#today I used the phrase ‘soon to be not just friend’ and was like hm. there’s gotta be a shorter way to do this

[spacemanxpaninis]

Having agreed to date someone and talked to them on a daily basis but not yet having said date yet is a very funny dynamic like respectfully what the fuck do I call you, my friend? *gameshow buzzer sound* Any form of partner? Also no. Hey guys can’t wait to once again see my

✨SPECIAL INDIVIDUAL✨

tomorrow for an unexpected birthday party 🥳🥰

[thevoidstaredback]

Void, what're your thoughts on current politics?

Oh, no. I have been tricked into having this conversation once already today, and I'm not going to have it again. I couldn't get a word in after sharing my initial opinion and thoughts with my uncle, so I'm not opening that can of words again.

But, we've had political discussions before; we share a lot of the same views if not opinions.

Yeah, that's what I thought about my uncle, dad, grandparents, and even some friends. We may agree on a lot of things, but my experiences have led me to realize that no matter how well we get on, either of us could say something and we're suddenly hostile.

Like what?

Well, I have strong opinions and views on human rights as a whole, but specifically women's and LGBTQA+ rights.

You know what I think about that stuff.

Do I? Because we've never really had an in depth discussion; Only shared jokes and dislike/hatred for a few of the injustices.

Shouldn't that tell you my stance?

A little bit, yeah, but there's a lot more that needs to be talked about. For example, I know you support LGBQA identities, but what about T?

You know I support the others, so why would Trans folk be any different?

You just never know. I know people who support Lesbians and Gays, but are aphobic and transphobic. I know some people who don't support aro or ace identities, but everything else. There's a lot of niche topics that could potentially turn our relationship - friendly though it may be - hostile or strained.

Hm. I've never really thought about that. I figured that an ally to one was an ally to all.

That's not quite how that works. I think a more accurate way of saying would be 'an ally of one is an ally of none'. Every Queer identity is tied into each other, at least a little bit, if not closely related, so how can you possibly be in full support of one without being in full support of another?

That's.... actually given me a bit to think about. What about current events? We agree on pretty much all of those.

'Pretty much all' is your key phrase, man. There's a lot of shitty things that're happening in the world, most of which can be sourced to political influence. But, as I've found out through some of the same as well as different people, what I think shouldn't be happening/should be stopped, you could think should keep happening. Like, as another example, the fires in California. I think they're horrible tragedies and I pray that they stop soon, but a lot of people I've talked to say that the fires are supposed to be raging because the [LDS] Bible and religious figureheads say, in so many words, that California will sink in the last days. I've also heard people use their religion, LDS again, to excuse the hell that Israel has somehow excused as 'self defense'.

But I'm not religious. I haven't been for nearly a decade now.

I know, but you can not be religious and still follow some of the same ideals, good or bad in the opinions of others.

But, that's cherry-picking, isn't it?

Yeah, it is, and everyone - including myself, admittedly - does it. Cherry-picking information, maybe even going so far as to twist meanings, is unavoidable.

Completely?

Almost, yeah.

Hm

[poisonmaximoff]

BELATED FATE (Elizabeth Olsen x FemReader).

The whole story: here.

Chapter 12. Lost in each other

Elizabeth’s POV:

Time flew by catastrophically imperceptibly today and we all had a lot of fun. Y/n and I didn't even end up being losers, because Dan and Scar had the same number of points as us. Getting hungry and deciding that we had already played enough, our company moved to a nearby restaurant hall.

Y/n obviously couldn't help but start asking Scar about filming and she happily answered all of her questions. Her eyes literally burned with admiration and curiosity while she carefully listened to every word of the woman, shaking her head or slightly opening her mouth in silent surprise from time to time. Seeing her being so genuinely passionate about something has become one of the most satisfying and heartwarming things in my life.

Today I even had an appetite to have a full good meal, and not like it happened recently, when I had to force food into myself. This has never happened before, but probably the reason is the stress that I'm currently successfully relieving.

I sit between my friends eating pizza and Y/n sits across from me, sometimes giving me shy glances and warm smiles. Today her behavior seems a little different from the usual, or I just didn't notice something before.

"Lizzie, can we go outside for a couple of minutes? I really need some fresh air" Scarlett whispers in my ear.

"Uh, yes, sure." With one last look at Y/n, who is distracted by something on Olivia's phone, I follow the woman outside, grabbing my jacket just in case.

The cool breeze gives me goosebumps and I mentally thank myself for taking the outwear. Turning my head to Scarlett, I meet her narrowed eyes and a kind of suspicious look.

"What?" confusion slowly washes over my face, but my friend still remains silent for a few more seconds.

"Liz, you know, we've been friends for so many years, that's why I want you to be honest with me. What's going on between you and Y/n?" her question almost makes me choke on my own saliva.

"What are you talking about?" not understanding what made her ask this causes me an increased sense of anxiety inside.

"Well, firstly, you couldn't take your eyes off her all evening, secondly, we all saw what happened after she got her first strike, and thirdly, she's constantly flustered around you, doesn't it say anything to you, hm?" Scar's mischievous look only spurs me on the defensive mode. Sounds like complete nonsense, nothing can happen between us and I don't care how it looks like on someone's part.

"We were just happy about her victory, it doesn't mean anything like that at all. And I haven't been staring at her all evening, you're making things up. She's flustered around you too, by the way, and," I point my finger at the wedding ring on my other hand, "I'm getting married soon" an inexplicable bitter taste on my tongue after these words, said in an embarrassingly nervous tone.

"Hey, relax, why are you getting so defensive so fast? I didn't mean anything bad." Scar raises her hands in surrender, but the spark of disbelief never leaves her eyes.

"I just want to tell you that no matter what happens, I'm always here to talk. If this girl affects you in such a way that I finally see you in a truly good mood — that's great and I'm happy for you. Just remember that everything should have its limits." The ambiguous phrase echoes in my ears and before I can answer, a tender voice behind us makes itself heard.

"Are you two okay? It's been a while already," Y/n says as she walks up to us and gives us an inquisitive look, her right eyebrow slightly arched.

"Yes, and I'm already going inside." My friend taps me lightly on the shoulder, giving me one last warning look, and walks back in while I remain standing still, keeping my eyes at the shorter girl next to me.

Y/n's POV:

It's almost impossible not to melt because of the way Elizabeth looks at me sometimes. She is like the person I've known forever, who constantly makes sure that I'm safe, take care of myself and feel alright. The quivering tenderness that fills her eyes at such moments makes me want to spend hours drowning in these emerald orbs. I'm absolutely not sure that I'm not seeing things, but still the thought that she might care about me warms my soul.

After spending a couple of minutes in silent staring contest, her velvety voice breaks the silence:

"So, Y/n...Wanna walk a bit? There is a cafe with my favorite donuts nearby." She winks at me and nods somewhere to the right. There's a beautiful park with a breathtaking view of the evening sunset on the other side of the road opposite us and I simply can't refuse this offer.

"Aww, do you want to treat me with donuts? How sweet of you, El." I'm playing with her a little.

"Indeed. Their pastries are some of the best in town and a must try." Her bright smile leaves me no choice, even though I wasn't going to deny her anyway.

"Won't our friends be wondering why we've been gone for so long?"

"I think they're having enough fun not to notice our absence." Well, I definitely don't need to be persuaded more.

"By the way, why did you hide from me for so long that your best friend is literally one of the biggest Hollywood celebrities? How did you two even meet?" I ask curiously as we leave the store with our donuts.

"I wanted to surprise you and I did it successfully by the way." The smile never leaves her lips. "We've known each other for, I think, twelve years already. Our parents knew each other and so we were lucky enough to become friends in our youth. In fact, I'm extremely proud of what she has achieved." Another proof that she's the sweetest person and a really good friend.

"It must be really cool to be able to hang out with people from her circle. El, have you ever wanted to be an actress too?" Her face took on a thoughtful and slightly distant look.

"You know, I didn't really have a choice, so I didn't think about it. Do you mind sitting down here so we could eat?" she asks, pointing to a pretty wooden bench a few feet away from us.

"Yes, sure." El nods in response and we sit comfortably, admiring the amazing evening sky and enjoying a surprising calmness of the park.

"What profession did you want to have in the future when you were little, Y/n?" she asks, biting into her dessert and resting her head on her hand, which she placed on the back of the bench.

"A zookeeper, actually. I still think it's a great job, but now childhood dreams have turned into an adult confusion, so I don't know," I say with a shrug.

"Oh, I really understand you. Sometimes I vacillate between the desire to drop everything, go somewhere and open a small flower shop, and wanting to work here in our company. Adult life is a bit complicated, isn't it?" I don't fully understand if her smile is sad or usual one, but it wouldn't be correct to ask this.

"Yeah, it is. I don't even know what exactly I'd like to do in my life and now I'm trying to figure it out. It seems to me that I won't be able to hold out for a long time in this job, since the only thing I like is helping you and attending some events" I say sincerely, letting her know that I actually enjoy working with her.

"I sincerely hope that you succeed in this. Let me know if you need any help, okay?" Oh, even this small question means so much to me.

"Okay, thanks, El," I reply, turning away from her to hide the slight blush on my cheeks that has appeared there once again.

We sit in silence for a while longer, enjoying each other's company, delicious desserts, and a wonderful view before our eyes, until someone's deep voices interrupt it.

"Good evening ladies, may we keep you company today?" two young tall brunettes come up to us and sit on opposite sides of the bench, putting their hands on its wooden back.

"Such beautiful women being without their gentlemen is simply unacceptable," says the guy who sits next to me, brazenly moving closer to my side and eyeing us, while licking his lower lip. God, what a horror, they look and act like they've escaped straight Tiktok.

"What makes you think that we need men at all?" I turn my attention back to Elizabeth and all I see is obvious annoyance on her face and body language. I can only agree with her, but I'm so uncomfortable right now that I'm struggling to get any words out of me.

"Every woman needs a man," smirks the guy next to Elizabeth, staring straight into her eyes defiantly. Yeah, sure, we all dream of getting an impudent hot guy who doesn't know the words "personal space".

"Is that so? Weird, because my girlfriend and I think differently." She declares almost venomously, laying her hand on my waist and moving me towards her." Wait, what?!

"Isn't that right, sweetheart?" Her gaze doesn't even ask me to play along with her and I'm still sitting here in a daze, but my face luckily doesn't show it at all.

"Absolutely, darling." I say with a smile and sound quite convincing, although to me it seems like I just collapsed inside.

"Oh, so you're...uh...one of those?" Elizabeth's and my eyebrows arch at the same time, showing total dissatisfaction with what is happening right now and her hand tightens on my waist.

"One of the normal people who just enjoy their life and mind their business? Yes, and you should do the same. Will you leave on your own or should I ask those gentlemen for help?" she says through almost clenched teeth, nodding at the two policemen nearby.

"That's unnecessary, we're already going." The young people hurriedly left our place, letting us be alone again.

"Ugh, I hate people like that so much, like they just had to ruin our mood." She seems still distressed judging by her rapid speech and tight grip on my side.

"Yeah, we're lucky these guys wasn't aggressive as they often are," I exhale almost into her neck as I'm sitting extremely close to her body.

Turning her head to me, she apparently notices my puzzled expression and loosens her grip, still not removing her hand from my body.

"Are you okay?" comes out almost as a whisper from her mouth and I involuntarily linger my gaze on her plump lips.

Noticing my silence, Elizabeth slowly tucks a loose strand of my hair behind my ear and tilts her head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"I am, thank you. Are you?" I manage to break out of my short trance and look up at her eyes, which a few minutes ago sparkled with bitterness, but now express only the warmth I used to.

"Me too. Are you cold, Y/n?" her brows furrow slightly as she touches the tip of my nose with the back of two fingers, checking my body temperature.

"That's fine." My glare darts between her perfect features.

"It's not, let me give you my jacket, I don't need it right now."

"No, it's okay, really, I promise," I rumble, but she interrupts me by draping a thing over my shoulders, making sure it will keep me warm enough.

"There we go." Elizabeth's words are a little louder than a whisper, meant only for me.

"There we go." I repeat, basking in the warmth of her clothes and hands moving up and down my arms in an attempt to warm me up faster.

Her movements are stopping little by little and everything that is happening now seems to create a dome around us that cuts us off from the outside world.

Now there is only us and the connection that we managed to create in such a short period of time. Elizabeth, removing one hand from me and placing the other on my shoulders, moves a little closer to me, leaving not an inch of free space between us. My eyes never leave her face, big emeralds and slightly parted lips. I can't help but notice the glimpse of doubt in her eyes, but she, having replaced it with something inexplicable, begins to slowly lean towards me and my breath seems to no longer exist at all.

[hitoshisbabygirl]

Author's Notes ♡: hello hello! Welcome to another BNHAREM collab! This theme of office/work au just gave me so many ideas for some other characters I’m excited! Anywhooo I enjoyed writing this fic out a lot and surprised at how long it is actually! I tried to do a bit of progress between the reader and Shinsou but it might seem a bit jumpy, it’s over the course of a few months jump betweeneach scene!I hope you guys enjoy and check out the others fics too!! ~ bunny ❥

Warnings : NSFW! Tying up (only a little?) , pet names! (Kitten slut and princess!) oral (f! receiving) and I think that’s all!

Word count : 5.5k (another big boy!)

Paring(s) : Shinsou Hitoshi x F!reader

Summary : Falling for your boss was a feat in itself, but what happens when he wants you for himself the same way you do?

Enjoy ♡

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Working as a pro heros assistant has its perks and stressors, especially when the one you work for is the spitting image and personality of the one Mr. Shouta Aizawa ; aka Eraserhead. Quiet, tired, sarcastic but a joy to be around when the two of you could be alone , his sarcastic jokes and overall tiredness with whoever bothered him who wasn't his assistant was a fun thing to hear, especially knowing how he is. Becoming his assistant came as an odd thing too, from him saying he sees how much she worked and seeing the work she was capable of was the catalyst for him asking for her name and for her to be moved to be his assistant. And that's how [ ] found herself speed walking her way to her bosses office, tea , a bottle of water and some type of sweet muffin in her one handed tray and his files in another. Trying not to drop anything as she got closer to his door she pushed the door as hard as she could with a healed foot, sighing in relief as she was able to put everything down without incident. Hearing the door creak after she entered [ ] turned around to face her violet haired boss, a lopsided smile on his face as she straightened up “ H-hello Mr.Shinsou I have everything out for your meeting ; There's the food you requested and all of your files and documents about the the next briefing mission!” Smiling at the taller male his own smirk widened as he shut his door and strolled passed her, the smell of cologne and body wash waving over her senses.

“Thank you [ ]. You always take good care of me, '' Hitoshi said as he sat at his desk and started to open up the files, sipping the tea she brought him. Trying not to let that phrase make her skin tingle with pride [ ] started to leave, letting him be him with his work [ ] headed to the door before Hitoshi looked up and saw her leaving “Oh [ ]” he called out as she turned around , crossing her hands over her skirt that rose on her legs ``Y-yes sir?” “You look pretty today, as usual.” and there it was, the usual complimenting that [ ] wasn't used to. The compliments picked up within a few months of [ ] working with Hitoshi, the two starting already with a good work relationship from the beginning to a more comfortable friendship at work balance. For some reason [ ] couldn't help but notice she was the only female around him that he acted like this with, not comments towards her other female employees, he barely spared them a look as he saw them in the halls or gave them a small answer back to their cheery comments. But when he came over to see [ ] it was a different energy, he was more friendly, he talked a bit more about things he enjoyed and even laughed some! [ ] never even noticed the difference until some of the other workers said they were happy she had joined them because she made their boss more relaxed and calm as opposed to tired and snappy. Shaking her thoughts away she noticed Hitoshi was still looking at her, head resting on his hands as he looked her over before looking at the mess of papers under him “You ordered them for me huh? What did i do to deserve such a wonderful assistant.” He said as [ ] felt the praise make her chest swell. “I try sir” , giving her another smile as he sat back in his chair. “I have another meeting this week I'd like you to sit in on. You're smart and can help me with notes on the lesson if you wouldn't mind?” opening a shut eye Hitoshi saw the confusion then joy that ran through [ ]’s eyes “I'd love to Sir! It'd be an honor to sit in and help you!” She said as he gave him a smile he was selfishly enjoying only for him “ Great. And you can call my Hitoshi [ ], no need for honorifics when we’re pretty good friends now hm?” giggling [ ] shook her head “Sure thing Hitoshi '' Ah there it was for him, the sweet sound of his name on her lips. Watching as she bowed and left he couldn't help the raging thoughts running through his head as his meetings for the day proceeded as planned.

The next few days were odd to say the least. After his meetings Hitoshi was more quiet, slipping in and out of his office without interaction or barely a glance at even his closest friends. He didn't tell [ ] what he needed, more of a list he left the night before and gave her small but barely there smiles when she brought them to him or even brought snacks as his days drained on. This was the boss shinsou she heard of , not the hitoshi she was accustomed to. One day as [ ] sat in her room across the way from her said boss she heard a call for her, someone saying that Mr.Shinsou was needing her. Nervous about what he could need from her when he's already in a bad mood she headed up to his office before knocking softly, hearing a grunt ‘Come in’ from the other side. His office was relatively dark, just the natural light coming from the gian window from behind his grand desk. And sitting at his desk was a sight to behold. There he was, long curly purple hair tousled around as his rolled up sleeves of his normal office clothes laid tightly against his forearm, the few top buttons of the dress shirt opened to reveal the hard muscles built up as a pro hero should have. A face of tiredness, irritability and overall done was evident on his features, but as soon as his eyes met [ ]’s they seemed to have life comeback to them “Ah, you got my message” He said, his voice was laced with sleep, if the darker than normal bags under them wasn't even enough. Even with his sounding half asleep [ ] couldn't help the fluttering she felt from hearing him sound more...rough around the edges than usual “Y-yes i did , seem like you're tired sir can i help with anything?” Now having the man turn fully to face her she saw the look in his eyes , an almost mischievous glint in them as he rolled his shoulders ``This might be an odd request but..mind helping me stretch? I've been keeping up with field work and in the office too but with it all I seem to be overworking my body, I'm sore all over and not getting sleep is well….doing its damage” he huffed out a laugh as [ ] tried to hide the shock and excitement of his questioning. Being that close to her boss, a man she's come to not only admire but has caught a bit of a crush on asking her for help? But she thought it over ‘ I'm his assistant , its what im paid for’

Strolling over to him she gently put her hands on his shoulders and pushed, hearing the male under her groan as he laid back into her gestures “Fuck...I knew youd be an amazing masseuse..” he grumbled under his breath as he laid father back, sliding his shoulders deepeer into her hands as [ ] tried not to let herself to be affected with her bosses words “Dont be shy [

], you can push harder on me , I won't break y'know..” Hitoshi joked as she laughed, pressing her nails into his shoulders as a sinful moan was ripped from his throat. Feeling her face heat up [ ] just rubbed the knots from his shoulders, suppressing a squeal as the sound the violet haired man made increased. Rubbing over the back of his neck and shoulders all of the main knots she felt seemed to have worked out. Softly she stepped away from him and called out “I-Im all done sir, unless you need more?” hearing him groan as he stood she was faced with dark eyes looking her over “Those little hands of yours did wonders for me sweetheart, i should have you be my physical therapist too” laughing [ ] pushed his chest and crossed over the side of his desk to the chair that was across from his “Oh please it was nothing but me trying to loosen up your muscles!” crossing his desk as well Hitoshi came behind his assistant, placing his much larger hands on her shoulders ``Well why don't I return the favor, you've been helping me with all this paperwork and now being a masseuse for me...it's the least I can do'' he whispered in her ear as she let out an involuntary whine , feeling his hands tighten with his warm breath hitting her ear. Taking his thumbs Hitoshi did the same, rolling her muscles out of being tight and wound up, but making sure to do more teasing than [ ] expected. Every so often he whispered “Is that okay?” or some type of small praise, making sure to acknowledge . He was drawing it out on purpose, making sure to move closer to her with every push, or have her whimper with a hard roll or pinch of his larger fingers. Just as she had done he pulled away , but not before rubbing up her arms and giving that same lazy smile “Well I hope i was able to compete with your expert massage” Still overwhelmed she just shook her head and agreed , letting their eyes mingle longer before the phone ringing broke the silence. Sighing Hitoshi went back to his seat, picking the line up before answering “Hello this is Mind Jack” rolling his eyes the man answered, pushing his rolling chair side to side as he was listening to whoever called. [ ] could see how tense he was starting to get, those same shoulders sinking back to their tense state as he continued to drain on with whoever was on the other side “Yeah...the back was the way they seemed to bring in other collateral. Taking a pen from his desk and scrap paper [ ] wrote ‘I can leave and get you some tea if you want it’ and slid it to the violet haired male, his eyes glancing to the paper and back to hers. Snorting he took the pen and replied ‘You're too cute. I'm fine.’ frowning she wrote back ‘But you look stressed again :(‘.

Before she could slide it to him the sound of him yelling shocked her “Well of course there's a problem , no ones keeping a proper tab on him!” Jumping slightly at his hand hitting the wooden desk [ ] covered her squeal, looking up to see the furious eyes of the intimidating man soften before he pointed to her, curling his finger for her to come closer. Hesitantly she did, getting very close before he patted a thigh, shocking the girl. Before she could question him he slid the paper back to her “im sorry :(, mind sitting down with me? Could use a different set of ears for whatever this shit he's telling me...Unless you're uncomfortable, consent is key here and i'm not an opportunist :)’ Smiling at the small note she crossed over his leg to sit in his lap, hesitantly placing her weight down before hearing the older sounding man say something “One second Shin, gotta go get some files and the line was silent. Pushing the speaker and setting the handle down on the holding phone, Hitoshi rubbed at his forehead “This is a pain….I guess the lead we hand on a drug distributor is true but no ones properly following him..I might need to leave the office to follow from higher ground” He spoke up after sensing [ ]’s eyes on his closed ones ``But you should be resting ‘toshi not overworking” [ ] said as she felt his hand wrapping around her waist “God you're too good for me woman, sometimes I wonder how I can keep my composer around such a good girl'' Straightening her back [ ] felt her face heat up , a tingle running though her spine as he continued, getting closer to her ear “Yknow, you're always on edge with me, why is that pretty girl?” Whimpering she felt his hand stroke the mesh of her stockings “Always wearing such cute little outfits...you're like a doll” holding in her breath she gasped when she felt his fingers pinch her thigh “You still didn't answer me [ ]...” Clearing her throat she spoke up “You're just a bit intimidating is all sir..hitoshi” shr admitted as he chuckled , tightening his grasp on her waist “So I intimidate you huh sweetheart?” moving his hand away he just laid back, giving [ ] rome to breathe “You can relax,, I'm used to others ebing a bit scared of me so it's not that big of a surprise.” chuckling, he continued “ You don't have to stay on me , I was just being selfish with you”

Feeling a bit sad at his wording, [ ] turned herself around to look at him, and immediately regretted it. He looked perfect, body sprawled and relaxed on the leather office chair, a similar button up, this time black , was still left open , leaving his neck opened to see. The lazy tired look he always radiates was there, being a sense of calm from him. Since he was in the office he now wore more jewelry , a set of plain titanium bands fit over his fingers. That casually was scrolling his phone. Feeling herself staring too much [ ] cleared her throat and whispered “Well I like you...so I like it up here” And that phrase snapped Hitoshi from his scrolling “What did you just say?” realizing her open thought to herself actually was heard by him she froze, starting to rise from his lap “Ah nothing just-” “[ ], what did you just say to me..” grabbing her arm before she could get far enough she was jerked back to his face. Questioning eyes stared back at the nervous and faltering ones that stared back. “I said I didn't mind being on your lap..” She said as he smirked “But why?” Looking away from his piercing stare she let out a small snort “Well because its kinda comfy” The smirk on his face turned into a grin “That's not what I heard kitten try again” Feeling the heat spread to her face she tried to pull here arm from him only for him to hold it tighter “I..didn't say anything else” clicking his tongue he got closer, putting his nose close others “You said you liked me, or maybe my own thoughts are starting to take over” “What do you mean Hitoshi..?” Flicking his eyes to hear he realized what could happen so taking in a breath he continued “If you don't say it then I will...I like you [ ], the months you've been working for me has been the best time for me...I'M selfish with you..and i want you all to myself..I'm the boss here afterwards, so no ones really gonna question if I decide to make you mines”

Gasping at his confession [ ] tried to hide her face until a hand grabbed her chin “But if I was wrong hearing what you said then..I won't push it” Letting her face and arm go he leaned back in that chair, looking at her. Sucking in her own breath [ ] looked at him and spoke “Yes, I said I liked you, and I do, I've had one since the third week here and now its been months, I enjoy being your assistant, I like being able to make you happy and I...really enjoy being around you..” Meeting his eyes again she saw his smile before he put his phone down “Well with that squared away.. Why don't you come here kitten” By dropping his voice and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt [ ] felt like she'd just opened one of the best and scariest doors she could imagine. That was, until the phone rerung. Side eyeing it Shinsou still held a hand out for her, pulling her swiftly to his lap before answering “Yes Sir?” he started again but this time his hand traveled south, rubbing up and down the back of [ ] as he listened to the man on the other side of the phone. Something he said made the boy grab her waist hard, causing her to let out a sound of discomfort. Hearing that the violet haired male looked at her before whispering a soft “Sorry” and pulling her closer. [ ] saw what he meant ; the senior officer was all over the place, no one knew where anything from the heroes’ agencies were, all the papers, notes and documents on the case seemed misplaced or missing pieces and parts.

Focused on listening to the man on the phone as well, she felt herself start to lay on his shoulder to better hear him, slightly curling up on her boss's lap. Gently a ring clad finger slid under [ ]’s shirt, the cool metal cooling off her burning skin. Still buzzing off his confession she decided to be a bit bold, jutting her hip out so he’d have a hand full of her thigh if he wanted to. Still talking to the man on the line, Shinsou threw her a look, raising a brow before taking the invitation to the now more exposed flesh. “Now Hitoshi-kun I think we could work on a few different ways to trap him, I can send some undercover men to join you in his apprehension, this is our fault for losing him and if we come up with a good enough plan we can begin to execute it!” Humming in agreement Shisou felt himself becoming distracted by his assistant who was whimpering at his ministrations, fingers tightening on his shoulder as she let him rub over her hip, down to her ass and squeezing , before with every touch going lower. “Sure sensei lets..work on some places that we could..potentially set up” feeling the ghosting lips of [ ] on his neck Shinsou slid his hand lower to cup over her cheek , a warning that he'd go lower. Pecking a spot on his neck was the push, the same ring clad fingers going between her skirt and pulling the mesh from her core, causing her to gasp out. Smirking as she got back was a kiss to her temple before he rubbed just his knuckle against her core that was starting to weep. Signing out in content she couldn't help herself, knowing that he still was on the phone with the man fumbling to write up things to fax over she grabbed the sides of his shirt to smash their lips together, a grunt falling from the violet as he groaned, dipping in to kiss her deeper until he heard his name “Hitoshi-kun?” Breathlessly he pulled away from the kiss, seeing [ ] pout as he grinned, stuffing a finger inside of the hole he made and pulled her soiled panties from her lower lips ``Ahem , yeah i'm here sir, sorry just had my assistant bring me some papers and I got distracted” Licking at his lips he continued to talk to the chief while rubbing her little bud casually talking to him as he faxed over details.

An agonizing half an hour later they were done and so was his teasing. As soon as the chief said he'd call later and they hung up [ ] was on him, trying to kiss him as he slipped his fingers out and away from the mess dripping between her legs ``Well well well, the kitten can be bold when it comes to being teased'' Letting out a high pitched whine she when to kiss him again but he moved, going for her neck. “Patience sweetheart, I'm not even gonna do anything.” Pulling her up higher on his lap and cradling her waist his lust filled eyes looked over her heaving chest and wide eyes looking at his “You okay? I didn't mean to scare you with how fast we were moving” Shinsou rasped out at her. Feeling heat creep up her neck she shook her head ``'m fine, great actually. Just very um..needy” Laughing at her words he leaned up to kiss her cheek “Well I hope you know i'm not done with you...I’ll let you finish those papers that were sent over...maybe if you be a good girl I'll give you more hm?” Teasing her Shinsou ran his lips over [ ]’s , the gap keeping them apart almost nonexistent as he licked at her lips , starting another deep kiss. Letting his fingers run over her hips he pulled her tucked shirt out more, unbuttoning the ones closest to him as [ ] did the same, not stripping themselves bare but just enough skin for the two to feel each other.

Letting one hand pull up her skirt and one wrapped around her throat Shinsou could feel the heat radiating from her clothed lower half that was runting over his straining hardon. Slowly he grabbed her hip to stop her rocking. Before pulling away from the kiss, both breathing hard against the other “H-hitoshi...you're a tease” clicking his tongue the male gave her a look “If anything you're the tease kitten, rutting against me like that..and then kissing my neck? Naughty girl you wanted my attention and now that you're getting it you wanna whine about it and beg about it not being enough. I promise i'll give you more kitten, I promise you I will...I really wanted to give you a proper date and be able to show you I don't want you as something quick and damn sure not easy.. but at this rate...I'll end up pounding you on this desk like the little brat you are until you learn how to listen [ ], who knew you'd get bratty if you're not being stuffed and begging for more” Kissing her cheek Shinsou let her sigh and start to semi get dressed to get the papers ``You still could take em on a date though…” She said softly as his eyes watched her smooth and fixed her skirt “That I will do” Laughing [ ] awkwardly tried to pull the stockings she had underneath the tiger to fix the hole he made. Watching her struggle was now Shinsous task as his assistant pulled and tugged, soon hearing another rip as she struggled “Take them off” Blinking, [ ] faced him “H-Huh?” “I said take them off, they'll be off soon anyways” Pointing to the clock he was right ; they only had a bit more left in the office before they'd be going home for the day. “O-Oh yeah..But what about-” “If you're nervous I'll walk you to your car, you don't have to worry about feeling exposed” As i f he was reading her thoughts Shinsou spoke, making [ ] feel her heart rise in her throat “Okay...well uhm thank you sir” feeling even more heat in her chest she left out and did as such, feeling the cool air of the building raised goosebumps on her skin. Sighing, she grabbed the stack of papers on the printer, starting to work on them for her teasing boss.

Sticking to his word Shinsou did walk her to her car, a pleasant conversation falling between the two “Well,” her boss started “It looks like we’ll be up to more faxing tomorrow, I’ll see what we’ll need tonight. Thanks for listening in too, oh and for my massage” Giving [ ] a smile he opened her car door for her and turned to leave before feeling a hand grab his wrist “Wait!” Looking back at her he saw how beautiful she looked ; hair a bit disheveled, shirt and skirt not as neat as it was before their little...break. “Yes [ ]?” she didn't understand it, it was like nothing happened . He was the calm and level headed boss instead of the teasing and fierce lover she had hours ago “Well...nothing, it's nothing” Knowing what she was going to ask he stepped closer, pushing her back against her car. Taking his hands and gently placing them on her hips he pushed himself impossibly closer, just until their lips were over each other “Oh don't worry that wasn't a fluke. I told you kitten, I'm not an opportunist , I wanted you to be comfortable before I even attempted to admit my feelings for you, especially in that way” Giving her a soft peck he pulled away “Goodnight [ ] i'll see you tomorrow yeah?” and with that he started to head for his own car.

The following day [ ] made it a point to dress a bit more risky. Wearing a deep v cut and slit up the thigh black dress that was still acceptable for work with a long sweater she came in early to work on all the filing that would need to be done. Hearing a rep on her door she looked up to see one of the other girls come in “Ouuu look at you, whos the lucky person?” Laughing [ ] continued to order “Ah whatever do you mean?” The girl, Mina, came closer. “All of your outfits are cute or a bit womandly but this, this is a minx in disguise , like you're gonna go on a fancy date but really worried about the desert afterwards if you catch my drift.” Laughing with her best friend [ ] shook her head “I wanted to switch it up, honest!” Giving her a questioning look Mina laughed at herself “We’ll see, I bet Mr.Shinsou will enjoy what you're wearing” Eying her pink haired friend and about to ask why she said that they heard someone else open the office floor door.

“Ah hello sir! Welcome in!” “Good Morning Mina” Oh, OH it was the man of the hour, Shinsou entering the place. As he walked by he too, was out of his usual attire; still ring cladded fingers but a more civilian look going on. Skinny black jeans and a t-shirt help reveal the mass that a pro hero could be. Sure he wasn't a super hulk but he was very well built , long hair pulled into a messy bun. Looking up she saw Mina mouthing the words “He's a hunk” and fanning her face. Waving at her and giggling she heard his office door reopen “Ah Mina, would you mind helping the lower floors until the rest of the team gets in, they seem to have messed up your guys parts. You too [ ]” The both of them looked at the papers that were supposed to come in to them and sure enough ; they had “Yeah i'll go! I know [ ] has more important papers to fill out!” Cheerfully she headed out , leaving the floor empty to her and Shinsou “[ ]” “S-sir?” Glancing up from the papers she saw him leaning over the door frame, eyes studying what he could see of her outfit through her sweater “C’mere..” was all he said as he slinked back into his office. Nervously she left the papers at her desk and headed into his, hearing the soothing jazz in the background “Shut the door too” Pushing the heavy wood until it shut she laid against it, looking at her boss who sat at his desk. “So..how's all the paperwork going?” Nodding her head she let out a soft “Good” before letting the quiet jazz fill the room. Leaning forward and taking a sip from an iced coffee he pointed to the door “You can lock it too” Sucking in a breath [ ] twisted the lock, hearing it click as the room now seemed a bit suffocating. “Whats up sir?” Sighing, Shinsou stood, stretching before he strolled over to her “ Now Kitten..didn't I say we didn't have to do honorifics..” feeling like a deer in headlights she started to move backwards until she hit her back on the door. Smirking he pushed his hand against the frame, trapping her between his arms “R-right...sorry ‘toshi” The smell of the same body wash and cologne took up her air and made her knees feel weak “That's a good girl, now come, sit and i'll show you what we’re gonna be working on” Following shakely behind her boss she saw he was messing with his capture gear behind his desk “Ah the reason i'm dressed so down today is for that very reason; we were gonna go initiate a look around for our guy..trying to see if anyone who works with or knows him is around then i'll take them in for questioning” Nodding her head [ ] fiddled with the weapon , rubbing the fabric “it's so interesting how soft it is” Flicking his wrist the fabric moved to wrap around her wrists and tightened, causing her to gasp “sorry , I couldn't help it” Stepping behind her Shinsou pushed his hips into hers and pulled her up to his chest “toshi...whatre-” “Shhhh, quiet princess..it's time to show you how I can handle you” wrapping his fist around the two straps he used the leverage to keep her tied up before he placed her on his desk. Starting a searing kiss the two of them made out on it, hips pushing into each other as shinsou drew out her sounds. Pulling away heaving the two of them smiled at the other “Fuck..can I?” Rubbing at her colthed slit and starting to bite at her neck, not knowing where to start with her he asked for permission “Y-yes please , please touch me” Smirking against her neck he sucked a few marks before moving lower to her heaving chest to leave more marks. As he got to her thighs he made a show going between them “Shit love...you just had to dress like

a little slut huh..you knew I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of you..” biting at the thickest part of her inner thigh, before sucking another mark there.

Pushing her dress higher he sucked in a breath at the sight. She was wearing full laced panties, the pair thin enough to see everything she had to offer. Letting out a low whistle Shinsou kissed against the heat of her pussy, bathing in the moan of his assistant. Pulling off her panties and looking up to the heavy breathing [ ] he winked at her before sucking at her clit. A loud moan ripped from her chest as she tried to widen her legs to give him more room. Enjoying himself by making her cry , Shinsou moaned over her lower lips before sucking harshly at her sensitive bud. As pleasured whining fell and tumbled from [ ]’s lips he pulled away, stuffing a thick finger in her sopping walls. “C’mon love, let loose for me” “T-toshi! Please..” Feeling her mind get hazy with a push of a button in her walls. The coil in her stomach felt tight and rapidly getting tighter before she came, runting her hips against his fingers that continued to pump in her “Good girl..thats my sweet kitten” Overwhelmed by all the simulation [ ] looked up the the dark look of her boss who untied the ends of his capture gear. Pulling at the fabric he laid her over the desk and started to rock his tip against her sopping core. Wrapping a hand around her throat he leaned down to push their faces closer as he started to enter into her slowly. Trying to help ease the stretch Shinsou kissed her hard, shushing her loud sounds as he started to bottom out. Once he did get to bottom out the two of them sighed in content , eyes looking at each other “[ ].....I promise i'll be gentle I can't hold back anymore..you're mine you understand?” He growled out.

Clenching over him [ ] agreed, arching her back into him “Im yours Hitoshi...mark me” And with that he started a brutal pace, holding her hands with one of his own while the other held her thigh open. As the two groaned and moaned against each others lips [ ] felt herself clench hardr as another wave of an oragsm filled her mind. Seeing her tired and fucked out face filling her senses, Shinsou grinds, rubbing a pair of fingers over her clit “I'm such a close kitten.. ‘M gonna fill you up, can I?” Panting out to her he tightened his gear over her wrists as her pleasure teary eyes found his “please..inside Im on the pill its okay!” Feeling a shiver go down his spine he sped his hips up, going to fill her up as he started pumping his cum in her fluttering walls , a weak spasm was her wall's response to his fill. Letting her eyes fall shut [ ] felt shinsou breathing against her neck as her still tied hands reached to rub his back. Feeling him start to kiss her neck [ ] let out a content sigh “Hey..[ ]” he called out as she hummed “Once You recuperate we’ll go for round two...Im nowhere near done with you”

[yuta-nakamots]

perfect - z.cl

Pairing - Chenle x Fem!Reader

Genre - fluff, angst, university!au, friends to lovers!au

Warnings -  alcohol consumption, mention of drunkeness, lots of arguments, heavy making out, breakups, contains an aged up chenle (26-ish) towards the end

Summary - He’s definitely not your knight in shining armor, he may not be the one you bring home to mother, but he’ll be the one to give you flowers. Chenle is not the right one for you, but he is for right now.

Word Count - 5.2k

A/N - Bolded phrases are song lyrics taken from One Direction’s song ‘Perfect’ and inspired from the lyrics along with all the vlives where Chenle and the members have started yelling out the lyrics.This was supposed to come out back in January but school held it up and now Ana is gone hhhhh. I know she’s still on Tumblr but under a new url so if anyone wants to send this to her, to let her know that I did finish it, that would be nice. 

Taglist - @astroboy-lele​​​ @in-my-neofeelings​​​ || fill out this form if you’d like to join my general taglist ^^

Written for the Sometimes Letting Go… Collab originally hosted by @sunryu​ who unfortunately deactivated. 

When I first saw you from across the room, I could tell you were curious

The mutual attraction between you and Chenle was undeniable. Ever since the two of you first met as freshmen in an econ class, you knew he was your twin flame and he was yours. That initial meeting was almost comical, the way the professor said to pair up and talk to someone next to them for a bit and it seemed like everyone had turned away from you except for the boy sitting next to you.

It seems you both had the same realization as your heads turned and eyes met. “Well I guess you’re my friend for today,” he began, “hi, my name is Chenle. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Y/n,” you told him, “the pleasure is all mine.”

“So, why are you in this class?” He asked, tapping his pen on his leather-bound planner.

You hesitated for a second as you thought about how much to tell him. “I’m majoring in business and this was just one of the mandatory classes in my plan.”

“Hm, same here,” Chenle shared, seeming the slightest bit amused at your similarity, “would you also happen to be in calculus this semester?”

“Section 3 at 10:30?” You counter.

Chenle broke into a smile, “that’s the one.”

“How about freshman seminar?” You asked.

“1:15 in the world language building?” Chenle offered, copying your answer from before.

“Wow,” your eyebrows were raised in actual disbelief, “did you steal my schedule or something?”

“No, but I do believe in fate,” the boy next to you confessed, “would you like to get lunch sometime before freshmen seminar?”

You nodded, “I’d like that,” you stopped mid-sentence when you remembered that you told your friends you’d eat with them, “I am gonna be eating with my friends though so I could introduce you to them if you’d like.”

“Want to bet that we have the same friends too?”

“No way, that would be too coincidental.”

And coincidental it was. Somehow your friends knew some of Chenle’s friends whether it be from high school activities, childhood friends, or even having just met in their own classes. Your small group of five had immediately doubled in size.

Of course, with such a large group of friends, there was much fun to be had and many memories to be made. During midterms is when you were thankful you were majoring in business and not something like biology or chemistry. You could still go out and have fun on weekends with Chenle and the majority of your friends, meanwhile a few poor souls had to stay back to study their ‘reaction mechanisms’ or whatever the heck those things were called.

You quickly found that you weren’t one for parties though you loved to hang out with your friends and have small little parties of your own in the dorms. Every single time, as you all got progressively drunker and started to clock out for the night, it was always you and Chenle left being the two most sober with no other choice but to take care of your friends over hushed conversations.

“How much vodka did Hannah even drink?” Chenle asked while you both worked on cleaning up the mess of solo cups and napkins surrounding your friend who had, unfortunately, drank over half of the bottle. You picked it up, waving it at Chenle to show him. “She’s gonna have a nasty hangover…or at least wake up super dehydrated.”

As you worked on laying a blanket across her, passed out on the floor, Chenle had managed to stuff all the napkins inside the cups he had collected and was busy aiming at the trash can across the room. Right as he was about to shoot, “miss!” you called out. The little stack of cups hit the rim of the plastic trash bin and fell to the floor. Chenle turned to you, sticking out his tongue and imitating the way you caused him to mess up before going to properly dispose of the rubbish.

Instead of simply placing it in the waste, he once again returned to where he stood before, with one eye shut, aiming for the bin. You let out a scoff, ready to disturb him once more. He shot you a glance, knowing what you were planning from the way you just stood watching him. But regardless, he tried again. “Airball” you sang as he released the short stack of cups, sending them flying to the foot of the bin.

Chenle let out a growl, childishly stomping his way over to you while you tried to quietly escape from his grasps through the mess of food and other miscellaneous items on the floor. From the hushed giggles and name-calling from the two of you as you both stumbled around the room, to the whispered late-night thoughts and affirmations spoken from your positions on the floor with your heads resting on the edge of a bed, you barely even noticed how fast time was passing.

“Are you going home for the holidays?” You asked him.

He shook his head, “it’s my first time getting to live away from my parents and whenever I do go back, they’ll probably be expecting me to bring some girl with me.”

You turned to look at him, “why would they expect that?”

“They’re both getting old and want to retire soon,” Chenle started, “so the faster I get married and take over the company, the faster they’ll get to live out the rest of their lives,” he explained.

“Well that’s not very nice of them,” you commented, “what kind of parents would place such high responsibility on their child like that?”

“Mine I guess,” Chenle sighed.

After a moment of silence, you sat up, unsure what to make of the next words to come out of your mouth. “If you want, I could go with you.” Chenle looked at you with his eyebrows furrowed. “Like, I could be your fake girlfriend or something so that they don’t bother you so much about finding one.”

“That’s…an idea,” he started, biting on the corner of his lip as he played out possible scenarios in his head. “I think that would only make it worse though since we’d both have to make up stories and tell the same information.”

“True. But we could at least make it look believable, don’t you think?” You reached over to pet Chenle’s head the same way you’ve seen him do to his friends. “Oh, Chenle, you’re so cute,” you cooed, “I can’t wait to marry you and be with you for the rest of our lives.”

He grabbed your wrist and put it in your lap, not very keen on the show of affection. “Yeah, I think we’d look like a pretty convincing couple.”

“Do we look good together though?” You pondered. “If we were to show up to an event or something, would we make people stop and stare at us?”

“Anyone can do that if they wear something weird or do something out of the ordinary-“

“Okay but that’s not what I’m asking,” you interrupted, “I’m asking, would we look good together as a couple?”

Chenle shrugged apprehensively, “sure.” Your eyes bore into him as if forcing a more legit answer out of him. “Yes, I think we would look good as a couple.”

It was as if you and Chenle were made for each other. Whatever one did, the other was never too far behind. It was absolutely no surprise to your friends when you told them Chenle had asked you out and you became official. While your college careers continued and friends came and went, Chenle was always with you. He was your solid island in the middle of a tumultuous sea, your oasis in a dried desert. You didn’t need anyone else around to have fun, just him, just the two of you.

But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms and if you like having secret little rendezvous

Being with Chenle was as wild as things could get. It meant impulsive plans and bad decisions. Weekend nights normally consisted of one of you driving with no destination in mind until someone got hungry. Even at that point, the night didn’t end.

Sometimes the two of you would stay out past midnight, not wanting to leave each other’s company just yet. The feeling of the wind whipping past you as Chenle drove or the thrill of gassing it down the freeway was almost dreamlike. One would think that at this point, you’d return home, but for you, your home was wherever Chenle was. If it meant staying in a small hotel room for the night drinking cheap wine out of paper cups then so be it, that was home.

“Baby, you already drank almost half of the bottle, leave some for me,” Chenle teased, his eyes glimmering under the low lighting. The brightness of the small lamp on the desk failed to reach where he was sitting, the cozy armchair too far in the corner for it to be illuminated.

“Come here and get some then,” you suggested, lazily winking at him before downing another shot-sized gulp and enjoying the burn from the liquid running down your throat. The bed you were sitting on wasn’t all that soft but you had already warmed up a little spot of it and gotten too comfortable to move.

Chenle raised an eyebrow at you, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I don’t think you want me to do that.”

“Why not?” Your expression mirroring his.

“You wanna find out?

“Maybe I do.”

He let out a scoff and within a second he was on the bed, climbing up and settling over you. His warm breath fanned your neck, the scent of alcohol filling your senses. “Are you sure about that?”

“Fuck around and find out, handsome,” you taunted.

You had barely even finished your sentence before Chenle’s lips were on yours, his usual soft and pillowy lips became hot and heavy against yours under the guide of the fifteen-dollar wine. You were sure that you were definitely getting tipsy but Chenle’s love and passion were even more overwhelming. It was moments like this when you felt that you were drunk off of his love and it was absolutely intoxicating in the best way.

If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn’t do, then baby I’m perfect

It was drunk weekends like this that led to a rocky start of the following week. It’s not that you and Chenle were bad students, it’s just that when you become totally infatuated with the person you love, you start to devote yourself to them instead of what actually needs to get done.

As sophomores in college, one would think that you’d have a little more self-control but with Chenle, you just couldn’t help it. He was worse than any drug you could ever take, to the point where your friends would have to intervene and keep you in your rooms until a substantial amount of work was done.

You called them annoying but really you should’ve been thankful to them for caring so much about you back then, and you are thankful, looking back on it. They always told you ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’ and you wish you had listened to them. Maybe if you did, you wouldn’t have lost a relationship that you thought was practically flawless.

Perfect for you

In junior year, that is when your beautiful illusion finally began crumbling down. Your workloads grew heavier and your hours of sleep decreased. Chenle would often leave you on read, having opened your message in the middle of studying then forgotten to reply to it. Even when you childishly got upset at him for that, he’d always give you the same apology or buy you something cute as if money could shut you up.

With little to no distance between the two of you, it was easy for boundaries to be crossed and for problems to go unaddressed. You can feel like you know someone so well, that they’ll always understand what you mean and they can read your words like a book, but it didn’t seem that way anymore with Chenle.

He’d make fun of the way you always made him say ‘I love you’ at least once a day or some of your other pet peeves, including the way you had a Hello Kitty mouse pad that was ‘too childish for a college student to be using.’ It may have been out of love but it sure didn’t seem that way.

I might never be the hands you put your heart in or the arms that hold you any time you want them

Soon, the little pricks in your relationship spread past closed doors and into your schoolwork. Sharing a major and classes with your significant other was not exactly ideal, especially when they had different values and beliefs from you and had to argue for their reasoning.

“That just isn’t sustainable in the long run though,” you commented as you read through Chenle’s senior research report while seated opposite of him inside a library study room.

He ran a hand through his hair, leaning back into his seat, about to repeat himself for the fourth time. “It’s not about sustainability, it’s about the profit margin that’s being made. What don’t you get?”

“It’s not good for the environment, it’s not good for the people working in the factories,” you point out, “I don’t get how you can subject these things onto people.”

“Y/n, we’re business majors,” he stated plainly, “we study money, the economy, sales, company relationships, we’re not here to be environmentalists. Things don’t have to last very long, so much as they make a profit.”

“But we should think about the impact of our future businesses and their longevity in the world-”

“You should think about passing this class and stop being so prissy and uptight about saving trees or whatever the fuck you’re going on about.”

You were absolutely shocked at the words that had just come out of his mouth. This wasn’t the first time he had seemingly degraded you in this manner, but when it came to school and your own work, you were deeply offended at what he had said, especially since both of you had spent many hours on your respective projects.

“Chenle,” you began softly, “tell me you didn’t mean that.”

He refused to meet your gaze, “If I told you that then I would be a liar.”

“Look, you can’t just spew whatever bullshit you want and just expect that people won’t get hurt,” you criticized, only to be cut off once more.

“Then maybe you should learn to not take everything so seriously,” he snapped back.

“I...I think we need a break.”

“Agreed.”

“No, from each other.” Chenle’s head whipped up to look at you, his eyes went wide when he realized what you were insinuating.

“Baby no, you know it’s not like that,” he started, but it was already too late. You blocked his voice out of your head as you packed your belongings, just wanting to get out of this room, wanting to get away from him.

This wasn’t the first time you had fought with him in this way but it felt like you had finally lost all your patience. You were tired of always being told you were wrong and having your thoughts and ideas invalidated. As you stormed away from the library, you realized that maybe you needed to let go of things that no longer brought you joy.

Sometimes letting go...is a new start

After that incident, you did indeed have a fresh start. You slowly removed Chenle from your life and just in time for graduation. Whenever he tried to approach you on campus, you always turned the other way even if it meant being late to class. Luckily, you didn’t have many shared classes with him anymore and you were all the more grateful for it right now.

You’d come back to your campus apartment with the occasional flower or sticky note left on your doorstep asking you to give him another chance but you simply didn’t have enough time or energy to care anymore. Commencement was approaching and you still had yet to hear back from any of the companies you had applied to for internships.

But that don’t mean that we can’t live here in the moment

One of your friends had mentioned that Chenle had already received news that he was accepted into his family’s business, a large company in China, and you wished you could’ve been there when he had read the email. You could practically hear his yell of delight, his laugh when he’d turn to hug you, even if it was practically guaranteed that he’d get in, you missed it all so much but there was no turning back now.

It wasn’t until after commencement did you receive your own letter of acceptance from one of the largest foreign trade companies in the area after you saw Chenle for the last time. “Zhong Chenle, Bachelor of Arts in business management.” You remembered the immense pride and pain you felt in your chest, watching him walk across the stage to claim his diploma as you sat clothed in the same cap and gown only a few rows away. You wished you could share your emotions with him, but you had to remind yourself that he was no longer yours, he was no longer the man you first fell in love with.

‘Cause I can be the one you love from time to time

Four years have passed since that moment at commencement. In those four years, you’ve climbed your way up in the company, taking a hold of a directing position in project development and management. With all your success though, there was always one failure that kept floating through your mind. The number of sleepless nights and wandering moments you’ve spent thinking about all the ‘what ifs’ and the changes you should’ve made in your relationship have all decreased with time, but sometimes it all comes crashing back. You miss the memories you made with him and you miss being so young and naive.

Sometimes you managed to hear a thing or two about the company he worked for but you never paid much attention to it, always falling back into a spiral of guilt and calling yourself the sole reason why your relationship fell apart. Chenle would even pop into your mind at the weirdest times when you’d be thinking of anything but him.

Like the other day as you were staring out the window of your office, watching people and cars pass by, your memory of Chenle speeding down the empty highway suddenly resurfaced. The adrenaline you felt from the buildings and signs whizzing by, the slight buzz of alcohol you felt in your system, the cool air coming in from Chenle’s window, the warmth of his hand in yours. You couldn’t help but smile at it fondly yet it turned sour when you thought of the last time he ever drove you somewhere. You had argued with him about something dumb, you couldn’t even remember it at this point, and you even slammed the door before storming off to who knows where.

Or some months ago, you were interviewing possible new hires for the company and met someone from Puerto Rico. Once you finished the interview with them, you sat at the wooden desk while remembering the way you teased Chenle because he didn’t know how to pronounce Puerto Rico. You thought it was cute and even told him that, but it ended up in another fight because you may have spent a little too long dwelling on the topic.

But oftentimes when you find yourself thinking about him, you’d wonder how he’s doing. Is he happy where he is right now? What kinds of things is he doing for his job? Has he found a new girlfriend? What if he dated many other people after me? What if he’s married? Would he have children by now? Or most importantly, ‘does he still love me?’

And if you like midnight driving with the windows down, and if you like going places we can’t even pronounce

Regardless, you’d shake off all these thoughts and continue about your day, completing the tasks assigned to you. The majority of your time was spent conducting interviews and deliberating with the directors about who to hire for what position. It was quite fun, really. You got to meet all of the new hires before they came into the company and you felt empowered by the fact that you would be indirectly responsible for the future of the company in this sort of way.

On one particular day, everything felt like it was going just a little too well. Your hair was done just the right way, traffic was light, your coworkers seemed to all be in a good mood, but most importantly, there were no fat folders sitting on your desk, waiting for you to go through. Just a single sheet of paper with the list of the new hires coming in for their briefings along with the notes you were required to go over.

You didn’t bother checking it, seeing as how you had exactly two minutes left before the scheduled meet time, which was exactly the amount of time you needed to head downstairs to the conference room. You really should have checked the list though. It would have prepared you for the shock of seeing a certain someone sitting at the table in a suit that looked all too good on him.

“Zhong Chenle?” You audibly gasped, pausing in your tracks the moment you entered the conference room.

His eyes were already on you as if he knew you’d be the person to walk through that doorway at that exact moment. “That would be me.”

The other new hires looked around at each other sharing all types of glances. Worried, suspicious, surprised, questioning, nothing really all that positive. “Sorry, he’s just an old friend that I was surprised to see,” you quickly explained, trying to pull yourself back together.

Throughout your whole presentation, it was like all the attention in the world was directed at you. Never had you felt this nervous before doing something that was supposed to be so familiar. Every time your eyes glanced over in Chenle’s direction, his gaze managed to catch yours as if he was trying to speak to you without any words.

By the time you adjourned the meeting and sent the new hires off to their respective departments, it felt like you had run a marathon. Your palms were clammy, your legs shaky, your mind racing, and your heart was pounding.

Chenle was the only one left in the conference hall while you pushed in all the chairs and turned off the lights. “Looks like these years have done you well.” He commented, finally able to take in the sight of you now that there was no one else around.

“I could say the same for you.” His shoulder had gotten broader and any childlike features had left his face. He truly looked like he had grown into a man. The dark gray suit he was wearing fit the lines of his body so well, it made you think he could’ve been a model instead of simply becoming an office worker. “So how have you been?���

He did a classic Chenle shrug, “nothing much really. I started off being just a marketing employee, did some work, and got myself to be chief marketing officer. It seems you’ve gotten much further than I have, though. Project development and management?”

“Oh, it’s not anything huge. I just help with planning things out and doing all the paperwork for its execution. I only do interviews and help with hiring when we’re in season, which would be why I’m here right now,” you explained, motioning for him to follow you out of the room. “Your new supervisor is probably wondering where you are. I sent the rest of the newbies a few minutes ago already. I’ll just tell him that you had a few questions about our operations.”

“Wow, cheating the system? That’s not the way I remember you,” Chenle said with mock disapproval. You led him to the elevators, pleasantly surprised to find one still on your floor after you hit the ‘up’ button. Your eyes met with his while you gestured for him to go in. “Ladies first,” he had a cat-like grin on his face as you rolled your eyes and stepped into the elevator.

“So why did you decide to leave your company? Weren’t you going to take it over someday?” You ask over the squeaking of the doors closing.

Chenle leaned against the cold metal wall of the elevator, “I still plan to but I felt like they were just kind of babying me or treating me differently because they knew of my background,” he explained. You could only nod to acknowledge the fact that you were listening. “I told my parents that I wanted to get experience outside of the company and they didn’t really understand at first until I showed them my point of view and how it’s a little worrisome to perhaps, learn how to cook when you always have chefs around you giving you instructions down to the tiniest things.”

The elevator came to a stop and the heavy doors opened onto the floor Chenle would be working on. “But why this company? We’re not even closely related to yours?” You led him down the hallway in the direction of his supervisor's office.

“My parents were the ones who recommended it, actually. It would be a little risky to go to a neighboring one in the case of it being viewed as a betrayal or like some kind of inside mission so they said I should just come back here since I’d probably have a high chance of acceptance-“ you put a hand up to stop him from talking, seeing how many of the other employees had started to look at him due to his volume.

“Chenle, must I remind you that this is an office?” You gritted out, embarrassed in front of your colleagues.

He shook his head before turning to the mass of them, bowing politely then continuing in the same direction as before. Once both of you reached the head office at the end of the hallway, Chenle spoke up once more. “By any chance, are you free tonight?”

“That depends,” you began, “what are you hinting at?”

“Just seeing if you’d like to go out to dinner so we can properly catch up, I guess,” he proposed bashfully.

You hummed in thought, “mmm, put in a good word for me with your supervisor and you’ve got a deal.”

“Deal,” he agreed.

“Meet me in the lobby at 5:30, don’t be late,” you told him before knocking on the wooden door in front of you and allowing Chenle in.

If you like to do whatever you’ve been dreaming about, then baby you’re perfect

You thought Chenle’s wine phase in college would be just that, a phase, but it really wasn’t. He had ordered an expensive bottle of merlot even with all your insistence that you wouldn’t be drinking and even made him promise that he’d be sober enough to drive himself back to wherever his accommodations were.

He made a face of fake dismissal before picking up your last conversation. “So anyway, as I was saying earlier, my parents suggested that I come back here, especially since I got my degree from the university so I’m bound to get in.”

You were about to open your mouth to say something like “getting in is not a guarantee” especially coming from your experience in doing interviews and having to decide which applicants to turn down, but you decided against it.

“Initially, I was a little against it since I didn’t want to come back to somewhere I’ve already stayed at for some time,” he confessed, “but after I did some research on the company and found out that you’re one of the associates, I was a little more open to the idea.”

There was a break of silence while you started to link your thoughts together. “So you came here because you found out that I work here?”

“Yes, but also no,” Chenle stated, blurting the second part out rather quickly when he saw the shift in your expression. “It is true that I wanted to see you and how you were doing but it’s not just that. I figured that if you worked here and had such a high position, it must be a good place to work.”

“But what I’m hearing is…you came here because of me,” you state bluntly though your heart couldn’t help but let out a cheer of delight.

Chenle redirected his gaze at the neighboring tables. “You could say that, sure.”

“Chenle, what do you want out of this? What do you want out of me specifically?” You contended. His eyes continued to flit around the lowly lit space, not daring to meet yours unlike earlier in the conference hall. “What? Did you come back just expecting me to run into your arms? Did you think we would just pick up where we left off?”

Now he looked down at the white tablecloth, as if in shame. “Would it be wrong of me to ask for a second chance?”

You too joined him in staring at the table, wishing that he had answered ‘no’ to your previous questions. “It wouldn’t exactly be wrong, but it’s not right either. I’d be willing to give you a second chance if we agree to not call it that, but rather a promise.”

He finally looked up at you again, his dark pupils catching the dim golden lights above him. “A promise?”

You nodded. “We’re older now, we’re fully grown adults with jobs to do and taxes to pay. We’re no longer the same carefree college students we used to be.”

“Well yeah, obviously-“

“No, listen,” you interject, cutting him off, “we can’t just recklessly play with each other’s minds and feelings like we used to. No more games and no more ‘next times.’ If we try again, I want this to be a promise that we’ll both do better because we can and we want to.”

“If it’s a promise that you want then,” Chenle held out his hand with his pinky finger extended, “it’s a promise I’m willing to make.”

You linked your pinky with his before bringing your thumbs together and sealing the promise. Matching smiles appeared across both of your faces as you stepped into a new chapter of life with Chenle by your side once more.

Sometimes letting go is…perfect. So let’s start right now

[mingiswow]

Genre: smut, fluf at the end

Pair: sub!Chan x dom!reader (female)

Word count: +1,9k

Warnings: smut, sub!chan, dom!femreader, mistress kink, pegging, oral (f receiving), facesitting, slightly degradation, anal fingering (male receiving)

A/N: Hi! I don’t know exactly but I was talking to my friend the other day about Chan and OH GOD my mind went places... and ended up in here. So I hope you enjoy me being a filthy h**e about dominating this man. Also, I’m a bit rusty with English so pardon me if there’s anything wrong. I missed writing so much too, so yeah... here it is

You looked at your smiling boyfriend on the screen of your phone, his weekly live playing as you did your assignments. His bright smile was something you admired. As well as his loving persona towards his fans.

“I really love this song” he said as one of your favorites stopped playing. He always played one of your songs just to show you he remembers every song you claim as yours and his. “It’s very romantic” you laughed, knowing damn well that it was a very sensual song.

He scrolled through the comments, answering stays questions, thanking the compliments over the comeback. “I missed you... daddy” he read the comment, lowering his voice to say the word, but it was still possible to listen to his whisper “I missed you too baby stays” you chuckled to yourself, knowing his demeanor too damn well.

In a matter of seconds the internet was filled with videos, gifs and print screens of the phrase. Twitter going wild over it, thousands and thousands of girls commenting about being dominated by him.

You looked over your computer screen, it was past midnight and his live was still going strong, so you decided to let your assignments aside and prepare the bed for when your boyfriend decided it was time to come home.

It was around 2 PM when Chris opened the front door, his steps careful not to wake you up. He dropped his bag on the table and slowly walked to your room, finding the low light still on. “B-“ the words got stuck on his throat when he saw you sitting on the bed, still awake. Very much awake.

“Hi, sugar. I thought you wouldn’t come home today” the smirk on your face - and the toy in your hand - warned he was in for a long night. “Especially after your little show” you slowly walked over the man, his ears, neck and face getting red - and probably the tip of his cock too. “Why did you call yourself today, baby?”

“D-daddy” his voice just above a whisper, the stuttering getting the best of his confidence. Everytime you appeared near him dressed the way you were and with the whip in your hands he knew he did something wrong and was going to be punished. And he hated to admit that he loved.

“Interesting” Chan felt the familiar sting in his thigh, the muscle tensing underneath. “You think you’re daddy?” another sting, this time a soft whimper barely leaving his mouth.

“N-no” he felt your warmth close to his body and all he wanted was to hug you, to hold you close and apologize. But he couldn’t.

“No who?”

“No, mistress” the whip hit his butt this time, a soft moan escaping his lips and he could feel his dick throbbing underneath his sweats.

“Such a good boy, aren’t we? So obedient, so eager to please your mistress” your hands softly touched his toned abs, lowering to his bulge already very visible in his pants. He hissed as soon as he felt your touch, head thrown back in pleasure. “Always so sensitive. I love how my baby gets hard so fast. Who are you hard for?” this time your fingers wrapped around the volume and his lips left the most obscene moan.

“You, mistress. I’m so hard for you. Please let me give you pleasure” you wanted to just throw him in your bed and ride him until there was no tomorrow, but you had to punish him.

“Baby boy wants to give me pleasure?” he nodded eagerly, his lower lip stuck in between his teeth. “So why don’t you show me what those pretty lips of yours can do huh? Take your clothes off and lay in bed”.

Chan rushed his clothes out of his body, his dick springing free and hitting his stomach, a sigh leaving his lips. He laid his body in bed and you could see his chest that you loved so much rise up and down with his heavy breathing. You slowly walked your way to the bed, losing your lacy panties on the way.

You straddled his lap, grinding ever so slightly on his hard cock before moving upwards. “Be a good boy and put your tongue out” Chand gladly did, leaving the wet muscle on display. You gently sat on his face, your weight being held by your legs that almost gave out as soon as the boy gave your core the first lick. He placed his hands on your thighs, pulling you even more towards his face, a moan dying in your throat when he assaulted you needy clit. “Hm baby… that’s it… you’re doing so good for mistress”.

He quickly stopped his ministrations “I want you to cum on my mouth, mistress. Can I please taste you?” 

“Do you think you deserve it? Do you think I should give you what you want after being such a brat?” he moaned when you pulled his head closer to your pussy by his hair, the vibrations almost sending you to the edge.

“I’ll be a good boy, please. I promise I won't do it anymore. I’ll be mistress’ good baby” his voice was muffled by your skin and his needy tone was music to your ears. You loved when he begged. “So show me what you can do, make me cum” you could feel his smile in between your legs as he pulled you even closer to his, holding your legs like his life depended on it. His tongue was fast and skillful, almost rough against your pussy, alternating the pleasure between your entrance and your clit.

You could feel your orgasm building quickly as he kept playing with your clit, sucking the bud a few times. The moan that left your lips when you finally orgasmed sounded more like a groan and Chan licked your cum like you were his last meal, moaning with the taste of it. “Thank you, mistress” he thanked when you left his face, your juices dripping from his chin. The most beautiful sight you’ve seen.

“You made me cum but I still have to punish you, baby” Chan bit his lower lip when he saw you grab the strap and lube from your toys’ drawer. “Turn around sweetie” you came closer, lowering to his ear “I still wanna fuck your ass until you beg me to stop” you could see his dick twitch by your words.

The boy lifted himself, getting back to the bed, this time getting on fours. The soft and pale skin of his ass in display for you, the patch where you hit him with the whip earlier was still shining a pretty shade of pink, making you smirk to yourself.

You prepared yourself, putting the strap around your legs, the smaller dildo that was placed inside entering your pussy deliciously, making you enjoy the fun as much as the boy in front of you. Your hands caressed his ass cheeks, massaging and squeezing the skin, feeling him move his bottom towards you. “You have no idea how hot you are, baby boy” you landed a slap on his ass, a soft whine leaving his lips. “How delicious your body is” another slap. “How everytime I see you I want to grab you and fuck you senseless, make you whimper and scream my name like the little slut you are” his hips rolled themselves against your strap, his head hanging low. “You’d like that, don’t you?” Chan could only moan and whimper underneath you, his fists balled on the bed sheets. 

He hated to admit, but he loved the power you had on him, the way you made him feel every single time you guys had sex, either it was loving, caring and slow or it was dirty, rough and got him seeing stars. “I couldn’t hear you, princess” you added when you heard a mumble, his words barely forming properly with the anticipation. The tip of the dildo touching ever so gently his rim. “Yes, mistress. I’d love that. Please, fuck me, please” his whines where the cutest and he knew you were weak for them.

You smiled and lubed the dildo and your fingers as well. His breath got stuck on his throat when he felt you gently invade his hole with one of your fingers, stretching him little by little, soon adding a second one. Chan’s moans were music to your ears, getting louder by the time you started pumping your fingers in and out of him, his body coming back to meet with your fingers. “M-more… please… I need your cock so bad… I will be a good boy, please, mistress” you cooed at the way he was begging you. “So needy my princess” you took your fingers out and he hissed at the sudden emptiness but soon being filled by the toy, his body jolting forward but soon coming back to meet your hips, the dildo completely buried inside him. The sight before you making your own walls clench around the dildo inside you. 

Your hips slowly started to move, letting Chan get used to the feeling but soon enough your hips were pistoning inside him, his hips meeting yours halfway, your moans mixing deliciously together and you were sure your neighbours could hear everything perfectly but neither of you cared. “Mi-mistress…. agh…. I’m so close” the boy moaned underneath you, his torso already thrown in the bed, his head pressed on the pillow. “You can cum, baby. Come for your mistress, show me how of a dirty baby slut you are for me” your words combined with the fast motions of your hips made Chan come all over the sheets without even having his dick being touched. The sweet whimpers and moans leaving his lips taking you close too, the scene of him shaking underneath you with the tip of the dildo hitting his prostate over and over again, overstimulating him was a sight to behold and soon enough you came too, slowing your thrusts as you rolled your hips against the dildo inside you. Your hands holding yourself on his hips as you rode your orgasm.

Chan hissed when you left his ass empty, suddenly feeling strange with not having you deep inside him. You went to the bathroom, taking off your strap and leaving inside the sink to be cleaned later and cleaning yourself. You grabbed a wet warm towel and cleaned the wasted boy on the bed, soft giggles leaving him as you rubbed over some extra ticklish parts. You left the towel with the strap on the sink and joined your boyfriend on the bed, hugging him and pulling his body next to yours, his head laying on your naked chest while he mindlessly drew circles on the skin of your tummy. “I love you, Y/N” his voice was low and hoarse from the previous actions. “I love how comfortable you make me feel with my own desires. Thank you for being my girlfriend” he kissed the muscle of your breast and you could feel your heart swell at the sweetness. 

“I love you too, Channie” your lips left a kiss on the top of his head, hugging him closer. “And I’ll give everything you wish as long as you behave and be a good boy” he nodded giggling and kissed your lips. “Now go to sleep, princess, you must be tired” he snuggled against your body and soon he was fast asleep.

You played with his hair, a smile on your own lips as you fell asleep with the love of your life in your arms.

[rhenuvee]

So Bloody Clueless [George Weasley x reader]

Summary: Fake dating things :P

Warnings: swearing :0

*I realized I’m an idiot for not doing this sooner so tell me if you’d like to be tagged in my future fics. I write for 3 fandoms so please specify which one!*

P.S: If I see another HP promotion in Spanish or any other language I will yeet your comment out the door :) I warned u bots.

------------------------------

“You want me to what?” you asked for the fifth time. 

“You heard me, I want you and George  to pretend to be girlfriend and boyfriend.” said Fred with just as much enthusiasm as the previous four times.

This was unfortunate. You and the twins have been friends since you sat together on the train in your first year. Over time you started developing feelings for the younger twin. It was weird now that you think about it, but you couldn’t deny it. You don’t get butterflies when you see Fred. 

“And why should I let myself be an advertisement?” you asked sarcastically. Fred sighed dramatically as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Becaaaause our lucky guy Georgie here has a chance with Angelina,” he explained. “Besides, if he blows this, he’ll be a poor single soul forever.”

You suddenly felt a little down hearing those words. You never knew that George and Angelina were becoming a thing. You wanted to yell out, “No Fred, he wouldn’t be a poor single soul because I like him.” Oh, but the embarrassment you’d face if George ends up only liking you as a friend.

But you thought again, this would be the closest thing to having a relationship with George, if he ended up catching up Angelina’s attention. Of course he would! He’s George Weasley!

“O-okay fine- but just for today!” you managed to get out. 

“Great, Angelina told me she and Alicia and Katie would be in Honeydukes.” said Fred.

“They went to Honeydukes without me?! Those-” 

“You can argue later! Now go and be in love!” said Fred cheerfully and shooing you two off.

“But I-”

“GO!”

------------------------------

It was awkward. You felt stiff and sweaty. Your hands felt clammy when George suggested to hold hands to look more ‘couple-like.’ But boy you just looked like weirdos. Did George notice your clammy hands? Probably.

All of a sudden he stopped walking. You turned your gaze to his direction and realized he was staring at Zonko’s joke shop. He had a big smile on his face, and it didn’t stop when he turned to look at you. You in turn was taken aback from seeing his handsome smile and tried to look in other directions, trying to play it off.

“C’mon (y/n), let’s go!” he shouted while pulling you into the store with excitement. 

“Whoa George slow down!” you shouted back.

It wasn’t your first time at Zonko’s, you’ve been there before to accompany the twins. The store was just as colourful and lively as you remembered. You felt glad seeing George all jumpy in his favourite store as he scanned the products even if he’s seen them a thousand times.

You decided to look at what they had on your side of the shelves. Frog spawn soap? You smiled imagining Fred’s scaredy-cat face, wouldn’t that be a way to get back at him?

George noticed you were staring at the product and went to your side to see what was up. 

“Ah frog spawn soap, and who might this be for?” he asked bending down to your height.

“Your twin.” you replied.

“Oh- well in that case, we might as well take their whole stock!” said George triumphantly. You giggled at his grand gesture.

“I’ll pay for it.” he said about to take the product.

“No way.” you said quickly stopping his hand.

“Why not?” asked George genuinely confused. You bit your lip.

“It’s nice of you...” you admitted quietly. “but we’ve already got two amazing pranksters in Hogwarts.” George smiled cheekily knowing one of them was him. You were glad your response worked as a compliment and a good reason for him not to buy it.

“I mean, if you say so.” said George flicking his hair in an exaggerated way. You giggled and rolled your eyes.

“Don’t get cocky.” you said shoving him lightly as you both walked out of the shop.

------------------------------

It was great, it was good that going to Zonko’s was able to loosen you two up. He would wrap his long arm around your shoulder or waist. You would hold onto and lean on his arm while walking. Both of you would make silly faces and joke around at who knows what. But even this had to come to an end.

You could see Honeydukes in the distance. Your eyes went droopy and you felt down remembering that this was just an act. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little jealous of Angelina- but at the same time who wouldn’t? She was pretty, smart, on the Gryffindor quidditch team, and got along with George just as well. The whole package.

“Are you okay, love?” George asked snapping you out of your thoughts. You froze at the term of endearment he’d call you since you’d been friends. You can’t help but think there’s a hint of romance in the nickname. You took a deep breath.

“Yeah I’m good, Georgie.” you said smiling up at him. He frowned knowing that wasn’t it. He wanted to press into it and ask you but you had already reached Honeydukes.

“Wait.” said George abruptly while stopping you by grabbing your wrist.

“We need names.” he said. You cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

“Names?”

“Yes, we need a unique name so we seem like a more believable couple.” he explained. You nodded you head.

“Okay, what do you suggest?” you asked while trying to thinking of some yourself.

“How about darling? Nice and simple.” he said. You blushed at the thought of George calling you darling. But you quickly thought of a response yourself.

“That’s too generic.” you said.

“Generic? You have a go then.” he ushered. 

“How about sweetheart?” you asked.

“Sweetheart is just as generic, sweetheart.” he teased. You rolled your eyes.”

“Sugar, sweetiepie, cupcake- that’s three, ha!” said George who seemed very proud of his three word answer.

“Oh please everyone in Puddifoot’s probably uses that on a daily basis.” you retorted. George was at first hurt but he laughed at you witty response.

“Gumdrop? Honeybun? Pumpkin?” you said in a tone as if it was the obvious choices.

“Hold on, do I look like a honeybun to you? And those are just as bad!” he said laughing halfway through his sentence. You guffawed and held your stomach imagining George as a honeybun.

Soon, name suggestions became utter randomness. You and George were yelling out random foods, not caring at this point. Yup, you were like two complete drunks.

“Waffles!” 

“Fried rice!”

Meanwhile in Honeydukes, it wasn’t long before the girls saw you and George clowning around outside the store.

“Are they okay...?” asked Katie tapping the other two to direct their attention to you. They made disgusted and confused faces.

“Um...”

“Maybe we should go and see what’s up.” said Angelina turning to lead the girls to pay for their sweets,

“I hope they aren’t arguing or anything like that..” said Alicia with a small hint of worry.

“TOMATO SOUP!”

“FISH FILLET!” 

You both could be called maniacs and get away with it. George and you were laughing so much you had to hunch and lean on each other for support. What was going on...

After fish fillet, you started to calm down. Both of you tried catching your breaths, but still with wide grins on your faces. All you could hear was the sound of George’s breathing.

How weird it felt, how weird and giddy your heart felt looking at him in such a state where he appeared genuinely happy. How weird it was that you two unconsciously seemed to walk slightly closer to each other. 

George took one last breath before bringing his arms around you. He looked at Honeydukes and quickly went back to you. 

“You know what, fuck it-” 

And with that he didn’t hesitate to lean in and smash his lips against yours. His lips felt warm, his arms holding you around your waist felt so loving. You looped your arms around his neck to bring him closer. You could feel him smile a little, still from your stupid food argument you were laughing at a few seconds ago.

“What in the fish fil- what the fuck is going on?!” shouted a voice from behind. You and George jumped and immediately pulled away from each other, a bit embarrassed that you were caught snogging. It was Fred.

“George, (y/n), what are you doing?” asked Fred with a concerned expression. Both your hearts were beating fast, it was weird seeing Fred so serious. After a few moments which seemed like forever just standing there, Fred broke the silence.

“Okay, I can’t hold it anymore, I’m kidding.” he said with his arms up in surrender and a smile forming. What? You and George looked at each other really confused. Suddenly the three girls came out cheering nonsense for you and George.

“Woohoo!”

“We did it!”

“Yeah get some you two!” 

“Hey- ALICIA!” you yelled as you heard her since she was the second phrase. She giggled at your reaction.

“What’s going on?” asked George looking at the four of them.

“You see dear brother, we have set up a scenario where you and (y/n) could go on a date.” explained Fred.

“But why wou-”

“Because you both are SO BLOODY CLUELESS!” they all shouted at the same time. You and George were taken aback. Everyone in Hogsmeade probably heard them.

“Let’s leave them be, but I better not see you snogging when you come back.” said Fred pointing a finger. And with that, Fred and the girls headed back to the castle, leaving you and George alone again.

“Well, I won’t wait any longer, (y/n) would you like to be my girlfriend?” he asked. You decided to tease him a bit.

“Hm, I don’t know my tomato soup...” you said trying not to laugh.

“Well we did snog, my fish fillet.” he said doing the same. You almost chocked. Then you both leaned in and locked lips for a brief moment, until George pulled away to say something.

“Okay, this is getting weird, why don’t we just stick to love and darling?” he asked chuckling. You giggled.

“Yeah that sounds good... and of course I’d love to be your girlfriend Georgie.” you cooed. He smiled at your words, it made him go fuzzy inside.

“Let’s head back then, darling.” he said taking your hand.

“Wait-” you said running.

“Love where are you going?” he shouted.

“I hate your brother and the girls setting us up like this, and I hear there is a frog spawn soap just dying to be bought at Zonko’s- so let’s go!” 

[missskzbiased]

Forget me not

Genre: Fluff, Romance, Oneshot, Drabble, Established Relationship! au

Pairing: Kim Seungmin x Fem! Reader 

Word Count: ~2,3K

Notes: The seventh fanfic for the Valentine’s request [That you can find here]

I don’t know anything about flowers language! So if it’s wrong, please blame google SUHAHUSAHUSHUAHUSA

Chan ||  Minho || Changbin || Hyunjin || Han || Felix || Seungmin || Jeongin

Masterlist

Requested: Yes, by 💎anon   [I hope you like it! I don’t think I’d ever think of something like scavenger hunt for a plot lol, so it was kinda challenging. I did like to write it, and I hope it meets your expectations! <3]

General Tag List: @channiewoo @aliceu @bythesunnotbythemoon

[If you wish to be tagged to the other Valentine’s requests, please send me an ask <3]

                                                       ///

    You pouted at your empty bed.

    You and Seungmin had planned to spend the day with each other, celebrating your fifth Valentine’s day together, and yet he was nowhere to be seen. You missed his warmth as soon as you woke up, a soft pillow under your arm instead of his body. You frowned, still kinda drowsy as you get up from bed, wandering around the house to look for him.

    “Come one, Seungmin! This isn’t funny” You whined in the middle of your living room, swiveling your head to get a clue but meeting nothing else than a pile of waffles on your table. You approached them, poking the warm and soft pieces twice, humming as you tasted the syrup… He wasn’t long gone.

    Maybe you should wait for him? Did he go out to buy some milk or something? Maybe he was trying to make you a romantic breakfast? You sat down, staring at the food before noticing a pink note attached to the plate. You would finally get some answers!

    I made you some waffles… This time I didn’t burn them! Haha. Please, eat well. I love you. Yours, one (first) and only Seungmin.

   You arched your brow, confused as to why Seungmin would scratch a correct phrasing to place a “first” there, but too tired to really care. You took a bite from the waffles, humming in appreciation. He did really get much better at this!

   You chuckled as the memory came back to you.

   The burnt smell spread all over the place, waking you up and alarming you. The panicked squeak that you heard from the kitchen didn’t help much to placate your fears, so you rushed there, stumbling all around the place. You would have expected anything but Seungmin standing in your kitchen ─ ashamed eyes snapping at you in a silent apology ─ with a plate of black pancakes, surrounded by a thin smoke.

    The first time he slept over and wanted to do you a surprise.

    You got better at this, hm? Didn’t even burn down my house this time! You messaged him, chuckling as you munched another piece, eyes fixed on your phone to not miss his answer.

    There is a first for everything! He answered, making you roll your eyes playfully. What a silly guy. Ready to come and meet me?

    I missed you here with me… You typed, pursing your lips as you sent him the message. Was it too cheesy? Are we going on a date today?

    First, you have to meet me! He said, and you almost could hear him giggling excitedly wherever he was. It’s Scavenger time, kitten! I promised you this Valentine’s would be really special, didn’t I?

   Scavenger as in a scavenger hunt? You chuckled, shaking your head in disbelief. And you’re my prize? How conceited… You mocked him, getting up from the table to go to your room and get changed.

    He didn’t answer your messages after that.

                                                          ////

     You crossed your arms over your chest.

     Were you being too naïve? You stared at the door unsurely, rubbing your chin in wonder. Seungmin was witty and he liked to drop subtle hints around… Were you being too conspirational or were you on spot? He wouldn’t keep repeating “first” all around if it didn’t mean anything, right? The “casual” choice of words was quite suspicious as well… He never called you a kitten before.

    Coincidence or not, the first time you met each other was here.

    A cat adoption center.

    The first time you met Seungmin, you were going to adopt a cat to gift your best friend. They just loved cats and you couldn’t help but think it was the perfect gift. You were right indeed, but up to this date, your friend joked around saying that Seungmin was the best gift they could have given to you.    

    You gathered your courage to get in the place, looking around to see if you could see him anywhere. He was nowhere to be seen. Unsurprisingly, though, Minho came right in your way, an amused smirk playing on his lips. You crossed your arms, narrowing your eyes at him.

    “Do you know what is this all about?” You asked suspicious of him.

    “No, Seungmin knew he couldn’t trust me with a secret” He chortled “The only thing I know is that he’s being cheesy and asked me to hand you this” He said, extending a small envelope to you.

    The first time we ever met… Do you still remember it? Although you can never let him know, I’m forever grateful to Minho for dragging me with him there. Even if his whole point was for me to see that cats were better than dogs. They’re not. You can tell it to him now if you want. Still, it is thanks to him that I ever landed my eyes on you. It’s also thanks to him that we got our first date… You know where you should be going now, right? No need to worry, no one will spill their soda on you!

P.S.: If it does happen for some reason, I didn’t plan it. Please don’t hit me.      

   You chuckled, lifting your eyes to Minho playfully.

   “Sorry, but cats suck” He scoffed at you, rolling his eyes.

   “He’s brainwashing you, Y/N!” He jokingly complained, poking your forehead, “Go away!” He whined, pushing you to the door “And if he asks, I didn’t tell anything about Hyunjin”

   “But you didn’t tell me anything about Hyunjin” You frowned, getting an unimpressed look from him “Oh!” You chortled “Thank you, Minho! It’ll help me a lot” You waved at him, getting out of the store.

                                                       ////

    This time you just walked confidently into the store.

    You looked around to find Hyunjin, already aware that Seungmin wouldn’t be waiting for you there. You peeked at the clothes displayed, chuckling as you remember your first date with Seungmin.

    Although both of you were nervous back then, Seungmin was a whole new kind of a mess. The way he got startled when his fingers brushed yours over the shared French fries would forever be carved in your mind as his most hilarious reaction to anything ever. Unfortunately, the soda he spilled over you would also be forever there on your favorite blouse… One could not only win, right?

    “Oh, you’re here!” Hyunjin smiled at you, walking your way “How is it going? Are you liking to play detective?” He chortled, looking for something through his pockets.

    “He’s being too cute for a simple Valentine’s Day” You pointed out to see if Hyunjin would give anything away but he just shrugged “Seungmin was always the hopeless romantic, though” You acknowledged, getting a humming from him.

   “I won’t tell you anything, I’m not Minho” He snorted.

   “Come one! I want to know what’s going on!” You whined.

   “Then solve everything and meet him!” He retorted playfully, handing you the next letter before walking away.

   I hope no one had spilled anything on your clothes today… If someone did, though, I have a surprise for you. Hyunjin should be back with it in no time. Even though that first date was a mess, I’m happy we had so many others after that so I could redeem myself. I had never been so nervous in my whole life, and I think deep down I already knew you were special. I know I’m the one who’s doing this to me, but I wish I could be there to kiss you right now. For me, every single kiss we shared was as tender and full of love as the first one… But the first was what brought us together, and I hope it will bring you back to me once more.

    You smiled softly as the warmth spread over your chest.

    You didn’t even need to try and get this out of Hyunjin… You knew exactly where to go now. You raised your eyes to meet a goofy Hyunjin showing you an outfit too similar to the one you wore on your first date with Seungmin.

    “Put this on before you go!” He chirped.

                                                        ////

    The bus stop was empty.

    You made your way to the bench, a sigh leaving your lips as you looked fondly at the place, a nostalgic Feeling engulfing you. The first kiss you shared was rushed and unsure, a bold way to make up for the words you couldn’t speak up. The insecurities were offset by the overflowing feelings that were enough to reassure both of your hearts.  

   You still remembered how you got on the bus, upset by the lack of attitude from Seungmin. Didn’t he like you? Because you sure as hell liked him! Couldn’t he just make a move? Anything? You sighed when you turned away, stepping inside the vehicle with nothing but disappointment in your heart. Maybe he didn’t like you as much as you liked him…

    Then it hit you.

    What if he felt just the same way as you?

    When you snapped your body to turn away and get back to him, he was already there to catch you. Apparently, the same thought had occurred to him, and his arms wrapped you up as your lips met half-way. The initially rushed kiss turned into a loving and tender one rather quickly as soon as you realized that both of you weren’t going anywhere.

    Well, except that the bus driver kinda needed you to go or stay.

    The ride home was filled with a cozy feeling as you nuzzled each other.

    You sauntered there mindlessly, sitting on the bench before looking around curiously, noticing a poster hanging on the wall. You narrowed your eyes in suspicion, noticing how familiar the couple on the picture looked like. It was you two. Seungmin held your hand, and it was painfully obvious how he was stiff and anxious there while you had no clue of what was going on, smiling brightly at the picture.

    The restaurant where he confessed his feeling for you.

    The place where both of you finally got together.

    You chuckled, knowing exactly what bus you should be riding right now.

                                                          ////

    Seungmin was waiting for you with a small flower.

    “You’re here” He stated quite awkwardly, and you couldn’t help but tilt your head in confusion. It sounded like he wasn’t happy to see you “You’re… You look amazing” He said emotionally, and you burst out laughing.

    “You don’t look bad as well” You teased, checking him out “I’d even say you’re the most handsome boyfriend I have ever met” You chuckled, getting closer to him to place a kiss on his lips.

    He didn’t let you.

    Seungmin extended his hand to you, shoving the flower in your hands.

   “What is it? Another clue?” You asked confused, looking at the small plant. You didn’t know much about flowers, but you recognized it as a forget-me-not. Only Lord knows why you would know it, though.

    “Y/N…” He cleared his throat, loosening up his collar “I brought you here today because…” He took a deep breath “Because here was the place I finally confessed my feelings for you” He finished, kinda proud of himself for managing to say that much.

    He took one step ahead, holding your hands on his.

    “I know you’re a big fan of Scavenger Hunts… But it wasn’t the only reason why I made this” He continued, a little bit more at ease as you smiled at him encouragingly “First, in this entire world… Meeting you was the best thing that could ever happen to me. Finding you? It was the right place and right time… And you’re the right person for me… On this scavenger hunt of life, you’re the only one I’d ever want” He pursed his lips.

    What did you do to deserve him?

    “I-I’m giving this flower to you…” He gulped down, eyes wavering as he tried to focus on yours “Because it means true love…” You cooed at him, expression softening as you felt your heart swelling “It’s to remember all those memories we shared… And how we’re here now, how our love grew with time… It’s to say that this isn’t a spark” He squeezed your hands, eyes finally fixing on yours.

    “Seungmin… This is beautif—“ You teared up, but he didn’t let you finish.

    “We had many first times together… And I treasure and remember every single one of them… They’re memories that I never want to let go” He continued, and you could feel his hands shaking “But more important than having first times… I want you to be all of my firsts and last times for everything… I want to have two, three, four… A hundred of experiences with you”

    He let go of your hand, wiping his hands on his pants.

    “I truly love you, Y/N” He choked, getting on one knee. You widened your eyes, startled by the slow yet too sudden motion, the tears immediately making their way to your eyes “There is no one else I want to share my life with… This was the place where I first asked you to be mine… And this is the place where I want to ask you to be mine till the end”

    You tried to wipe your tears away, face twisting in a crying frown that would look awful on the photos people were taking of you. It didn’t matter though. Nothing else mattered because Seungmin was on his knee, showing you a small box that contained the symbol of all your love and connection.

    “Y/N… Will you marry me?” He asked, tears rolling down his face.

     You would never even dare to say no.

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】 Tears of Themis: “Romantic Rail Getaway” Zuo Ran Route, Day 1

Translation Masterlist | Themis Event Masterlist

Zuo Ran Route: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Videos, where applicable, are hyperlinked on the headings in the post.

See under cut!

Part 1 – Vacation Invitation

Street

Today, Zuo Ran and I went to Jinlan District together to deal with a legal aid case, finishing it very smoothly.

After busily working, my mood was great and I couldn’t help imagining how I’d happily spend the rest days off after.

MC: Lawyer Zuo, didn’t Big Sister Zhai Xing say that she’d give us a break after this case…

MC: Have you thought about how you’re going to spend the days off?

Zuo Ran: I haven’t decided yet. What about you?

MC: … I’ll probably find somewhere with great scenery to hang out at for a few days.

Zuo Ran: You want to… travel on your own?

MC: Mhmm, because Yao Yu – the friend that works at the geographic magazine publishing company – sought me out for help again…

MC: She wants me to take a few sets of pictures with the theme “the most beautiful sceneries” when traveling.

Zuo Ran: Where are you thinking about traveling to?

MC: I’ve thought about it, although… I haven’t made a final decision yet.

MC: Right, Lawyer Zuo, do you have any recommendations?

Zuo Ran sank into silence for a bit, seeming to consider my question seriously.

Zuo Ran: I recommend Rumbaliya. The cultural attractions and natural sceneries there are all very good.

Zuo Ran: Plus, they’ve recently opened a new train trip route, on which you can see multiple popular attractions.

Zuo Ran: If you want to travel, Rumbaliya should be a decent choice.

MC: Ah…

Zuo Ran: What’s the matter, did I say something wrong?

It wasn’t wrong – instead, it was a major coincidence.

When I was looking up trip guides before, I developed an interest in Rumbaliya. It was just that I hadn’t made a decision yet…

I didn’t think that Zuo Ran would end up recommending this place. Could you call this the work of the heavens’ will?

Zuo Ran: Of course, I’m only stating some suggestions, and you can just listen to them. What’s important is choosing somewhere you like…

MC: Hm, I like Rumbaliya, so I’ve decided that it’ll be Rumbaliya!

MC: The places recommended by Lawyer Zuo will definitely not be wrong.

Zuo Ran: … How about we travel together?

MC: Eh?

Zuo Ran: I was thinking… if you’re taking trip photos, it might not be easy to do so yourself.

Zuo Ran: Plus, having a companion when traveling might be better…

MC: That’s great – I was just planning to ask you if you wanted to go together.

MC: So it’s decided then?

Zuo Ran: Yes – after I get back tonight, I’ll look up the trip routes again.

A distinct smile revealed itself on Zuo Ran’s face, the light in his eyes entrancing me for a moment.

--

Very soon, we finished arranging our itinerary, ordered the pain tickets, and stepped towards the Rumbaliya trip together.

Circulating Trip Train Start Station

MC: The sunlight feels so warm! The weather today is great – it suits a day spent heading out on a trip.

The sunlight cast in through the glass ceiling, shining warmly on each guest that was preparing to board the train.

Standing in the starting train station situated in the city on the border of Rumbaliya, looking all around…

It felt like I was far away from the clamor of the modern city scene, and I’d walked into the past century.

Zuo Ran: MC, it might be quite busy at the ticket gate later, so it might be better to hold your train ticket.

MC: I’m holding it.

I waved the train ticket in my hand, indicating that I’d prepared appropriately.

Zuo Ran: The train is almost in the station – let’s wait at the platform.

Zuo Ran: There’s a large glass window beside the seats I booked, so we can enjoy the sceneries on the route.

MC: Awesome, I can take some short videos for Yao Yu through the train window on the way.

Zuo Ran: Mhmm. Before the train arrives at the first stop, it will pass by a flower field, and the scenery there should be quite good.

Zuo Ran considerately introduced the sceneries that could be seen on the train trip for me, as well as some suitable photo-taking attractions…

It was so detailed that it was like he had personally seen those flower fields and little towns.

MC: Lawyer Zuo, have you gone before?

Zuo Ran: I haven’t… it’s also my first time going.

MC: Eh?! But your introductions are so detailed…

Zuo Ran: When I was making the trip guide, I also checked them.

He saw it online when making the guide?!

My god, how many little bits of materials would he have needed to check to do this?

MC: Lawyer Zuo, you’re way too amazing!

Zuo Ran: I just… wanted to prepare more thoroughly so you could have peace of mind.

MC: Mhmm, I feel particularly at peace when coming out with you.  

Zuo Ran: … That’s good.

It seemed like Zuo Ran’s mood was very good when he heard my answer, with an evident smile on his expression.

Zuo Ran: Right, when the train arrives at Rumba City, where do you want to go to first?

Zuo Ran: I originally booked tickets for a musical and wanted to invite you to see it together…

Zuo Ran: Although when I was looking at the guides, I noticed that the central plaza has a street performance that’s very popular.

Zuo Ran: So I thought… it would be better to have you decide.

MC: Hm…

A brilliant musical was definitely worth enjoying, but a street performance must definitely also be very interesting.

Both sound pretty good… which should I choose?

>See musical >See street performance

MC: Let’s go see the musical – wouldn’t it be such a pity if we don’t go when the tickets have been bought?

MC: After we finish seeing the musical, we can walk down the street if there’s time, so we might be able to see other street performances.

Zuo Ran: Then we’ll follow the original plan and see the musical first.

MC: Sure.

Zuo Ran: I’m looking forward to our trip very much.

MC: Mhmm, same here!

  >See musical >See street performance

MC: I want to see the street performance… but would this waste the tickets that you ordered with a lot of difficulty?

Zuo Ran: It’s alright – the tickets can be returned, so you don’t need to worry.

MC: Thank you Lawyer Zuo – as long as it’s not too much trouble for you…

Zuo Ran: You… don’t need to worry too much. When traveling, you should go based on what you like when choosing an event to visit.

MC: Lawyer Zuo…

Zuo Ran: Let’s go, the train’s almost here. I’m looking forward to our trip very much.

--

“Toot”… The long sound of the whistle grew closer, drawing the gazes of all travelers on the platform.

MC: The train is already here, so let’s go.

Perhaps my cheerful tone was too evident, as Zuo Ran also smiled with me.

Zuo Ran: Alright.

  Part 2 – Rumba Commerce Street – “Exploring the Capital of Literature and Art”

Rumba City

Rumbaliya, the “Capital of Literature and Art”, was a famous trip destination due to its beautiful surroundings, buildings, and art collections.

Only when I stood on the foreign streets for real did I get a deep understanding of this phrase.

Right after I walked out of the train station, the buildings on the two sides of the street, with their combinations of art and classic atmosphere, caught my gaze.

MC: So beautiful… I feel like it was right to come here.

Zuo Ran: We can board the trip bus to head to the city commerce street. I’m sure that the street views there will be even better.

MC: Mhmm, I’ve got a feeling that… I’ll be able to finish Yao Yu’s photo-taking mission today.

As we talked, we arrived at the trip bus stand, preparing to board the bus visit the city centre. However…

MC: Huh, why isn’t there even a single vehicle…

--

As we waited for around half an hour, not a single vehicle passed by.

Many of the travelers waiting with us were already restless, complaining unceasingly.

Zuo Ran: Perhaps something unexpected happened so that the vehicle is temporarily late.

MC: Mhmm, Lawyer Zuo, how about we go ask the staff about the situation?

Zuo Ran: Alright.

When we walked into the travel service area, a staff member greeted us as soon as she saw us.

Staff: My apologies, did you come to ask about the trip bus being late?

--

INTERROGATION START

Trip Bus

MC: Did the bus encounter some sort of situation?

Staff: Ah, I’m truly sorry.

Staff: They’ve been doing construction near the trip station. Because the road is under construction, it’s very easy for the vehicles to run into traffic congestion.

Staff: Please wait a little more – the trip bus might still require around 15 minutes to arrive.

The staff member dealt with our confusion in a skilled manner – looks like she has been asked this question many times in the past while.

MC: So this was why… no wonder it hasn’t come yet…

Staff: I’m very sorry. We will also send this feedback to the road construction workers as soon as possible.

MC: No problem, it’s understandable.

Staff: Thank you for understanding. Is there anything else you need help with?

Recommended Attractions

MC: Could you recommend some popular attractions for us?

Though I’d already established the trip plan with Zuo Ran before, I still wanted to listen to a professional’s recommendations.

Staff: I recommend that you two see the Golden Church, Yati Bell Tower, and Rumba Opera House.

Staff: These places are full of an artistic and romantic atmosphere, and visitors can experience the grace of Rumbaliya right away from these.

Gold Church

MC: Mhmm, I saw an intro to the Golden Church when looking up guides. It seems like it’s the oldest church in Rumbaliya…

Staff: Yes, the Golden Church is a sacred location from ancient Rumbaliya. There are even many prized artworks kept in the church, left by past dynasties.

Staff: Since the church’s outer wall and ramified dome is decorated with gold leaf, it looks dazzling under the sun…

Staff: So it was grandly named the “Golden Church”.

MC: (I feel like if we visit there… I’ll definitely take very beautiful trip photos!)

MC: Lawyer Zuo, if we have time, how about we go see the Golden Church?

Zuo Ran: There aren’t many things scheduled for today and we have lots of free time. You can go anywhere you want.

MC: Awesome!

Yati Bell Tower

MC: Where is Yati Bell Tower?

Staff: The Yati Bell Tower is near the Rumba central square. It’s one of the landmark buildings in Rumba City.

Staff: The bell tower is around 100 metres tall, and each wall is carved with the golden lion of Rumbaliya’s ancient legends as decoration.

Staff: The highest level of the bell tower overlooks the attractions in all the city.

MC: (A photo from a bird’s eye view must be spectacular! When there’s time later, we’ll go see.)

Rumba Opera House

MC: Lawyer Zuo, the opera house you wanted to see before was Rumba Opera House, right?

Zuo Ran: Mhmm, many masterpieces handed down from the past have been performed at Rumba Opera House, and the building itself is an extremely good display of Rumbaliya’s characteristic charm. It’s one of the landmark buildings in the city.

Staff: This mister sure is professional – you can tell that he prepared a trip guide carefully.

Staff: The Rumba Opera House combines the best of the Baroque and Gothic styles in its building style.

Staff: Simultaneously, it incorporates local Rumbaliya classic characteristics, so the entire opera house looks richly elegant and very artistic.

Staff: Visitors who’ve gone to the opera house are completely enchanted by its beauty.

MC: (Hm, I’ll go see with Lawyer Zuo later.)

INTERROGATION END

Staff: Is there anything else you would like to ask?

MC: Nothing else, thank you.

Staff: No problem, this is what I should do.

Staff: Right, this is our Rumbaliya travel recommendation handbook…

Smiling, the staff member handed a booklet to me from in front of the counter.

Staff: Some popular attractions and routes are marked on the handbook. You can refer to this map for sightseeing.

MC: Thank you, I feel like it really will be a lot easier with this.

Staff: Then, I hope you two have fun.

 Part 3 – Rumba Art Street

[Gameplay]

Part 4 – Rumba Cuisine Plaza

[Gameplay]

 Part 5 – Golden Church Area

[Gameplay]

 Part 6 – Yati Bell Tower

[Gameplay]

 Part 7 – The Issue Illuminated by Scenery

Rumba Characteristic Restaurant

After the day’s itinerary ended, Zuo Ran and I chose a restaurant that was famous in Rumba City to dine at.

The restaurant wasn’t large, and the ancient decoration style amid the simplicity gave me a very comforting feeling.

The one downside was that there weren’t enough waiters in the restaurant, so guests needed to come to the counter to order themselves.

Zuo Ran: What do you want to eat?

MC: You decide – I trust you!

Zuo Ran: Then you can take a seat and relax for a bit. I’ll order the dishes.

MC: Mhmm!

As I waited for Zuo Ran to order, I turned on my tablet, choosing the scenic photos that I was planning to send to Yao Yu.

MC: The photo of the riverside reflecting the street is pretty good. Hm, the full picture of the opera house under sunset is also decent…

I selected a few sets of photos that I was satisfied with, compressing, packing, and sending the email in one go.

MC: Done!

Right then, I heard some conflict in the neighbouring booth… it seemed like a guest was criticizing something.

???: How do you calculate the cash amounts? What a fraud! Refund me!

???: From what I see, you just bully foreign visitors!

MC: (There are… people fighting over there?)

As we were separated by a door, I could only faintly hear a few sentences, and couldn’t tell what had happened.

After, there were a few more indistinct sounds of fighting from the booth, but the sound was quickly squashed… everything returned to peace again.

MC: (There’s no sound again. I’m guessing that it was just a little conflict…)

I was just hesitating about whether to go to the booth and look. Right then, the sound of familiar footsteps neared… Zuo Ran had returned.

Zuo Ran: MC, what’s the matter?

If I told Zuo Ran, wouldn’t I seem too gossipy? Might as well not bother…

Thus, I turned the topic away with a smile.

MC: Nothing… right, Lawyer Zuo, what did you order?

Zuo Ran: I ordered some characteristic dishes with relatively high ratings. I hope it’ll suit your tastes.

MC: I’m looking forward to it!

--

Very soon, the dishes Zuo Ran ordered arrived. The dishes were placed all over the table, the fragrance making my appetite increase.

Zuo Ran: You need to drink this milk sauce-braised fish soup while hot.

Zuo Ran placed a fish soup that had been braised until milky-white in front of me.

The fresh, sweet fragrance provoked my sense of smell. I placed down the camera and picked up the soup spoon… when the mouthful of fish soup entered my stomach, it dispelled a day’s worth of exhaustion.

MC: Delicious! I originally thought that cream paired with fish might be a bit greasy, but it’s actually this freshly sweet and tasty!

The soft, tender fish meet with the fish bones removed had already melted in the soup, and each mouthful was enjoyable.

As if displaying a treasure, I filled a bowl of fish soup and pushed it in front of Zuo Ran, looking at him earnestly.

MC: You try it too – it’s really delicious!

Zuo Ran: Mm, they seem to directly put the raw fish meat here in the cream soup to stew here…

Zuo Ran: I originally thought that this method would leave a fishy taste. I didn’t think that the taste would be so surprisingly good.

MC: Then are you going to consider stealing some methods?

Zuo Ran: I’ll try.

As we spoke, we tasted the characteristic delicacies of Rumbaliya, enjoying the satisfying comfort of vacation.

Suddenly, the vibration of my phone broke this moment of happiness. I turned on my phone – it was a reply from Yao Yu.

“These scenic pictures haven’t reached the “most beautiful”. What I want is the most beautiful scenery you experience in your trip.”

MC: Ah, this…

Zuo Ran: What’s the matter?

MC: Looks like I’ve failed…

I showed Zuo Ran Yao Yu’s message and the package of photos I just sent.

Only after Zuo Ran looked several times over at each photo and returned the tablet back at me did he continue speaking.

Zuo Ran: I actually think that the photos you’ve taken have no problems themselves.

Zuo Ran: The atmosphere of this one, with the church under the sun, as well as these ones of the lighting on the lake surface, are all very good.

MC: Lawyer Zuo, don’t bother consoling me… these photos have been completely “returned”.

Zuo Ran: It’s not consolation. You taking beautiful photos is the truth.

Zuo Ran: I just think that… what your friend wants aren’t these photos with exquisite lighting and composition. Rather, it’s something else…

MC: Something else?

Zuo Ran’s words were like a clear spring pouring in my mind, washing away the frustration that had accumulated in my mind.

I tried to grasp at some important message, but I kept feeing like I was missing something, and I couldn’t push aside the fog that had enshrouded my eyes.

Zuo Ran: Don’t rush, take it slow. The train will arrive at Dilly Square tomorrow…

Zuo Ran: It’s said that Rumbaliya’s art centre is there, and the scenery there is outstandingly beautiful. Perhaps you will get new inspiration when we get there.

MC: True, there’s still several days’ worth of itineraries after this! I’m sure that there will definitely be even more beautiful sceneries awaiting us.

Zuo Ran’s gentle voice dispersed the confusion and commiseration in my heart.

It was as he said – perhaps it was a bit early for me to define “the most beautiful sceneries” right at the beginning of the trip.

I might as well patiently discover and appreciate these things in the upcoming trip itinerary.

[jungshookz]

ok anyway build-a-bear employee!jin who meets y/n bc she comes in to make a new friend after a breakup and he teases her for being an adult by herself in the store and after she starts tEARING UP he’s like okok no!!!! and helps her make the cutest lil guy and records a cute message to put inside

➺ pairing; kim seokjin x reader

➺ genre; employee!jin, i brought you to build-a-bear so obviously this is going to be very floofy (sfw!!) 

➺ wordcount: 4k

➺ what to expect; “…turning twenty-two soon and you’re buying yourself a teddy bear?”

➺ note; when i told u guys that jin always gets the cutest drabble requests i wasn’t LYING!!! i have my own bear from build-a-bear named blu (he’s dark blue with white stars!! at the age of eight i was not very good at coming up with creative names) so obviously i had to write something for him and his homies

                                         »»————-　🧸————-««

jin has a love-hate relationship with his job

you would think that working at build-a-bear would be pretty fun - and it can be, sometimes! - but jin can confirm right here right now that it’s not aLL that great

on one hand, he loves the dramatics of build-a-bear because he’s given the chance to act like the whole store is whimsical and that the tiny little heart that he stuffs inside of the bear is full of magic and hope and happiness (he majored in acting in university so his degree is surprisingly very useful here)

but on the other hand… he works at build-a-bear.

this isn’t where he thought he’d be!!! not at all!!! 

he’s basically almost thirty and he works at a frickin build-a-bear

this wasn’t part of his plan!!!

his plan was to graduate from university, get famous from acting in a small commercial because of his devilishly handsome face, and then immediately get signed onto some fancy hollywood acting deal and become internationally known

but, no!

he graduated from university, didn’t get any roles in any small commercials, and had to find a way to make money so had no choice but to find work at his local mall

and to make things worse, his boss is literally five years younger than him

he has this bratty little twenty-two year old constantly up his ass and he haTES it

“you forgot the whipped cream on my frappuccino.” jungkook looks up at jin from where he’s sitting behind the counter before raising his drink, “am i blind or are you just bad at listening to instructions? where is the whipped cream, seokjin? WHERE?”

jin clenches his jaw before leaning forward, “they were busy, i guess they just forgot. and i’m not your slave. i only got you that drink so you’d give me a day off tomorrow.”

“well, since there’s no whipped cream on it, you don’t get a day off.” jungkook kisses his teeth before shrugging

“wha-“ jin resists the urge to reach down and wrap his hands around jungkook’s neck, “are you kidding me right now?? i spent forty-five minutes out of my fifty minute lunch break lining up at starbucks to get that for you! forty-five minutes!!!”

“i don’t know what to tell you,” jungkook hums as he kicks his legs up onto the counter and leans back against his chair, “now get back to work. and remember to smile! after all, build-a-bear is where best friends are made-“

“the new slogan is ‘the most fun you’ll ever make’.” jin raises a brow, “you don’t even know our slogan! how did you become the manager?”

jungkook takes a slow sip of his drink while maintaining direct eye contact with jin

sChLuuUuRrRRRr

jesus christ

his life sucks

jin rolls his eyes before turning on his heel and heading back to the main area of the shop

today’s saturday, so the store is a little busier than it usually is - which is great, because jin works off commission and he thinks he’s pretty good at selling teddy bears

on his best day he managed to sell thirty-eight bears in one day

he also convinced most of the kids that their brand new furry friends needed new clothes and a personalised recorded message in place of the usual little red cloth heart

he doesn’t like looking at the parents whenever he’s egging their kids on to buy even more things because they always look at him like they’re going to kill him

anyways

he could’ve ordered like forty frappuccino’s from the money he made on that day

before he left for lunch today he sold eight which really isn’t that impressive

but, to be fair, the mall usually gets busy after lunch, so now is the prime time to make some sales

jin lets out a breath as he scans the store for any newcomers or anyone who’s noT already being bombarded by his co-workers

he can’t help but snicker to himself when he notices yoongi at the stuffing station conducting a heart ceremony

“-and now you can go ahead and give your heart a little kiss-“

he looks up for a split second and jin takes the chance to blows a sweet little kiss at him

he snorts to himself when yoongi’s eye twitches

yoongi hates giving heart ceremonies but he’s actually pretty good at it!

he’s good with children whether he wants to admit it or not

alright, enough making fun of yoongi >:-)

time to hunt down a new customer…

jin sucks his bottom lip into his mouth as he walks around the store slowly

ooh, a little boy and his family just walked i- aaand they’ve been swept up by jimin

okay, no problem!

how about those twin gir- nope, too late, taehyung’s approaching them

damn

that would’ve been a good sale, too

it’s fine

he’ll get someone!

oh, wow

build-a-bear has really upped their game since the last time you were here

to be fair, the last time you were here was like more than ten years ago, so you’d hope that they make some changes to the store

…are those star wars themed teddy bears??

that is most definitely a princess leia teddy bear

and she even gets her own little light sabre!

wow

this is a whole new world

“excuse me, sorry…” you manoeuvre your way through the crowd as you continue looking through your options

is it weird that you’re in here by yourself?

the thought of trailing behind a random child in order to blend in with everyone else crosses your mind for a split second

although… a grown woman creeping behind a child they don’t know probably isn’t going to sound good to the judge when you’re standing in court, so maybe you shouldn’t do that

okay

you know what

it’s fine

it’s totally fine that you’re in here by yourself!

stuffed plushies are for people of all ages!!

it’s not just a kiddie thing

you’re FINE

and you have a perfectly legitimate reason to be in here

the only reason why you’re even in here is because…

well, the short and sweet version is that you got dumped two weeks ago.

which means that you’ve been cooped up in your apartment for the last fourteen days

which means your bedroom was starting to smell a little ripe so you thought it’d be good to air out the place and give your poor bed a break  

(also, please, for the love of god, remember to wash your sheets when you get back home later today.)

anyways

you thought that a trip to the mall for some retail therapy would make you feel better!

so far you’ve only been the food court but you helped yourself to a cheeseburger, some onion rings, and a vanilla milkshake

food always makes you feel better

you could honestly go for another round of onion rings right now

there’s nothing quite like the pain of having your heart broken nudge you towards the direction of binge-eating the pain away, is there?

you were about to head into a victoria’s secret to splurge on pretty panties (that no one but yourself will be seeing for a long time) but this build-a-bear caught your eye

a cuddle buddy you could ugly-cry into for the simple price of $35?

obviOUSLY you had to come in

the only issue now is that there are way too many options to choose from

who do you want to take home??

pawlette the bunny?

toothless from how to train your dragon?

you could even take pikachu home if you wanted to

“timeless teddy…” you mutter to yourself as you dig out a teddy bear skin (also, it’s very unsettling that they’re called ‘skins’. like, you know that’s what they technically are, but the phrase ‘i’ve picked out my skin!’ just makes your skin crawl.)

you lean forward a little to read the label on the wall

teddy bears are a timeless way to share love with every hug! timeless teddy is a classic teddy bear with shaggy brown fur and an adorable smile. personalize this classic teddy bear with outfits, sounds and accessories for a huggable gift they'll cherish forever!

hm

perfect!

a classic teddy bear sounds perfect

there’s nothing wrong with going back to basics

also, you’re assuming the ‘they’ll’ they’re referring to here is a child

…

nO

you are doing this

you will buy this teddy bear!

your other option was to go and adopt a cat from the shelter but you can barely take care of yourself right now so that wouldn’t be a good idea

“hello!” you jump three feet into the air when you’re suddenly being greeted by one of the bright-eyed workers, “can i help you find anything?”

you turn around quickly while clutching your teddy’s skin (gag) to your chest with wide eyes, “h-hello!”

oh

hello indeed

you feel your heart drop a little when you realise that you probably look disgusting right now

you weren’t expecting to bump into a veRY attractive super handsome boy today!!!

very attractive super handsome boy with sweet brown eyes and soft-looking hair and the poutiest lips you think you’ve ever seen in your entire life-

thank god you decided to wear the sweatshirt that doesn’t have any stains on it, right?

the one thing you remember from your previous build a bear experience (once again, 10+ years ago) is that the workers here are usually overly perky sixteen year old girls

this guy is not an overly perky sixteen year old girl

well

maybe he’s the perky part

but everything else??

wowie

he smiles brightly at you before tilting his head, “hello. i’m jin!” he points at his name tag, “i’d love to help you out today. were you looking for anything in particular?”

“hi! hello, jin. i’m, um, i’m y/n. i was, uh-“ you clear your throat, “i was actually just browsing, so…”

“oh, perfect!” jin claps his hands together, “let me tell you all about our collections. there’s the summer fun collection, the rainbow friends, the promise pets, the heartables, the classic build-a-bear collection-“

yeah okay

he’s definitely nailed the perky part of the job

“-DC comics, dr. suess, marvel, my little pony, how to train your drag-“

“you know, i-“ you smile sheepishly after interrupting jin, “thank you so much, but i’ve actually already made my decision, if that’s alright.” you hold your teddy’s limp, hollow carcass up before pressing your lips together

“of course that’s alright!” jin takes the skin from you before shrugging lightly, “i figured i’d just let you know of all the other options in case your younger sibling wanted something more extravagant than just our timeless teddy. follow me to the sound station!”

you don’t get a chance to say anything before jin spins around swiftly to head to the back of the store

he thinks this bear is for your younger sibling

okay, you can work with that!

you can pretend like you’re in here for your non-existent younger sibling and certainly not for yourself

“you can choose a pre-made sound from here,” jin gestures to the bins of plastic hearts (there’s a sound option for an ‘into the unknown’ snippet from frozen 2 which is insane), “or we can go ahead and record a personalised message. what’s your sibling’s name?”

you look up at him immediately

“wha- um, why… why do you need to know my sibling’s name?”

“oh! i was just asking so i could give you an example.” jin hums as he tosses the skin over his shoulder and places his hands on his hips, “like, you could say, hey there… sibling’s name, it’s me, your big sister! i love you! or something like that.”

“ah, right!” you nod to yourself, “that makes sense! my sibling’s name is totally normal information that i have no problem giving to you.”

jin raises a brow when he notices you continuing to ramble about how your sibling’s name is something that you will be telling him soon because you definitely know the name of your younger sibling whomst’ve this bear is for

hm

you’re cute but you’re a little odd

“-my younger sibling’s name is… paulette!” you catch a glimpse of a pink pawlette bunny being stuffed before looking back over at jin, “yep. that’s her name. sweet, sweet paulette. sweet little angel.”

“hey, our iconic bunny is named pawlette!” jin beams, “wouldn’t you want to get paulette her own pawlette? instead of a bear?”

the smile immediately drops from your face

oh god

you’ve never been very good at lying

one time in middle school when you wanted to get out of PE you told the teacher that you were in pain and that’s why you couldn’t do anything on that day

and when he asked you what hurt, all you said was ‘…bleeding out of my butt?’

you don’t even know why you said that!!

you could’ve told him you had a headache or something but nO

you told your teacher your asshole was BLEEDING and that’s why you couldn’t participate in baseball

so yeah

lying has never been your forte

but you don’t want pawlette!!

you want this bear!!!

although, it would make sense to get paulette her own pawlette because that’d be an adorable coincidence…

what are you-

what are you even sAYING

PAULETTE DOES NOT EXIST

“okay, you got me!” you raise your hands in defence and jin’s eyes widen in surprise, “paulette isn’t a real person. i don’t have a younger sibling. i’m in here for me. the bear is for me. the timeless teddy is mine.”

“oh…!” jin purses his lips before nodding slowly, “alright! totally get it. the bear is for you.”

why has everyone he’s ever been attracted to turned out to be a little cuckoo?

the expected demographic of build-a-bear are children aged 3-10 (a child aged below three isn’t interested in stuffed teddies because they don’t really do anything but sit there and a child aged over ten isn’t interested in stuffed teddies because… they don’t really do anything but sit there.)

and you… well, unless you’ve experienced some kind of insane growth spurt, you certainly don’t look like someone aged 3-10 years old

“phew! it feels good getting that off my chest.” you breathe out as you lean over and place your hands on your knees, “there was a lot of pressure there to keep lying to you but-“

“how, um, how old are you, by the way?”

jin doesn’t mean to sound like a judgy bitch

he’s just genuinely curious as to why a 21-23 year old would willingly go into a physical build-a-bear store to buy themselves a stuffed plushie

you could’ve purchased one off the online website

also, aren’t there better things to spend your money on?

like… literally anything besides a stuffed plushie??

“turning twenty-two soon!” you get back up onto your feet, “why do you ask?”

“…turning twenty-two soon and you’re buying yourself a teddy bear?” jin snorts before raising a brow, “i mean, really? didn’t you graduate this year?”

“ah, well…” you reach up to scratch the back of your neck as you feel the tips of your ears beginning to heat up, “i mean, yeah, but like…”

“i’m not judging! some people go on grad trips to party and get wasted after they graduate, and other people go to the mall to build themselves a $35 teddy bear-“ jin laughs to himself before turning around to plop the skin down on little counter attached to the stuffing machine, “anyways, were you thinking about choosing a sound or recording something?”

he spins back around and his eyes widen when he notices that your eyes have gotten red and are starting to water

oh

uh oh

what’s going on?

what’s happening??

are you…

are you crying??

why are you crying??

he was totally kidding!!!

that wasn’t supposed to be mean!!

that was supposed to be playful banter!!!

“oh- oh, god no- wait-“ jin immediately walks over so that he’s standing in front of you and jungkook won’T be able to see that he just upset a customer, “don’t cry!! i was kidding!! i have, like, ten plushies on my bed! i’m twenty-seven and i work at a build-a-bear, if anything, i should be the one crying-”

“i just-“ you reach up to wipe at your eyes as you begin to blubber, “my boyfriend of one year b-broke up with me two weeks ago and i- i just th-thought that a teddy bear would make good company because god knows i’m not in the right mental state to be taking care of a real animal-!”

jin winces when you let out a particularly loud sob and he quickly drags you over so that the two of you are behind the stuffing machine and out of sighT from everyone

crap

he doesn’t even have any tissues on him!!!!

maybe he can pull some fluff out from the machine and you can dab at your tears with that

actually, the cotton might stick to your cheeks if you try wiping your tears away with a fistful of stuffing, so maybe not

“i-i know it’s stupid and humiliating for a grown-up to be in here buying a stupid teddy bear for herself but there’s so much in my life that’s just out of my control right now a-and making this teddy bear seemed like the only thing i could control and i just-“

“y-yes, of course!” jin pulls you into a tight hug (your sobbing is getting a little loud and people are starting to notice so this is the only way he can think to muffle your crying) and strokes the back of your head comfortingly, “i’m so sorry, i had no idea! that makes total sense, of course you can get this teddy bear for yourself…”

he continues to hold you until your sobs reduce to little hiccups and gives a warning look when yoongi mouths whether or not they should call mall security on your ass

when you pull away your eyes are a little puffy and the tip of your nose is red

if jungkook asks, maybe jin can get away with saying that your allergies acted up in the middle of the store

you don’t look like that because he made you burst into tears

not at all!!

“how about we… record a special message for your new friend?” jin digs through the tub to pull out an electronic heart

“i-“ you hiccup, “i don’t really h-have anything i want to say…”

jin purses his lips in thought

hm

stuffing the bear with a heartbeat heart seems way too basic

this is an important bear!

ah!

“why don’t you let me take care of it, okay?” he reaches over and rubs your shoulder gently, “you wait here and i’ll take care of everything. for his stuffing, would you like a soft cuddle bear or a plump one?”

your bottom lip starts to quiver again and you let out a light laugh, “a soft cuddle bear sounds really sweet.”

“then a soft cuddle bear it is.”

“and this is for you.” jin hands you the box over the counter and you take it from him with a grin, “thank you for your purchase! and… sorry about making you cry-“

“oh, god no-“ you snort, “i’m sorry for bursting into tears and loading all of that on you-“

“it’s totally fine!” jin shakes his head, “you’re definitely not the first person to start crying in a build-a-bear, so there’s absolutely nothing to feel bad about.”

“right! right, of course.” you nod and press your lips together, “anyways, thanks for helping me out today, jin.”

“of course! it was a pleasure.” jin clears his throat

it’s pretty clear that the two of you want to continue talking to each other, but…

jin doesn’t usually practice his flirting skills when he’s at build-a-bear, so pardon him for being a little rusty

“so… see you around!” you chirp, “i’m just gonna-“

“wait, uh-“ jin wipes his hands down on the back of his pants, “i… i don’t know if maybe this is a little too soon for you or… and it’s totally fine if you don’t want to, but… maybe i can treat you to an apology corndog or something sometime? i don’t know. this mall doesn’t really offer fine dining, so a corndog is really all i can-“

“yeah, i would love that!” you nod enthusiastically, “an apology corndog with you sounds great. i mean, a regular corndog would be fine too, but- d-do you… want my number?”

also

this isn’t you rebounding or anything

this is the first time in two weeks where your mind hasn’t been clouded with thoughts of your ex-boyfriend

this is the first time in two weeks that you’re actually happy

jin seems genuinely sweet and you wouldn’t mind getting to know him :-))

also you’re glad that hE was the one who asked

because if you were the one who asked, it’d probably make you look that much more pathetic

and you’ve already made a fool of yourself once today!!  

you sigh happily as you slam the car door shut

you’re about to shove the key into the ignition when suddenly you remember that your bear has a personalised message inside of him

“oh, right!” you reach over to open up the cardboard house that he’s been shoVed into

!!!

you wonder what soundbyte jin picked out for you!!!

you pull him out and smile fondly at the sight of his chubby arms dangling over your hands

cute :-))

this was money well spent for sure

okay, now how do you activate the sound…

there’s a bit of squeezing and poking but you manage to find the little heart inside of him

you perk up when you hear a muffled crackle

“hi, y/n! it’s me, your furry friend… uh… jin bear! if you’re listening to this, it probably means you’re super sad… cry into my stomach to muffle the sound of your violent sobs! …oh, god, probably shouldn’t have said that- anyways, um, i hope you feel better soon! and remember to give me plenty of cuddles - i promise it’ll make you feel better!”

hA

that was actually a pretty good message

(you hope jin texts u soon)

“okay, jin bear.” you murmur quietly as you buckle him into the passenger seat, “time to take you home.”

help me help you make your wishes come tru (aka send me a request)

requested drabbles masterlist

[a-blue-secret]

CHAPTER XXXIV

BACK TO MASTERLIST

Chapter XXXIII | Chapter XXXIV | Epilogue

GENRES: royal au; fantasy au; magic au; friends-to-enemies-to-lovers; king!beomgyu, vizier!taehyun

PAIRING: taegyu

WARNINGS: two swear words and a tiny makeout sesh :)

WORD COUNT: 7.7k+

AN: Here it's just me tying up any loose ends that may be left while also adding in fluff scenes which I believe are long overdue and.... I may have gotten a little carried away, which is why it's so long. But I hope you like it: the last proper chapter of Court of Lies!

SUMMARY: Best friends turned enemies, Kang Taehyun has managed to trick Choi Beomgyu into his service, and to rule for a year and a day, until his youngest brother would be old enough to take the throne. Choi Beomgyu has no intention of being obedient however, and tries to thwart Taehyun’s orders at every turn. With a growing amount of distrust and lies within the court, will Taehyun manage to keep the kingdom of Gojongja from falling apart?

Taehyun chuckled, smiling as Beomgyu swung their intertwined hands together. “Are you really that happy?”

Beomgyu beamed. “Of course! Three and a half weeks of not being able to touch you, and I’ll hold your hand every chance I get.”

“You'll hold my hand even while walking around the palace?” Taehyun asked, smiling as Beomgyu gripped his hand tighter.

“Of course! We’re friends, so it doesn’t matter, right?”

Taehyun laughed, letting Beomgyu swing their hands as they walked through the hallways.

They were on their way to find Seokjin, who was meant to take out Beomgyu’s stitches that day. Both of them had forgotten when the appointment was, so they were searching through the palace to find the Physician.

“Hm, maybe his office is next to the infirmary?” Beomgyu said musingly.

“If that’s the case, then we’re going in completely the wrong direction,” Taehyun said, tugging on Beomgyu’s hand. “Come on. This way.”

Beomgyu tsked playfully, skipping beside Taehyun. “You’ve lived in the palace your whole life, and yet you don’t know where the Royal Physician’s office is?”

“Shush, I just never had any reason to go there,” Taehyun said, pinching Beomgyu’s arm teasingly.

Beomgyu yelped dramatically, clutching his arm. “Ah! Oh, that hurts! Oh no, what if my wound is bleeding?”

Taehyun’s eyes widened, letting go of Beomgyu’s hand. “Oh no, I didn’t mean to make it bleed! Are you okay? Do you need me to carry you? We’ll get to Seokjin soon, I’m sure…”

Beomgyu chuckled, letting go of his arm. “Don’t worry, Taehyunnie. My wound is on my other arm.”

Taehyun sighed, grasping hold of Beomgyu’s hand again. “You scared me! I thought I’d actually hurt you!”

Beomgyu laughed. “Sorry! But you should know that I like to tease you. You should be used to it by now– ah! I’m sorry! Let go of my ear!”

Taehyun released his hold on Beomgyu’s ear, smiling. “Don’t do that again, okay?” he said, and when Beomgyu nodded, he laughed, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Oh look, you were right. Seokjin’s office is next to the infirmary.” He knocked on the door, and when it opened the Royal Physician stood there smiling at them.

“Oh, Your Greatness! Sir Taehyun! This way, in you come.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Taehyun watched as Seokjin clipped the stitches, pulling them out neatly and efficiently.

“Done!” he announced when the last stitch had been taken out. “That didn’t hurt one bit, did it? Though there may be obvious signs of where the sutures had been at the moment, if you take care of yourself it’ll heal so that there’s no scar left behind.” Seokjin smiled. “Alright?”

“Thank you so much, Seokjin,” Taehyun said. “For today, and for everything that you’ve done.”

Seokjin gave a small chuckle. “Oh, it’s no big deal. I think you’ve helped yourselves more than I would have ever been able to help you.”

“No, really,” Taehyun insisted. “Both you and Yoongi have been so calm while everything has been going on, and you’ve been more than willing to help us, even outside of your duties as Physician. It means a lot.”

“Agreed,” Beomgyu said. “Maybe you don’t remember, but when I was five I fell off my horse and broke my ankle and you were the one who healed it. I never forgot about that.”

Taehyun blinked at the random, strange detail, but Seokjin just laughed, giving a smile. “Of course I remember that, Beomgyu,” he said. “You asked me so many questions that day. How could I forget? You were the curious little boy who asked me if I would be able to sew someone’s skull back together.”

Beomgyu smiled at that. “I think I remember asking that,” he said, chuckling. “And really, thank you so much for all that you’ve done.”

“It was my pleasure,” Seokjin said, as the vizier and the King stood up, ready to leave. “Take care of yourselves, will you?”

“We will, Taehyun smiled, leaning forward to give Seokjin a hug. “Thank you.”

“Thank you so much, and take care of yourself as well,” Beomgyu said, hugging Seokjin too when he was released from Taehyun’s embrace.

Seokjin bowed, opening the door. “Thank you. Have a nice day, both of you.”

Taehyun and Beomgyu waved as the door swung shut. Seokjin waved back, before walking back to sit by his desk.

The sun streamed merrily through the windows behind him, as the Physician thought back to all the times he’d met and tended to Taehyun and Beomgyu throughout their lifetimes. He thought about their youthful laughs, their young tears, their brave smiles. He thought about how far they’d come, and how much they’d achieved.

And Seokjin smiled.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“I can’t believe you actually remember something from when you were five years old,” Taehyun commented. They were walking through the palace again after meeting with Seokjin, intertwined hands swinging.

Beomgyu shrugged. “It was pretty memorable. Seokjin was the prettiest guy I’d ever seen before, so of course I remember him.”

Taehyun chuckled. “Is that it?”

Beomgyu glanced at him, smiling. “He’s barely changed at all over these past twenty years,” he said. “But you’re far prettier than him,” he added, bopping Taehyun’s nose affectionately.

Taehyun scrunched his nose, a smile on his face.

They didn’t say anything, a comfortable silence settling over them. Few servants were running around, and the hallways were rather empty. It was peaceful, walking around, their joined hands swinging by their sides.

Beomgyu kept glancing sideways at Taehyun before looking away, again. After the seventh time, Taehyun gave a laugh.

“Beomgyu, what’s wrong?”

Beomgyu bit his lip nervously, shaking his head. “No, it’s nothing.”

Taehyun tilted his head curiously. “Are you sure?”

Beomgyu glanced at Taehyun again before looking away quickly. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

Taehyun side-eyed him, before shrugging. “Alright.” Beomgyu would tell him what the issue was eventually.

They walked along in silence for a while longer. When they descended one of the flights of stairs, walking past the Discussion and Tactics room, Beomgyu suddenly halted, causing Taehyun to stop too.

“Beomgyu?” Taehyun asked. “Are you okay?”

Beomgyu stared at him blankly, gaze not completely focused. “Yeah, I just…” He blinked, an indecipherable expression on his face.

Taehyun just stared back at Beomgyu patiently. He knew that something was on his mind, and waited for him to voice it. Beomgyu continued to stare at him, before suddenly grabbing his arm and shoving open the door.

“What–”

Before Taehyun could finish his sentence, Beomgyu’s lips came crashing down on his as he was pushed into the room, Beomgyu shutting the door with his foot.

Taehyun, taken aback by the sudden movement, stumbled backwards. Beomgyu’s hand came to wrap around Taehyun’s waist while the other ran through his hair.

Beomgyu kissed him, hard, as his hand dug even further into Taehyun’s soft hair, twisting and threading it through his fingers.

Taehyun let out a small noise which was quickly swallowed by Beomgyu’s lips, as they continued to take several steps back until Taehyun’s thighs hit the edge of the table.

Beomgyu broke the kiss only for a few seconds to be able to grab Taehyun’s waist and lift him onto the table, before Taehyun gripped Beomgyu’s collar and pulled him towards him again.

They kissed feverishly, mouths moving in sync. Hands still on Taehyun’s waist, Beomgyu was pressed flush against him, but even so it felt like he wasn’t close enough. One of his hands came up to bury itself in Taehyun’s hair again, tilting his head to the side to deepen the kiss.

While one hand still held a tight grip on Beomgyu’s collar, Taehyun’s other hand reached upwards to cup his cheek, caressing his skin and pulling him impossibly close.

They kissed, so many unspoken words present as their lips met again and again. Words of ‘I love you’, and ‘thank you’, and so many other phrases that didn’t need to be spoken to be heard.

Eventually, they reluctantly parted, but not before Beomgyu nipped gently on Taehyun’s bottom lip, a smile on his face.

They were both breathing heavily, gazes fixed on each other. Taehyun’s hand was still tight on Beomgyu’s collar, and Beomgyu still had his fingers dug into the hair at the nape of his neck. Beomgyu’s eyes were shining as he stared at Taehyun, and Taehyun found himself unable to look away. His heart was fluttering wildly in his chest, and his ears were on fire. In the heavy silence that followed after their passionate kiss, he was sure that his heartbeat was loud enough for Beomgyu to hear.

Beomgyu’s gaze flicked from Taehyun’s mussed up hair and down to his lips, taking in how pink and swollen they’d gotten. He gave a small smile.

“Darling, you look beautiful.”

Taehyun couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran through his body as he registered Beomgyu’s low words, and he looked up at Beomgyu, licking his lips while he scrambled to organise his thoughts.

“I– is this the reason you pushed me into the Discussion and Tactics room?”

Beomgyu gave a chuckle, untangling his hand from the base of Taehyun’s neck to try and smooth down his messed up hair. “Maybe.”

Taehyun couldn’t help but smile, cheeks flushing. Beomgyu tilted his head as he looked at him, eyes wide.

“Why, did you not like it?”

“I– no– I mean, I did, but we should get going before someone walks in and we’re busted.”

Beomgyu sighed affectionately. “Taehyunnie, don’t think about things like that right now. You don’t need to worry about that.” He leaned forward until their foreheads were touching, smiling as Taehyun automatically leaned forward, eyes fluttering shut.

“You know I love you, right?” Beomgyu said, softly.

“I know,” Taehyun said, tilting his head to the side to press a kiss onto Beomgyu’s mouth. “I know I love you, too.”

Beomgyu smiled wider, hand tightening around Taehyun’s waist.

“I know I love you, but,” Taehyun continued, “We really should get going now–”

Taehyun, yet again, didn’t get to finish his sentence. Beomgyu, eyes fixed on Taehyun’s lips as he talked, had taken hold of his chin and pressed their lips together once more. But you wouldn’t hear Taehyun complaining about that. He immediately complied, tilting his head so far to the side that his nose brushed against Beomgyu’s cheek.

They parted, lips pink and faces flushed, both of them breathing heavily. Beomgyu’s hand stayed on Taehyun’s chin as he tilted his head to the side while he pressed his mouth on Taehyun’s jaw.

Taehyun, caught off guard, gave a small whimper as Beomgyu trailed his lips down Taehyun’s neck, leaving soft, sweet kisses in his wake. Taehyun tilted his head back to give Beomgyu easier access to his neck, eyes half closed due to the dizzying euphoria he felt. At the same time, he gripped Beomgyu’s shoulders tight to prevent himself from falling off the table.

After trailing all the way down Taehyun’s neck, Beomgyu slowly made his way back up again, leisurely pressing kisses on his way up. Taehyun, mind fuzzy with the feeling of Beomgyu’s lips on his skin, gave a soft squeak as Beomgyu mouthed several soft kisses to the spot just under his ear, and Beomgyu grinned.

“I think I just found my favourite spot to kiss,” he murmured against Taehyun’s skin, making the vizier shiver. “After your lips, of course.”

With some difficulty, Taehyun managed to snap out of his hazy state, peeling Beomgyu away from him.

“Alright, I think that’s enough of you kissing me,” Taehyun said as Beomgyu reluctantly removed his lips from Taehyun’s neck. “Come on. We don’t want someone to see us.”

Beomgyu pouted, leaning forward again to peck Taehyun’s lips. “Aw, why? Come on, you like it too. I know you do.”

Taehyun sighed. “Yes, but we’re in the Discussion and Tactics room, of all places. This is not good. We should get going– wait, what are you doing?”

Beomgyu tilted his head to the side as he took another step back. “Why? You said that we should get going now. So that’s what I’m doing.”

Taehyun frowned, lifting his arms out towards Beomgyu. “No. Come back.”

Beomgyu smiled teasingly, stepping backwards again. “But you said we should stop.”

Taehyun pouted his lips childishly. “I know, but– wait, come back!”

Beomgyu halted, grinning.

“Come back,” Taehyun demanded. “Kiss me again.”

Beomgyu laughed, walking back towards Taehyun who was still sitting on the table, swinging his feet. He took hold of Taehyun’s waist, smiling. “Alright then.”

He leaned forward and kissed Taehyun again.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Beomgyu tapped his foot impatiently. Finally, after several minutes, the door to Taehyun’s chambers swung open again, and Taehyun stepped out.

“Finally!” Beomgu exclaimed. “Honestly, why did you take so long?”

“Because someone decided it’d be a good idea to run their fingers through my hair and mess it all up,” Taehyun said pointedly.

Beomgyu huffed, smiling. “Well, you messed my hair up, but you don’t see me complaining do you?”

“You naturally have adorably fluffy hair,” Taehyun dismissed. “That’s why it doesn’t matter.”

Beomgyu opened his mouth to protest, before closing it again. “True.” He quirked a grin. “Did you just say my hair is adorable?”

Taehyun flicked his forehead playfully. “Yes, I did. Now come on. Let’s go."

Beomgyu grinned and took Taehyun’s hand, the both of them walking through the hallways again.

“Where are we going now?” Beomgyu asked.

“Seohyun and Nabi,” Taehyun replied. “I want to see how they’re getting along with the whole ‘running Gojongja’ thing.”

“Oh, right, they’re doing that, aren’t they?” Beomgyu pouted childishly. “Oh, we’ll have to take over the ruling thing from now on. That sucks.”

“I know. Who knows, maybe we'll be able to convince them to stay in that position forever.”

“What, make them Queen and… Queen?” Beomgyu said, smiling.

“Maybe,” Taehyun said. “That’s a good idea, actually. Would it be possible?”

“Perhaps,” Beomgyu said. “I don’t know. I was just joking.”

“Hmm, I wonder if it’s possible,” Taehyun hummed thoughtfully.

“If it is possible, they’ll like it for sure,” Beomgyu said. “I think they like running Gojongja.”

“They like it more than you and I ever could,” Taehyun said, chuckling. “Oh look, here we are.”

He knocked on the door to the vizier’s office, and both he and Beomgyu stepped inside.

Seohyun looked up from her desk, and grinned. “Hey Nabi, it’s Taehyun and Beomgyu!”

Nabi’s head popped up from where it had been buried in a cabinet of papers. She spotted the King and the vizier and beamed, waving. “Oh, hey you two! What brings you here?” She walked towards her desk, dumping a huge stack of parchment onto it. Taehyun widened his eyes, walking over to Nabi’s desk, Beomgyu being dragged along behind him.

“Wh– why do you have so much paper?” he asked.

“Oh, you know,” Nabi said, smiling. “I'm reviewing all the staff members. Father used to do it every two years, but I was bored so I’m doing it today. It’s interesting, you know.”

Beomgyu balked. “You’re doing this… for fun?”

Nabi shrugged. “Yeah. It’s fun.” She gestured to Seohyun, whose quill was quivering furiously as she wrote. “My little sister over there is communicating with some of the foreign merchants who stay here in Gojongja. She’s been doing it for a while now.”

“I’m only five minutes younger, we’ve been over this,” Seohyun said, giving a light chuckle. “Hey Nabi, wanna swap paper analysis with merchant negotiation? My wrist is starting to hurt.”

“Hm? Oh, sure. Gimme those. I’ll give you this.”

Seohyun passed the envelope of letters to Nabi, exchanging them for the pile of papers. Taehyun and Beomgyu stared in shock at how calm they were acting.

“This sort of work doesn’t bore you… at all?” Taehyun asked, eyes wide.

Nabi laughed. “Bore us? God, no! This work is never boring. Frustrating, yes. But never boring.”

Beomgyu shook his head in amazement. “Wow… you two really are something else.”

“I hope you mean that in a good way, Beomgyu,” Seohyun teased, lifting her head. “Ah! Would you mind doing me a favour? I borrowed one of Sir Yoongi’s books to research what additional flowers we should add to our Palace Gardens. The gardeners wanted to know,” Seohyun said, lifting the thick book. “Here, could you give it back to him?”

“Oh, sure.” Taehyun took the book from Seohyun, staggering a little at its surprising weight. “We should go visit Yoongi, anyway, and say hi.” He looked at Beomgyu. “So we should be getting going now, I think.”

Beomgyu smiled, waving at the two Kang twins. “See you, Nabi, Seohyun!”

Nabi and Seohyun looked up in unison, grinning. “See you!”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Before Beomgyu had even lifted his hand to knock, the door to the Antiquarian’s office swung open, and Yoongi beamed up at them.

“Beomgyu! Taehyun! Oh, my dear boys, how wonderful it is to see you alive and well!” He embraced both of them, ushering them inside. “Come in, come in! It’s so nice to see you. Here, let me make you some tea.”

Beomgyu and Taehyun let themselves be pushed into Yoongi's office, smiling amusedly at the Antiquarian's elated face.

His office hadn’t changed one bit. It was still warm and inviting, copper lights reflecting off from the copperware, giving the room a rustic glow. A kettle whistled merrily, and two of Yoongi’s signature tiny teacups sat ready on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Yoongi’s armchair was still as worn as ever, and little knicknacks and crystals still dotted the room.

It was strangely comforting to see that, even though circumstances had changed drastically over the past few months, Yoongi’s office still remained as comfortable and warm as always.

They sat down on the sofa as Yoongi reclined in his armchair.

“Ah, we came here to give you this,” Taehyun said, untucking the book from under his arm, handing it to Yoongi. Yoongi took it from him, smiling.

“Thank you, Taehyun. Ah, this is the book I lent to Seohyun, isn’t it? I���m glad that she used it well.”

He set the book aside before leaning forward, eyes twinkling.

“Now, how have you two been? You’ve had quite the experience these past few weeks. I have to say, Seokjin and I knew that you'd be able to break the curse in the end. But how on earth did you manage to do it?”

Taehyun smiled at Beomgyu, squeezing his hand. “It’s all Beomgyu,” he said. “Beomgyu freed himself.”

Beomgyu chuckled a little, shaking his head. “No, no. It was because of Taehyun that I managed to break the curse.”

Yoongi grinned at them, bringing over the teapot to fill their cups with chamomile tea. "Tell me, then! I am a curious soul, after all. Alright, so explain to me how exactly this all panned out?”

Beomgyu smiled at Taehyun, gesturing to him. Taehyun smiled back, and leaned forward to begin telling the story.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Two hours and three cups of chamomile tea later, Taehyun had finished, and Yoongi stared at them in amazement.

“Oh my…” There was a slight sparkle of awe in his eyes. “Honestly, I feel like a child again, listening to a fairytale. I had no idea that Jeju Chois still existed. And the fact they came after you? The whole beast transforming and untransforming business sounds straight out of the myths that you only read about.”

“Honestly, it feels kind of surreal to think about right now,” Beomgyu admitted. “It feels like it was a fever dream.” He smiled.

“I’m not surprised that it does,” Yoongi said. “It all sound very uncanny.” He leaned forward. “Both of you are fine mentally though, right? What happened to you must have been rather traumatic.”

Taehyun shook his head, smiling. “I’m okay,” he said. “Because I know for sure that it will never happen again.”

“Same here,” Beomgyu said. “Not everyone has to have therapy after traumatic events, right? It’s like how not all war heros are mentally unstable afterwards. Maybe further down the line I’ll be able to use this tale to entertain little children.”

Yoongi chuckled. “That’s good. But you might want to use a more, well, child-friendly version of the tale. All that blood and death may be a bit too much for them.”

Beomgyu grinned. “True, true.”

“Ah, but I have no idea how you managed to figure that out,” Yoongi said in amazement. “You two really are incredible. Oh, have you gone to see Seokjin yet? He was also incredibly anxious about how you were faring.”

“Yes, yes,” Taehyun said, smiling. “He was the one who stitched Beomgyu’s arm. We went to him just now to get them taken out.”

“Good, good,” Yoongi nodded. “I must say, your two sisters have done a remarkable job of running Gojongja. Honestly, they seem as if they were made to rule.”

“They do, don’t they?” Taehyun said proudly.

“Taehyun and I were joking that maybe we should have them instated as permanent Queen and Queen of Gojongja,” Beomgyu added. “They rule better than we did.”

“Queen and Queen,” Yoongi mused, chuckling. “Indeed, that would be something I would very much like to see.”

He chuckled to himself for a few more moments, before sitting forward, as if he’d just remembered something. “Ah, but that does remind me. Tell Yeonjun and Hueningkai that Queen Erajin would like them to give her back her Lord, would you? Lord Hyunjin’s absence is apparently making itself known in court, and she would like him to return as soon as possible.”

Taehyun nodded his head. “We’ll tell them,” he said.

Yoongi smiled. “Good, good. Now, when were you going to tell me that Yeonjun and Hueningkai were the ones who brought Queen Erajin back to the throne? Ah, my two little apprentice spies have grown up so much.”

Taehyun smiled awkwardly. “Oh, I didn’t think that–” He paused, looking at Yoongi. “Wait what?”

Beomgyu’s eyes were equally as wide. “Your spies?”

Yoongi grinned, eyes sparkling. “Didn’t I tell you? I was a mentor for young spies in Aruyeo. I taught them alchemy. Yeonjun and Hueningkai were the last ever pupils I taught.”

Beomgyu gaped, mouth opening and closing wordlessly. “I– n– no, I don’t think you ever told us that.”

The Antiquarian chuckled, reaching for the teapot. “Would you like another cup of tea? This story may take a while to tell.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“And then he revealed to us that he’s been training Aruyeonan spies for decades!” Beomgyu said. “It was crazy to think that our gummy-smiled Antiquarian was once a spy trainer.”

Hyunjin chuckled. “That was probably a shock, wasn’t it?”

“You can say that again,” Taehyun said drily, smiling. “Anyway, I’m going to miss you,” he said, hugging Hyunjin. “It feels like just yesterday I was seeing you for the first time. You too, Yeji.”

While Taehyun hugged Yeji, Beomgyu shook hands with Hyunjin.

“You better stay in touch, okay? I want to get to know you super well,” Beomgyu said, grinning. “Write to us, alright? That’s an order!”

Hyunjin straightened, saluting. “Yes, sir!”

Beomgyu laughed, swatting his arm.

“You as well, Yeji. It was really nice meeting you,” Beomgyu said, turning to shake Yeji’s hand. Yeji stared at his hand, before reaching forward to hug him.

“You need to stop with the awkward handshakes, Beomgyu,” she said, smiling. “I don’t bite.”

“You can never be too sure around girls,” Beomgyu joked. “Take care, okay? Both of you.”

“We will, don’t worry,” Hyunjin smiled. “Right, we’ll be off now. Don’t hurt yourselves, alright? See you!”

Taehyun and Beomgyu waved as Hynjin and Yeji boarded their respective carriages, which soon drove out of the Gojongja Palace gates.

“It felt so strange to have them here, but it now feels strange to see them go,” Beomgyu sighed as the carriages became mere dots in the distance.

“That’s always what happens with goodbyes,” Taehyun said, tugging at Beomgyu’s hand. The two of them walked through the fields. “It always feels strange to say hello, but even stranger to say goodbye.”

“I know right? Why say hello if you’re going to say goodbye in the end,” Beomgyu commented.

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, birds twittering merrily in the trees.

“Hey Beomgyu?” Taehyun said, voice soft. Beomgyu turned to him, stopping.

“Yes, love?”

“I just realised something,” Taehyun said quietly. “We’ll have to say goodbye to Yeonjun and Hueningkai soon, too.”

Beomgyu grew quiet at that. During those past months, while he and Taehyun had been bickering and fighting and generally causing Taehyun a huge headache, Yeonjun had been the person constantly by Taehyun’s side. And then, along with Yeonjun, so had Hueningkai. It was natural that they’d ended up being good friends.

Beomgyu had grown an attachment to Yeonjun, too. The Aruyeonan had been kind to him, and put up with his hyperactive behaviour and even sometimes joined in with his antics. And Hueningkai: he had been one of Beomgyu’s few friends in Aruyeo, and he too was someone Beomgyu had grown close to.

Beomgyu sighed. “You’re right. We do have to say goodbye to them at some point. I never thought about that.”

The long grass of the field swayed around them as the wind blew a soft breeze. The chirping of the birds had taken on a sadder tune, almost as if they understood what Beomgyu and Taehyun were going through.

“I don’t want to say goodbye to them,” Taehyun said. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”

Taehyun’s head was bowed. He stared at his fingers as he twisted long strands of grass together. Beomgyu sighed, before giving a soft smile and wrapping an arm around Taehyun's shoulder.

“Hey, there’s no need to think about those sorts of things right now. They’ll leave when they leave, but we should appreciate them while they’re here, shouldn’t we? And I’m pretty sure they won’t be leaving without at least a week’s notice. Who knows? They may not even leave at all.”

Taehyun looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”

Beomgyu smiled. “Didn’t you hear Yoongi? Queen Erajin is super duper proud of her spies. If they asked her for anything, she’d probably agree to it before the words even left their mouths. Who knows? We could ask Yeonjun and Hueningkai to ask her if they can stay.”

Taehyun gradually understood what Beomgyu was saying, and his eyes lit up. “Really?”

Beomgyu kissed the top of his head fondly. “Yes, really. Now come on. Do you wanna go horse riding?”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

The moment Beomgyu stepped into the stables, he was almost knocked to the ground by Toto who immediately nuzzled into him. The horse was making lots of loud neighing noises, feathered tail waving as he jumped around excitedly.

Taehyun, understanding exactly what he was saying, began to laugh.

“What? What?” Beomgyu said through a mouthful of green feathers.

“He’s just saying how much he’s missed you,” Taehyun laughed. “You have one loyal horse right there.”

“Taehyun, tell him how you used me as bait to lure him out of the forests the first time!” Toto whinnied, still hugging Beomgyu.

“I didn’t use you as bait though,” Taehyun chuckled. “You told me you’d do anything. You volunteered.”

“You used Toto as bait?” Beomgyu asked. “How dare you do that to my favourite horse!” Toto whinnied, pleased, and Beomgyu turned to him, stroking his muzzle. “Yes you’re my favourite, you’re my favourite aren’t you? Who’s my favourite horse?”

By now, lots of horses were peering at Beomgyu, neighing amongst themselves, swishing their tails. Beomgyu had always been a favourite in the stables. All of them were glad to see him back.

“Oh, Hobak! It’s been ages since I saw you, how have you been?” Beomgyu exclaimed, running a hand through Hobak’s mane. “Wow, you look so sophisticated now.”

Hobak nickered, pleased with the praise.

“Oh! And this is the new horse that Yeonjun found! Well, not so new anymore. Wow, it feels like ages since I went horseriding with Yeonjun.”

Aengdu’s scales shone in the light, and the horse’s voice filled Taehyun’s ears.

“Two months,” the horse stated amusedly. “Two months it has been since Yeonjun brought me here. Two hold months. Can your boyfriend not keep track of time?”

“He’s been under a curse for a while, and before that he was sick,” Taehyun laughed. “We’ve been busy these past few months,” he said.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you can talk to them,” Beomgyu commented as Toto trotted up to him to rub all over the human. Beomgyu laughed as Toto’s feathers tickled his skin.

“Toto can fly, you know,” Taehyun said, smiling. “Your horse is amazing.”

Beomgyu stared at Toto, wide eyed. “You can fly? Really?” He grinned brightly. “That’s amazing!” His grin melted into a playful pout. “Why have you never shown me before?”

Toto nickerd playfully, turning around in circles.

Taehyun laughed. “‘If you’re so sceptical, get on my back and I’ll show you.’ That’s what Toto said.”

“I… I…” Beomgyu looked at Taehyun, speechless. “What?”

“Go on, Toto wants to show you. Go on! Let’s get out of the stables, and you can experience it for yourself.”

Wide-eyed and still rather shocked about what was going on, Beomgyu let Taehyun drag him outside, Toto trotting eagerly behind him. Taehyun clapped his hands excitedly, beaming.

“Alright, let’s go let’s go! Beomgyu, get on Toto! Come on!”

Taehyun seemed to be the most excited about what was happening. Beomgyu mounted Toto unsurely, looking at Taehyun.

“I swear, if I end up dying because of you…”

Taehyun pffted, waving a hand. “Why would you die? It’s not like Toto would be so careless as to let his favourite human die. Besides, you’ve been flying countless times while in beast form. You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, but all those times I was practically insane and didn’t really know what I was doing!” Beomgyu said. “Taehyun, come on, you know that heights aren’t really my thing, I don’t know if I’ll survive this–”

“Oh, you’ll be fine! Stop exaggerating! You and I both know you love heights. Who was it who climbed the sycamore in the gardens, hm? The sycamore tree which was the tallest in all of the fields.”

Beomgyu hesitated. “I mean, yes, I did climb it, but this is different! I’m flying, not climbing!”

“Stop being such a scaredy cat, honestly,” Taehyun laughed. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. And hey, if when you come back you still didn’t like it, I’ll give you a kiss and you’ll never have to fly ever again, okay?”

Beomgyu paused. “You’re sure that you’ll give me a kiss?”

“A nice, long one,” Taehyun promised. “Now go! Toto, off and away!”

“You promised, okay?” Beomgyu called. “You promised me– oh my fucking god!”

Taehyun laughed, waving as Beomgyu was swept into the air. “Have fun, Gyu!”

He could make out Beomgyu’s panicked frame clinging for dear life onto Toto’s back, and vaguely heard what he was saying.

“Kang fucking Taehyun, I better get my kiss after this is over!”

Taehyun just laughed again as Toto swooped and dived, before disappearing behind some clouds. Even though they were rather far away, Taehyun could hear Beomgyu’s loud screams and strings of curses, and he chuckled.

Taehyun convincing Beomgyu to ride Toto may sound cruel, but the vizier knew that even though he may complain and scream at first, Beomgyu would return with a huge smile on his face. Taehyun smiled up at the clouds, before turning back towards the stables. Three minutes. Three minutes was all it would take for Beomgyu to come back grinning.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“Taehyun! Taehyun! Taehyun, where are you?”

Taehyun stepped outside as Beomgyu was dismounting Toto.

“So, how was it?” he asked, smiling.

Beomgyu grinned, hair adorably windswept as he bounced around like a young child. “So! Cool! Toto doesn’t even need wings to fly! One minute we were on the ground and the next minute we went ‘woosh’ and we’re all the way up in the air! I touched a cloud, Taehyun! It was amazing!”

“It was that good, huh?” Taehyun laughed. “Glad to hear it.”

“You know, I wasn’t scared one bit,” Beomgyu said casually, leading Toto back to the stables. “I was as cool as a cucumber. Not for a minute did I fear being up there.”

Taehyun raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything, content with watching Beomgyu’s face alight with a grin.

“Of course you didn’t, love,” he said. “Of course you didn’t.”

“Nope! Why would I? Flying isn’t scary at all compared to the stuff we’ve been through.” Beomgyu turned to Taehyun, still beaming. “So do I still get my kiss?”

Taehyun chuckled, shaking his head. “No.”

Beomgyu pouted. “Aw, why not?”

“I said you’d get a kiss if you came back and you didn’t like it. But it sounds like you did, so you don’t get one.”

Beomgyu pouted further, eyes drooping adorably. His hair was a mess, and strands fell across his eyes as he gazed at Taehyun pleadingly. “Please?”

Taehyun’s lips twitched, but he held himself back. “No.”

Beomgyu’s eyes widened further, brown irises sad and imploring. “Not even an ittle wittle one?”

Taehyun shook his head, averting his eyes. “Still no.”

He attempted to walk away, but then Beomgyu grabbed his arm and hunched his shoulders inwards, making him seem smaller than he was. He squished himself against Taehyun’s side, resting his head on Taehyun’s shoulder. And then, pouting, he asked, “Pretty please? Pretty please with a strawberry on top and extra rainbow sprinkles?”

Taehyun’s gaze flicked from Beomgyu’s puppy-dog eyes to his pouty pink lips, then back to his eyes and then back to his lips again. Beomgyu’s eyes widened even further, and he made a soft whining sound.

Finally, after several long moments, Taehyun gave in.

“Alright, fine! Only because you put a strawberry on top. Only because of that. Not because of your doe eyes or your fluffy hair or pretty lips.”

Beomgyu giggled, smiling. “Of course not.”

“Of course not. Now come here, you.”

Beomgyu made a happy noise as Taehyun took hold of his face and brought him in for a kiss.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“Four weeks since I’ve been uncursed, and Yeonjun and Hueningkai still haven’t left. I told you there was no need to worry,” Beomgyu said as he and Taehyun walked to the secret garden.

“I suppose you’re right,” Taehyun mused. “Well, I guess I didn’t really have much to worry about.”

“Yup,” Beomgyu said, swinging their intertwined hands. He chuckled. “I can’t believe we actually went ahead with the ‘therapy’ sessions though.”

“What? It was a good way to get to know about each other while also overcoming our past trauma,” Taehyun said. “Group therapy is always best.”

“Past trauma,” Beomgyu repeated, chuckling. “We had trauma?”

Taehyun swatted his arm, but there was a smile on his face. “We all had trauma. We just didn’t know it. Anyway, we’re here now. No more trauma talk.”

Taehyun pushed open the ivy-covered door, and Yeonjun and Hueningkai both looked up, grinning.

“You two! You’re late!” Hueningkai called.

“Sorry, got held up by Junghoon,” Beomgyu said, sitting down on the grass next to them. “He didn’t want us to leave.”

“Oh, we haven’t visited Junghoon in a while, have we?” Yeonjun said thoughtfully. “You and I should go some time.”

Hueningkai nodded. “Right, we should.”

“You know, what I love most about this garden is how strangely soundproof it is,” Taehyun commented, blowing away a butterfly that attempted to land on his nose. “I never knew why.”

“It’s because of old Elmie,” Hueningkai said, nodding towards the elm tree. “This elm tree has been protecting you from being eavesdropped on for so long that its protection became permanent.”

Taehyun widened his eyes. “Really?” He looked at the elm tree, and felt it give a nod. He smiled. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

Yeonjun shivered. “Brr, there goes Taehyun doing his foreign exchange thing again. What are you, a tree-whisperer?”

“Yes,” Taehyun replied simply, smiling. “I am.”

“It’s always so calming to be here, isn’t it?” Beomgyu said, lying down. “I feel like we’re in a world away from anyone else.”

Taehyun lay down on his back too, and so did the Aruyeonans. There was peace as they all stared up at the blue sky. White clouds drifted leisurely by, and birds twittered cheerfully in the distance. The odd butterfly fluttered in the air, and the calm hum of bees gathering nectar could be heard. Sunlight cast its merry glow over Gojongja, basking the Kingdom in a ray of happiness.

None of them said a word, content with the silence.

That was, until Yeonjun spoke.

“Soobin’s no longer in his cell.”

Taehyun sat up so fast that for a moment he saw stars. “Say what?”

Beomgyu sat up too, but more slowly.

“Their cell is empty,” Hueningkai said. “No Soobin, no Arin.”

Taehyun’s eyes were wide. “What?”

“You guys seem calm about this,” Beomgyu stated.

“It’s because we know he isn’t going to harm anyone anymore,” Yeonjun said.

Taehyun frowned. “But you don’t know that. He’s dangerous. If he can escape from our dungeons, who knows where else he can go? He curses without a second thought. He could bring destruction to any one of the Four Kingdoms without blinking an eye.”

Beomgyu seemed to understand the Aruyeonan’s point, lying back down again. “Ah. I see.”

Taehyun, still sitting up, slapped Beomgyu’s arm. “What do you mean ‘Ah. I see’?? This is Soobin we’re talking about here! He’s so dangerous we cannot even begin to understand how destructive he is!” He continued to hit Beomgyu, stressed.

Beomgyu sat up, catching Taehyun’s hand gently in his own. “Hey, hey, calm down. There’s nothing to worry about. I promise. He’s not dangerous anymore, okay? Promise.”

“You don’t know that!” Taehyun said. “You almost went insane, Beomgyu. He tried to kill us. Several times. I think I have a right to be worried, don’t you?”

“No, listen. He doesn’t have a reason to come after us. Or anyone, for that matter. His sister was the only reason he did any of this. Now that she’s gone, he no longer has any motivation,” Yeonjun said.

“His sister is dead – well, not dead, but close to dead – by his own hand. He has no reason to go after anyone,” Hueningkai added. “I don’t even think he cared about the past of his clan. That was his sister’s motive, and his motive was his sister. With Arin gone, he will no longer do anything.”

“The only reason I told you was because I thought you should know,” Yeonjun said.

Taehyun breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up a twig and half-heartedly threw it at Yeonjun. “You idiot,” he sighed. “You got me all worked up for nothing.”

“I didn’t want you to panic later on if you found out for yourself,” Yeonjun said. “Because then you would have gotten really worked up.”

Taehyun nodded. “True. I would.” He lay back down, calm again.

“Alright, now nobody should drop any huge bombshells while we’re all being calm, okay? If I get surprised, I might accidentally blast you guys into the wall,” Beomgyu said, lying down.

Hueningkai craned his neck to look at Beomgyu. “What?”

“If I sit up too quickly I might accidentally send you flying into the wall at the same time,” Beomgyu said. “And you’ll end up with about five broken ribs.”

Hueningkai nodded, looking a little nervous about that startling piece of information. “Ah, okay.” He lay down again. Yeonjun gave a soft chuckle as Hueningkai looked at him, a panicked expression on his face.

Calm descended upon them again.

After having gone through so much together, there was little need for words between them. They could sit in that garden for hours on end, no one saying a word, and yet they’d still have a good time.

Often, that was what they’d do. They’d stay silent, listening to the peace of the garden (even the plants kept quiet so that Taehyun could sense the calmness too) without having to say anything to each other. Other times, the garden would be full of life as they chatted to each other, eagerly retelling stories and laughing aloud. They could be as loud as they liked, or as quiet as they liked, and it wouldn’t make a difference. They would still leave the garden, wide smiles on their faces.

“Psst. Everyone.”

Taehyun lifted his head. “What?”

“I have something to say,” Yeonjun whispered loudly.

Beomgyu sat up. “What is it?”

“Well, Hueningkai and I–”

“You don’t have to whisper, your whispers are loud anyway,” Taehyun said, sitting up.

“Ah. okay.” Yeonjun reverted back to a normally speaking voice as Hueningkai sat up too. “Well, as I was saying, Hueningkai and I have something we forgot to tell you about.”

“Ah, right, we do,” Hueningkai said, nodding. “We’re free.”

Beomgyu blinked. “Huh?”

“We are officially relieved from spy duty,” Yeonjun said proudly, beaming.

Taehyun gaped. “What, really? Since when?”

“Since the day we reinstated Queen Erajin back onto her throne,” Hueningkai grinned. “We asked her to view it as our parting mission, and she agreed.”

“Wait, so does that mean you’re not spies anymore?” Beomgyu asked.

“Well, kind of,” Yeonjun said. “We’re retired spies. We’ll still stay part of her inner circle, but we won’t do a lot of these spy missions anymore.”

Taehyun beamed. “That’s great! So does that mean you still have to go back to Aruyeo?”

“Only when she summons us,” Hueningkai said. “And we’re retired, so we’ll be summoned very rarely.”

“I– wow, that’s great news,” Taehyun said, amazed. “Really, that is. That means you can stay here with us, right?”

“Yup!” Yeonjun said, grinning. “You’ll be seeing a lot more of us from now on!"

“That’s great, seriously,” Beomgyu said, smiling. He leaned forward, hugging Yeonjun. “You’re annoying, but if you were away from us that would be even more annoying.”

Yeonjun chuckled. “Thanks, I think?”

“Aww come on guys, group hug!” Hueningkai said, and the four of them all huddled together, arms around each other.

“Let’s stay together tomorrow as well, okay? And the day after tomorrow and the day after that.” Taehyun said once they’d pulled away.

Yeonjun laughed. “Of course! You will have to put up with us even on Nabi’s and Seohyun’s coronation day.”

Taehyun gasped. “You guys are going to stay and see it?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Hueningkai grinned. “You’ll have to put up with us on your wedding day, too. Probably also in the many years that follow.”

“Uh– we’re not getting married–” Beomgyu started.

“Nonsense!” Yeonjun exclaimed, punching Beomgyu’s shoulder playfully. “I can totally picture it. And we’ll be there, right by your side.”

Taehyun grinned. “You better be! I need friends to laugh with when Beomgyu cries on our wedding day.”

“You’ll cry too, Taehyun,” Hueningkai said. “On your wedding day, It’ll be me and Yeonjun and the Hwangs and all of the Kangs there, and we’ll all be crying our eyes out at your wedding.”

Beomgyu sputtered, lost for words. “We– we’re getting married?”

Taehyun kissed his cheek, laughing. “One day, love. Perhaps one day.”

Yeonjun yelped, placing Hueningkai’s hands over his eyes. “Ah, my eyes! Hueningkai, please shield me from their displays of affection!”

Hueningkai took his hands away from where Yeonjun had put them over his face, laughing. “Oh, stop being dramatic, you drama queen.”

Yeonjun gasped dramatically. “Drama queen? Me? Now what on earth are you talking about?”

Their delighted chatter rang through the garden, fluttering and floating and filling the place with its warmth. Their laughter and their happiness cast a contented glow over them, widening their smiles and brightening their eyes.

In the corner of the secret garden stood the everlasting flower on its pedestal, but this time it was no longer simply a crystal rose. Now it was a crystal chrysanthemum, its ice petals studded with tiny fragments of coloured glass. There was no longer a dome covering it: now it levitated in a glass ball, turning gently as it bobbed in midair. The glass ball it was within was no normal ball either. Veins ran along the outside in places where the glass was thicker, and looked almost as if to have stretch marks where it was thin.

Their everlasting flower was no simple rose anymore. It had changed, as Beomgyu and Taehyun had changed. It had changed as their lives had changed, with new people entering their world and influencing them in ways that they'd never foreseen before.

They'd changed so much. And who knows? Beomgyu and Taehyun will probably continue to change, but they won't be alone. They'll have each other, and also Yeonjun and Hueningkai who will always stay by their side.

As they grow older, and learn more about the world, they will continue to change as their experiences influence their characters to make them the best people they can be.

They will by no means be perfect: no one can be perfect, anyway. But they'll still be them, even throughout all the change, and as long as one can stay true to oneself then that can count as perfection, can't it?

This everlasting chrysanthemum symbolised longevity and joy, but for the people who had helped make it, it also symbolised family. Because they were a family now: a family of people who had come together under unusual circumstances but had come out of it as one.

And so for them, the everlasting chrysanthemum – their family – was as perfect as it could be.

Beomgyu, Taehyun, Yeonjun and Hueningkai would continue to change as they experienced new things and learned more about the world. But they would change and experience these things together. They'll change, but they will also stay together too.

They'll still be together through all of their imperfections, all of their struggles, all of their pain.

They'll still be together as the sun sets on Gojongja, and as the sun rises yet again.

They'll still be together, even after tomorrow.

taglist: @my-moarmy-heart @arohabangtan @a-fragmented-world

[jae-canikeepyou]

| muse | j.jh

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

genre: art student!jaehyun + art student!yn

a/n: thought this on a whim whilst reminiscing my art portfolio, so we’ll see how you’ll like this with yuno in it. not the best i’ve written but hope you enjoy reading 💞😉 ~j

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with jaehyun, there were three things that happened uncontrollably. one was he caused your heart to skip; two, your chest to feel all giddy; and three, your stomach to capsize. why you may ask? it was his very presence in the art academy which had heads turning and lips to whisper words of awe. he was labelled and called a prodigy.

be it in any medium of art, he was blessed to have such a talent that his parents thought it’d be a waste if not enhanced or put attention to. even your professors favored him and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t jealous. despite his princely looks, he could sometimes be a total snob. he’d be in a good mood the first hour and then changed completely in the next. oh the duality, you couldn’t understand him at all.

though question marks continued to fill your head, let’s just say you had a tad advantage compared to girls who were overly thirsting for him; he was your classmate, a major in fine arts. sometimes you unconsciously found yourself sniffing his perfume each time he helped you with the shading of portrait drawings you worked upon. he was that close. as much as you loved seeing him almost every day, you hated at the fact you still didn’t know the ways to calm your loving facial expression towards him.

it was a funny sight —at least to your friends— that they could see how elongated your nose grew every time you deny your feelings for him. yet as time passed the possibility of your admiration might turn into romantic feelings instead. there wasn’t a need to prove to you since your friends have pointed it out already.

but you yourself wasn’t too sure about it.

“please,” hyejin popped with a huge round of an eyeroll at your oblivion. legs crossed as she chewed her bubblegum. “y/n, admit that you like him. it isn’t that hard to say out loud.”

other students, including your studio tutor held in their giggles in the midst of the silence within the room. true enough hyejin was the mood maker.

her words made you stop painting the colours that were meant to accentuate the highlights of the subject. “i’m not like you who’s very expressive in words.” you replied, taking few peeks at your surroundings in case anyone eavesdrop.

hyejin wasn’t supposed to be in the studio today. she was a literature student where writing poetry was her forte. but because your tutor appreciated her effort to promote the visual arts department in the school paper, her going to the studio with you became a normal thing.

“it doesn’t have to be in words. like, i don’t know? paint some canvas and pour out your feelings through colours? yellow’s joy or purple’s dazzling or red is love-” she stopped as you gave her an annoyed gaze. “i’m sure he’ll get it. he’s not called a prodigy for nothing.”

“painting is not done on a whim, hyejin.” you emphasised, not noticing the stress put upon your work. “it takes time and thinking and creativ-”

“yeah yeah,” she made her bubble burst, which by the way irritated you since it gave off the impression that she wasn’t listening to you at all. “abstract seems so random though. no thinking there.”

you pointed the brush at her, yet careful enough that it doesn’t touch her nose. if another word comes from her mouth, you wouldn’t hesitate staining it. “sis, shapes are used instead of virtual reality, so abstract still needs thinking. you just express it differently.” hearing this, hyejin paused for a while before deciding which reaction to give, and with that you were satisfied into silencing her for a while. “now you know how i feel when i don’t understand shakespeare’s ‘love looks not with eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged cupid painted blind’.”

she let out a scoff, “pfft, you’re the cupid in that quote. you can’t even see that you like mr. prodigy so much.”

jaehyun gently opened the door and handed a paper slip to the tutor, which apparently was a doctor’s certificate. due to his arrival, hyejin elbowed you so hard that its force caused you to jolt in your seat then knocking two of the glassed jars placed on the narrow deck of your easel.

the tutor looked at your direction, and lowered his specs at the noise. flustered than you ever were in your entire life, you took the dust pan. you tried your best to not match eyes with jaehyun who was now smiling from second hand embarrassment. at farthest decibel your ears could handle, you could hear hyejin sneering with huffed laughs.

“i’m gonna kill you.” you mouthed from a table away and gave her a warning look. you gestured the phrase, followed by a scowl to refer her teasing tongue.

“i’ll help, y/n.” jaehyun offered, but you assured him it was fine. “what’re you working on?” he asked as you both walked back to the tables, he took out his tools and unfinished work.

this time was the season of cramming hours into a tight schedule, there were many initial stages/assignments due and portfolios to be completed. you guessed it was natural for you both to update each other regarding progress. “just giving more highlights and tweaks, then i’ll start on the portraits.”

he only pressed a smile, a breathy chuckle as a response while he focused on his art. “do you still need my help on shading?”

“i think i got the hang of it. thanks.” you damped the brush with water.

“alright, if you need me, i’m just here.”

your eyes shot down to your pockets, quickly answering the phone to quiet down the “supposedly” soundless vibration. and you wished you didn’t fished out the device if you knew that the message was from hyejin.

[18:45] hyejin: damn it y/n, confess already! 🤪

[18:45] you: if you could shut up maybe i will?? i could hear your voice haunting me 🙃

[18:46] hyejin: if there’s no progress today, i’m so gonna take action & tell him myself 😌

[18:47] you: ugh anything but that pls 😣

the thing with being associated with the arts was that time immediately had gone passed when you’re so concentrated. everything else faded away and in that momentum, it was just the art and you. jaehyun felt this once he picked up his brush or pencil. voices in his head whispered and guided him what to do with the creativity still yet to be shown in the world.

among all the students he bonded with, there was one whom perked his interest..

you.

as mentioned, his current surroundings blurred whilst he was sucked into another dimension of concentration. but you went there with him and appeared clear. seemed a scene out of an alternate reality in his perspective, or dramatic to some people. he was intrigued.

since knowing you, he expected to sought this mutual interest deeper. if he was the beautiful, detailed canvas everyone saw in an exhibition, you were the opposite; abstract, unpredictable and rough, someone who was overlooked because others couldn’t understand the depths and entirety of you.

finishing the last layer of the painting, you stretched to sooth the numbness. the professor reminded about the last few minutes before wrapping up the class and, he handed the room keys to you. for this tutorial, students have the choice to stay behind or leave. hyejin left with the others, leaving you alone with jaehyun. whether she did that on purpose, she’d do anything to let you be alone with him.

“oh? you’re done with yours?” jaehyun shifted sideways to take a better view of your work. he looked satisfied with the way his dimples hollowed. “hm. my advise is effective.”

“yeah, you’re a life saver.” you sighed as you looked at how completed the artwork was, then trailing your eyes to him again.

“i’m proud of you.” he winked, only to blush afterwards when his stomach growled. “i wish you didn’t hear that.”

coincidently, you tossed your wallet in the air. “good timing, i’m just about to head out to the cafeteria. want anything? my treat because you helped me.” you extolled with your mood in completely positivity. jaehyun became your inspiration and for now you weren’t able to bring yourself to tell him that.

hopefully soon though— when you have the courage.

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the sleepiness in your eyes only needed ten percent more to push your lids down, the queue was unexpectedly long at this hour. it was only until minutes later had you known that another department organised a party nearby. the wait for the order would be troublesome; that’d be in the fact there were girls right behind, their gaze burning into your skin as if you were an enemy of theirs. and somehow you knew,

they might be jaehyun’s admirers.

they whispered to each other, words audible enough for your hearing and you pretended to be listening to music.

and how you wished you should’ve.

“do you know why jaehyun took fine arts?” one asked.

an intrigued response caught you walking on a tight rope. this can’t be good. “sounds like you know the reason.”

“it’s been spreading around recently..” there was a pause that had you wondering even if you knew you shouldn’t believe in any of rumours from them. “i heard the studio has this session to draw the human body and the figures. like y’know.. no clothes?”

sigh, there wasn’t even any classes for those this semester, you thought.

few giggles were heard before they spoke again. “you’re saying he’s perverted?”

“maybe? i wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.”

“isn’t that kinda hot? his eyes starting into-”

you nearly dropped jaehyun’s food and trip over an extension wire hearing that. breathing slowly and steadily, you convinced yourself that what you heard was false. he wasn’t the type of guy they assumed he was.

as much as you wanted to prove them wrong, it wasn’t your place to speak out when the friendship you have with him was not to the level of best friends. so you rushed back to the studio, not noticing your blown-away hair and burning face. what was amusing after hearing the tea, you didn’t know why you reacted in that manner. did you leave because you couldn’t stand eavesdropping any longer? or did you run due to the fact the fantasies they had were about to enter your mind?

the door was opened with a force that jaehyun looked up from his work, smiling at your quick purchase. “whoa careful there. you didn’t have to run.” he chuckled and went to your table. he took his favourite spicy cake and placed it on top heavily. the force he exerted with his hands was the total opposite to when he dealt with art. somewhere in you, you’d say it was a 0.1 percent a turn-off.

“hey, it’s food. handle with care, it’s a blessing.” you said, munching on your share of the dishes.

jaehyun clasped his palms together, bowed his head and closed his eyes. he faced you and you sat there with a confused look. “thank you y/n, you’re an angel for treating me.”

soon after, you received a message from your professor about taking out some of the tools needed for tomorrow. holding the sandwich wrap between your lips, you took a closer look at the right keys before unlocking the storage room, opening the door afterwards.

it was at least the size of two toilet cubicles, not even close to a room’s walk-in closet. the thin cabinets against both sides of the wall were two feet, and the remaining space in the middle could fit a person’s leg, stretched out. the new set of canvases were placed on the top shelf. for someone like you, it wasn’t possible to reach them on tiptoes. you grabbed a chair and stacked two tins of paint for your feet to stand upon.

if you still couldn’t reach them.. eh, bummer. disturbing jaehyun who was enjoying his meal would be rude. you weren’t that type of person to suddenly feel as if you were already close to someone. the icky and dusty feeling on your fingertips nearly had you gagging.

“jaehyun?” you called out, apparently you’ve given up in trying another attempt. “i need a hand.”

there was a long pause as to why he didn’t respond immediately. maybe you should’ve have disturbed him? but you soon rolled your eyes when a mannequin’s hand was thrown to you. his snickers was supposedly an adorable thing to hear, this kind of wasn’t, because you desperately needed help now. “jeong jaehyun!”

he hummed right after you mentioned his name the second time. “i’m just messing around. but does that mean you’ll treat me again? i helped you.” his voice sounding with excitement.

you nodded, your anger long forgotten but he could tell there was conflict in your head. “i’ll consider it, so help me before i smack you with this plastic hand.” your tone slightly straining since you didn’t feel him entering the room.

“yeah. coming.” he said, giggling at your impatience. as you tried to reach out for the canvases again, the light behind you slowly dimmed.

that was weird. “hey, it’s getting dark in here.” you said.

before he could say anything, the door slowly closed and that made you raise a brow. he noticed this too and looked into your eyes when the light within the room soon disappeared. “ah sorry, i must’ve kicked the door stopper.” even in the dark, you could tell he was flustered from his actions. “i’ll open it.”

however his groans and vigorous sounds from the door knob stated otherwise. “what?” you heard him raise his voice.

“what’s wrong?” you hopped off the tins and grabbed the knob, twisting it clockwise then anti-clockwise. “it’s jammed.”

you both panicked because the night wasn’t getting any younger. there were things to finish and deadlines were drawing closer. before, you thought of procrastinating even when necessary. but procrastinating like this wasn’t part of the plan.

how was it possible for the knob to be jammed? the door wasn’t closed in an impact that would cause its components to be broken. sure jaehyun was reckless and couldn’t control his strength but that really wasn’t the issue here.

the actual issue was that you were going be stuck with him for who knows until when. stuck in a sense there were just enough space for two people. jaehyun fumbled his pockets in search of his phone, an annoyed groan told you it was bad news. “call someone. my battery just died and my powerbank’s outside.”

quickly you fished out your phone, only to find that it had the same fate. “ugh i have 10% left.” you slumped your sides to the shelves like there was no hope. “i’ll try to text hyejin.”

“hm i hope she’s not too far from the campus.” jaehyun leaned against the shelves opposite from you, his expression definitely amused with your reaction. a scoff of disbelief escaped your dry lips, sliding the phone to the shelf as you put your hair on one side. “that doesn’t sound good. what did she say?”

for all the things hyejin could do to help you get out of there, she’d rather sit and tease every single nerve of your body. “she said ‘you both just made your own seven minutes in heaven! i’m laughing out loud right now.’”

and for the things you thought jaehyun would disagree with your friend, he didn’t. it surprised you when his held-in giggles came bursting out from his chest. “it’s exciting. don’t you think?” he chuckled. “this is something you see in movies.”

“okay. tell me, what’s exciting about being locked-”

“we can ask each other questions. or any topic you’d like to talk about. i wanna know more about you.” he suggested, shutting you up because if he didn’t, you’d be quite a complainer. jaehyun bent to a squat, later stretching his legs until the soles reached the sides of your hips. “i rarely get the chance to talk to you properly and i guess this is the day, so scoot over.” he gestured you to move aside a little.

“gee i wonder why?” your voice came out sarcastically. “i don’t ignore people unlike a certain someone.”

“just sit down, will you?” jaehyun seemed to take the fact to heart.

you complied and sat exact the same as he did. the tiled floor sent cool to your legs but it didn’t really matter. jaehyun began by asking how you got into art; what motivated you to choose this field. “it’s just a childhood dream of mine to keep expanding my creativity. i wanna teach kids the joy in paint, that we’re not limited to using tools. i started painting with my hands and fingers when i was five.”

“really? i’m the same, except i was three when i painted.” his dimples deepening.

though you did answer him, you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him the whole story. you were just par in the arts, an average joe and always felt like your professors tied your wings together to express what you really wanted. every proposal you presented were rejected. if lucky, it still wasn’t good enough. not enough to reach jaehyun’s standards and world.

his shoes hit your hips again, the nudges were light and made you look to him. “your turn.” he said.

your eyes wander the dark room, the thin light from the sides of the door showing the outline of his face. “is it good? being called something you never wanted to be? did you know you’re gifted as a kid?”

“do you want my honest opinion?” he brought one leg to his chest, forearm resting on it as he start to ponder. hearing the soft shuffles from you in agreement, he gulped his dry throat to say the one thing he longed to say.

“i don’t like it.”

beyond speechless. you thought maybe he’d like the feeling of being center of attraction, or praised to have a skill that was out of this world. while you’d like to know what it felt like, it already told you enough that he wouldn’t want to be referred to as a prodigy. “not even a single bit?” alarmed, you squinted your eyes and he shook his head.

“i used to like it at first.. now i don’t,” jaehyun admitted but his face had changed the moment you asked him the one thing he never wanted to look back. “..because i was set apart from kids my age and they view me differently, nor have they ever treated me like every kid in the block.“

he continued how parents would tell him he was ‘inspiring’ or ‘i wish i had a kid like you; dedicated, and talented’. the claim have made him proud, yet this caused insecurity to most of his friends, and they distanced themselves from him. what was once the same ground they stood upon, it had quaked the earth and caused a wide gap. jaehyun hated the feeling of isolation by the will of others. though he had tried many times to reach out to them..

the gap continued to widen.

“there’s not much of a difference now.” he whispered yet audible enough for you to hear. ”i still have less friends. countable with fingers.. on one hand.”

probably the reason why he looked like a snob then.

“i see. so am i?.. part of your ‘friends’?” he heard you ask when reality hits you that you shouldn’t have said your thoughts out loud. closing your eyes for a bit, you heard the shift in his weight, he didn’t answer right away. it was as if he was still finding the words.

but he sat right beside you. “you’re already one when we both entered this classroom. i had a hunch you’ll be one i’ll treasure.”

if anyone was told the way he did just now, it would definitely make them smile. that was his honest opinion and you couldn’t help but smile at his words. he seemed to notice this too and let out a chuckle that was always music to your ears. “should we try to open the door again?” you changed the topic to avoid the awkward smile creeping your face. your hands gripped the knob and jaehyun tugged the hems of your jeans.

“y/n, if you do it further we’ll be damned if hyejin couldn’t open from the outside.” he stood that he was already behind you. “i’m not stopping you from trying though.”

“f-fine.” you leaned against the door, soothing your legs that experienced paresthesia. jaehyun pat your head like he always did whenever you unintentionally embarrass yourself, be it art or not whatsoever. “i just can’t seem to stay still.” oh gosh i don’t know what i’d do if i’m alone with him.

“yeah clearly.” he shrugged.

you had a scowled face and glad he didn’t see it. “the place’s so cramped-” you continued, walking to the chair you once stood on, only to lose balance when the shelves you held for support gave in to collapse from the weight it carried. with weight, the whole furniture wobbled to fall.

in a split second you felt yourself being lifted off the ground, a strong arm wrapping around your frame and saw yourself at the opposing side of the room. jaehyun closed into you as he managed to stop the some items from falling. the entire body of the cabinet covered and trapped you both in a tight place. the furniture tilted right behind him. one small move, the items could injure two and he didn’t want to risk that.

he could feel your breath touch his shirt and with the way you held his clothes, you definitely didn’t see this coming. “are you okay?” he thought there was a possibility of squishing you.

“uncomfortable, but i’ll manage.. somehow.” you honestly replied because there was no point in lying to him.. physically speaking, he’d know what you feel since he himself was also in discomfort. anyway, with your answer, this marked the third silence as there was another one creating yet another gap in the conversation.

okay y/n. you told yourself. you made everything awkward than before. first was you asked whether you were friends, which you already were. second was your stupid and careless behaviour that led to the position you’re both in now.

“what about you?” you asked after seeing the huge frame towering over both of your bodies, mostly onto his. so maybe that was another unnecessary question to ask.

jaehyun gulped and fixed his one of his palms that he gripped on the shelf behind you. you could see his adam’s apple move up and down, struggling to breathe. he pushed backwards to be able to see your face. tilting his head down, that movement alone made you look up. “uncomfortable, but i’ll somehow manage.” he smiled even though you knew he wasn’t.

“you know you’ll earn zero marks if you copy my answer.” you giggled, remembering the professor’s words at the beginning of the semester.

he flicked your forehead as he agreed with the obvious statement. “i heard him. anyway, it’s my turn to ask.”

“are we really playing the game now? can we at least try to figure how to get out of this position?” you began to whine and threw your head back where you hit your head, and you didn’t care how shameful you felt. you knew you wouldn’t stand any longer, your legs started to weaken because of stress— stress from everything jaehyun managed to make you feel, that included the little smiles and especially his hand around your waist.

jaehyun didn’t know why he put his palms behind your head before the incident happened but he knew he had to, with the way you flustered so much. he figured that you weren’t used to situations like these.

however a memory slipped into his mind that you were always your usual self with other guys around. he noticed how you held or hiccuped a breath whenever you both conversed. you and him weren’t particularly close to begin with, just enough to pass as friends and maybe it was his love for art that brought that gap closer to you.

right now? perhaps too close. literally.

“why not? it gets more fun.” he tried to hide the smile creeping his lips; at the sight of how irritated you were beneath him and he actually considered your plead to get you both to safety. but maybe he’d like to enjoy a little bit before doing so. “besides, there’s no way we can move properly with a lot of things blocking our surroundings.”

on both sides, the two of you were encased with large items and materials that were affected by the impact. “tsk.” you tilted your head to avoid looking at him. “at least try to push the huge cabinet?”

he did as he was told and from the grunts and exhausted voice, jaehyun gave up trying. “i don’t think i can. something’s probably caught in the gap between the wall and the furniture.” he tried to look over his shoulder to see if he was right.

“i thought prodigies don’t give up.” your voice sounded challenging to him.

“within the spectrum of our skill, we don’t. but outside our gift, we have the choice to.” jaehyun flicked your forehead again. “we get tired too.”

there was less force against your torso, he was trying to push the furniture again and you bubbled out a giggle. “wow you aren’t as cool as i thought you were.”

jaehyun wanted to hit you as you were being too playful at the wrong time. but as he brought his hand up, you closed your eyes shut to brace for the sharp impact. he sighed and his stomach growled in the most embarrassing way yet. “ugh, it’s because i haven’t eaten enough. i don’t have any strength left.” his stomach then growled louder.

maybe it was due to your bodies against each other’s and the heat starting to roam around the room. jaehyun clicked his tongue at the continuous mimicking of yours. “c’mon y/n i can’t be the only one doing the work here. help me push this heavy thing behind me.”

“uh no? do you think i could even help? don’t make me uncomfortable than i’m already am.” you moaned at the pain starting to grow along your spine. arching your back to avoid the discomfort from the shelves wasn’t really a good idea.

“ah you’re uncomfortable?” he implored with a smirk, his voice quite menacing as he leaned in to squeeze you between the cabinet behind you and himself.

for the whole time jaehyun knew that you didn’t mean whatever you said. he loved how you surprise him everyday and tonight he found you quite cheeky, and adorable too. by quite, it meant that you were like a child wanting to go home. a huff from him felt like the gust of wind. “‘i don’t have any strength left’.” you copied his words. seeing his lips pout, it was alright to give in. “will you treat me food if i help?” you returned the question because you treated him.

“you’re lucky you’re cute.” he suddenly said, with a soft chuckle, you knew he was smiling. it had gotten you speechless that it was hard to tell whether he said knowingly or not. “we can buy what the other wants after we get out of here, okay?” his attempt to get the wood off him yet again failed.

you clapped your hands quite hyperactively and squealed as if he asked you out on a date. “oh yay! okay. i wouldn’t want to be rained on for another hour anyway.” you teased, in which he exhaled heavily from his nostrils.

“i’m not that sweaty.” he grumbled, almost vibrating with the exertion of his energy.

“just perspiring.” you added.

he hit your head with his, for sure you’ll have a prominent bruise and that would make you a victim for hyejin for the next few days. or tonight, if she would get you both out. “that’s the same meaning.”

it took less than two minutes to take the weight off his back. jaehyun saw everything in slow motion— he was falling backwards and you, frontwards. “whoa!” for a moment you thought you hit yourself on a wall. that was for a brief second before the impact was replaced by a warm hug.

you checked if he was okay, he became your safe fall and again he saved you when you didn’t ask for it. “i didn’t expect.. i’m sorry.” you pressed your lips realising you were in between his legs.

he hissed at the pain and sat tiredly on the floor, using all of the fabrics of his clothes to wipe the sweat. “it’s okay.” he patted your back.

“right.. this is awkward. i better get off..” you chuckled and dusted your clothes awkwardly but what he said next really caught you off guard.

“do you want to do it?” he queried, taking you back as your head shot up and hit his chin with your forehead.

you blinked several times. “d-do what?” is this another question i won’t be able to answer?

there was a shaky grip on your waist, your heart hammered and you were afraid that he would hear it. “y’know what i’m talking about.” he put the hair strands away so he would be able to see your face under the lines of slim light.

“i don’t?” you choked on your own saliva. what was he talking about?

jaehyun’s breath made you freeze on the spot, along sudden silence. he giggled softly. “such a waste, you even have a perfect body.”

then the conversation from the two girls at the cafeteria entered your mind right when you thought deep. hold on, the rumours can’t be true..

he stood up shortly, cornering you by the door and the lights revealed his eyes, smiling shyly. “you have perfect proportions.” as of now, you were a little nervous. you couldn’t process what you were hearing from your crush’s lips and looked away where you could see hyejin’s figure closing the studio’s door.

finally hyejin’s here. i have to tell him. “uh jaehyu-”

“can you be my model?” he held your hands.

oh shoot it is true?

“i need someone to pose for my next art portrait and you’re the only one i can ask.”

‘well aren’t you quite the deep thinker~’ you could imagine hyejin’s voice telling you off at the back of your mind. you shook your head and shut your eyes for her imaginary presence to go away, making you miss seeing jaehyun’s expression turn to a small pout.

suddenly you felt like your soul left your body. what were you thinking y/n?! erase the thought! cleanse your mind from what you heard from the girls!

now you stopped being an embarrassment, you looked at him. however, before you could answer, the door swung open, causing you both to fall over and adjust to the lights above you. hyejin looked down at the two of you, her bubblegum popping with brows raised. “girl, i texted you back and said i’m opening the door. didn’t you see- oh, did i come at the wrong time?”

jaehyun quickly got on his toes, ears turning red while you covered your face in embarrassment. “this is a misunderstanding hyejin!” he stuttered and fixed his collar. you dug for your phone to check the message, but it died long before.

she blew another bubble and popped. “mhm, i can see that.” she winked at the both of you and turned to leave.

“hyejin!” you whined and clung on her legs.

“i’m leaving!” she singsonged and shook her ankles like you were a bug. “i’m giving you more alone time with your muse!”

“oh my g- you!” you chased her down. “quiet!”

she laughed cheekily and managed to exit the studio, sticking out her tongue and pointed behind you. ‘walk home with him!’ hyejin mouthed, and you couldn’t be more annoyed with her because that was indeed true. what was once a wishful thinking became reality. she knew you more than you did yourself.

as you sighed heavily, it got you hitching a breath that jaehyun might’ve heard and saw the whole thing. you turned around and he was packing his stuff, yours included. the artworks were left untouched since you both would be back here tomorrow. he gave your bag and you chose to not talk because you didn’t have the audacity to do. “so, uh. what were you saying earlier?” you hoped he would forget what he just saw.

“oh y-yeah. lemme just-” he took a deep breath and looked into your eyes. “..rephrase it- wait i’m your muse?”

of course he wouldn’t forget, it just happened. damn you, hyejin! you slouched on a nearby chair and wore your hood. “i was hoping you wouldn’t find out so soon.”

“i’m flattered. thanks.” his dimples hollowed. “i was asking if you could be my reference for my next art piece..” he trailed off recalling that you declined. “..though you shook your head quickly than i thought.”

“huh i did?” your voice affirming. “oh gosh i think i did.. i’m sorry i was hearing hyejin in my head when you said that.”

jaehyun’s eyes widened when all he heard was pure honesty from you. “so will you do it for me?”

“as long as i wear clothes while at it.” you consented with your arms crossed and began to feel heat spread your whole body at the thought of the rumour.

walking along the hallway, only the sounds of shoes grazing the carpet echoed the area. you didn’t know what else to say. he brought you to the nearest convenient store where the campus’ one was closed at the hour. the food you bought turned cold and you couldn’t afford to get sick because of it.

he pulled the chair for you to sit on. “you heard them as well.” he placed his bag down. he was aware of the rumours found around and was shocked to know you knew them too. “they’re not true.”

you propped your chin as he went back to the topic. “i know.” you agreed to his words. “they don’t describe you at all.”

jaehyun sat comfortably, a smirk appearing. “me being your muse fits the description-”

this guy.. “please don’t bring that up.” you pleaded with hands clasped.

“i’m teasing.” he chuckled. “i don’t mind if you refuse want to be my model.” he said. “but i assure i’m not like other artists who paints their naked model. i have a better plan for you.”

he was trying to convince you into his world and you were slowly getting into it. “that’s like saying you really want me to.” you took your wallet and he followed suit.

“what’s wrong with wanting to paint my new muse?” he slid his chair closer to the table; closer so he could see your reactions to his honesty.

when he said that, you never turned away so fast in your life. your chest never thumped so loudly and your eyes fluttered while he continued to press onto his question. 

an assuring smile showed on your lips and he mirrored it, already knowing your response. “nope, nothing wrong at all.” you shyly accepted his request.

jaehyun then stood to get the orders, his fingers warning you that the late dinner would be on him. your heart experienced blossoms and giddiness you hoped it’d stay forever. who knows? maybe being each other’s muse could turn into something more after tonight.  

[jamilelucato]

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into [F. W.]

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Gryffindor!Reader (platonic); Fred Weasley x Reader.

Summary: Based on the song A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into from the musical Be More Chill; Y/N has conflicted feelings towards Draco, but talking to Fred might make she realize that she might be into someone else.

A/N: second post from the Musical Hogwarts list!! This is so cute, but there are no kisses here if that’s what you looking for. Also, if you want to really feel the song, I recommend reading first and then rereading it with the song.

Words: 1.700+

Musical Hogwarts || Hogwarts Masterlist

Fred and George walked in the Great Hall with a confident smile. They had just pranked Ron, and they couldn’t be happier with the results.

They found a place to sit next to y/N, a girl from Gryffindor that was the same age as Harry, Ron and Hermione. She was generally quite shy, but she used to have quirky remarks that made everybody laugh.

Today, however, she was looking rather upset.

Fred sat at her right and stared at her before paying attention to the food. He was hungry, but he was more worried about her than about lunch.

“What’s wrong, y/N?”

She looked up, noticing the twins sitting next to her. She tried to grin, but it seemed wrong. She turned back to her plate.

“Nothing.” It was nice having them caring about her, but they weren’t that close; she didn’t think it was prudent to tell them a secret about herself that she wasn’t even sure it was true.

Nevertheless, something kept on pushing her to talk.

“Come on, y/N, why the disturbed face?” Fred pushed. His big brown eyes made her more susceptible to spill her beans.

“Say there’s this person you pass in the hall every day,” she finally gave in, sighing before dropping her cutlery. “You’ve known him since... the first year.”

Fred raised a brow at her. He wasn’t so sure where that conversation was going. He looked at his twin, but George was too distracted with his food.

“You’re used to thinking about him in a certain way from the persona that he displayed,” she kept saying as if every detail was important. She felt that if he knew who she meant, things would be easier to understand; however, she was not confident enough to say his name.

“Okay...” Fred kept facing her, but his hands reached for the food in front of him. Not that he wasn’t curious, it was just ’cause he was hungrier than before.

“Then something changes,” she wrinkled her nose, uncertain how to proceed. “And he changes from a guy that you’d never be into to a guy that you’d kinda be into...”

Fred froze, the fork two inches from his mouth. Was her concern love? Y/N was in love?

He had not much to an opinion about it. It was obviously gonna happen someday, he just didn’t think y/N would confide in him.

“Is he worth it?” she asked, staring at his eyes with a sad look. “Fred? Is he?” she called Fred’s attention — but he seemed much more interested in his fork. She then breathed and looked away.

Fred turned to his twin, desperately wanting help. He had no idea what to do or what to say.

“Is she talking about me?” he asked George.

“Of course, she is!” George sort of whispered loudly. He had, in fact, paid attention to the whole conversation — y/N and Fred’s interactions were kinda his favourite TV series; there was always some drama! He didn’t think, however, that y/N would be the one to confess so soon. “Keep it up,” he elbowed his brother and turned back to his food.

Fred faced y/N again and met her eyes. He felt his cheeks turning red, but he seemed oblivious to his reaction. She kept talking:

“Say there’s this person that you never knew that well,” her voice was sweet like she was afraid of saying those things and regretting it.

Fred wished he knew what to say to comfort her. He had been undergoing the same lately — conflicted feelings, jealousy at random times...

“You thought that you had him pegged, but now you can’t tell...” y/N kept rambling, repeating the same words but Fred’s mind was far away. She was in love with him! Sure, she was proposing a hypothetical situation, but why would she mention it to Fred?

It all made sense — she and Fred didn’t use to hit it off so well at first. Fred (and George) were too much of pranksters for her; she didn’t believe tricking everyone every time was decent. But, this year, Fred had started to cool off, at least around her. He was becoming a gentleman — as Ginny phrased it.

“Is he worth it? Freddie?” y/N thought Fred didn’t seem much interested, and why would he be? It wasn’t like her to drift around the twins, but she just felt like he could understand.

“Absolutely,” Fred finally answered, lowering his brows in hopes to look more approachable.

She sighed and looked down at her now cold food.

“I don’t always relate to other people my age, except when I’m on the field,” oh, Quidditch... If things were as easy as the rules of the game. “There are so many changes that I’m going through,” she faced Fred and finally smiled, a sincere smile. She blushed at his reaction. “And why am I telling this to you?”

Fred was smiling back, just curving his lips up.

“Guess there’s a part of me that wants to,” she admitted. “I guess a part of me likes to, hm, talk to you. Who knew?”

Fred kept quiet, and she thought that she should end the conversation immediately. She was already too confused; she couldn’t even remember what she was first talking about. She was going to tell Fred she was in love... with someone else, right?

“I know that it’s weird, but it’s totally true,” she concluded, tilting her head to the left. “The guy that I’d kinda be into...” was she really going to tell Fred? Oh, Merlin, he was going to freak out, he was not going to take it well. None of her friends was.

“The guy that you’d kind of be into...” Fred encouraged her. He was very close to confessing his feelings himself, but he thought it was better to let her finish.

“Yeah, that guy that I’d kinda be into is...” she swallowed hard, biting her lip, attempting to remember the guy’s name, easily distracted with Fred’s face, “Draco.”

***

Fred was panicking. He was not expecting to hear y/N confess having feelings for Draco Malfoy.

Merlin, how?? When did you have the time to befriends Draco? He couldn’t have been treating you nice from the beginning, could he?

Thankfully, George intervened after your confession.

“Bro, we gotta go now!” he pulled Fred up. “Like right now!”

Fred gulped while y/N exchanged looks with the boys, confused about what was happening and very suspicious. Fred wasn’t going to say a thing after her whole trouble of telling him about who she fancies?

She didn’t have time to stop the twins, though, because soon they disappeared out of the Hall.

Y/N sighed. Now what? Did that mean Fred disapproved? Part of her knew he wouldn’t like it — Draco was some sort of bad guy from the Weasleys’ point of view — but she expected him to say something.

Perhaps that meant she was overlooking things. Draco had been nice to her for the past couple of weeks, but maybe it didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t like Draco to be nice, but he could be trying to change.

Or he could fancy her too.

No, he probably doesn’t.

***

“Hermione?” y/N called the bushy-haired girl’s name with a weak voice, but it was sufficient for her to hear it.

She had just arrived into the Gryffindor room with Harry and Ron, but the boys seemed to have their own problems to think about, so they didn’t mind when Hermione walked towards y/N, leaving them behind.

Y/N was sitting at the bottom of the stairs — squeezed close to the wall, leaving an empty space for those who wanted to go up to their dorms.

“What’s it, y/N?” Hermione asked, sitting on the step above hers.

“I hope this doesn’t sound weird, but...” y/N gulped, “has Draco seem nicer to you lately?”

“Particularly to me, or to everyone in general?”

She gave it a thought, “in general.”

“He does seem more... calm, I guess,” Hermione answered, lowering her shoulders. “It’s not that he stopped calling people names, it’s just that he has stopped calling people at all.”

Y/N sighed, looking down at the book she had in hands. Hermione noticed the change in her mood and asked about it.

“I knew I was seeing things where there were none,” y/N rued. “I thought I could be fancying him, but I’ve passed the whole afternoon trying to list things about him that I liked I could only come up with three.”

“Are there three things you like about Malfoy?” Hermione asked in a mocking tone, and y/N giggled.

“Funny, right?” she agreed. “Well, I’ve got: good looking—”

“Unfortunately, I agree, ” Hermione interrupted with a frowned face.

“—smart and empathetic.”

“I’m sorry — empathetic? When has he been empathetic??” Hermione showed her disbelief, moving her hands around.

Y/N pressed her lips together, thinking if she should tell Hermione or not.

“He noticed I was sad about my whole parents’ thing,” she said finally, “and we talked about some families coincidences we have.”

“You mean the death eater parents?” she asked with a bit too loud voice and y/N complained. Hermione gulped a sorry.

Not everyone in school knew about the terrible family y/N had, and she wanted to keep it that way.

“Well, I guess he can understand that. But has he ever been nice to you before?”

Y/N liked that about Hermione — she was logical and wanted to know her arguments to defend the crush. She didn’t seem to care the crush in question was on Draco Malfoy.

“No, not really,” y/N sighed, looking away, tilting her head down.

“Y/N, if I can be honest, I don’t think you like him,” although harsh, Hermione’s words did not hurt you. She was right, as always. “You’re probably just needy.”

“Mione!!” she screamed, pretending to be mad with Hermione who burst into laughter.

Hermione and y/N kept sitting on the stairs, smiling at each other, glad to have one another when a new worry popped into y/N’s mind.

“Oh, shit!”

“What, y/N?” Hermione looked down at her, passing one arm around her shoulders.

Y/N wasn’t completely wrong with her thoughts — she just directed it to the wrong direction. She had a crush. It was not on Draco, however.

“I need to talk to Fred!” y/N yelled, already getting up and leaving her book behind with Hermione.

“Told you you’re needy!” Hermione shouted back, laughing hard.

Y/N slowed down just to turn back at her friend with bulging eyes. “Shut up, Mione!”

[whitesparrows97]

Heartstring Melodies – Part 3

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader (feat. Jeon Jungkook x Reader)

Genre: Soulmate AU, College AU, fuckboy!Yoongi

Summary: Min Yoongi, the fuckboy of the whole college and the guy all girls fall for, should be your soulmate? You don’t believe that, you don’t want to believe that. Therefore, you and your best friend make a pact: She pretends to be you and gets together with Yoongi. Nothing can go wrong with that, right?

Warnings: Tiny little bit of smut and a little bit of angst

Word Count: 3.3K

Author’s note: Hello! This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I hope you like it anyway! I would be very happy about any kind of feedback and I hope you all are and stay healthy! See you soon! (Also is anyone even reading this? I feel like most people just scroll over this part)

Previous / Next

Chapter three: «Hearts are made to be broken.» – o.w.

“Okay,”… “Uh-huh,”… “I’m glad,”… “Oh, how nice” – out of these short sentences your part of the conversation consisted in the next two hours. You had gone straight home, just like Jin had told you. You hadn’t even managed to take off your shoes when your phone had rung from Liv’s call. Since then you had to listen to her talk about how great Yoongi was.

The first five minutes you had been feeling sick in the pit of your stomach. To be shown it so obviously that Yoongi wasn’t as bad as you thought, affected you more than you wanted to admit. The look with which he had looked at Liv had come back to your memory and it had taken everything of your willpower to banish this image from your thoughts.

Afterwards you had tried to block out Liv’s voice completely. You wanted to be happy that the plan had worked so well – maybe a little too well. But every time you felt the sting in your heart, you tried to remember that it had been your own idea. So you couldn’t complain. Not when Liv sounded so happy…

“I deserve a ‘thank you’ from you, by the way,” Liv pulled you out of your thoughts.

Confused, you frowned and rolled over to your other side on your bed. “How come?”

“Jungkook?”, she asked, as if it was obvious what she was alluding to.

“What about him?”

Liv snorted on the other side of the line. “Didn’t he text you? He said he was going to do it straight away.” 

“Oh, yes, he did,” you quickly clarified. You thought back to the short message he had sent you, which you had ignored so far. You were grateful that he had intervened when Taehyung had pressured you. But you did not know exactly what he wanted from you now. If he expected a thank you or even something in return, he could wait a long time. 

“Well? What did he say? And more importantly, what did you reply?” You could practically see Liv waiting for you to give her all the juicy details. 

“All he said was that you gave him my phone number, but I haven’t replied yet.”

Liv sighed annoyed. “Why not? Y/N, have you seen Jungkook?”

You shrugged your shoulders, even though Liv couldn’t see that. “Yeah, so?”

“So? He’s so handsome!”

“I wonder what Yoongi would say if he knew you fancied his best friend.”

“Since when did Min Yoongi become just Yoongi?” Liv asked without responding to your comment. Your heart skipped a beat when you realized that you had just called him by his first name. And Liv also seemed to notice the change. “Is there a problem?”

A cold shiver ran down your spine when you heard Liv’s voice. Normally you’d think Liv was just checking to see if everything was okay. But something about her voice and the way she phrased it made you think differently. “No, everything’s fine. I’ve just had a long day and everything went wrong in the lab as well,” you tried to make an excuse. 

“Then don’t keep Jungkook waiting any longer. I’m sure he can cheer you up,” Liv said and was back to her old self. If you were sitting across from each other, you’d probably see her wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

You were about to respond when a sound told you that you got another call. You briefly took the phone off your ear to see who the caller was, but it was a number you didn’t know. Immediately you could guess who it was. 

“Hey, Liv, I think Jungkook is calling me right now,” you apologized and Liv squealed at your statement. 

“Then I won’t try to stop you. And don’t forget, you are Liv!” she yelled into the phone and hung up. Before Jungkook could hang up as well, you answered the phone, albeit a bit hesitantly.

“Hello?”

“Hey Liv?” 

It sounded strange, not right (which it wasn’t) to hear the name of your best friend addressed to you. But you’d better get used to it from now on. The sooner, the better. 

“Yes, that’s me,” you said.

“Hey, this is Jungkook,” he said, even though you recognized his voice immediately anyway. “I don’t want to bother you but I wanted to apologize for Taehyung’s behavior earlier.”

“Wow, they must be good friends if you have to apologize for them,” you returned dryly. You straightened up in your bed; you felt that the conversation could not be conducted comfortably lying down. 

You heard Jungkook laugh softly. “Actually they are quite okay. But sometimes Taehyung doesn’t know when the fun is over.”

“Hm,” you just said. After a short silence you added, “Well, you didn’t do anything wrong. On the contrary.”

“Yes, about that…” Jungkook was suddenly calm and you were about to ask what he wanted to say when he continued, “this may come a bit unexpected, but I thought you were really cute earlier and wanted to ask if you would like to do something together the next few days.” 

Surprised, you clasped your cell phone, which almost slipped out of your fingers. You hadn’t expected that. Did Jeon Jungkook ask you out? Or was that one of his tricks to make fun of you later in his small group of friends?

Actually, Jungkook hadn’t made you feel like he would be the type of person to take advantage of girls in any way. But maybe that was exactly his strategy. You wouldn’t drop your protective barrier yet. “What would you like to do?” you asked tentatively. You knew that tomorrow night was a huge party organized by none other than Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin. If Jungkook wanted to drag you there, you knew where you stood with him. 

Jungkook cleared his throat before he spoke and you didn’t know if you were imagining the nervousness in his voice. “I had perhaps thought about – well, I asked Y/N what you were studying and I thought whether you might like to go to the Oceanographic Museum. I saw on their website that they even have turtles.”

You couldn’t help yourself. With Jungkook’s enthusiasm and innocence, a smile spread across your face. You also felt relief spilling out of you. You might even have been a little impressed that he seemed to care so much. Liv’s rhapsodies of Yoongi went through your head again and unconsciously you brushed over the black lines under your breast with your free hand. 

“Okay,” you agreed without really thinking about what exactly your agreement meant, “Why not? When will you be free?” 

Perhaps some distraction would help you fill the void in your heart. The deep hole known as unfulfilled desire that ripped open your chest. 

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

When you stood in front of the building where your apartment was the next afternoon, you were oddly calm. Normally you were always more than excited before dates, but today there was a pleasant peace within you. The summery dress you were wearing was gently caressing your thighs when a light breeze made you shiver. Maybe you should take a jacket after all?

You heard someone clearing their throat behind you and you turned around. In front of you stood Jungkook and you had to pull yourself together so that your jaw wouldn’t drop at the sight of him. He was wearing a black denim jacket, black skinny jeans and a matching baseball cap. You hadn’t paid much attention to him yesterday, so it was only now that you realized how right Liv had been.

Why couldn’t Jungkook’s name be above your heart?

Wow. Not even ten seconds on a date and your mind already wandered to another man. You put a smile on your face and looked at Jungkook. You were surprised when he gave you a quick hug. His scent overwhelmed you and enveloped you like a second warm embrace. Too quickly he released you again.

“How are you? How was your day?” he asked as you both slowly walked towards the bus stop that took you to the museum. 

“Fine,” you replied surprised. You hadn’t heard that question from anyone in a long time. That someone was interested enough in you to want to know how your day was, was new to you. But not unpleasant. “I’m glad I got through the lectures, though. Professor Leblanc has the ability to make an hour and a half of lectures feel like at least five hours.”

Jungkook laughed softly and you watched him kick a small pebble from the path into the short shorn grass by the wayside. “Is it that old guy with the crazy moustache who always looks like he’s about to keel over because of the way he bends forward?”

“Yup, that’s the one,” you confirmed and laughed. You had arrived at the bus stop and were relieved to find that you were the only ones waiting for the bus. It was Friday afternoon and you were afraid you’d be leaving right at rush hour. But apparently you were lucky. 

You and Jungkook were making small talk when the bus went around the corner a few minutes later. The bus was also pleasantly empty and Jungkook indicated with his hand that you should go ahead. “Thank you,” you said quietly and sat down at the window. When Jungkook dropped beside you, his leg bumped against yours. You felt the warmth radiating from his body, which was pressed directly against you.

“What are you studying? I know practically nothing about you,” you tried to distract yourself from his muscle-packed thigh, which was more than clearly visible through his tight jeans.

“Oh, I’m studying media production, so everything that has to do with film and photography,” he explained to you, “that’s why I was able to help Yoongi with his project. Have you seen the video? It turned out pretty amazing, if I say so myself,” he added with a little smile.

You tried to supress the brief shock that hit you when you heard the name from Jungkook’s mouth. You just shook your head, your throat was too tight to speak. 

“Wait, I’ll show you,” said Jungkook and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He typed in a few things and a moment later he held the phone out to you so that you had a good view of the screen. 

Jungkook turned down the volume, even though there were hardly any people sitting around you anyway. Nevertheless you could hear the piano and the lovely melody more than clearly, which came through the speakers. The phone faded before your eyes as your whole body seemed to focus on just one thing: the music, the sounds that were carried to your ears.

The name under your breast burned and nervously you wiped your sweaty palms on the fabric of your dress. Your heart beat in the same rhythm as the melody, which was almost repressed by the loud rush of your blood in your ears. 

“What do you think?” Jungkook asked after a few seconds and his voice pulled you back into the here and now. The loud roar of the bus engine, the landscape that passed you quickly, and Jungkook looking at you with anticipation. 

“Wow, this is really good,” you said, even though you didn’t mean the video. But Jungkook seemed satisfied with it. He pressed pause and put his phone back in his pocket. It was as if the string of a violin snapped in two and only the unpleasant silence remained. 

“Thank you,” he said and threw a smile at you. “Maybe you would like to stand in front of the camera sometime? I have a semester project and I’m still looking for a model.”

“Model?” you asked in disbelief, almost choking on your own spit. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this.”

“Oh, bullshit,” he contradicted you, “I think you’d be perfect.” He looked deep into your eyes, his brown eyes almost piercing yours. The gaze was so intense, so full of emotion that you had to avert your gaze after a few seconds. 

You were happy that the next station was the station where you had to get off. You couldn’t stand it any longer to sit next to him and watch his gaze glide towards you every few seconds.

When you arrived at the museum, you breathed a sigh of relief. Jungkook seemed to be more than excited about the museum’s various exhibitions. You actually came to the museum often. The peace and quiet brought you down when things got busy at university. The different aquariums, in which the most diverse colorful fish swam or the impressive coral reefs, which offered habitat to thousands of organisms, greeted you like an old friend as you strolled through the almost empty corridors.

“Wow,” Jungkook was amazed when you stopped in front of a huge aquarium. The glass took up the entire wall and offered an incredible view of all kinds of fish. “Look,” he suddenly said, pointing to a stingray that swam past you. “Oh, I wish I’d brought my camera.” He sighed as you watched him looking with big brown eyes at the fish. 

“I’m sure there are no cameras allowed here,” you said and nodded towards the sign with a camera symbol crossed out with a thick red line.

“Too bad, would have been a great location to film.” He gave you a quick glance that you couldn’t place. You didn’t have time to worry about it though, because Jungkook suddenly grabbed your hand and pulled you further to the next aquarium. You looked surprised at your intertwined fingers and had to smile. His thumb stroked reassuringly over the back of your hand and a pleasant warmth flowed through your body. 

“Oh, look, there’s Nemo,” he said and you too looked at the orange, white striped fish, which was hiding in an anemone, so that only its head was sticking out. 

The tentacles of the sea anemone moved gently through the light current of the water, so that you could occasionally catch a glimpse of the little clownfish. “Actually, this is not the same species as Nemo,” you explained, pointing to the fish’s pattern. “See the black lines around the white markings?” Jungkook nodded as he listened to you. “Nemo is an Amphiprion Ocellaris, while our little friend here is an Amphiprion Percula.”

Jungkook gave you a side glance and you just saw him stifle that grin before he turned his back on you and walked to the next aquarium.

“What?” you asked, hearing a slight laugh even in your voice.

“Nothing, nothing,” he quickly reassured you.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like a smart ass,” you apologized slightly flustered. Immediately Jungkook turned to you at your tone of voice.

“No, that’s not how you sounded at all. On the contrary,” he said and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, “that’s actually really hot that you know so much.”

You felt the heat rise up your cheeks when he said that and had to avert your gaze. 

“Is there an outside area?” asked Jungkook and you were happy when he changed the subject. 

You nodded at his question. “Actually, yes, but it’s under reconstruction. But I saw the ice cream stand was still open.” You left the unspoken question hanging in the air and Jungkook already pulled you towards the doors.

The last warm rays of sunshine broke through the treetops and lit the path from campus back to your apartment. The other students who rushed past you gave you nothing more than a quick glance to the side. You walked past the building where the laboratories were located and immediately thought of Seokjin who had been there for you yesterday. The next time you saw him, you would definitely thank him again thoroughly. You gave him special credit for not digging any further when he had seen how stressed you were. 

You and Jungkook came to a halt in front of the automatic glass doors at the entrance of your building. His fingers were still intertwined with yours, but he had stopped running his thumb across the back of your hand. You missed the feeling. It had been something to focus on and distract you from the impending goodbye. 

“I had a very nice day…” he began and turned his gaze to the ground for a moment before he looked up again. “I would be happy if we could do this again soon.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” you returned thoughtfully and stared amusedly at the slight disappointment in his eyes. “I think this might be a bit monotonous for you when we go back to the museum. Exhibitions don’t change that often,” you added, grinning at him.

Jungkook pulled his hand out of yours and looked at you playfully affected. “You are… I have no words.” He continued to look at you in amazement and shook his head. 

“Sorry,” you apologised and your grin diminished to an apologetic smile, “but I would be very happy if we could do something again in the next few days.”

Jungkook returned your smile at your confession. “Cool,” he just returned and now it was your turn to laugh.

“Cool?” you repeated amused by his choice of words.

“Maybe even very cool,” he remarked before his gaze fluttered down to your lips. Your breath faltered as Jungkook put one hand on your cheek and stroked it gently. His gaze searched for yours as if asking for permission. Unconsciously, you nodded slightly and saw the corner of Jungkook’s mouth twitching upwards before closing your eyes. 

One blink of an eye later, you felt his soft lips on yours. 

You felt his firm yet tender grip around your waist as he pulled you closer and combed his fingers through your hair. 

And what you felt most of all was the glaring heat emanating from the thin, black lines engraved on your skin. 

You opened your mouth and allowed Jungkook’s tongue to enter and didn’t want to think of the dark-haired man whose name matched that very tattoo. 

You pressed yourself harder against Jungkook and let your hands slide under his denim jacket to run them over his trained back muscles. He sighed into the kiss and swallowed your tongue with his. You didn’t want to think about his face when Liv had told him she was his soulmate. 

You kissed Jungkook more demandingly, bit his lip slightly, which made him moan a little and you repressed all thoughts of Min Yoongi and that you wished he was the one kissing you right now. 

“Fuck,” Jungkook moaned and broke away from you. He leaned his forehead against yours while the two of you struggled for breath. His hot breath hit your face at irregular intervals while he searched for the right words. “You… you are incredible,” he added and gave you a short kiss on the tip of your nose before he completely detached himself from you. 

He smiled at you as you said goodbye to him. He promised you that you would see each other again soon and you knew that everyone in your situation would jump for joy. You turned around again when you walked through the glass doors and saw Jungkook still standing in the same place. When your eyes met, he grinned and waved to you once more. 

You still ignored the burning in your chest as you smiled back at him and turned around as inconspicuously fast as possible. And what you didn’t want to think about either was that you hadn’t felt anything when Jungkook kissed you. 

————————

Tag list:

@loveyoongles @missseoulite @mymainaccountlol @stillcopingxx @boywithtofucheekies @betysotelo18 @wrecklesseuphoria @welcometothecity    @teresaisla @kaheryn 

[atlafan]

My Everything - Part Fourteen

A Take it Slow Sequel

What happens with Harry and Y/N after he proposes? How will the two navigate the engaged life while also continuing to juggle their jobs, friends, and families? Let’s find out.

Warnings: Fluff, a wee bit of angst, and smut! 4.6K

a/n: this is the last part before the story takes a small break, but do not fear! There’s going to be 20 parts total, and I have parts 15-17 already fully written and ready to go. I just wanna give this a breather so I can put some other works out there. I hope you’re enjoying seeing them as parents! Will they make a second baby? We shall soon find out! (also, I don’t know how much a 2 year old can actually articulate, so if his dialogue is wonky, please excuse me lmao)

Masterpost

Jack was two years old, and you were loving having a toddler. He was rather rambunctious. You loved having summers off so you could spend time at home with him. You loved watching him play and learn. He was getting rather heavy to pick up, and his mop of curls reminded you a lot of Harry’s. He was certainly a good mix of the two of you.

Even though there were times you wanted to scream and cry when he’d get fussy, you knew it would only be another couple of years before he started school, and you wouldn’t have this time with him. You were sort of starting to miss having an actual baby around. As you watched him play in the backyard with Buster, you thought more and more about how nice it would be for him to have a little sibling to play with. He had friends from daycare, but still, a younger brother or sister would be nice.

When Harry gets home from work later, he had adjusted his schedule to be able to be home by 3PM in the summers, he sits outside with you.

“Maybe it’s time we look into a pool.” He says to you.

“What?”

“It gets good sun out here.”

“Sarah and Niall have a pool, we can just use theirs.”

“I know, but wouldn’t it be nice to have one of our own? Nothing crazy, an above ground pool. We’ve got the room.”

“It’s expensive.”

“We can afford it.” He shrugs.

“What if there’s other things we’ll need that money for?”

“Like what?” He turns to look at you. Before you can answer him you both hear Jack whaling. He had tripped and fallen. “That’s what happens when you run after Daddy tells you not to, Jack.” Harry shakes his head and gets up to check on his little boy. He scoops him up and brings him over to sit. “Ah, just a scrape, no harm done, but you can cry if yeh want to, no one’s tellin’ yeh not to cry, son.” He rocks Jack back and forth in his arms and you swear you can feel your ovaries exploding. “What?”

“What?”

“You’re givin’ me a weird look.” He chuckles.

“Want mumma.” Jack sniffles.

“Okay, come see me.” You take him from Harry. “You know just because mumma’s a doctor now, doesn’t mean she’s like Dr. Morris.” You tell Jack. Yes, you had gotten your PhD, it was grueling, but it allowed you to go on a tenure track at the university.

“Kisses mumma.”

“Ohhh, I see.” You give him kisses all over and it makes him giggle. “All better now?”

“Can I have juice, pwease.”

“Yes, honey.”

“I’ll go get it, you sit.” Harry gets up and goes inside to grab Jack his juice box. “Here yeh go, son.” Jack grabs it from Harry.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“So polite.” Harry rustles the hair on the top of Jack’s head.

“Don’t drink it too fast or you’ll get the hiccups.” Buster trots over and laps up the water in the bowl you brought outside for him. He lays down in the cool of the shade.

“M’gonna have to mow in a couple days.” Harry sighs. You squeeze your legs together at the thought.

Watching Harry mow the lawn was like watching a cliché porno. He’d be shirtless, and incredibly sweaty. He’d have his bandana to keep his hair up off his forehead, and he’d come inside to grab a glass of water. You’d often sit up on the counter and watch him drink the cold beverage. That would lead to him giving you a quick fuck in the downstairs bathroom when he could, if Jack was napping.

“Harry?” You look at him and he looks at you.

“Aw, look, his little eyes are closin’.” He looks down at Jack who was falling asleep in your arms. “So cozy with his mumma.”

“Shit, if he sleeps now he won’t sleep tonight. Jack, wake up honey.” He jolts awake and looks at you. “Do you wanna go inside? Think you’ve earned some TV time, hm?”

“TV!” He repeats and smiles at you.

You take Jack inside, first to use the potty as you were still training him. Then you get him settled on the couch with his favorite cartoon playing on the TV. Harry grabs some carrot sticks to munch on before sitting down with the two of you.

“What do you feel like for dinner tonight? I could make some hot dogs for him on the grill, and some veggie burgers for us.” He snaps into a carrot.

“Sure, that sounds good.” You look down at Jack and see he’s mesmerized by the TV. “Can we speak in the kitchen?”

“Um…sure.” You both get up and walk over to kitchen. You had a large open concept area so you could still keep your eyes on Jack. “Am I in trouble?” He was thoroughly confused.

“What?! No! Why would you be?” You laugh and he shrugs his shoulders. “No, I just didn’t want him to overhear. We didn’t exactly finish our conversation from before.”

“Oh.” He says, relieved. “What were we even talkin’ about?”

“Well, you had mentioned a pool, and I was thinking we’d need to save that money.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, why can’t we get a pool? I think we’ve done a good job of savin’, hell, we even started Jack’s college fund already. We’re in really good shape. I don’t think it would set us back much, and it’d pay for itself with how much we’d all use it.”

“We can just buy a little blow up kiddie pool for now.”

“But…I would like to swim also.” He tries to read your face. You seemed nervous. “Is everything alright? What’s goin’ on up there?” He taps on your forehead.

“Harry…I…” You bite your bottom lip.

“Honey, whatever it is, you can tell me. You’re scarin’ me a little.” He rubs the back of his neck.

“Sorry, I just don’t exactly know how to phrase it.” You take a deep breath and look back over at Jack who was still content with his cartoons. “I wanna have another baby.” You whisper. Harry’s cheeks flush and his eyebrows raise. “I think we’re ready, don’t you? And I miss…I miss having a little baby. I’m still able to snuggle with Jack, but he’s getting big and he’s gonna start preschool in a couple of years, and I-“

Harry cups your cheeks and brings you in for a kiss. It gives you the good kind of butterflies in your stomach.

“So…um…that’s why I think we should hold off on the pool.”

“We can afford both.” He chuckles. “Babe, you really wanna have another?”

“I do.” You nod. “Do you?”

“Of course! I would’ve gotten yeh pregnant again a while ago if you had let me.” He smirks. “I was waitin’ for you to say somethin’. I told yeh a long time ago, I’ll have as many kids as you let us.” He strokes your cheek.

“I really want another one.” You wrap your arms around his neck. “Someone for Jack to grow up with and play with, you know?”

“Mhm.” He presses his forehead to yours. “You’ll have to go to the doctor to have your IUD taken out.”

“I know.” You step back from him. “I can make an appointment this week if I really wanted to.”

“Wow, so you wanna start trying, like, right away?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Are you sure you’re not just, like, horny?” He chuckles.

“Harry.” You swat an arm at him. “Well, I am, but I really wanna have another baby. We made such a beautiful little boy, let’s make another.” You pout at him and he kisses you. “No way we can still afford a pool.”

“I bet we can, but I suppose we could wait until next summer. I just hate imposing on Niall and Sarah…”

“Are you kidding? She loves when I bring Jack over to swim. We were there this morning. She has summers off too, remember? Sometimes Rach joins us, it’s great. She really doesn’t mind.”

“Okay. Make an appointment then, and then we’ll make another baby.” He gives your belly a pat. “You realize though we’ll probably have to fuck in your office, that’s how we got Jack after all.”

“Oh stop it. We also had sex that weekend for my birthday.”

“I think it was the spontaneity that did it. Gotta remember to not put too much pressure on it.”

“Okay, so catch me off guard when you wanna fuck me.” You shrug. He grips your hips as you start to walk away, and you swat at him. “Not now, you idiot.”

“Come on, let’s practice.”

“Harry…why don’t you go start the grill up, hm? I’m gonna take Jack with me to walk Buster.”

“Okay, fine.” He sighs and rolls his eyes extra heavy. “But don’t say I never offer.”

//

You go to the doctor and get your IUD removed. Dr. Johnson doesn’t think you’ll have too much trouble conceiving, but she gives you a list of vitamins you might want to try to help yourself out. You get Jack in the car seat after your appointment.

“Jack, you were so good for mummy while she saw the doctor, thank you so much.”

“Treat, mumma?”

“Sure, I think we could go get a treat.”

You drive over to Harry’s studio and walk down the street to the ice cream shop. Buster was with Harry today, so you get a dog-friendly vanilla ice cream. You get everyone ice cream and walk with Jack back to the studio.

“Okay, you know what to say when you walk in right?” You wink at him as you open the door.

“Supwise!” He yells and Isaac beams.

“Look who it is!” He gets up to help you with the ice cream. “This really is a surprise. Hi Jack.”

“Hi.” He hugs your leg shyly, and hides his face. Buster gets up from around the desk and trots over. Jack perks up when he sees his buddy.

“Where’s my hubby?”

“Upstairs in his office. Him and Mariah are having an editing day. She’s in her office in the back.”

“Ah. Come on Jack, think you can climb the stairs? That vanilla one is for Buster.” You say to Isaac.

“Sure thing, and thanks for the treats. I’ll go give this to Mariah.”

You and Jack go up the stairs and knock on Harry’s door.

“Isaac, this better fuckin’-“ Harry’s eyes widen when he opens the door to see his wife and child standing there. “Oh! Hi!” He smiles. He gives you a kiss, and picks up Jack.

“Got you treat, Daddy.” He points to the ice cream in your hands.

“I see that, well come on in.” He sets Jack on the floor with his ice cream and a napkin.

“We were in the neighborhood, I saw Dr. Johnson today.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that was today. What flavor did yeh get me?”

“Your favorite, purple cow.”

“Thank you.” He kisses you again as he takes the ice cream from you. “None for mummy?”

“I took a few bites of yours. I figured I’d just eat whatever he doesn’t finish.” You shrug.

“So it was a good appointment then?”

“Mhm, IUD is gone, and I picked up some vitamins she said could help. I’m in no condition to do anything tonight so don’t even think about it.”

“Hey, I’m completely innocent.” He takes a bite of ice cream. “So…when can we start trying then?”

“Whenever the mood feels right, honey.” You sit down on the little love seat and wipe Jack’s mouth.

“No!” He screams. He hates having his face wiped.

“Jack.” Harry says sternly. “Let mummy clean you up, you’re a mess.”

“No!” He screams again. Harry looks at you and then at Jack.

“Alright, I guess you don’t want ice cream then.” He sighs.

“Harry, no, it’s his treat for being good for me earlier.”

“He’s not bein’ good now.”

“And taking it away is just gonna make it worse. He doesn’t like the dry napkin, I’ll take him down to the bathroom in a minute.”

“Y/N.”

“Harry.”

“M’done, mumma.”

“Okay.” You take his cup and throw it in the trash. “Can we go clean up now?”

“Mhm.”

“Oh good, I was worried you’d say no.” You poke his tummy and he giggles. “See, we totally avoided a meltdown.”

“Guess I just don’t know him as well as you do then.” He grumbles.

“Harry, that’s not what I meant at all.”

“No, it’s fine. You get the best of both worlds with him. You’re a stay at home parent in the summer and then during the school year he still sees you more since he goes to daycare at work with you.” Harry follows you out and down to the bathroom. He holds Jack up so you can wash his hands.

“It’s not like you can close this place down or just not work in the summer time. You come home early, and that’s really great.”

“But you know him better, and then I…end up being the bad guy more. I swear he likes you better sometimes.”

“First of all, I’m the bad guy a lot, you’re just not there to see it. Second of all, he misses you all day long. He couldn’t wait to come surprise you. You’re an amazing father, Harry, please.” Harry sets Jack down once he’s all clean. “Come on, Jack we need go home and let Daddy get back to work.

“No!”

“Must be his favorite word today.” You mumble to Harry. “You can’t stay with Daddy, he has a lot to do. He’ll be home in a couple of hours.”

“No!” He starts crying and attaches himself to Harry’s legs.

“He can stay here, I have coloring books for him upstairs.”

“You won’t get anything done if he does. Jack, enough, we’re going home.”

“No!” He whales.

“Y/N, it’s fine. I’ll get plenty done. M’sure you could use the alone time, right?”

“He’s cranky because it’s almost nap time. He’ll fall asleep in the car and it’ll be fine. Help me get him in the car, please?”

Harry nods and picks a crying Jack up. These were the days you couldn’t wait for Jack to start preschool. Harry gets Jack strapped into his car seat, he was still crying.

“Jack, I need you to be good for mummy, okay? I’ll be home soon.”

“No, Daddy.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Harry. Let it go.” Jack continues to cry after Harry closes the car door. “He’ll fall asleep the second I start driving.”

“I know, it just breaks my heart. I feel so guilty.”

“Don’t.” You cup his cheeks. “You have nothing to be guilty over. He’s just being cranky. It’s how he is sometimes. He does the same thing to me if I take him to run errands at an odd time. He needs his nap, that’s all.” You kiss Harry quick. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Alright, love you.”

“Love you too.”

Harry watches as you drive away. He sighs heavily and goes back into the studio. Mariah was standing at Isaac’s desk with him.

“Is everything okay? I swear I heard crying.” She says.

“Jack didn’t feel like leavin’. He’s goin’ through the no phase right now. I don’t what’s worse, when he was teething or this.”

“Probably this, since he can talk back to you.” She smirks. “We all know how much you love that.”

“Hey, Mariah? Get back to work.” He grins, and goes back upstairs.

//

Harry comes home with a cauliflower crust pizza for dinner. He figured if you could surprise him, he could surprise you.

“We can keep it in the oven for now if it’s too early to eat.”

“Sounds good, yeah, it’s only 3:30, you know? But thank you this’ll be great. Hi Buster, how’s mumma’s boy?” You pet the top of his head.

“How’s Jack?”

“He’s fine.” You scoff. “Passed out in the car like I thought, and then I put him to bed for the rest of his nap. He’s coloring now at his table in the living room.”

“Daddy!” Jack exclaims when he sees Harry. He runs over to him and Harry picks him up. Harry gives him a nice kiss on the cheek.

“How was your nap?”

“Good.” He shrugs.

“Can I see what you’ve colored?” Jack nods and Harry carries him into the living room. Harry sits on the floor next to Jack so he can properly see the pages his drawn on. “Oh wow! That’s a good one, I like how you used green for everything, and then just put that one dot of blue there.” You giggle as you listen to him. Harry really was a good dad.

Around 7PM you get Jack down for bed and nearly collapse on the couch with Harry.

“Long day, babe?”

“Mhm, he was up early with me today. Crawled right in with me.”

“Aw, I love when he does that.”

“Me too, just not when I wanna sleep in a little.” You laugh. “I have no privacy to shower sometimes.”

Harry throws his arm around you as he turns the TV.

“Yeah? What do you need privacy for? Shavin’ your legs?” He smirks.

“You know exactly what I need privacy for.”

“So we really can’t have sex tonight?”

“I’m a little sore from the doctor, sweetie. Tomorrow.”

“I could eat you out, oh! Let’s sixty-nine.” He wiggles his eyebrows. You scrunch your face at him. “It’s been ages since we did that.”

“Harry, no.” You cross your arms and settle into his chest while you watch the screen.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not in the mood right now. I’m full from dinner and I’m tired.” You look up at him. “I shouldn’t even need to give you a reason, no should be enough.” You turn back to the TV and you hear him sigh.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m just excited.”

“I know.” You look at him again. “It’s hard not jumping you when I see you with him. You have way more patience than I do sometimes.”

“Oh I see, so you only get turned on when you see me hangin’ out with him. I get it.”

“No!” You laugh. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

“It just makes you wanna have another.”

“Mhm.” You kiss his cheek. “You’re just so good.”

“You’re good with him too, you know that right?” You nod yes. “Good.”

//

A couple of days later, on Saturday, Harry woke you up early and you wanted to kill him.

“You’re worse than him, I swear.” You groan.

“Come shower with me.” He whispers.

“What?”

“He should be asleep a little longer and so should Buster. Come shower with me.” He tugs you out of bed and to your feet.

“Why?” You rub the sleep away from your eyes.

“So we can fuck, obviously.”

“We need to be in the shower to fuck?” You yawn.

“No…but…he can’t exactly walk in on us like this, can he?”

“Good point.”

Harry turns the water on, and once it’s warm you’re being yanked into the shower and pressed up against the tile.

“Oh god.” You moan as his mouth works over your neck and his fingers slip inside you.

He slots his mouth over yours to swallow your moans. Your fingers rake through his hair and he presses his hard dick against your thigh.

“Fuck, put it in, fuck me, Harry.” You whine.

He lines himself up with you and just gets the tip in when you both hear a tap on the door and a little boy’s voice calling for the two of you.

“You’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding me.” He grunts. You step away from Harry and turn the water off. “Y/N!” He whines. “I’m gonna have blue balls.”

“So jerk off.” You snap. “I’m just as annoyed, deal with it.” You wrap a towel around yourself and open the door to see Jack sitting with his thumb in his mouth. “Good morning, my love.”

“Hungry.” He whines.

“Okay, mummy make you breakfast.” You secure your towel before picking him up and taking him downstairs.

Harry finally joins you in the kitchen and takes Buster out immediately. You watch as Jack picks at his cheerios. You make yourself and Harry some coffee so it’s ready for when he gets back.

“He needs to learn to stay in his bloody bed.” Harry grumbles when he gets back. “Can’t we put a gate up?”

“We did that, but he’s potty training now so he needs to be able to get into the bathroom in the morning and use the little potty if he needs it.”

“Think it’s time for a sleepover at Mimi’s.” That was what your mother wanted to be called instead of grandma.

“Harry.” You sigh. “We’re headed to London in like two weeks, where we will be staying for like three weeks. I’m sure your mum would love to have him to herself for a few days then. We can run off to the flat and have some alone time.”

“You wanna wait two fuckin’ weeks?!”

“Harry! You know how I feel about you dropping the f bomb in front of him.” You scold him. “Come on, Jack, let’s get you ready for the day. Auntie Sarah said you could come over and swim since it’s gonna be so hot out.”

“Yay!”

“Get your swimsuit on.” You say to Harry.

“You didn’t answer my question.” He says as he watches you rub sunscreen all over Jack.

“No, I don’t wanna wait two weeks, but my mom has a life too. She can’t just take him whenever we want.”

“What about your dad?”

“What about my dad?” You scoff. “He’s not sleeping over there.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” You stand up to look at him. “You know he’s traveling right now. He always goes for road trips in the summer.”

“Okay, what about-“

“Harry.” You snap and grit your teeth. “I love you, but go put your swim suit on, so I can go put mine on.”

Harry gets Jack’s things packed up while you get ready. You come down in a cute one piece and a pair of shorts.

“Got everything?” You ask.

“Yup.”

The three of you, plus Buster, walk down the street to Niall and Sarah’s. You walk around back to where the two of them are already sitting outside.

“Hey! Look who it is.” Niall says, and gets up to help with all the things you brought. “Y/N, are you alright? You look a little flushed.”

“I’m fine.” You set Jack down, and he toddles over to say hi to Sarah, who scoops him right up. “We got interrupted this morning.” You roll your eyes.

“Oh.” He looks at the two of you. “So go home for a little bit then.”

“No, it’s fine, we came to swim.”

“You can come back. We can watch him for a little while.”

“Thanks, mate.” Harry smiles, and you suck your teeth.

“Niall, we didn’t come over for you to babysit, it’s fine.”

“Oi, go home and make love to your husband would yeh?”

“Yeah, Y/N.” Sarah says. “I’ll play with him in the pool, he won’t even know you’re gone.”

“We-“ Harry lifts you up over his shoulder.

“We’ll be back in a little while, thanks guys.”

“Harry!” You squeal. “Put me down!”

He gets you back halfway to the house before putting you down. He shakes his head at you as he keys into your house.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m embarrassed.” You say shyly.

“Y/N, we’ve literally had sex with them in the same house as us before. S’not a big deal they know what we’re doin’.” He tilts your chin up to look at him. “Don’t you wanna love on each other?” He pouts.

“Of course I do…” You pout back.

“Alright, so let’s go upstairs to our nice air conditioned room, and get busy.”

You nod and follow him upstairs. You both get undressed and get on the bed. He takes some time to just caress your body, his fingers dancing up and down your soft skin. You take some initiative and grip his hardening cock and stroke it. His fingers slide between your legs and you moan out. He groans as your thumb rubs over his tip.

He stops his motions and gets you fully on your back, parting your legs. He licks his lips and attaches them swiftly to your clit.

“Christ!” Your hips buck up and he uses his forearm to pin you in place.

He licks all around your folds and then licks into you, using his free hand to rub circles on your clit.

“H, Harry.” You groan. Your hands reach for his hair and you get tight grip on him how he likes. He groans into you and it makes your eyes roll into the back of your head.

“You’re soaked, all this f’me.” He grunts as he continues to work his tongue.

“Wanted you all morning, I was so frustrated.” You start panting when you feel yourself get closer to the edge. “Oh my god, please don’t stop!”

Harry’s tongue moves back to your clit to flick at it while he gets a couple of fingers inside you to rub against that spongey spot. Your legs start shaking, you can’t take it anymore.

“Fuck!” You gasp as you come hard on his fingers. He gives your clit one last harsh suck before he brings his head up.

He licks his lips again and wipes everything else off with the back of his hand. He grins at you as he hovers over you. You grip his cock and pump it a few times before lining it up with your center. He slowly pushes inside you.

“Babe?”

“Yeah?” You look up at him with innocent eyes.

“Brace yourself.”

“Why?”

“M’gonna fuck you into this mattress.” Your eyes darken as your eyebrows raise. You nod and grip his shoulders.

//

Two hours later you return to Sarah and Niall’s. Both of you freshly fucked and happy. Niall was outside getting the grill started.

“He’s inside with Sarah, she said it was his nap time.”

“It is, she’s the best.” You say and go inside. Niall gives Harry a cheeky smile.

“Thanks.” He says. “Much needed time alone.”

“And you two wanna have another because…?” He jokes.

“I know it seems crazy to add more crazy to our lives, but we both really want it.” He steps a little closer to Niall. “She told me every time she sees me with Jack she practically wants to jump me to make another one.”

“Damn.”

You and Sarah come back out with a groggy Jack.

“Look who just woke up.” You coo.

“Hey, buddy.” Harry takes him from you and snuggles him close. “Wanna swim with Daddy after you wake up a bit?”

“Mhm.” Jack nuzzles in closer to Harry.

“Is that not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?” You say to the group. “So sweet.” You kiss the top of Jack’s head.

“His curls are just like yours, Harry.” Sarah says.

Once Jack wakes up a little more, Harry brings him into the pool for a swim. You sit on the edge with Sarah, dipping your feet and calves in while Niall grills up lunch. Hearing Jack giggle while Harry would dip him in the water warmed your heart.

“He’s a really good, dad.” Sarah whispers to you.

“Yeah, he is.” You whisper back.

[ladyvader23]

The School Play

For @slx99, who inspired me to write this little Dad Vader piece! I also have no idea if walrus’ exist in the Star Wars universe, but THEY DO NOW! 

I also take requests!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vader stared in horror at the announcement slip his children had brought home from preschool. 

Apparently, the children would be putting on a play--or, rather, a presentation, if the description was anything to go by. The school had the children research a topic, and the children would be putting on a dramatic retelling of what they’d learned. It actually sounded terribly boring, but he’d read in that parenting book the children’s pediatrician had given him that supporting their interests, including school activities, helped foster confidence in children. An important quality in the two most important children in the galaxy, even if his presence would terrify everyone else in the room. 

The problem wasn’t the boring play. It was what his son was signed up to be. 

A walrus. 

A walrus. 

Leia had a stormtrooper, which was normal enough. But Luke had a walrus? How in the galaxy had he even had the misfortune of getting such an unfortunate aquatic creature?! 

He looked up at Miss Laena, who’d handed him the announcement slip in the first place. “My son will not play a walrus in front of a crowd of people!” 

The school the children went to was full of senator’s children, as well as other important Imperial figures, such as Grand Moffs, generals, and the like. Vader doubted most of those important figures would actually be at the play; most likely, their partners or nannies would go. But it did not matter. Word would spread fast that the son of Darth Vader had played a walrus. 

“Luke is very excited about the play, my lord.” Miss Laena said carefully. “It’s all he’s been talking about for weeks, now. I even helped him make the costume.” 

His stomach dropped. “There’s a costume?” 

It just got worse and worse. 

“Yes, my lord. I might be able to pull together another one in time, but it will break his heart.” 

Vader gritted his teeth. If this was any other assignment, he’d tell the boy to deal with whatever he chose for him, but he also didn’t need him crying on stage in front of everyone because he was unhappy. 

He would need to convince him. 

“Summon my son. I will speak with him.” 

Miss Laena hurried to do so, and soon the tiny form of his son came running into his office, immediately climbing (uninvited) into his lap. Vader had no change to stop him before his little arms wrapped around his neck with a hug. 

Despite the dire situation, he couldn’t help but melt a little under the embrace. 

“Hi daddy!” Luke said, pulling away after a moment, settling in comfortably on his leg. “Am I in trouble?” 

Perhaps that was the reason for the immediate hug. He would need to discourage such behavior in the future. 

“No, my son.” He reached up and ruffled his hair. “I just wanted to know why you were assigned to be a walrus in this play.” 

Luke brightened. “Oh! I’m going to be a walrus, daddy!” 

“Yes, but why?” Perhaps he hadn’t understood the phrasing of his first question. He struggled to speak on a level the twins would understand, at times. 

“Because I like them.” 

Vader winced. That would make it harder to convince him to change topics. 

“But why?” 

Luke shrugged. “They look funny.” 

And that was precisely why he didn’t want him to play a walrus in the first place. “Why don’t I help you choose something diff--” he cut off as Luke’s expression immediately began to fall, his eyes watering. 

“No, daddy, I wanna be a walrus!” 

Damn. 

Already, just from his presence alone, Vader could tell it would be far more of a fight to force him to choose something else than to just do the walrus. 

“...I will need to have a word with the school. But fine.” 

Immediately the tears were gone, and Luke threw his arms around him again before climbing off and running to find his sister. Vader watched after him, wondering how his children had so thoroughly wrapped him around their fingers, before he pulled up his datapad to send a message to the school principal to order that no footage be allowed at the play. 

If Luke insisted, he could at least make sure the incident was nothing more than a strange, unconfirmed rumor. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night of the play, he’d debated on pretending his schedule was too full to attend. That way, perhaps no one would notice that the son of Darth Vader was dressed as a walrus. It wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty of things to do instead anyway, but every time he thought about not showing up, the imagined disappointment in his children’s faces when they returned home was enough to guilt him into keeping the time reserved for the play. 

That didn’t mean he didn’t show up at the last possible second before they closed the doors for the performance. 

Naturally, the moment he walked in, a hush fell over the crowd of nannies and parents. He made a face when he recognized a few important officials there who were also apparently trying to be good parents despite their schedules. Normally he could respect that, but today of all days, he wished they’d remained at work. 

The principal, a short, portly man, came rushing over not long after he’d found a corner to stand in. “I have issued a strict no recording policy as you wished, Lord Vader.” 

“Good.” Vader crossed his arms, looking over his head to the curtained stage. “Because if there is any recording of my children distributed, I will personally pay you a visit.” 

The man paled, gulped, and nodded. “Understood, my lord.” Then he turned and rushed off. 

Moments later, the lights dimmed, and an announcement was made over a microphone to remind everyone of the very fact that no recording was allowed. He half expected them to use him as an excuse, but they mentioned nothing of the rule being a direct order from him. 

Hm. He might have mentioned it just to make sure, but if he had to dispose of the principal, he would not lose sleep over it. His children barely knew the man and wouldn’t notice if he disappeared. Perhaps he’d do it anyway just for the fact that someone in his staff showed the boy a picture of the infernal animal in the first place. 

Once the announcement was made, the “play” began. Sure enough, it was less of a play and more of various small children of different species in costumes reciting facts about whatever they’d researched for the parents. This was followed up by polite clapping, which he did not participate in. They were not his children, after all. He did not care, and he thought most of them were terribly boring anyway. 

He was also certain that none of these children had actually done their own research. What a complete waste of time and resources. 

But then came Leia. Somehow, Miss Laena had managed to help her construct an almost perfect replica of a stormtrooper armor set, fit perfectly to her petite size. The only thing that he could tell was real was the helmet, which she carried in her arms as more of a prop than anything else. 

When she walked onto the stage...as he suspected she would, she immediately acted as though the entire room was there for her. She squared her shoulders, looking over the audience with as high and mighty of a look that an almost five year old could muster. 

“Stormtroopers are soldiers who help protect the Empire.” She spoke clearly into the microphone. It was...well, as natural as a four year old could get, and a pang went through his chest at the thought of her suddenly looking very much like a mini version of her mother. “They serve over the whole Empire. They can be foot soldiers, or fly TIE fighters, like my daddy does.” 

He wondered if that was something she was supposed to say, or if she said it just because she was proud of what he did for a living. Not that she knew the full extent of that, but...he offered a rare, unseen smile nonetheless. 

“This is a real stormtrooper helmet. My friend let me use it tonight.” Friend? What friend? “Stormtroopers are not like clone troopers. They’re normal people like you and me.” 

He refrained from snorting at that. In his opinion, Clone Troops were far superior, but the Emperor did not seem to care for that opinion. 

“There’s also lots of types of stormtroopers. You can tell what they are because of their uniform. In conclusion, stormtroopers are pretty cool and I like them. They keep us safe, and are friends to all.” 

That...didn’t really make sense. But she was four, and again, probably had her lines written by someone else. Still, when she finished and did a little curtsy, he clapped proudly for the first time the entire show, then watched as she practically skipped off stage. 

Then...it was Luke’s turn. 

It was an experience to have one child give a basic but Imperial pride-supporting speech, then directly afterwards have another child walk out wearing a walrus costume to talk about an animal he’d never even personally seen before. He was sure that anyone who knew Luke was his son probably had a lot of questions he’d never answer right about now. 

But there Luke was, walking out wearing a well made, but monstrosity of a costume. He wore a dark gray, long-sleeved tunic that reached his knees, except that the sleeves ended well past where he knew Luke’s hands to be, and the end was in the shape of walrus flippers. A tail flopped around with each step Luke took, and his head was almost completely engulfed by a walrus-face hood. The face opening was framed by two giant tusks, what he supposed were whiskers, and at the top of the hood, giant eyes that Vader could swear were staring into his soul. 

And underneath, Luke had obviously painted his face. Probably the same color as the tunic. 

Half of Vader wanted to have the ground open up and swallow him whole. The other half was admittedly impressed with the lengths his son had put his nanny up to in making this costume. He was also dead certain that if Luke looked back on this costume as an adult, he’d be embarrassed beyond all reason. 

“Walruses are water animals who live on water worlds like Mon Cala.” Luke began, just as confidently as Leia. It was also obvious he was very proud of the whole thing; he was bouncing a bit in excitement, causing the tail to flop around constantly. Nearby, Vader heard a few parents coo adoringly at the display. 

He wondered if it would be noticeable if he used the Force to hold his son in place. 

“They can dive deep in the water, but they like to stay near land. They are really, really fat. Also, both the girls and the boy walruses have tusks, like this!” He reached up and tugged on the tusks, earning chuckles from the crowd. 

Well. Both of his children definitely liked to use visual aids. It was interesting to know, at least. 

“They also live for a super long time. Forty years!” Luke lifted his flipper-hands up in excitement. “They also can live in the cold because they’re fat. They like to eat fish. And they make these really funny noises, like--” then Luke proceeded to demonstrate, and more laughter erupted around the room. 

As well as Luke was doing, Vader couldn’t help but curse whoever had even shown the cursed animal to his son. He would definitely be finding a replacement for the principal after he was through with him. 

What had he done to encourage such a fascination with the animal? He was from the desert, so this had to be something from his mother’s side of the family, he was sure of it. 

But Luke seemed pleased by the audience’s reaction. He himself would have to ensure this incident never left this room, but at least his son was happy. 

“So yeah, I like walruses. They’re funny looking, and that’s why I chose to tell you about them.” Then, with that said, Luke made a bow, and the audience erupted in far more clapping than had been heard the entire night. Luke straightened, grinned, then ran off stage, his tail and flippers flapping wildly behind him. 

Well. It was certainly the most interesting part of the night, he thought as he clapped for his son. And despite being a walrus, his son was perfect. Just...had some odd interests that he sincerely hoped he grew out of. 

When the show ended, Vader waited uncomfortably by the doors for his children. Plenty of parents and their costumed kids walked by, all giving him a wide berth. He ignored them all, scanning the crowd for his children. He could sense them coming, but for whatever reason, they kept stopping. 

Finally, he saw the small figures of Luke and Leia pushing their way through their crowd, beaming smiles on their faces when they saw him. 

“Daddy!” Leia crowed, and he quickly reached out to place his hands on their shoulders before they could try to hug him. He had grown used to their hugs in private, but they were still learning that it was not permitted in public. “Did you like my play?” 

“You did well.” He confirmed, patting her head, which caused her to make a face and pull away. 

“Don’t mess up my hair.” She muttered. 

Luke had pulled the hood down and his painted face looked up at him. “What about mine, daddy? Lots of people told me they liked it.” He paused, frowning. “Did you?” 

Vader paused, deciding how to phrase it. He did not like that he was parading around in a ridiculous walrus costume, but the whole point of him coming to this ridiculous excuse for a play was to support his children and build their confidence. He could not ruin it by telling his son that he hated the animal he was portraying. “You played your performance well, my son. I am proud of you both.” 

Yes. That seemed safe. And to his satisfaction, the twins beamed up at him. But the moment was ruined when Luke asked, “Can we go to Mon Cala to see the walruses?” 

“Yeah! Let’s go, daddy!” Leia added. 

He paused for a few breaths of the respirator. “Mon Cala...is not safe for humans.” 

Luke frowned. “But my friend said he went, and--” 

“Why don’t I take you to a zoo, instead?” Then maybe Luke would see a different, less embarrassing animal to portray next time. Or maybe he’d lose interest in animals completely. 

Luke considered for a moment, then nodded. “Okay daddy.” He paused. “Can I be a walrus for Trick Or Treat?” 

Again, he paused, trying to come up with an answer that would not hurt his son’s feelings. “Why don’t you wait until after we go to the zoo?” 

Luke also seemed to accept this answer, and Vader took his children's hands in his own, and led them from the theater. 

Vader made sure to give pointed glares at anyone who dared look their way.