#tim personally visited me in my house tapped me on the forehead gave me The Visions and said 'wow krys flimsy-spine you are so smart now!'

[flimsy-spine]

every day a madney wedding twirl gets less and less real

[blasian-kpop]

JFTD: chapter 3- Your Back!

A/N: warning! new character coming up. i know i said this would be out next week but i got help revising this chapter so. Football night it is. GO FALCONS 

chapters: 1,2,profile

word count:2,354

genre: fluff

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~~ YOUR P.O.V~~

I drove out of the neighborhood to our local supermarket after leaving the boys at the house alone. I rolled the window down and let the cold fresh spring air hit my face. Finally, I parked a block or so away from the supermarket and started walking. The breeze felt so relieving on my skin, like and a pause from the world just to cool down.  

I stopped.

I enjoyed the breezes for a while before it slowly faded away leaving the warm spring air to settle in. After my little moment, I started to walk again when a hand grabbed me wrist and spun me around to where I bumped into someone. I tried to back away to see who I bumped into but he gripped my waist and head to where it was hard to go anywhere. Then I felt something go by, fast like a car and I grabbed onto the man that was holding me tight in fear of getting hit. When all the cars stopped he walked me to the other side of the road; I was being dragged behind the man so I couldn't see his face right away but, something about him was familiar.

When we got back to the sidewalk he turned around and hugged me. " ah Monique I can’t believe you did something that stupid " His voice I've heard it before the same smooth cotton candy voice that used to greet me every day after school, that same voice that was just a blurry memory until this moment. I pushed back only enough to see his face "Changsoo?" I asked looking at the man before me.

“Hey Monique how you been?" he gave me one of his old warm smiles, oh how I missed it so much.

" CHANGSOO " I squeaked jumping into his warm embrace again.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEW CHARACTER

Name: Choi ChangSoo

Age:25

Met you his junior year of college

NOT your boyfriend

Is like your Korean brother

Is almost always there when you need him

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"Oh, My gosh Monique how can you just walk into traffic like that? You’ve gotten quite careless" ChangSoo scolded me and poked my forehead teasingly

“ChangSoo when did you get back from America" I shouted hitting his  chest a couple of times

“Well," he paused and let go of me” I got back same day my sis left to meet the family, and I wanted to go home to see her."

I was going to hit him again be then I realized that family ALWAYS come first so I couldn't get mad of course. Like I would in the first place

“hey that's okay don't seem all guilty about it, You should have seen your family first, that's always the right chooses" I reassured him

ChangSoo went away to America a year ago for an oversea modeling job, and it was very hard for him to get in contact with his family. When he could get in touch is was only for a short time, then it back to whatever models do. So, I could understand why he went to his family first, but he could have still called me or texted me or something.

"So how is the whole modeling thing going for you so far," I ask him as we start walking to my destination.

“Oh yeah it been nice, we just got done with a spring runway, and we got to take a two-week break."

" well that's good I hope I get to see the photo book one day" I giggled as we keep chatting and walking, I was so happy to see him because he was always there for me when I need him and that car incident just proved my point.

~~~

We were a block away to the supermarket when he asked me where we are going “supermarket” I simply answered. After a few more minutes we were there, I asked if he needs anything from here and he said he would just stay to help me with the grocery. Changsoo was such a gentleman in my eyes and so caring, it makes me laugh because when he left, we all made fun of him for leaving since he left us without a goodbye. We called him rude, uncaring, and selfish just out of anger, but we never really meant it. We just had to fill ourselves with any other feeling than sadness, and being mad like that made us happy. It was so ridiculous that we had to laugh at it, and it's still funny to this day, two years of laughing at ourselves.

"good times" I whispered to myself grabbing milk from the freezer. I was so immersed in my thoughts that I didn't even notice I was putting my stuff in the wrong shopping cart.

"YAH ARE YOU CRAZY WHAT ARE YOU DOING" a lady that looked like she was in her early 30 yelled at me taking the milk out of her cart and slammed it into my chest.

“I’m so sorry I wasn't paying attention" I apologized several times and bowed several times before she let with a disgusted look on her face. When she left I let out a loud sigh of relief and annoyed look. ”dramatic much. It was just milk.”

I looked around for my cart that was right next to me. I shook my head feeling dull, that I mixed up the carts, and went on my way to find the rest of the 'food' that I put on the note. That's when I noticed that Changsoo was not around "hmm where’d he run off to" I thought to myself as I moved forward to the eggs. Then, out of nowhere a pair of hands grabbed my shoulder and started to shake me. Due to these actions, I let out a high pitched yelp before stumbling backward and tripping over a bump of some sort. I was so sure that my butt would be having an unexpected visit to the floor, but it didn't.

(Changsoo P.O.V)

I notice Monique was in her own little world, so I took this opportunity to play a little prank on her. I snuck away trying to find someone to help me. I saw this lady the look like she was in her late 20's that look nice enough to help me out for a while.

“Umm ma'am" I cooed tapping her on the shoulder

“Yes, young man" she smiled then I knew that I could ask her for this favor. I told her the plan then she goes over to my friend and whatever she does to just yell at her. She was all in for it, and so the plan went into action. The lady stood behind Monique and waited, she looked over to me to make sure she got the right person; I gave her the thumbs up telling her that she did. "This is going to be great" I whispered to myself with an evil smirk. Then, it happened she turned around and put her milk in the wrong buggy

"YAH ARE YOU CRAZY WHAT ARE YOU DOING" the lady flipped shit, it was too funny and then to top it all off Monique went to bow and apologizing like an idiot. She was so cute when the lady left Monique was looking around for something when she saw her cart right next to her, she shook her head and continued to walk on her own like nothing happened but ole' Changsoo would not let her live this down.

The lady came back and asked if she did a good job, I told her that she did a perfect job. She had to go after, but that was okay. I went over to Monique who was looking over to the eggs, and when I got close to her, I shook her by the shoulder. She screamed and stumbled backward, to prevent her from falling I wrapped one of my arms around her waist and my other arm one her shoulder. When I look at her, her eyes were closed  "Mo... are you okay" I whispered to her. Her eyes fluttered opened. There was a pause.

"YAH ARE YOU CRAZY? DON’T DO THAT TO ME.... gosh I almost got hurt because of y.....  ARE YOU LAUGHING"

It was true I was trying so hard not to laugh at her outburst, but I guess it was just too noticeable. She was so mad, but it was okay cause I know that she wouldn't be upset for long, but while she is already heated I might a well and some fuel to the fire, right?

“Yes I'm laughing" I started giggling

"WHY'' she shout

“Well... First, calm down we are in a place of business young lady."

"Fine."

“Okay, that woman that yelled at you just a minute ago was all a part of my prank on you, and it was so awesome, right."

It was silent for a long time, and she just started at me while I giggle away at her with a blank expression. My snickering died down as I felt a bit awkward just standing there. She did utter a word but, just turn on her heels and began walking again. Soon, after trailing behind her the harsh feel of guilt crept into my heart, I didn't expect this reaction from her. My conscience was at battle with the sin I felt I have created upon myself, gosh who knew she would do this cause I sure didn't. I deiced to see if she was okay.

" Mo, I'm sorry I just was just playing, but I didn't know that you would be this upset or...are you... well that not the point, the point is that I'm sorry, and I hope that you can forgive me" I mumbled on hope she would forgive me, but I still didn't get a response. "Oh .well," I thought” She'll hopefully forgive me soon in tim.." my thoughts came to a sudden halt as I saw Monique stop. She turns to me with her head down " Monique' I whispered then, she began to speak.

“Never.... never in my three years of staying here have i....sighed" she lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. Her head tilted, and she bit her lip. Suddenly tears peaked from the brim of those deep brown eyes.  My heart cringed. She let go of her bottom lip and took a deep breath" Have I ever seen someone older than me speak in such a formal way" She doubles over in laughter; her whole demeanor changed catching me off guard and caused me so much confusion. As I stood there like an idiot just staring at her with a confused expression, she laughed at me just like I did to her.

“Oh how the tables are turned" she giggled patting me on the shoulder and walking away again

Then I realized that I still have the same warm friends that I left "thank god" I thought and continued to follow Monique around the store.

After about ten more minutes she had everything she needed, and we were off to the checkout center. The male cashier was a bit rude to Monique in my eyes, but Monique didn't seem to be affected by his behavior, so I guess it would be better than causing a scene my first two days back in Korea

"Something just needs to be ignored," I thought as we left. I took one more look back at the cashier, and he looked at Monique, and I like we stole something. I delivered that same look of annoyed suspicion right back at the jerk, what the hell is his problem.

(Your P.O.V)

  The drive back to my place was fun, we laughed about old times, caught up on new times, jammed to some music, I even invited him to a tour of the new house.  Everything was going well until I remembered that I had five boys at my house. I started to panic in my head as we got closer to my house, I had to think of something to say and fast. When we got to my front door, I stopped and turned to Changsoo, taking a deep breath so I could tell him as quickly as could.

“umm... listen my friends are here and umm I would like you to come in... but I don't want you to think less of me because of these friends. They came on very short notice and ...umm. THERE JUST FRIENDS AND I haven't seen them in a while and umm well the point is, don't think about this as weird or something I just wanted to help them and well yeah" wow I was babbling on for at least 2 minutes, I was just so worried that he would think low of me. Who wouldn’t be suspicion of one female in a house with seven other males?

"Hey hey it's okay you don't have to be worried I'm not staying for a long time ill just help you put the grocery up,  tour this beautiful house and I'm out okay" Changsoo assured me as he motioned me to open the door. I was very shaky when I opened the door, but I soon got it opened after a moment. When we walked in Mark came out of nowhere and attacked me with a big hug swaying me back and forth making me drop the bag of food I had and make it harder for me to breath. When he let go me, he gripped my shoulders, shaking me lightly.

“gosh Monique, WHY ARE YOU LATE, I was so worried..." he stopped mid-sentence, and that's when I knew he had notice Changsoo behind me probably glaring at him. Mark let go of me and cleared his throat putting his head down and walking up to Changsoo. I was too afraid to turn around to I just put my head down, bit my lip and hoped for the best.

"Who are you?"

[thoshebebutlittle319]

Johnny. The safest hug. The loyalist heart. The only human cigarettes ever smelled good on. He is a protector. My surrogate brother. And the most formidable Sudoku opponent I have ever known. The only person that reduces me to tears of joy simply by entering the room. When I first met Johnny, there was no mistaking his blatant distrust of my friendly Midwestern charm. It was March 2010. I was just two weeks off the boat, an Iowa transplant in picturesque, but foreign Chester, Connecticut lands. The Pattaconk Bar and Grill served as the mid-point between work and home and since I didn’t know a soul in New England, it seemed a convenient spot to start making my mark on this little town. "Why do you always drink cider?" "I can't drink your beer, I have Celiac's disease," I explained. "What the fuck is that," Johnny’s eyes narrowed with skepticism. "It's a gluten allergy, I can't have anything with wheat flour," I said plainly, bracing myself for his condescension. His eyes rolled. "Jeez, so you're one of those people," he huffed, returning back into the kitchen. I had lost the battle. But I would not lose the war. My stepfather had warned me about New Englanders. "They're cold," he explained, "This will be a change for you." But my warm Midwestern charm had already melted the icy facade of one New Englander....and it just happened to be Johnny's best friend. I knew if my romantic fling should continue, this was one New Englander I needed to win over. I was not prepared to remain unliked by the Kitchen Manager of my favorite after work hang out for long. It was the end of April. The buds of the flowering trees in front of my Village Knoll apartment building were beginning to open, thanks to the generosity of seasonal temperatures. I stepped out of my apartment in a sundress and sandals, filled with a sense of signature springtime optimism. I made the mile and a half walk to the Pattaconk and sat down a couple bar stools away from Johnny. My new beau, Bobby was behind the bar and his buddy Jym walked through the door and sat down next to me. "Are you excited for May Day,” I asked, smiling from ear to ear. Johnny, Jym and Bobby looked me like I was speaking some foreign Midwest language. "May Day, like when you're calling for help," Jym inquired. "Ummm....no. Like May Day. Like the 1st of May when you leave your friends cups of candy at their front door and then run away before getting caught." The boys erupted with laughter. "You have to be the strangest person I've ever met," Johnny dismissed me and disappeared into his kitchen safe house once again. I left the bar that night, gleefully accepting my new mission. I walked to the Adams in downtown Deep River and bought gummy warms, Oreos and all the required May Day childhood fixings. I may never be a New Englander, but at the very least, I would not be ignored. These New Englanders would learn to love me. The next day, I showed up at the bar with an unusually large purse and waited for all the opportune moments to surprise my would-be friends with their May Day baskets. Bobby was easy of course. He smiled, laughed and gave me a kiss on the forehead. Jym blushed with embarrassment at the shock of a small cup of candy on his barstool after returning from the bathroom. Johnny slipped behind the bar to cash out one of his regulars and nearly walked right into a perfectly executed Midwestern May Day basket hanging on a tap handle. I couldn't hide my smirk. Johnny couldn't hide his smile. He grabbed my May Day basket, walked over to my side of the bar and dropped it in front of me. "I don't like sweets," he said, grabbed his beer and walked over to the jukebox. I wish I could say the May Day basket was my golden ticket. I wish I could say it only took a small cup of candy to win over Johnny. But nothing truly worth having is ever quite that easy. As most flings do, Bobby and I fizzled out by the end of June. Although I no longer needed Johnny’s acceptance to maintain a romantic interest, I refused to let some fizzled out fling rob me of the only place in New England that felt like home. I did not quit. In fact, I came more often. Every day after work, I would stop in to the Pattaconk, drink a cider, talk with the locals and say hello to Bobby and Johnny. It was a Sunday in the middle of July, and I was in the heat of tech week. I had been locked in a kitchen, cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for New York City's most entitled chorus girls and I had had my fill. I showed up at the Pattaconk at 10:30pm, wearing shorts, a sweaty t-shirt and a ratty Iowa football hat, my face puffy and smeared with makeup from the hot summer day...and there was Jym and Johnny...at the end of the bar, watching a Red Sox game. They took one look at me. "You look like shit," Jym said. I couldn't hold back the tears. Johnny left his bar stool and poured a cider and two shots of Blackhaus. "Let's go outside," he told me. I followed Johnny onto the patio. He pulled out a chair for me, lit a cigarette and raised his shot glass. "Cheers," we clinked and I winced at the blackberry burn of the Blackhaus in the back of my throat. "Feel better?" he joked. I tried to smile through the tears. "So what's going on?" "You really want to know," his concern, although welcomed, took some adjusting to. "Of course," he said, "We all need someone to cry to." And just like that, a bond was formed. I talked about the homesickness. The loneliness. The heartbreak of realizing your childhood dream would go unrealized. And he listened. Bought me another shot. And listened some more. Next thing I knew it was 1am and the two of us were drunk off Blackhaus, laughing uncontrollably at Tim Wakefield’s batting average. Summer cooled into fall and fall cooled even further into winter. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I would be at the Pattaconk at 7:30 sharp. Johnny was waiting at the end of the bar, a book of Sudoku’s in hand. "You ready to get smoked again?" "Whatever, Johnny. You can't get lucky every night." It’s been 7 years and I have yet to win a single Sudoku match. This was our weekend routine. Sudoku’s, ciders, Blackhaus and unlimited credits on the jukebox. The regulars would close out their tabs and retire for the evening. Johnny would close the kitchen, Bobby would clean the bar and I would help him with his pull for the night. Bobby would lock up, yawn and say good night. But Johnny, even in the dead of winter, stumbling and drunk, had no intention of allowing me to walk home alone. For Sunday Night Football, Johnny would make personalized gluten free pizzas for me, pepperoni, mushroom and jalapeno, as the boys devoured their wings and beer. Johnny shut down the kitchen early enough to catch the 4th quarter with me and the boys. “How’s the pizza?” “Terrible as usual.” I was even speaking New England sarcasm fluently. Johnny bought us a round of Blackhaus. “Guess who you’re meeting next week?” “Oh god, don’t tell me you’re seeing another actor,” Johnny groaned. He perpetually disapproved of any man in my life other than Bobby. “You’re funny,” I smirked. “I just so happens you’re going to meet my sister. And you’re going to like her.” “Oh Goood, you’re telling me there’s two of you???” My sister was in grad school in Salt Lake City, UT and was finally making the journey east to experience what all this New England fuss was about. I picked her up from the airport and took her straight to the Pattaconk, raving about our pending order of Johnny’s gluten free wings and french fries. I walked through the door at the Pattaconk, my sister following behind me. Johnny had just walked out of the kitchen, grumbling with his usual New England cynicism…but stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he laid eyes on my sister. I knew that her blue eyes, bouncy blonde hair and pure Midwestern sweetness would be no match for Johnny. She melted him from the inside out. The weekend we all spent together was the happiest I’d ever seen him. It was clear to me that his distrust of Midwestern friendliness was a thing of the past. My sister’s visit to New England was also a turning point for me as well. I had pushed myself outside any comfort zone I’d ever created and forged a family unit inside an inconspicuous drinking hole in small town Connecticut. But it did not trump the bond I shared with my big sister. The weekend after she left, I sat alone at the Pattaconk late Sunday night. I could see Johnny in the kitchen, wiping down the prep station. He turned off the light and saw me at the end of the bar. He came over, a sad smile on his face and gave me the longest, tightest hug. “You’re going to Utah, aren’t you?” I smiled back at him, trying not to cry. And nodded yes. “You need your sister,” he said, with a tight, brave smile. “And I know she needs you too.” “And don’t even cry about it because you’re coming back. This is where you belong.” A man of few words, but all the right ones. The morning before my departure that February morning, Bobby and Johnny dropped me off at my apartment. Johnny lit a cigarette and dug his hands in his coat pockets. He walked over, held me tight and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “You cry all the time.” I laughed. “You know I love you.” “Not as much as I love you.” As the years have gone by, Johnny is still the safest place I’ve ever known. Still the kindest heart, the warmest hug. The brother I never had. He would buy me Blackhaus for every victory and ridicule me mercilessly every time I cried over some defeat. He is a true soulmate. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank the Universe for leading me into that bar my first two weeks in New England. My life would simply not be the same had that day never happened. Home is not always a place, but sometimes a person. And that is the most beautiful gift of all.