#tomorrow will be weird if this continues for that one thing im doing which requires people and communication

[stargazingpsychotic]

People have lost their faces

[morizoras-cave]

Purple Patches

Benedict Cumberbatch x Teen!Co-Star!Reader, Tom Holland x Teen!Co-star!Reader

Genre: Angst, fluffy ending

Description: Filming the newest Dr. Strange movie (in which Tom would also appear), you grow quite close with the two leads, Tom and Benedict. But you’re hiding something alarming from them. Four months in the entire crew get a week off to see their families for Christmas, and when you return Tom and Benedict can’t help but feel troubled, as your body is rippled with purple patches.

Warnings: CHILD ABUSE, physical abuse, broken family, alcoholism, depression, anxiety??

A/N: I had another imagine written but im ngl its kind of.. weird? its unconventional for sure. and its definitely bad. so, maybe ill rewrite someday or something? ALSO SORRY IF YOU DONT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS, JUST IMAGINE YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF EVIL CHRISTIAN STEP DAD WHO FORCES IT INTO YOUR FAMILY

The taxi you sat in drove slowly in the New York traffic, as snow fell outside, coating the entire city in blinding white. You couldn’t enjoy it however. Your entire body hurt, and yet you still couldn’t find even a moment to worry about your health. All you could think about was them.

Tom and Benedict. Your sweetest coworkers, and at this point your closest.. anything. Family, friends? Who cares, you had no one else. You’d gone back for the holidays like everyone else, even though you wished you could have just stayed at in your trailer. Your dad, like any other time you saw him, had used this time to pour his anger and alcoholism out on you. Your body which had finally begun to heal, was now back to square one, covered in cuts and bruises. 

You knew what would happen if anyone found out. You’d be taken from your family. But in truth, although you hated being around him, you wanted to wait for your dad. You wanted to wait for him to get over his alcoholism, you wanted him to get better, and then he’d treat you better. 

But they would find out. You were covered in bruises and purple patches. Your face was fine, except for your neck, but the rest of your body was ruined. Ugly. You could hide most of it, but it hurt. Even just sitting there, in the soft and plush taxi seat, you body was aching and wailing like a police siren. 

And what if they noticed you foundation-covered hands? Or the movie required you to wear something more revealing? 

“You okay?” the deep voice of your taxi driver ripped you from your thoughts. A single tear had slid down your face. You cleared your throat and nodded, wiping the tear from your cheek. 

You arrived at the set, and an impossible knot had been tied in your stomach. Nervousness tingled in your heart and your legs, but you got up anyway, trying to calm your breath. The moment you stood up, you winced and stopped. 

You managed to roll your luggage to your trailer, biting your lip continuously in order to keep yourself from screaming. You threw it on the floor of your trailer, whimpering and doubling over in pain. 

“Y/n!” a rapid knock on your door, interrupted you. It was Tom’s voice. You took a shaky breath, closing your eyes, and then opening the door. Tom stood there in your doorway like a smiling idiot. Your lips widened into a smile just from seeing him.

“Y/n!” he repeated stepping inside and wrapping his arms around you in a hug. You bit your lip again, hiding your pain-wrenched face in his chest, before hugging him back. He placed his head on yours sweetly. “I missed you!” he gushed. 

You hit his chest playfully, “I missed you too,” you frowned for a moment and looked away. Tom’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Are you okay?” You simply nodded. Tom stared at you for a moment and then shook his head. “Anyway, um, Benedict asked me to tell you that he’s invited both of us youngsters out for dinner tonight. Just as one last ‘fuck you!’ to work, before officially start back up tomorrow.”

“That does sound like something he would do,” you agreed and Tom laughed, punching your shoulder playfully. You yelped loudly, retreating quickly from him. 

“Woah,” he exclaimed, holding his hands up, “Are you okay? What happened to your shoulder?” 

“I fell,” you said. Nervousness jabbed at your ribs. You’d barely talked to Tom for a minute and he’d already asked if you were okay twice. He seemed to buy your explanation, and apologized for accidentally hitting your sore shoulder, to which you nodded absently. 

Tom was silent for a couple of heartbeats. He studied you. You were not usually like this. Or maybe you had been a little like this those four months ago, when you first started filming. He didn’t understand what caused you to be that way, so distant and unhappy. 

“Hey, anyway, I’m gonna go, I’m trying to actually read the script this time,” he joked, and you laughed because you knew it was a hopeless task. 

“Have fun,” you mumbled, and as soon he left, you body slid down against the wall, and your facade crumbled, tears leaving your eyes.

___________________________

Before the dinner, you took three pain killers. Then, you waited restlessly, hoping that the pills might kick in. They did but your body felt strange and buzzy. You ignored it, a blossoming hope forming in your chest that you might be able to conceal your pain in the pills and the clothing. 

Benedict came knocking on your door around 7, a smile on his face. “Y/n!” he said, and you both hugged. A small smile had formed on your lips, when you actually managed to deal with the ache, now much weaker than previously.

You both then walked to Tom’s trailer, and then the three of you walked to a restaurant, not too far from your filming location.

“So, what have you two been up to in our little break?” Benedict asked once you all sat down, having ordered already. You glanced at Tom, hoping that he’d start. 

“Me and my brothers went back home to our mum and dad. Had a pretty regular Christmas. I gave the best gifts. I got some pretty cool socks,” Tom joked around. You and Benedict stifled a laugh. Then both Ben and Tom looked at you, and you realized it was your turn to tell them about what you’d been up to. 

“Oh, well, I.. I spent Christmas with my parents. My grandparents and cousins also came,” you were lying through your teeth. You avoided their eyes, sipping your soda. 

“Got any presents?” Benedict asked and you cursed at yourself internally for forgetting such a simple part of Christmas. And for making things awkward. 

“I got some clothes, some books. Pretty standard stuff,” you forced a smile, “What about you, Benadryl?”

Benedict rolled his eyes at your comment, making you and Tom fist-bump one another, giggling quietly as he told you about his own Christmas. The night was going alright, except for that rough start. Mostly you avoided any talk of your family, and you could feel yourself getting better, the further the conversation got from your family. Until-

“Y/n, what’s that on your hand?” 

Instinctively, you pulled your hand to your lap, straightening yourself up and gulping. You looked down, pretending to inspect it and then looked up. 

“It’s, uh, it’s dirt. Wow, I should really go wash my hands, haha-” Tom grabbed your hand from under the table, pulling it towards him. Your foundation was wearing off, a large purple patch stemming from your wrist and snaking up your hand revealing itself. 

You couldn’t breathe. Both Tom and Ben just stared at it. You tried to pull back but Tom was much stronger than you. Tears blurred your vision. 

“Y/n, what is this?” Tom whispered, and you felt his fingers rubbing the bruise gently. The tears finally fell, and now both men were looking at you. Benedict looked serious. It was an expression you’d never really seen on his features before, at least not outside of your acting. 

“I-I fell..” you mumbled, but you knew it was useless. 

“Y/n.. Who did this?” Benedict’s voice was low, gently setting a hand on your shoulder. You flinched. 

“I don’t know.. I don’t..” 

“Y/n!” Tom’s voice was raised. You immediately jumped away from them both, putting your arms in front of you in fear. Several people turned to look at you three. Shaking, you lowered your hands, and saw Tom and Ben staring at you worriedly. Tom had tears in his eyes. 

“Let’s talk about this back at the studio, okay?” Benedict, now afraid to touch you, spoke slowly and comfortingly. You nodded and then two men got up, standing on either side of you, grabbing one of your hands each. 

“Was it your dad?” Tom growled as you walked in the night, moon rising in the sky. 

“Yes..” you whispered, so low you wondered if they heard it, but they did. They both exchanged glances. Tom was furious. Benedict was too, but he was collected. Tom itched to ask you more and help you, console you right there on the street, but Benedict sent him a warning look not to. 

You walked back to the studio in silence. The three of you entered your trailer and you quietly wished you had predicted something like this would happen, because the bottle of strong pain killers was still out and open on your kitchen table. 

Benedict spotted them immediately and grabbed them. His eyes narrowed as he read the bottle description. Then he looked at you and then it again. Tom watched helplessly, holding your shoulders gently. 

“How many more are there? Bruises.” Ben was clearly angry. He was losing his cool, hands shaking as he grabbed your hand to pull up your sleeve. You tried to move his hand away, but he slid the sleeve up to your elbow and just stared at the blue, yellow and purple that littered your arm. Tom was frozen beside you. 

Ben slid up your other sleeve, breathing speeding up as he saw more, and then he tugged at the collar of your turtleneck, exposing the jarring and ugly sight of a red handprint. He pulled away suddenly, walking away from you. 

“Fuck!” he yelled, hitting the wall of the trailer. He hung his head low. You jumped and turned around, but Tom simply embraced you, and then sat you both down on the floor. You hid your face in his neck, sobbing again. Tom’s hands slowly rubbed your back. 

“Okay..” said Benedict after a while. You could hear that he’d calmed down. Ben angrily wiped a few tears from his face, turning to you and Tom on the floor. Tom was simply frowning now. He never wanted to let you go. He never wanted any harm to come to you. 

“I’m gonna call the police and get your dad arrested,” he said, and you heard his footsteps, as he wondered what to do next. 

“No!” you exclaimed, scrambling to your feet away from Tom. Both men looked at you in confusion. “No! You can’t do that, he’s- he’s just trying to get better. If I wait a little longer, he’s going to get better.” 

“Y/n..” Benedict whispered sadly and you ran to him hoping to stop him. “You can’t wait for him. You’re putting yourself in danger..” you shook your head, but Ben grabbed your shoulders and looked into your eyes, “he’s a grown man, Y/n. He doesn’t deserve pity or patience. Not after doing this. Nothing excuses this. Nothing.” 

You swallowed the lump in your throat, lip quivering, but still you nodded. 

“Can your mother take care of you?” Ben asked, piercing blue eyes still staring into your soul. There was no point in lying anymore, you knew. 

“No.” 

“Alright, then you’ll stay with me.” Ben declared, “You’ll stay with me until we can find someone from your family who can take care of you.” You looked up at him with shining eyes. Despite the uncomfortable situation you found yourself in, a genuine smile broke out on your face. 

You hugged him, thanking him breathlessly. Ben and Tom made eye contact, and smiled gently at each other. Tom had cried silently at your interaction. The thought that someone would hurt someone he loved so dearly shattered his heart completely. 

“Now,” Benedict said finally, “we need to drive you to the hospital.” 

You agreed and while Tom drove, Ben was in the backseat on the phone with the police department. You just watched the beautiful neon lights shining in the pitch black night, snow illuminating the ground. People still littered the streets. 

You knew it now. Your father didn’t deserve your waiting, and though it would take very long to finally live with and truly understand, it was worth it to start the fight. You truly owed it to the two jerks you worked with. What would you even do with out them?

[moon-goddess-posts]

Hi I saw your requests were open and I’d like to request maybe Kaeya comforting his s/o once they’re rejected from the knights of favonious. They’ve tried really hard to get accepted but got rejected for some reason.

Hi! I'm so sorry it took long to answer your request 😭😭 school has been pretty rough and my motivation has been dying but here it is!

Kaeya comforting s/o

Hurt/comfort, fluff, slight angst, slightly suggestive 🤨

You trained so hard for this day, practiced everything from knightly poses to helping the city as much as you could for hardly any pay. Some told you it was over working but you desperately wanted to be accepted. You wanted to continue helping others and you longed for the next step of that. But life wasn't always fair. You were on your way to try outs, people cheered for you with their hearts believing you were more than capable to become a knight. Excitement filled your bones and nervousness kicked in as you were greeted with the Knights of Favionus doors.

With giving everything you've got in the try outs, you were sure you'd be able to get accepted. You worked so hard right? Had the gods witnessed your hard work as well? Walking back home, so many thoughts raced through your head. Days went by waiting for a note, you never gave up on waiting for a response and you dreamed of wearing the uniforms and going on so many missions. Even possibly working with your boyfriend the calvary captain, Kaeya. You had met during your practice on becoming a knight and he was impressed to say the least.

Finally after a week of waiting, a letter came in. Reality kicked in as you read the note.

"We would like to inform you that unfortunately the Knights of Favionus believed you didn't meet the requirements to become a knight. We were impressed by your mastery of your swordsmanship but it was not what we were looking for. Please don't be discouraged, there are always other try outs being hosted.

Thank you for your hard work

-Knights of Favionus"

"What...?" Confusion and sorrow began creeping in. Had this been a mistake? But your name had been at the beginning so it couldn't have been.

"Was I really not good enough?" You had worked so hard for this opportunity, had they turned a blind eye to what you've been doing? Tears started seeping out of your eyes and you didn't hold them back. So many thoughts raced through your head to the point of insanity. You were laughing hysterically as tears slipped down your face. You wanted to rip your hair out, all that training, all that practice, all those times Kaeya trained with you, the times he believed in you. It was for nothing. All of it was for nothing. Laughs turned into loud sobs, into cracked whimpers and weeps. How would you face everyone now?

You didn't leave your house for several days, completely ignoring the fact that there was people out there who need your help, who wanted to see you. Knocks were at your door but you didn't bother to answer until your heard a particularly familiar voice.

"Kaeya, he can't see me like this! Not when I'm such a wreck!"

"Hey its me Kaeya, please open your door. I know what happened and im really worried about you," his voice wasn't like usual, it had a mix of sadness and worry.

"G-give me a second please!" You rushed to the bathroom to try and freshen up, making sure he didn't notice how puffy your eyes were. You opened the door and saw kaeya, you wanted to cry again, cry into his arms, but you held in your tears.

"I'm here now..." was the only thing he said before pulling you into a tight embrace. You couldn't help but cry again, but this time it was comforting. You felt safe as you let someone finally help you, maybe that was what you were missing. The ability to ask for help in difficult situations. All this time you had thought being a knight was only helping and protecting others, but you also lacked the trust for them to have your back as well. More tears flowed out like a faucet at that realization.

Kaeya didn't dare speak a word as you both embraced each other for some time. You didn't notice being carried until you felt the familiar sensation of your bed.

"Kaeya...I dont know what to do...I worked so hard for it, I wanted to work with you as well, I wanted to help people more," choked sobs came out and Kaeya rubbed your back.

"Becoming a knight is just a title. I recognized your hard work, and so many others have. Jean was the one who made the decision, i'll talk to her about it tomorrow."

"N-no its fine i just...I dont know, was I not good enough?" You gripped his shirt.

"You were and will always be good enough my love, you've done so many good things for this city and you're so humble about it too. Even without being a knight, so many others see you as one." You were glad for Kaeya's reassurance, the tears started to slow down and you started to get sleepy.

"Stay here i'll get you water ok?"

"Mmhm..." you let him go and started getting under the covers. Few minutes later he came back with the water and some of your favorite snacks.

"Would you mind sitting up for me?" You followed his instructions and grabbed the cup of water gulping it down.

"Would you like to eat these snacks or get out of the house and order something from Good Hunter?" You've been stuck in your house for almost a week and you longed for fresh air.

"I wanna go outside." He gave you a warm smile and nodded his head.

"I'm gonna go take a shower and get ready"

"Alright ill be here if you need anything, I love you darling" Kaeya said genuinely, which made you blush.

"I-love you too," you rushed to the bathroom and he chuckled

Freshly out of the shower, you grabbed a new pair of clothes and it felt weird being in something other than pajamas. As you were about to put your shirt on you heard a knock.

"Ah, dont come in im not done changing yet!" Kaeya didn't listen though and barged in anyway.

"Kaeya! I told you not to come in!" You were blushing profusely.

"Hm? Whats wrong? No need to be shy, I've seen it all before" he smirked and walked toward you.

"Thats not the point!" He didn't seem to stop coming towards you while you covered yourself with the shirt you were about to put on. You slowly felt his hands creep over you waist and you flinched from the cold sensation.

"You always feel so warm," he whispered in your ear, now his hands going up further and his lips on your neck.

"Kaeya...I thought we were going out..."

"Haha we are, I just missed you too much. I'll be done soon..." you felt his smile on your neck and you closed your eyes. His hands, his lips, his voice, it made you realize how much you missed him too. You hung on to him waiting for Kaeya to be done with his little shenanigan. His hands and lips left your body suddenly which made you whine and he laughed.

"Shall we get going? Oh right, you still have to get dressed" he snickered.

"GET OUTT!" you shoved him out the door and he still kept laughing. You hated but loved his teasing. He hadn't even kiss your lips but you already felt so hot all over. As you put on your shirt, you hoped he'd give you more after dinner. Once you were fully dressed, you walked out the door with Kaeya.

"You look absolutely stunning" kaeya kiss your hand and you rolled your eyes, you loved him anyway.

"You better finish where you left off after you take me out." You looked at him in the eye and a smile tugged at his lips.

"Oh? After you were so embarrassed back there? Will you be able to handle it?" You playfully punched his shoulder and he laughed out.

"Are you done?" You said

"Yes yes, let's get going for real" he smiled and took your hand. You smiled back already forgetting what had happened to you.

[flockofdoves]

my day was like . awful stuff sandwiching a really nice time with friends

this was also after the frustration with medical care and trying to be able to hear normally again this morning

got in a car accident. id never done anything beyond bumping a car while parking before so that was really scary and i think will be shaking up me while im driving for a while. both me and the other person are totally fine and so does their car and mine just had my license plate have a bolt fall off so its crooked and bent a bit

but i just feel really awful and was so shakey earlier. my car has a bad transmission so sometimes if it gets stuck in a low gear when im merging onto a road or getting to speed after being stopped i have to really push on the gas for a second so i can make sure that cars behind me wont be at risk of hitting me

so i did that while turning right from my apartments driveway onto the one lane highway its right off of. but like 500 ft ahead of that there was a car and by the time i realized it was stopped and really pressed down on the breaks i still ended up hitting it (i also dont think my ABS started? which is a bit concerning i should look into that. but maybe my memory is being weird) and after getting out of the car i was like ‘oh my god im so sorry this is all my fault’ and also admitted fault when the cop came and gave the person my info but they didnt give me theirs.

and like. it definitely was the vast majority my fault i should have paid better attention and reacted quicker

but also the more i think about it like. this person said to the cop ‘i had my warning lights on to pick up food from the restaurant across the street’. in the moment hearing that i was like. oh my god how did i not see their warning lights and just think they were a moving car im so stupid’ but now i wonder like. maybe they didnt even have them on? literally no way to know and regardless i shouldve been more aware of my surroundings. but also like. regardless of if warning lights were on and that im responsible for the accident after the fact thinking about it im like. why the hell would you stop with your warning lights on in a one lane each direction road with a high speed limit just to pick up food when the restaurant to the left literally has a parking lot. wild choice to make.

also freaked out for a bit bc i didnt have my up to date insurance policy but ig its still the same i just had a print out from before it was renewed a couple months ago but nonetheless panicked in the moment

and then the cop said to go online to find the accident report so i did that right when i got home but it said it required a nonrefundable $20 fee to just search for a report with whatever info you filled out and no opportunity to give multiple options for what to search. and then after i promptly did that assuming hopefully since he told me to do it right after i got home its 90 day meant that it would update me over the next few months. but no lmao i got this email right after. feeling like the joker

ig time to either continually pay $20 to do this promptly or call the police departments office which is closed til tuesday and i bet has hours similar to when ill be in work

oh also after id eased a bit at driving by being with friends in the car on me and my gfs way back from dropping off a friend at night then a cop in a nearby town pulled me over on an empty road like ‘your plate is crooked also your license plate light on the back is burnt out’ and the second part is likw. literally im from out of state as you can see on my license plates can you even enforce that here i didnt think that was a thing in every state and no ones ever pulled me over for it before

i was planning on going to drive 2.5 hours to rhide island tonight and then 2.5 back tomorrow to go see family since i have a long weekend at work and my brother and mom just got back to rhode island but obvs not doing that tonight now. i wanted to sleep on it to feel less shaken up about everything. but now after i got pulled over im not even sure about tomorrow. i guess that was my warning so i might get a ticket or whatever if i dont find out how to fix all that stuff asap :(

[etherealluminescence]

Shdjdjjddjjs okay but, more buff cat hcs when ?? But seriously, i know it probably counts as crack hc but i enjoyed it way to much i cant get it out of my head anymore, i havent laught so much in a while now sjdjchdj. I sure hope the buff cat saga will continue !!

You know what? I’ll give you some buff cat content now. 😤 my school work can wait. And trust me, the buff cat saga WILL continue. I just tend to work on requests first rather than my own wants haha.

I’m really happy you like buff cat! Buff cat is my life now. Constantly haunted by buff cat. Maybe one day I’ll introduce a girlfriend or friends for buff cat too 🤔

Maybe I’ll do a background about buff cat and how they met MC?? And why buff cat is so attached to MC? I don’t know. 👉👈 maybe if someone requests, otherwise I’ll just do whatever I feel like in the moment.

Anyone can also feel free to request any buff cat scenarios!! If not I’ll think of some up. THIS IS SO LONG IM SORRY. I WROTE THIS LIKE 1 HOUR OR SOMETHING STRAIGHT AHA.

The boys react to buff cat teaching you

Lucifer

Lucifer had noticed your grades were improving recently, and wanted to take you out to eat for working so hard to both keep up with your class.

When he came to your room, he saw a scene that honestly shouldn’t of surprised him, but did anyways.

You were sitting at your desk, books sprawled across the entire surface area of it. On top of a book pile was buff cat, wearing a pair of glasses, and he was using a pointer to show you important parts you should remember.

He watched in awe as you two never exchanged any words, but you were scribbling down definitions and important notes, while buff cat turned the pages and reviewed your work.

He’s gotten fairly use to buff cat cooking, cleaning, intimidating others, but he has never seen buff cat act like a teacher before, it was sort of new, and he even had a teacher outfit.

He swears that he never sees you buying these outfits, or that people in the devildom actually sell muscular cat clothing.

Buff Cat is the first to break the silence, looking over at Lucifer and positioning his pointer at Lucifer’s head, and then to in front of your desk.

You were still focused on your studying, knowing that you were steadily improving. Buff Cat got out a notepad from one of your desk drawers, and wrote “Leave what you require on this note, I am instructing MC right now, and when we are done tutoring I will give this note to them.”

Lucifer ended up having to take a rain check on taking you out to eat, and learned that your cat has really advanced vocabulary.

Mammon

He was failing the majority of his classes, and ended up asking you for help. You were his best shot, and you seemed to be passing all of your classes with flying colours.

You said you were happy to help him! Except that someone else was actually helping you study. They were a very efficient teacher.

He was relieved to hear that you’d introduce your teacher to him, until he found out it was that fucking demon spawn from hell.

He screeched so hard and ran out of the room, crying like a girl. “aAAAAaaaaAAAH”

Mammon is terrified of buff cat, and now you’re telling him this cat has the intelligence of a genius? You came to the devildom like a few months ago how is this cat tutoring you and making you pass your classes with ease??

He swears your cat is trying to plot for world domination or something. Will NEVER ask you to study with him again.

Leviathan

You walked into Levi’s room trying to find buff cat. It was a Sunday, which was typically a boys night out between them, but it was getting pretty late and you need to study.

There was a test tomorrow on devildom history, and you wanted to review one more time with buff cat, as to make sure you’ll do well on it.

“Mr. Kitty, are you here?” You called out, as soon as you said that Buff Cat paused the game and ran up to you. Levi was slightly annoyed as Buff Cat was beating a hard level for him, but he is your cat above all else.

You smiled as Buff Cat greeted you, and apologised for interrupting them. You explained to Levi how you wanted to review for the test, and if it wasn’t an issue could he spare around 20 minutes?

Levi huffed and agreed and called you a normie, and was about to pick up his switch when your words finally set in.

You put down the book you were carrying and got out a pencil, and took a piece of paper out of the book. You began writing down all of the important stuff on the paper while Buff Cat watched over your shoulder.

When you were finished, he went into the book with you and showed you a couple things you’ve missed or had forgotten, and then got you to write it down three times each as to remember. He even wrote a few essay questions for you which you got.

Levi was impressed. Not only did Buff Cat seem to know the whole devildom history by heart, he knew the exact pages and lines, and even how to write.

He didn’t really care as long as Buff Cat beats the hard level for him. He just considers it to be cool.

Satan

Satan was impressed with your high grades. It must be hard for a human to suddenly learn about a whole new realm, right? So if you had Cs he would understand, but you were getting 97s and 94s.

He understood everything when he started to notice what kind of books Buff Cat had been reading in his room, recently.

You all were having a test on curses soon, and Buff Cat came by his room and began looking for books about curses, and similar ones to what you all had been learning about.

Satan ended up chuckling to himself and found it amusing. It was amazing how your cat even spent his free time coming to someone’s room, finding books for your tests, and reads them before going back to you to help you understand the content.

He likes to get coffee with Buff Cat and talk about the stuff you’re learning in classes, he never directly said it to you, but he helps Buff Cat find specific books when Buff Cat comes over.

Asmodeous

Lucifer decided to punish the house of lamentations by taking away all of their electronics after they did something stupid again. The only way to earn it back, was through getting an 80% or higher on their next test.

You and Asmo suffered because you would normally look up answer during your test, and Asmo had no social media or contact with any of his friends with benefits.

You two weren’t ashamed to beg Buff Cat for help to pass your next test. He was probably the smartest in the house. He goes to Satan’s room almost every day and purchased books when he goes out. Your cat even tutored you when you were in elementary school.

You and Asmo barely needed to convince Buff Cat, as he was ecstatic to help you again. He’d do anything to help you, and was even willing to help Asmo out as well.

Asmo thought that Buff Cat looked REALLY adorable in his teacher’s outfit. A suit, tie, glasses, and his claws were so shiny from their manicure earlier.

Buff cat even slicked his fur back to look like he gel’d his hair. He was a literal fashion icon. Asmo could do some sewing, but nothing to the degree Buff Cat did.

Buff Cat had so many outfits he made himself, and he even did them so quickly. They all turned out perfect. Oh right, this was about studying wasn’t it?

Asmo never really asked questions about why your cat could just be so smart, and more so focused on how cool your cat looked. Priorities.

Beelzebub

Beel and Buff Cat are gym buddies, so naturally they’d walk home together from the gym. Everything was fine until Buff Cat’s MC senses were tingling, and began to walk towards you, crouching down in a store trying to figure out which notebooks to buy.

Beel thought it was pretty cool Buff Cat knew where you were, like how he and Belphie were that close to each other.

Brel asked you what you were doing, and you explained that you wanted to get some new notebooks because your old one is messy and confusing. You just scribbled whatever you could down, and were having a bit of a hard time in class.

Buff Cat immediately perked up, and you two seemed to have a conversation. He meowed and you happily said “I’d love that!”

Apparently, Buff Cat had offered to tutor you. Beel wasn’t so sure how well your cat could teach, though, considering he still is a cat, and offered to help you as well, since he wouldn’t like to see you sad from overworking yourself.

He was scribbling notes alongside with you five minutes into your first session together. Buff Cat wrote such simple explanations, and even prepared notecards ahead of time, Beel forgot he was supposed to teach you.

He is pretty fine with Buff Cat teaching you both, and once again forgets that Buff Cat is a “normal”? cat and not some weird creature that knows the answer to life.

Belphegor

Is really fucking terrified of your buff cat. Like TERRIFIED. So when he sees your cat in a teacher’s outfit sitting at the dinning room table, teaching you math, he was frozen.

He came down to get a glass of milk but what is this. Do you- do you have to do it in the living room?

There is no other reaction than physical fear coursing through his body his adrenaline is at the highest and his fight or flight instincts kick in.

He’s already fought once and that caused Buff Cat to exist in constant Buff form around him, so you can bet he is running.

Probably has a group chat with Mammon and Luke. “Buff Cat Conspiracy”. They talk about how scary buff cat is.

Diavolo

Buff Cat told Diavolo he was the one who helped you study. They were having conversation (buff cat used a notebook) and the topic of your studies came up. He mentioned how he had been helping you study, and understand the terminology in the Devildom better.

He was happy to hear that you understood it, and that it wasn’t too complicated for either of you too.

He actually asks if he can watch your study sessions, to see if he needs to lighten your workload just in case you’re pushing yourself too much.

You two allow him to watch, and he’s giving soft claps and smiles as the two of you give it your best.

Is honestly very happy with how much you two get along, and how you say it’s very simple since Buff Cat explains(meows) it in a very efficient manner.

He already knew Buff Cat was smart, but haha. Maybe he should hire Buff Cat to be a teacher or support class teacher for RAD?

Barbatos

You had grown accustomed to the devildom these past few months, and with Buff Cat with you, you were allowed to freely explore it when you want.

Buff Cat also happens to have a spare key to open the castle when he wishes.

Exam/testing season was coming up, and you knew you couldn’t study at the house of lamentation.

It was very distracting, and so you decided to go to the castle. No one will be screaming there, or trying to convince you your cat is a weird entity trying to plot world domination.

Barbatos was sort of used to seeing Buff Cat come and go as he pleases, but why were you here? Before he could say anything, you told him that you were visiting to study! And that you hope he didn’t mind that Buff Cat was going to tutor you.

Alright, so you’re studying, but why at the castle? You had to explain that it was very distracting at the house of lamentations, and Mammon was trying to convince you to get rid of your cat 24/7.

Ah, he could see that. Your cat isn’t exactly normal, and Mammon does occasionally scream like a girl. I promise I love Mammon. But it’s not like he minded, so long as you two were quiet and actually studied.

He left to clean for a bit, and when he returned to the guest room he saw you wearing a headband, violently writing down and muttering definitions at an insane pace. Buff Cat was in a teacher’s outfit, and holding out flash cards.

He’s slightly taken aback, but doesn’t show it anywhere on his face. He has never seen you so serious before, and neither has he seen Buff Cat so focused on you, as well.

He’s quite proud of you two for your hard work and dedication. He doesn’t interrupt but instead pours you three cups of tea, Buff Cat thanks him, and watches over you two.

Solomon

Solomon invited you over for a study session. He may be a little shady, but he does care for you, as a fellow human.

He was ecstatic to see Buff Cat come with you, because he still wants to dissect your cat.

He was about to talk to you about letting him research you cat, but you made yourself comfortable on his bed, and Buff Cat began to put on glasses and take out a pointer.

He didn’t have anytime to talk beforehand, as you were highlighting certain areas of your book, your cat pointing to certain parts, and you patted the bed beside you for Solomon to join.

Solomon’s plans to dissect your cat are set back another day, but he takes great interest in the way he teaches. Your cat is very methodical about how to remember things, and explains(meows) it rather simply.

He swears that your cat is not a normal human cat, but why can he sense literally zero magic power from it? If only Buff Cat could teach him that.

Solomon also gets 100% on the next test by remembering everything the way Buff Cat had taught you two.

Simeon

Absolutely chaotic man, when he sees you and Buff Cat in a classroom when school was over, he approached you two, and said hello.

You greeted him, and so did Buff Cat. He asked what you were doing after school so late, and that it was dangerous for the two of you. Buff Cat not so much but could still be in danger.

You told him you were studying for the upcoming test, and that Buff Cat was helping you.

Simeon was like!!! 💖👉👈💖💖💖💖🥰🥰🥺🥺 could I join?? This sounds so fun!! Buff Cat is so smart!!

He does not question the fact he’s studying with a cat, learning from a cat, or just how nice your cat can write on paper, like perfect handwriting.

He has such chaotic energy that he’s just like you, what a cute cat!

Luke

no.

just no.

he’s fine with your cat but does your cat have to be in buff form when you’re being taught?

he is happy you are getting good grades but please get him away from buff form buff cat.

[silentxxsoul]

The “my sinus infection gave me a tooth ache so Lone Star better be good or I’ll throw hands, Tim” reaction dump:

I hurt, I’m tired, and there’s ice-turning-to-snow in the forecast tomorrow evening so everyone’s in a panic like we don’t live in the Midwest and this is the first ever snow 🙄

Anyway putting my grouchy ass in time out while Grace threatens Crusty McGee with violence 🥰 love you girlie!!

Weasel hands ahahahaha YES GRACE ILY

Yes dipshit you are a weasel, glad you’re finally picking up lmao

Oh yea this weird coma thing is still happening.

Man y’all nurses need to have some better situational awareness jfc poor Caros

Carlos is literally going to kill me 😭

“A man who doesn’t even want me”

Y’all I’m not ok because even though I had a feeling tk was behind the breakup seeing Carlos like that has me in my FEELS

Rafael is such a fucking phenomenal actor, I’m not even kidding. I love him.

I know I dunk on Owen a lot, but come on man how tf are you going to turn TKs heart stopping into your fault for his stopping???? Stop the martyrdom dude no one wants or needs it.

This poor TK is gonna wake from a coma just to have Andrea take him out for breaking her baby’s heart 💀😂

Grace relentlessly roasting Man-Bun-Charlie-Swan gives me so much life ahhhhh lmao

“Billy Tyson is shady. Knock me over with a feather.” Idk how but imma make that into a sticker and toss it on red bubble because Grace has me cackling.

Fuck it, I’m going to figure out how to make a sticker for all her zingers at his expense. That requires motivation and finding my Apple Pencil, but—

This dude really is gonna siphon gas and hot wire a TOUR BUS like it’s going to redeem him even an inch. I see you, but I’m ignoring you

Let’s not get distracted by the fact that Carlos really went through it alone. I mean the 126 and fam were aware of it and I have no doubt they reached out but he didn’t even have his parents to help him through what is still eating him alive. Man I need to give that poor fella a hug 🥺

At least he’s got his momma by him 💛

….and she left and I feel that’s on me my bad

When Ronen teased the best Tarlos moment I didn’t consider it might be one sided. But tbh I’m digging this, mostly because I’m trash for the bedside confession trope.

YALL SHUT UP IM LISTENING TO THE TEA DAMN IT

GO BACK TO BEING ONE SIDED

a sweet power move that y’all needed to communicate about ughhhhh

COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE

Like I see both sides, wanting to do something sweet for your partner and surprise them but I also see how TK would feel like it was an imbalance of perceived power in the relationship. Especially with his cautious history, and history of self sabotage. They need a good long talk after this for sure

Y’all Judd gets to be there 😭😭😭💛💛💛

There’s parallels here, like when Jee was born in OG and Albert lived

Y’all that is a miraculously clean baby

Also are we just going to forget that Weasel collapsed earlier or ???

TK reaching for Carlos 😭😭😭 IM DEAD TIM OK IM DECEASED WHITE FLAG WHITE FLAG

Wait wait wait so we’re just gonna speed back into this relationship like nothing happened ? I mean I’m not exactly surprised but damn, I really needed them to mend some shit before falling back into this.

The continuity with the baby is so bad. One shot she’s all swaddled and the next she’s half out of the blanket 😬 and like I rarely catch this stuff

Lindsay’s dad totally funded them I love it 💛🖤💛🖤

Y’all they look fiiiiiiine in those dress uni’s I mean damn

What was it Hen said in OG “she’s not my ex I don’t have to like her” or something?? Applicable to Billy. Forgive him all you want but imma keep side eyeing him.

Oh, that’s a pleasant surprise! And puts the “she dead” theories to rest, which admittedly would have been an interesting storyline.

Little Charlie’s outfit omg 🥰

8/10 this was a solid wrap up! Points docked for Tarlos jumping back in, but I’ll pretend they COMMUNICATED off camera for my own benefit. Also points docked because the sfx for the snow because as someone who sees snow regularly that was painful lol

[wowtobio]

Hi! Can I request headcanons where Atsunu and Oikawa are in love with the same girl and compete for her love? I

New Neighbor? Where Atsumu and Oikawa try to win your love

thanks for the request :) i hope u enjoy! 

warnings: slight angst and implied sexual content

-

*pretend hinata is you hehe ;) 

“(y/n)-chan!! I can’t believe you’re leaving me!!” Oikawa complains as you pack the last few things in your overflowing suitcase.

It was a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon in your home in Miyagi and you found yourself in your room with Oikawa casually laying on your bed. 

“Tooru, I’m sorry you know this was not my choice.” You spoke softly, Oikawa sat up and continued his whining 

“But still! We’ve been together since we were kids and you’re just gonna abandon me?? After everything we’ve been through!!?” You threw a pillow at the loud mouthed setter.

It was true, when you moved to Miyagi when you were 6 years old, you two hit it off and are still as close as ever today. Your parents had demanding jobs that required them to travel all over Japan leaving you home alone. Your parents were close with Oikawa’s so they trusted to look after you. You were practically raised by them but over time you learned to fend for yourself with a little help from him and his family. 

“Quit your screaming! And don’t make it out like we’re dating hmph. You still have Iwa-kun to cling onto. You’ll be alright.” You stood up and clasped his hands with yours. A fire sparked into your eyes as you looked at him. 

“Besides, you have to promise me that you’ll go and win nationals. Win the dream with your team!” Oikawa glances at your hands before letting them go and hooking his pinky with your small, dainty ones. 

“Mm, you can count on me (y/n)-chan” 

You smile brightly and without warning wrap your arms around the brunette’s neck. He pauses before allowing his hands to gather at the small of your back and hugging your waist. As a goodbye, you squeeze him closer and bury your face in the crook of his neck and he digs his face into your shoulder. Your breath hitched in your throat as you swear you felt him press a kiss on your neck, but you didn’t mention it. You two just savored the moment and each others warmth as it was probably going to be the last time you two would be in each others presence for awhile. Probably.

-

It has been two months since your family made the move to Hyogo, your parents as expected were not home as usual and at first it was hard for you to adapt without the presence of your parents and your childhood best friend who you texted every single day.

“heyo tooru!” 

“(y/n)-chan! i miss you ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ do you miss mee~?” 

“yah wish idiot, i’m just checkin up on yah”

“YABBEI!! ୧(๑•̀ᗝ•́)૭ you already have the kansai accent noo!!” 

“shut up! i adapt! and fyi i do not talk like this irl”

“okok whateverrr, how’s inarizaki?” 

With your high grades and excelling in academics you were able to transfer into Inarizaki high with no problem. You did not have any friends though, you did not really fit in or belong to certain cliques at the school.

“it’s been alright, kinda prestigious though and ppl have egos but nothing i can’t handle. def better than dealing with you hehe~” 

“im hurt (y/n)-chan! but that’s good, watch out for their volleyball team they’re pretty strong (ง’-‘︠)ง“

You raised an eyebrow as you realized that your new school did indeed have a volleyball team. You’ve heard about them quite a lot as they are supposedly really good, placing at nationals consecutively. You made a mental note to yourself to look further into it whenever you cared too and you bid Oikawa a quick goodbye text. You remembered an important package was waiting outside so you slipped on some shoes and ran out to get it. 

Upon approaching your mailbox, you notice two guys walking towards your direction and you glance up at them. One blonde-haired guy rambling to an uninterested sliver-haired who was practically an exact replica to him. Twins? You thought to yourself as you took a double-take.

Despite their similarities in looks, your attention gravitated towards the blond twin. Just the way his soft looking locks parted to the right over his hooded, dark eyes you could lost in. His overall energy was one that interested you. He felt your lingering gaze on him and made eye contact with you and smirked. 

You blushed lightly and hurriedly grabbed your package. You rushed since you were just wearing short shorts and a crop top. Avoiding any interactions with the pair, you walk away and miss the eyes of the blonde twin looking up and down at your body. 

Slamming your door shut, back against it you let out a sigh of relief and peek out the window to see the twins walk into the house right next door to you. The blush on your face still burned slightly, your curiosity heightens 

“New neighbors? How interesting”

-

School has ended, yet you found yourself aimlessly walking the now empty halls of Inarizaki. You wanted to avoid going home, as you did not want to be spending anymore time in an empty household and without your best friend you missed dearly. 

Your aimless wandering has led you to the volleyball gym, curiosity killed the cat and you found yourself entering the gym and stepping up at the balcony to watch practice from afar. Your eyes immediately went to the golden yellow haired guy who was apparently also your neighbor.

He sets to his teammate effortlessly and you couldn’t help but watch with amazement of his moves and how he brought out the best in the spiker. His technique was similar to Tooru’s, just a bit different. It was like his own twist. You always watched Tooru play with awe, however this guy’s setting just hit differently within you. 

You stared for a bit too long, as said setter looks up the balcony to see your form. The fangirls nearby you screech for his attention, only for him to send you a smirk and you blush profusely and immediately break the eye contact once again. 

Eventually, you found yourself coming back to the same gym at the same time everyday for the week. You went because of how much the players practiced and played flawlessly, but secretly because you wanted to watch the blonde setter in action of course. And since you were not enrolled in any clubs you killed time after school on that very balcony. 

Blonde twin has noticed you at every practice, every now and then he would nod towards you and/or throw a lopsided smile to you that made your heart jump lightly. 

It was the end of practice and you were about to walk out of the empty gym until you felt a hand grab your wrist, pulling you back. 

“Wait!”

You gasp slightly upon seeing the blonde setter. A little too close for comfort. A tint of pink dusted your cheeks as you gulped and stared into his eyes.

“Miya Atsumu, who are you?”

-

“TOOOORUUU YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED” You jumped into bed and called your childhood best friend with no warning.

“E-eh?? (y/n)-chan are you okay?? Are you finally coming back to mee????” 

“NO SILLY! okay hear me out for a moment” 

You rambled on and on about your interaction with the setter, a hint of excitement in your tone that goes unnoticed by Oikawa.

“(y/n)-chan, you do know that Miya Atsumu is one of the best setters in Japan right?” 

You immediately shut up, mouth open slightly and you noticed Oikawa’s sudden drop in mood.

“A-ah, I did not know that, sorry..” You rubbed your arm out of nervousness as the line went silent for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“You.. you still support me though right (y/n)-chan?” 

“Of course Tooru!”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, of course. I believe in you”

-

Over the next few weeks, you and Atsumu have been interacting a lot more than others would’ve expected. You two slowly got closer to each other, exchanged numbers, walking in the halls together, eating lunch together, even during passing time he would come visit you in your class. Rumors erupted here and there but you would ignore them, all you cared about was the fact that you were getting close to the handsome setter and you couldn’t help but feel a weird sensation in your chest whenever you were around him. 

Being neighbors, you two sometimes catch each other walking by the window and laugh at how both of you were caught off guard. He would even text you about it.

“you looked pretty cute there (n/n)-chan~”

Your heart flutters and you giggle replying back. Then you two would text the whole night away.

One night, you were on the phone with Oikawa as usual updating each other about your lives. 

“And then! You won’t believe it (y/n)-chan, Iwa-chan then threw the volleyball! At the back of my head!! How embarrassing uwaaah” 

You giggled cutely, “But I do believe it!” Oikawa just grumbles on the other side of the line and you continue to laugh. A text message then pops up from Atsumu, wishing you a goodnight. You subconsciously smile and were reminded that you should probably tell your best friend of the recent closeness. 

“Ne Tooru, I have somethings to update you about Atsumu.” It was absolutely silence on the other side, you worried slightly but took it as a sign to continue.

You ranted on about the progression of your friendship with Atsumu, almost in a dreamy tone. You finished and were met with silence which worried you even further.

“Toor-”

“We have a match with Karasuno tomorrow.” You were caught off guard with the sudden subject change. 

“E-eh? That’s Kageyama-san’s team right? And you should be sleeping then!” 

“Yeah, that guy drives me mad. But we’ll be fine, we will win” Oikawa says. You admired whenever Oikawa was passionate and serious about his dreams. 

“Of course, I wish you luck! I’ll watch you guys from home.” 

“Thank you~ Sweet (y/n)-chan” You laugh and cringed at him, but his tone went serious unexpectedly once again.

“Ne (y/n)-chan I have a question for you.”

“I’m all ears Tooru.”

“Do you have feelings for Atsumu?” 

Your breath got caught in your throat. Feelings?

“I- uhm. I think it’s too early to have feelings like that, right Tooru?”

“Mmm.” 

On the other side of the line, Oikawa frowns. 

-

They lost

They lost against Karasuno

You sat on your coach, tears forming as your hands cupped your mouth in shock. 

They can’t go to nationals

You watched painfully as you saw the cameras zoom in on the victors of Karasuno and cuts to Oikawa’s face of disbelief alongside the team members’ similar reaction and a few crying faces. Tears were as of now flowing down your face.

Tooru��s dream

You spent the next few days constantly calling and texting your best friend to check on him and remind him he did his best. He barely replied back, answering with blunt and passive answers that worried you to the core. Oh what would you give to take a train to Miyagi and comfort him. 

You heard a knock at your door, ears perked up and you walk over to answer. 

“A-atsumu??” You were shocked at the sudden appearance of him at your front door. 

“What’re you doing here??” He leans against the doorway, hands in his pockets. His casual attire being fitted black joggers, a green hoodie and a nice jacket over. You couldn’t help but stare. 

“Am I not allowed to visit yah (n/n)-chan. And it is rude to stare yanno. Not even allowing a guest in?” He smirks as you fumble with your words and let him in your home. 

“I was just making lunch, w-would you like to join me?” He smiles attractively as he takes off his coat and hangs it up. 

“Don’t mind if I do.” 

The afternoon was spent with you cooking lunch for the two of you, jokes cracked up and you both laughed and bonded. 

“What do yah mean? You never saw the movie??” You giggled.

“Hah, you expect me to be going out all the time? I’m the loner here.” 

“Nope nope, not with me around. I am taking you out to see this movie right now.” He grabs your wrist and drags you towards your room. Your heart did a thing.

“Go get ready.” You blushed red questioned frantically what was happening.

“W-what? What do you mean? Where are we going? WHat??” Atsumu waves his hands.

“Don’tcha worry about it doll. I’ll pay for your ticket, and it’ll only be the movies. Yah parents aren’t even home and I’ll bring yah back home in one piece.” 

With further convincing you sigh and agreed to his offer. As you slipped on a casual, fitting dress along with a bit of touching up of your hair and makeup your mind wanders to Oikawa. You still worried about him.

“I hope he’s doing okay..” You mumble to no one in particular. 

“Hope whose doin okay?” You jump at Atsumu’s sudden intrusion in your bedroom. 

“N-nothing! Well I’m ready now so let’s go.” Before heading out, Atsumu blocks your path and checked you out real quick. 

“Wow~ You look gorgeous (n/n)-chan” You blushed heavily and ushered him out of your room and the house. 

-

You two arrive at the train station, making light conversation where Atsumu would drop compliments every now and then that would make you redder than a tomato.

Casually strolling side by side, your shoulders bumping into each other. You stop in your tracks as Atsumu does the same, your eyes widening at the sight of Oikawa.

“T-tooru!” 

“…(y/n)-chan” 

Atsumu raises an eyebrow. 

“W-what are you doing here Tooru? Are you okay??”

“I simply just needed to see you… I missed you but I see that I am interrupting something?”

Your eyes widened, you wanted to run into Tooru’s arms but Atsumu was right beside you..

Conflicted

“Well well well, if it ain’t pretty setter Oikawa. How did that game the other day go?” Atsumu says in a taunting manner, you backhanded Atsumu’s chest lightly scolding him. However, Astumu continues 

“I think you should let her go lover boy, she’s mine.” Atsumu wraps and arm around your shoulder. You gasped as Oikawa ticks at that.

“You barely know her, don’t even think about touching her!” Oikawa growls out.

“G-guys please stop!” You felt so conflicted with your feelings. You did recently felt interested in Atsumu. On the other hand, you constantly missed and cared for Tooru. 

“She obviously likes me over you boy, I dunno your problem but I will be taking my lady out if yah don’t mind.” 

“To hell! (y/n)-chan’s been mine.” Oikawa grabs your wrist and pulls you towards him. 

“(y/n), what are you doing out with him? Is this a date? Do you actually like him more than me?” 

You flustered up at Oikawa’s words.

“No! W-well it may seem like a date, but we’re just out watching movies together alone! W-wait that sounds like a date oh my goodness. I don’t even know anymore ugh-” 

You felt so overwhelmed to the point you could not help but break your grasp from Oikawa and run from the two. 

“(n/n)-chan!”

“(y/n)!” 

You kept running, ignoring their calls.

What were you going to do? 

Who were you going to choose?

You did not know anymore

-

a/n: heyhey sorry if that turned out bad ;; i am conflicted on how to end this short headcanon so I was thinking of writing something with both endings where you either choose Oikawa or Atsumu. Only if you guys want so please let me know! And also at that last interaction I made Oikawa seem more serious since I imagine he would still be affected by losing ofc poor boi. Sorry if that seemed too ooc for Oikawa. N e ways, thank you guys sm for the support and reading my writing. PLs let me know if you would like that part two! ily :)

[meg2md]

M4 is great so far. I'm on my gyn onc AI, which I thought would be super intense, but my chief is so chill and was like "please take your weekends and enjoy the three-day holiday." Last time I'll get to, right? So why not??

The M3-M4 transition is still a little weird. I honestly felt like I had MORE expectations as an M3. And I'm sure it's rotation dependent, but my residents are like "We just want you to learn." I'm in a bit of a weird spot because these evals go on my MSPE (as well as my grade in H/HP/P form) and it's ALL subjective grading, but I'm just trying to use this first AI as an opportunity to figure out HOW to be an AI so that I can blow my away rotation away. I'm also planning on asking for a letter from a doc who did her fellowship at the place I'm doing my away, but I haven't worked with her yet. I think I work with her a bunch next week.

I feel like because they know I want to do ob/gyn they're letting me do a tiny, tiny bit more in the OR. I got to dick around with the scope for a cystoscopy (which I found super hard lol) and I got to practice a D&C and ECC on a patient (after the attending/resident had finished). And I'm thrilled because I genuinely enjoy reading up on my patients and learning at home about the diagnoses and procedures. This is what I want to do with the rest of my life!!! I feel so validated.

It's been one week and I haven't actually presented a patient yet, but the way rounds work isn't exactly how I expected. On surgery and ob/gyn in M3 I would show up 30 min to an hr early to preround, then on actual rounds with residents + attendings I would present. Here, we all preround together, and sometimes we go back and round with the attending but usually it's just the chief if I'm in clinic or something. My chief said I could practice presenting to him though, so I'll try to take him up on that. I'm also itching to try working up a new patient, but ya'll, gyn onc patients are complicated as fuck so we'll see how that goes. But i 1000000% need to at least try!! It's more of a "make my own opportunities" thing than a "these are our expectations" thing, because their expectations are "learn and enjoy your M4." Which I appreciate and makes a chill learning environment. But it means I need to learn to be more assertive with my active learning opportunities.

Regarding ERAS/residency apps, I finally started my personal statement last night. I'm just hoping to finish my first draft by the end of this rotation and then I can clean it up next month. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I somehow destroyed Step 2 and I'm THRILLED. It makes up for the fact that I dropped into the 3rd quartile at the literal last grade update of M3 and that's just where I am now. I'm starting to collect rec letters. I asked my IM attending from last year to write my SLOE (new requirement for OB/GYN), have plans to ask an attending this rotation, and will ask an attending on my family planning rotation. Then I just need a chair letter.

I managed to sign up for Pole 102 because they have it at 8 PM on Thursdays and signout for gyn onc is 6 PM!!! Because why not??? It's not like I need to study for shelves this year!!!! Trial bridesmaid dresses for my friends wedding should come in today so I can finally choose one and order the real deal.

Plans for today include spinning pole lessons, reading up on patients for tomorrow, and doing some reading in Williams Gynecology depending on the procedures. Also continuing my chronologic rewatch of Marvel, which I started the day before Step 2. Made it through Winter Solider, but I'm also watching Agents of SHIELD in-between because I actually REALLY LOVE IT so far

So overall I'm thrilled with M4 so far

[athina-blaine]

Jon goes on a business trip.

Chapters: 1/1 [Complete]

Words: 1,692

Tags: Established Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, Long-Distance

~

Jon threw his backpack onto the hotel bed and slumped into the desk chair. It boggled him how he could even think about sitting after being trapped in an uncomfortable airplane seat for the last 12 hours, but he just didn’t have the energy to stand. 

Weak, grey lighting wormed through the ratty curtains, washing out the already muted yellow walls and doing nothing to lift the temperature of the room. The second hand of the analogue clock twitched in place.

You get what you pay for.

Martin had insisted he would stay up late waiting for Jon's call, but guilt still twisted his stomach as he dialled his number. He wished Martin would have chosen to get some sleep instead, but, then again, the thought of going another day without hearing from him didn’t feel particularly good either.

The call clicked.

“Hello? Jon?”

“Evening.”

“I believe you mean, good morning."

"Shut up."

"Where’ve you been? I’ve been waiting around for ages.”

“I told you I wouldn’t be getting in until around 7. If anything, I’m ahead of schedule.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just kind of hoping you were exaggerating how long it would take. You know, so if you get there a bit early, it’s like a nice little surprise.”

“Martin, if you’re expecting an airport to ever being running ahead of schedule, I’m sorry to say, you’ve already lost.”

Martin’s laugh was staticky in the receiver. “So, what’s it like? Sample any cuisines? Are the locals friendly?”

“Yes, I’ve had a bagel sandwich from a coffee shop at the airport, and the cab driver who escorted me to the hotel shouted at me.”

“What did you do?”

“What makes you think I did something?”

“Ah, well, you know, you can be a bit— And it’s not your fault! You’ve just been in a flying metal box for the last day, so it’s totally reasonable to be grumpy. But you can be a bit tetchy at times.”

Jon sighed. “I suppose I was a bit more aggressive expressing my umbrage at the way he handled my bags than was strictly necessary.”

“Jon.”

“My laptop was in there! He threw it.”

“Of course, dear.”

Jon curled up in his chair, wrapping his arm around his knees. “So, what have you been doing?”

“Oh, nothing interesting. Just rewatching old episodes of Emergency Contact. Couldn’t you have at least waited until Monday to fly across the world so we could watch the new one together? Kathy is finally going to find out what happened to her fiancé.”

“I'm sorry, eldritch fear monsters have very little respect for broadcast network scheduling.”

“Pity.”

“You don’t have to wait for me, you know.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. What’s the point of knowing some big secret if you don’t have anyone to talk to about it? And don’t just try to know it, either!”

“That would be a terrible misuse of my abilities.”

“Since when did you give a toss about that?” Martin yawned, smacking his lips gently. “Well, I guess I should let you go. You must be exhausted.”

“Not really.” Jon didn’t sleep much these days. “But you need to get up early for work, so …”

Martin hummed. The second-hand of the clock continued ticking pointlessly. A film of dust was beginning to settle on the back of Jon's throat. What a terrible hovel this place was.

“Oh, wait, before you go, I wanted to tell you, you won’t believe what Melanie found while digging around for the Davis case.”

“What is it?”

“Okay, so, you know how the guy was acting super weird and it’s, like, yeah, he definitely killed his ex-wife, right?”

“Yeah?” Jon said, pulling the thin blanket off the bed before settling back down.

“Well, guess what Melanie found in the storage closet of his mechanic’s shop?”

“Her dismembered corpse?”

“What? No, his toolbox. What’s the matter with you? You’re so morbid.”

"Oh."

“That’s a joke, I’m joking. Melanie didn’t find anything, was talking my ear off all day yesterday about it. Absolutely exhausting. I mean, I get it, Brighton isn’t exactly close, but remember when I had to go all the way to bloody Plymouth?”

Jon did, but he let Martin remind him anyway, and closed his eyes.

 Snow crunched under Jon’s feet as he limped through the street, a packet of files tucked under his arm. The custodian at the Federova Research Centre had been furious at the hour with which he asked for one of their documents, but she had quickly reconsidered when she helpfully told him about the gambling ring she was running.

He still felt terribly guilty about it, but it got a little easier every time. He didn’t know if that made it worse.

A gust of icy wind sliced through his coat, chilling his bones. His nose burned as he breathed down the arctic air. He had been entirely unprepared for this miserable weather and fantasized about his dry hotel and a cup of hot coffee.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling off his glove with his teeth, he took it out and opened the screen.

>aaahhhh!! im burning up!!! help!!!

Attached was a picture of the sun shining in the middle of a blue sky. Smiling, Jon typed a response, the tips of his fingers already uncomfortably numb.

>Be sure to wear plenty of sunblock

He angled his phone at the night sky, blanketed in thick, dreary clouds, taking a picture and sending it.

>oh, yikes. you sure im not the one on vacation?

>You know this isn’t a vacation

>yeah, going on vacation would require you taking that stick out of ur arse

> ):<

>im sorry, it’s a nice stick

>Thank you

>also why are you awake??

>Research. Need I remind you that you were the one who texted me?

>i was expecting you to see it tomorrow!! go to bed!!

>Yes, darling

A light snowfall had begun. Wild animals skittered by in the distance, dark shadows in the corner of his eyes. Tucking his phone away, he continued his trudge, the bruises on his left leg throbbing.

He’d go to bed once he got these documents sorted.

 The black ooze caught Jon’s foot and he crashed to the ground, shoulder crunching under his weight. The creature crept up to his knee, squelching as it latched onto his other leg, gelatinous and soggy. Hissing sharply through his teeth, he clawed the dirt, pulling himself forward. His foot had grown numb.

The creature had reached his waist and his fingers sluiced through the wet soil, his body too heavy to move. Pins and needles crawled up his legs before he lost feeling in them entirely. Though it had no mouth, the creature groaned, the sound of satisfaction one might make as it bit down into their meal.

He grabbed his phone before it ate his pocket and made a call. It rang.

It went to voicemail.

The desperate words died on his tongue. He shut his eyes tightly, pressing his face into the ground and breathing in the musty earth.

“Um, hello.”

A slimy tendril crawled along the back of his neck, leaving a damp trail in its wake before creeping into his hair. It would never wash out.

“Just wanted to see if you were awake. Of course, you aren’t, it’s like 4 AM. Not your fault. Nothing new on my end.” The creature squeezed, pressing his ribs against each other. “No, no, that was a lie. I’m currently being attacked by some kind of blob monster. Didn’t want to worry you, sorry. That was stupid of me.”

The scent of sweet organic fumes struck him, and he stiffened, stomach churning.

“I am trying very, very hard not to die right not, but just in case, figured, should give you a call. Seemed like the right thing to do.” He chuckled, which turned into a splutter as the thick sludge began filling his mouth and his nose. “I’m sorry.”

He ended the call, hand falling limp, still cradling his phone. It was swallowed shortly after.

 The airport was fit to burst as Jon worked his way through it, suffering bumped shoulders and crying children the whole way. The lingering smell of floor cleaner and cigarette smoke made his world spin on an axis, but he pressed on.

He was home. He was home, and he’d be in his bed within the hour. He pictured changing into his pyjamas and crawling under his cosy bedsheets, being held, as he was shoved through customs by sour faced security guards who wanted to be there even less than him and wanted him to know it.

When he reached the airport lobby, something barrelled into his chest.

“Finally,” said Martin, squeezing Jon hard enough to make his eyes pop. “You were supposed to be in two hours ago.”

“I told you it was delayed,” Jon said, resting his cheek on Martin’s shoulder. He inhaled the scent of his own lemon detergent and had a vision of Martin cycloning through their flat in a cleaning frenzy. “You said you were going to wait at home.”

“I lied and you knew it.”

“I did not."

Martin looked up, a gentle smile on his lips. It trembled, his eyes growing misty, before it cracked. “So, um, I know this is going to sound really crazy, but …”

“Yes?”

“Do you think you could just, you know, never, ever leave again? Ever?”

He looked so small and scared as he said it. Jon had done this to him. Again.

Jon pulled him back into his arms. “I can’t promise that. But it sounds nice.”

“Yeah.” Martin sniffed. “And I don’t mean just these little jaunts to the other side of the flippin’ planet where you try and get yourself killed. If you go to Tesco, I'm gonna be on your arse. Right? Got it?”

“Of course.”

“You can still go to the bathroom by yourself, that’s okay.”

“Perfectly reasonable. You're dizzying me.”

Martin pinched his arm and pressed his mouth against Jon’s, slow and hungry, before dragging them towards the exit gate.

“Come on, let’s get you in bed.”

[candytuftgirl]

Somnia

A Secret Santa fic for Amylion! (My dumbass couldnt find your tumblr ashfg).

I hereby present this... mess. Probably not what you were asking for (definitely not; Im so sorry I just realized I didnt use the prompts they were going to come up later on RIP) and maybe a tinsy bit cringe-worthy.  There was supposed to be more, but yeah; here’s some good-natured kid Leia and Dad Vader, with a pinch of prophetic dreams for zest.

Well, I tried. 

(Also, this one shot was not beta’ed, I die like the horrible mess of a writer I am)

The hallways are dark.

The shadows that surround a few illuminated viewports create frightening monsters, if one had the right imagination for it. What was worse was that she was alone. There were no droids, white masks or suit-people in sight.

If she were younger, maybe she’d ask a droid to accompany her on this late night journey. But no; she was a big girl now (Seven! That was two fingers more than a whole hand) and besides, her daddy didn’t really like them much.

He didn’t like a lot of things, but there were some he disliked more than others. And she noticed, which was why she was walking alone, in the dark, the metal caging her in from the side. And she’s not scared. Not at all.

Still, if she squeezes Mr. Catty just a bit too tight that was just because he was shivering so much.

The big silver doors are in view soon enough, and she shuffles a bit faster when she notices them. It doesn’t even take a moment before they silently open. She walks in, the doors close and the familiar whirring noise echoes all around her.

“Leia.” Her daddy steps out of the dark, his breathing machine the only constant source of sound in the room. He’s tall, dark and shiny- just like he was when he put her to bed. It calms her; and Mr. Catty.

He absently waves a finger, turning the lights on as he steps closer to her small form. “Angel, what’s wrong?”

She doesn’t answer. Instead she walks over with her bare feet (she was going to get a scolding for that for sure), Mr. Catty firmly in hand and looks up at her father’s dark mask. The staring only lasts a moment.

There’s a small hitch in the constant whirring noise, like an exhausted little sound, and her father firmly picks her up and sits himself down on a nearby chair. She’s on his knee, one black gloved arm still around her while she makes herself comfortable, and now it’s just her father’s strange mask that stares down at her.

Leia doesn’t hesitate. “I had a strange dream daddy.”

She didn’t dream often, but when she did, she always dreamed of strange things. A cave filled with crystals, shining so brightly she swore she heard them sing. An underwater city, beautiful; but there were fish people standing on top of buildings, crying, screaming: “Traitor, traitor!”.

A moon made out of metal, with a heart that screeched in pain.

Everyone always said her dreams were silly, and she was making too much of a fuss about them. Overactive imagination, her retelling a version of a story she read somewhere; one suit-man even accused her of lying once! The more she talked about them, the less everyone who heard them believed her.

Sometimes, Leia thought that if it weren’t for her daddy, their gentle reprimands would turn scathing.  

She knew she shouldn’t have shared her dreams, knew most never believed her, but she couldn’t help herself; they all felt so real to her in a way. Why couldn’t other people understand that?

She knew better now. All the droids and suit-people dismissed her worries so she dismissed them as well; except for her daddy.

He never said she was making things up, and he always listened.

“It was a dry place.” Leia began, fumbling with Mr.Catty’s stuffed legs. She tried to remember. “Like, really dry. Everything was orange and the ground was bright and smooth; with all these little pebbles on them.” She shook her head lightly. “Oh no, they were even smaller than that: tiny, little pebbles. And there were no trees, or rivers, or-“

“A desert.” Her father stated, quickly cutting off her rambling. “You were dreaming of a desert.”

She scrunched her little button nose up at him. “A desert? Like, dessert?”

“No. A desert is a barren wasteland, largely inhospitable, dry and covered in sand; the tiny pebbles.” He explained, and she files away this new revelation in her mind. “I believe the chocolate waffles you had for breakfast this morning don’t fit the same description.”

Uh-oh. She cringed, fumbling her fingers around her stuffed toy. “Oh- you know about that?”

So she might have eaten sweets for breakfast this morning. Really, though, it hadn’t been her fault! She was alone with the droid in the kitchen, and it did ask her what she wanted for breakfast. And she really didn’t want to eat porridge filled with fruits, vitamins and all the “healthy necessities her body required to grow”. Besides, she was sure chocolate waffles made her grow more than that mush anyway.

“We will discuss your punishment tomorrow.” Leia made a face at that; she really didn’t want to scrub her room clean. Again. Her father’s mask turned towards her wriggling feet. “Where are your socks?”

“-So anyway.” She continued undeterred. “I was in a desert. But I wasn’t alone. There was a boy there too.”

Her father straightened a bit more at that. He always did, whenever she dreamed of someone. “What kind of boy?”

She shrugged. “A boy. I guess he was like me- except, well, he’s a boy.” Leia thought about him for a bit; the boy that inexplicably drew her attention more than any scary dream ever had. “He was blonde, with blue eyes- and his clothes were too big.”

She furrowed her eyebrows in concentration, trying to recall the image of a boy in large white sleeves chasing furry creatures across the ground. “He was kinda scruffy looking.”

“Language.” Her father quietly added, though it was more of an automatic response than anything. “Is that all?”

“Umm, he was chasing some weird rat; I guess he was playing a game and-“

“I mean, was there anyone else in the dream?”

Leia shook her head, expression serious as she looked up at her daddy. With her chubby cheeks and button nose, she looked far too adorable to emulate any kind of sobering face but that hardly stopped her from trying. Like a little queen waiting for her adviser’s opinion, she stared at her father while he thought about her dream.

Her father’s mask stared off in a vague direction, head tilted as he considered what she said. The longer he remained in that position, the more Leia’s heartbeat echoed in her head. This is important then. Daddy must think so too.

It didn’t scare her; it made her strangely giddy. Like that boy was a puzzle piece, something she unknowingly needed to complete the distorted picture in her life.

“It’s nothing like your… usual visions.” His rough voice brought her back from her daydreams. Black mask meeting her large chocolate eyes, her father stated his final judgment. “No. I do not believe it really means anything, angel. Maybe it really was just a dream.”

Mr.Catty made a straining nose from the pressure of her tiny fingers.

In hindsight, this information was wonderful. She often came to her father, crying her eyes out because she hated all the scary dreams she was having, and she didn’t want them anymore. The fact that this dream might have been just that; a dream, not a nightmare, not reality…

Leia hated it.

“No daddy!” She yelled suddenly, wiggling free and sliding down to the floor. It caught her father off guard, too surprised to stop her.

With red cheeks she stared up at him, and all his black glory. “He was real. I know he was.”

“Leia…”

“No!” She threw Mr. Catty to the floor, angry tears appearing in her narrowed eyes. “You think I’m making things up! Like everyone else!”

“Leia.”

Her father got up, voice cold as the atmosphere in the room shifted. No longer approachable, but massive; He stared down at her in the oppressive silence, hands on his hips, looking like a mountain that would break the earth before it would bend.

A scary sight, one that many feared. Leia was no match for that; small, with her chin trembling, and wet, sloppy tears already rolling down her cheeks. She couldn’t even compare.

Still, she refused to back down.

She knew her daddy was angry, and he was probably going to be even angrier the more she continued this staring contest; but- I’m angry too!

After all, out of all the people in her life, it was her father who was supposed to believe her no matter what. The fact that he didn’t, that he thought it was all a dream…

That hurt her.

The staring continued. The tension rose. Before she knew it, the temperature in the room dropped some more. She vaguely wondered if she was going to freeze up. Like those poor people in the vacuum of space, ones that fell under fire and drifted out of reach into an asteroid field. No one went back for them. Nobody even tried.

Would her father leave her like that, all alone? Here in this room, like a sculpture? Would she be able to see? Move? Become a statue for eternity?

It was a daunting thought, the coldness seeping through her jammies and into her skin now. She couldn’t stop shaking; the fear was swallowing her, but she wouldn’t-

It wasn’t until she glanced at Mr. Catty laying on the floor that realization set it and the fear stilled. Eyes straying away from the black void of her father, she took a few steps to her fallen toy, the coldness subsiding as well.

Gingerly picking him up, she muttered a quick apology to her favorite friend, facing her father as the tears roamed unchecked now.

“I-I’m sorry Daddy…” The hiccuping made it harder to speak. “But, but-“

She was full on sobbing now, and just like that, the atmosphere in the room shifted back to normal. The coldness subsided, the warmth came back and she couldn’t stop crying.

Her father made that whirring exhausted little noise, before slowly bending his knees in a crouch so they were more at eye level (Leia didn’t like how he towered over her so much, so piggybacks were still an often occasion).

It was a bit comical to see her tall and menacing father lost as to what to do, his tiny daughter shaking and desperately trying to rub away all the evidence of her uncontrollable tears.

“Oh no, angel not your-“ The warning was too late, as she blew her nose into her sleeves. They were icky already, but she kept smearing her tears in them. Her father quickly battered her attempts away. He looked around, his shoulders slumping some more. 

Soon enough, she was blowing into a soft and leathery like material; her father sacrificing his shiny black gloves, gently wiping away the grime and the snot from her small face.

He was probably going to make that sad little whirring noise about that later, but for now, he remained composed.

“Calm down, angel.” He spoke as gently as he could with his distorted voice, his own version of Sssh, sssh- don’t cry now. 

“I’m sorry, daddy.” Leia stared at his black, droid like mask with her puffy eyes. She made a few more hiccuping noises, before croaking out the truth she knew in her heart. “But… but he’s important.”

“The boy from your dream?” She nodded. “How so?”

“Be-because!” She wiped the remains of her tears away, frantically trying to explain to her father the underlining importance of it all. It was so clear to her, didn’t he understand? “I saw him, daddy. I saw him jump around rocks, kick rats; fix- or maybe he was breaking- droids-!“

Another memory appeared in her head, one that makes her smile. “And he stares at the sunset daddy! Like you stare out the viewport. He must be real.”

This knowledge didn’t seem to appease her father; if anything, it seemed to do the opposite. The coldness in the room came back with alarming ferocity, before it changed into something incredibly hot, like a blazing sun- and then she could breathe again.

Her father’s shoulders slumped lightly, before he started to reach out his hand to her. He stopped, probably remembering the sobbing incident, and pried his gloves off, gently laying his hands down on her small shoulders. Leia tried her best to not shiver from the cold metal prosthetics. They glinted in the light, fake fingers squeezing her softly.

(Once, a long time ago, when she was still curious about her father’s strange suit, she had asked him if he was a droid. She couldn’t see it, but she just knew her daddy became very sad, and she instantly felt bad about it.

“No, not completely” he said.

She never asked again.)

“Leia.” He had her complete undivided attention. “The dream you had was real. But it was only a vision of the past.”

“The past?” She repeated, blinking as her father retracted his hands from her. But that would mean… “Really?”

“Really.”

The boy she dreamed about was real, as real as her heart in her chest. But it was a boy from before, not now. A boy from the past.

She felt an uncomfortable weight settle inside her.

“How do you know?” It couldn’t be true- the boy she saw was here, now, like she was- and he was important. She just knew it. “Did you… know him?”

“Once.” Her father looked away, like when he looked through viewports at the stars; like the boy. “I knew him, once.”

Her father was many things, but he wasn’t a liar.

She sagged with that newfound knowledge, tired and sad all at once, Mr.Catty limp in her hold. A boy from the past- it hurt her in a way she couldn’t explain, like a goal she could see as plain as day evaporated just beyond her reach. He had seemed so real (was he still real?), and now…

Just a boy from before. It felt like the truth.

And yet, there was still a part of her that believed differently.

There was shuffling in the background, her father’s loud stomps echoing in the room. Looking up, she saw him searching for something in his sleek metal closet. He only had one in his room.

Or was it an office- that term would perhaps better serve to describe his room (he didn’t even have a bed; sometimes Leia thought the plush chairs and sofa were there only for her benefit).

Most would have called it an office- if it wasn’t for the large bacta tank standing at the other end.

She opened her mouth when he walked back to her, but he stopped her new bouts of questions by deftly picking her up- new and shiny, clean black gloves in place.

“Enough. It’s late.” That was his order-voice now. The one that didn’t allow protests. She slumped a little in his hold.

The walk back through the shadowed corridors wasn’t as scary as before, and Leia rested her cheek on her father’s broad shoulder as he swallowed the distance between their rooms in short time.

He put her back to bed, exchanging her star shirt for a clean one with lothcats, and tucked her in. Opening her closet, he made sure to look inside before closing it again. A nightly ritual for checking monsters. No matter how many times he assured her that there was nothing scarier than him around, Leia insisted. That late-night holo she saw still made her shiver.

Besides, her daddy wasn’t that scary.

Smoothing down the hair on her head, Mr.Catty snuggled up beside her, he straightened and pointed a finger at her in warning (like he did at the suit-people, though his voice wasn’t so cold): “Now, sleep.”

He left. She shifted to find a more comfortable position, obeying the silent order and closing her eyes. Before drifting off, she repeated the words she knew rang true in her head; her heart.

The boy is real. Like me. I know it.

[taexual]

HOLIC - 25 | jb x reader

pairing: Im Jaebum x Reader

genre: enemies to lovers au | roommate au

warnings: some domestic life with jaebum (and this is surprisingly long)

words: 7.2k

disclaimer: i do not own the gif, please let me know if it belongs to you, so i can give proper credit

               prev / next

Your alarm clock had rung like it did every morning but, for some weird reason, this time, the sound was coming from the wrong direction – even your sleepy mind could fathom that. It took a lot of groaning and a lot of sporadic shuffling for you to realize that your phone was at the far edge of the bed, wrapped tightly in the blanket that you must have thrown off of yourself at night because you were too warm.

As you reached for it to turn it off, you ended up stumbling over someone’s leg and yelping in surprise before the events of last night returned to your mind within the next few moments. At first, all you could remember was that you’d fallen asleep very late. So late, in fact, that once the clock on your phone passed midnight, you started to fear to check the time because you knew you’d have to be up early tomorrow. Somehow, you just couldn’t bring yourself to get up and leave Jaebum’s room.

And, judging by the fact that you were sitting – dizzy and a little hazy – on his bed, apparently, you hadn’t bothered to leave at all in the end. Jaebum was laying on the other side of the bed, his eyelashes fluttering every now and then, his fingers tapping lightly against the pillow next to his face – he was awake. Undoubtedly so, because a second later, he opened his eyes.

For a good minute, the two of you just watched each other, your minds completely blank. You weren’t sure what you were expecting him to say – if anything – but you knew that no matter what he chose to say next, the fact still remained: you’d fallen asleep in his bed last night. Again.

“Uhh…” you were the one who opened your mouth first in the end. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was in here for so long, I fell asleep—”

Jaebum chuckled, the surprising sound cutting you off. He had closed his eyes again – you didn’t blame him, six in the morning was far too early to have your eyes opened – but the smirk on his lips remained.

“You just can’t leave my bed,” he said, his groggy morning voice laced with teasing, “even if I built yours.”

Suddenly glad that he wasn’t looking at you, you smiled and shook your head. It was too early to come up with a good comeback and, truth be told, you probably wouldn’t have had what to reply with either way. It was just refreshing to hear how completely unfazed by this he seemed to be.

Still grinning to yourself – and, consequently, not realizing that Jaebum had opened his eyes as soon as he heard you shuffle on the bed again – you gathered yourself to your feet and quietly tip-toed out of the room. Despite wanting to stay here longer – not even touching him, but sharing the space of his bed with him – you also had to get ready for work and no matter how appealing calling in sick sounded, you hadn’t done that when you felt unprepared to deal with Jiho, so that meant you weren’t going to do that now, either.

All was well in your apartment. You didn’t want to take it for granted or, worse, ruin it by overstaying your welcome in Jaebum’s room.

After a brisk shower and a quick breakfast, you located your purse and your car keys and prepared to head out, stopping for a moment outside of Jaebum’s bedroom. His door was open and you could see him sleeping in the exact same position that you’d left him in. He had the whole bed to himself now and he was still sleeping on the left side as if he’d left the right side vacant on purpose. As if he was waiting for you to sneak back in.

Inhaling sharply to hopefully ease the sudden surge of violent butterflies inside of your stomach, you turned around and, still smiling, exited your apartment.

Your slightly wet hair flowing in the cold wind outside didn’t worry you as much as it probably should have because the irresistible urge to chuckle every time you recalled bits of conversation that you’ve had with Jaebum last night was keeping you warm. You were sure that as long as you kept thinking about last night and hoping for many more nights like this in the future, you were going to survive the coldest winters with minimal heating needed.

At this point, there was no denying it: you had feelings for Jaebum. Strong ones, too. Frustrating, as well, because you weren’t sure what you were supposed to do with yourself. And confusing, on top of everything, because you didn’t know what Jaebum was feeling – you could have guessed but guessing meant raising your hopes.

Funnily enough, it’s been days since you and Jaebum had the fight that had opened your eyes – and your hearts, too – and you still haven’t properly discussed what either of you has said. On the one hand, that was good – now you knew you might have exhibited some Suji-like traits and you could work on that. There was no point talking about it when you and him seemed to be getting along much better now. But, on the other hand, you knew that he’d said many things that required explanations – you just weren’t sure how you were going to continue to live if the explanations you received didn’t live up to the expectations you’d grown to have.

You focused on actually doing your job today and it seemed to work this time – you didn’t get distracted –  until, during your lunch break – which you deliberately took after two o’clock – you decided to listen to Jaebum’s radio show in hopes that he’d dare to finally play his own song but, of course, that didn’t happen.

Honestly, Jaebum would have probably texted you if he decided to play his song on air – or, at least, you hoped he would – but it wouldn’t have been surprising if he just played it without warning anyone, knowing how bashful he got whenever he had to speak about his music. It was admirable in an almost annoying way because, honestly, there was nothing he should have been embarrassed about. Unless it was about his immense talent, anyway.

You didn’t hear Jaebum’s song today but you did get to listen to his voice as he talked to his listeners and, somehow, that seemed to lift your mood even more. That was why, when Hyojin texted you to get some coffee after work – you and her used to host “productive” coffee sessions when you were both in college, where you’d get together to edit pictures (in your case) or toy around on Polyvore (in Hyojin’s) – you agreed without hesitation.

Although, normally, you felt like going home and not seeing anyone after you finished work, right now you were feeling just upbeat enough to interact with others. You were in the kind of mood where you wanted to go out and conquer the world but, at the same time, you wouldn’t have felt bad about not achieving much today because you knew that, at the end of the day, when you’d return home, Jaebum would be there.

Back in the day – a week ago, really – you used to dread going home because you knew you’d get into an argument with your roommate, but now, just the thought of getting to see him later tonight kept your spirits soaring the whole day. It was a nice change; you welcomed it with open arms.

Hyojin noticed your great mood almost immediately after you walked through the door of the café and saw her waving at your from the table at the back.

“You are glowing,” she declared, a smirk on her lips. “Dare I guess the reason why you’re looking so wonderful today?”

“No need, I can tell you myself,” you replied, giving her a quick hug hello and then sitting opposite her by the table. “I got a good night's sleep, tried a new—delicious—brand of cereal that I’d gotten on sale last week and ended up being pleasantly surprised by the taste, and there were no screaming crowds of children on tour at the gallery today. It’s been a… a decent day.”

“Hmm,” Hyojin was still smirking. “And that’s it?”

You shrugged your shoulders. “Yeah.”

“How’s the roommate?”

Of course she wasn’t going to let you play around and pretend Jaebum didn’t have any influence on your—almost uncharacteristically—good mood. You sighed, giving in.

“He’s great,” you replied, watching Hyojin’s smile spread. “We talked a lot last night. It was nice. Didn’t even feel real, to be honest.”

“How come?” she asked.

“I don’t know, we’ve only talked to each other – and I don’t mean those shallow conversations about who’s doing the grocery shopping; oh, speaking of, I have to get that done later. Remind me, will you? – after we’ve had some pretty big fights,” you replied, trying not to get too side-tracked. “So, this felt like slipping into some sort of a parallel universe where Jaebum and I were the kind of people who got together after work to talk about their day and eat pizza.”

“That doesn’t seem too far-fetched in this universe, either,” Hyojin replied. “You and him have hung out in the past, haven’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but that was only because we’ve—”

“No, no,” she cut you off, “the ‘because’ doesn’t matter. The fact matters and the fact is, you and him have enjoyed spending time with each other long before you began to do it purposefully. I can’t stand the sight of Jacob after we fight,” she continued, mentioning her boyfriend and grimacing at the memory of their latest argument. “We both need a lot of time to cool off and get back to our previous activities – and even then, we’re still wary of each other – so, in this case, you and Jaebum might be more mature than us when it comes to resolving your arguments.”

“Yeah, well, you know,” you said, “we’ve had a lot of practice.”

Hyojin laughed. “Maybe. But still.”

You didn’t reply – too busy getting your laptop out of your bag so you could actually start being productive – and Hyojin hesitated before continuing because she was afraid the question that she’d been itching to ask was going to provoke a negative reaction out of you. A moment later, she finally dared to clear her throat.

“You know… Kiera only briefed May and me on the fight that you’ve had with Jaebum,” she said slowly, gauging your reaction. Your face remained stoic. “And we’d assumed you had made up because you’re still living there and everything, and I was just curious… you don’t have to tell me how you resolved all of that if you don’t want to, though.”

“It’s, uh…” you looked around the café as if someone overhearing what you’d say next was a matter of national security. “It’s not really resolved. We just moved past it like we usually do. We both apologized this time, though, which, I think, is an improvement.”

“An improvement,” Hyojin repeated. “And towards what? What’s the end goal here?”

“Growth into adults, I’m hoping,” you said. “Adults who can live in each other’s space without it being a problem. Without fighting. Uh, without frequent fighting.”

Your friend smiled watching the nonchalant way you toyed with the napkin you’d picked up from the table. Hyojin was only giving you the benefit of the doubt because she wanted to hear you out – truth be told, she already knew all the answers to her questions.

“And that’s it?” she asked then, adamant to get you to admit your true intentions – even though she’d already seen right through you. “Because, you know, an improvement of friendship usually means—”

“There wasn’t a friendship,” you cut her off, putting the napkin down and sighing. “I—I know what you want to hear but I’m serious. There was nothing. Jaebum and I—we thought we kind of bonded through texts but we knew virtually nothing about each other when we moved in. I mean, wow, I didn’t even know he was a guy. What kind of friendship could we even talk about?”

“Well, people are not friends with a gender. They’re friends with a person.”

“No, of course,” you nodded, “I just mean—it’s an important part of his life and I knew nothing about it. Or his name, for example, which I also did not know and did not bother to ask. Honestly, when I look back at it, I’m kind of surprised you even let me go through with this. I could have moved in with a serial killer.”

“We did tell you that, though! But you—,” Hyojin said, reaching out to put her hand over yours, “—you were so convinced you were moving in with your new best friend, we didn’t even dare to intervene too much. Kiera was actually kind of jealous but she was willing to see how this played out.”

Out of your group of friends, you and Kiera were the closest – that wasn’t a secret to anyone – and yet you had no idea you were making her jealous by boasting about how excited you were to move in with your roommate. You’d known Kiera for so long, nothing was ever going to replace your bond with her, but you still felt awful for not realizing what she might have been feeling.

“If only Kiera knew that she had nothing to worry about,” Hyojin added, “because you didn’t end up moving in with your best friend. You might have moved in with your soulm—”

“Okay, no,” you cut her off mid-word, almost afraid that she’d jinx everything if she finished her sentence. “L-let’s not go there. What I was saying is that, I thought my future roommate and I had become friends – and we have, honestly – but then all of that flipped upside down when I found out that my roommate is actually the same guy I’d slept with the night before moving.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Hyojin released your hand because the waitress had approached your table, bringing you both the coffees that your friend had ordered before you got here. “I keep forgetting that part. Honestly, in my opinion, that just proves that you and him were meant to be. If you hadn’t met him that night at the bar, you would have still met him after you moved in. And if you hadn’t decided to blindly move in with someone, you’d have still slept with him. You see what I’m saying? You two are destined.”

Your face was suddenly warm and you tried to hide your clearly flustered state by taking a sip of your coffee.

“We’re trying to be friends,” you said after – the drink was too bitter, you couldn’t hide your traitor smile behind a cup until you put enough sugar inside of it, “all over again. It’s surprisingly difficult in real life.”

“I’m not one of the people who believe that boys and girls can’t be just platonic friends,” Hyojin said. “But I genuinely don’t think it should be this hard to be friends with someone. Maybe there was always something else there. From the first moment you saw each other.”

“Yeah. Anger.”

“No, not that,” she disagreed. “I mean, obviously, you’re both attracted to each other – otherwise you wouldn’t have slept together – but, maybe, after you both had enough time to realize how much stuff the two of you had in common, this little spark just… lit up. And, knowing how stubborn you are about certain things, I can assume that Jaebum is the same way, which means that this spark ignited a different kind of fire than it would for most people and this fire burned inside of you both. You argued instead of acting on your real feelings.”

“Hmm,” you hummed, permanently confused why Hyojin studied Fashion instead of choosing Psychology. You tried your coffee again and then continued, “alright. So be it. We’re working on putting that fire out now.”

“The spark will still be there, though. Maybe that spark was exactly the reason why you fought so much – you were so angry about not knowing what to do with it,” Hyojin hypothesized, smirking now. “Hopefully, this time, the fire will light up at the right moment and in the right way. And, hopefully, this time, you’ll know how to deal with it.”

You shook your head, trying to control the stupid grin that was threatening to spread across your face. Hyojin could read through your emotions, however – and not just because they were all clear in your eyes – and she had to admit, seeing you like this made her happy. Perhaps all of this fighting was worth it in the end – it meant that you and Jaebum had finally learned how much you meant to each other, platonically or not.

After you and Hyojin finally finished chit-chatting – and your first cups of coffee – you finally got your laptop out and actually began to work. At first, you didn’t feel comfortable enough to edit the pictures you took at Jackson’s studio while you were in such a public space – somehow, you felt like you could only look at the shots of Jaebum in a very private environment, and the back of a café didn’t cut it – but, eventually, after clearing your throat a hundred times in an attempt to fight your own awkwardness off, you dared to open the photographs on Photoshop.

Normally, you’d look at a picture and immediately know what you had to do – whether it’s lowering the saturation or adjusting the general coloring – but as soon as you saw the first picture that showed a part of Jaebum – the left side of him, to be exact, since that’s the hand he used to write something down on a notebook in his lap when you started to photograph – you were suddenly breathless and at a complete loss of direction.

The picture didn’t need editing. You couldn’t come up with a single thing to do to make it better. Jaebum looked natural, he made the background blur just by being in the shot, and, most importantly, he looked beautiful. For the first time in your life, you stared at a picture in disbelief – trying to decide if you loved every single thing about it because Jaebum was in it, or because you’d actually, finally taken a picture that was genuinely flawless in your eyes.

Suddenly, as you went through the other pictures, following Jaebum’s movements, you understood why Jiho chose to photograph people. It wasn’t just the dynamics that captured the eye – buildings that you loved to photograph so much never made your heart skip a beat when they accidentally glanced at the camera – it was the emotion behind it. You didn’t have to edit the pictures not just because you found every part of Jaebum too beautiful to alter, but also because he was the emotion inside of the picture that you’d looked for.

You’ve photographed the nature for years. The city skylines at night. The forests in winter. The grass after rain. And, all this time, you spent hours editing those pictures until they started to speak to you. Until they showed the emotion you’d been trying to capture.

And Jaebum did all of that – and more; God, he made you feel the emotions that you didn’t even realize were there when you looked at the pictures – by simply allowing you to photograph parts of him while he did what he loved to do the most – worked on his music. You had a feeling the end result would have been similar if you’d photographed other people too because, maybe, the reason why you were so overwhelmed with the lack of editing needed, was because you just weren’t used to photographing actual people. But, at the same time, there was something special about Jaebum specifically; there was something inside of those pictures that was exclusive to him only. You couldn’t name what it was, though.

“Are you actually doing something,” Hyojin said, interrupting your thoughts, “or just staring at your laptop screen? Because I’m almost done editing and I haven’t heard you click your mouse for the past thirty minutes.”

“Yeah, uh—” you cleared your throat again, closing the fifteenth picture of Jaebum that you had opened. “I’m working. There’s not much—not a lot of stuff for me to do. I’m kind of here to keep you company, at this point.”

“Oh. Well, that’s very nice of you,” she said, a hint of teasing in her voice. “Refill?”

You glanced at her over your laptop, noticing her empty cup of coffee.

“Actually—”

Your phone buzzed loudly against the glass table, startling you and cutting you off. You’d expected it to be a text but as you moved your laptop to a side to pick your phone up, it buzzed again, indicating a phone call.

Jaebum’s name greeted you on your screen.

“Sorry,” you said to Hyojin quickly. “It’s Jaebum.”

She just smiled widely in response and nodded her head, allowing you to take the call. You didn’t know why your hands started to shake when you saw the caller’s ID, but you barely managed to press “answer.”

“Yeah?” you spoke, trying to keep your voice neutral. Excitement; that was the reason for your hands seemingly starting to vibrate just like your phone had.

“Hey,” Jaebum greeted you, his voice affecting you the same way it always did – thank God you were sitting down. “Where are you?”

“At a café with Hyojin, we’ve been trying to get some work done,” you replied, glancing at your friend when you mentioned her name. “What’s up?”

“Oh, am I disturbing?” he asked and you almost considered pinching yourself to make sure this was really happening: you were on the phone with your roommate, having a civilized conversation after he’d clearly called you about something important but was willing to put it off because you might have been busy.

“No, not really,” you replied slowly. “I was—I wasn’t doing much, anyway. Procrastinating, I guess.”

By staring at pictures of you, you wanted to add but resisted.

“Okay,” he said and then stayed quiet for the next few moments, “I just got home a little while ago. I got the groceries, so don’t worry about that. Or about starving.”

You smiled despite yourself. “I was supposed to do that.”

“It’s okay. There’s, uh, something else you could help me do instead,” Jaebum said.

You were surprised—but intrigued, obviously—to hear this. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, uh, since we’re such mature household heads,” he said, “I’m going to need you to help me out with the laundry.”

If you weren’t so taken aback by this request, you would have laughed. Everything already seemed bizarre enough – since you still weren’t used to the fact that, apparently, you and Jaebum now called each other – and now you were genuinely planning to help your roommate do the laundry.

“We, um—the—I haven’t—alright. Yeah,” you stumbled around before finally deciding to just agree. You weren’t sure why you were fishing for an excuse anyway. “Right now?”

“Ideally, yeah,” Jaebum replied, his voice almost sheepish. You swore your heart was racing even before you noticed the needy undertones in his words. “But I don’t want you to bail on your friend because of me, so—”

“No, no,” you cut him off, feeling Hyojin’s eyes on you. She wasn’t even trying to hold back her teasing smile. “She won’t mind, I’m sure.”

“Great, then.”

“I should be home in ten minutes,” you said and then, after glancing out of the window, changed your mind, “fifteen maybe. It’s raining.”

“Alright,” Jaebum replied. “I’ll wait for you.”

Almost shivering, you hummed in response and then hung up the call, taking an extra moment to get yourself together before you dared to look up at Hyojin again. She enjoyed every single emotion that passed on your face.

“So, uh—”

“You have to run?” your friend guessed, thoroughly entertained by how easy it was for her to get you flustered. “A roommate emergency?”

“Actually, yes,” you replied. “He, um, asked for my assistance with the laundry.”

Hyojin raised her eyebrows before repeating it with a shit-eating grin, “the laundry.”

“Mmhm,” you nodded, closing your laptop. “Not sure how that’s going to go, either. Hopefully, we won’t end up drowning each other since we’ve never really done anything as domestic—I guess—as that before. Is it alright if I go?”

“Of course!” Hyojin said. “Go ahead. I’ll get another refill and then I’ll be off, too.”

“Really? I’m—”

“Oh, don’t you dare apologize.”

“Well, you’re smirking like you’re not being fully honest with me—”

She laughed. “Perceptive! Alright, I just didn’t know you and Jaebum were that far ahead in your friendship.”

You frowned and stopped packing your things to give her a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Well, for one, he just called you instead of texting,” Hyojin explained. “And what’s more, he’s literally asking you to come home to help with laundry. Are you sure you’re not working on your life as an old, married couple instead?”

“Ha ha,” you replied dryly and swung your handbag over your shoulder. “I’m heading out and I feel less bad about leaving you here now because you will never stop teasing me.”

“That’s right, it is my duty as your friend and I’m set on serving it for as long as I live,” she replied, responding to your quick hug and then laughing after she heard you groan. “Bye. Have fun doing… laundry.”

“Bye, Hyojin.”

You realized you had to get used to being civil with Jaebum – well as civil as it was possible to get when he groaned, “finally” and then followed up with, “thank you for not changing your mind on me” right after you returned home – instead of getting surprised by every decent thing he said and did. He was a person and his previous determination to make your life hell had just been one of his charms; it wasn’t a part of his actual personality.

But, as you headed to the bathroom and watched him eye the washing machine suspiciously – how was it that, in over a month of living here, Jaebum hadn’t used it once? – you realized that you and him were about to reach a new level of bonding.

“I have plenty of clothes to last me over a month,” he explained, “and, back in my old apartment, there was a laundromat on the first floor with overly specific instructions on how to do everything. I mean, they even listed tips on how to get your clothes out of the machine properly.”

“Huh,” you mumbled, wondering what kind of apartment he’d lived in before. “I didn’t realize there was a wrong way to get clothes out of a washing machine.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised what the society expects from you.”

“Right. Well, we’ll do it my way,” you warned him. “And doing it my way means stuffing your clothes in the machine, putting the detergent and the fabric softener in there, and hoping for the best.”

Jaebum smiled, shrugging his shoulders. “That sounds better than buying new clothes every day.”

You snickered, turning around and heading for your own bedroom. You still didn’t own a closet and your clothes were very much still in many different boxes – one of which was now dedicated to the clothes you had to wash – but, somehow, you’ve gotten used to it and only when you and Jaebum stopped outside of your bedroom, eyeing the various t-shirts that were laying on your floor, did you realize that perhaps living out of boxes wasn’t entirely perfect.

“Alright,” you said, ignoring your messy floor. “Let me gather my stuff that needs washing and then we can separate our clothes by color, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Jaebum nodded and then, after you entered your room, you heard him chuckle. “It’s an achievement of sorts, isn’t it?”

“What is?” you asked, shooting him a quick, confused look.

“This,” Jaebum gestured at you and then waved his hand in the direction of the bathroom. “Us doing laundry together.”

You smiled – your face was suddenly very warm – and looked away from him. “Yeah. It’s nice to know that, at least, if we get into an argument about which fabric softener to use, it probably won’t be so bad that one of us will decide to move out.”

“Oh, don’t be so quick,” he warned, “I’m very particular about the way my clothes feel against my skin.”

“So, do you have a preferred brand?”

“No, I just use whatever and hope for the best,” he replied, smirking. “Kind of like you.”

“Okay. It’s great that you’re trusting me to teach you how to do this,” you told him, leaning down to pick up your clothes from a box nearby, “but now I’m starting to feel like we’re in a bit of a “blind leading the blind” situation.”

“Oh, come on,” Jaebum waved his hand dismissively. “You’ve done this before all by yourself without any instructions and overprotective girlfriends breathing down your neck. I trust you.”

You swallowed heavily at the sudden mention of Suji, pausing in hopes of finding what to say so you wouldn’t make this awkward and, consequently, making it awkward by not responding.

“She, uh… Did she never actually teach you how to do it yourself?” you asked slowly.

You weren’t expecting him to reply but he took a breath and then shook his head.

“No. She wasn’t in it to teach me,” he said. “She was in it to do it for me.”

“Right,” you said, feeling on edge whenever you had to talk about Suji – although you knew that you should have probably gotten used to it. She’d been a part of Jaebum’s life, conversations about her were almost inevitable. It was just so much easier to pretend she never existed. “Well, today is the day you learn. We’ll have to do laundry twice if you have a lot of clothes that aren’t black, since most of mine are and—”

“No, no, almost all of mine is black as well,” Jaebum replied, bringing out a basket – that you weren’t aware you owned – full of his clothes from where he’d left it in the hallway outside of his bedroom. “Do you think we can do it all in one go?”

“Yeah if you don’t mind washing your clothes with mine.”

He scoffed. “I think we’re close enough to wash our clothes together.”

You tried to hide your smile. “You think so? Sharing detergent is a big commitment.”

“I think we’re ready.”

Laughing – and then turning away from him as soon as you saw his smile widen in response – you brought your clothes over to the kitchen counter to double-check the tags and then instructed Jaebum to check if any of the clothes he needed washing actually needed dry-cleaning. You didn’t want the first time you did laundry with him to turn into a disaster after you’d accidentally ruin his favorite sweater or something.

Preparing to do laundry took a while and doing it took even longer – who could have thought Jaebum would find it so crucial to differentiate cotton from synthetic material vaguely resembling cotton – and, by the time you’d finally started the washing machine, it was already dark outside and both of you found yourselves eating the first things you saw in the kitchen for dinner as you waited for the machine to do its’ job.

“Sorry if I made you starve,” Jaebum mumbled, finishing his sandwich. “You should have gotten some food before we—”

“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t hungry when I got home,” you replied, giving him a reassuring smile. It was heartwarming to hear the concern in his voice but you had almost completely forgotten about any kind of food as soon as he called you, asking for your help even if it was help with something as minimal as laundry. The effect he had on you really shocked you sometimes. “The croissant I had for lunch was surprisingly filling.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t eat croissants for lunch.”

“There’s not much else I can eat,” you shrugged your shoulders. “The gallery might be as modern as it gets, but it doesn’t offer any restaurant services yet.”

“You could pre-cook some food and bring it with you,” he said. “I do that when I know I won’t have time to go out for lunch. I-I could do that for you as well if you’d like.”

“You’d do that?” you asked quietly, your eyebrows rising.

“Sure, it’s not hard,” he replied, obviously trying to play it off. “I mean, I’d be cooking for myself anyway.”

“Thank you,” you said, watching him but only because his eyes weren’t on you. It was a weirdly intimate moment that neither of you was ready for and you could feel the electricity buzzing between you. Eye contact would have turned that electricity into fire in a heartbeat.

“No problem,” he said, his tone as light as always but you saw the shaky way he exhaled when he stood up to put his plate in the sink. “Oh, Jackson called today, by the way. He was asking about you.”

You perked up. “He was?”

“Yeah, he’s wondering about those pictures,” Jaebum explained, turning around to face you and leaning against the kitchen counter with his hips, his palms flat against the granite countertop on either side of him. “I told him to give you some time but he’s of the impatient kind, so don’t be surprised if he finds a way to get your phone number and calls you.”

“Oh,” you mumbled, bringing a napkin over your lips after you finished eating. This move also helped you cover up a smile that had appeared on your face when you remembered the pictures you’d taken. “I was actually working on the shots I took today.”

“Really? How are they?”

“They’re…” you started, hesitating momentarily, “they’re good. I’ll show them to you. But maybe not right now. I still need to, uh, get used to the pictures myself.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Jaebum nodded.

If anyone was going to understand your hesitation to show your art to others – it was going to be him because he was exactly the same way. Only, in your case, you needed more time to prepare to show him the pictures you’ve taken because you were afraid that your feelings for him would shine through every picture.

“Don’t let Jackson pressure you,” Jaebum added. “He’s excited – this was two of his worlds, photography and music, colliding – but he can wait until you’re ready.”

You nodded, still smiling, and looked down, thinking about your next words.

“He’s a good friend,” you finally said, talking slowly. “And he seems like a good person in general. He… doesn’t strike me as someone who’d lie just for the sake of maintaining a good relationship with someone.”

“He’s great,” Jaebum said, frowning lightly because he could not understand where you were going with this.

“Then why – if you don’t mind me asking – don’t you believe him when he says that your music is good?” you finished the question, noticing the way Jaebum’s eyes drifted away from yours as soon as the last word left your lips. “I mean, I’d get it if you wouldn’t believe me. I don’t have a musical background and I don’t know you that well but—”

“I believe you.”

“—he just—” you stopped suddenly. “Y-you do?”

Jaebum nodded. He took a deep breath and sat back down in his previous spot in front of you before continuing.

“I believe you and Jackson both,” he said. “At this point, it’s not that I think my music is bad. I think it could use some improvement but I’d like to believe that I’ll get there. I’ll reach a point where I’ll like everything -- or, at the very least, almost everything -- about the way it sounds. It’s just that I don’t know what to do with my music on top of everything. Playing it at my radio station – if we ignore how unfair that’d be for the other amateur singers – should be a step towards recognition, right? But what if it won’t be? What if I play it, and that’s where it ends? My career in music does not advance and this also brings an end to my inspiration. What if I won’t want to work on my music anymore because my first song will… flop?”

Hearing his concerns about this made your heart beat faster and your hands itch to touch him as reassuring words about how everything was going to be okay almost spilled from your lips.

“But what if it won’t flop?” you tried, your voice small as if you were afraid to say the wrong thing and have him close off again. There was a tiny gap in the protective wall inside of his chest leading right into his heart and you’d have done anything to keep it open. “What if you play it and that doesn’t become an end – it becomes a beginning?”

Jaebum considered this, nodding his head. Your approach was obviously a lot more optimistic than his and, once again, he found himself appreciating that you and him found ways to complete each other whenever you had different opinions about something. Jaebum was set on believing that he was going to fail – but he had you, right across from the kitchen counter, to tell him that not everything that seemed like an end was actually an end.

“I see people who want to become singers fade into the background,” he confessed and you lost yourself in the feelings that poured out of his chest through his words. “They send me countless songs. And then I play one of their songs on the radio. They send me a thank-you note. And then I don’t hear from them again. Anywhere. It doesn’t work out. Getting your song played on the radio does not guarantee you a career.”

“But is it a career that you want?” you asked. “Or is it being heard? Is it sharing your music with the world?”

“That’s the thing – I don’t know,” Jaebum admitted. “And I think it’d be awfully bold of me to say that I want all three.”

“I think it’d be ambitious,” you said. “And that is what I admired the most about you ever since I texted your ad all of those months ago.”

“I thought it was the cat I’d used as my profile picture.”

You laughed. “I admired that, too. But it’s your confidence about what you wanted in life that really pulled me in and even inspired me to be more certain about my own goals. At the end of the day, all you want to do is to create music. That’s your passion. Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from turning that passion into a living.”

Jaebum watched you for a moment before speaking again, “you’ve been a motivational speaker in your past life, haven’t you?”

You laughed again, shaking your head. “No. I’ve been a supportive friend. That’s what I’m trying to be in this life, too.”

It was—probably—very brave of you to call yourself his friend and you almost regretted it as soon as your eyes met his. Jaebum looked at you for a long while, this time, not saying anything and, thus, further fueling your regret.

“Thank you,” he finally spoke, his hand brushing lightly against yours on the counter between the two of you. “All of this means a lot to me.”

Hours later, you and Jaebum were crouched down on the floor of your bathroom, both of you watching the clock on the clothes dryer. You were leaning against the wall in the corner of the room, your eyes following digital numbers on the dryer in front of you while Jaebum rested against the wall next to you, his head halfway on your shoulder. It was already after midnight and, having had an early morning, both of you were too tired to care about how close the two of you were sitting to each other.

“Do you think it’ll take long for it to finish?” you asked, yawning for the sixth time in the past two minutes. “We should have moved into an apartment where the dryer actually showed how much time is left until the laundry’s done.”

Jaebum smiled – yawning a second later as well. “It probably always takes long, that’s why there’s no timer. You can go to sleep if you’re tired.”

“No,” you sighed, wanting to shake your head but stopping yourself before you did because you didn’t want to hit Jaebum who was leaning against you. “We still have to figure out the right way to get our clothes out of the dryer. To appease the society as one would.”

“Not sure if we’ll figure anything out if we both fall asleep while waiting for it to finish drying.”

“Sleeping on the bathroom floor,” you said. “Doesn’t sound so bad, to tell you the truth.”

Jaebum snickered quietly and then pulled away from your shoulder to give you a teasing look. “I’m sure sleeping in my bed is much more comfortable.”

You were sure he managed to catch the sight of your widening eyes before you looked away in embarrassment.

“Right,” you said, the sudden memory of falling asleep in Jaebum’s room last night – and the night before, after you’d confronted Suji – waking your mind right up. “Sorry I keep… falling asleep there.”

“I don’t blame you,” he smirked. “My bed is great. I guess I won that bet in the end, didn’t I?”

You scoffed. “No way. I would have built my bed faster if you hadn’t broken the frame.”

“Sure. But my bed is much more comfortable, so I’m the real winner,” he insisted.

“No, you’re not.”

“You wouldn’t have fallen asleep in my bed if it wasn’t more comfortable than yours.”

You didn’t say anything for a few moments before finally whispering, “I don’t think it’s about the bed.”

“No?” Jaebum asked, his eyes tracing the features of your face. You still weren’t looking at him so you didn’t notice the desperation hiding behind his gaze. You’ve just said something he’s been waiting to hear. He needed you to continue. “What’s it about, then?”

Too tired to filter your thoughts properly before you voiced them, you shook your head. You’ve already said enough. Now was not the time for pathetic confessions of love that may have not been reciprocated. No one deserved to get their hearts broken after midnight. It was the worst possible time.

“You know exactly what it’s about,” you chose to say.

Jaebum didn’t give in, “do I?”

“I think you do.”

“I’d like it if you said it.”

You laughed suddenly, your mind too tired to argue with him. “Get lost.”

It was so obvious what the two of you were talking about – you didn’t fall asleep in Jaebum’s bed because the bed was comfortable; you kept falling asleep there because he was there – and yet you were both too stubborn. You refused to voice the real reason why you found yourself in his bed and he refused to give up without hearing you say it out loud.

You were so close to something. So close, you could almost taste it on your lips after you nervously brought your tongue over them. You could almost feel it in the rapid beating of Jaebum’s heart when you moved your arm to find a more comfortable position and ended up positioning it right on his back.

You were so close but you weren’t there yet.

Jaebum responded to you with a tired chuckle and then, after slowly getting up from the floor, extended a hand for you. “Let’s go to sleep. We’ll get the clothes out tomorrow.”

“But they’ll be all wrinkled—”

“At least you’ll get a good night’s sleep,” he said, “so it won’t matter as much.”

You sighed, taking his hand and allowing him to help you stand up.

“So,” Jaebum said, his eyes glazed over with exhaustion, but his lips still curled into a teasing smirk. “My bed or yours?”

You pushed his shoulder, making him laugh again.

“Goodnight,” you said, walking past him towards your bedroom. Jaebum watched you go with the same smile still on his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 chapter directory

[blue-beeeerrryyy]

Made in the A.M || Noah Centineo

So I haven't written anything (besides my short answer essays) in months. And with all this hype over Noah Centineo (who I've been obsessing with since season 3 of The Foster) I thought I would join the conga line of tumblr Noah hype and write my first ever series. So I got a lot of inspiration from One Direction’s last album, Made in the A.M. and I’m going to attempt to use every song but if I don’t use all of the songs as a continuation, the other songs will be one shots, or random points in the reader’s story. But the first part is going to be based on the song, Temporary Fix. Furthermore, if you guys want to listen to the album while you’re reading, I highly encourage it (but you are not required to).  Also if would like to be on the taglist, lemme know.

Chapter One -Temporary Fix

You knew who he was. The type of guy who knew his effect on girls and woman alike. You knew he wouldn’t take you home to meet his mom, never show you off to friends, or take you on cute little dates. But you didn’t want that at first.This is the story of how you fell in love with the internet��s boyfriend, before he was the internet’s boyfriend.

Noah was at some club drowning his sorrow after what he thought was the love of his life. You noticed him verily quickly, since you watched The Fosters since the beginning and glad of what he brought to the show. You thought about going up to him and asked for a picture. You stopped in your tracks when you noticed he was drinking alone. Noah saw you coming up to him, but became confused when you turned around and walked back. He continued to watch you from the bar. He thought you were beautiful, with the way you laugh and dance. Even though he wasn’t over his ex, he just felt the need to have you in his life. Soon after he finished his drink, he left the bar and was making his way to you.

You felt his presence before he said anything. You thought it was one of your friends with the drink you asked for, only to be met with a drunken stranger. He started to talk to you but with how heavy his slur was, trying to understand him was like understanding a baby’s gibberish. The more and more he spoke, the closer he got to you, and before you knew it. He had grabbed your ass. You could see Noah in your peripheral, walking at a fast pace towards you. He must have seen the whole thing. But you didn’t need his help. What happened next probably shocked everyone who was watching. You lifted your right knee right into the creeper’s crotch so hard, his balls might be in his stomach. Once he was on the ground, you started screaming your head off until you felt a hand on your elbow. Ready for round two, you swung around to slap the person holding you. Once you made eye contact with the person, you stopped mid-swing.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” you cried to your best friend Dallas. Dallas just laughed at you and motioned to the crowd that had surrounded the situation. You smiled at everyone and just went towards the bar.

Noah watched you shy off from the attention, and heads towards the bar with looked like a friend. He loved that, his ex loved the attention from not only him but others. Hence why they’re exes. He observed you trying to get the bartender’s attention with no such luck. He went to the empty space next to you and your friend and hollered the bartender’s name.

You were having trouble getting the attention of the bartender, who was too busy flirting with the blonde at the end of bar. You got scared when you heard someone yell next to you. Whipping your head around to the ear intruder, you see Noah standing next to you. He smiles at you and your friend and you blushed so hard you could feel the heat coming off of you. The bartender finally made his way down to you guys and waits for Noah to order, completely ignoring you and Dallas. You rolled your eyes at his ignorance and told Dallas how he wasn’t going to get a big tip from you.

“I’ll have what I was having earlier, and whatever they want.” Noah said over the loud music. You whipped your head so hard that you thought you got whiplash. He just shrugs and gives a wide grin. You told the bartender what you and Dallas wanted while getting the cash out for the drinks. That’s when Noah shook his head at you and said, “I got this.”

You didn’t want to intrude on Noah’s night but you wouldn’t say no. While you guys waited for your drinks, you struck up a conversation with Noah. you guys had talked for so long that you hadn’t even realized that your friends that you came with had already left and the club was pretty empty. Noah noticed you looking around and noticed what you saw.

“Do you wanna get out of here?” you nodded your head, feeling adventurous. Noah called for a Uber, and wrapped his arms around your shoulders. You were fangirling a little bit, but trying to be as discreet as possible. Noah brought up some random topics to talk about while waiting for the uber. You were discussing the show Friends, but got interrupted by the buzzing of his phone letting him know his uber was here. You noticed the black SUV and pointed it out to Noah. After hoping into the vehicle and having small talk with the driver, he turned up the music and gave you and Noah some privacy.

With the liquor courage still running through your veins, you jumped into Noah’s lap and started kissing him senseless. With it being so late, the streets weren’t that jammed packed so you made it to Noah’s apartment fairly quickly. You and Noah said your goodbyes to the driver and walked into the apartment building. When you finally made it to Noah’s door and it was unlocked, you were pinned to the wall. You giggled at the curly headed boy, who was attacking your lips, neck, and shoulders. He pulled you off the wall and started to make his move towards the bedroom. Clothes were flying everywhere as you were getting closer and closer to the mattress. Your exposed legs hit the edge of the bed before falling onto it, Noah still kissing you as you fell.

You woke up to find yourself a t-shirt that wasn’t yours and hickies all over your body. You were slightly hungover but thank goodness it was your day off. You looked around the room for your clothes. You knew what happened last night, the details being just as clear as if you were sober. You had met Noah Centineo last night. You held a conversation with Noah Centineo without sounding like a fangirl. And you played hookie with Noah Centineo. But now that it was the next morning, you needed to go and disappear from the world for a bit. Thank goodness, you could hear water running, assuming that he was in the shower. Which gives you the perfect time to dip on out of here. You got on all of your clothes and grabbed your purse from the entryway floor. After checking your phone for the time and notifications of your friends spamming the group chat. You wondered if you should leave a note? You decided that it wouldn’t be weird and took out a pen from your purse and grabbed a paper towel from the kitchen.

Hey, last night was fun. Sorry to dip out while you were in the shower but I wasn’t expecting anything besides awkwardness. So to avoid that for the both of us, I’m heading home. But if you ever want to like hang out or anything hit me up.

After putting many holes into the paper towel, you left your phone number and headed towards the door. Hearing the shower turn off as you opened the door, you dipped out in the direction to the elevators. Your phone starts to buzz in your hand, scaring you shitless. Your uber was outside, and you breathe a sigh of relief. As you got in the uber car, your hand vibrated and you saw a text from an unknown number.

Its Noah

You laughed at the simplicity of the message but saved the number regardless. You had made it home about an hour later cause of traffic, and became bombarded with squeals and questions. Dallas, Lily, Sydney, and Cammie can’t contain themselves, so you have to yell at them to shut up so you can answer everyone’s questions in an orderly fashioned. It was about a hour and some change later when you finally were left to your own devices. You decided that you needed a shower since still being in your clothes from last night and just wanting to get rid of sweaty-ness that you accumulated from the heat of LA and last nights workout session.

After that much needed shower, you were laying in your bed, scrolling through some social media timeline, when you got a text from Noah.

Whatcha doin?

Laying in bed, why?

Wanna go to the pier?

Ummm sure, what time

Right now ;)

You started freaking out because Noah Centineo was asking to hang out with you. But you were supposed to have a girl’s night since its the first night in months since all of the girls were off at the same time. Maybe you could convince him to postpone till tomorrow.

I actually cant im supposed to hang with the girls tonight. What about tomorrow?

No its cool talk to you later

You felt bad for leaving him hanging, but the girls are more important.

It’s been a couple of weeks since you and Noah met, and you guys have pretty much have established that neither of you were looking for anything. Which is good for the both of you seeing as you both had just got out of crappy relationships. But that doesn’t mean you guys hadn’t added an a certain benefit to this friendship. You had just fallen asleep after working all day, only to be interrupted by an uncontrollable buzz coming from nowhere else but your cell phone. You answered with a sleepy hello, instantly being met with a loud deep voice.

“(y/n)! What are you doing?” the brown haired boy yelling into the phone. It sounds like he’s at the gym, from the noises of weights and punching bags. Just cause you don’t go to the gym that often, doesn’t mean you don’t know what those sounds are.

“I was asleep, No.” you yawned. “You know cause some of us have actual jobs that we have to go to everyday.” you say sarcastically. Noah chuckled dryly at your sass.

“You’re just so funny. Do you wanna come over?” now you’re fully awake and have already agreed to come over. Luckily you haven’t been drinking so you can drive yourself to his apartment. You had packed a bag just in case you can’t make it home in time to get ready for work. It was just one of those nights apparently.

[morizoras-cave]

Big Smile (Request)

Tom Hiddleston x Teen!Co-star!Reader

Genre: Angst, fluff

Request Description: maybe some Tom Hiddleston who is close to reader cause hes like her mentor and shes a very happy person, goofy and silly as well but nothing can make her cry. Like, it's genuinely hard to make her cry so maybe him seeing her cry for the first time? and it's pretty bad? maybe its cause she goes to a normal high school along with a catch up high school (basically a school where u go to if youre SERIOUSLY behind) and the pressure is way too much for her to handle and her emotions exploded? ty!!

Warnings: depression, anxiety about school, stress

(A/N): im very excited to be going on vacation!! dont worry ill still update, im just going to another city nothing too big (of course with the ‘rona still out here). I wrote like half of this on my phone btw so if anything looks weird that’s why

“Why would you say it like that?” you laughed loudly, falling back on your bed. Tom giggled too, watching as you got into a laughing fit.

“I’m just demonstrating that you can say each line differently!” he defended, but your laughter didn’t falter. Tom smiled and shook his head, waiting for you to be done. “Can you hurry that up, we have a couple more lines to go through,” he joked.

You held your stomach and shook your head. Finally, the laughter died down and you tried desperately not to start it again, as Tom continued helping you with the script. You forced your mouth into a frown, but that only reinforced your need to laugh. 

Tom looked and saw your expression and sighed, making you laugh again. 

“This is impossible,” he muttered, but he was smiling. He thought you were so incredibly sweet and bright, although lacking a little seriousness. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” you finally stopped laughing AGAIN, “we’re done. Those were all the lines I had questions about.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah,” you said and both of you stood up. Tom grabbed his jacket and his bag from the counter of your hotel room. He smiled at you and hugged you as a farewell. 

“See you on set tomorrow,” and then he was out of your room. You smiled softly thinking about how much fun you two had, but the sweet moment was over far too fast. 

You had school. You’d never been a top student or anything, but before this whole movie-thing you’d been able to keep up. A couple of weeks ago you started Catch-Up-High-School, which you’d been required to start, since you grades had all dropped. 

And since then you’d felt awful. You felt so stupid and useless. And on top of that, you were stressed. With both regular high school teachings and catch up school, you seemed to spend every waking moment working, either on the movie or on school, and you’d only sleep once you were done. Which could take a while. 

It was getting to you. You were phenomenal at hiding it, truthfully. Because your personality was too bright and blinding for anyone to see anything behind it. 

You weren’t one to cry, but you felt it behind your eyes, constantly. All day, when you remembered your school situation, it started coming. You never cried, not when watching movies or reading books, you didn’t even really cry when you were sad. The stress was simply getting to you. 

You pulled out both your math books, both regular high school and catch up high school, which you had neatly tucked away when Tom came, and started doing your assignments for the day. 

Your head hurt, as you did it, and it was so hard for you to understand. You wished you could ask Tom for help, but you couldn’t tell him. It was simply too embarrassing. ‘Hey Tom, I’m too stupid for regular school, please help?’ What would he even think of you?

You hadn’t even done your assignments for long, when you started crying. You were just writing the answer to a question, when a tear slid down your face. You wiped it away as quick as it came and continued. 

But so did your tears. You cried silently as you worked, ignoring them, eventually not even wiping them away. You were just trying to get through it, chewing through your lip. 

Just as you failed to figure an assignment out, your pencil broke on the paper, and you threw it away from your, putting your head in your hands. Then you sobbed, and you weren’t trying to ignore it, you were doing it. You were sitting there, and all of your focus was on the seemingly never ending stream of tears from your eyes. 

God, what kind of person are you if you can’t even do your catch up school work? You felt so unbelievably heavy, heart wrenching and tingling. 

Meanwhile Tom had hauled down a cab, making it about a third of the way to his meeting, when he realized he’d left his phone at your place. He sighed and asked the driver to drive back to your hotel, knowing he’d need it.

Tom drove back there, and then stepped out of the cab, telling the driver to wait for him. He entered and pulled out his keycard. Your room had had two keycards and you’d given him your second one, which had made his heart melt. 

He walked down the corridor, reading the room numbers, and then reached your door. He grabbed the handle and scanned the keycard, effectively cracking open the door.

And there you were. Tom blinked rapidly, refusing to believe that that was you, so immersed in your own crying that you hadn’t heard him come in. That couldn’t be you, not the smiling, laughing, happy Y/n he knew. You were sitting there so dark and alone, hugging your legs and wailing. 

You never cried. Never. It had gotten to the point where him and his coworkers had discussed it, whether you were some robot or something. But you were crying. You were alone. 

“Y/n?”

His voice made you flinch and you didn’t have to look at him, to know you’d exposed yourself. You, although knowing it was useless, wiped your tears, before raising your head.

Tom was heartbroken. He’d never thought about how he’d actually feel once he finally did see you cry. But it was such a gut wrenching image, something he could feel in both his stomach and heart and throat.

“What’s going on?” He asked. You shook your head. He simply stepped inside and saw your regular high school math book, immediately knowing you were probably stressed. “Do you need help with your homework?”

You laughed bitterly, another tear sliding down your cheek. Tom walked to you, sitting down next to you, so he could wipe away the tear.

“What’s wrong? Come on, talk to me.. What happened?” He searches your eyes.

“I’m just stressed, Tom, it’s stupid,” you avoided his gaze. Tom knew it wasn’t stupid. If it was you wouldn’t be balling your eyes out.

“So, let me help you with it,” He heard how his voice was shaking.

“Tom, no.”

“Yes-“

“No!”

Silence. Tom pulled away from you. He was simply shocked. You weren’t you. He closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, voice breaking, as you started crying again. When you yelled at Tom, you felt your heart withering. What a horrible feeling.

“I’m sorry for yelling. It’s just- I feel so useless. All the time. I’m failing school! I mean, for God’s sake, I have mandatory catch-up-school. Do you know how embarrassing that is? God, how can I be so stupid?”

Tom finally understood why you were crying. Why you were so stressed, why you were crying like that.

It was tough.

“You’re not stupid, Y/n,” you immediately shook your head at his attempt to console you, “You’re not! I’m serious. You’re smarts come from your understanding of people, and your talents in acting and everything you love. Not from your schoolwork. Your grades are not your worth. You’re the smartest kid I’ve ever met! I mean it.”

Your crying turned to sniffles and you finally nodded. You agreed. You hadn’t felt so sure of yourself in a long time. A small smile found your lips.

“Thank you, Tom, I-I really needed that.”

“Oh, of course, N/n,” he mumbled and pulled you into a hug, burying your head in his chest. You wrapped your arms around him.

“Now my offer still stands. Do you want my help doing the homework?” This time you nodded, and the two of you spent the rest of the day doing all of your homework.

When you were finished, you apologised profusely, but Tom just smiled and said he’d do it any day. Every day onward while you were working on that movie, he’d ask you after shooting if you needed any help, and always insisted it was his pleasure. With Tom around, you never had to feel useless again.

[kookiehao]

[SEVENTEEN] OT13 - The Thread That Binds Us (4/?) (7019 words)

Title: the thread that binds us Author: kookiehao (arashianelf on LJ and AO3) Pairings: OT13!friendship, hints of jicheol Genre: Fluff, fantasy, angst Rating: G Summary: A person's life can be deeply affected by tiny little things that occur far away from them; the butterfly effect, it's called. However, sometimes it's things that occur closer to home that can change a person's life forever.

For Choi Seungcheol, it begins with this: an old man comes to visit in a small town on the outskirts of Daegu.

Notes: If you follow this on AO3 as well, the one there gets updated a lot faster than the one over here! Just an FYI :)

one | two | three | four | five

With both Jeonghan and Jisoo present in the manor with him, Jihoon feels a lot more comfortable wandering the manor in search of more hidden rooms in the day. He didn’t tell Jeonghan any of this, but the older had seen the tension leave the younger when he’d arrived.

Most of the time, the three of them decide to split up to find anything out of place, but thus far, there has been no sign at all. No sign at all, up until Jeonghan spots something and calls for Jisoo and Jihoon to join him in the study.

“What’s the matter?” his darling boyfriend asks as he comes up to give him a quick kiss, before Jihoon pads into the room.

“I think I found something,” he says, pointing towards a slight indent in the wall. “What is it?” Jihoon peers at the oddly-shaped marked in the wall. “I’m not very sure, but all the walls in the various rooms in this manor are smooth, so I found it weird that this indentation was here.”

“Ah, you’re right.” Jisoo smiles, praising him, “I knew you’d be able to find something.” The familiar look of disgust is back on Jihoon’s face as he preens proudly at the words, and Jeonghan smiles as he makes to cuff the younger behind the ear.

Jihoon dodges quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. “No judgement from me, none at all.” Jeonghan smiles again, pleased at the easy capitulation, and Jihoon relaxes. As soon as he does so, Jeonghan reaches out lightning quick, whacking him upside the head.

“Hyung!” Jihoon whines, rubbing the back of his head. “Respect your elders,” he returns primly, leaving Jihoon alone to sulk and nurse his wounds. “It’s a triskelion,” Jisoo informs him upon sensing his approach. “A what?” Jeonghan asks.

Instead of clarifying, Jisoo tilts the screen of his phone towards his partner, showing him the various types of triskelions that had popped up upon searching it up. “It says here that the three arms of the triskelion, or triskele, represent different things to different individuals or organisations.”

“I wonder what it meant to Cheol,” Jeonghan muses. Jisoo nods, keeping his phone. “From the shape, I guess it means that we have to find something that is in the exact shape of the triskelion and that’ll trigger something.”

Jihoon makes a sound of understanding, having approached in time to catch the end of the conversation. “I’ll try and figure out where the key could be. In the meantime, I guess we could look for more hidden rooms,” he says.

“I feel like I’ve seen that sign somewhere before…” Jeonghan mutters to himself as they split up again.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

say moo: who the fuck changed the group chat name again?

say moo: for that matter, who the hell changed my name again.

say moo has changed his name to jihoon

BABABANANAS: the chat name was one of the younger ones

jihoon: and my chat name?

BABABANANAS: heh that i have no idea at all

jihoon: whatever; I’m not here for that

jihoon: wonu when are you coming

im the DAWG: that’s what she said

im the DAWG: ayyyyyyy

I’M A CHICKEN: grow up

i hate carrots: I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning to make my way there. You can expect me by nightfall.

orange is the new black: that’s good news :) we’ll be waiting!

sneaky mf: it’ll be good to have more of us here

sneaky mf: wonu ya do you think you can get some stuff for me before you leave?

i hate carrots: Sure, hyung. Just send me a list of whatever you need and I’ll see about getting them for you.

sneaky mf: thanks! i’ll pm you the list in a bit

sneaky mf has changed jihoon’s name to i am COW hear me moo

Jeonghan walks into the recreation room. “Jihoon has already shown me the one hidden here… But it wouldn’t hurt to search through this room again,” he says to himself as he keeps his phone.

He examines the shelves of games carefully, looking through the board games and assorted puzzles scattered on the shelves. He frowns in confusion as he comes across a seemingly seamless box. He picks it up to examine it, eyes brightening when he realises that the triskelion symbol is etched into one of the corners of the box.

‘This probably has something to do with the one we found earlier in the study. I’ll keep it for Wonwoo, he probably knows what to do with this,’ he thinks to himself, bringing the box back to his room and placing it on his table.

He sets a reminder on his phone to remind himself to pass the box to Wonwoo, and sets off for the other rooms in the manor, hoping he’ll be able to find something relevant to their search.

At the end of the day, when they gather in Jeonghan’s room to discuss what they found, Jeonghan shows them the puzzle box. Jihoon fiddles with it for a while, before giving up and admitting that Wonwoo would be better suited for a puzzle like that, with no clues as to how to open the seemingly seamless box.

A few days later when Wonwoo arrives and has gone through the tour, as well as the gruelling experience of dealing with one Choi Minki, they head to Jeonghan’s room, upon which Wonwoo’s eyes light up when he sets eyes on the box Jeonghan takes out from a drawer.

It’s clear that he immediately knows what it is, grabbing the box with delight and running his hands along the sides of the box, as if looking for something. “You know what this is, Wonwoo-ya?” Jisoo asks curiously, and Wonwoo lifts his head to beam at his hyung, eyes shining in delight.

“It’s a himitsu-bako! A puzzle box!” The Japanese words roll off his tongue with ease, no doubt due to his linguistics major having required him to learn multiple languages in the past few years.

“I haven’t seen one of these in real life before, I’ve only watched videos about them. They normally require multiple steps to open, and all the mechanisms are very well-blended into the box itself, so you have to be very meticulous to notice them all,” Wonwoo explains even as he finds a slight groove.

Jihoon, Jeonghan and Jisoo watch with awe as he pushes the edge of the box slightly where he felt the groove, and a slate of wood along the box moves so that it’s protruding. “So… we’ll leave you to figure this out then,” Jihoon pats Wonwoo on the back, leading the majorly occupied man back to his room where the three leave the newly returned man to his puzzle box.

“Ah, hyung! Jeonghan-hyung!” Wonwoo calls suddenly, looking up from his puzzle box momentarily. “Hm?” The three of them turn around, and Wonwoo goes to his luggage, finally pulling out a plastic bag with a rustle.

“The things you asked me to buy!” Wonwoo smiles, before returning his attention back to the puzzle box, absentmindedly sitting on his bed cross-legged. “Ah, thanks!” Jeonghan grins, grabbing the bag, planning to return to his room to sort through the things his dongsaeng had bought for him.

Jisoo follows his boyfriend back to his room curiously, while Jihoon goes off to continue with his producing. With a loud rustle, the plastic bag is set on the bed as Jisoo closes the door behind him, Jeonghan settling down in front of the bag and upending it onto his mattress.

“What did you ask Wonwoo to buy?” Jisoo eyes the items curiously. “Nothing much, just some beauty products that I was running low on,” Jeonghan hums, sorting through the various beauty products.

“No wonder you were so excited to receive them from Wonwoo,” Jisoo shakes his head fondly at his forever make-up obsessed boyfriend. “It’s not my fault I’m the only one that appreciates the effects of good make-up,” Jeonghan retorts.

“I never said anything,” Jisoo holds up his hands defensively, laughing. “I just don’t like the feeling of having make-up on my face, but I do appreciate their effects on your face,” he says, to which Jeonghan whips his head around lightning-quick.

“Are you saying I’m ugly? Is that what you’re implying, Hong Jisoo?” Jeonghan complains, getting up to chase his laughing boyfriend around the room. “I said nothing to that effect!” Jisoo laughs madly, having toppled onto the bed after being caught, narrowly avoiding bashing his head against the bottles of beauty products.

“Your beauty products! Jeonghan-ah, remember your beauty products!” Jisoo reminds his grinning boyfriend between gasps as he’s tickled, writhing madly on the bed and making a mess of the products that Jeonghan had been sorting.

“Hmph! For the sake of my beauty products, I’ll let you off this once. Now get off, you’re crushing my babies!” Jeonghan tugs Jisoo off the bed, where he collapses in a madly giggling mess. Jeonghan staunchly ignores his boyfriend tugging on his pants for attention, choosing to focus on re-sorting his buys, complaining that it’s Jisoo’s fault the entire time.

Meanwhile, Jihoon settles down in his studio, the glee in Wonwoo’s eyes as he’d seen the puzzle box giving him inspiration for a new track. He slides on his headphones and wakes his computer up, the screens coming alive before his eyes. Cracking his knuckles, he bends his neck left and right, stretching for a quick moment, before getting to work.

Wonwoo remains in that position for a long time, fiddling with the box to try and figure out all of its secrets, not washing up and showering until late in the night, when Jeonghan and Jisoo have gone to sleep and Jihoon is halfway through with his track, not that he’s aware of it.

The Rabbit-bearer only tears himself away from the box for as long as is required for him to have a quick shower and brush his teeth, barely glancing at his phone.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

im THE dawg: whats the sitrep over there?

BABABANANAS: …why are you up so late

im THE dawg: sleep is for the WEAK

I’M A CHICKEN: i take offence to that

why am i forever last: ah but does you taking offence mean anything?

hiss hiss mf: maknae got you there, seungkwan ah

hiss hiss mf: you take offence to everything your opinion has ceased to be relevant

size is irrelevant: why the heck are all of yall awake its 2am

BABABANANAS: why are you awake then

size is irrelevant: i have a final the day after tmr and im cramming obv

BABABANANAS: lmao mood my final perf is in three days

why am i forever last: need help hyung?

goatlamb: I need all of yall to go the FUCK to sleep the incessant buzzing is keeping me awake

goatlamb: I have a final tomorrow, if I’m affected in any way by you guys for my paper I’m coming for all of you

size is irrelevant: the boss has spoken all of yall go to bed

goatlamb: die in a ditch gyu stop making so much noise in the kitchen

Time passes in the blink of an eye, and before he knows it, Seungcheol is six months past his birthday. “I’ve been doing well in school!” he reports to Jungsu with a proud smile as they meet up after school, having just had his results returned to him.

Jungsu receives the report slip with pride, noting with a smile the excellent results Seungcheol has been getting in school. As Seungcheol waves goodbye to the friends he’s met over the past few months, his Cat-bearer bracelet gleams in the light, blinding the older Cat-bearer for a second.

“Let’s go, then. You’ve got much to learn today,” Jungsu tells him as he guides Seungcheol away from the school and back towards home. “What are we doing today?” Seungcheol asks curiously, tilting his head up to meet Jungsu’s eyes.

“You’ve been into coding recently, haven’t you?” Jungsu queries, smiling inwardly as Seungcheol lights up. The boy had stumbled across a coding website while he was surfing the net and had fallen in love with the process of coding quickly.

Jungsu and Yunho had supplemented the library with more books on coding and programming as soon as they realised that Seungcheol was serious about learning about it, but the boy had finished reading everything within two weeks.

Seeing as Seungcheol had so much passion for coding, the two of them had decided to get him a tutor specifically to teach him coding. Today would be the first day of his lessons, and Jungsu hadn’t told him before today on purpose, as a surprise.

“Yeah! But what has that got to do with what I’m learning today?” Seungcheol asks, blinking curiously. Jungsu’s eyes twinkly merrily as he adopts a playful expression. “Why, I’ve hired a tutor specifically to teach you more about coding!”

Seungcheol stares at his guardian in shock for a few, stunned, seconds before he gives a short scream and jumps into Jungsu’s embrace. “Are you serious?” he asks, hugging Jungsu tightly. “No, I’m Jungsu,” the older jokes.

Seeing Seungcheol’s glare, he laughs, nodding his head. “I’m being completely serious. Yunho and I decided to get you a tutor seeing as you are so invested in learning coding. We vetted him a while ago and he’s very experienced, so he’ll be able to teach you a lot.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Seungcheol near-vibrates with happiness, squirming from Jungsu’s embrace to hop excitedly, needing a way to get rid of the excitement.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go home immediately!” Jungsu laughs and agrees, following the excited Seungcheol at a more sedate pace.

Yunho is clearly startled when Seungcheol bounds up to him to give him a hug, his happiness obvious, though he quickly realises the reason why as Jungsu follows behind the seventeen year old, laughing a little.

The butler laughs as well as he hugs Seungcheol back, ruffling his hair when he’s released. “Alright, you brat. You’ve got to listen to your tutor well, okay? He’s very good at what he does, so be sure to learn all you can from him.”

Seungcheol nods furiously, to which Jungsu says, “Go and get changed and wash up. Your tutor will be here in about half an hour. You can wait for him in the study.”

The younger does as he’s told, rushing into the manor to go and get ready. Yunho and Jungsu exchange a look, before breaking into laughter again. Jungsu shakes his head fondly as he says, “That boy really never changes.”

“Let’s hope he won’t. Maybe he’ll be the one to finally do it, after so many centuries,” Yunho replies, calming down a little, though the smile on his face never leaves. Jungsu’s fades a little though, at what Yunho mentions.

Yunho quickly notices the elder’s face change, and sighs. “You have to stop feeling guilty about that, Jungsu-hyung.” The latter shakes his head, refusing to accept Yunho’s words. “I could have done it,” he says, turning to look at the land surrounding the manor.

“I could have done it if I were braver, and more willing to give them everything I had.”

“Well, the past is the past, now. They’ve all gone to find their successors, just as you’ve found yours. All we can hope right now is that that boy in there,” and here Yunho gestures towards the manor, “is the one Hime-nim has been telling us about.”

“Besides, you know how I think about some of them,” Yunho mutters, but quietens at a look from Jungsu. “I’m just saying,” Yunho defends. “It’s not their fault, Yunho-ya. You know how they were brought up,” Jungsu sighs. Yunho, ever his stalwart defender, shakes his head defiantly. Jungsu sighs, but lets it go.

“Be sure to treat him well, yeah? Once I’m gone, he’s only got you left as a guardian,” Jungsu looks at his old, old friend pleadingly, changing the topic abruptly.

“Of course I will. I haven’t taken care of all of you all these years for nothing, Park Jungsu,” Yunho says, forgoing formal language for once, knowing Jungsu won’t mind it in this specific case.

Jungsu laughs a little and clasps Yunho on the shoulder. “Right, right. I shouldn’t be doubting you at all, my friend.”

“Right you are, hyung. Right you are.”

The two men stand outside for a long while, before Jungsu heads back into the manor with one last pat on Yunho’s shoulder, to which the latter smiles and nods at his hyung.

The tutor arrives after a few more minutes, earning a point from Yunho. “It’s nice to see you again, Yunho-ssi,” the man says with a slight accent. “And to you too, Zhoumi-ssi,” Yunho replies.

“Your student is currently waiting for you in the study, I’ll bring you to him,” Yunho says, leading Zhoumi into the house and towards the study. “I look forward to teaching him. From what you and Jungsu-ssi have told me, he seems very eager to learn,” Zhoumi says, beaming.

“You should have seen his reaction when we told him about you coming today,” Yunho replies, laughing a little at the memory. “I’m sure it was a sight to see,” the other returns, as they reach the study.

Yunho knocks on the closed door to the study, waiting for a reply before he opens it. “Seungcheol-ah, your tutor is here,” he says, smiling at the excitedly waiting teenager. He has his laptop and notebook with accompanying pen laid out neatly in front of him, with the books he’s been learning from by his side.

The teenager stands as Yunho leads Zhoumi into the room, bowing 90 degrees in greeting. “My name is Choi Seungcheol, seonsaeng-nim. I look forward to being taught by you,” he greets politely, before he breaks composure and beams at the two men.

“No need to call me that,” Zhoumi says, “You can just call me hyung. I look forward to teach you!” Seungcheol nods in understanding, before Yunho takes his leave with a few parting words with Seungcheol to pay attention to his tutor.

“Now, shall we get started? Let’s see what you’ve learnt so far,” Zhoumi settles himself next to Seungcheol, as the teenager quickly boots up his laptop, handing his new tutor the books he’s looked through thus far.

“Not bad, but let’s see what else you can learn by the end of today,” Zhoumi comments as he looks at the various books Seungcheol has read the past few weeks. “Okay, hyung!” Seungcheol replies, and they settle in for a fruitful lesson.

After the lesson, Jungsu allows Seungcheol to take a break for a short while before he has to finish his homework from school, while Yunho sits with Zhoumi to see what he thinks about his new pupil. “So, what do you think of Seungcheol?” he asks.

“He has a lot of potential,” Zhoumi praises, smiling. “He’s very eager to learn and picks up on the theory very quickly. Since he’s started on learning Python, I’ll continue teaching him that and see where that takes us. If he’s ready for it, once we finish Python I’ll get him started on some other languages.”

“It’s just a pity that he won’t be able to pursue a degree from the universities that have better computer science programmes,” the tutor mentions. Yunho sighs, nodding in understanding.

“He has a lot of potential, and he’s smart to boot. Since he’s trapped here, however, he’ll be enrolling in a cyber university once he graduates from the local school. It’s the one Jungsu graduated from as well, so at least we know he’ll be treated fairly,” Yunho explains, to which Zhoumi signals his understanding.

“I wouldn’t mind teaching him until he himself wants to stop, if I’m being very honest,” Zhoumi continues. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a student that is so eager to learn.” Yunho laughs, and nods. “Then we’ll continue this arrangement for the foreseeable future, then. Once a week works out for you?”

Zhoumi checks his calendar, nodding as he enters in the new commitment. “I’ll definitely be here on time. It’s such a joy teaching him, I’ll probably end up teaching overtime a lot,” Zhoumi jokes, not knowing how true that statement will be in the future.

“Ah, that means we’ll have to pay you more,” Yunho jokes, to which Zhoumi shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t mind being paid at my usual rate and not for overtime if it’s for a student like him. I would have said I wouldn’t mind not being paid at all, but well, I have to earn my money from somewhere!”

Yunho laughs, standing up and heading towards the door. “Well, I won’t keep you anymore,” he says. “I’m sure a busy person such as you has somewhere to go after this.” Zhoumi stands up as well, following Yunho as he is led back to the front door.

“I really don’t, but I get when I’m not wanted anymore.” he smiles to show that he’s joking, before continuing, “I’ll see you next week then.”

Yunho nods his assent, opening the gate for Zhoumi. “See you next week, Zhoumi-ssi.”

“Drop the honorifics! We’re going to be seeing each other a lot in the future after all,” Zhoumi calls out as he takes his leave, to which Yunho laughs, nodding. “You can do the same for me, then,” he replies.

When Yunho heads back into the manor in search of Seungcheol and Jungsu, he’s met with the hilarious sight of Jungsu trying to take away Seungcheol’s laptop. “You need to stop coding for now and get started on your schoolwork!” Jungsu exclaims, tugging at his charge’s laptop.

“Coding is part of my schoolwork!” Seungcheol argues back, holding firmly onto his precious laptop. The two of them go back and forth for a while, even as Yunho starts laughing and doesn’t stop for a long while.

“Alright children, stop fighting.” After calming down, Yunho walks over and plucks the laptop out of both of their grasps.

“Jungsu-hyung, Seungcheol needs the laptop to do his schoolwork. And Seungcheol, you need to promise that you’ll focus on your schoolwork first before you can continue with your coding. I’ll be coming by to check frequently, so make sure you do as you’re told.”

The two Cat-bearers eye the laptop-holding Yunho with similar guilty looks, making Yunho laugh again. He returns Seungcheol’s laptop to him with a stern look, and tugs Jungsu away.

“Stop bothering the kid just because your partner is away,” he scolds his hyung, leaving Jungsu sputtering in the hallway as he goes off to do his job.

Jeonghan and Jisoo are met with a tired-looking Wonwoo and Jihoon in the kitchen when they come down for breakfast the next morning, with Minki and the others nowhere to be seen apart from Seokjin, Jaejoong and Jisung.

“Why do the two of you look so exhausted? Didn’t get enough sleep?” Jeonghan asks as the two of them take their seats, Jisung passing them clean plates and cutlery. Jisoo thanks him for the both of them, receiving them and placing them in front of the two of them.

“I spent almost the whole night on a track,” Jihoon mumbles through a mouthful of eggs and toast, barely swallowing in time before a huge yawn hits him. “Finished the box,” Wonwoo says in tandem, “Didn’t sleep.”

Jeonghan and Jisoo exchange looks and sigh as they keep watch over their two dongsaengs, making sure they finish their breakfast, helping them clear their plates before herding them to their separate beds, watching as they collapse face-first and not get up again.

The two older ones sigh, leaving the room and standing in the hallway after they’re done making sure the younger ones are comfortable. “What shall we do while they’re out cold?” Jisoo asks, tilting his head in query. Jeonghan shrugs in reply, walking into his room and grabbing a book from his bedside table.

“Up for some relaxing time? We can curl up in one of the alcoves in the library and relax,” the blond suggests, to which Jisoo readily agrees. “Sounds good to me.” The Tiger-bearer makes a quick trip to his own room to grab a book of his own, and the two of them walk quietly to the library.

Once there, Jeonghan sinks into one of the window alcoves after removing his indoor slippers, sitting so that he can stretch his legs across the entire seat. Jisoo sits opposite him, mirroring him in position.

Jeonghan settles a little lower into the cushions, getting comfortable. Once done, he sighs in satisfaction, opening his book to the bookmarked page to continue reading. Jisoo looks up from his book when his boyfriend sighs, smiling when he realises why the other sighed and turning back to his book.

The peace and quiet is maintained for the next few hours as the two of them make their way steadily through their respective books. Jeonghan was in the middle of a fantasy adventure novel, while Jisoo had picked up some books relevant to his field of study.

Just as Jeonghan finishes his book, hours after they first sat down, Wonwoo walks blearily into the library, rubbing his eyes with sweater paws as he tries to wake up fully. “Had a good nap?” Jisoo asks warmly as the two of them already in the alcove shift to make room for Wonwoo.

The youngest of the trio nods and yawns, sitting down with a soft thump between the two older ones. “The puzzle box was very intriguing,” Wonwoo explains once he is more awake. “Once I started figuring it out I didn’t want to stop as I was afraid I’d forget my train of thought if I fell asleep.”

“So you stayed awake until you finished solving the box,” Jisoo continues for him, to which Wonwoo nods. “It was pretty complex too. I’m pretty sure there are like, at least 50 steps to solve the box,” Wonwoo mentions, before hitting himself in the forehead with a sweater-clad palm.

“I left the box in my room,” he says, clearly punishing himself for forgetting. Jeonghan laughs, standing up. “Well, it’s understandable. You did just wake up, after all.”

Jisoo stands up as well, stretching a little. “Shall we go and get it, then?” he asks, turning to the other two. Wonwoo nods, standing up and following his hyungs out of the room as they head back to the residential wing.

When Jeonghan checks in on Jihoon, the latter is still out cold, so Jeonghan closes the door quietly and heads for Wonwoo’s room just as his boyfriend and the man in question emerges from his room with the box in hand.

In unison, they head for Jeonghan’s room, and Wonwoo makes sure to close the door behind him before he sits on the bed where Jisoo and Jeonghan are settled, waiting for him. “I reset the box after I opened it, to see if I still remember the steps,” Wonwoo explains, showing them the box.

He opens it slowly, occasionally cocking his head to the side as he tries to recall all the steps required to open the puzzle box. Finally though, he slides the last piece into position and opens the box, tilting it so that what is inside falls out.

He holds up the object to Jisoo and Jeonghan, and just as they’d thought, it’s a wood carving in the shape of a triskelion, the perfect match to the triskelion that Jeonghan had found in the study.

“We’ll have to wait for Jihoon to wake up before we try inserting this into the indentation in the study,” Jeonghan murmurs, taking the carving from Wonwoo and examining it closely. The other two nod in agreement.

“We should continue searching. There’s bound to be more,” Jisoo says, getting up from the bed. “Alright,” Jeonghan says, putting the wood carving back into the box and handing it back to Wonwoo for safekeeping.

Before they continue on to the main wing, they make a stop at Wonwoo’s room to allow him to keep the box, moving on once he emerges from his room empty-handed.

When Jihoon wakes up again, the sun has set and his room is dimly lit from the lights out in the courtyard. He sits up in bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He checks the time on his phone, ignoring the notifications, and climbs out of bed.

Stretching his arms high up into the air before twisting his torso left and right, he grunts as his back gives a satisfying and resounding crack as the bones pop. After he’s done, he shuffles out of the room in search of the other three, passing by Dongho as he walks down the staircase.

He doesn’t say much, just nodding in greeting to his fellow producer. Dongho returns the nod, clearly recognising the signs of having worked through the night and only just waking up. They continue on their separate ways, Jihoon off to find the boys and Dongho to wherever he’s planning to do.

Jihoon eventually finds the other three in the rarely-used ballroom, searching every nook and cranny in the large room. “Oh, Jihoon-ah. I see you’re finally awake,” Jisoo notices the boy, pausing in his search to ruffle the younger’s hair.

Jihoon hums in reply, giving another jaw-cracking yawn. “I remember Wonwoo saying that he managed to solve the puzzle box,” he says as soon as he finishes yawning.

“Yup,” Jisoo nods, “The box contained the key to the indentation in the wall of the study like we thought. It’s back in Wonwoo’s room though. We were waiting for you to wake up before we went ahead with unlocking whatever’s behind the wall.”

Wonwoo and Jeonghan approach the two, catching the tail-end of the conversation. “Should we go now, then? Have you guys had dinner?” Jihoon asks, to which the three of them shake their heads.

“We should go and eat first, then. We can continue later.” Jihoon decides. They make their way to the kitchen, where everyone else are seated, having dinner and chitchatting. There’s a brief pause as they walk into the room, but conversation resumes after a few seconds of awkward silence.

As usual, the few of them sit as far away as possible from Jonghyun’s group, trying to lessen the chances of them having to snipe at each other. The unofficial temporary truce is silently acknowledged, and they eat dinner without having to listen to Jeonghan and Minki’s barbed conversations for once.

Once they are done with dinner, they clean up their bowls quickly before they’re chased away by Seokjin. They amble down the hallway back to Wonwoo’s room in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Wonwoo enters his room to retrieve the puzzle box and the key within it, then they head to the study. “Do any of you want to do the honours?” Wonwoo asks as he holds out the key to the others.

“Go ahead, Wonwoo-yah. You were the one that unlocked the box,” Jeonghan replies, nudging the younger ahead of him. The others nod in agreement, gesturing for him to do the honours. Listening to them, Wonwoo steps forward, pressing the triskele into the indentation on the wall.

A resounding click echoes around the room as he presses the key in, and they all take a step back in surprise when the section of wall in front of them retreats a little and turns in place. When the wall stops moving, they peer in only to see a staircase heading downwards.

Since there is no light, they turn on the torchlights in their phones and head down slowly. They follow the staircase down for a long while, each of them keeping an eye out for anything out of place.

“We’ve been going down for a while now,” Jisoo mentions after a while. Jeonghan hums his agreement. “I’m pretty sure we’re under the house now.”

The staircase ends in a long tunnel, clearly man-made. The tunnel has smoothed walls of concrete, and though weeds are already growing on the ground, it is clear that the tunnel was once used often. “Pretty sure that the tunnel leads away from the house,” Jihoon says.

As they walk, their footsteps echo throughout the tunnel, as well as their breathing. Eventually, however, the tunnel opens up into a large cavern.

With Jeonghan and Jisoo leading the four of them, Jihoon holds in a yelp as he nearly walks into them, the two older men having stopped in their tracks right at the entrance to the cavern. “What happened?” Jihoon asks, cursing his height not for the first time.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Jisoo’s deadpan statement echoes through the cavern, and Jihoon frowns as he hears water. “Here, look for yourself.”

Jisoo shifts so that the two younger men can see what startled both Jeonghan and Jisoo, and as soon as they catch sight of the Olympic-sized pool smackdab in the middle of the cavern, they’re speechless as well.

“You’re telling me we had a pool underground and none of us knew?” Jeonghan really doesn’t mean to yell, but this is just ridiculous. “How has it even been kept clean this whole time?” Wonwoo, as usual, asks the logical question.

“I have no idea.” Jeonghan walks to the edge of the pool, house slippers narrowly avoiding the water. “The smell of chlorine is strong, which means that someone has to have maintained this pool for a while,” Jihoon observes, wrinkling his nose at the chemical smell tainting the air.

“The holes in the roof of the cavern are probably for ventilation,” Wonwoo points upwards, and Jeonghan glances up to see the fading reds and purples of the sunset sky.

“There’s also a tunnel over on the other end of the cavern,” Jihoon notices, pointing the tunnel out to the others. “Should we continue exploring to see where it leads?” he asks.

“Why not? We have the time,” Jisoo decides, and the four of them walk to the newly-discovered tunnel. “Once more unto the breach,” Wonwoo mutters under his breath.

The tunnel is built similarly to the one leading from the manor to the pool. After a while, it starts sloping upwards, and Jeonghan points out that this could be an alternate entrance or exit to the pool and manor.

Eventually they reach the end of the tunnel, which is covered with hanging branches. Pushing them aside, they emerge from the tunnel into a clearing in the forest behind the manor.  Jihoon turns around again, observing how the entrance to the tunnel has been camouflaged by the large hanging branches of the tree just behind the tunnel entrance.

“That’s one way to do it,” he comments, sitting down on the grass next to the others, who decided to take a break before heading back. They lie there in the clearing for a long while, until the sun has set completely and the stars are twinkling across the dark sky.

After a while, Jeonghan pushes himself up. “We should head back. At least we found something, no matter how ridiculous it may be.”

They file into the tunnel again quietly, and they’re back in the study before they know it. Once Wonwoo emerges last from the tunnel, they turn to the wall, wondering how to move it back into position.

Wonwoo pushes one end of the wall slightly, huffing a laugh when the wall starts rotating. He grabs that end of the wall, pushing it so that the side with the indentation in the wall is facing outwards, and pauses, wondering how to lock it in place.

Jeonghan walks up to the indentation, pressing down on the key inserted into it. There’s another click momentarily before the wall starts moving, causing the two to backpedal quickly as the wall automatically moves back into place.

With one last mechanical click, the wall shifts back into place, returning the study back to normal. “Should we leave the key there?” Jihoon asks.

“It should be fine,” Jeonghan says. “It’s not like any of the others know what we’re up to, anyway.”

With that, they decide to head back to the recreation room to chill and update the others about what they’d found today.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

sneaky mf: you would NOT believe what we found today

BABABANANAS: what is it??? an arcade??? a pool???

i am COW hear me moo: for once you’re correct.

i am COW hear me moo: oh ffs

i am COW hear me moo has changed his name to jihoon

jihoon: I am literally going to MURDER whoever is doing this.

the most glorious mane: anyway

the most glorious mane: what did you guys find???

orange is the new black: a pool.

I’M A CHICKEN: youre SHITTING me

orange is the new black: we’re not kidding

i hate carrots: There’s an underground pool connecting to the manor via a tunnel.

I’M A CHICKEN: what the actual fuck

sneaky mf: language, seungkwan-ah. but yes that is an actual mood

sneaky mf: at this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if we did find an arcade

why am I forever last: how did they even build it???

orange is the new black: we have no idea

BABABANANAS: is jihoon still here

i hate carrots: He went off to his studio.

i hate carrots: His phone is with us because he thinks you guys are too noisy.

BABABANANAS: great!

BABABANANAS has changed jihoon’s name to ITS COW TIME

im THE dawg: no but really why do we have a pool

Zhoumi does have to say, Seungcheol is one of the more pleasant students he’s had the privilege of teaching. Not only is the boy willing and eager to learn, he goes above and beyond whatever he’s given as homework, allowing Zhoumi to go faster and teach the boy more advanced material.

When asked, Seungcheol just replied distractedly as he tried to parse through his code to find what was preventing it from working. “I really like coding,” he says.

“The amount of energy I put into actually coding the program is exhausting, but when I run the code and it works, the satisfaction I get is immense- aha! I found it!” Seungcheol nearly shouts when he spots his mistake, editing the code and beaming when he runs it again with success.

“Well done,” Zhoumi smiles at his student. “Now, let’s see. Which other problem do you want to try?”

“This one looks interesting,” Seungcheol says after a while of reading through the questions that Zhoumi had prepared, pointing one out.

“Oh yes, that one. We can have a lot of fun with this one,” Zhoumi says, and starts teaching proper, Seungcheol typing along as he listens.

Yunho jumps a little when he feels someone nudge him from overhearing the lesson going on in the study, and turns to find Jungsu laughing at him quietly. “Curious about how our boy’s doing?” the older asks, to which Yunho sheepishly nods.

“I was actually looking for you, Yunho-yah. Have any of the others contacted you?” Jungsu asks after a while of listening to Seungcheol’s lesson by the door. Yunho starts, pulling the elder into the recreation room next door and shutting the door.

“Only Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Siwon, Hyukjae and Youngwoon have yet to find their successors,” Yunho finally replies his question, taking a seat and nearly falling off the hammock they have in the corner.

Jungsu laughs at his struggles to stay on the hammock, before returning to the topic at hand. “The others… haven’t contacted you?”

“They only contacted me once to tell me that they’d found their successors, hyung. I haven’t heard from them since.”

“What did Youngwoon say?”

“He’s still trying to follow the feeling, so he isn’t sure how long it’ll be before he can come back.”

Jungsu remains silent for a while, eyes dim. “You can’t blame yourself, hyung,” Yunho says after a while, unable to bear watching Jungsu berate himself.

“I could have done it, you know that,” Jungsu starts, but Yunho cuts him off.

“You wanted them to stay with you. That’s understandable, hyung. They understand.”

“That doesn’t help the fact that they could’ve been free long before this year!” Jungsu exclaims, remembering at the last moment that if he yells Seungcheol would be able to hear.

“What’s done is done, hyung. The Princess says that there is a high chance that Seungcheol will actually succeed,” Yunho says in response.

“I didn’t want there to be a next generation, Yunho-yah. You know that,” Jungsu sighs, sinking into a beanbag in front of the hammock, shutting his eyes for a moment.

“I do know that. But I also know that it isn’t your fault you couldn’t do it.”

“Even if they won’t contact me? When they won’t come back? You saw the looks on their faces when I told them what they had to do, Yunho-yah.”

Yunho sighs, about to reply Jungsu, but the older man climbs out of the beanbag before he can say anything.

“Nevermind. I knew what I was getting into when I told them all. At least I had plenty of time with them,” Jungsu says, smiling sadly. “Now, I’ve to go into town to deal with an issue, so help me tell the others that I may be late for dinner and to not wait for me.”

Yunho sighs again, climbing out of the hammock.

“Alright, hyung. I’ll see you at dinner, then.”

23 May 2012, Wednesday

Today’s lesson with Zhoumi-hyung was interesting! I managed to learn a new way of manipulating the code to get what I want, but I think I’ll need more practice. It’s actually really tough to think out of the box sometimes. Yunho-samcheon and harabeoji seemed down today. I wonder if I can help cheer them up somehow?

I’ll think of ideas to make them happier tomorrow.

[chapter four end]

five

[book-tease]

Snooping and First Kisses (Scorbus)

Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter

Rating: Gen.

Summary: Albus ropes Scorpius into snooping through the Headmistress’s office. Will something happen between the two? 

Note: Heres to shitty summaries and finally getting this shit up!

Read on Ao3 or below the cut.

Albus and Scorpius were bored.

Hogwarts wasn't a place you'd imagine to be boring, but during the holidays when everyone else was at home, it was the most boring place on Earth. Or at least it seemed like it to the two 15 year old boys.

Scorpius had to stay a day late because no one would have been able to pick him up from the train station and for some reason, Draco refused to let the Potters take him, even though they'd done it before.

(Scorpius suspected this has to do with not wanted them to see the Malfoy Manor under construction, as everything was being remodeled)

Albus refused to leave his best friend (he wasn't sure what to call him anymore. His best friend who he has almost kissed a couple times?) alone and was going to hitch a floo with the Malfoys the next day.

In the meantime, they had to entertain themselves and Albus had a brilliant idea. He just had to convince Scorpus of this as well.

Scorpius was not convinced.

“Scorpius, I will give you all the Sugar Quills I can buy with my allowance if you embark on this adventure with me!”

“Well.. may-” Scorpius thought out loud, but was quick to correct his submission. “No! All the sugar quills in the world couldn't-” he paused “ well actually maybe then… But no!”

Albus grinned, ignoring his defiance. The fact that he wavered was enough to know that he had worn Scorpius down.

“Cmon, please.” Albus pleaded, rather weakly compared to before but there was no doubt Scorpius would give in.

Scorpius heaved a big sigh, and nodded. “Fine. How do we get into the Headmistress's  office then?”

Albus practically squealed and grabbed Scorpius’s hand, leading the way with the password in his head and a thought.

I am so in love with this boy

-

“Felix Felicis” Albus said to the gargoyle.and pulled Scorpius into the office when it let them in.

Headmistress Mcgonagall’s office was personalized, however there was a corner that was so purely Dumbledore that it sometimes hurt Albus’s father to look at.

Most of the portraits were asleep or out as it was rather late and no one else was at Hogwarts.

Albus quickly glanced at Dumbledore and Snape’s portraits, curious as to if they were awake, ad what would they say about his names.

Shaking that thought out of his head, he and Scorpius started on the desk, snooping through the drawers.

They didn't know exactly what they were looking for, but they had heard a rumor that Mcgonagall got some wizard’s address to owl him, at the Three Broomsticks and while they had nothing better to do, they were going to find out who this bloke was.

Scorpius gasps about 10 minutes into the rummaging and jumps up and down, a small piece of parchment in his fingers.

Albus looked up from where he was searching the cabinets near the the desk, and clapped, walking over to in front of scorpius, unintentionally trapping Scorpius against the desk.

“Oh okay! Who is it, who is it?!”

Albus was excited, mcgonagall deserved love, or at least a fling, even at 83.

Scorpius ignored the heat pooling in his belly and looked down at the writing etched onto the parchment in his hands. He grimaced a little, recognizing the last name.

“Xeno… Xenophilius. Xenophilius Lovegood.”

Albus’ face turned into one of sheer horror.

“She’s shagging Aunt Luna’s dad!” Albus screeched, not caring that the portraits were now listening carefully, intrigued by the whole situation.

Scorpius nodded, his face twisted in a funny way, trying to contain his amusement.

Albus was adorable.

Albus noticed and jabbed an accusing finger at scorpius with a faux scowl, he himself trying not to laugh.

“Scorpius! This is not funny! It’s weird! Mcgonagall is like 30 years older than him! And-” he had to stop to regain composure, but then that composure never came. As soon as he stopped talking, he collapsed into a fit of laughter, his face in the crook of Scorpius’ neck to attempt to stifle it. Although, that didn't do much seeing as Scorpius’ composure had broken as well, not that that was hard.

The two boys were pressed against each other, consumed with laughter, while the headmaster portraits rolled their eyes at their antics.

Once both boys composed themselves, Albus lifted his head up from scorpius, finding himself gazing into his shiny grey eyes, slightly wet from the fits of laughter they had just recovered from. Albus hadn't noticed how close they were, and if he just slightly tilted his chin up, he could easily close the small distance between his and scorpius’s lips. This had been happening a lot lately, the unconscious and conscious closeness, almost kisses interrupted by an awkward cough, or even small displays of affection like laying hands on shoulders in comfort or even just a brush of hands as they walked through the courtyard.

Albus gulped, and decided to take a leap, and slowly raised his hand to brush back a few pieces of hair from Scorpius’s face to test the waters. He could hear his sharp intake of breath, and that almost make him pull away, and he would have if not for the fact that he had not been pushed yet. Taking a deep breath, Albus tilted his chin up, and slowly descended his lips upon Scorpius’s own.

Scorpius didn’t respond immediately,and so Albus pulled back, and started stuttering out apologies

“Oh Merlin, im so sorry i shouldn't ha-” Scorpius, who had been snapped out of his shock when he didn't feel the plush lips of albus upon his, and cut him off by pressing his lips to his.

Albus didn't hesitate to respond, grateful that this was finally happening after 2 years of pining after his best friend, over analyzing every touch and word.

Their lips pushed against each other clumsily, neither having any experience. It didn't take long though, their lips seeming to mold together on their own, like they were made for each other. After a few minutes,unaware of the portraits whispering, they reluctantly pulled away, panting, lips tingly and swollen. Pressing their foreheads against each other, a smile overtaking scorpius’s face, relieved and dazed. Albus didn't look much different.

In the end, it wasnt Scorpius or Albus who broke their daze with words, it was Albus Dumbledore.

“My my, not exactly what i was expecting when a Potter and a Malfoy walked into this office.”

The boys pulled away from each other, blushing from head to toe.

“Professor Dumbledore!” Albus said in shock. In his 4 years at Hogwarts, he had never met his namesake portrait, not for lack of trying. He just was never in the Headmistress’s office and had never had the means to sneak in. James had both the marauder map and invisibility, and Lily was the only one to be able to steal it. This was not the ideal way to meet him, kissing his… friend and snooping through Mcgonagall’s office.

“Mr Potter. I’m guessing you're Albus, seeing as you have only one brother and he's been in here a few times.” Dumbledore says, smiling kindly. “Although, I’m curious, your father named all of his kids after someone, first name and middle name. So who’s your middle name?”

Albus quickly glanced over at Snape’s portrait, who up until now had been paying attention with mild interest.

“Severus” Albus said in quiet, yet proud voice. He wasn't ashamed, but it was a little weird to be telling a portrait that they’re named after them.

Snape guaffed, and Phineas Black cackled. “Severus! Harry bloody Potter named a kid after you! How cute!”

“Phineas, please. It is a great honor and not to be laughed at.” Albus said, his voice calm and bored, as if he's had to deal with Phineas’s commentary more than enough to become used to it.

(Which, he had.)

Snape was still in shock, eyes wide and every few seconds muttering “severus… bloody potters”

Albus blushed, and Scorpius spoke up for the first time since the kiss. “Well, i'm sure this is a shock and all that, but is there anyway you wont mention this to the Headmistress?” Scorpius was genuinely concerned with this, but wouldn't have bothered asking if he hadn't noticed that Albus was starting to uncomfortable.

Dumbledore smiled apologetically. “Unfortunately, as portraits we are required to aid the Headmistress in these sorts of things.”

Albus was a little annoyed at this, although he supposed it was worth it. They had figured out who Mcgonagall was seeing, even if it was Mr Lovegood.

“That's fine. Um, we'll just be going then. We still need to stop by the kitchens before we leave tomorrow” Albus said in a hesitant voice, not knowing exactly what to say. Albus Dumbledore had caught him and Scorpius snogging, well that was a bit generous.He had seen their first kiss and Al stumbling over his words.

A sudden thought struck him. What if one of the portraits tells Mcgonagall, or my Dad or Scorpius’s dad? It's not that they were ashamed, it's just this had just happened and they haven't even discussed what that kiss meant. His dad didn't even know he was into guys!

He was panicking a little, and Scorpius must've been too, however he had voiced his worries. He always was better at that.

“Are.. Can you not tell the Headmistress that you… you saw us..” Scorpius gestured vaguely, not really sure what to call what had happened. It wasn't only a kiss.

Scorpius tentatively continued when none of the portraits responded, although Snape had just snapped out of his shock and was sure to have some input. “Or my dad. Or Al’s dad. Its just… Its not that important for them to know is it?” The last bit was rushed out, unnerved by the silence.

Surprisingly, Snape was the first to speak up. “I guess… a promise to protect your dad, Scorpius, extends to you as well…” The former (and brief) Headmaster hesitated, not quite sure why he was helping a potter out of a non life threatening situation.

Scorpius and Albus both brightened, relieved at the mercy and the opportunity to talk about the kiss and what it meant before people found out.

“Thank you! That means a lot.. I mean.. Thank you.” Albus managed to stutter out.

Snape’s portrait seemed to almost blush, and Dumbledore and the others just smiled.

Albus linked his hand with Scorpius’s, and pulled him along with him to exit the office, both unbelievably relieved.

As soon as the entrance to the office was closed, Albus and Scorpius gone, Snape quietly muttered his thoughts, ignoring his act of mercy early.

“A Malfoy and a Potter… Merlin things have changed.”

Dumbledore caught it, and bore a big grin. “That they have, Severus. That they have.”

Albus Dumbledore stared at the closed entrance, one last thought before he slept.

They're lucky to have each other. In every way.

[quranreadalong]

#103, Surah 18

THE QURAN READ-ALONG: DAY 103

The first half of today’s section will be about disbelievers burning in hell, but first, we must go through the Iblis-refuses-to-bow thing. Yes... again. This one is at least notable, though. 18:50:

And (remember) when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command. Will ye choose him and his seed for your protecting friends instead of Me, when they are an enemy unto you? Calamitous is the exchange for evil-doers.

This is, to my recollection, the first time Iblis is explicitly stated to be a jinni so far and also the first time a jinn is shown to be an angel (We said unto the angels... they all fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the jinn). I’ve already mentioned how the Quran is never sure whether it wants the jinn to be demon-type things or trickster figures similar to humans, but this is about a clear example as it gets. Previously, we’ve seen the jinn grouped with humans as their own race, and we will see later that Mohammed was sent as a prophet to mankind and the jinn (that’s the actual weirdest surah... this is only the second-weirdest one) but here it’s clear that there are also jinn among the angels. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Anyway, Allah says that he alone is god and Iblis and friends weren’t in charge of creating the world, so people shouldn’t worship them. (As we’ve already established, polytheists actually “worship Shaytan”... even when they don’t believe in him...)

Speaking of polytheists, did you know that they’re doomed? Because they’re doomed.

And (be mindful of) the Day when He will say: Call those partners of Mine whom ye pretended. Then they will cry unto them, but they will not hear their prayer, and We shall set a gulf of doom between them. And the guilty behold the Fire and know that they are about to fall therein, and they find no way of escape thence.

Mohammed was quite fond of the Allah taunting polytheists prior to throwing them into hell thing, which is bad as always. Kuffar hell counter: 1!

The Quran is from Allah and people suck for disputing it. Now that they have the Quran, people have no excuse for not believing--“naught hindereth mankind from believing”, Allah says, perhaps forgetting the times he’s stated that he himself prevents them from believing. Regardless, people had better start believing pronto, “unless (it be that they wish) that the judgment of the men of old should come upon them or (that) they should be confronted with the Doom”. There’s another kuffar hell counter (2) hit.

But the dastardly disbelievers take that threat "with jest” and don’t believe it, and for that, Allah has cursed and blinded them so that they will never believe, no matter what Mohammed says or does. I feel like I rant about this circular “disbelievers disbelieve because Allah prevents them from believing to punish them because they don’t believe” thing but GOTDAMN it is dumb as hell. Bad. At least we’re over halfway through the surah.

18:58 is one of those classic ayat that never get old:

Thy Lord is the Forgiver, Full of Mercy. If He took them to task (now) for what they earn, He would hasten on the doom for them; but theirs is an appointed term from which they will find no escape. 

The reason why Allah isn’t bringing on The Doom of the polytheists now is because he is merciful. Instead, he’s delaying their inescapable punishment until an unspecified later date. Thanks, Allah! (In the next ayah he brags about all the places he’s destroyed again, which is bad as per usual.)

Now then! We have another one of Al-Kahf’s weird stories coming up.

Remember how in the intro to this surah, I said there was a variant of the story in which the rabbis asked Mohammed about the time when Moses followed a learned man? That is what we’re gonna talk about now.

The following story is not from the Bible and has no equivalent in any non-Muslim text that I am aware of, though its possible origins will be discussed obnoxiously in-depth tomorrow. However, if the rabbis did actually ask Mohammed about it, that indicates that they were aware of it and it was part of Jewish oral tradition at the time.

Moses is walking with his people. He says he won’t stop until he reaches “the point where the two seas meet”. Why is he doing this? Well, this requires an introductory section, because Mohammed forgot to put half of the story in the Quran. You have to grab one of the ahadith collections and look at this hadith to figure out what’s going on!

Musa stood to deliver a Khutbah (sermon) to the children of Isra'il. He was asked: "Who is the most knowledgeable among the people?" He said: "I am the most knowledgeable." So Allah admonished him, since he did not refer the knowledge back to Him. Allah revealed to him: "A slave, among My slaves at the junction of the two seas, is more knowledgeable than you." So Musa said: "O Lord! How can I meet him?" He said to him: "Carry a fish in a basket, wherever you lose the fish, then he is there." 

Moses says “im rly smart tbh”. Allah says “this other guy is smarter”. Moses wants to meet this Really Smart Guy, who is given the title al-Khidr (or al-Khadir) in the hadith. Allah gives him this needlessly complicated task involving carrying a fish around this particular spot, which is where they will find al-Khidr.

Moses and his servant, Joshua, travel along... wherever this is, and they lose the fish but don’t realize it... because of Shaytan, apparently. They sit down to eat breakfast and then realize the fish is gone. So they go back to retrace their steps, and there, as promised, is al-Khidr. (Or rather “one of Our slaves, unto whom We had given mercy from Us, and had taught him knowledge from Our presence”. He’s never actually named in the Quran.) One hadith narrator says they found him on a green carpet in the middle of the water, which is weird, but the Quran doesn’t say that. He was just chillin.

We will continue this very weird story tomorrow.

NEXT TIME: Urfavmurtad Presents: Strange Tales of al-Khidr

The Quran Read-Along: Day 103

Ayat: 16

Good: 0

Neutral: 10 (18:50-51, 18:54, 18:56, 18:60-65)

Bad: 6 (18:52-53, 18:55, 18:57-59)

Kuffar hell counter: 2 (18:52-53, 18:55)

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