Marco. He puts a pagemarker in his book and looks over to you and smiles.

"Just wait till tomorrow paperworks piling up as we speak Yoi" the Phoenix says and you just smile.

"Bring it!" You say which makes him smile again.

"Its that time, time for dinner (n) Yoi" Marco says as he unlocks the door, and you both exit, him locking the door.

"Stay very close to me most of these men havent seen a woman in months and everyones going to be at dinner Yoi" he tells you looking at you and you just nod. Staying very close to him through the crowd but eventually you have to grab his hand to be led through then let go after you reach his table. You notice Ace, Jozu, and Izo sitting at the same table.

"Well whose this Marco your mate?" Izo joked. Marco ignored him as Pops began speaking.

"Today we gained a very special crew member welcome (n) from the year 2023 from the future. She will be Marcos assistant lets see how long she lasts haha Now lets dig in!" Pops yells as the crowd cheers. You look at the fruit in the center of the table and grab a apple not looking as you bite into it you managed to swallow the first part but as you continue half way in it was too gross.

"This apple is disgusting" you say as Marco looks over to you in shock which freaks you out.

"What? Whats wrong?" Your voice is panicked. You look at the apple and see it had transformed into a golden devil fruit. You just facepalmed at your luck throwing it gently by your plate. Ace seemed to notice and grabbed it going up to Pops and saying.

"We got a live one Pops (n) ate this do you know anything?" The second commander asks.

Pops examines it and says

"(N) where did you get this child?"

"No where it just was an apple one minute then it must have transformed. Im sorry!" You burst out. Not wanting to be punished.

"This is the legendary golden devil fruit its said that whoever eats of this fruit will be turned into an angel on earth. Ive memorized all three of them. It must be fate child. Your fine you didnt know besides its too late to do anything hahaha just dont go swimming. Our rule here is that if you manage to find a devil fruit its yours." Pops states. You just turn your body towards Marco away from the crowd that was going ouu. You just eat your dinner in silence.

"(N) do you want any alcohol? Wait how old are you? Yoi" Marco asks.

"Im twenty seven and no thanks im allergic to alcohol. I used to be able to drink anyone out of the table but over the years my liver cant take it anymore" you state as you noticed he raised an eyebrow.

"Ahh thats a new one allergic to alcohol. You must have drank alot Yoi" Marco says and passes you some water.

"Awe thank you Marco, and yea I did too much hehe. It was mainly because I couldnt get drunk or even feel tipsy" you smile as his eyes widen just the slightest then back to normal then avoiding your gaze. After dinner you follow Marco back to your shared room and he locks the door. You sit on the couch, take off your boots and set them nicely by the couch.

"Do you mind please?" You ask nicely as he noded. He turned around waiting patiently for you to undress and redress.

"Okay sorry im done now" you say as he turns around to see you in an oversized shirt and blushes slightly knowing hed be sharing his bed with you tonight.

"I havent had to share a bed with anyone in twenty years Yoi"

"Now its your turn dont peek okay? Yoi" he teases you which makes you glow literally and blush turning around you say

"Yes Master" which makes him double take and blush which you saw in the reflection of the lamp in the corner. A smile tugs at your lips.

'I wonder...' you think daydreaming to yourself glowing, shimmering softly.

"(N)? (N) Yoi" Marco waved his hand in front of your face.

"Huh? What?" You say dumbfounded and stop glowing.

"Are you all right you were spaced out Yoi" Marco asks concerned.

"Im okay just daydreaming" you tell him and he nods giving you a look like un huh. Now you realize hes only wearing boxers and shorts showing off all his glorious abs, pecs and everything.

'Keep it together (n) youve got this!' You think to yourself.

"Well time for bed which side do you usually sleep on? Yoi" your commander asks.

"On either side why?" You ponder when he replys

"I usually sleep in the middle Yoi" he says with a light blush on his face.

"Well whatever happens, happens? It should be fine I sleep pretty soundly" You say slightly blushing as well.

"Okay just go to bed we have a big day tomorrow. But I must ask are all of you future people this open? Yoi" Marco commands and you obey walking over to the bed crawling in to the side with the wall patting the bed for him to come over.

"Nope everyones an asshole their stuck to electronic devices never going out or just going to work, electronics, then bed repeat." He obeys and crawls into bed as well. You slide your pillow down a little so he can stretch out then he pulls the covers over you both.

"Humanities doomed. You seem special though. Yoi" he teased.

"Hehe no silly there are still good people in the world there, anyways goodnight Marco" you blush.

"Goodnight (n) Yoi" he whispers puts his glasses on the nightstand as you both fall asleep.

~

In the middle of the night he wakes up feeling your head laying on his abs. He gently moves your head up to the crook of his neck so you dont have a muscle strain tomorrow. Then falls back asleep faster than he expected.

~

You flutter your eyes open only to feel Marco hugging you close. Bodies facing eachother your head right below his chin you could smell his scent musky and woody but clean. It felt intoxicating but you dare not move as your so warm in his arms. You wished that this could last forever. You felt yourself start to glow but tried to suppress it so he wouldnt wake up. Unfortunately it did wake him up as you felt his eyes flutter open and him realize both your positions. You managed to stop glowing. He looked down at you curled up in his chest and you assume hes blushing hard. Now you pretend to wake up and yawn. You look up at him whose looking down at you, your breath on his neck and stubble.

"Good morning Marco" you say but dont move your breath tickling his instincts. He swallowed hard then said

"Good morning (n) how did you sleep? Yoi" he asks while stretching out on his back while you lay on his shoulder.

"I slept like a devil fruit user in water hehe" you chimed glowing again but then calming down.

"How did you sleep Commander?" You giggled at his title. He looks at you and smiles.

"I slept great too (n) now lets get ready for your first day on the Moby Dick Yoi" he says while sliding out of bed he quickly goes to his closet while you sit for a minute facing the opposite direction.

'Hehe he must have morning wood' thinking to yourself.

"All right your turn Yoi" you hear him and then get out of bed then making it real quick, and go to your side of the closet and picked out shorts and a crop top wearing your thigh high boots.

"Im surprised you trust me enough to sleep next to you." You say for him to hear.

"Well you didnt have a devil fruit before and I know you couldnt control your devil fruit once you ate it yet. To be honest im alot stronger than you. Your no threat to me Yoi" he states plainly. You notice in a reflection of a doctors certificate on the wall that hes looking you up and down.

"Ready!" You throw your arms up and twirl surprising him making him slightly blush.

~In The Office~

"Write these here, check mark these if applicable and then pass it to me and ill finish the rest for now until you get used to everything Yoi" he says with a sweet smile. You look up at him since your sitting and hes standing in a doctors coat, his purple jacket open and smile.

"Thank you ill finish these up soon Marco" you chime as you radiate light and in your eyes. He nods and returns to his desk.

~

Two Years Later Not The Time Skip

Marco is 43 and your 29

~

You have been working under the first division commander Marco in his office and learning how to be a nurse to help out more. You go on missions once you had control of your devil fruit. You have been learning more about being a Angel you have regeneration powers like Marco and can heal fatal wounds though, teleport, fly, use Heavenly weapons and use light to attack or bend it to your will. Over the years youve built up a good reputation and bounty 700,000. Over the past two years, you and Marco have grown very close. Sleeping in the same bed will do that to you.

"I have the papers for you ohh Marco~" you chimed as you set the papers down. He looks up at you

"Why thank you my little bird Yoi" he smiled at you.

"Im gonna go get some drinks for us ill be back in five minutes"

"Okay ill take a break then Yoi" he says while stretching. You nod and leave the office.

~

"Hmm its been five minutes ill go get some air then Yoi" he says then exits the office only to hear your cries.

~

You were cuffed with sea prism handcuffs being grabbed at by a circle of four men. One of them slaps you in the face and says

"Not so tough with this sea prism cuffs on huh the things im gonna do to you" the same man who slapped you says. Suddenly two of their heads were smashed against the deck. You look to see the Phoenix come to your aid grabbing the other two mens heads smushing their heads against the deck then transforming back into human form.

"Whose the hell idea was it to do this?! Who has the key Yoi?!" Marco yelled loosing his cool. Which literally almost almost never happened in fact you dont think youve ever seen him like this. They all but one pointed to one man who took out the sea prism key it was the same man who had slapped you. Marco walks up steps on the mans hand making him yell in pain, kneeling picking up the key and picking up the mans shirt and threw the man overboard as the man was begging no. Then he turned to the three men who were whimpering with a blue fire in his eyes he yelled.

"Tell everyone about this. Don't touch my little bird! I can hurt you, just as much as I can heal you, now scram before I change my mind Yoi!" That was enough to scare the piss outta of them.

"Marco!" You chimed he managed to save you. He turned to you unlocked the cuffs and wrapped his arms around you noticing sea water on you.

"Are you all right my little bird? Yoi" he asks in a hushed tone as hes made a scene. You nod.

"Im okay now that your here I would have fought them but they snuck up behind me and drenched me with sea water then shackled me" you wrap your arms around his waist tearing up a bit. He must've felt your tears on his abs because he said

"Im so sorry. I should have never brought you here your in danger everytime im not here Yoi" you shake your head no

"I chose to, even begged to come here this is still better than my time, thank you for saving me again Marco I owe your a billion" you say letting go of him wiping your tears. He lets go of you.

"Hey Jozu will you put these back? Yoi" Marco asks Jozu whose passing by.

"Sure I was headed that way anyways. What happened this time?" He asks.

"Petty lowlifes Yoi"

"Sounds about right be seeing you Marco, (n)" he walks off.

"Lets go make those drinks Yoi"

~After dinner~

'You keep hearing murmurs about Marco and you and what you are. Are you both together but you dont have sex and arnt in a relationship. Noones heard anything to assume your togeth-' you think back to the murmurs at dinner.

"Are you all right my little bird? Yoi" you heard Marco pull you from your thoughts. Your in his room laying in the crook of his neck one legs over one of his.

"I was just thinking.."

"Were you thinking about those boys? Yoi"

"No I was thinking about .. you and... me"

"What about us Yoi??"

"Well what exactly are we? Were not together.. but were not exactly just friends either..." you say in wonder. He seems to think for a minute.

"Well what do you want us to be? Yoi" Marco questions which cetches you off gaurd you werent used to taking so bluntly.

"Its been a couple years... I would like to be together and more. In my time we dont have barley any time to be with others everyone works two or three jobs. I dont know what im saying... I just want to be loved but im afraid thatll never happen. Ill understand if this is far enough" you mumble the last part. He picks up your chin with his fingers. Suddenly you felt his lips on yours as you mold perfectly with his. You kiss back as he slips his free hand over your waist and pulled you closer which made you moan softly against his lips. He nibbles on your lips before breaking for air.

"Does that explain it Yoi?" You pout

"Im a Phoenix (n) I can only mate with one person in my whole life Yoi"

"Im sorry I didnt know that..."

"What im saying is I want it to be you Yoi"

"But im not a virgin..."

"That doesnt matter it only matters on my end (n) Yoi" he explains

"Oh.." you look at him and blush glowing in your eyes.

"The question is are you ready for it? Yoi" he asks you as you ponder. You shake your head yes and he smiles lips back on yours a bit more heavy now, as you kiss back which turns into makingout, and taking articles of clothing off. You both break for air, you slide down, getting on your knees in bed leaning over to suck his cock. Putting both your hands on his dick you pump his erection a bit for precum to come out then get his tip wet.

"Your so big Marco will it fit?" You question as you use your tounge to lick his tip.

"Ya-es it will fit im sure Yoi" he gave a little grunt at your lick as his cock twitched. You take his head in your mouth as he gasps, you could feel his eyes on you so you make eye contact to which he smiles.

"Ahh that feels so good (n) Yoi" he moans louder feeling his toes curl on the bed. So you go deeper starting to swirl your tounge bar against his shaft and head making him moan again.

"So thats what that bar in your tounge is for Yoi" he squirms a little starting to pant. You dont give him time to breath as you go further into your mouth going in and out keeping up a good speed as you go further and further til your deep throating him, moaning the vibrations making him moan loudly your name. Loud enough for the radius of cabins to hear. Suddenly your flipped over on your back as he crawls on top of you turning you on even more.

"Its my turn Yoi" he semi yells

"I want you to let them all know who you belong too Yoi" he semi growls in your ear. He uses one hand on your slit finding your button of pleasure and swirling it shocking you making you moan loudly.

"Marco!" You yell somewhat quietly.

"Dont worry about being quiet I want them to hear who you belong too Yoi!" He yells as he inserts a finger shallowly teasing your entrance keeping a finger rubbing your button. He leans down to suck on your pierced nipples.

"First commander!!! MarcoOO I belong to you!!!" You dam near scream he name. He picks up speed inserting a second finger pumping softly for some reason while his mouth roams your neck sucking hard in multiple places that were visible.

"Everyones going to se-"

"Hush (n) your mine! I want them to know that Yoi!! Just enjoy yourself relax Yoi" Marco says loudly while his cock is resting throbbing inbetween your legs.

"Oh MarcoOOO!!!" You yell as he inserted a third finger and kept pumping shallowly teasing you.

"First commander!!! Im yours please fuck me!!!" He smirks while taking out his fingers putting them up to his mouth then sucking your juices off his fingers.

"First commander. Please take me!!!" Moaning very loudly.

"All in time my little bird Yoi" he says as you feel his tounge enter your entrance swirling around.

"Ohhh MarcoO!!!" You yell. Then he came back up after about the same time you pleasured him.

"(N) your hymen is in tact, it must be a symptom of that devil fruit your ate two years ago Yoi" he says looking to you as you look shocked as he crawls back up to your face cock rubbing against your pussy.

"Regardless im ready" your legs twitch at his throbbing cock as you both pant.

"Please Marco! I need you!" You squirm as he positions his throbbing cock at your entrance.

"Ready? This will hurt tell me when to stop and start Yoi" he says concerned and softens his expression.

"Im ready pleaseee I cant take much more of this teasing" you whine at your throbbing cunt. He nods and pushes in slowly both of you moaning at the same time loudly. He pushes through your hymen a little quickly like ripping off a band aid he took your new virginity. You squint in pain and moan as he stops but continues to rub you clit he leans down whispering in your ear.

"Your mine now officially Yoi" he goes to your lips as he sees a tear he kisses it before kissing you then making out. After breaking for air after minutes you say

"Im ready now and im glad you were my first this time Marco." He nods at your comment as he starts to move out then back in to get more wet. Then he starts pumping slowly at first but then keeps a rhythm making you both moan loudly. Now the only sounds were from you both moaning loudly while his balls slapped your ass turning you on more.

"Ohh first commander Marcoo!! Im yours and only yours!!" You have your arms wrapped around his neck.

"Thats a sound I love to hear! Spread your legs (n) Yoi!" He yells and as you do he goes deeper feeling out your pussy. Finding your g spot which didnt take him long even though he was a virgin.

'Well he is a doctor he probably knows the human body pretty well.' You think. He pounds you in your g spot repeatedly making you see stars.

"Fill me up with your hot cum First Commander!!!" He started pounding you so hard you can barley breath. It must have been hours of moaning and pumping and you were shocked you havent came yet but the feelings were just too good you could only want more.

"Right... there Mar...coOOO!!!!! Im ...gonna ...cum!!!" You yell.

"Im going to cum to my little bird! Cum with me, let me fill you up with my hot seed Yoi!"

"Ohh yes Marco!" As he gives some more hard fast pumps then you both yell

" Im cumming MarcoO!!"

"Im cumming (n) im creaming! im filling you up! Yoi!" He yells as he continues to pump through both your highs then eventually slows to a stop. Sweat dripping onto you and from you. He hugs you close dick still in you as you hug him back.

"Now we need something to clean up or your blood will get on the sheets. Yoi" he whispers in your ear. You wrap your shaking legs around him.

"Hold me up okay?" You ask which he does, then you teleport you both upright into the big shower.

"Thats handy Yoi" he smiles and pecks your lips.

"Yep its my favorite you can let me down now" you say as he nods and as gently as he can pulls out of you while holding you up due to the height difference. You squirting out blood and cum. You whimper as he leans down to kiss you using tounge flicking about, playing with your tounge bar until you stopped whimpering then broke for air. Hes supporting your weight until you can stand on your own.

"I see why people like sex so much now Yoi" he chuckles.

"Yea its fun and feels like ecstasy" you giggle as you both clean your selves. After drying off you got clean panties and he got clean boxers. You still wobbly, make your way to the bed for support. He sat beside you rubbing your back.

"Are you going to be okay tomorrow my little bird? Yoi" the commander chuckles as you look at him.

"I dont know I might be walking funny tomorrow haha" you chimed glowing.

"As long as your all right Yoi"

"Oh im better than all right Marco. Lets go to sleep we have work tomorrow." You state.

"Your right but first I have to admit in just this short time weve known eachother I fell in love with you (n)... Yoi" you wait patiently for his next words.

"Will you be my Mate and girlfriend Yoi?" He asks as you smile and wrap your arms around his neck kissing him then breaking off.

"Of course Marco I would love nothing more! I love you too" You squeal in happiness eyes glowing bright which makes him full on smile. You both crawl under the covers snuggling up to him head in the crook of his neck, arm over his abs, one leg over one of his legs. He sets his glasses on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Goodnight my mate" you say sweetly

"Goodnight my mate Yoi" he says and kisses your forehead as you both drift off to sleep.

~The Next Day~

You awoke to the light coming in from the closed curtains. Noticing Marco was cuddling you closely just like the first morning you came to this time. You feel him stir and flicker his eyes open looking down at you as you look up.

"Goodmorning my sweet little bird Yoi" your first commander says sweetly.

"Goodmorning my love~" you coo to him which makes him chuckle and smile.

"Lets get ready little bird Yoi" after getting ready. Your wearing a regular t shirt and shorts with your thigh high black boots. Looking in the mirror after brushing your teeth you see hickeys all over your neck.

"Marcoo whyd you give me so many hickeys?" You pout. He looks at you in his normal attire and just chuckles.

"You werent complaining last night Yoi" and he winked at you making you blush hard and glow.

"They need to know who you belong too Yoi" he smirks as you sigh.

"Yes commander" you say defeated also glowing.

"Thats what to you? Yoi" Marco asks giving you a look. You lean over the couch butt wiggling and moan.

"Yes first commander Marco!" You moan with a seductive look. He has to reajust his dick in his pants. Giving you a look.

"Your lucky we have to go Yoi" he semi growls with a husky voice. He picks up his doctors coat and slides it on. Gesturing for you to follow as he unlocks the door you both exit the room and he locks it. You both hear whistles and

"Finally first commander mated, I bet she was heavenly" some grunts said as Marco ignored them. You feel his hand intertwine with yours as you both walk to your doctors office.

~After thirty minutes Of Work~

*knock knock* in comes the Second commander Ace.

"You know im across the hall I could barely sleep last night-"

"Woah thats a lot of hickeys!" the second commander says annoyed crossing his arms then looks surprised.

"What do you need Ace? Yoi" Marco asks calmly.

"Oh ya Pops wants to see (n) about going on the mission" you look up to see Marco tense up.

"Lets go (n)" Ace says

"Okay Ace" you stand walking up to him.

"Im coming too Yoi" Marco says standing up.

"Fine whatever Pops says its urgent so hurry up" Ace says to you both. You all exit the office and head to Pops once there Pops says

"I didnt call for you Marco"

"Are you sure shes ready? Yes we have been sparing over the years but-"

"Son every bird must stretch their wings in order to fly" Pops says to Marco.

"At least let me go with her? Yoi" Marco asks.

"Son I understand shes your Mate, but you must trust your Mate to be and get stronger to defend herself. She has proven herself over these few years which is why I think shes ready." Pops says as Marco nods knowing theres nothing else he can say.

"Now (n) I want you to deliver this message to this vivre card, also take my vivre card or Marcos to get back. It takes half a day to get there and back. That is all children." Pops explains then waves you all off. You wave to Ace as he leaves back to do whatever it was he was doing. While you and Marco go to his room.

"I dont like you leaving this suddenly Yoi" Marco admits.

"I know but I have to go, dont worry so much, Doc you can patch me up if I get hurt. Can I get a piece of your vivre card Marco?" you smile at him and he seems tense. He goes to his desk grabs his paper and tears off a piece writing something on it.

"The whole point is that you dont get hurt Yoi" he says. You grab it and your water pelt wrap it around you and prepare to leave. Once quickly ready you and Marco go to the deck and he hugs you goodbye. You transform into your full Angel bird form that is all gold wisps of light on your wings (like the pokemon Moltres but light) and you left a trail of sparkles of light where ever you go. Checking the vivre paper you fly up and away. Looking back one last time at Marco as he waves to you.

~Half A Day Later~

You circle an small island in the sky then land and transform into a human. You see a man come out of a house and head over to you. You hand over the message. The man is above six feet wearing beach wear and a button up shirt. After reading the letter he suddenly attacks you with a black sword and uses haki, you teleport away.

"Heavenly sword!" You yell as a glowing clear glass sword comes into existence you grab it. Transforming into your hybrid form you clash with this unknown person. Using your quickness you teleport behind them and slash just shallow cutting them as he flash steps away as you teleport away you yell.

"Heavenly Rain Arrows!" As a swarm of light arrows fall in the gaint circle arena. Cutting him twice as he deflected the rest. Then teleporting quickly to his side you use haki in your leg to round house kick him almost into the water. He gets back up. You quickly jet fly to him using your sword to disarm him then about to slice his neck off he throws his arm up using haki blocking your sword, slashing, you still managed to cut his arm through his Haki. Teleporting up behind him you think

'Heavenly Rail Gun!' As it comes into existence and your sword falls disappearing out of existence. You grab the Rail Gun lock on and pull the trigger. You hear a yell and blood splatter. You drop the Rail Gun and summon your sword jet fly to the man sword to his throat about to decapitate him but you stop when he yells

"Wait! This was a test!" He yells as you withdrawal your sword dropping it out of existence as it sparkles away. You see you've lasered his arm off. So you say

"Healing Grace" you start to heal his arm as you hold it attached to his body. Once healed.

"Thank you for healing me im Roko im a friend of who you know as Pops. Every so often he gets talented people he wants to test so he sends them here." Roko says as you nod.

"Oh that all makes sense now sorry about that you startled me." You apologize.

"No I was prepared but when you took me down. Well only two others have done that before." He says

"Really who?" You ask.

"Marco and Ace. They did very well but ive never suffered a wound like yours before." He gets up and motions for you to follow him to his house. Once inside he motions for you to take a seat at his desk.

"Let me just write up this message for you to take back" Roko says as you nod waiting patiently. After about ten minutes he seals the message.

"All right here you go, you can go back now" he explains.

"Thank you Roko I shall away" you exit his house as he follows with a big grin.

"Bye Roko!"

"Oi I didnt cetch your name" he says

"Oh its (n) The Angel"

"Goodbye (n) The Angel safe travels" Roko says as you put the message away and transform into your Angel Bird form looking at Marcos vivre paper it read -Marco ♡- you thought

'Awee how sweet of him' as you headed back.

~Half A Day Later~

Your stomach growls.

'I hope theres food left for me' you think as you spy the Moby Dick you fly over to the crows nest jump down onto deck as you transform back into human form.

"Ahh my child youve finally returned do you have a letter or not for me?" Pops asks. Everyone looks at you.

"I have a message for you yes here you go." Your being looked at by everyone at dinner time as you walk up and hand Pops the message. You suddenly realize how quiet everyone is when you mentioned the message. You look over to see Marco smile and the other commanders sitting at your normal table some mouths agape. You head over and sit down by Marco as he pats your head and puts an arm around your shoulders. He whispers in your ear

"Only me and Ace have ever gotten a letter back. Im so proud of you Yoi!" He kisses your head.

"I was so confused but I managed and thank you love. Also thank you for saving me some food im so hungry" you admit.

"Guess who just took first place at Rokos?" Pops yells for all to hear.

"It says she is exceptional she has full control of her devil fruit and uses Haki especially well. She cut my arm off but healed it completely without scars. I recommend her to be placed at the first or second commanders position" Pops announces and chuckles.

"(N) you should have more faith in yourself this is exceptional! A toast to (n) everyone!" Pops yells as everyone cheers. You smile at your accomplishment turn to Marco and say

"Looks like I beat you on that note hehe" you giggle but then he says

"(N) dont forget that was about twenty years ago for me Yoi" Marco bursts your bubble. You look down as he pets your head.

"Awee (n) *chuckles* its all right thats just how time works Yoi" he says to you as you look up and nod then starting to eat your food.

"Wait a minute that means im like over a thousand years old then ha!" You poke Marco and giggle. You reached for your mug but Marco grabbed it and swapped it for one in the middle. You just look at him.

"They always place the alcohol in front first remember? Dont want you having an allergic reaction? Yoi" you hear him explain. You just giggle

"Thank you first commander" you say to him.

"God get a room you two" Ace says as you blush.

"No need to be jelious Yoi" Marco says nonchalantly to Ace.

"Well all I know is that if she were mine id never let her go and id give her more hickeys than that" Izo pops in to the conversation but Marco ignores his comment.

~After Dinner~

Marco leads you to your shared room as guys were teasing you both.

"Keep it up and will be louder Yoi" Marco says which makes you blush hard.

"Oh Marco you dog" one man says as another says

"Look at (n) shes like a red apple, man what I would do-" he was cut off by Marcos blue fire eyed glare. The men got the hint and ran away. Walking into Marcos room you collapsed on the bed taking off your boots and clothes you set them aside. Now just in your black panties and black thigh high socks you roll over on your stomach looking behind you at Marco who was looking at you like you were his after meal.

"See something you like?" You tease. He drops his jacket, pants, and took off his sandals revealing his big bulge. You smile as he walks over and crawls on top of you. Taking off his boxers your panties and socks.

"Looks like you deserve a reward Yoi" his breath on your neck giving you goosebumps as he kisses from your lips to your neck sucking on your neck in various spots giving hickeys as you moan. Down to your pussy kissing and sucking hard on your thighs giving you hickeys before inserting his long tounge into your wet pussy pressing and licking that one spot making you moan.

"MarcooOO!" After some time he sits up wipes his face and goes back to kissing your dizzy self.

"Seems like your enjoying yourself my little bird Yoi" he says as he positions his throbbing cock at your entrance.

"Im gonna slip in now okay?" He asks politely.

"Okay my Mate" you giggle. He slowly slips into you.

"Oh First Commander your so big ahh!!!" You moan loudly as he slips in but stops backs up then slides in again stretching your walls further open so he can fit. Sliding in more till he hits your back wall he moans

"God (n) ill never get enough of you! Yoi" he grunts loudly as he starts pumping in and out

"(N)! I love you Yoi!" He moans your name with almost every pump.

"Ohh MarcOO!! I love you!" You yell loudly. 'Were probably annoying Ace again but oh well that boy needs to get layed too.' You think but are pulled from your thoughts by Marco kissing your moans along with his. He speeds up causing mews and moans to fall out of your mouth.

"Yes first commander! Oh yea right there! Im gonna, im gonna cum MarcOO" He focused on your g spot now trying to get you to fall over the edge.

"Cum with me my little bird!!! Yoi!" He moans out loudly as hes ramming you now sweat dripping onto you while you reach climax.

"Marco!!! Im gonna cum!!!"

"Cum babygirl im gonna cum too!! Yoi!" He moans out as you reach your climax moaning out.

"First commander im cumming!!!" You yell.

"Im cumming (n)!! Yoi" Marco yells in sync with you as your walls constrict forcing Marcos cock to squirt out all of his precious cum into you. He pumps you both through your highs then slowly stops. Both of you huffing for breath.

"Its always.. so sweet taking you Yoi" he says still huffing.

"I love it when you take me Marco" you huffing, him still in you.

"Here grab hold Yoi" you knew what to do. You teleported into the shower upright. He slowly slips out of you letting you down as he is six foot eight and your obviously shorter than him by at least a head. After getting cleaned up. He uses his blue flames on you both to dry off as he hugs you close next to the bed. After some minutes you both put your underwear on. You crawl into bed first as he follows getting on top of you, letting him pin you down then making out using your tounges to fight for dominance and of course he wins. Hes always going to be stronger than you. Thats just how time works. As he know hes won he backs off you laying his arm down for you as a pillow which you happily lay your head down as he lays in the middle but rolls over to you cuddling you.

"Hows that for a reward? Yoi" he asks as your eyes glow.

"It was perfect just what I wanted and needed thank you my mate" you reply back as you both cuddle and fall into a peaceful sleep.

~

Many Months Later One Day

~

Your relaxing next to Pops sun bathing while Marco is reading a book on the bench next to you.

"(N) my child will you go get Ace?" Pops asks nicely. You get up in your bikini and go to Aces office while you could feel Marcos eyes on you. You knock first then enter.

"Ace? Oh Ace?" You spy him sitting in the corner hyper focused on his work. You sneek up behind him

"Boo!" You laugh as Ace jumps

"Dammit (n) knock first" he says then sees your attire.

"Thats hot and dam thats a lot of hickeys" He says blushing you smack his head gently.

"Oh yea what do you want (n)?" He questions.

"Pops wants you for something" you say bluntly then turn to walk out feeling Aces eyes on you, you walk out of the office as Ace follows. You go back to lay down but you and Marco can clearly hear what Ace and Pops are talking about.

"Son Teach has betrayed us I need you to teach him a lesson never to mess with the Whitebeard pirates." Pops says to Ace.

"Of course I got this Pops!" Ace gives a hearty smile. You immediately touch Marcos hand him looking at you then teleporting you both to your guys room.

"Marco this is bad really bad!" You try and not freak out.

"Whats wrong my little bird?" Marco asks you.

"I cant mess with the future but just this once, its gonna snowball were gonna loose Ace I have to go now." You hurried to put a pair of mini black boots on then teleport you and Marco out of his room to the deck you run jump on the decks railing off the ship before Marco can grab you.

"(N) get back here! Yoi" you hear Marco yell. Transforming into your Angel Bird form and jet fly behind Ace as Marco and Pops yelled at you to come back. As you look back you see Marco stay behind talking to Pops.

'Pops is gonna punish me so is Marco but I have to do this' you think to yourself.

~Once To The Destination~

Its a small old bar town. You hide as you watch what goes down. Thats Blackbeard for sure they chat for a couple minutes then start fighting. In the middle of the fight Teach has consumed the entire town making you have to fly which Ace notices.

"(N) get out of here! Its dangerous!" He yells at you.

"No your endanger Ace come back now!" You yell back.

"Whats this your girlfriend? Will take her too shes easy on the eyes. Dam Ace thats a lot of hickeys! Ill show her a good time" Teach yells.

"Shes just a good friend you touch her and Marco the Phoenix will be all over you!" Ace yells to Teach.

"Ahh Marco maybe I should take her too then a two for one execution.?" Teach yells pissing Ace off. Ace ignores you eventually getting swallowed by darkness you teleported over to him grabbing his arm using you light to try and pull him out which works but then fails, he got consumed and all you managed to get was his hat. Looking at your enemies you teleported back far away and tried to fly away. You found Aces parasail and hopped on blasting light energy to surf away. You felt a bullet hit your wing making your wings dissapear. Then you felt a shooting pain in your back and another and another. Feeling yourself weaken but you keep going finally out of their range headed back to the Moby Dick.

~Approaching The Ship~

You could barely make out the voices. The men yelled "Ace is back Pops!"

"Wait since when does Ace wear a bikini?!"

"Its (n)!"

"Someone get Marco!" Once to the frame of the ship you managed to tie off Aces parasail and teleport to the deck before falling to the ground. On your stomach your wearing Aces hat but feeling yourself be picked up you pass out.

~After some time~

Your eyes flicker open only to see Marco asleep in a chair next to you. You tried to get up but gasp in pain. Which wakes Marco up.

"My little bird your finally awake you need to heal yourself Yoi" he says as you nod. Glowing hands to your chest you heal your wounds.

"What happened to me Marco?" You ask and he sighs

"You were shot with sea prism bullets three times its amazing you managed to still use your powers. That or you over used your powers which made you sleep so long Yoi" he explains then it hits you

"I have to go tell Pops what happened!" You start to get up but are pushed back down by Marcos hand.

"Its the middle of the night (n) lets go to sleep Yoi" he says.

"How long have you been up? Okay lets go"

"Ive been up all day and half of the night I just fell asleep. All right lets go Yoi" he says standing he holds out a hand for you. You take it as he pulls you up his other hand supporting your waist. You both go back to his room lock the door then get undressed. You put panties on since you wore a bikini but wear nothing else. This time hes in bed first you crawl over him to the wall he spanks your ass hard and loudly.

"Geez what was that for?" You question him. He just gives you a glare with his blue fiery eyes then puts his glasses on the nightstand.

"Ill have to punish you a different time Yoi" he says as your eyes widen

"Haha ...... your joking???" You ask as you plop down next to him on your back.

"You left the ship without permission, went to a very dangerous place then got shot three times not once but three my little bird, not to mention you could have been captured as well. I may be your mate and boyfriend but we have to follow orders! Yoi" he yelled.

"Okay... I understand.. goodnight...." you flipped on your side towards the wall tears streaking down your face trying not to cry. You hear Marco sigh then flip over snake his arm past your waist and pull your body close to his.

"You scared me when you came back all bloody, dont do it again look at me and promise me Yoi" you flipped over now facing him. His gaze softens as he sees your tears. Nose to nose you say

"I promise Marco..."

"Thats my little bird Yoi" he says as he kisses your tears away. Wrapping his arms around you tightly.

"I love you more than anything Yoi" your commander says to you which made your eyes glow.

"I love you more than anything too. I promise to be more careful" you tell him. He kisses your forehead and holds you close.

"Goodnight my little bird Yoi"

"Goodnight my boyfriend" you whisper to him.

~The Next Morning~

You flutter your eyes open and feel Marcos warmth encompassing you. Hes holding you tight. After relaxing in his arms for about ten minutes he stirs and opens his eyes you could feel his movements. You feel him hug you tightly so you hug him back.

"Oh good morning (n) Yoi" Marco whispers

"Goodmorning first commander" you say still worked up about last night him scolding you.

'I guess he didnt pick up on that' you think.

"Lets get ready Yoi" he says releasing you getting up as you lay there for a minute then get up also. You grab a t shirt and shorts and your mini boots putting them on, brush your teeth use the bathroom then head out to meet Pops with Marco. Nervous you walk with Marco to Pops then stop when Marco stops you looking down.

"(N) my child you have broken some rules you must be punished. You will take over Marcos job while he prepares everyone for war. We read the paper today Ace has been captured and turned into the wolrd government he will be executed soon" Your eyes widen and you snap up.

"Pops your going to die there so is Ace!" You blurt out as Marco stiffened his eyes on you.

"He is one of my sons I would do the same for any of my children even you (n). End of discussion child" Pops say with authority.

"Yes Sir" You reply as you and Marco hug then part ways. You enter the empty office and sit in Marcos seat.

"Where to start? Here is good ill just work extra hard"