#unfortunately some people never learn from the lessons of the past

[philiponmycracker]

A study in expressions Tom Hulce edition, as Mickey Schwerne, from Murder in Mississippi (1990)

[honey-bitch]

୨⎯ Chiron in the Houses ⎯୧ In mythology, Chiron was a wise centaur and healer, unfortunately he was unable to heal his own incurable wound, thus becoming a symbol of the "wounded healer.."By understanding your Chiron placement you can understand how to heal yourself and what triggers you and like chiron you can heal others.

1st House - This is a deeply personal placement. Your wound might be about your sense of self, like you're just not quite comfortable being you. Maybe you wrestle with self-confidence, or you feel like you're always trying to be someone you're not. Healing here isn't about suddenly becoming a flawless, confident superstar. It's more about accepting yourself, flaws and all, and learning to be okay with who you are, even the parts you don't love. And that self-acceptance can be incredibly powerful for others to witness.

2nd House - This is about self-worth, what you value, and feeling secure. Maybe you've had money worries, or you feel like you don't deserve good things. Healing here isn't about becoming a millionaire or suddenly loving every single thing about yourself. It's about understanding that your worth isn't tied to your bank account or your possessions. It's about finding a sense of security within yourself, and learning to value what truly matters to you. And that can be a powerful lesson to share with others.

3rd House - Communication can be a real struggle with Chiron here. Perhaps you might have felt like no one listened to you growing up, or you have trouble expressing yourself. Healing isn't about becoming a perfect orator. It's about learning to communicate more effectively, even if it's still sometimes awkward. It's about finding your voice and learning to express your thoughts and feelings, even when it's scary. And that can give courage to others who are struggling to be heard.

4th House - This often has to do with family, your roots, and feeling emotionally safe. Maybe you had a difficult childhood, or you struggle with trusting your own feelings. Healing isn't about having a perfect family or never feeling emotional pain. It's about learning to cope with the past, understanding your emotional needs, and creating a sense of safety within yourself, even if your external circumstances aren't ideal. And that resilience can be a real inspiration to others.

5th House - This is about creativity, joy, and feeling seen. Maybe you've felt like your talents weren't appreciated, or you're afraid to really put yourself out there. Healing isn't about becoming a famous artist. It's about finding joy in expressing yourself, even in small ways. It's about allowing yourself to be playful and creative, even if you're not "good" at it. And that can encourage others to embrace their own creativity.

6th House - Here, the wounds can be about health, daily routines, and feeling useful. Maybe you've struggled with health issues, or you feel overwhelmed by daily life.You could be particularly sensitive to people making comments about you hygiene or cleanliness or this could even indicate having some health problems unfortunately. Healing isn't about achieving perfect health or having a perfectly organized life. It's about finding balance and developing coping mechanisms that work for you. It's about learning to manage your health and your responsibilities in a way that's sustainable, even if it's not always easy. And that practical approach to well-being can be helpful for others.

7th House - This is the house of relationships. Maybe you've had some tough experiences with partners, or you struggle with setting boundaries. Healing isn't about finding the perfect partner or never having conflict.Having chiron here doesn't mean that you'll never find love, but there could be misunderstandings and barriers that prevent you from trusting others and conflicts in one to one relationships may emerge. It's about learning to build healthy relationships, even when they're messy. It's about understanding your own needs and learning to communicate them effectively. And that can be a valuable lesson for others.

8th House - This is a deep one, dealing with intimacy, vulnerability, and transformation. Maybe you've been hurt in the past, and it's hard to trust or be emotionally close. Healing here isn't about becoming completely fearless and open with everyone. It's about learning to navigate intimacy and vulnerability in a way that feels safe for you. It's about understanding your own emotional depths and learning to cope with difficult emotions. And that self-awareness can be incredibly helpful to others.

9th House - This is about beliefs, purpose, and the bigger picture. Maybe you've questioned your values or felt lost in life. Healing isn't about finding all the answers or having unwavering faith. It's about exploring your beliefs and finding what resonates with you, even if it changes over time. It's about learning to live with uncertainty and finding meaning in your own way. And that open-minded approach can be inspiring to others. 10th House - This is about career, ambition, and how you're seen in the world. Maybe you've felt pressure to succeed, or you struggle with authority. Healing isn't about becoming Girlboss or never having doubts about your career path. It's about finding a sense of purpose in your work, whatever that looks like. It's about learning to balance your ambitions with your own well-being. And that can be a powerful example for others.

11th House - This is about community, belonging, and your friends. Maybe you've felt like you don't fit in, or you struggle with finding your tribe. Healing isn't about becoming the most popular person in the room. It's about finding your people, even if it's a small group. It's about learning to embrace your individuality and connect with others who appreciate you for who you are. And that can give others the courage to be themselves.

12th House - This is a very personal and often hidden place. It's about spirituality, empathy, and your inner world. Maybe you're super sensitive and have trouble with boundaries. Healing isn't about becoming a guru or never feeling overwhelmed. It's about learning to manage your sensitivity and protect your own energy. It's about connecting with your inner self and finding peace in solitude. And that self-awareness can be a source of strength for others.

©️ 2024 honey-bitch All Rights Reserved DISCLAIMER: this post is a great generalisation and may not resonate with you. I would recommend buying a reading from a professional astrologer (or me) to get more insight

Dm for Paid Readings

[delugyu]

hi!! i was wondering if i could request a one shot based on the GGUM mv where yeonjun is a cocky and bratty k pop idol that belittles everyone and basically the reader is like his mananger who’s had enough of his behavior and decides to teach him a lesson and he’s super submissive.

btw i LOVE your writing. cold, curse city was amazing <3

jumped for joy when i saw submissive yeonjun YAYYYYYYY (also thank you!!! hehe)

(wc: 2k / warnings: mean dom!reader, sub!yeonjun, reader’s kind of a bitch but yeonjun is too so it’s okay, degradation, humiliation, oral kinda idk eating pussy thru the panties, unprotected sex, edging..?)

you’re pretty sure that the biggest source of your headaches on any given day is the man you’re watching right now—on a tuesday at eight in the morning—who’s trying to convince you that the interviewer deserved it earlier when he called her an idiot.

“yeah, no. that’s never happening again,” you say plainly, cutting off his long-winded explanation. if only he could catch on when you’re trying to leave no room for argument, but unfortunately he has the most major case of lacking respect and decorum that you’ve ever seen.

“so you think it was okay for her to say that being bratty is my whole brand?” he asks.

“well, if you keep acting the way you do, then you can’t be surprised if that’s what people focus on.” you won’t lie: his brash personality is definitely good for gaining attention. his PR team never has to work too hard, since they know yeonjun’s going to do something stupid to get him on the news anyway. you’re jealous, cause you’re over here busting your ass to make sure he doesn’t go too far and ruin his career.

“i’d be selling a fake image if i was out there kissing babies and shaking hands,” yeonjun says.

“so the better alternative is running your mouth until half the country wants you beaten up?” you don’t want him to act like someone he’s not, but you also don’t want him to be such a dick to everyone.

“stop acting like you know me or the things i want,” he says. it lights a fire inside of you, rage burning at his insinuation. “i don’t want a nice, clean image. i fucking hate it when you try to force that onto me.”

he walks away into his dressing room, probably done with you and this conversation, but you’ve had it. you’re pissed, and he needs to learn that he doesn’t sit on top of the world. you mutter out quick apologies to the staff you push past in your haste to follow yeonjun.

before you can step into the room, yeonjun slams the door in front of your face. “yeonjun, are you fucking kidding me?!” you bang your fist against the door when turning the knob doesn’t work.

“go away,” he says from behind the door. you let out something like a growl in your frustration, feeling like you might just rip all your hair out. it’s too early to already be doing this.

“why do you throw fits every time i try to tell you to have some respect? you can never just bite your tongue for a second.”

you’re met with silence. you hate when he starts tuning you out. you’ll have to pop a few tylenols after this to keep your headache from killing you.

you start up once more, “you think anyone’s gonna look at your art before they look at you as a person? what’s the point in making good music if the person behind it is such a jackass?”

again, no reply. you sigh, running your hands down your face as you try to collect yourself. this isn’t worth it. he’s never going to change.

“i’m thinking i should just quit and let you deal with whatever asshole comes in after me,” you say, just trying to stir him into giving you a response now. you usually keep yourself from going back and forth with him like this, but he’s been on your nerves way too much recently. you were bound to explode with how much he’s been testing you.

the door finally opens. you don’t waste a second when you push it wider and enter the room, shutting it behind you. he’s crossing his arms, eyebrow raised like he’s waiting for you to scold him some more.

“you actually gonna quit, or was that all talk?” he asks.

you scowl and push on his shoulders until he’s sitting on one of the chairs. his eyes widen for a second like he’s surprised you actually put your hands on him. he should be grateful you don’t do worse.

“listen, i’m not going to take your shit anymore. i’m not giving you a choice. you need to have some respect.” you look down at him with ice cold eyes. he squirms a little in his seat; you almost find it funny.

“i don’t know how you expect me to do that. this is just how i am,” he counters.

“shutting your mouth would be a good start.” you put your hand over his lips when he opens them to start talking again. “see, you’re already trying to bark. just listen.”

you keep your hand there, and you’re kind of surprised that he doesn’t even try to move you away. your other hand grips the back of his chair so that you’re leaning over him, and you finally feel like you’re more powerful than him. you feel like he might listen to you for once.

“if you don’t want to be seen as a brat, then don’t be a brat,” you say. “you can have a tough image without annoying everyone. people see you more as a toddler than as some cool guy.”

his eyes dart down, and you realize that, with you leaning over him, he has a great view of your cleavage. he’s staring at your tits. scandalized, you grab his jaw to tilt his head all the way up, so he can either stare at the ceiling or look at your face. he chooses the ceiling.

“are you trying to make me hate my job? do you want me to quit?” you ask.

his eyes find yours at that, and you’re a little surprised to not find any fight in them. he shakes his head and keeps his mouth shut.

“you can answer now,” you say, letting go of his jaw.

“don’t quit, i like you as my manager,” he answers quickly. you huff out a laugh.

“well you sure as hell don’t act like it.”

“i’m sorry,” he apologizes—and sounds completely sincere, too.

you stand up straight, assessing him silently. you let your eyes rake down his body, noticing how he doesn’t move an inch. looks like you’ve finally put him in his place. it’s such a shame that it practically takes you bullying him to get to this point.

“so you’re gonna cool the tough guy act?” you ask.

“i dunno, maybe you should test how obedient i can be,” he prompts with a growing smile. wow, and you were doing so well.

“get off that chair.” immediately he does, standing up and waiting for his next instruction. you laugh at how pathetic his switch up is. you’d love for the nation to see yeonjun now, so eager to follow your orders. how far will he go?

you decide to test it out. “kneel.”

he’s just as quick to follow through with that, too. a power rush is already surging inside you, pumping adrenaline through your body. he looks up at you from his position on his knees. there’s still some space between you, though.

“come a little closer. crawl to me.” your pleased smile stays on your face as you watch him obey, keeping eye contact as he inches toward you.

“this is so funny,” you say as you look down at him. for the first time in your life, you see him look embarrassed. his eyes dart off to the side, unable to take the torment. “eyes on me. don’t you dare try looking away again.”

his cheeks glow with a subtle red tint, you notice as you take in his face. “would you be so kind as to apologize to me again?” you ask.

“i’m sorry,” he answers promptly.

“hm. better than that.”

he looks confused, but you know he’s desperate to follow because he’s quick to oblige. “i’m sorry i was such a brat to you and everyone else.”

“you were a brat. what do you think brats like you deserve?”

you feel him shiver. “punishment,” he answers meekly.

“that’s right.” you place your foot on his crotch, not paying any mind to how hard he is already. “what a shame you were so bad. you could’ve came today.” you take your foot off him and spread your legs apart. “get me nice and wet for your cock.”

“w-what?” he stammers, looking up at you all scandalized.

“i’m not in the mood to repeat myself.” with all the eagerness he’s ever had, yeonjun grips onto your thighs and dips his head beneath your skirt. he starts licking your cunt over your panties, tongue working adamantly against you like he’s scared to do it wrong or poorly.

you sigh, relaxing into the feeling. this is better stress relief than any amount of medicine could give you. maybe you’ll be resorting to this more often.

he wraps his lips around your clothed clit and sucks, then swipes his tongue across the swollen bud. he’s deeply focused on pleasuring you, repeating any little action that makes your legs twitch. you hate to admit it, but he’s getting you wet so fast.

“guess this is the only way to shut you up, huh?” you ask, and you feel him nod in response. “should i do this more then?”

“yes,” he pulls away to say, replacing his mouth with his fingers rubbing quickly against you. “do it as much as you want.”

“is the promise of pussy the only way you’ll—fuck, just like that—respect me?” his fingers run wildly over your clit, desperation oozing off of him.

“only yours. i’ll do anything for it.” he presses into your core, grinding his hand against you. “you’re so wet. please sit on my cock.”

you hum, wanting to say no and torture him more, but you can’t deny how bad you want to feel him inside you.

“sit on the chair and undo your pants,” you instruct. you slide off your panties as he does that.

you sit on his lap and give his dick a few quick jerks before aligning it with your entrance. he makes more noise than you do as you sink onto him, which would make you snicker if you weren’t so busy adjusting to his size.

“you moan like a bitch,” you hiss out as you finally take all of him in. you stay bottomed out for a minute, letting yourself get used to the stretch, grinding your hips every now and then to hear him whine.

“please move, i need more,” he says after a minute.

“don’t tell me what to do.” you start moving anyway—not because he begged you to, but because you’re getting needier for your orgasm. “this isn’t about you, brat.”

he keeps whining as you bounce on his dick, throwing his head back and dropping his mouth open. he sounds so much better when he’s moaning like a whore instead of bitching at everyone on earth.

you gasp when you feel his fingers on your clit, playing with the bud with endless need. even when he bites his lip, little noises keep spilling out of him, and a part of you is almost afraid that someone’s going to hear him.

“i’m close,” you say as you lean back a little, letting his dick hit a new spot inside of you. his eyes shine when he sees your body start twitching.

“i want you to cum so bad, please please give it to me!” his begging throws you ever the edge, biting your lip so you don’t make any sound. breathy little noises escape you instead, which yeonjun seems to like just as much.

you swat his hand away when it becomes too much, catching your breath while you ignore yeonjun’s twitching dick inside of you. yeonjun’s losing his patience, grabbing your hips needily.

“i need to cum too,” he says, brows upturned and almost looking pitiful. you enjoy the feeling of him inside you for a couple more seconds before getting up.

“isn’t that too bad,” you say. his jaw drops, and he goes speechless yet again. “don’t look so surprised. didn’t i tell you that you won’t be cumming today?”

the betrayal on his face suddenly makes this job worth every penny.

[cottonlemonade]

First Date

word count: 1251 || avg. reading time: 5 mins.

pairing: University AU!Tsukishima x chubby!Reader

genre: fluff

warnings: none

request: i have been giggling and squealing for the past 20 minutes over how cute and genius the request form is 😭 LIKE ITS SO SMART AND ADORABLE I HAD TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT. so anyways me and Tsukishima are getting 15 and 25 for breakfast, and then we'll go home to study! || fluffy, members of the same club, first date with crush Tsukki

Tsukishima never subscribed to the tradition of New Year's resolutions. In his mind, why bother setting unrealistic goals for oneself only to be disappointed? Whenever his friends and family asked, never learning their lesson, he would adjust his glasses and say, “Nothing.”, then silently add get saltier 2025. When he entered the gym for the first time after the winter break, however, he had to rethink. You were standing on a little stepladder, struggling to detach the last bit of Christmas decoration you had insisted on hanging on the walls before everyone went home for the holidays. Your chubby tummy looked even softer now bumping out your seasonal sweater.

“You know, if you can’t take them down by yourself, maybe you shouldn’t have put them up in the first place.”, he grumbled.

“Oh, hey, and a happy new year to you, Tsukki!”, you said brightly, turning to him and waving.

His heart did a little jump at the gesture.

Unfortunately, he had fallen for you pretty early on in your career as club manager when you bonded over your mutual hatred of overzealous people and loud obnoxious music played in department stores, and artificial watermelon flavor. He had since imagined you two walking across campus hand in hand, sharing more things to despise together. But in order to do that, he had to ask you out first. A hurdle he decided to take this year.

In his first draft of a date idea, he wanted to invite you out to dinner, but that was strongly vetoed by his wallet. Thus, a simple coffee would have to do for now. He shifted slightly, tapping the tip of his shoe on the floor to find an angle with which to direct the conversation where he needed it. Lucky for him, you did it yourself, although not in a way he hoped.

“Mikoshiba asked me out over Christmas, by the way.”

Tsukishima grimaced. He hated both the thought and the easy-going redhead, who all too much reminded him of the former Nekoma captain.

“Ah.”, he said, looking at a despicably jolly Santa bauble in the box sat on the top of the stepladder. An internal battle between wanting to ask for details and immediately smack-talking the other guy rose in his chest. Again, you made it easy for him.

“I didn’t go, though.”

“Hm. How come?”

You finally got the end of the garland off the wall, with no help from the tall boy, who could have grabbed it without effort.

He was met with a shrug.

“Not really my type. And he asked me out for coffee, which, I dunno, just feels pretty uninspired for a first date. I get that it’s a classic, but I wouldn’t mind some creativity.”, you hopped back onto the floor, “Plus, cafés around here are super overpriced.”

“Right.”

After trying your best to stuff the long prickly decoration into the box, you went to put it all away and, looking over your shoulder, you saw that he hadn’t moved from his spot next to the ladder where you left him.

You couldn’t quite put your finger on it, but something about him was off today. More so than usual. Box in your arms, you came to a halt in front of a closed door. You turned on your heel, tilting your head in question.

“Could you open the door to the supply closet, please?”, you asked sweetly, since there was no indication he would be coming to your aid. He seemed deep in thought.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Sure.”

It only took him three steps with those long legs to reach you. Before he pushed down the door handle, however, he said, “There is a limited New Year’s hot bun out at the convenience store.”

You blinked in confusion.

“Okay?”

“It’s one with sweet potato noodles and stuff. You like those.”

“I… I do. Thanks, I’ll check it out.”

The door remained closed, his hand still on the handle.

“There is a two-for-one sale.”, he went on after a pause.

You frowned, so completely lost as to the point of this conversation because it was obviously not informing you of a banging sale. “... Nice.”

He suppressed an impatient click of his tongue. This was going horribly, how dense could someone be?

“We can go together.”, he said.

“Alright…?”

“Like… today. I’m going there now anyway. I wouldn’t mind if you came along.”

“Uhm. Okay, yeah, I can do that.”

“Okay.”

“So are you gonna open this door any time soon or…”

“Right.”

Tsukki didn’t speak much with you as you headed to the convenience store. He pointed out a dog in a sweater for no reason at all and then went silent again. You still couldn’t figure out why he wanted you to come with him. Usually, he avoided any unnecessary social situation and in your opinion, this was as unnecessary as it got. You were roughly 94 percent sure he could handle getting the buns by himself.

“We should just eat here while we’re at it.”, he said as the glass doors slid open.

Maybe he had trouble with his roommate again and wanted to prolong going home, you speculated. In that case, you were pretty touched that he preferred your company over having none at all.

Food was gathered and warmed up and you took the two free seats at the small wooden table by the onigiri shelf. Watching you struggle to open a can of soda for a few seconds he took it from you with a surprisingly gentle, “Here. Let me.” then set it back down in front of you.

“Thanks.”

You ate in silence. Some current chart songs were coming from the overhead radio and you lightly bobbed your head along as you bit happily into the delicious hot bun. Tsukki placed a fried dumpling he had picked out as well on the plastic lid of your open container. “Try these. They’re good.”

“Famks.”, you mumbled through stuffed cheeks of sweet potato noodles and stuff, then eyed him suspiciously as you swallowed.

Either he was trying to discreetly poison you or, “Tsukki… is … is this a date?”

“What? No.”, he said quickly and lowered his head when the store clerk looked over.

“Oh okay. Just making sure.” You went back to the food, spearing the dumpling with your chopsticks but keeping an eye on him.

“If it were, it would be definitely more creative than a café though, right?”

You paused midair to your bite.

“So this is a date.”

“Yes. - No. I dunno. Don’t make it weird, okay?”

You slowly spun the dumpling around, studying Tsukki’s pink ear tips.

Never in a million years would you have guessed that this guy, who never had a nice word for anyone and less enthusiasm than a snail on a Sunday afternoon, could ever ask you out.

You considered him for a moment. He was pretty cute the way he avoided your gaze now. It was worth a try.

“Do you… like jazz?”

Tsukki squinted at you in disbelief.

“What’s wrong with you?”, he furrowed his brow but was unable to hide a relieved chuckle in there.

“Well, it was getting awkward so when in doubt, Bee Movie to the rescue.”, you laughed in your defense.

He finally cracked a proper smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Agh, okay, the next date is going to be better, I swear.”

You both nodded and grinned quietly at your dumplings, then continued to eat.

a/n: 🥺🥺🥺 dear anon, thank you so so much for that sweet message and I apologize about the delay! I hope you enjoyed this story nonetheless 🌟

Also borrowing Mikoshiba for this aka the only straight character from Free!

[yerimbrit]

10 hour flight : p. hanni

synopsis: you bump into a girl more than once at the airport. you learn that she's on the same flight as you, and to top it off, sits right next to you on the plane.

# pairing ! trainee!hanni pham x art student!reader

# tags ! fem!reader, slowburn...?, strangers to lovers, fluff, hanni's debuting soon, reader did some... insane shit in her past, but tbh she's not all that insane herself i swear, she's just reckless, hanni's afraid of flying, reader is '04, reader is a loser unfortunately

# wordcount ! 16k

# warnings ! lots of mentions of injuries/scars

today was probably one of the biggest days of your life.

you had just graduated from high school in australia in may about 2 months ago, getting into SNU's college of fine arts. you intended to pursue your passion in painting. ever since you were a baby, you've loved to have a hand in art — always scribbling colorful images on everything you could touch, from big pieces of scrap paper to the walls of the living room.

from a young age, you have won a significant amount of trophies and medals for your paintings entered in art competitions. your parents were highly supportive of your hobby, pouring months worth of paychecks into your art lessons and academy tuition fees.

although you were quite grateful, you thought they could be overbearing sometimes. that's why you chose to attend a school far away; to have a breath of fresh air, away from your overprotective mother and father. you could never relax and let loose like you wanted if they were worrying over every little move you made.

for example, the time your parents had left you alone in the house for the first time because they were going to a friend's wedding. they made an extensive list of things to do and not do, and of course, you used the 'not do' side as a checklist.

in your defense, you hadn't planned to have so many people over, just your friend group. but your friend chaeyoung knew a girl that knew another girl that knew a guy, and suddenly your house was hosting a massive party for the entire student-body. it was an honest mistake on your part, vowing to never host a party like that ever again, and sticking to stunts that you could do yourself for some healthy adrenaline.

obviously your parents weren't pleased when they returned, seeing the aftermath of the events taken place the day prior. you were given a big scolding, but you didn't let that stop you from attempting to wreak havoc the next time they were out.

now, family gatherings weren't your favorite. you couldn't get away with anything so long as someone older was watching you. they thought you were a demon. an artistic prodigy demon. they didn't understand how someone like you could be so good at something that was supposed to be so peaceful. you think you've matured enough though; it's been years since you've actually done something bad.

a few of your relatives stayed in seoul after your parents left for melbourne, including your idiot cousin hyein and her parents. it was decided that you were going to live with them, since you've already stayed there on previous visits.

speaking of hyein, it had been a while since you've seen her, last being christmas, which was a disaster. did you say it's been years since your last incident? well, you lied.

all the adults were out for something that you don't remember anything about, and you, being the troublemaker that you were, had convinced the younger girl to help you hang yourself from the ceiling right above the tree. your reasoning was that you'd "wanted to be the star for the night," and sweet little hyein agreed because why wouldn't she agree to her cool older cousin?

(you don't know where hyein got the harness and rope, or how hyein managed to wrap the rope around the beam on the ceiling that extended past the second floor, but the younger lee's eyes practically sparkled at the thought of accompanying you in one of your schemes, so you decided to ignore it.

hyein buckled the harness, tightening it as you squirmed against the restraints. she flashed a mischievous grin at you.

"ready?"

"i was born ready.")

both of you failed to realize that the rope you were using was extremely frayed at the ends and had definitely gone through years of wear-and-tear. it ended up snapping, and in the process, dropped you onto the christmas tree that had just been decorated that morning.

your relatives came home to you and hyein on the floor, wide-eyed, with wounds littering your face and arms from falling onto the tree.

needless to say, you and your little cousin were never allowed alone without supervision again.

on another note, you finally arrived at the airport!

your dad went around the car to open the trunk and started taking your luggage out. shortly after, you and your mom got out of the car and went to join your dad in getting your things.

"so, SNU huh? you're going too far, kid!" your dad chuckled, extending his hand for a handshake.

you gripped his hand firmly, feeling the roughness of his palm, and moving your hands up and down once.

you grinned. "i'll be back before you know it, dad."

you were about to let go until your dad brought you into a tight hug, leaving a kiss on top of your head.

"i know... it's just, we'll miss our star girl, you know?" he patted your back. "it'll be hard for this old man without his little girl around all the time."

you stared amusedly. "even though i always cause trouble when you're not looking?"

your dad let out a hearty laugh and ruffled your hair, much to your chagrin. you took this moment in, absorbing as much of it as you can so you could remember every detail. there were more wrinkles in his skin, and there were visible bags under his eyes. even though he's aged physically, you could tell in his laugh that he was still the same old dad that you've adored since you were little. (he was always the more spoiling parent between him and your mom.)

he stepped back, allowing your mother to rush in for a passionate embrace. you slowly felt your sweater getting damp as your mom sniffled into your shoulder.

"be sure to call when you land, okay? and eat on the flight, it's a long way there. also, the plane is cold so use that blanket i put in your backpack, and-"

you gave your mom a squeeze and briefly pulled away.

"i got it, mom. you told me all of this last night, remember? i even checked everything you said off before we left this morning so i wouldn't forget, so don't worry about me."

she managed a small smile and brought you back into the hug.

"let us know when you've arrived at hyein and her parent's house. and tell them we said hi and to take care of you."

you gleamed. "of course."

after making sure you had everything you needed, you gestured to your parents for a big group hug.

"i love you guys."

"ditto." your mom slapped your dad's shoulder, and you all laughed.

once you made it to the security checkpoint, you waved your parents one final goodbye, before the start of a long journey ahead.

"excuse me," you mumbled, narrowly avoiding bumping into others in the bustling crowd of the airport. there was a lot of people going back home after vacation, or going back to school or work after visiting home.

heaving a sigh of relief after making through the crowd, you took a moment to look around the area, a plethora of shops and restaurants standing before you. in doing so, you failed to realize you were still in public with thousands of people walking around you, and bumping shoulders with a girl.

"ah!" "ow!"

you widened your eyes as you turned to look at the person you just walked into, swiftly picking her bag up from the ground and handing it to her.

"oh my god, i'm so sorry. i wasn't paying attention," you said, bowing out of habit. the girl giggled. 'oh my god. she has the cutest laugh ever,' you thought to yourself, before looking up to see her face. 'oh my god. she's the cutest girl i've ever seen.'

"it's okay. at least we didn't fall over, right? are you hurt?"

snapping out of your daze (you were staring, and she definitely noticed, you think), you shook your head.

"no, i- i'm okay. are you?"

"mhm, i'm fine! don't worry about me."

you tried to muster out any words relating to asking the girl out, but when you opened your mouth she was already waving to you and turning around.

you cursed to yourself, frowning. "damn it, y/n. you can do all sorts of stupid stuff but you still can't even talk to a girl?"

for as long as you could remember, you've always been unlucky with the girls you talked to. for example, the girl you met at a music festival, who you went on a few dates with. she stopped talking to you after hearing about all the risky things you've done. or the girl who you were paired up with in your advanced painting class, who you almost dated. she cut things off with you because you were too much of a "genius" in art. you still thought that was an asshole move, because what does that even mean?

shaking your head, you forced yourself to stop thinking about your love life in ruins and instead started strolling around the spacious corridors of the airport. you made a mental note to buy something for hyein upon seeing the variety of gift shops lined up next to each other.

you sipped on your steaming cup of coffee, mindlessly scrolling on your phone to pass the time. your croissant laid half-eaten on the plate. the chatters of the people around you became white noise as you fell into the cycle of liking a post and scrolling down to the next one. if you zoned out enough, you could make out some of the conversations around you. you sighed.

'i miss mom and dad already...'

a bag being placed on the table interrupted your inner monologue before it could even start. startled, you looked up to see a girl. 'oh, a very pretty girl. wait, isn't this the girl from earlier?' you blink. 'shit! it's the girl from earlier!'

"excuse me, but could i take this seat?" she glanced around, then met your eyes. "there's, well. not exactly anywhere else to sit, ahaha..."

opening and closing your mouth, you wordlessly moved some of your things so she could set her cup down. she smiled at you, eyes crinkling up into slight crescents, and you think you've met the love of your life, judging by the way your heart thudded in your chest after seeing the human embodiment of an angel.

she took a sip of her drink. "thanks."

the atmosphere became suffocatingly awkward, and you nervously tried to redirect your gaze to anything but the pretty girl sitting in front of you. your attempts failed, unfortunately, because apparently trying not to look at someone is a lost cause, and your mind automatically filled with the brief memory of the stranger's laugh, smile, and face. giving up, you let your eyes find their way back to her face, surprised to see that she was already looking at you. you coughed.

"so," you started, "whEre-" 'what the hell. leave it up to me to have a voice crack while starting a conversation.' she giggled, and you bit your lip trying not to scream.

fiddling with the hem of your shirt, you cleared your throat and started again. "ahem. i um, meant to say... where, where are you headed to?"

she hummed, taking another sip of her drink. "korea. i'm... hoping to make music there. where are you going?"

you nodded. "music, huh... that sounds really cool," a look of realization dawned on your face, and your eyes widened. "wait, did you say korea?"

a questioning look appears on the girl's face, and she nodded. "yeah, korea. why?"

"i'm going to korea too! i got accepted to SNU's college of fine arts. i paint and stuff."

her mouth formed an "o" shape and she gave you an impressed look.

"that's impressive! it must've been stressful for you."

you grinned, taking a small bite of your almost-forgotten croissant. "it was. i almost lost hope, refreshing my email page over and over at night," you said, shaking your head. "by the way, what's your name?"

the girl looked startled, clearly not expecting the sudden question. the flash of surprise only lasted briefly, however, and she hastily cleared her throat to reply.

"hanni," she smiles, "hanni pham. what's yours?"

"y/n. lee y/n."

"well, y/n... it was really nice meeting you. maybe i'll see you in korea. you could design one of my album covers, haha."

you gulped, trying to ignore the burning heat rushing to your cheeks at the way your name rolled off her tongue. "oh! yeah. it was great talking with you, hanni. and if we do meet again... i'll do my best with the design."

she took her finished cup of whatever she ordered, and her bag, and waved to you with that angelic smile of hers as she walked away with her suitcase.

"nævis, calling-" as if right on cue, your phone's ringtone went off, the beat drop of aespa's next level playing at an extremely loud and embarrassing volume. you sheepishly mouthed sorry to the people around you, who were staring because of the noise, and picked up the call.

you cleared your throat, lowering your voice. "hello?"

the excited voice of hyein rang out into your ear, "unnie! y/n unnie!"

you winced and moved the phone speaker slightly further away from your ear.

"hi, hyein. what's up?"

you heard some shuffling around, and what seemed to be like your aunt's voice scolding hyein for yelling.

"hello y/n, sorry about hyein, she's really excited to have you here soon."

you subconsciously smiled at the thought of your little cousin counting down the days until your arrival. "don't worry about it, auntie. did you need something?"

there was some whining from hyein in the background, and your aunt sternly called her name, effectively shutting her up. "nothing, nothing. just wanted to check in with you. you're at the airport now, yes?"

you nodded, even though she couldn't see you. "yeah, i am. i got some coffee at a cafe and i'm about to head to the gate. by the way, did you guys want anything for the last time in a while? the chocolates at the gift shops are always good, i know you and uncle like them."

there's a thud, and you blinked at the silence that followed. you waited, checking your phone to see if the call was still connected, and raising an eyebrow when hyein's voice finally crackled out into the microphone.

"haah... haaaah... finally..."

"hyein?"

"i want a kangaroo keychain! the cute plush ones!" you once again pulled the phone speaker away from your ear when she yelled again.

'aren't those really expensive?' you thought, slightly grimacing at the thought of your soon-to-be empty wallet. 'oh well.'

you laughed as you pressed the phone to your ear to speak again. "okay, okay. anything else?"

"get two. i wanna match with you, unnie!" by now your wallet was really crying. 'the things i do for you, hyein.'

"alright... well, i have to get to the gate now. i'll see you later? say bye to auntie for me," you told hyein, finishing your pastry and cleaning up your table before getting up from your seat.

"okay! bye unnie!" and the call dropped. you sighed, shaking your head while smiling, and started making your way towards your gate.

(you held the small keychains in your hand. they were the size of your palm, and you turned it around to check the price tag.

"holy shit, 15 dollars for this tiny thing?!"

"it's for hyein, she wants to match. it's for hyein, it's for hyein, it's for hyein...")

"hanni?"

"y/n?"

well, that was sooner than you thought. as soon as you made it to the seating area, you spotted a familiar face: the pretty girl named hanni that you bumped into earlier. before, you couldn't start a conversation with her without stuttering and stammering, but the feeling of your lighter wallet must've left you more easygoing after mourning your diminished funds on the way to the gate. (you were at least glad you could make hyein happy.)

she gestured to the seat next to her, her bag occupying it moments prior. grateful, you thanked her, and moved to sit, setting your suitcase in front of you. just as you started to relax, hanni gently tapped your shoulder, nearly making you jump.

"fancy seeing you here?" she said, her grin accompanied by a lighthearted tone.

you breathed a sigh of relief. her lopsided smile sent waves of comfort through you, allowing you to ease into the moment.

"yeah, what are the chances? we're on the same flight," you remarked, a small grin settling on your face as well—hanni's smile was very contagious when you weren't distracted by her beauty, you noted.

hanni nodded, grin widening. "seems like the universe has its plans. maybe it's fate?" she quipped.

"haha, maybe."

a moment of silence passed, and you both burst into a fit of giggles.

you never believed in fate, despite your friends talking your ear off about it. whenever they asked for your input, you brushed it off as a silly superstition. comes with messing around doing stunts all the time, you supposed. after all, you were unpredictable, and so was the world. the thought of your future being predetermined made you shudder.

wanting to continue the conversation, you racked your brain for anything she told you earlier. what was it she was doing... ah, music!

you cleared your throat, bringing hanni out of a daze. she turned her attention to you, eyebrows raised.

"you're doing music, right?" she nodded, "yeah, i've already signed with a company and all."

"really? which company?"

she hummed thoughtfully, and pursed her lips. "sorry, i'm not allowed to tell."

"ah, that's okay," you said, scratching your neck. "do you play an instrument? or do you sing?"

"i do both, actually!" she said with a smile, her voice warming. "but i'm focusing on singing. what about you? you do art, right?"

you perked up at the mention of art. "yes, i do, i love painting," you said, eyes brightening.

"actually, there was this time where i tried to smash my head through the canvas for a project- hey, don't laugh, let me finish! i tried to make it so that the end product would be my face, with action lines outside the rip marks, but the canvas broke in half, and i ended up with a ton of scratches on my face..."

the two of you continued to chatter away, the conversation flowing effortlessly between you. your surroundings became a blur as you lost yourselves in the moment, unaware of anything happening outside of your bubble of conversation.

you suddenly remembered that you were waiting for a flight, and frowned. "hey, don't you think it's been a while since they've said anything? it's close to boarding ti-"

the calm voice of a flight attendant interrupted your question.

"attention all passengers going from melbourne to incheon: there's been some technical difficulties, and we are disappointed to inform you that your flight will be delayed. departure time will be pushed back by approximately one hour. thank you."

as murmurs spread through the gate and disappointed voices filled the air, you felt a sense of frustration wash over you. fishing your phone out of your pocket, you quickly sent a text to your aunt about the delay, your irritation evident in your furrowed brow.

hanni puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "ugh, unlucky."

you nodded in agreement, a sigh escaping your lips. "yeah, it's frustrating. now we're gonna be there even later in the night," you replied, your gaze shifting from your phone to meet hanni's disappointed eyes.

"i guess there's nothing we can do about it now."

"yeah, i guess so."

hanni always thought she led an honest life, steering out of trouble and focusing on her passion for music. she made sure to feed the dogs, keep up with her studies, help her mom cook, and get along with her younger sister. she had a lot of friends, and she was in a dance cover group with some of them too. she played the ukulele, guitar, and piano, and she sang as well.

then she auditioned for hybe, and passed. her family was proud of her, and she left to korea for training shortly after. she missed home a lot. like waking up to milly and mia's excited barks for breakfast, or bickering with her sister in the car on the way home from shopping, or having family bonding time during dinner.

love was the last thing on her mind when she started training. sure, she's had some crushes here and there, but she's never pursued any of them. that was all there was to it; just a silly crush. when she became a trainee, any thoughts of crushes in hanni's mind were pushed aside for dancing and singing lessons, as well as korean classes.

but after your fateful encounter (or, well, encounters) at the airport, hanni thought she could forget about coming back to training for at least one day.

from the moment she saw you, hanni pham was dazzled. when you bumped into her, you immediately apologized, and even picked up her bag for her. when you finally looked at her, and she could see your face, hanni almost screamed. you were so, so, beautiful. and she had to make her leave before she actually screamed.

then hanni saw you again at a random airport cafe, and everything clicked. lady luck must've finally looked on her side this time, because there were clearly open tables all around you, but you still let her sit with you. with that, she let the conversation flow between the two of you.

by the end of your second encounter, hanni must've thought her luck ran out by now and left with an open offer, knowing you would never see her again after she left.

and then you finally reunited at the gate. well, if hanni thought her luck ran out at the cafe, then it had definitely run out now. there was absolutely no way she could get any luckier than being on the same flight as you.

was it bad she's started to develop a crush on you?

there was a thump next to her, and hanni felt an added weight fall on her shoulder. she turned to see if you dropped something, but it seemed that your head dropped on her shoulder, having fallen asleep. your head. on her shoulder. you fell asleep on her shoulder.

hanni's face was bright red at the realization. you fell asleep! on her shoulder! her body immediately tensed, instinctively trying to get you off, but gave up after you only shifted closer to her. and well, she didn't want to interrupt your sleep, since you seemed exhausted just moments ago.

she couldn't help but think your sleeping face was beautiful too.

"attention all passengers going from melbourne to incheon: apologies for the wait. boarding will begin in 15 minutes. thank you."

the announcement jolted you awake, and you sleepily rubbed your eyes and lifted your head from where you were leaning it on, stretching your neck to hear a few satisfying cracks.

"did you sleep well? you just suddenly passed out; i was worried," a soft voice asked.

you tried to blink out more of the sleep out of your eyes and focus on the voice next to you, finally seeing hanni's concerned expression.

clearing your throat, which was hoarse from your nap, you offered her a sheepish smile. "yeah, i slept well. i was so anxious last night that i went to sleep really late, that's probably why. sorry about that."

hanni nodded. "no worries! going away from home is scary, i agree."

you tried to reach for your phone, only to look down and see hanni's jacket draped over you. 'huh?' you thought. 'wait, come to think of it, what was i sleeping on?'

you shot a glance over to hanni, who tilted her head. you squinted your eyes, trying to connect the dots. then, it hit you like a pile of bricks: you fell asleep on hanni's shoulder. your cheeks dusted pink in embarrassment, and you cringed at even the thought of it.

'god, that's embarrassing!' you thought, feeling a sense of mortification burning in your chest. 'she even used her jacket as a blanket for me, and she asked if i was okay when i woke up...'

"oh my god, i'm so sorry!" you blurted out, the words tumbling out of you in a rush. "i really didn't mean to fall asleep on you, i mean i didn't even realize i was falling asleep, but-"

hanni giggled, the pleasant sound resounding through your ears.

"it's okay, y/n. i don't mind."

'ah... it's almost like an angel got sent down from earth.'

despite you intruding on her personal space, hanni was still so kind and considerate to you, even though you only met each other a couple hours ago. a heavy blush overtook your face.

"here's your jacket back, at least," you offered, a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment showing in your tone.

she shook her head, waving her hands. "oh no, you can keep it on. you must be cold in only that sweater."

you opened your mouth to protest, but ended up just smiling.

was it too soon to say you liked her?

the flight attendant walked up and down the aisle, checking for everyone's seatbelts. you and hanni sat comfortably towards the front of the plane, flashing friendly smiles at each other.

you and hanni sitting next to each other? what? wait, let's rewind. how did you find yourself sitting next to hanni, the girl of your dreams who you were talking to at the gate, and at the cafe, and outside of the security checkpoint?

well, the two of you were in the same boarding group. and taking a look at your tickets, you were actually seated right next to each other.

funny how fate plays out, huh.

it seemed like hanni was thinking the same thing, because she started giggling, nudging your shoulder.

"it's funny how fate plays out, huh?"

"absolutely," you replied with a grin, matching hanni's playful tone. "seems like fate has quite the sense of humor, doesn't it?"

hanni giggled again, her laughter echoing softly in the aisle.

"definitely," she agreed, a hint of amusement sparkling in her eyes. "who knew our paths would cross like this? and especially so many times in a day?"

as the flight attendants made their final rounds, you relaxed in your seat and turned to observe hanni, who was looking out the window. her gaze wandered, from the people on the ground crew to other planes preparing for takeoff. you noticed her shiver, and quickly took her jacket off from your shoulders and draped it over both of your laps.

surprised, she looked over to you with raised eyebrows, then smiling at you, mouthing a 'thanks'. she turned her attention back to the window.

you directed your gaze to your lap, leaning back in your seat. your seatbelt kept you from slouching back. you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, and you unlocked it to see a text from hyein.

from: mom's favorite child (🐣) UNNIE!!!!!! 😚😚 what do u want for dinner moms asking also did u get the keychains 😈

you laughed to yourself, typing in your response. you purposely waited between each message sent, to tease her; hyein always hated when you did that.

to: mom's favorite child (🐣) hi hyein 🤓 i want kimchi jjigae!! also [attachment: 1 image] yes i did

you almost drooled at the thought of your aunt's kimchi-jjigae. the first time you had it, you were hooked. no matter how many times your mom tried to recreate her sister's cooking, it never hit the same as when you'd stay at hyein's house for the holidays and wake up to the smell of your favorite dish in the morning.

from: mom's favorite child (🐣) got it o7 (replied to [attachment: 1 image]) ↪ AHH THEYRE SO CUTE OMGOMG (replied to "hi hyein 🤓") ↪ who are you calling a nerd.

giggling to yourself, you decided to leave hyein on read, swiping out of her contact after reacting to her text confirming your request with a heart.

the jets of the plane fired up, starting to taxi down the runway, and you pocketed your phone and joined hanni in looking out the window.

"have you flown here before?" she asked, keeping her gaze outside.

you hummed, thinking back to your very eventful past visits to your aunt's place for vacation.

"yeah. i have family here, that's where i'm staying for college." you said. "i've gone over a bunch of times for the holidays."

the girl next to you stayed quiet, still staring outside. the plane started to tilt up, and you could see hanni bite her lip. as the aircraft gained elevation, going higher and higher, her eyes grew shut and her face scrunched up.

then her hand flew to yours, clasping yours with an almost crushing grip, eliciting a slight wince from you.

"hanni...?"

her eyes remained tightly shut as she stuttered out a response. "so-sorry! i'm a bit... afraid. of- of planes."

you felt the plane make a sharp tilt to the right, and the left, and hanni's grip only intensified.

"no matter how many times, i- i fly... it doesn't seem to get any better... i'm sorry," she mumbled. if you weren't craning your head to listen, you wouldn't have caught half of what she was saying, considering she was trying to focus on containing her fear.

her hold on you loosened, almost as if she was ashamed, but you only responded by firmly squeezing her hand back. if she's scared, then you should comfort her, right? it's only the right thing to do.

the action caused her to whip her head towards you, her gaze darting between your hand tightly grasping hers and your face. this went on for a few seconds, your concern for the girl growing as the moment stretched on. you watched her closely, noticing the furrow in her brow and the tension in her soft features.

when she finally stopped at your face, you offered her a comforting smile. she blinked a few times, widening her eyes, and reciprocating the gesture.

the plane started to stabilize in the air, letting hanni's anxiety simmer down while you rubbed soothing circles into her palm. it seemed to help, since her shoulders visibly relaxed as she took deep breaths, flashing a grateful smile to you. despite the plane now flying steadily, you never let go of her hand, continuing to offer a sense of solace in case the girl's anxiety spiked.

after around 10 minutes (you didn't really know, your watch was in your bag and you still hadn't let go of hanni's hand) a flight attendant started making her first round down the aisle for drinks and biscuits. as she reached your row, her cheeks raised up in a cooing smile, her gaze clearly lingering on you and hanni's now-intertwined hands.

"aren't you two just the cutest couple," she remarked, her smile widening.

hanni's cheeks flushed, and she quickly shook her head, stammering, "oh, no, i'm, we're not-"

before she could deny the attendant's assumptions, though, you swiftly interjected, flashing a grateful smile to the attendant. "thank you. we'll have a cup of water," you glanced at hanni, thinking for a moment, "and some hot tea."

the attendant gladly poured your refreshments, sending you a "hwaiting!" gesture before moving on to the next row.

"i'm so sorry," you turned to hanni, releasing her hand. a wave of disappointment hit you at the loss of hanni's warmth. she seemed to share the feeling, although you didn't notice.

"it's fine. it would've been embarrassing for all three of us, anyway."

"yeah..."

the two of you turned away from each other, blushes overtaking your features.

'the thought of dating her doesn't seem so bad.'

it had been about an hour and a half since takeoff. you texted some of your friends, who checked in on you frequently, asking things like 'are you dead' or 'did the plane crash yet', to which you replied 'not yet sadly' or something similar. you were doodling random cats in your notes app in between texts.

to your left, hanni had pulled out a book, seeming invested in the pages filled with words of plot. she was almost at the end, you noticed—there were only a few pages left.

a few more minutes passed, and the girl closed the book with a content sigh. after tucking the book safely into her carry-on bag, she peeked around her, her eyes landing on you, scanning your features.

"hey, how'd you get this scar on your cheek?"

you felt a poke on your upper cheekbone, hanni's finger pressing lightly on the tender patch of skin. you brought your hand up to your face to touch the already fading scar, and tried to remember which incident it was from.

"i think it's from when i jumped out one of the school windows," you answered, turning to look at hanni.

"oh," she replied, then raised her eyebrow. "wait, what? you jumped out the window?"

you scratched your neck, feeling embarrassed. 'she's definitely gonna be scared away after i tell her,' you thought ruefully. glancing over to hanni, you quickly realized you weren't going to get away with not telling her the backstory of the scar.

you sighed. "it's not that interesting, i mean..."

the girl beside you watched with expectant eyes, eagerly awaiting your next words. you pondered, wondering if you should really tell her.

"i set off some firecrackers on the school roof, and they found out it was me not even five minutes later," you explained, "i sped down the stairs and hid in some cleaning closet. but they somehow knew i was in there, so i had to jump out the window and run home before they caught me."

a few beats of silence followed, your self consciousness catching up to you as the tip of your ears flushed bright red. when you sneaked a glance to your left, you saw hanni's mouth agape.

"wow," she blinked. "that's insane."

"i know."

you rubbed your elbow, fidgeting with the fabric of your sleeve. 'she's definitely weirded out. see, y/n, this is why girls never-'

"but you're okay, right?"

'huh?' you thought to yourself, then facing hanni. she had a worried smile on her face, head tilted to the side. your cheeks burned. you couldn't win against pretty girls.

"oh. yeah, i am. i just landed in a bush, and a branch scratched me."

she nodded, scanning your features. aside from the one on your cheek, there were a few other minor scars on your face, from similar events, although those were more hidden. there were a lot of them around your body too, from burn marks to scratches and cuts.

"what's this one from, then?" she pointed under your ear, where a small scar from a healed cut laid.

"this one? it's kind of recent. i was trying to make an outline of myself with throwing darts, but my friend had terrible aim. it grazed my neck."

hanni winced, cringing as she imagined how that felt for you. "yikes."

she thought for a moment, a memory resurfacing at the mention of darts.

"that reminds me, there was a time me and my friends were playing darts, but we all kept missing the board," she smiled, reminiscing on the past moment. "we hit everything in the house but the dartboard."

you smiled as well, finding humor in the similarities between you and hanni's experiences. well, except for the fact that your friend was supposed to miss you, the target.

"what did your parents say?" you asked, genuinely curious. your parents usually restricted your actions, like not letting you go out after school or supervising your purchases, but ultimately let you off the hook in the end. you thanked them for that mentally, albeit feeling a tad guilty for being spoiled.

she tapped her chin. "they just scolded us and told us not to do it again. and we had to clean up our mess—there were a bunch of darts on the ground, and things that fell because of the darts."

you laughed, finding her memory relatable. there were countless times you were made to clean up your messes, although you didn't exactly learn from your "mistakes." (you considered them "happy accidents," as bob ross said. alas, your peers, relatives, and teachers alike, disagreed.)

"how did your parents react to your injuries?" hanni questioned, her expression softening.

"well..."

you and hanni started getting to know each other better, warm and lively conversation filling the air. you learned that she was raised in melbourne, and that both of her parents were vietnamese. she had two dogs and a younger sister, and she played a variety of instruments.

you told her about some other incidents, to which she was amused by, and touched lightly on the awards you've received for your paintings.

topics shifted constantly, the two of you seeming not to run out of things to talk about. with debates on something as trivial as which juice flavor was better, more memories from your childhood came flooding back, the two of you sharing your experiences and bonding over them.

'this is nice,' you thought, a glimmer of hope rising. 'maybe, things will go well this time.'

from: 🆕👖 (soon) meanjee 🐻 hanni are you on the plane? kitty kang 😾 did you bring the tim tams dani ☀ omg did you get tim tams for us 🥺🥺 you yes dw i also made a friend meanjee 🐻 who dont lie 🤣😂 you excuse me her names y/n shes an artist guys shes so cute 😭 we kept bumping into each other and guess what kitty kang 😾 you tripped over yourself? dani ☀ you asked her out!? you (replied to kitty kang 😾: you tripped...) ↪ do you want the tim tams or not kitty kang. (replied to dani ☀: you asked her...) ↪ NO we just met but i was TRYING to say that we bumped into each other accidentally like 3 times and we're on the same flight and sit next to each other dani ☀ it's destiny!! meanjee 🐻 i never thought i'd see the day hanni having luck in girls 💀 you WOW im js gna ignore that. remember my fear of flying? she held my hand the whole time bc she saw i was scared :(( shes js so AUGH :] i think she likes me too kitty kang 😾 she has more game than you im glad she could comfort you though dani ☀ AWW that's so cute you two are so cute i wanna meet her! you maybe if things go well with her hyeinie THE BEST MAKN😎E hiii whats going on (replied to you: excuse me her names...) ↪ wait did u say y/n?? you yeah why? hyeinie THE BEST MAKN😎E um actually its nothing i have to help mom with cooking bye unnies!! you ???

hanni stared at your hand, which was holding out an earbud, in confusion. she tilted her head.

"ah, sorry. do you want to listen to something with me? you can choose the song," you smiled, showing your phone screen which displayed the spotify search menu. (you made sure that it stayed on the search bar and not showing one of your many embarrassing playlist names.)

her eyebrows raised, a flicker of curiosity in her eyes as she processed your words. you swallowed nervously, about to retract your hand until she took the earbud from your hold, her hands brushing against yours briefly.

"sure," she agreed, then reaching for the device from your other, outstretched palm. "do you like daniel caesar?"

your bangs fell over your face as you nodded eagerly, blocking your vision. you moved to tuck your hair behind your ear, though hanni beat you to it, her cold hands contrasting with your now-burning-red ears.

hanni cleared her throat with a quiet cough, breaking into a smile shortly after. the two of you listened to the melody of the song that was being played into your shared earbuds, hanni occasionally humming along.

"and i'd love to make you mine," she softly sang, her gentle voice filling your ears. she sounded like cotton candy, so sweet, like honey drizzled over warm toast on a sunny afternoon. each word that she sang sent you into bliss, arrows of cupid piercing your heart. 'maybe,' you thought, 'just maybe. i'll ask her out on a date by the end of this flight.'

the last few seconds of the song faded out and started playing whatever was recommended by your spotify (which was a wave to earth song) but you couldn't pay attention as you found yourself replaying hanni's singing in your head.

noticing your furrowed eyebrows and your dazed look, hanni nudged your shoulder. "sorry, was i too loud? i tend to sing along sometimes; it's always been a habit of mine."

you widened your eyes, shaking your head no. "no, you're fine! i think your singing is quite nice, actually. you have," you blushed, "a very pretty voice."

her cheeks lifted into a closed smile, sending a flutter through your chest. you took a few deep breaths, trying to calm your thumping heart. at least you didn't panic at everything she did, unlike the past 10? 20? times she did so much as smile.

"thank you," she giggled, leaning her head on yours. deep breaths were not going to help in your situation, since it seemed to get even worse for your heart every time. instead, you focused on the song playing in your ear, and the rise and fall of hanni's chest. it wasn't too long after the next song started when you started hearing small snores next to you.

'ah,' you thought. 'she must've been tired.'

moving her head to sit more comfortably on your shoulder, you brushed her bangs out of her face, unconsciously smiling at how peaceful she looked asleep. you adjusted the jacket that was laid over both of your laps to cover more of her legs instead of yours, slightly shivering as you instantly felt the cold from the cabin aircon replacing the warmth from hanni’s fleece jacket.

‘oh, well.’

you rested your head on top of hers, sarah kang’s once in a moon quietly playing into your shared earbuds, and you let yourself slowly drift off to join hanni in dreamland.

"mmph..."

you groaned as you rubbed your eyes sleepily. your neck was stiff, your shoulder was sore, and you had 12 different cramps in your legs from your uncomfortable position in the airplane seat.

hanni shifted on your shoulder, and you panicked, thinking you might've woken her up from your stretching. thankfully, her soft snores continued after a few moments.

you sighed in relief. you would've felt insanely guilty if you ended up waking her.

stretching your shoulders back, (though still careful not to wake the sleeping girl leaning on you) you reached into your backpack under the seat in front of you, and pulled out your sketchbook.

the thing itself was around a year old. over that year, you'd nearly filled it to the brim with dozens of drawings, including ones you drew on buses, trains, at parks, in history class, on your bed, everywhere. similarly, you kept a sketchbook for each year prior to the one currently in your hand. it was almost time to retire this one; you only had about 3 pages left.

taking a small pen out from your wallet, you pressed the fine tip to the smooth beige paper, soon letting your arm move freely across the page, sketching things you could see around you—the overhead aircon, someone's paper cup of water from the recent beverage round sitting on their tray table, and...

you looked to hanni, then back to your sketchbook. you'd subconsciously started drawing hanni while looking around your surroundings (or, lack thereof). although it was quite difficult to get a decent look of her features as a whole, you managed to sketch out the way her bangs framed her face, the curve of her eyelashes, and her mouth slightly ajar.

the people around you must've thought you were crazy watching you try to lean forward to look at hanni, while also trying to keep your movements minimal as to not wake her. but that was okay. people back home already saw you as crazy when you did anything, especially after the wheelie incident, which you didn't want to think about.

after finishing the initial sketch, your hand appeared to have a mind of its own, because it moved to the next page over and started doodling more of hanni. you squinted your eyes, trying to remember what she looked like when she bumped into you, when she sat across from you at the cafe, and when she was sipping from the cup of tea you called for her a few hours ago.

the page was filled with hanni's face in the blink of an eye. you didn't know how it happened, but it would be really embarrassing if said girl woke up and saw this right now.

"mmm..."

...why didn't anything go your way?

you flipped back to the page full of doodles of the cabin before she could see anything, covering the page with your sleeve. you tensed your shoulders in nervousness, quietly clearing your throat.

"sleep well, hanni?"

hanni's lips upturned into a sleepy smile (you screamed a little mentally at her cuteness) and she nodded, giving you a thumbs up.

"thanks for letting me use you as a pillow," she said, rubbing your numb shoulder.

you laughed to yourself, mostly because you couldn't feel your shoulder as hanni touched it. "it's no problem. i wasn't going to let you have neck cramps from leaning on the wall."

she nodded again, stretching out her muscles and letting out a big yawn. her eyes shifted back towards you and down at your lap, where you placed your sketchbook.

"what's that?"

a bead of cold sweat rolled down your forehead, and you gulped. what if she was creeped out at your drawings of her? then, your mind wandered to the moments you shared just earlier, and you thought, 'there's no way hanni would act like that.'

you shyly uncovered the page, passing the book to the girl, watching intently as she pored over the details that you'd meticulously drawn. her mouth gaped in astonishment, in awe of your ability to capture the scene around you.

she turned her head towards you, eyes sparkling. "this is amazing, y/n!"

you bashfully scratched your neck, giving her a sheepish smile.

"it's nothing, really," you tried to say, but her attention was already on the next page.

"this is... me?"

crap.

"um, yeah. it is. there's not much to see from our seats, so i ended up drawing mostly you," you tried to defend, hoping she wouldn't take your actions badly. "you're also, very," you cleared your throat, blushing, "pretty. very... pretty, yeah."

she grinned, cheeks dusted pink, and trailed her hand down the page, tracing over the soft features—her features—that you'd effortlessly drawn as she slept.

"can i keep it?" she asked, looking into your eyes for approval.

shrinking back from the unexpected eye contact, you gulped and nodded. you were thinking about giving it to her anyway.

"yes. i'd love to give it to you, as something to remember me by, haha."

after you finished your sentence, you gently grabbed the sketchbook from hanni's already offering hands, and left your signature on it. the ripping sound of the book hummed as you removed the page from the confines of the spiral spine, handing it to your seatmate.

her grin grew wider as she accepted the paper. "thank you so much, seriously. this is so cool!"

"it's no problem," you laughed, tipping your invisible hat to her.

the flight intercom beeped.

"hello, this is your pilot speaking. we have arrived in incheon, local time is 10:42 pm. please make sure your seatbelt is secured and your seat trays and window blinds are up, and also unplug any devices you may have. enjoy your stay in korea and have a good night."

hanni, who just tucked your drawing into her bag, looked over to you with surprised eyes. "it's the end already? i swear we've just been here for like, 3 hours."

you were shocked too, your eyebrows raised. "i know, right? but i guess we did spend a lot of it sleeping."

"yeah, you're right," she giggled.

you took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. "it was, um... really nice getting to know you. i know it was weird seeing each other so much in a day by chance," you said, "and uh, if you'd like, we could, um, go out on a date sometime?"

a scarlet blush overtook your face, and you think the people behind and in front of you must've heard you say that because you heard a gasp or two from your surroundings.

hanni's face was terribly red as well, and it made you feel a little better knowing you weren't having one-sided feelings.

"o-okay. deal."

the rest of the time spent after that was a blur to you, and it took you until you sat down on hyein's living room couch that you forgot to give hanni your number.

holy shit, y/n. you asked a girl out on a date. and after spending basically the whole day together, you forgot to exchange contact info with her? this was on a whole new level of sick and twisted, even for you.

"we're home!" a gruff voice called, followed by the sound of the heavy door closing, and the sound of excited footsteps followed, rushing in your direction.

a minute later, you got tackled by a very hyper hyein.

"unnie! unnie, you're here!"

her hold on you was incredibly tight. you don't think you could squeeze out even if you wanted to. nonetheless, you returned the embrace, patting her on the back and nuzzling your nose into her messy hair.

"hey, hyeinie. i missed you," you murmured, moving your hand up to card through her dark brown locks.

your younger cousin's eyes sparkled, and she broke out into a huge grin. you felt yourself being squeezed even tighter, before you coughed and wheezed out, "can't- breathe."

your uncle gently separated hyein from you, and you stood up so you could bow and give him a hug.

"welcome back, y/n!" he laughed, giving you a rough slap on the back which made you stumble a little.

your uncle was a warmhearted man, much like your father, even though they weren't blood-related. you didn't exactly know what he worked as, but he was always dressed to the nines whenever he went out, regardless of the occasion.

"i'm glad to be back. i'll be staying for a while, too," you added.

turning and smiling at hyein, you ruffled her hair, making her stand up and do it back to you. thankfully, you dodged in time. wait, did you shrink? or...

"hyein, you got taller again!" you exclaimed. last christmas, she was at about your height; a little above average, a solid 5'6. but looking at her now, she was probably around 5'7, almost as tall as her dad.

the younger girl blinked, staring wide-eyed at you. she slid her hand from the top of her head to the empty space above yours. being honest, the difference wasn't all that much, but your brow twitched at having to even slightly flicker your eyes up to make eye contact.

"did i?"

this was starting to irk you. you knew that hyein just realized this was something she could hold against you, and that was the last thing you wanted to happen.

defeatedly, you sighed.

"dinner is ready!" your aunt called from the kitchen. your eyes lit up as the scent of your favorite kimchi-jjigae wafted through the air. bless your aunt's soul.

you slowly turned to your cousin, a glint in your eye.

"last one there is a rotten egg."

and then, chaos.

"y/n, you haven't been here in a while. now that you're here to stay, would you like to do anything in korea?"

you adjusted the bandaid on your knee, and hissed as hyein pressed on the bruise just below it. of course, you hurt yourself while trying to race the younger lee to the dining room.

snapping your eyes to your aunt, who was setting the pot of stew in the middle of the dining table, you tried to think of something you've never had a chance to do. but you've been to korea countless times before, and you'd always gotten to do something new. it'd been around a year since you last came, since your relatives came to you for christmas 7 months ago.

"i guess... just walking around like a local? going to a café, walking around the city. and..." you bit your lip, struggling to remember the name of the theme park that was so famous.

"oh!" you snapped your fingers, "lotte world!"

hyein's hand twitched. one glance at her, and you could see that she was practically buzzing with excitement. she looked as if she was about to bounce off the walls like a pinball. you pinched her arm, causing her to yelp.

"lotte world! that sounds fun," your uncle commented, "i wish i could join. work's been busy lately."

your aunt laughed, "me too! but y/n," she shot you a stern look, "don't go causing trouble for people. i don't want to see you on the news for the wrong reasons."

'that's very encouraging and totally non-threatening!' you shivered. still, her words only tempted you. knowing you, it wouldn't be long into the school year before you were a known figure on campus.

portions of the stew were distributed to everyone's bowl, and you licked your lips. you didn't have anything on the plane, since you'd slept through most of it and missed the in-flight meal.

"thank you for the food," you said, before bringing a spoonful of the stew to your lips.

with that single bite, you think you've ascended to heaven and above. you wolfed down the rest of the food, eating like you hadn't eaten in a week (which you felt like you didn't) and before you knew it, you'd finished your dinner. seeing this, hyein also tried to finish her food quickly, but was stopped by your aunt.

taking a few swigs of water, you looked to your aunt, who watched you in bewilderment. "auntie, that was so good. seriously, that was soooo good. can i have seconds?"

everyone at the table broke out into a fit of laughter.

"of course, y/n."

as dinner went on, and you caught up with hyein and her parents, everyone had finished their serving, and you, your third serving. you tried to help your aunt with the dishes, but she just shooed you away to you and hyein's shared room.

despite already having been in the bedroom to drop off your luggage, you let your cousin lead you to it. it was very spacious, having enough room to hold a sizable tv that you could watch netflix on from the bed, and enough room to walk around comfortably. hyein's desk was messy, as always. it was filled with school papers, colored pencils and highlighters, and a book you got her the last time you visited.

speaking of the bed, it had been replaced by a very charming bunk bed, complete with fluffy white comforters and a surprisingly stable ladder. you already claimed the bottom bunk as yours, your phone laying on the plush pillow.

"tada!" hyein presented to you, doing jazz hands towards the bed. "i know you've already seen it, but try laying in it! it's pretty comfy for a bunk bed."

following her suggestion, you went ahead and sat yourself on the bed, immediately sighing in content. moving your phone so you could lay down, you swung your legs over the bedframe so you could soak in the comforting feeling of the bed. the mattress was fairly soft, perfect for your strange sleeping positions. you flashed an upraised thumb to hyein, who grinned triumphantly.

she puffed up her cheeks. "see?"

"i do see, hyeinie," you said, reaching for your backpack, "before i forget..."

the younger lee gasped at the sight of the matching kangeroo plush keychains, even though she'd already seen them over text. one was purple, her favorite color, and the other, blue. attached to their hands were small magnets, which would allow them to connect together.

she squealed, holding the purple one to her chest. "they're so cute! i love it, thank you y/n-unnie."

you were, once again, brought into a soul-crushing hug. 'at least hyein is happy.'

10 minutes later and you and hyein were now wrapped up in a fiery race of mario kart. you had successfully hooked up your switch to the tv just a bit ago, and of course you had to compete with her in your shared favorite game. it was a tradition for the two of you to play through at least two rounds of the grand prix mode, usually playing for the special cup for one of the rounds.

a hand covered your field of vision, and you batted it away, groaning at your little cousin. "stop, i was winning!"

she cheekily stuck out her tongue, swiftly overtaking you in the race. you cursed whoever picked the mushroom cup (you did) because the piranha plants in sweet sweet canyon were beating your ass, and your rank just kept dropping after hyein rudely interrupted your groove with her hand.

"ahhh..." you sighed as a bot passed you on the second lap. setting the cpu level at the maximum was a mistake. hastily, you collected the power up block, your eyes lighting up seeing the formidable blue shell on the dice roll. spotting the shortcut, you performed a sharp-angled drift that you were only able to do after years of perfecting the technique, and expertly boosted yourself to catch yourself up to 4th place.

it appeared that hyein was too focused on smoothly driving through the track, so she didn't notice your newly-acquired trump card. you smirked. 'she won't see it coming,' you mischievously thought.

it was now the third lap. you were saving the shell for right before the finish line, and you were currently in a solid 3rd place, with hyein in 1st and a bot in front of you.

the younger lee glanced at your side of the screen and widened her eyes. 'did she just now notice i had the blue shell?'

"unnie! you can't! i'm so close to winning!" she shouted. the finish line was nearly in sight. the bot slipped on a banana peel and your smile only widened as you watched the flailing animation while passing by. hyein tried kicking you to distract you, but it was no use. you had already thrown the power up that would help you win the race.

"checkmate," you smugly said as you patted hyein's back. the girl was watching the finish screen in despair, gripping her controller tightly in annoyance.

she slowly turned to you, a menacingly determined look on her face. "i'll win the next one. it's thwomp ruins, you suck at thwomp ruins."

damn it. she was right.

hyein ended up winning the next race, as she declared. you always had trouble avoiding the obstacles on the track, much to your dismay. with that win, she also won the cup, because she also won the first two races. you blamed it on the jetlag.

(when you awoke, you felt a heavy weight on your chest. you blinked, barely making out the image of hyein laying on you, softly snoring. you checked your phone. 5:12 am. well, whatever. it was too early to think about anything. gently combing your fingers through her hair, you fell back asleep.)

“y/n?”

the door to your shared bedroom creaked open, and you shoved the covers over your face. 

“y/n, it’s 11:30, wake up,” the voice called.

slowly, you peeked from under the comforter that was very much doing its job at keeping you comfortable, to see your aunt standing in the doorway with a ladle. reluctantly, you climbed out of bed.

"morning, auntie," you mumbled as you rubbed your eyes, making your way to the bedroom door.

she stepped aside to let you exit the room. "good morning, sleepyhead."

you spent a few minutes to brush your teeth and wash your face in the bathroom before coming out to the living room. the house was eerily quiet without the presence of your uncle and hyein.

...wait, where's hyein?

looking around suspiciously, you still found no trace of the younger girl in the house. she was gone when you woke up, too. where could she have gone? it was summer break, and hyein was barely entering high school.

coughing, you asked your aunt, "um, where's hyein gone?"

"oh, she's at the company. she has practice today, didn't she tell you?"

"what practice?"

"...dance practice? vocal lessons? she's debuting this month, remember?"

debut... dance... vocal... that rings a bell...

'wait, what the fuck? is hyein a kpop idol?'

your heart beat faster at the revelation. hyein? your cute little cousin who you swore had just graduated from elementary school two years ago? you knew she took dance lessons, and her other activities that came to a halt last year, but... debut? she was still a kid! and it sounded like this debut was serious, the real next step in her career.

your emotions were all jumbled up upon thinking more on the matter. why didn't she tell you?

"y/n? hey, how about you eat now," she placed a bowl in front of you, "and maybe later you can talk to hyein about it. don't worry until then."

"easier said than done," you replied, digging into the rice with your spoon. but she was right. you could talk to hyein later; you still had to unpack your bags.

breakfast tasted dry and bland, even though you were sure your aunt cooked it with perfection and love in mind. there were just too many thoughts in your mind.

putting your finished bowl in the sink and washing it, you shuffled back into you and hyein's room, intending to tidy up the space and also set your things down. this was where you'd be living for the next four or more years, after all.

this bedroom brought back memories. what used to be a guest room that five-year-old you would sleep in during the holidays, was now turned into your dear little cousin's haven of comfort. from the moment she was born, you've adored her—it was like having a little sibling, since you were an only child. the guest room was more lively, more full of energy with hyein there.

as she grew up, there were times where she, of course, kicked you out of the room, because it was 'too embarrassing' to have her older cousin sleep in the same room with her. although you always woke up in the middle of that night to see a hyein-shaped lump on top of you. it was endearing, really, to see, to know that the girl loved you as much as you did her.

you traced your finger along the edges of the old closet in the corner of the room. there was a barely noticeable dent on the side, from when you were playing a game of operation and accidentally threw the tweezers too hard in a fit of rage.

a piece of duct tape you'd painted white that was stuck onto it for a good week, because that was the best that a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old could think of. your mom and auntie still got mad, though.

you got to cleaning and unpacking, patiently waiting for time to pass so hyein could come home and you could talk.

dinner came and went, and you were now sitting on the bed, waiting for your cousin who was washing up in the bathroom.

"hey unnie... why are you just sitting there?"

you wordlessly patted the space next to you, your silence being an indicator that what you wanted to talk about was serious.

"why didn't you tell me you were a trainee?"

"..."

"hyein?"

she stared at her lap, guilty. "i..." she choked out, "every time you came, i was just having so much fun. and i didn't know when to tell you because i thought you would make fun of me, or something. i don't know."

hyein sniffled, and looked at you with tears streaming down her cheeks. you sighed and wiped them away with your thumb. she continued.

"and this training, i know you think it's a lot for me and it is, but my members, they make it so much fun. and i'm so close to achieving my dreams, y/n-unnie! july 22nd. that's in 20 days, i'm gonna be a real idol. topping the charts, i just, urgh-"

you brought her into a hug, rubbing her back as she sobbed into your shoulder.

"...i support you. i'm not judging you, i was just worried about you," you planted a kiss on her forehead.

"you're my baby cousin, of course i wanna protect you from the nasty entertainment industry. but... if this is what you want to do, then i'll cheer you on from debut to retirement."

she sniffled. "that's in like, a gazillion years, you're gonna be dead by then."

"shush," you pulled her back into your embrace, "let's just go to sleep."

at 6 am, you woke up with hyein sleeping soundly on your chest, again. this time, you carefully slid out of bed, brushing your teeth in the bathroom, and then sauntering over to the kitchen where your aunt was already awake and cooking breakfast.

"up so early?"

you groaned. mornings were never for you, especially since you always stayed up to paint during your spurts of inspiration.

"i talked to hyein." a pause. your aunt took a minute to wash her hands, and turned around to face you.

"and?"

"i told her i support her. and we fell asleep talking about which member of bts was the best. and now my eyes are super swollen 'cause we had a crying session right before that."

in the background, you could faintly hear the sound of rushing water. hyein must be awake.

"morning..." the younger girl walked in, rubbing her eyes.

you smiled. "good morning, hyeinie."

"woah, you're awake... you're usually passed out at this time."

"are you disappointed?"

"settle down, kids. breakfast's ready."

you ate in silence, occasionally asking for a napkin, or asking how each other's sleep went, and hyein went in to go get dressed for the day.

the sound of the garage door opening resounded throughout the house; uncle must be back from running errands.

"that's me," your cousin said. you adjusted the cap on her head.

"you're sleeping on the bottom bunk tonight, just so you know. i don't want you falling off in the morning, while i'm 'passed out'."

she slipped on her shoes, grinning widely at you. then, she set off with a skip in her step. you shook your head at the sight, giggling.

a few hours later, around noon, your aunt came into your room holding a wrapped... lunch? it looked like the ones you would get from your own mother for field trips, a boxed lunch wrapped with a cloth with a cute design on it. you paused in the middle of your painting of the view from your window. it was time to take a break, anyway.

"what's this?" you took it from her. the cloth concealed the smell pretty well, so you couldn't tell what was in it.

your aunt crossed her arms. "hyein's lunch."

okay... that's weird. why would she come in and give you hyein's lunch? wasn't she supposed to- oh. "you want me to bring it to her, don't you."

she only nodded, leaving the room right after.

hybe entertainment was a big building. like, a seriously big building. it was also weirdly pleasing to look at, but you thought that way with how the city looked in general with all those big buildings with their fully windowed walls.

hyein's manager was supposed to come get you at the lobby. it felt awkward waiting there, since it was so prim and proper compared to any other place you'd been to. you felt out of place. you were just a trainee's cousin, not some important figure in the industry. hell, you weren't even in the industry!

from: mom's favorite child (🐣) why'd mom tell me to send my manager down? are you here? to: mom's favorite child (🐣) yeah from: mom's favorite child (🐣) why???

you chose not to answer that. 'did she really forget her lunch?'

after around five minutes (and after receiving some curious looks from staff members) the manager led you to a dance(?) practice room, nodding and opening the door for you.

"unnie!" you were immediately crushed by the tall girl. you think the cramp in your spine was fixed by her intense embrace.

she gave you an excited look. "why're you here?"

you held up the box, dangling it in front of her eyes. "you forgot your lunch."

she took it from you with a straight face, but then changed the topic without saying anything else. what the...

"meet my members!" hyein stepped aside, revealing four girls who looked almost as confused as you were.

but they were all very pretty, you noted. especially that girl on the right, with the bangs. and those pretty eyes. and ah...

'oh my fucking god.'

"y/n!?"

"h-hanni!?"

you stood there in shock. out of all the places you could meet again, it was at your cousin's workplace? and, it turned out that they even worked together?

you were pulled into the practice room, and now you were sitting on a metal folding chair, in an icebreaker circle that took you back to middle school. it all happened in a blur, one second you were staring at hanni and the other you were forced into a chair by hyein. everyone else looked slightly uncomfortable as well.

"this is y/n, my older cousin!" she introduced you to the other girls. then, she pointed to them one by one.

"this is haerin-unnie." the cat-eyed girl nodded at you.

"minji-unnie." she waved, offering you a tight lipped smile.

"dani... danielle-unnie." she also waved, though with much more energy and a wider smile. cute.

"and this is hanni-unnie, but i suppose you two are acquainted already."

you ignored how hyein's posture became stiffer and how she suddenly started talking in a formal tone, like what she did when she was starting to plot something.

nonetheless, you bowed in your seat and waved. "i'm lee y/n... incoming first year at seoul national university. i'm looking to major in painting."

there was a brief period of silence, and you awkwardly traced the bruise you got two days ago through the hole in your jeans.

danielle(?) started clapping, the other members (including hyein) following suit.

"can we see some of your works?" she excitedly asked. you, once again, found it hard to resist a pretty girl.

"yeah, for sure!" fishing your phone out of your pocket, you pulled up the album titled 'finished paintings' and chose a landscape painting of the blue mountains which you did on a short vacation to newcastle in march. you used the pictures your dad took on his professional camera as reference, and it ended up being one of your best projects in your portfolio.

you tilted your phone horizontally so they could see the full piece, chest swelling with pride when their faces lit up with wonder.

"it's beautiful," minji commented, her eyes trailing from your phone screen to you. you blushed at the sudden eye contact.

danielle loudly gasped, shaking hanni back and forth. "oh my gosh, it's the blue mountains!"

another aussie?

"yeah, went there during a trip to newcastle," you replied in english. the girl's eyes seemed to light up even more, if that was possible. her smile became so blinding that you felt you had to shield your eyes.

"newcastle!" she pointed to herself, "that's where i'm from!"

"really? it's so pretty there, especially by the beaches," you said. "i wish i could go back and paint the views."

your stomach growled. right... you hadn't eaten since way earlier in the morning. you scratched your neck in embarrassment when haerin and hyein started giggling.

"have you girls had lunch yet?"

at seeing their heads shake 'no', you stood up and stretched your arms back. "wanna go eat something? it's my treat," you suggested. "i think i saw a tonkatsu restaurant on the way here."

the cat eyed girl, haerin, made a sound akin to the squeak of a cat (ironically) and tugged on minji's sleeve. she whispered in the girl's ear, and minji turned to look at danielle and hanni for approval.

"fine with us," she affirmed, sending you a gummy smile. "i'll tell our manager."

hyein poked your shoulder. "what about my lunch?"

"uh... we can watch something tonight and you can eat it then, i guess. i won't tell your mom?"

"deal!"

[hybe -> new area unlocked: tonkatsu restaurant]

the seating arrangement went as follows: haerin, hyein, and danielle on one side of the booth, and minji, you, and hanni on the other side. you mentally braced yourself for kicks from hyein, but your heart also sped up at being next to hanni again.

the group made their orders, you prepared to empty your wallet, and were now engaging in conversation with danielle and hanni. next to you, hyein, minji, and haerin were having a separate conversation—something about sparklers and filming.

"so, danielle," you started, folding a napkin into an unlimited amount of halves. she interrupted you before you could continue, smiling, "you can just call me dani! i find being called my full name a bit... you know."

you nodded in understanding. "dani, so you're australian too? must be nice to have a fellow aussie in your group," you nudged the girl sitting on your right. she nudged you back, but her hand made its way to yours under the table. you tried your best not to freak out.

"yep! speaking of which," danielle pointed between you and the 'fellow aussie'. "how do you two know each other? there was that whole thing when we first saw you and everything."

by now, the other three girls have tuned into your conversation. it seemed that they too, were curious.

the vietnamese was the first to explain. "we met at the airport, after i visited my family. we bumped into each other like, three times before finding out we also sat next to each other on the same flight."

minji raised an eyebrow, "wait, this is the y/n you were talking about?"

hanni looked to the side and tucked her hand behind her ear. she was talking about you?

you gave her hand a squeeze, causing her to look down at your now-intertwined fingers. when did that happen?

across the table, hyein eyed you suspiciously.

thankfully, the food came and you enjoyed your lunch, which sufficiently tamed your prior hunger that led up to this situation. you recounted more of you and hanni's first meeting, but the more you talked the more it felt like you were introducing yourself as her girlfriend.

"wow, is that why you left me on read?"

you snorted. "no, i just wanted to annoy you."

hyein kicked you under the table. you made a mental note to check your foot for another bruise later.

"to be honest," you said to the group after you finished your last bite, directing everyone's attention to yourself. "i didn't think i'd end up spending the afternoon with soon-to-be idols."

next to you, minji laughed. it tickled your brain, the way her deep voice was so sooth and calming.

"i don't think anyone here expected to spend the afternoon dining with our youngest's relative."

you laughed along with her, dabbing at your mouth with a napkin. "but i mean, we'll probably be seeing each other often. i'd love to get to know all of you."

the girls made noises of agreement, either nodding or approving verbally, and soon everyone was done eating. you paid the bill (rest in peace, wallet) and when you came back from the counter, hanni, danielle, and haerin are gone.

"they went to use the restroom," minji informed. you made an 'ahh' expression and gave an 'ok' gesture, and made to sit down to wait for the three. hyein stared at you and minji.

"i think you're really cool, y/n."

you almost did a spit-take with your glass of water. that caught you way off guard. what are you supposed to that?

"...and i was just wondering, could i get your number?"

you blinked. minji blinked. and out of the corner of your eye, you could see that hyein also blinked.

but... who would turn down an offer from a(nother) pretty girl? not you.

so obviously you punched in your digits onto the girl's phone, saving yourself as 'y/n 🎨' and by the time you were done, the rest of the group had returned to the table.

when you and the girls arrived at the company, minji left with a wink toward your direction, danielle and hyein hugged you goodbye, and haerin waved at you. only hanni was left, but both of you were reluctant to go.

"i hung the sketches up in my dorm room."

your eyes slightly widened. "really? i'm glad you like them. it's embarrassing, but you're sort of turning into my muse."

you coughed as to hide your scorching blush. hanni giggled, her cheeks also tinted red.

danielle called for her from the entrance, and you both looked to the building.

"i should go."

"yeah... oh, here." you handed her a torn piece of napkin paper with your number written on it. "my number, 'cause my dumb ass forgot to give it to you earlier."

she pocketed it and sent you an eye smile, before waving and turning around to catch up with her group members.

score!

one week later and you and minji became quick friends. she was funny, very dry but very funny. and you were too shy to text hanni much despite your show of confidence when you gave her your number.

you also hung out with the oldest member a lot. just the other day, you went to the mall with her and got frozen yogurt, and since the day you met her you've been texting every night. though not as much as you did with minji, of course you hung out with the other girls too, like when you visited the company a second and third time. (coincidentally, it was because hyein had forgotten her lunch, again)

you actually just got back from visiting minji at the dorm. it was your first time there, and you mostly just stayed in her room after being given a tour. (you ignored the disappointment in your heart after finding out hanni had a schedule, and wasn't at home)

hyein already had some of her things moved to her dorm room, but she was allowed a few more days at home until she had to stay there long-term. but lately, you've been noticing her staring at you. it often happened when you were texting or hanging out with minji. you would just see the younger girl stand in the corner of the room, 'distracted' with her phone as soon as you turned to look at her.

you were resting on your bed when the door burst open. startled, you sat bolt upright and turned your attention to whoever rudely interrupted your peaceful hour of doom-scrolling.

"unnie, do you like minji-unnie?"

"what the fu-" you stopped yourself. auntie would scold you if you slipped up in front of her kid. "no! what!?"

"oh." she sat herself next to you on the bed. "but you talk to her all the time. it's like you don't even like hanni-unnie anymore!"

it took you a second to process the younger girl's words until you exploded into a blushing mess. "how- how did you know i like hanni?"

"it's way too obvious," she shrugged.

hyein left the room, leaving you confused, until she came back in with a rolling whiteboard. where did she even get that?

you watched as she wrote on the board with a pink marker. 'operation... confess... to...' wow. you didn't like where this was going. at all. why should you confess? shouldn't she be focused on debuting? you wouldn't want to be a distraction to her. and you're pretty sure she didn't like you like that.

hyein put a bullet point under the heading, the marker squeaking as the ink dried within a second.

you frowned. "i don't think i should confess, hyein. you can put the board away."

she looked disheartened for a moment, but shook it off and faced you. "i'm like, 95% sure she likes you back. she doesn't shut up about you when she's alone in her room. i don't think she knows that we can hear her talking to herself."

choosing to keep quiet, you laid back into bed and covered your face with a pillow. that was a matter to think about later, and it was hard to stop hyein once she'd started.

"let's see... hey, pay attention; this is for everyone's sake!" the pillow was snatched from your hands. you groaned and sat up. guess it wouldn't hurt to at least hear her out. "you should do something to catch her attention."

you scoffed. "like what?"

she finished drawing two stickfigures (you and hanni, presumably) holding hands with an obnoxious amount of hearts surrounding them, and rested her hand on her hip. "you could... mysteriously take her away after one of her schedules?"

"absolutely not! that's kidnapping."

she crossed the prompt off the list. "take her on a romantic tour around the city with a rented double decker bus?"

"i don't have money for that..."

"you don't have to pay for a driver, can't you drive?" hyein pouted.

you sighed. "what's the point of renting it for her then? also, hasn't she been here long enough to know the city? plus, i don't have a korean driver's license yet."

another prompt was crossed off the list, and you waited patiently as hyein thought of another idea.

"you know, the other day..." you blinked, and now she was in front of you. 'oh god.'

a wide grin spread on her face, and you paled. "i saw some window cleaners the other day. they looked like spiderman."

"hyein..."

"and like, that's so cool! you could do that. we could get a harness from that store down the street..."

"hyein, please."

"and a rope from there, too."

"but-"

"don't you want to catch her eye?"

it was tempting. it'd been so long (christmas) since you've done something fun (insane) and hyein knew just how to push your buttons.

...damn this kid.

from: hany/n supporters mom's favorite child (🐣) added you, haerin, and mj to the group. mom's favorite child (🐣) heyy 😍 you what is this 🙁 mj ^ haerin ^ mom's favorite child (🐣) planning for hany/n to succeed also dani unnie isnt here bc she cant keep a secret mj oh finally mom's favorite child (🐣) updates will be here 😈

over the next few days, you'd been spending more time at the newjeans dorm, discussing the "plan" in depth with minji, haerin, and hyein. whenever danielle and, you smiled, hanni, dropped by, you always just changed the topic and let them join the circle, leaving the discussion to be finished in the groupchat or the next day.

but hanni's schedules had slowed down, and she was at home more often. on the other hand, it was haerin and hyein's turn to be busy, leading to you and minji hanging out on your own.

it was clear that you and the taller girl had grown way closer since your first encounter, to the point that you could joke around with her with no repercussions or shame. this year's sketchbook was a gift from minji, and the first few pages were drawings of her as a show of courtesy from you.

minji was slowly becoming your best friend since moving to korea long-term. back in australia, you didn't have a best friend, just some people that would tolerate and get along with you. but you could really connect with the stupidly tall girl that reminded you of a bear.

naturally, neither you nor minji didn't think that hanni would pay any mind to your blooming friendship.

according to minji three days later, you were wrong.

"this is giving me deja vu," you grinned at hyein, who was currently fastening the straps of your climbing harness bought from the sports shop close to hyein's home.

she rolled her eyes, tapping your helmet. this time, there would (hopefully) be no injuries. or splinters... you hated splinters.

"i'm gonna go back to them, i'll let you know where we are so you can drop down with your," she gestured to the piece of cardstock which you decorated last night, "poster."

the ropes were checked for secureness for a seventh time, and you were assisted with being lowered down the side of the building before hyein descended the stairs and to the elevator which would take her to the second floor.

[||] hanni

"what's up with you and y/n?" hanni questioned minji. it's not like she was jealous, or anything. not of how minji got close to you faster than she did, and hanni was the one to spend a whole day with you, alone, with no interruptions before they even found out you were connected. not of how she could hear the two of you laughing away at night, sometimes even including hyein and haerin in your little hanging out sessions. not of how you flashed minji, not her, minji, your signature smile which made her heart go ten times faster, because she had gifted you with a new sketchbook to replace last year's.

okay, maybe she was jealous. just a little bit.

but it didn't help how you called her 'mj' so naturally, like you'd known her for years before. or how you always snuck off or changed the topic whenever hanni appeared, acting like you were talking about something else even though she knew you weren't.

"huh?" the taller girl stopped in front of the window at the end of one of the second floor corridors. hanni tutted, "it's like you're... you're dating! or something."

minji froze, mouth agape. that wasn't a good sign. but then she started laughing like a crazy woman, making hanni even more frustrated.

"we're not dating. i don't like anyone," she paused, a shit-eating grin slowly overtaking her face. hanni scowled. "what, were you jealous i'd steal away your c-r-u-s-h?"

she dodged hanni's punch to the shoulder, still laughing at the absurdity that was her friend's thoughts.

"but you guys are so close. and hang out all the time," hanni emphasized, making wild gestures in the air with her hands.

that would be a fair point. but to minji, letting her win would be the end of the world.

"that's because-"

"hey guys!" the sounds of three sets of footsteps became louder upon approaching the pair.

"hey, hyein. hey, haerin, danielle." minji greeted, turning to the window as if she were looking for something. haerin and hyein joined her from behind. 'what the fuck?'

"what are you guys doing?" danielle asked, trying to tiptoe to see over their shoulders. unfortunately, she couldn't get past the obstacles that were freakishly tall giants named lee hyein and kim minji.

sighing, she stepped back to face the vietnamese girl, with a pout. "oh yeah, what were you talking about? we watched you try to punch minji earlier."

"it wouldn't hurt to ask for a third opinion," she mused. "do you think there's something between y/n and minji?"

danielle's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "y/n and minji?"

"i mean... they do spend a lot of time together. but i don't think... she—minji i mean—likes y/n like that. actually, it also seems like y/n's got a different vibe to her when she's with minji, but it's not a romantic feeling-y one, you know?"

drats.

"there she is!" hyein shouted, pointing at something that hanni couldn't see from where she was.

haerin quietly dragged her by the hand to join them in looking at the thing hyein was pointing at and- was that you!?

hanging from a rope that did not look like it supported your weight, there you were, in all your glory, outside of the window holding a sign that hanni had to squint to read.

"what the heck," she pressed her hands into the glass. "why is she outside of the window? also, is that rope even secure? and," she was nudged by minji.

"read the sign, bro."

she grumbled but squinted more to make out the words on the paper. there were flowers painted onto it, with two stickfigures holding hands, and the letters written in bold...

"han, let me take U on a d8 <3" with two comically large exclamation marks following after. han? as in, her? hanni? hanni pham who you met two weeks ago? on a date? a date!

hanni was about to shout her answer until she realized you literally couldn't hear her, because there was a window separating you two, and the rope snapped.

the rope snapped! you just fell down the side of the building! what the hell!

next thing she knew she was running out the lobby and on her way to the hospital while the ambulance carried hyein and your unconscious body.

white walls. blinding lights. faint smell of disinfectant. it had been a while since the last time you landed in the hospital.

except you don't recall the absence of a cartoonish hygiene poster that was always visible immediately when you woke up. or the presence of another girl resting her head on the side of your bed topped with plain white sheets.

on the other side of the door, you could just barely hear two people conversing in korean.

that's right, you were in korea, not melbourne. and you'd fallen from the building after the rope holding you up had snapped.

you knew you were the definition of "fucked around and found out" but... holy shit, your body hurts like hell. looking down, you could see that your right leg was in a cast, and you were unable to move your upper body, feeling immense pain whenever you tried. to add on, there were many, many, bruises along your arms and from what you could see, your other, non-broken leg.

normally, your mother would barge in at this time, scolding you for doing something stupid again. but it wasn't "normally" today. a warm, wet sensation, a tear, rolled down your cheek. maybe it was the pain that finally triggered it, but it was the first time you cried since leaving your home for college.

"fuck," you murmured, lifting up your arm that wasn't occupied to wipe away the waterfall of tears that threatened to burst. in doing so, the girl holding onto your hand shifted. she scrunched her nose, wiping the sleep away from her eyes, and you could finally see her face. hanni. why was she here?

she stopped and stared at you for a moment before her eyes widened. "you're awake! you're- hold on, i'm- here's some water."

hanni helped you sit up, your upper body burning in pain, and you gulped the liquid down in seconds, gratefully handing the glass back to her.

"are you feeling okay?"

that was a good question. "i feel like shit."

she burst out in laughter, and you tried to as well, but ended up groaning in pain. damned body. you felt soothing rubs on your back from hanni, and you shot her an endearing smile. her actions made you feel all warm inside. like a cozy campfire on a cold, dark night.

"be careful," hanni chided, "you broke two of your ribs. and if you didn't know already, your leg too." that explained the extreme pain when you laughed.

you fell into a silence, getting lost in the girl's eyes before she coughed, blushing. "careful, can't have you falling before the first date."

breaking out into a dopey grin, you squeezed her hand. "i'm afraid i've already fallen."

"well then you better hurry up and get better so you can take me out on that date you promised, before you ended up here."

date? promised? the... the... what was it... you searched the depths of your sluggish mind, which was really hard considering you woke up five minutes ago.

sign. the... sign? oh, she saw it! the sign that you and hyein had stayed up making yesterday, to ask hanni out. it was a last minute thing, since you kept putting it off and forgot about it before last night.

a pair of lips pressed onto your cheek, but left as fast as they came. you snapped your head to hanni, touching the affected area with your palm.

without thinking, you surged forward and crashed your lips together, melting into a (not so) perfect kiss, but it sure felt perfect to you. hanni kissed back with even more fervor, hands tangled in your hair and leg moving in a slight crawl in an attempt to get closer to you without hurting you.

you pulled away, stupid smiles on both of your faces.

"you have no idea how long i've been wanting to do that," you said, sneaking in another peck on her lips.

"you have no idea how long i've been wanting to kiss you." she said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

an idea popped up in your head after spotting your sketchbook on the table next to your hospital bed. you'd been wanting to paint her properly since the first time you drew her on the plane. "han, let me paint you. please? after i get discharged, whenever that is."

she blushed, blinking at you without saying a word. then, she pulled you into a short, but sweet kiss, and pulled away to plant a small kiss on top of your intertwined hands. you recalled minji saying something about hanni's strong distaste for kisses, but her behavior at the moment was contradicting minji's words.

"you'll have much more time to paint me, wherever, whenever you want."

you giggled, giving a squeeze to her hand. "does this mean i get sneak peeks of songs?"

"no."

"aw..."

"...maybe a little. just a little bit, because i like you so much."

you pumped your fist, whispering a "yes!" before she captured your lips in another passionate kiss.

"i like you a lot, too. more than painting. wait..."

"y/n!"

you, lee y/n, were a girl who could not get a girlfriend no matter what you tried. but on that fateful day, the day you met hanni, you only had the stars and fate to thank for letting you meet the love of your life.

10 hours, in the sky, let hanni pham wiggle her way into your life. and you had to say, it was a change for the better.

a/n : i'm finally done... THIS was hell to write let me tell you omg it's been in my drafts since early january GOODBYEE but now i can focus on all my other stuff so....... chaewon next! LOL (and also lovergirl pt. 2 i didn't forget i swear) thank you so much for reading 10 hour flight, sorry it's so long it wasn't supposed to be 😭 ily guys

[swtt4hk]

Be mine || Cho Sang-woo x fem!Foreign Reader! (Oneshot) {fluff}

requested by: @sensationallysangwoo

warnings: mentions of suicide

You had recently moved to South Korea from your home country. Things were pretty hard at first and fitting into a completely different country , with different culture and language was a really big step to take in your life. You had moved there to make a new start , meet new people and explore new places after experiencing some traumatic things in your life.

Your past is dark. Your mother abandoned you and your father when you were just a year old and your dad was forced to raise you on his own. Your dad was working multiple jobs to make as much money as he could and still managed to spend a lot of quality time with you. Unfortunately, when you were at the age of 11 he died in a car crash and you were forced to live with your aunt , who wasn’t exactly the best parent. She was a mean person and even though you had told her that you don’t feel comfortable mentioning your parents , she brought them up everytime you fought and told you that you deserved everything you went through. All this caused you to dive into depression and by the age of 14 , you had tried to kill yourself multiple times.

By the time you turned 16 , you moved out and moved in with your best friend , Keira. Moving in with Keira was the best decision you had ever made in your life. She had been your best friend since you were kids and she always had a way to make you smile. When you turned eighteen, Keira moved to another country with her boyfriend which resulted you being alone again. So you decided to take a big step in your life and move to another country. You worked your ass off for a year straight and decided to move to Korea , since you had heard a lot of good things about the country.

Moving there really was a great idea. Sure , it was difficult at first but things have become easier for you except for one thing…the Korean language. You had never been good with learning new things , especially new languages , so you had a pretty tough time communicating with people there. It hurt you a lot not being able to communicate with other Koreans , especially with a specific person…Cho Sang-woo.

You and Sang-woo had met at a cafe which you regularly went to. He is a handsome man , a little bit older than you but still really attractive. He has manners , he is smart and always chooses with words wisely before speaking. He’s everything that you were looking for. You both flirted a lot but it was never something serious , even though you both felt the strong connection between you.

Even though you guys clicked immediately and had a strong bond , the language barrier between you two was frustrating. You often misunderstood what each other said and sometimes you even had to use translating apps to have a conversation.

Sang-woo liked you a lot. From the first time he saw you , sitting on the cafe table , enjoying your coffee and admiring the view , he knew he had to talk to you. It was like something inside him knew he had to be yours. He often tried to give you signs about him liking you but you either took it as a joke or didn’t understand what he had tried to say. But he still tried. He even started taking lessons on your native language to manage to get you to understand that he loves you and wants you to officially be his.

After weeks of practicing, we woke up and decided it was time. He was going to confess his feelings to you. He was a 100% that he was ready to take that big step into your guys’ relationship. He invited you over to his place to “hang out” and you happily agreed to do it.

Clueless about what was going to happen , you wore a new skirt that you got , a sparkly top and high heels which made your legs seem beautiful and long. As soon as he opened the door and saw you standing in front of his door , looking as beautiful as ever , he was reassured that he NEEDED to confess to you. It was now or never.

The whole night , he tried to be closer to you , touch you more to see your reaction and you seemed unbothered by it. You really didn’t mind. You actually liked when Sang-woo was close to you or touch your arm or leg. It made you feel butterflies in your stomach but didn’t allow yourself to show it. You couldn’t. You thought you don’t deserve to be loved by someone like Sang-woo and besides , you thought he didn’t feel the same.

As the clock struck 11pm , he decided that it was time. He was about to confess. You finished your conversation, followed by a comfortable silence and he broke it.

—Y/N , can I ask you something?

—of course , what’s up?

he thought a lot before speaking. He had to choose his words wisely and use the right words to express himself correctly so there are not any misunderstandings.

—Do you like stars?

you found the question a little weird but you liked it. No one had ever asked you that.

—like the stars in the sky?

—yes , the stars in the sky.

—uhh…yeah I do like them a lot!

Sang-woo smiles to himself and looks at you deep in the eye before speaking , which made your stomach flip.

—the stars in the sky con-contain important information about the physics of the Universe and they sym…uhh…symphonise?

you chuckle , finding his little mistake cute

—do you mean symbolise?

—oh yeah! Symbolise! The stars in the sky symbolise positivity and happiness , right?

—yeah I think you’re right…but why are you saying all that? I already know that about the stars.

Sang-woo takes a deep breath before continuing

—you…you are my star.

You are both surprised and confused by what he said. “What does he mean by saying that I’m his star?”

—what do you mean?

Sang-woo smiles and slowly places his hand on top of yours.

—we are friends and you know information about me just like stars do for the Universe. Also stars symbolise happiness and you…you are my happiness.

Sang-woo says nervously , waiting for your reaction. You smile and caress his hand , clear that you haven’t understood what he means.

—awww thank you , Sang-woo , that’s such a cute compliment!

He sighs and looks away in frustration. He really wants you to understand that he wants you. He grabs your chin , forcing you to look at him.

—y/n , can you understand me? I need to tell you something important!

—y-yes! What is it?

—I…

He sighs again and his grip on your chin loosens and he caresses it with his thumbs , making your heart race.

—you…you are my star. You bring me happiness and I don’t just want to be the Universe. I want to be…uhh…something more. I want to be important to you and…make you mine. I want to make you happy and I want to be more than just your friend.

He says loud and clear but still nervous. You look at him in the eyes , clearly shocked by the way he expressed himself but you still understood what he meant. He wants to be yours. He wants to…be your boyfriend. You smile and caress his cheek with one hand and his hand with the other one.

—of course…of course I’ll be your girlfriend, your universe and anything else you want , Sang-woo.

Sang-woo looks at you shocked. You finally understood. All of this hard work finally paid off. A wide smile spread on his face and wraps his arms around you , hugging you tightly.

—thank you…thank you so much y/n…

You smile warmly and hug him back

—no…thank YOU. Thank you for trying your best to learn my language and confess your feelings to me. And sorry for not understanding earlier…

Sang-woo places a soft kiss on your cheek and hugs you tightly. He doesn’t ever want to let go now that you are finally his. Not after he studied hard , despite his age. This proves that people are allowed to live each other even if they don’t speak the same language and if someone really loves you , they’ll do anything for you.

———————————————————————

The end! Thank you so much @sensationallysangwoo for requesting this and I’m sorry for writing this like 2 weeks after you requested it…anyway , my requests are open and you all can request anything at any time! More fics coming soon!

taglist: @chosangwooswife

[thegoldencontracts]

AITA For Benevolently Providing My Fellow Students With Study Guides?

I'm posting on a throwaway because I have caught my classmates (It is laughably easy, they love gathering in large spaces and 'whispering' loudly about their schemes) looking through my main account on multiple occasions in a search for blackmail, blathering about "freeing their friends" or "avenging their brother" and whatnot. I apologize in advance if you find my formatting or wording cumbersome.

You see, I(17M) greatly enjoy assisting poor, unfortunate souls with whatever they need. Now, I admit that I have partaken in some rather improper behavior in the past, but I have mended my ways. I fortunately know a fair amount about both magic and my fellow classmate's troubles, and I understand that you wish to laugh with the next part - I use my talents to assist the miserable, lonely, and depressed.

Recently, I have taken to assisting my fellow students who are struggling with their Final exams, in the form of study guide guaranteed to garner them a bare minimum of 90 (and if used with maximum efficiency, a perfect score) if they look over it even once.

However, as the landfolk say, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." I don't charge much for my study guides (entirely legitimate, for your information, designed for maximum efficiency and lawfulness by sifting through the past 100 years worth of test questions), in fact, in many cases, I don't charge anything at all. If they manage to earn a grade rewardable with School-provided merits, then, in fact, I shall reward them by not only waiving the fee, but also, by providing them study guides for the rest of their time at school.

However, if they fail to do so, I ask for compensation in the form of providing me some of their time. They were fully aware of this, in fact, I even gave them the chance to look through my (thaumaturgically binding) contracts for as long as they needed before signing.

Now, Finals have concluded recently, and the merits have been displayed. Now, some people are calling me "a cheat", making such audacious claims as "this is slavery" (it is not, they were compensated for their service and they don't have to be loyal to me for their whole lives) and "You guys should have believed me when I told you that brother-killer was bad news" (I have never killed anyone's brothers, I can assure you of this) and, personally, I don't think I'm the 'A', as reddit calls it.

However, my dorm-mate and employee, F, urged me to ask the internet, his reasoning being "It'd be funny" (his words, not mine) while slacking off of work - he had a shift scheduled, and then he seriously threatened to eat me when I scolded him, so I forced him to kneel until he learned his lesson. I then realized that he didn't have a shift scheduled for that day - he had it scheduled for the day *after* - and that I was apparently mildly delirious from not having slept for three days, so as compensation, I doubled his pay and offered him one wish of choice, which he used to tell me to make this post. For that reason, I humbly ask of you now: Am I in the wrong?

[thesensteawitch]

🩷🌹🩷🌹🩷🌹🩷🌹Yours And Your Future Spouse's Energy Check!🌹🩷🌹🩷🌹🩷🌹🩷

Pick A Pile Reading

(Left to Right- Pile 1, Pile 2, Pile 3)

Hey, Senstea Souls!

I am back with another collective tarot reading for you all. Choose a pile intuitively and if you are not sure you can read your energy check. If it doesn't resonate then feel free to choose another pile.😊

At the end of each pile, I have also mentioned a spread that can help you FIND YOUR TRUE LOVE.🫶🏼

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🩷Happy Reading🩷

Pile 1

Your energy check:

Cards: Strength, 8 of Cups, 9 of Swords, 6 of Pentacles

Spirit animal: Lizard

You are a very strong individual pile 1. You have learned a lot through heartbreaks and every kind of relationship in your life. People around you teach you a lot. You know that with pain comes wisdom. You stick to people or situations longer than you should. You are very passionate. Some of you even want to be the center of attention. I sense Leo's energy. But unfortunately, those around you somehow disappoint you. You try your best to walk away from toxic relations but you haven't completely let go of them. You carry the baggage and think of them when the moon takes over the sky. Your mind wanders to every place that has caused you pain. Pile 1, this way you'll sabotage the happy moments of your life. Give your thoughts a redirection. You're very giving. But your lesson in this lifetime is to live within limits because the receiver knows no limit. You have to keep your balance in life. Deep down you know that crowd overwhelms you. You have a strong perception of people's energy. You can sense their true intentions but you don't know how to move past that. You don't know how to handle all that sensory information. You don't need to worry about pile 1. The answer is simple. Take a step back. Do not get yourself involved in everything. Take time for yourself. You'll be fine. God bless you!

Your future spouse's energy:

Cards: 7 of Cups, Page of Swords, Ace of Wands, King of Wands

Spirit animal: Zebra

Well, pile 1 your future spouse will be somebody who will have too many interests. They may appear naive but deep down they won't be. They will have an abundance of knowledge. They will love traveling. Everything about this world will fascinate them. Magic is something they will truly believe in. They will have a balanced masculine and feminine energy. New ideas keep popping into their head. They will be emotional, witty, and passionate about what they love but they might lack stability. They may struggle to settle. They may have strong Sagittarius placement. Nothing will satisfy them so easily. They would want something extraordinary in life. They can be of a different nationality. They will be artistic. They would like to have an intellectually stimulating conversation with you. If you are with them you'll never feel bored. They will have so much to talk about. You'll travel with them a lot. Their magic and spontaneity will be contagious. Also, they would be someone who loves to teach and guide others. They will have a philosophical viewpoint on life. They may also be stubborn. It will be difficult for you to change their mind. You will be the one following their lead. Their presence will pull you out of the emotional rut you have been in. They will always be a reason for the smile on your face. They will bring the sun with them. They will challenge you in life which might make you a bit uncomfortable at first but there will be a greater purpose behind you both coming together.

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Pile 2

Your energy check:

Cards: The Hermit, Emperor, The Hierophant, Queen of Pentacles

Spirit Animal: Firefly

You're an old soul, pile 2. You work so hard for the betterment of the world. You are a fair person and that's inspiring. You may seem intimidating to a lot of people. But at the same time, they come to you for advice because they know that no one else can guide them better than you. You are the light people search for in their darkest of times. You empathize with others because you have seen the polarities of life. Deep down you have the skill, talent, and whatever it takes to create a stable and abundant life for yourself. You may face a lot of hardships during your lifetime but the result is always going to be massive because of your just and honest nature. You may have strong Saturn or Pluto placements. You may be a Libra or an Aquarius. You may feel burnout pretty often. It's very important for you, pile 2, to give yourself time to relax. Allow yourself to take a break. Don't feel guilty about doing nothing. Sometimes that's all we are supposed to do in fact just be and stay in the moment. Your hard work will give you such profound wisdom that one day you'll be sharing it with the world. You'll be looking up to in life. God bless you!

Your future spouse's energy:

Cards: Two of Wands, 3 of Swords, Queen of Cups, Magician

Spirit Animal: Lion

Your future spouse will be somebody who gets trapped in their ego. They will have great plans and huge wishes but they will remain in their mind for longer than they should. When it comes to action they might run away. They will be afraid to be vulnerable. They will not want the world to see their soft side or true side. Deep down they will be like a magician. They can manifest anything they want. They will have the resources to create a wonderful life for themselves but they won't have enough faith in themselves. It will be difficult for them to move on from their past hurt. They may hide themselves from the world but you will be the key to finally helping them release those emotions out of their system. They can be a writer and their creativity will be affected due to the baggage they have been carrying. You will be their key to unlock the door and set them free. They will need to see the world beyond the four walls. They will know that they are in their head but they won't do anything about coming out of it unless someone shows them the way. I hear, “I can't escape this now unless you show me how.” Your future spouse more likely will have their own business. They may seem withdrawn and too serious at first but gradually as you will give them reasons to trust them they may be interested in being your friend. Because you will be their strength which they have lost. I hear the song ‘Strong’ by One Direction. Maybe listen to it. There can be a message for you.

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Pile 3

Your energy check:

Cards: Knight of Wands, 7 of Swords, 3 of Wands, The Sun

Spirit Animal: Camel, Tarantula

You are always on the lookout for something more. You may have noticed this in your past relationships as well. You always feel that there's something better out there. But it's not true. At times you fool yourself into believing that what good is in front of you is never going to be good enough for you. You are not afraid to take risks in relationships. You are a bit naive when it comes to love. You are carefree like a child. You think that it's okay if you make mistakes. You may have been forgiven many times in the past. Are you the younger child in your family? Perhaps some of you are! The idea of love is very much intellectual for you rather than emotional. You think of love but you don't know how to feel it within you. Especially for someone else. You know what receiving love feels like but you don't know what loving someone feels like. And I think that is what your soul craves. To love someone else truly and deeply. Some of you may also think that you're going to find your lover while traveling. Perhaps, that's what you need. You need to travel. Maybe just like the Before trilogy, you may find your person on a train and may have some cool talk with them. And if nothing of that sort happens then also you'll learn a lot in solitude. I sense strong fire energy (Leo, Sagittarius, Aries). God bless you, pile 3.

Your future spouse's energy:

Cards: Page of Swords, 9 of Wands, 7 of Cups, Temperance

Spirit Animal: Starfish

Your future spouse is going to be everything that you are not. They will be filling the gaps. They will be attuned to their emotions. They will be a package of everything. The emotions that you run from they will make you confront them. They will be involved in a lot of pursuits. You'll be surprised how a single person can do so many things. They may have a high temper but deep down they will be trying to control it and balance their emotions in front of you. They will not like to burst out in front of you so don't test their patience. They may appear an amateur but believe me they won't be. Self-doubt is something they may struggle with and you'll have to be patient with them. They may be somebody who gossips a lot. You'll be mesmerized by looking at them. They'll have beautiful facial features. As per the current energies I see that you two may not seem comparatible at first but you both are going to mirror each other. This can be a karmic relationship. The person will appear to be the complete opposite of yours. There will be a lot of passion and emotions involved from your Spouse's side. This quality can overwhelm you. It may also be difficult for you to handle their emotions. They may daydream a lot. Their life may lack focus. Deep down they think they know how to remain focused but in reality, they will be sabotaging their emotions until they all come out like an emotional breakdown. So many interests can easily distract them in life. You'll need to help them concentrate on one thing at a time.

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[sketalya]

✨The Steam Team✨

The Steam Team full ref's

And here are some of my headcanons about them (⁠っ⁠.⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)⁠っ

1) Thomas | 26 y.o | 165 cm

• Cheeky, a little naive, hardworking, friendly, and very loyal

• He didn't have any family left after his older brother Timothy died. So Edward, who is Timothy's friend, decided to take care of little Thomas. And that created a strong sibling relationship between them

• Really admires Edward and always tries to be the best to make his brother proud of him. He even dyed his hair (Thomas' hair was blonde before) and chose to wear blue uniform to look like him

• Teasing grumpy seniors is his daily routine

• Can be a bit stubborn and pushy. But don't worry, he always learns from his mistakes (even though it usually will happen again)

• Always ready to help his friends

• Really likes new challenges and adventures that might cause problems. Don't know how he always makes new friends after that. But yeah, that's what makes this puffball famous isn't it

• Has a huge crush on Lady after saving her. But unfortunately they have to separate because Lady has the responsibility to keep the Magic Railroad alive. Thomas didn't get to express his feelings at that time and now he only hopes to see her again one day

2) Edward | 34 y.o | 175 cm

• Before being the wise Eddie that everyone know, Edward used to be a trouble maker for his brothers and sisters in the past. But after a fatal accident that took the lives of all his siblings, Edward felt guilty for not being a good brother to them. And that made Edward turn into a good older brother figure for all young drivers just like what his older brothers and sisters did

• Always reliable for everything. In fact, because of that, sometimes he gets assignments that actually give him difficulties, but he always tried to do it himself because he didn't want to disappoint people

• Pretty good with children too. He sometimes takes his time to play with the neighborhood children. And all the kids really like him and are very excited every time he comes

• Has his own way of disciplining young drivers who like to cause trouble, Bill and Ben for example. Usually he would just advise patiently but he also don't hesitate to make a little prank to teach them a lesson

• Not very good at understanding jokes and that often makes him misunderstands it

• Actually very tired from everything but trying to look okay (He needs a little help)

• He has quite severe scars on both legs and he also has insomnia...Never let this man get drunk

3) Henry | 29 y.o | 192 cm

• Quite shy, very easy to feel anxious, gentle but can also be a little rough, one of the strongest but people sometimes forget about that because he is quite timid

• Gets along well with young drivers. But he can be a bit mean to them too when he's with other seniors. But slowly he changed now

• Has health problems and has a large scar on his body from the Flying Kipper accident. It makes him feel insecure and try cover it with his turtle neck clothes

• Really likes nature, likes to spend his free time in the forest, and his room is literally filled with potted plants. Has venus flytrap plants that he names Fairy, Bubble, and Lala that he talks to and considers them his pets

• Sometimes he would fish at night after delivering the Flying Kipper and sometimes he would ask Percy to come with him if he wasn't busy and chatting about lots of things together

• Whenever he felt anxious and had a problem, he would usually talk to Edward or Emily about it

4) Gordon | 30 y.o | 192 cm

• Overproud of himself, grumpy, and always seems to look down on young drivers and diesel drivers. But actually he also has a soft side that he doesn't show openly to everyone because of his pride. His face would change when he smiled

• Sleepyhead even though he's a coffee addict, likes to eat a lot, and sometimes smokes in his spare time

• Only likes to take the Express, and would be very lazy if he got another job besides that. Will feel annoyed if other people take the Express even if it's his own friend. But he didn't mind if it was Rebecca

• Very stubborn, only Edward and Sir Topham Hat can deal with that

• Comes from a famous family but he doesn't really like it and doesn't care. Because he has a bad relationship with his relatives and is even awkward when he is with his brother Flying Scotsman

• Really loves all his friends even though he doesn't say it. He will usually give gifts as an apology when his friends are offended by his behavior. He has a hard time accepting new people and can't let go of his friends easily

5) James | 27 y.o | 180 cm

• Splendid, a little narcissistic, and sometimes looks down on others even though he doesn't really mean to

• He looks tough but is actually sensitive, easily offended and will cry silently if someone insults him. That's why he always wants to be the best so that people will praise him more often

• The gossip in the group, literally loves to talk about any drama with the others

• Has several piercing scars on his ears from his emo past. He also has big scars on both arms from an accident but he covered them with fire tattoos and it makes him feel cooler and more confident than ever

• Doesn't like anything dirty and hates insects, especially bees

• Very knowledgeable about fashion, likes to go shopping for new clothes every weekend, happy to give advice on outfit styles. Emily was the one who helped him dye his hair

• Likes collecting cute little things but never tells it to anyone except Emily and Percy

6) Percy | 26 y.o | 160 cm

• The youngest in the group and is often teased by his friends and seniors. Cinnamon rolls but doesn't hesitate to say bad words when he gets really annoyed

• Literally can make friends with anyone even diesel drivers. But a little cynical with Harold because he calls him "Dirty Percy"

• Animal lover, friendly with wild animals, and has many pets such as dog, cat, fish, and even has a collection of insects in his room. Sometimes he liked seeing James' frightened expression when he brought his insects pet

• Admires Henry and considers him his older brother. Henry thought it was cute and was okay with it. In fact, Percy's current uniform is actually Henry's old uniform that was given to him because Percy didn't like his own uniform

• He likes to stay over at Toby's place to play with Henrietta's pet dog. And he thought it was a suitable place to write poetry at his free time (Yes, he likes poetry)

• Percy is quite often asked for help writing and sending love letters by his friends. That made him know about everyone's crushes on Sodor

7) Toby | 40 y.o | 175 cm

• Introverted and doesn't really like being around a lot of people but he still socializes because of his wife. Wise and actually always able to give useful advice but he is quite often underestimated by young drivers

• Always doing things slowly and relaxed, he doesn't like being rushed. Even every lunch time, when his friends had almost finished their food, he still on a few bites. Henrietta was the only one that patient enough for that

• Bookworm and will only wear glasses when reading. Percy says that he looks different when he wears it

• Very good at cooking and often brings food to his friends but he always says that it was made by Henrietta (He doesn't want people to know about it). But of course Percy knew about it, and every time he came to his place, Toby would make cakes and other snacks just for Percy

• He prefers to spend holidays with his wife at home or playing with his pet birds, so sometimes his friend had to push him a little to get him go out together

• Secretly has trust issues and anger issues. He doesn't put much trust in other people who he only considers as ordinary friends. He usually tries to be quiet and patient when someone bothers him, but he can become very out of control when he loses his temper.(Better no need to know what he's do and just don't make him angry)

8) Emily | 29 y.o | 170 cm

• The mature ones in the group, bossy and stubborn in the past but now she has learned to be more open-minded to other people's suggestions (Still a bit bossy sometimes but at least she tried)

• Perfectionist, always wants everything to work well and can be a bit strict about it

• Love pretty and shiny things, she and James often talk about their favorite things

• James sometimes helps her with makeup and choosing outfits every time she goes out somewhere. Which was challenging for James because Emily liked goth style

• She also often talks about flowers with Henry, literally can spending a lot of time just talking about them. Grows lots of flowers in her room with Henry's help, and as a thank you, sometimes she gave Henry some insects to feed his pet venus flytrap (Don't know where she got them but Henry is always happy to receive it...Don't worry, she didn't take it from Percy)

• Likes to borrow novels, especially thriller and mystery genres, from Toby. But that often makes Toby annoyed because she always forgets to return it

• Love to playing with her friends' fluffy hair. Percy, Henry, and Edward are always be the victims if they are careless

• Unlike Edward, she's quite strong and can drink a lot without getting drunk

Sorry if this is too long...I had a lot of fun writing all this ;D and in the future I will always use this design for my AU ⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃

[soapoet]

Who hurt you?

like & rb if it resonates ♡

01.

Shufflemancy: Feelings by EMELINE

This connection could've been so good and had so much potential to last, if it weren't for their near Machiavellian villainy. A power couple is not a dynamic between the crème de la crème who out of the blue and without warning shifts to through their words and actions make the other feel like a foolish peasant who couldn't possibly know better. To treat another like royalty then knock the crown they themselves laid atop your head down seemingly for no reason. Never at all cautious with their words, and worst of all entirely unreceptive of any feedback. Once told they have crossed the line, instead of compassion and asking for forgiveness, the music swells as they justify and explain as though you are but a child, merely overreacting, too emotional to understand and ought to see it from their high and mighty perspective. A person supposed to love you and be worthy of your trust talking down on you from their throne, and in their eyes you see only a heart cold as ice, unrelenting and certain that criticism is a threat and must be stricken down no matter how they claim to love you in the very next breath.

Now, however, they are really feeling the void you left behind when you walked away. For many of you this departure was originally a back and forth, in which you always wound up caught in their net, then escaped, only to be pulled back again. The final time you walked out they did not even flinch, certain you would come back again as always. Time crawled onwards and you were but an echo of the past, slowly fading, and the more days and weeks that flew by the more the feeling of defeat crept up on them. They tried to run, they tried to hide, denying that they had been abandoned. They filled their days with cheer and diversion, perhaps in part to appear at ease upon your return, though mostly because your silence had become deafening and so very frightening.

They're beginning to grow uncomfortable by the tightening of the noose they placed around their own neck when they hurt you. They feel choked up, and in panic they may be lashing out and casting blame everywhere outside of them and treating others poorly. A short fuse breaking their picture perfect image as they rampage at the slightest inconvenience. Unfortunate are those who bear witness to their disgrace and dishonour, but loyal in their steadfast duty to remain at their side knowing that though they're whipped there is good left and needs cleansing to be set free. This seems written in the stars. An important lesson for them to learn and take to heart. To face their shadow boldly and cut out the pieces that serve neither them, others, or the world. A purge is happening, in which they must overcome their own terrors and transmute them to light and make right the wrongs of the past. This can take some time, but you may hear from them, but not until the apologies are sincere and forgiveness may be bestowed upon them truly.

Additional details: substance abuse, red and orange, spicy food, birds (jays and chickens in particular), pigs, hedgehogs, discord servers and other groups of people (guilds and factions, group chats, etc.), upbeat music, travelling, blocked, disgust, unhealthy push and pull, twinflame terminologies, church, large gatherings, parties, family, parents, ex partners, LDR, Capricorn/Scorpio/Aquarius/Pisces, Pluto/Mars/Moon, 4H/5H/8H, January/April/September/December.

02.

Shufflemancy: Someone you loved by Lewis Capaldi

It really felt like the rug was pulled from beneath your feet. Out of nowhere, no less. You were lead to believe everything was good and fine and sudden the image shattered overnight, leaving you cornered in a room full of broken glass. Paralysed, shaking from anger and hurt and with no escape. It can seem as though your whole life was turned upside down. Like you no longer knew what or who you could trust. The burdens so much heavier on your shoulders as the whip cracks, signaling demands for you to run, run faster than ever before, with no direction other than "away". A door slammed in your face with a pocketful of change and the rains cruelly pouring down on your parade.

But, it had been alright. Right? Scrambling to figure out where things went wrong, at what part of the journey did you stumble away from the path, where did you stray? A search for answers yields only more questions to keep you up at night. Replaying the past like a favourite record, coming to find you no longer remember the lyrics and no song sounds familiar to you. What has become of this person? In your mind they are growing blurry though you hear their words so clearly. Afraid you'll forever be haunted by them and their cruel words and schemes. You look to other people who bore witness to this crime and find wolves in sheep's clothing in every previously kind smile, who now look upon you with disgust and turn away. You've never felt so alone and hopeless, forced to limp away to lick your wounds in the dark where hopefully nobody will find you and hurt you again.

Perhaps little birdies whispered in their ears, long enough to fuel any resentment held within to erupt in your face. Somebody who used to care and be so kind and promised to take care of you, suddenly switching to someone unrecognisable to you. You'll survive, I promise you this, and this ordeal will teach you greater independence so that never will you have to face something like this again. They will journey on with serpents and delude themselves into thinking they did what's right, and one day the little birdies will whisper in different ears to their demise and they will find themselves in your point of view. Perhaps then they will realise their wrongs and truly understand. By then you will be stronger and shine brighter, out in the world living a good life, and you will have the grace they did not and accept closure with no ill will. But until then it is okay for you to cry and scream of how much you hate their guts.

Additional details: Instruments, boxes, CDs and DVDs, childhood nostalgia, baby animals, creaky stairs, the smell of petrichor, rings, social work/healthcare, mental health concerns, sleepovers, long hair cut short, striped or mismatched socks, phone calls, short distance travel, siblings or cousins or other relatives your age, colleagues, brown/green eyes, trinkets/charms, exes and authority figures, Cancer/Sagittarius/Leo/Aries, Sun/Ascendant/Mercury, 4H/6H/11H, February/October/November.

03.

Shufflemancy: Famous last words by My chemical romance

This was messy from the very start. You may think now that, surely, this should never have happened at all. Retracing your steps wondering how and why and where you took this strange and awful detour. And why did it leave you so broken? At the time it was not supposed to be so serious, it was fun and games but you began losing every round. No matter the strategy you could simply never win and it was becoming no fun at all and you wanted out of the game. Yet they continued to cast the dice of your fate, and you were left hopelessly scrambling for even a semblance of stability. In fact, you were the one to provide such things, weren't you? At their lowest you dropped what you were doing to provide solutions to their problems so that they would not slip into despair. You devoted yourself to their issues, and they not at all to yours. Your grievances were inconvenient at best, frustrating and somehow a thorn in their side at worst. For some of you, this could've been a long-term friendship which came crumbling down out of the blue and left you shattered though it may have had more control of your life than you originally thought.

And after all you did, they did not choose you. Perhaps they chose another, or ran back to an old flame, like a moth towards a brighter light when they were done dimming yours through their words and actions, or lack of either. For some, their regards for you were altered or manipulated by people you could consider foes. This severance of ties was quick and left you shaken, even for those of you to whom this connection was very new still, and looking back had not been given the time to fully grow roots. Yet once it was uprooted, you took it worse than anticipated and you really were left wondering how they grew their vines around your heart and mind so fast. For many, there can be an element of extra grievance in the form of having known somebody in their quarters was a problem or a threat to your union. Like you were certain that the vultures would come to get their picking if you ever turned away for mere seconds too long, so seeing this person run into the arms of somebody you had on your radar despite their hollow reassurances could've exasperated your sense of betrayal. It is one thing to feel in your gut what could come and fear it from afar, and another to see it come to pass just as you had feared.

This was by no means an easy shift, but one which lead you to learn many important lessons. Your boundaries seem clearer now and you won't as easily let them be stepped on. Whilst you picked up the pieces left scattered on the floor, you took extra care to pick up only those that would serve you and your future. Any gossip or ill will you have directed elsewhere and chosen not to dig deeper, knowing you would only hurt yourself returning to the depths of obsession. Now you look for red flags they taught you, while they desperately search for you in those they meet, helplessly needing somebody to run their life the way you did with such tenacity and grace. There is no telling whether they ever will realise that the reason why their world falls apart every other Tuesday is because of their own words and actions, and I pity those who fall trap into the place you once called yours as it does not seem to be a position of any stability and longevity. At least you've come out of this stronger and firmer in your stance of who you want around and what you do and do not tolerate, and I applaud you for that. Should this be an old friend who one day asks for forgiveness, you may grant them that without lowering the drawbridge completely.

Additional details: sunshine, leather jacket, tinder or other dating apps, childhood friends, blonde or light brown hair, puppies, instagram, psychology, roses and sunflowers, photography, cosplay, glow ups, new adventures and experiences, growing up faster after time of hindered growth, university, book series, fandom spaces, tumblr, Scorpio/Sagittarius/Libra/Gemini, Saturn/Jupiter/Uranus/Moon, 3H/5H/9H/12H, March/July/November/December.

[esote-rika]

Once Upon a Dream | Spencer Reid

o. introduction and prologue | next chapter | series masterlist

Extended Introduction:

In the soft, fleeting hours of the night, Spencer Reid finds love.

It comes in flashes. 

Honeyed hair and a low, feminine voice. The scent of cinnamon and amber, deep and dizzying. In his dreams, she feels real. How else would he be able to hold her or know that her hands are cold?

He sees her in dizzying detail, from the roots of her hair (which is growing back brown), to her nails (painted a different shade of pastel), down to the crescent birthmark on her ankle. The detail deceives him into believing she is real. 

At one point, he thought she was Maeve, because of the blonde hair. However, he has heard Maeve before. For months, the sound of her voice was the only thing he truly knew about her. 

This ephemeral being in his dreams does not sound like Maeve.

Certainly, she reminds him of Maeve, with the way she slips away before he can get a good look at her face.

Oh, the things he would do to get a glimpse of her face, to see her beyond his dreams.

New York City is loud. 

Everyone is doing their own versions of spells here, prayers and meditations and manifestations late into the night. Everyone is trying to be something, someone, and it all rings in a near painful cacophony of desperation and drive.

Jet Clarke has learned to tune it out, learned that surrounding her bed with salt and wearing black tourmaline helps give her a moment of peace, especially in the night when she's trying to get some sleep.

Somehow, he still manages to slip through. Who? She doesn't know. She's more concerned over the fact that he keeps getting past her protective spells than she is about his identity.

Sure her defenses weren't top notch (she had never truly paid attention to the defense lessons from her aunts), but for the most part, they work. It had been able to block the coven of overeager teen girls down the street who are still testing the limits of their gifts. 

So she doesn't understand why she continues to dream of eyes that look like liquid gold, and flashes of purple fabric.

When Jet's sister becomes a person of interest in a series of murders, she goes back to her quaint hometown in Massachusetts, only to find herself face to face with one of the FBI agents handling the case. 

The very same man who's been haunting her dreams.

Face claims (because I'm extra and I already made them, might as well post. feel free to ignore though lol)

Matther Gray Gubler as Spencer Reid "If your spells always feel like this, then never stop casting them on me."

Carey Mulligan as Jet Clarke "It's not fair, Spence, having eyes like yours; they're their own kind of magic."

Claudia Jessie as Lenore Clarke "For a couple of smart people, you're both pretty idiotic."

Prologue:

Once upon a time—or so how most fairy tales begin. With a princess, fair and lovely, in a castle. Or some small children in the woods. Fairies. A talking animal. A witch in an old cottage.

—A curse.

Ah, yes. Gamble your name, your first born child, your very soul, in order to escape a marriage, or for a chance at gold and riches. Maybe you've been cruel to an old crone who's harboring a secret power, and got turned into a frog, or a strange beast. 

Maybe you were the unfortunate girl tasked to save the creature, change them back into a handsome young man through your love, or, a simple but pure kiss.

Or, perhaps your parents pissed off a powerful fairy, or your beauty threatened a witch and one wrong move would send you into a hundred years of sleep.

—But the eldest Clarke daughter isn't cursed in that way, oh no. Hers had begun as protection, passed on through the eldest child of every generation of their family. 

A cloaking spell, given to one of their ancestors centuries ago, to keep the young maiden from being tracked down by a rich man who wanted her for his wife. The woman grew paranoid and desperate, elevating the spell until she became undetectable unless she herself gave up her location. 

(Because, contrary to some belief, consent is, and will forever be, attractive.)

So strong was the spell that she inadvertently passed it onto her descendants, the oldest child in each family, for she too was the oldest among her siblings. 

A spell given with no ill intentions, merely to protect. 

In the modern world, it meant that Bridget Clarke can't ever be pinned on location tracking apps, nor can she be stalked. Which would be helpful if she were ever susceptible to stalking, but between her and her sister Lenore, the younger one was more likely to have stalkers, being as popular as she is. 

But it also meant the Jet could escape whenever she needs to, without the fear of someone ever finding her when she isn't ready to be found yet. 

(Once upon a time, there was a little girl who forced herself to stop hiding out of the fear that everyone would eventually grow tired of looking.)

A/N: I adore this story, but the initial idea for a practical magic inspired Spencer Reid fic is from my beloved @g4rvez-r3id <3 finally found the time to post it on here as well. I'm going for some magical realism, so there's no complicated magic systems, just some cozy witchy vibes with magic that simply exists in-world. If you're not into that or believe in it, please be respectful, I don't want anyone disrespecting the practice. If there ARE people who practice witchcraft in any shape or form, and see that I've written something inaccurate, please let me know. I'm doing research as well, but it won't be super in-depth, so any kind corrections are welcome Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think :)

[modelbus]

I've been in the worst writing slump... so I've defaulted to Kaz Brekker (oops). This didn't get as far as I wanted it to, but it's about 2k words!

Be warned: This contains death (murder), kidnapping, violence, skin trading, mentioned sex work, human trafficking (called "the skin trade" in here), weaponry, and I think that's it!

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Gn!Reader

Tricked Target

Time is as good as the kruge in your pockets in the Barrel. You know this well, considering you have little of both; money and time. Or perhaps you have too much time. It simply depends on how one sees it, you suppose.

Someone might take you pouring over papers on a desk as a waste of time. See the mahogany wood, stained dark, and curl their lips as the sheer money it must've taken to buy.

Someone else might realize this isn't your office, isn't your desk, and keep their mouth shut.

Tonight, that happens to be an unfortunate man named Zade Oren. Tied in his leather chair, black ropes expertly woven, a gag stuffed in his mouth, and both Achilles slashed for good measure, he learned his lesson.

Don't piss you off.

And although he isn't technically keeping his mouth shut of his own free will, it still technically counts. You give him the slightest of glances, just enough to monitor the tears dripping down his face from wide eyes, before returning to the papers you're rifling through.

"This would be easier if you had just cooperated." You muse aloud, flicking through a ledger before abandoning it. "But you guys never do."

He makes a pathetic sort of whimpering that makes you grin.

You aren't a bad person. After all, you only enjoy the blood on your hands when it's from the right person. The type of person you have at your mercy right now, for example. If anything, you're as close to good as it gets in the barrel. A type of vigilante, rather than one of the profit-seeking groups.

Dime Lions, Black Tips, Razorgulls, The Liddies, Harley's Pointers. Now those are some bad organizations. You're still on the fence about The Dregs; you've seen them do as much good as they have bad. Mostly due to the smaller organization within them. Or maybe the Crows aren't part of the Dregs anymore; you don't care. They're not of interest to you.

"Ah. Here we go." You hum, finding a record of a transaction. Zade gives a feeble cry. Useless, these men who beg for their lives. As if you'll ever give them back.

The transaction seems harmless enough. Four pearls for a sum of money. A sum far too large to be worth even some really fucking nice pearls. And, most importantly, names of the buyer and seller. Your eyes ghost over Zade's name as the buyer, focusing on the seller's name instead.

Then, you crumple up the paper and stuffs it in your pocket.

Pearls. What a stupid code name. The sellers determine it, and they're never very creative with code names. Always something valuable, never something believable.

All it takes is one person (you, in this case) to see what it really means.

Kids.

"I should be going, I think." You finally say, straightening. "Don't worry, don't worry. No more people need to get hurt anymore."

Zade slumps in relief, and you let a wicked grin stretch over your face.

"Oh, no, you've misunderstood. No people will be harmed by me tonight. But you're not really a person, are you?" Your head tilts, watching the panic wash over his features.

Like a cat toying with a mouse, you are. It's just so amusing though, to witness the fear. To let them experience what they've instilled in so many others. That despair? It's precious.

Your knife is sinking into his chest before he can protest any more. Pushing past the hard bone, sinking into his heart with a sick squelch. By the time you pull it out, he's already dead.

"Fool." You sigh, leaving him there and striding over to the window. Let his guards find him later, you don't care.

And when you hoist yourself out the window, scaling onto the roof, the office is almost as you found it. Only his dead body and a note to proclaim the kill as justified.

It reads the same as always: Hurt a kid and I'll hurt you next.

The Avenger is the name people like to call you. Or the rumors of you. Most of Ketterdam has the wrong ideas about you, but you aren't fixing to correct them. False assumptions only make your job far easier.

Honestly, you'd rather be called a protector. But avenger works just as fine. It gets the point across.

A shiver runs up your spine when you're standing on the rooftop, but a cursory glance around shows nobody. You didn't expect it to, but still. The feeling of eyes following you has only gotten stronger recently, but seeing as nobody has attempted to kill you yet you assume it's fine.

Some people are just too curious for their own good and like being spies. As long as they aren't fucking up your plans, you really don't care. Honestly. The feeling of eyes is perfectly fine with you.

"You could say hi. I don't bite." You murmur into the still air, but to no avail.

The feeling doesn't leave as you head back to your home, a dingy apartment near a lot of the gambling dens. It's rented from a landlord who couldn't give less of a shit—she's never met the guy—which was perfect for you. And the place was cheap, which was a big bonus. Not that you were hurting for money, because you had no problems about stealing from those you killed, but you preferred to use it for better things.

Like buying new knives.

Dropping back down to the alleys, your feet hit the cobbles without a single sound. Subtlety was an art form, one everyone had to perfect in the barrel. Unless they were rich enough to get away without it, but you were not. Sadly.

There's footsteps behind her, and you turn to glare at the stranger. Give them a silent warning to mind their own fucking business.

Luck is not on your side today though, because they lunge at you with outstretched hands and a knife. You dodge, slamming your body into a wall to avoid the attack, hands scrambling for your own daggers.

The attacker is big, an ugly snarl stretched out across his mug, a beard covering half his face. Professional, if you had to guess, and definitely after you. Oh, joy.

This time, you don't give him the opening he wants. You dart forward, metal gleaming, knowing that the only way to walk away is to remove the obstacle in your path. In other words: kill him.

You both scramble, your knife digging into his forearm due to a nicely executed move on his part, but you abandon it in his arm to stab at him with another. A hand on your arm, metal meeting metal, it's a raw fight. Evenly matched.

But you must be off, must be mentally occupied, because you don't hear the footsteps behind you until it's too late. It's not until something slams into your head, sending you staggering with black spots, do you realize someone else is here.

"And that's meant to be the Avenger?" The person behind you scoffs.

"They put up a pretty good fight before you came in." Burly guy answers, stepping toward you.

His shoes are the last thing you see before your eyes roll back.

-

There's a hood over your head.

When you blinks your eyes open, you're met with complete and utter darkness. Although you want to panic—desperately—you don't. You can feel the ropes tying you to some type of chair, your wrists pulled together behind the back of it and your ankles tied to the legs of the chair.

Panicking now wouldn't do anything for you, so you just sit in silence.

But you're frustrated. So frustrated that you let your guard drop, that you've gotten yourself into this situation. You refuse to be another Mar, refuses to be the second Avenger that befalls the fate they tried to prevent.

"Makes sense now why he's wanting 'em." Someone is saying, and you try to subtly tilt your head to listen in. "He's always collecting 'em dangerous skinny ones."

"Putting together his own little menagerie." A second voice joins in, laughing.

The words have you tensing, against all instincts. Are they selling you to the menagerie?

Everyone knows what the menagerie is. Girls, tricked into sex work—and sometimes men—and people all too willing to take advantage of them. One of the things you worked against, and, subsequently, one of your worst nightmares.

"Serves this one right. Sardonic, isn't it?"

"You mean ironic?"

"What the difference?"

Oh, saints. You haven't just been kidnapped, but you've been kidnapped by idiots.

"Both of you stop. He'll be here soon." And that's a third voice. Only two people grabbed you, and you're willing to bet this third is the boss.

You don't recognize the voice, but you haven't exactly heard the voices of many people that are high in the chain in the Barrel. Not unless it's them begging for life, and you never hear from them again after.

But now you know for certain that they won't be sending you to the actual menagerie at least. The double confirmation is nice, even if the unknown is a whole other worry.

A door opens somewhere, and there's an abrupt rush of footsteps.

"You're early!" Probably boss guy shouts way too loudly. "The Avenger is all ready for you, but still knocked out."

"How long ago did you grab them?" Oh, that's a new voice. Faintly familiar, although you can't tell from where.

It's been a long time since you've felt so helpless. Like things were out of your carefully measured control. Not since you came home to an empty apartment, a person missing from it.

"A few hours." Probably boss answers. You don't need your eyes to know he's leering at you.

"...and how hard did you hit? Saints."

"They're alive, ain't they? Pay up."

"How much did we agree on again?" A cool voice asks, and your head jerks up. You know that voice, you've stalked the owner of that voice.

Kaz Brekker.

"Oh, look at that. It lives." Probably boss laughs cruelly, and you attempt a glare at him through the hood. "And you know how much we agreed on. Hand it over, Brekker."

And there's your confirmation. Your didn't just imagine it; Kaz Brekker is buying you. Why? You've never interfered with his dealings. In fact, after confirming he isn't into the skin deal, you actively stayed out of his business. You definitely didn't need more enemies than you already have.

The sound of Kruge being exchanged, followed by gleeful exclamations, makes you grit your teeth. If Brekker wants a shot at you, he'll have to do a lot more than pay some money.

"Get out." Brekker says after a moment, cutting the guys who kidnapped you off.

"This is our-"

"Get. Out."

Nobody makes him repeat it a third time, as is evidenced by the sound of footsteps fading away.

He's bossy, but he has the power to be. The cool indifference in his tone, the brilliant business plays he's made. Scrappy, like you, but far more powerful. There's a raw hunger in him you don't have; that nobody but him has.

It's scary as hell.

"Untie them."

There's movement around you, and then the hood is yanked off. You squint, blinking a few times, before focusing on the irritatingly put-together man in front of you. Although looking roughly the same age as you, the Barrel makes anyone be adults far too fast.

Brekker stares down at you, gloved hands clasped onto his cane. Behind him, a Suli girl hovers. Inej, his wraith. A spy, as far as anyone knows. Not an assassin. So that means whoever is working on untying you is Jesper.

"You're in quite the situation." He notes dully, but there's a wicked gleam in his eyes.

It only makes you glare harder. "Thanks, I'm aware."

The rope around your wrists falls away and you bring your hands to your lap, but don't move to untie your ankles. There's a sharpshooter behind you and a girl with knives in front of you; You aren't completely stupid. And that's not to mention the damage you know Brekker can do too.

"I have a deal for you." Brekker says after a moment, taking a step forward. He switches his crow-headed cane to his left hand, holding out his right for a handshake.

You don't take it. "What's the deal?"

"I don't think you're in a position to be asking questions."

"What's. The. Deal?"

"Perhaps I didn't make it clear. Take the deal right now, or we'll dump your body in the harbor to drown."

Well. That's not a lot of options. Everyone knows to negotiate all terms of a deal before accepting, but what choice do you have? He's brilliant for this move, and you hate him for it. Saving your life, buying you, just to force you into a deal to live.

Before you can talk yourself out of it, reason why this is such a horrible idea, you're shaking his hand. 

"Screw you." You spit out, life-saving be damned. Your grip tightens, just to spite him. Although his lips tug down, he doesn't pull away.

His reply is passive.

"Welcome to the crows."

[libraford]

hello!

do you mind if i ask you for some tips & helps for beginners when it comes to tarot an witchcraft in general? i’m never sure what’s like an actual thing or someone pulling the whole “you’re not autistic you’re actually just a *insert wildly weird thing here*” if that makes sense?

it’s completely ok if you don’t want to answer this btw c: either way please an thank you & good luck with your drag show 🖤

Ummm, I'm not great at beginner tips because my practice is so personal and required so many years of going 'wtf am I doing' that unfortunately most of my advice is 'do some shit, learn hard lessons, try not to hurt anyone in the process.'

So the thing that's happening with the 'you're not (condition), you're (fictional creature)' rhetoric is, essentially, new age eugenics.

Psychology is a fairly new science and there's a lot of people who outwardly don't believe in it. Like they'll believe in pop-psychology that's easily disprovable ('if you chew on ice that means you have an oedipus complex' is one I've heard) but when it comes to things that are actually part of the field like... diagnoses for depression, anxiety, trauma- people start getting weird about it.

Where it comes from could be any number of things, but if you go back just... even ten years the culture surrounding openly talking about diagnoses is completely different. And I think that for a lot of people, having a diagnosis for why your brain does the thing it does means that they have to answer some hard questions for themselves.

There is also some distrust of medication (there have been some... not great medications for depression and ADHD in the past) as well as good old fashioned family ableism.

So. The easiest way to deal with this is to pretend that mental illness does not exist.

And make some rather... interesting conclusions to explain why people are a little strange. They're aliens. They're fairies. They're witches. They're part of an ancient race. They're from another dimension. They're reincarnations of ancient goddesses. They're shards.

If you believe these things for yourself, that's fine. If this helps you navigate your world better and hurts no one, I have no problem with it. It could be true and I wouldn't know it- fuck, I don't know the secrets of the universe.

If it works for you.

Unfortunately-

There are thousands and thousands of terrible books about how to treat your starseed child, your indigo child, your crystal child. And it is exceedingly common that these phrases are used to deny a child proper medical care. It dehumanizes them. It makes them 'other.' Its already difficult to socialize a child- now they're special magical children who don't need to be socialized. And these books sell. And they sell and they sell and they sell...

I am not a scholar in this field- I have just been to places, seen things, and listened to people.

But here's a recent paper linking starseed talking points to far-right extremism that will ruin a lot of New Age rhetoric for you forever.

I realize that my thoughts derailed there... which would be the ADHD. But in terms of what should you do when you're just starting out with witchcraft? Read as much as you can, listen to as many people as you can, but decide for yourself what's true and what's a load of hog shit.

[merlingenrecs]

The holiday season is upon us, and Camelot is celebrating, too! If you want to get into a festive mood, you can find some reading material here.

Today’s gen fic rec theme: Christmas, Yuletide & Solstice

↓ Find the list of fanfic recs under the cut! ↓

⚬ Some Things Are Meant to Be by 1917farmgirl, 11k, rated G <https://archiveofourown.org/works/13183989> summary: For Merlin, having the world fall apart around him was nothing new, but having someone there to help him pick up the pieces afterwards unfortunately was. Until it happened twice, with two very special people who appeared in his life when he most needed saving. Modern AU, friendship fic. Sort of Christmas story.

⚬ A Gift Well Received by Gingeraffealene, 2k, rated K+ <https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13458637/1/A-Gift-Well-Received> summary: Merlin hasn't seemed to really appreciate any of the gifts Arthur's given him in the past. Guinevere suggests Arthur try doing something Merlin really would appreciate, no matter how much it pains Arthur. Happy Yule! Have a Hug!

⚬ Overlooked by sarajm, 50k, rated K+ <https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11087241/1/> summary: Arthur is well on the way to becoming the type of leader Merlin had always hoped he'd be - one who cares for all of his people. But even so, preparations for Yule festivities along with some unforeseen circumstances result in Merlin taking on too much work. Unfortunately nobody notices until it's almost too late.

⚬ To Drive the Cold Winter Away by VikingSong, 1.5k, rated G <https://archiveofourown.org/works/52608178> summary: A fluffy Yuletide slice-of-life from the dawn of Camelot's Golden Age. A cold snap has enveloped Camelot, but heartwarming friendship and a dash of magic are the perfect combination to drive the cold winter away.

⚬ Winter Solstice Celebrations And A Lesson in Appreciation by Glon_Morski, 13k, rated T <https://archiveofourown.org/works/29471682> summary: “He doesn’t appreciate you,” he said one evening to Emrys after the king had left. The warlock blinked at the statement, wide-eyed as if he didn’t understand what he’d been told. The boy huffed. “Everything you do for him, all the times you saved him and his kingdom, all the guidance and he doesn’t appreciate you at all!” “He does,” Merlin defended with a shake of his head. “Well, he has a weird way of showing it,” the boy grumbled with a pout. “It’s like he thinks you’re always going to be there, that he can do anything because you’ll never leave.” “That’s because I won’t. And he knows me enough to know as much,” was the warlock’s reply. “That doesn’t mean he should take you for granted.” Or: In which a druid boy takes matters into his own hands to ensure Arthur learns to appreciate a certain manservant.

⚬ The Secret Handshake by Skydragon05, 2k, rated G <https://archiveofourown.org/works/43350633> summary: It's the yuletide celebration, and this year guests are attending from all over the kingdom. There's one thing unusual though. Several of the guests are not only shaking hands with the King upon arrival, but with Merlin too... and they're shaking his hand backwards. Merlin can't fathom why, so Morgana goes off to seek answers.

⚬ Advent Calender 2023 by s0mmerspr0ssen, 44k, rated G-T <https://archiveofourown.org/series/4478905> summary: This series contains all stories that belong to the Merlin gen fic advent calendar 2023 as well as a few revised stories that were created that year. Enjoy!

⚬ Elf-Boy and Turniphead Save Christmas by Pelydryn, 46k, rated T <https://archiveofourown.org/works/8845624> summary: Three weeks before Merlin's eleventh Christmas, he is introduced to the thirteen-year old Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Camelot and eventual heir to the throne of all Albion. As far as early Christmas presents go, it is a tremendous disappointment. When Merlin's mum is hired as royal governess by a magic-hating king, Merlin is not happy. Sharing Christmas with a turniphead of a prince does nothing to help his holiday spirit. And he had been so good this year…

⚬ Yuletide by daylighthour, 2.5k, rated G <https://archiveofourown.org/works/17108132> summary: It is the annual Yule feast, Arthur is sick, Merlin is attentive, and both are surprised at how much they care about each other.

⚬ One of Us Is Lying by sinivalkoista, 1k, rated G <https://archiveofourown.org/works/43523355> summary: Someone has a horrid sweet tooth and keeps stealing sweets from the kitchens for weeks leading up to the Yule Feast. Arthur decides to rope Merlin into helping him investigate.

⚬  The Christmas Promise by Uniasus, 1k, rated T <https://archiveofourown.org/works/8905864> summary: Scolding a dragon, even one you hatched, never worked well. Especially if you left her alone for a hundred years to be a tree. She turns a might clingy.

[retconsatlightspeed]

Here's how I'd fix Skeleton Crew

see my previous post for my general problems with the series

Give it a full 10-12 episodes. Disney has more money than god, they can spare some.

This is a kid's adventure movie, so why do the kids want to go back home from moment 1? The reason that the binary sunset is one of the iconic images of starwars is that it expresses Luke's (and the audience's) deepseated longing to go somewhere they've never seen before, which SURPRISE: is why we're watching a scifantasy story full of weird and wondrous vistas and alien critters. Either have these kids desperately want to leave At Attin and want to turn around later, or have them stranded deep in a part of unknown space and make getting back difficult. Then you drop them on a series of weird, wondrous worlds chock full of starwars magic (stuff from old movie genres with a scifantasy twist, practical effects, marketable iconography, and the occasional callback) and have them grow in response to adversity. It's adventure writing 101

Lets say that after their first hyperspace jaunt, the kids get stuck on some planet and are having fun, but then get picked up by pirates who have their outlaw port station in orbit.

Have Jod be actually a good guy at the start. We the audience know he's not what he claims to be, but he's charming and legitimately protective of the kids. Let him build a unique relationship with each of them that helps further both their characters: He's building a mentor bond with Wim, he's encouraging Fern's independance, He's recognizing KB's talent, and he's helping Neel to be brave.

This directly interfaces with why the kids want to go on an adventure in the first place: Wim is convinced there's something more to life than the suburbian drugery he was promised, Fern was stifled by constraints and rules, KB was coddled because of her disability. Neel should be our only character who WANTS to go back at the start because he's scared and wants the saftey blanket, but over time learns to come out of his shell and enjoy the wonders of the cosmos. The parts are there in the series already, they just need to be highlighted.

That gets us into Jod's arc. "Pirate with an unfortunate conscience" is a good starting point, but the show bungles his character by saying HEY THIS GUY IS UNTRUSTWORTHY every episode preventing us from ever getting close enough to give his betrayal weight. Instead lets try this: Jod is a goodguy forced to be a badguy, his hero's journey got cut short when his mentor got killed in front of him,...and he bumped around the galaxy taking worse and worse jobs until he ends up a bountyhunter who ends up crossing the wrong crimelord. He gets declared an outlaw, falls in with the pirates, and tries to be a good captian until his "bluster past your inability to be cruel" schtic gets sniffed out by his crew. What he sees in the kids is a chance for redemption, to be the goodguy his mentor wanted him to be, even if he has to tell a LOT of white lies to make them like him.

Jod helps get their vessel ship-shape while taking them out on adventures/field trips where we build up character relationships. Fern gets a semi-dangerous planet where she can cut loose, but learns the value of being a leader ( something something, if you're a captian you look out for your crew). Neel's outings are focused on getting home, but he gets to see some cool stuff that says the rest of the galaxy isn't so bad. Wim gets to visit the ancient Jedi temple of his dreams and we can have a sad meditation on what it means to follow the force in a galaxy without the order. Jod can also have some feelings about this. KB's adventure is sidetracked by her augs malfunctioning, and after the kids are overly protective we get a lesson about not treating people with disabilities as lesser.

Ready for the twist? Jod doesn't betray the kids, he genuinely wants to get them home and be a hero for once in his life. Instead as we keep doing the field trips, we keep running into situations that tempt Jod into going back to his scoundrel/pirate past, but he abstains... until he has to break out the merciless survivor persona to protect them. The kids are HORRIFIED, seeing all the time they've spent together as manipulation. They call him a villain and leave him on whatever plannet they're on as they make the last sprint towards home. That's right: the kids betray HIM

Heartbroken, Jod does a heel turn. The universe has been trying to cut out his heart since day 1 and the kids just went and twisted the knife. If he's not going to get to play the hero then he'll just have to play the villain, he calls the pirates and tells them about the treasure.

The end is mostly the same, except Jod just wants to do a rehash of his previous "Pretend to be scary to get the loot but don't hurt anyone" plan, while the pirates want to take the treasury planet for themselves and force the inhabitants to be their slaves. Queue Jod and the kids forced to reconcile to save their home but fundamentally change it at the same time.

The quietly authoritarian suburbia mystery is actually pretty great and just needs the slightest change: Rather than destroying the overseer, the pirates reprogram it. Forcing the population to work under Orwellian surveillance for an absent republic isn't THAT different than forcing them to toil for a bunch of exploitative marauders. The great work can continue, now there's just someone closer by beneifiting from it. Latestage capitalist decline from global markets to techno-feudalism anyone?

In the end, no one gets what they want, and they're all the better for it. Jod can't be the hero because he has to come clean about his past. The kids get to go home, but they've brought the danger and wonder of the galaxy back with them. Now all of At Attin is looking up at the stars, wondering what adventure will come their way.

SM-33 is there, he's my perfect little 9ft robo-skeleton-pirate-son and I will not hear a word spoken against him.

[lovemyromance]

ACOTAR FANDOM RANT incoming:

Y'all will never see me commenting on a properly tagged anti-Elriel post just to start a fight or even point out something the OP misconstrued or concluded (however incorrectly).

Ok I've done it maybe like three times, and it was probably back from when I was brand spankin new to this fandom's insanity and didn't understand the rules (learned Very quickly as a result of a bad encounter with the you know who's), or because someone copy pasted my post to "prove me wrong" (they didn't)

I've only been active in this fandom since like February 2024, and I have yet to block anyone, block any tags, or even follow any tags.

I see just as many anti-Elriel posts as I see Elriel posts.

Let that sink in.

I don't "go looking" through the anti-elriel tags, but when you don't follow anything - you get a whole lot of everything in your "for you" page.

I see so many flat out wrong interpretations of canon text or people posting about how during "Gwyn & Azriel's dagger lesson, he let her use Truthteller" or "Elain is secretly so in love with Lucien that she self harms instead of using his gifts"

and you know what I do? I exercise my self-control, and scroll. None of my business.

Clearly, I am not someone who is interested or even out lurking in anti Elriel posts for a fight. And yet, I have so many antis commenting on my posts - getting mad - then blocking ME.

Does that make sense? They came onto my page, to tell me I was wrong, and then got mad when I very logically pointed out the flaws in their logic, and then blocked me.

Facts:

I don't go out and start fights on anti-Elriel posts.

When someone comes to my posts, and starts a fight, I am very respectful of that person. You'll see me calling their interpretation wrong - but you won't see me saying anything about them personally, or calling them names or slurs or anything of that nature.

I do not belittle others

I do not dismiss anyone's trauma

I do not diminish anyone's accomplishments

I am respectful of real people's boundaries

I have never brought up tasteless and crude arguments just to "win a fight"

And if anyone thinks otherwise, then go ahead, feel free to prove me wrong. Receipts are all up there. To this day, I haven't deleted a comment, post, or reblog. I have like 80 posts a day, surely if I have behaved poorly in any way, I would've slipped up by now and you'd be able to find it.

But I know I haven't.

Even when people didn't read my post or understand anything I was saying before coming into my comments to fight with me. Even when someone said my trauma doesn't matter. Even when someone said I was "anti SA victims" (which is really funny, because that was after I reluctantly pointed out that I was unfortunately ALSO an SA victim)

I have never, ever, said anything like that to anyone in this fandom. That's just not who I am.

So then why - WHY - do people think it's okay to send me anons that threaten to find me and get me to "stfu about elriel you fucking c*nt" and tell me to go off myself and if I ship Elriel I'm an abuser?

Genuinely - why is that necessary? Why does someone feel the need to type that out, read it back, nod to themselves like "oh yeah that's good". And then send it to a real person??

What do they think I'm going to do? What purpose does that serve? It's very clearly a troll or some Elucien/Gwynriel that doesn't like what I have to say - but why is this the reaction?

Having a preference for a fictional ship does not make you a bad person. I have not once engaged with ANY EL/GA and called them "anti - SA" or "pro - r*pe culture" if they were fighting with me on my post. I think they're crazy sometimes - don't get me wrong - but I'm not out here thinking someone who ships Elucien is anti-women.

That is crazy. If you think having any preference for a ship makes some a "BAD PERSON", respectfully please log off. Get out of this fandom because you are part of the reason it's gotten so bad.

Stop attacking real people over fucking fictional characters. It's not okay, in any context. And I'm tired of it.

Turning off my anons for at least a little bit, sorry to the ones I haven't gotten around to.