#universal survival saga
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Universe 7 vs Universe 11 | Dragon Ball Super | Universal Survival Saga
#dragon ball super#gohan#vegeta#frieza#jiren#dyspo#toppo#universal survival saga#universe 7#universe 11#tournament of power#dragon ball z#dragon ball#goku#martial arts#akira toriyama#piccolo#anime#manga#yuya takahashi
82 notes
·
View notes
Text
52 notes
·
View notes
Text
Beerus in "Emergency Development! The Incomplete Ten Members!!" Dragon Ball Super: Season 5, Episode 16 (2017)
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
Today's Daily Degurechaff is… more furry-posting
#in every universe it seems like im obliged to cast erich in the role of 'long-suffering parent'#furry tanya would not be able to survive. caffeine is very poisonous to dogs#chocolate as well#poor Tanya. deprived of everything she loves…#dailydegurechaff#youjo senki#the saga of tanya the evil#tanya von degurechaff#erich von lergen#erich von rerugen#lergen
70 notes
·
View notes
Text
Star: you'll never be a good knight if all you do is laze around!
Sea: that's fine. Not all that interested in being a good knight. I wanna be a merchant.
Star: then why did you enroll?
Sea: room and board is free
Star *throws her hands in the air* where's your passion? Your drive?
Sea: I do have a passion and drive... for Profit
#it is to be noted that he was scared of monsters so he joined so he could protect himself#realized he had a natural aptitude for fighting and was like 'cool i can survive now let us focus on building my buisness'#another important factor for enrollment is that Star was enrolled there and he had a massive crush#soh sea#the saga of hilda#tellie's loz ocs#loz hilda#loz ravio#hildavio#soh star#tellie's history of lorule#legend of zelda au#linked universe#linked universe au#for stars side of the thing she's worried that sea is gonna rely too much on natural talent#never train#and get killed by monsters someday#she worries a lot about him#someone's got a cruuuushhh
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
Introducing my Former Student in Gaza: Sarah Abu Hweidy
I am making this post to introduce my former student in Gaza: Sarah Abu Hweidy. After I was evacuated to Ireland with the help of my Irish college, I pledged to do everything in my power to help my people back home, especially my students. After one of my guest lectures, I was asked by a professor: "Is there any way we can help your students?" With much hope and trust in my heart, I said: "Yes, bring as many of my bright students as possible to study at MIC; all universities in Gaza have been leveled; give them hope to be able to survive."
Believing that Sarah's amazing skills and diligence will make her an ideal ambassador of Palestine in Ireland, I nominated her for the College of Sanctuary Award at Mary Immaculate College (MIC) where I myself do my PhD.
Check the offer letter that Sarah received from MIC here.
Please listen to what she has to say:
She lives with her family in a tent in Gaza now and is suffering the unimaginably insufferable like all the rest of the people of Gaza including my own family.
Please check out her first Tumblr post here.
Link to her campaign here.
Tagging for reach <3 Please consider boosting Sarah's campaign and share her Tumblr post
@nabulsi @el-shab-hussein
@riding-with-the-wild-hunt @sayruq @ibtisams @vakarians-babe
@schoolhater @mangocheesecakes @dormimi-zzz
@dlxxv-vetted-donations @a-shade-of-blue @heliopixels
@imjustheretotrytohelp @ana-bananya @irhabiya
@apollos-olives @northgazaupdates @90-ghost
@soon-palestine @cherifaouachani @newsfrom-theworld
@palestinegenocide @heydreamchild @butchmagicalboi
@plomegranate @blackpearlblast @fairuzfan
@sar-soor @fallahifag @humanvoicebox @queerstudiesnatural
@commissions4aid-international @stil-lindigo
@communistchilchuck @ghost-and-a-half @kyra45-helping-others
@kyra45 @feluka @appsa @transmutationisms
@ibtisams @malcriada @flower-tea-fairies
@baby-girl-aaron-dessner @troythecatfish
@rebecca-levin-art @ana-bananya
@captainsplat @vasira96 @suggestionsofkindness
@catgirl-kaiju @melissa-titanium
@psalidodont @weirdplutoprince @xanfeursel @droodlebug
@tothepointofinsanity
@ruthlesslistener @the3rddenialist @drakkonyan @eligobrrrrr
@strawcherrily-ish @paperandpencilsandskips @saga-ordsmed
@sploonswagtournament @iridescentscarecrow @cantsayidont
@trueloveistreacherous @beedok @normalslimeguy
@finnitesimal @andalusiya @skinwretch
@rednines @elderling @sour-soda @stiltonbasket
@hello-kitty-milkshake @butchmartyr @laurellament
@saltyfinalboss @dirtangeldean
@antrunner @xgoldenlatiasx @cinnamontoasten
@beatricebidelaire @strawberriandromeda
@hamletisintown @septemberlikestea @lttleghost
@somegrumpynerd @megabuild
@innovatorbunny @flanneldragon @butiknowiloatheyou
@ashstfu @autisticandroids
#vetted#verified#mahmoud khalaf#free gaza#free palestine#gaza#gaza genocide#gaza strip#signal boost#mutual aid#palestine aid#palestine#save palestine#palestinian genocide#i stand with palestine#all eyes on palestine#pray for palestine#palestine news#viva palestina#help gaza#the gaza strip#gazaunderattack#palestine genocide#rafah under attack#all eyes on rafah#rafah#rafah crossing#free rafah#signal b00st#!!!
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
Danny Phantom Fanfic Masterlist
I've been meaning to do this for a bit! Since I've been in the Phandom for 10+ years I've picked up a lot of good fanfics over the years and I think it'd be great to share them again in case people have forgotten/haven't encountered them!
I mostly used Fanfiction.net in my older days so a lot of them will be linked there. I'm also pretty picky when it comes to fics being completed, so expect the ones listed to be bingeable with an ending! And finally, I'm not huge on romance/smut so most of them probably won't involve those genres, I'll point out ones that do. (These are in no particular order).
👻 Happy Reading! 👻
👻 = Regular Fic
🟢 = Alternate Universe Fic
⚔️ = Crossover Fic
💙 = Would Recommend!
💙💙 = One of my Favorites!
💙⚔️💙 Mirrored by Lynse
"As a general rule, diving into unknown swirly vortexes in the Ghost Zone is a bad idea, but this was a time when Danny had no other real choice. Meanwhile, Jake thought he was through dealing with ghosts, but Rotwood, well, he's just getting started."
I posted about this one a few years ago and the author, @ladylynse , said it's also available on AO3. This is by far one of my f a v o r i t e fanfics that I read annually or so! If you're a sucker for American Dragon too, definitely check this one out <3 The characterization of both Jake and Danny, plus watching their friendship grow, always gets me in the feels.
💙👻 Phantom's Sketchbook by AkoyaMizuno
"Mr. Lancer finds himself in an unparalleled situation, he has access to something which can give him incredible insight into the personal workings of Amity Park's local ghost teen hero, Danny Phantom."
It's been a while since I've read this one, but I remember it having a lovely characterization of Lancer plus his mentor relationship with Danny. (I loved this one a great amount back in the day that I, uh, made fanart and turned it in for a school assignment. Which is lost to the ages now 😅)
👻 Darkness by Cordria
"Maddie and Phantom are trapped in the dark. Can they come to an agreement to work together before they both die at the full moon? Part 1 of Illuminations Saga."
I don't quite remember this one but I DO remember Cordria had some absolute bangers. You'll probably see their name a few more times on this list.
💙👻💙 Masks by Cordria
"Sometimes, people hide who they truly are behind masks. This is a short story about the day that Lancer decides enough is enough when it comes to Daniel Fenton. Sequel is 'Plunge'"
When I said Cordria had bangers, THIS is one of them! Another fic that I read annually, this one involves Lancer getting closer and closer to Danny's secret while he's stuck in detention for the weekend. I love love LOVE the characterization of Danny and Lancer in this, another at the top of the favorite list!
👻 Plunge by Cordria (sequel to Masks ^)
"Sequel to 'Masks'. Now that Lancer has learned the truth and has let Danny out of his office, Danny needs to face the next hurdle: his parents."
For some reason, I always forgot to put this on my favorite list so I often missed out on reading it with my annual read of Masks. I remember it being a decent sequel where the Fentons pick up the pieces of Danny's reveal.
👻 Pits by Cordria
"Danny has been captured and thrown into the Pits by Walker to fight for his life. Listen in as he tells his dark, twisted tale of surviving despite the odds. Warning: dark and depressing. Sequel is 'Final Exam'."
Another one I don't fully remember, but it had to be a solid read since it's on my favorites haha! I have a vague sense that it was a little angst/gore-y(?) as the description warns, so just heads up!
👻 Lab Rat by AnneriaWings
"The look on my parents' faces – eager, curious, somewhat hateful – wasn't exactly hard to give away their intentions. I knew what they were going to do to me even before Mom snapped on a pair of rubbery, white latex gloves."
*** This one is definitely a vivisection fanfic with graphic descriptions, so beware that content. Again, haven't read it in a long time but it had satisfied my angst itch back in the day.
👻 Wondering by Phantomrose96
"A continuation to Cordria's starshot #69 "Wondering". Danny's been captured and tortured by his parents, but he refuses to say a word until his psychiatrist starts connecting the dots. Can he risk keeping it a secret any longer?"
*** Another angst, lab experiment-esque fic. There are definite graphic scenes (as warned in the first chapter). I do remember this fic being huge in the 2010s (definitely a staple of the Phandom). The relationships and Danny recovering from his torture were great highlights.
👻 Connections by Lynse
"Maddie knows that the Booo-merang has keyed into Danny, for whatever reason, so what's she to think when she sees it collide with Phantom?"
Don't quite remember this one, but Lynse is amazing at writing, so it's bound to be a good read.
👻 Confessions by Lynse (Sequel to Connections ^)
"Follows Connections. Danny's secret's not as safe as he thinks, what with Maddie unable to ignore her wild suspicions any longer and piecing things together and Jack asking questions all on his own."
Same as above!
💙👻 Earthquake by Turkeyhead987
"Danny leaves with his bathroom excuse and leaves Dash curious. He follows Danny and ends up the the gym room with him. While they're in there, an earthquake occurs and leaves them trapped inside. Will any secrets be revealed? No DashxDanny! They're just the main characters!"
This one is another one that I've read multiple times over the years! From what I remember, it was a fun read involving Dash and Danny being trapped in the gym after an earthquake, and explores how Danny handles his secret around Dash while they wait for rescue.
💙👻 A Jock and a Hard Place by AnneriaWings
"Danny and Dash were silent, trying to wrap their mind around that stupid, simple fact – the door was locked. They were trapped. In a janitor's closet. Together. (Collab with Haiju)"
No romance in this one! Another story where Danny and Dash get trapped together. I've read this one several times, and remember enjoying the tension of Danny's secret being revealed. I also think they explored Danny and Dash's relationship in a fun way!
👻 An Unlikely Alliance by Represent
"Maddie wants her family back. In an attempt to understand her Danny's change in behavior, she unwittingly enlists the GIW to exorcize Phantom from her son."
Gonna be real with ya'll, I don't remember this one at all. But uhhh I'm gonna throw it on here just because I can. :)
👻 Flip Turn by dreamsweetmydear
"Danny's life the last couple of years has been chaotic and pretty scary, to say the least. However, one detention with Mr. Lancer opens a window of opportunity that promises to turn his life around in more ways than one. Revelation fic. Post-"Kindred Spirits.""
Yet again, I don't remember this fic. Sorry! But it's under 8000 words, so it's a little bit of a shorter read than some of the ones on this list!
👻 Journey of Secrets by WolfKael
"First Danny Phantom fic! DXS, TXV, but not super-heavy. Lancer's class is on a trip to the Ghost Zone, courtesy of the Fentons! (Takes a couple chapters to gain momentum, and I promise it isn't your average 'field trip' fic!) T because I'm paranoid, but it could probably be K ."
Also not a fic I remember. It's got about 50,000 words so thought I'd throw it in for anyone that likes a longer fic!
👻 Vulnerable by HaiJu
"A desperate moment leads to a difficult choice, and Danny must deal with the consequences. A collaboration between Anneriawings and Haiju."
Don't remember it, but HaiJu had/has some great fics! Seems to involve Danny and Maddie after skimming the first chapter.
👻 Little Fires by Represent
"My family's supposed to be geniuses, yet they've never figured it out. Now I know why. Because they already know I'm Phantom. They must know. The better questions are: Have they known this whole time? What's in that vial? What happened to Skulker? And what's in the locked drawer?"
You know what, if I remember it, I'll say something 😂
👻 Judge, Jury, Executioner by Cordria
"The Observants and the Ghost Council are sick of the Fentons creating half-ghost creatures that disobey the rules of the universe. It's time for them to step in before more are made. Can Danny save his parents and keep his secret intact? A three-part fic."
💙👻 A Phantom Marooned by LordPugsy
"No one but Danny was suspicious when his English class was awarded an all-expenses paid cruise trip by an anonymous benefactor. Everyone but Danny thought it was bad luck when they became ship-wrecked on an island in the middle of nowhere. No one but Danny fully understood the dangers lurking in the trees. No one but Danny knew how much danger they were all in so far from home."
This one involves Danny and his class getting out of Amity Park, so it's a little more oc-filled and explores a nontraditional setting for the trio. There might be a little SamxDanny in this one if I remember correctly, but overall I do remember having fun reading through this!
🟢 Candlelight by HappyLeif
"Sam's only friend is the ever-loyal Tucker, ever since Danny began slowly distancing himself from them after some accident freshman year. She wanted a friend, but she never thought she'd find the one she was looking for in the highly debated ghostly hero of Amity Park.
AU = Danny alone during the portal accident. Looks like there's some SamxDanny in this one! Don't remember it but heck I might have to reread it since the synopsis has me interested.
👻 Crashing and Burning by GriffinRose
"For two years, Maddie has put up with Danny's ridiculous lies and excuses. She's tried everything to get through to him, but the pattern just goes on. She's so tired of fighting him on this all the time. And so, after two years, she's done. She doesn't care what her son does anymore, because Danny doesn't seem to care that he's her son."
👻 I'll Be Here by HaiJu
"Some days you can't pick yourself up. Having family means you don't have to. Danny-centric, three oneshots. Completely shameless hurt/comfort. Bring tissues… and antiseptic."
👻 What Little Girls Are Made Of by HaiJu
"Phantom and his younger double save Amity Park from a monstrous ghost, nearly destroying themselves in the process. The Fentons have always hunted ghosts; now it's time to save one."
💙👻💙 You Should Be Dead by SaphireDragon11
"Dash and Kwan are horrified to discover they've accidentally killed their classmate, but perhaps even more so when he shows up at school the next day. With his secret on the line, Danny soon discovers Dash and Kwan are the least of his worries."
THIS story is definitely a favorite and fun read! The ending battle chapters always gets me excited to reread! ***Danny does get straight up shot by Dash at the beginning so be warned for that content. But I remember a post going around a year or so ago where someone had drabbled about Danny getting up after being shot by Dash. This story explores that concept with a longer plot!
💙👻💙 Roughing It by HaiJu
"Lost deep in the woods with an undead pack on their heels, Maddie and Phantom find themselves entangled in an awkward alliance. Can they cooperate long enough to get out of this mess?"
Another favorite! This one explores Maddie and Danny's relationship, kind of similar to how the show did in the Maternal Instincts episode. I adore how HaiJu explores Maddie's thought-process with dealing with Phantom in a situation where she kind of needs him and he won't leave her alone. Great mother-son fic!
👻 Phantom of Truth by Haiju
"Locked away in a secret government lab with Phantom as her subject, nothing stands between Maddie and the truth... except, perhaps, herself."
Haven't read this one in a loooooong time, but I remember being around for HaiJu updating this fic, posting about it on Tumblr, and the Phandom being generally hyped for it. Another staple for the Phandom! It's another torture fic, so heads up regarding that content!
💙👻 Shadow of a Doubt by Haiju (Sequel to Phantom of Truth ^)
"The truth was supposed to save Danny. Fix things. The lab, the experiments, the lies, those were all in the past. Weren't they? Sequel to Phantom of Truth."
And then BAM on top of finishing Phantom of Truth, HaiJu hit us all with a completed sequel! I was super excited whenever this fic got updated, felt like I was waiting for a new episode to air on TV every time! There's some OCs in this since it explores Danny running away from Amity, but I remember genuinely loving the OCs and loved reading about Danny mentally recovering from being experiment on.
👻 Just a Boy by Tay1019411
"Maddie and Jack finally have Phantom right where they always wanted him: in there lab, helpless, but everything is different now. Now, Maddie faces the truth about what Phantom really is."
🟢 Make It Go Away by DarkNymfa
"Not for the first time, Danny cursed himself for never telling anyone about his extra-curricular activities. And now, far more injured than he could fix himself, Danny desperately wished that he had told just one person."
No one knows AU
👻 Flicker by DarkNymfa
"It had taken just one moment, one split-second in which she had seen Phantom instead of Danny. Now she found herself on a path she didn't want to be on. One she couldn't leave, not anymore."
👻 The Scientific Method by ReconstructWriter
""After two years of failures you'd have better luck asking Phantom to be your lab-rat," Jazz said. The Fentons decide to try just that."
👻 Phantom Hitchhiker by ghostanimal
"Phic Phight Oneshot: While students get to leave early after a ghost attack, teachers have to stick around for boring meetings to discuss the attack. The ghost attack was now over, but it didn't mean all the ghosts were gone. Lancer finds himself driving a certain Phantom home while reflecting on how young the poor kid is."
👻 Returning After the Reveal by Illusn
"Phic Phight attack, using a prompt by Love-ly-ish. Danny returns to school after his secret was revealed in a ghost attack, having to deal with people suddenly treating him differently."
👻 Vantage Point by Lynse
"Phantom was young. Painfully young. Somehow, Lancer had never really noticed that before. One-shot, written for the 2019 Phic Phight."
👻 Oddities by Lynse
"Jack can't deny that their ghost hunting equipment malfunctions around Danny-consistently and exclusively around Danny-and decides to get to the bottom of it, once and for all. One-shot, written for the 2019 Phic Phight."
👻 To Be a Hero by cosette141
"Danny has always known the consequences should he be captured by the Guys In White, but now Tucker is going to learn firsthand just what the stakes are for his superhero friend and what it really means to be a hero. (not slash) hurt/comfort"
👻 Family Reunion by Dp-Marvel94
"For Phango. Prompts used- Setting: Family Reunion, Wes Weston, Aunt Alicia, Stuck in the thermos. And Identity Reveal…kinda (does it count if Wes had already worked out that Fenton was Phantom but hadn't seen him actually transform so wasn't completely sure?)"
Wes Fic!
👻 Stuck by SummersSixEcho
"[OneShot] After a prank from two of his ghostly acquaintances, Danny is stuck in ghost mode during one of the most important events of his young half-life. If only he didn't have to give a speech on top of it... [Phic Phight 2020 entry; prompt by Ghostanimal]"
👻 One-Eighty by SummersSixEcho
"[One Shot] After a grueling battle, two teenagers at a diner try to sort out a night of revelations. [DannyMay 2020, Day 28: Diner]"
👻 Threads of Time by ZombieRed
""I just want to know what's going on with you, Danny! I wish I could just, I don't know, spend the day figuring out what you've been hiding from me. Then maybe I could help you. But you being closed off from everyone is only hurting you. Can't you see that?" Or Maddie keeps on waking up to Thursday morning [No PP, pretty much ignores season 3 as a whole]"
👻 Invisible Stitches by Lynse
"Family bonding time might be less dangerous now that his parents know his secret, but that doesn't mean Danny is wild about being kept in the dark when it comes to his dad's plans for the weekend. One-shot."
Loved the concept of Danny having trouble being away from Amity Park!
👻 Whenever You're Ready by SummersSixEcho
"[OneShot] Jack and Maddie try to show their son they are very supportive of Phantom once they find out his secret. They want him to tell them on his terms, but everything ends up in bigger misunderstandings and more revelations they weren't prepared for. [Belated Phic Phight entry for Star G, Arioz, Bird, Dekalkomania, and Wife]"
Written in a Journal-Entry style! Interesting format if I remember correctly.
👻 An Attempt at Camping by Seasilver17
"They should have known that even when they were in the middle of nowhere camping. Something would have to go wrong. Curse his Fenton luck"
👻 Secrets Secrets and Advice (This Teacher's Vice) by AppleScentedLazers
"After a particularly grueling day Mr. Lancer just wants to go home, kick up his feet, and read some Shakespeare. But, when he runs into two of his students looking for their missing best friend, Lancer ends up with more questions than he has answers for. Such as, who is Phantom? And just what is Daniel Fenton hiding?"
👻🟢 Going Ghost by cosette141
"My take on the moment Danny turns on the ghost portal and becomes half-ghost… as well as an alternate way for Sam and Tucker to find out. Friendship Oneshot"
👻 Lair by Lexosaurus
"When something goes wrong with a piece of Vladco tech, Valerie ends up stuck in the Ghost Zone. With Phantom."
💙👻 In Case of Emergency by Unlucky Alis
"Lancer is grading papers when he gets the call. "I'm calling from Amity West. I have an underage patient here who has named you as their emergency contact." Lancer rushes over, of course, fretting all the while about what accident Danny Fenton has gotten himself into now, because it could only be him. Except, when he arrives, it's not the Danny he expected to find."
I remember enjoying the little twist on Lancer being the emergency contact for Phantom yet having no idea. Lancer handles it pretty well all things considered. (I think you guys can tell I just like Lancer fics at this point HA)
👻 Furthest from Myself by WastefulReverie
"An accident during a ghost invasion leaves nearly a hundred citizens with inexplicable ghost powers. Little did they know, this was only the catalyst for a series of revelations."
👻 Ghost Smarts! by Dekalkomania
"When it becomes clear the ghosts are here to stay, the Amity Park school district decides they need to teach proper safety precautions. In dire need of extra credit, Danny takes Mr. Lancer's offer to be the assistant in an assembly titled, "Ghost Smarts!"
Very unprepared for what he signed up for, Danny must deal with the eccentric detective J.J. Bittenbinder, all while not blowing his cover."
#Danny Phantom#Fanfiction#Phanfiction#Phandom#Secret Chats#Danny Fenton#Sam Manson#Tucker Foley#Maddie Fenton#Jack Fenton#Jazz Fenton#Vlad Plasmius#Valerie Grey#Dash Baxter#Lancer#Dani Phantom#Wes Weston#and a whole score of other dp characters#fandom#No One Knows AU#Hazmat AU#Electric Core AU#American Dragon Jake Long#phanfic#fanfic#Masterlist
287 notes
·
View notes
Text
beyond the moon !
"you aren't about to lose such a worthy position to some hunky nepo baby".
synopsis: breaking news: the worst possible person you know is actually more than half decent in bed. of course, it's an easy slam dunk. you will begrudgingly admit that jaemin is pretty nice on the eyes—even if he has the personality of a barbed wire. it's a match made on this soul sucking earth. it's only a little perfect.
pairing: na jaemin x male!reader
genre: alternative universe, main hospital scenery, somewhat grey's anatomy fusion, interns the fic, strangers to rivals to rivals who hookup to friends who hookup to lovers, fluff, some angst, slightly suggestive tones, humor, crazy ass pining that's barely realized until 10k words in, some background relationships that provide other drama
warnings: swearing, explicit language, so many mentions of sex, almost tiptoes into borderline smut like five times, sexual humor, reader and jaemin are both equally emotionally underdeveloped and horny, drinking, the impending stress of the medical field, mentions of death, a bunch of medical jargon you probably don't care about, mentions of surgical procedures, some blood.. i think thats it
word count: 16.7k
notes: hello, merry christmas, happy one year anniversary to my hyuck work which started my whole nct saga on tumblr.. im afraid i am very mentally ill 😓 so!! surgeon jaemin!! originally surgeon jaemin was a serial killer but then i lost wave of that draft over the summer and i tried to do it again 😚 this was half based on early greys anatomy because why the fuck is that show so long and um my own life lowkey?? ofc im not sleeping with my fellow interns but i have seen too much of a hospital i have begun to see the white corridors in my fucking dreams.. save me please life has not treated isa mins-fins well 😭😭 and NO dont listen to user junjiie this is not a self insert i swear!! im still going to the hospital later today soooooooo i lost anyway 🤷♂️ lowercase intended as usual and last long work of the year 💖
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 1: do ethics matter when the dick is good? (hyperbole.. actually not)
frankly, it began on a mundane tuesday.
well as mundane as a tuesday for you could be, a week following getting dumped would typically be dedicated to mourning but guleum grace hospital is equally as busy each particular day. you did not underestimate the sheer amount of regular patrons at hospitals, your internship was all about that in fact, pouring your blood sweat and tears into some amateur surgery you had about a twenty five percent chance on performing correctly, however, any chance was any chance.
it isn’t as if you were some lunatic brisked with insanity who valued his work in an irregular fashion, you’d surmise that you were a regular workaholic, the epitome of an overworked medical student stereotype, it all sucked the soul out of you, though your scrubs remained spotless and the eye bags stuck in a much acquainted manner.
unfortunately, your heart attack inducing student debt won’t allow for you to simply quit, neither will your pride, your extent of competitiveness, and your bright need to prove your overbearing parents wrong.
getting into a deathly inviting internship program is enough, what’s shit is surviving, and surviving would be easy if not added on by such a nuisance.
what nuisance? you may ask, well the nuisance that so happens to b—
“present the case l/n”.
you somehow retain your sigh, if the distress is displayed through any means of visibility then doyoung merely doesn’t give a shit. “uh— samuel lawson, fifty two, has been in and out of hospitals four times in the last three months with complaints of sporadic, mild to moderate pain in his chest. we picked up on a heart murmur and his echo showed left ventricular hypertrophy with a repolarization abnormality”.
“what would you recommend?”
“the best course of action is to replace his aortic valve with a porcine valve and prescribe anticoagulants to improve the prognosis”.
“good, and why do we want to pay attention to his kidneys in this situation?”
“his kidneys?” you echo, former exhaustion manifesting in the unscathed widening of your eyes. there’s a whistle, lee donghyuck opting to feign forgetfulness to your very presence, as if he even knows the answer.
you aren’t as easily absentminded, you’ve been hard of thinking recently, read all those printed words yet none of them stuck to the confines of your brain. there’s then a sigh, you initially assume from doyoung, but of course it isn’t.
“ah dr na, how kind of you to join us, perhaps you could remind me of the answer?”
arms folded over his chest, jaemin doesn’t miss a beat. “since his heart isn’t functionally effective his kidneys work as a compensatory mechanism, we’ll need to take increased renin and aldosterone secretions into account when considering general anesthesia and how soon he can go into surgery”.
“i see somebody has been doing their homework” you graciously avoid his eyes, glowering in jaemin’s direction as he offers a meager eyebrow raise. “good job na, you’ll definitely be scrubbing in”.
you pray for his early death.
it’s a seamless lesson whilst interning, competition is everything; you love competition, you live for it even, and na jaemin just so happens to be the nuisance which troubles your every week.
it’s something to even survive your first year of interning, let alone in time for when the seven year residency rolls around. only the best become surgeons, a perfectly manufactured system that is definitely not flawed and has most likely not been the cause of many related mental breakdowns.
you’ve had some undisclosed issues out with na jaemin since the beginning of your program, his awareness manifests in his knowing glances, if swiping cases from under your feet and making your life as hellish as possible is equated to diverting entertainment, na jaemin is elated. at least he has the familial connections to ensure the acclaim, the regarded son of na kiwoo, one of the most well revered orthopedic surgeons in the country. now you aren’t petty enough to spew the claim that na jaemin is bad at his job, he isn’t, however, you are petty enough to state the fact that him getting extra time to redo the practical board exam would’ve never been granted to anybody not with the same fucking last name.
and you suppose somebody else could also reign as worthy competition, but you’re conceited, unabashed in the likeness of your own smarts, you didn’t brave the trenches of medical school to lose such a worthy position to some hunky nepo baby.
~
it’s about half past twelve when huang renjun stumbles into the on-call room.
“you drinking on the job?”
he glares, you smile, there’s something concerning his anger which gets a satisfying kick out of you. you were sat at a desk, overloading on coursework you’d give not even a mere glance toward once you got home, the placid diagrams of human arteries burned into your brain. you spent most of your day, resounding to most of your shift, hanging about downstairs in the E.R, handling skimpy stitches from those who couldn’t help but do something idiotic on a saturday morning. who knew? you’re aware dr. kim probably holds a much lowered opinion of you; however, you still preserve hope that he’ll allow you to scrub in on that upcoming LVAD replacement he has scheduled for later in the week.
“can you believe who got to scrub in on that corpus callosotomy?” his undertone indicated irritation, you did not have to take a glance backward, you could distinctly picture the snuggle frown tugging at his lips.
“can i buy a vowel?”
your response earns a hefty scoff, the ghost of a smile lingers as you take in his much visible exasperation. it appears he wants to look intimidating, but his docile like features do not sell such a point home. “kim wonil, can you believe it!?”
“oh really?” you click your tongue, the raise of an eyebrow paired with the raise of a nearby head, it’s lee jeno’s, you make out. “wow, maybe i should start sleeping with mark lee too”.
“well it’s not like anyone knows if they’re sleeping together— he’s basically just his protégé” what a gentleman lee jeno is, feigning unawareness at the whole thing.
“uh huh, me when i’m fucking the only attending neurosurgeon” you seethe. “seriously, you think he’s taking any under the table offers?”
“you’re an asshole”.
you simply blow renjun a kiss.
whilst renjun may be adamant on the whole civilized pursuit, you would say that sleeping with one of your bosses basically equates to getting favored treatment, you suppose your wavelength on that won’t ever change. “is that coursework?”
your eyebrows raise once renjun leans over your shoulder, you don’t make an effort to nod your head. “that’s coursework, what the fuck are you doing?”
“i’m not about to have a splitting headache at home, trying to keep my sanity intact, you know”.
“more like wither your sanity— oh, hey jaemin”.
“hi” jaemin allows renjun the decorum of a smile, because for some reason renjun is the only other intern he has the gall to treat in the manner of a regular human being. he settles in the bed across from you with a look and doesn’t even try a glance in your direction, muttering a small greeting to jeno.
“do you want ibuprofen? i have some in my locker” renjun mutters softly.
you wave a dismissive hand. “no, i’m seriously about to max out on painkillers right now”.
“maybe it’s a tumor” jaemin unexpectedly adds, he doesn’t look up from a book.
“you wish”.
“i do”.
“it could be a caffeine headache” jeno helpfully reckons from where he is across the room, leaning up on his elbows to give you a sympathetic look.
“or the stress” renjun decides. “or your just sleepy because of the stress, i’m getting tired because of the stress” he then makes his way over to the dormant bed and flops right onto it.
“tumor~”.
“why the fuck do you care?”
“i most certainly do not”.
“drop dead asshole”.
“guys..” jeno weakly begins, glancing between you two as if silently picking a side.
“sorry” you feel little remorse towards the tumor hopeful fuckface, simply for everybody else. “the exhaustion is making me mean”.
it appears that a nearby zhong chenle utters the insult of you’re always mean somewhere above you, and then the room grows claustrophobic for you in about five more seconds.
when your chair emits a high pitched screech, renjun’s head rises. “where are you going?”
“gonna find something to do”.
then you shuffle out of the on-call room, feigning ignorance at na jaemin’s continuous stare.
~
later that week, the one person you observe when you walk into the on-call room on wednesday for your mid-shift nap is na jaemin, the current bane of your existence. you’ve been bumping shoulders in the O.R for the past week, and you’re beginning to think that the world is attempting to kill you early, those mystifying forces rambled about in storybooks manifesting whenever his name happens to appear in your mind.
you pause once you step in, meeting his eyes for a charged second before clenching your teeth, they’ll probably begin bleeding soon. you starkly consider backing out, but you can’t surrender your pride to this guy, that would be letting him win, so you sigh and lean your back against the door.
“i’m just here to sleep,” you voice. “waving my white flag”.
“you should be thanking me”.
you’re baffled. “excuse me?”
“i’ve saved your ass like twice this week, god kim would’ve literally eaten you alive if i weren’t around”.
your mouth dries up, jaemin seemingly revels in such a factor, swinging his legs sideways and out of the bed. “you’re terrible under pressure it’s a wonder you even made it through medical school”.
your left eye twitches, the one singular time you try to be civil, he just— he just decides to..?
“you’re so infuriating and arrogant and selfish—“
“oh really? love it when you talk down on me..”
“and you’re so— annoying god why does everyone like you? i hate you, hate you and your stupid privilege and i couldn’t care less what you think because you’re a fucking suck up! stop backing me up if it makes you so mad”.
jaemin then blinks, slow. “finished now?”
“yes” you drop your arms at the side, breathing having gone shallow as pure fury swirled in your ribs. you hate what jaemin does to you, whatever the fuck this is and why is the rooms temperature skyrocketing? that should be impossible in a hospital of all places, but you shouldn’t give it much thought because jaemin will probably begin over analyzing the singular movements of your facial expressions.
you hate feeling like you’re losing, you feel like your losing even if there’s no prevalent competition, it’s just.. jaemin.
that’s really why.
“good” jaemin replies. “i hope you don’t mind”.
and when he pushes you up against the door you think exactly three specific things in the second it takes for him to do that. 1; jesus this guy goes to the gym how the fuck are his forearms so huge? how is he finding time to hit the gym with such a consistent shift? 2; you should’ve gotten more words in cause oh he got the last laugh, and 3; you suddenly remember you never followed up on that post-op for patient 3109– but then all of those thoughts fly out the window when jaemin leads forward to kiss you.
na jaemin is kissing you, full on lips, hands-on-your-waist kissing you, and all you can do is suck in a breath as you then release a soft sound.
jaemin is ridiculously good at this, all soft despite his rough edges, how funny. he pulled off, taking your bottom lip with him before diving back in.
“i meant everything i said” you pant, even as jaemin pressed you further into the door and your arms wrapped around his shoulders in an effort to continue. you exchanged in a similar manner, frenzied and practically leaning half of him backward with your sheer force.
“i know” he grunts, so effortless in all he does, thumb finding the gap in your uniform which he very much decided to exploit. “but you want me anyway..”
“fuck you”.
so smart y/n, you’re getting into heaven with that one—
he chuckles as he mouths against your neck, light open mouthed kisses along your jaw, tugging at your shirt which acted as an obstacle. “that’s the goal”.
“smart ass”.
“well..”
it was the first and only time.
it actually should’ve been the first and only time, but then again, your decision making is particularly fuzzy.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 2: he’s a hotshot, so unfortunately a hotshot..
you’d been skilled enough to pick out your friends at guleum grace hospital on your first day. frankly you had met a good chunk at the intern mixer the hospital had held a week before you were all due to start, but you were the slightest bit nervous with the whole before day apprehension. lee jeno was an easy one, his timidly boyish attitude made for good company, smile replicated by his eyes as he hung around the refreshments table. he laughed at every single one of your jokes, he was sympathetic to your family predicament, much too familiar with such a thing.
lee donghyuck was similarly not a struggle, he seemingly mirrored many of the traits you found stuck to you and carried around throughout your turbulent adulthood. he clung to your side and assigned you the duty as his titular “person”, whatever that meant.
then there was huang renjun.
it isn’t as if he was unapproachable, per say, he was simply perpetual to consistent avoidance. he exchanged regular smiles yet didn’t divulge any further, somewhat unfriendly and argumentative, especially when donghyuck got on his nerves.
trivially, the only true reason you two became friends is because you assisted him in vomiting up his guts after he’d got a lashing for a mistake in the earlier days. your hand remained on the small of his back for the entire fifteen minutes, and when he finished unleashing his true extent of vulnerability upon you, he threatened you to keep your mouth shut, that threat just so happens to be the bow which ties the knot to your relationship.
renjun is able to refer to the patients as the human beings they are, sensitive and overly stubborn sure, but he’s decent under all the sour looks paired with plentiful insults.
zhong chenle? in a completely different league.
“fifty bucks y/n’s little conquest works at this hospital” he opts to enter, sliding into the spot beside you and exchanging a few looks as if he dumped his life savings onto the table for you to gorge on.
“fifty bucks my wha— how’d you even..?”
“aeri likes to gossip” chenle replies, full of cheek. “and a little birdie told me they saw you leaving the on-call room all flustered”.
“a little— who?”
“i can’t tell you my sources”.
“what if i just had a really good nap?”
“thirty bucks it’s an intern” renjun decides to add on, and you blink his way in sheer betrayal. yes they’re right but you didn’t divulge your weeks ago on-call room hookup story time to anybody, you just.. thought about it.
“that’s what yizhuo was saying! you know we have a bet right?” he digs through his pocket before pulling out an unscathed piece of paper. “let’s see we have dr suh from plastics, yeonjun, dejun, and our very own nepo baby na jaemin, pretty good don’t you think?”
“why is jaemin on the list? take jaemin off the list,” though you swipe for the paper, chenle’s got some fast ass hands.
“no no hear me out, okay? he has my vote because the tension is undeniable but i’m on your side and i don’t think you’ll give into his whims”.
“what whims?”
“his seduction tactic including starting petty fights?” renjun recalls, blinking in your direction as if attempting some newly discovered form of communication. “he probably gets off on that..”
“oh he does!”
and then they begin, you simply sigh as you make the effort to finish your lunch, acquainted with the leftovers you again had to heat up because there was little time for you to actually cook something new.
“jaemin’s a freak, wonil said—“
“we can’t trust anything he says, he’s literally fucking dr. dudebro” you steal a fry off chenle’s plate, humming along with your bite.
“i thought they broke it off?” renjun asks in denial, though his gleaming ‘i knew it’ look would completely beg to differ.
“oh come on! everybody knows they’re still fucking, no mystery, no thrill”.
renjun crinkles his nose at the display of crudeness, you don’t forget to recall the thirty bucks he entered into this godforsaken betting pool. “can i kill him?”
your hands raise in mock surrender. “not in front of me, we swore an oath of peace” you rise from your place and keep your plate in your bag. “besides there’s no mystery, no thrill”.
“don’t leave me with him!” renjun squeaks. “where are you going!?”
you do not let up the walking, however, you allow him at least one reassuring smile.
“to see a guy about a thing!”
~
in a rare act of perfect timing, you’re just able to sprint to the elevator as soon as it’s closing. by the power of the universe’s most evil, jaemin is the only one inside, and he blankly stares as you hold your folders out to hold the door before ducking in. you hit the button for the sixth floor and begin panting as you lean against the wall.
jaemin barely spares a glance, but his smile says everything. “back for more already?”
“did you tell anyone about us?”
he opts to chuckle at that one. “us? we sleep together once and you’re already thinking there’s an us baby?”
“shut the fuck up, na, like half our class is in a betting pool for when i’m going to let you into my pants so i swear to god if you told anybody i’m going to ship you to the O.R and harvest all of your fucking organs”.
the threat shines brightly above him, smile shimmering. “i’m sure you’d love to do that”.
his smile is endless and the point by which his stare begins is simply dark, it’s that stupid dead-eyed stare that could murder anyone just by one mere glance. if looks could kill, your insides would’ve been splattered all over this elevator currently.
finally, jaemin rolls his eyes.
“christ, relax, no i didn’t, i definitely don’t know anything about a bet either”.
you let out a much needed breath and again allow yourself to lean against the wall of the elevator. the only worse thing than people thinking your friends with jaemin is people thinking you’re actively sleeping with jaemin. well— okay you suppose there are worse things to be known for but being pegged as the intern banging na jaemin is definitely up there.
“i meant what i said by the way, that was a one time thing”.
“of course”.
“stop fucking smiling like that”.
it appears to be his innate need to ensure your irritation, his smile barely resists the clear urge to grow at the sight of your frown. “god, thought you liked my smile?”
“it’s never happening again” you insist. “no more sex, not with you anyway”.
“great” jaemin replies. he finally does turn to face you. “so when you say never again are you actually making a definite final decision or are you simply playing hard to get?”
“what do you think?” you retort, you’re two floors away from your destination, the lab reports you’re clutching much vicely resulting in sweaty palms.
jaemin licks his lips, all high and mighty. “i’m sure you don’t want to know what i’m thinking”.
you look up to meet his stare in a singular effort to glare equally as hard, it’s futile. jaemin’s got the eyes of a predator, as if he’ll pounce if you attempt a single move out of this elevator, it’s striking, his eyes trail all the way up from your terribly expensive shoes and up your body, stopping at your mouth.
he seems pleased with himself, tipping his head forward when the elevator dings at your floor.
you allow a squint, briskly leaving him behind. it’s only three steps out of the elevator that you realize you left him without an answer, therefore leaving him with the last word, but you conclude you’ve walked too far to shout, yet it seems jaemin has no qualms.
“you know where to find me!” he calls.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 3: good sex is addicting! healthy? eh..
naturally it happens again..
and again,
and once again.
if you were in a better place of mind, perhaps if you didn’t contain loads of work on your shoulder and slumped with courses of continuous caffeine, you’d find the right mind to chide yourself for making such a stupid decision, but you’re simply a selfish and desperate man. this is like— the best sex you’ve had since undergrad, not that there were many good examples to be the judge of that one anyway (with little offense given to shotaro, he’s a sweetheart but you two barely ever got it on as it is).
the thing is, you’re beginning to have a little fun with it. sure, you’d felt as if you were betraying yourself after the second or third time but it’s now become its own little adventure. sneaking around and whispering in the hallways in tandem with disappearing into random storage closests is fun.
jaemin is merely jaemin when it’s all over, barbed wire esqe jaemin with a personality you’d liken to some miserable children’s movie villain.
but it works, it isn’t as if you’re doing this because jaemin has a to die for personality, you’re doing it because you’re stressed, despite the fact that he is probably the main contributor of such stress, he at least helps you relieve that stress.
“somethings up with you,” jeno makes apparent when he walks past the couch, casual, conversational.
droning on the television is some nature documentary you don’t recall turning on, acting as background noise as you observe the surgery dr. kim assigned you. you technically aren’t allowed to bring your work home but you’ve also always enjoyed poking holes into rules, you bring your teeth down on a goldfish cracker that you’ve had between your fingers for about five minutes.
“what?” you finally reply.
“you seem different” jeno rewords graciously. “brighter, less.. porcupine-y”.
“i can be mean if you want,” you decide. “you want that puppy?”
jeno turns red, continuous head shaking as he clears his throat. “i just meant— i don’t know, you seem a little less miserable than before, not all grouchy, i’m happy for you”.
“pfft— thanks, always knew you loved me nono”.
his chagrin at such a nickname manifests in his much particular nose scrunch, his arms folding over his chest stubbornly. “don’t call me that.. so anyway, what changed?”
“hm?”
he leans over the couch, staring you down suspiciously, unnaturally nosy. “you can’t just decide to not be miserable overnight, what happened?”
you tilt your head up at him. “i’m getting to scrub in on proper surgeries, and i’m getting laid!”
jeno appears surprised, though gladdened anyway. “oh really? so who’s the guy then?”
you squint at him. “chenle put you up to this?”
“what?” he seems taken aback, but equally completely caught. “no?”
you open your mouth to rebut that clear lie, yet you’re both interrupted by lee donghyuck barreling into the room, looking too good for a regular saturday night, fancy overcoat draped over his arm that he definitely stole from renjun.
“stop looking at me and help me put this on” he motions towards his empty wrist and a fancy looking bracelet.
jeno simply whistles lowly.
“where are you going dressed up like this?” you inquire in the manner of a scrutinizing parent. “you got a date?” you don’t miss his avoidance of eye contact once you actually fasten the thing around his wrist.
“..yes”,
jeno applauds happily, much too excited, as if he were the one going on a date.
“give us a spin” you chide.
“seriously?”
both you and jeno nod in unison.
donghyuck begrudgingly obliges.
“you look good” jeno states.
“very good” you ruffle his hair irritatingly, and he hisses as he bats your hand away, muttering his small thanks. “have fun!”
you make sure to blow him a kiss on his way out, donghyuck makes sure to slam the door on his way out.
jeno then turns to you. “can i guess your guy’s name?”
“no!”
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 4: secrets out eventually!!
you suppose you had to eventually tell your friends at some point, of course that would include admitting zhong chenle is right and that sucks the life out of you for a much identifiable reason. the other three are bound to find out about jaemin soon enough, because whilst you’ve never been a talker, it’s getting annoying to do the constant walk of shame to jaemin’s apartment.
“i’m really trying to understand what your problem with me is” jaemin grins, all teeth, perfectly straight purely white fucking teeth. you’re back in the closet again, you can’t help but surmise that there’s a joke in there somewhere.
“i thought you didn’t care?”
“i don’t, it’s simply so cute how you get angry, kinda turns me on”.
you decide to ignore that one, wiping your mouth over with the back of your hand. you then focus on getting your shirt back to its original, somewhat normal looking form, god you’re so reckless.
“i’m just saying.. if you put effort into actually getting to know me we’d actually be pretty good— fuck ow!” he winces in the manner of a kicked puppy, all because you twisted a piece of skin between your fingers.
“i’m not interested in getting to know you, thought i made that clear” you voice.
“only thing you’ve made clear is that you believe it’s your god given right to hate me since no one else does”.
“oh you make me feel so special, i’m sure there’s someone else in this world who hates you as much as i do”.
“sure y/n” jaemin begins, “i find it hard to believe you actually do hate me” he nips at your ear, you really shouldn’t let jaemin kiss your neck, but you don’t push him off, he’d throw a hissy fit.
just as his hand begins venturing downward the closest door creaks open, and you two jump apart as if you’ve been caught, standing in the doorway is none other than lee donghyuck.
“what the fuck?” he whispers, quickly closing the door behind him. when he steps into the dingy white light, you notice the wet tears against his eyelashes, everything else is erased from your mind.
“hey” you begin, voice soft. “what’s wrong? did something happen?” you smooth over your scrubs.
“nothing” his voice gives it away. “we can’t cry mid shift anymore?”
no, but donghyuck hasn’t cried over a patient in a while, that’s typically your prerogative.
“it’s wonil” he sniffs. “stupid fucking kim wonil,” he sits down on an upturned bucket, once you kneel beside him, he pulls you into a hug to bury his tear streaked face against your neck. “i’m gonna have to change my name and transfer to gwangju instead!”
you look over donghyuck’s trembling shoulder at jaemin, who appears just as clueless as you are. he instead opts to patting the small of his back in support, rubbing soothing strokes. “could i have some elaboration, babe?”
“he used me” he says, holding onto his sobs. “took me on a stupid fucking fancy date and then i caught him with mark lee— oh my god, he.. he lied to me, he said they broke it off months ago but that obviously wasn’t true and he kept scrubbing in on the important surgeries, i thought he— we were going out for months and i just, fuck i feel awful y/n”.
well that’s.. not what you expected to hear at all. your head spins.
“wait— wonil? that’s who?”
“can we not talk about that part right now?” he simply allows for the tears to free fall, you attempt to wipe them as best you can.
sure, it’s nothing.
“did he tell you? how’d you even find this out?”
“no he didn’t i saw them” he covers his face with his own hands, distraught. “and he didn’t even care..”
“then none of it is your fault” you assure, patting the side of his arms. “he’s an asshole”.
it doesn’t quell donghyuck enough, his shoulders continuously quivering. “i had a bad feeling, i really should’ve known better—“
“he’s a cheat, he should know better, don’t beat yourself up over this”.
“i fucking loved him y/n” he rests his head onto your shoulder, something twisted and horrible lodged in his throat, tears endless.
~
it’s raining because of course it’s raining.
“it’s storming pretty bad” jaemin quips, conversationally. “do you not want me to call you a ride?”
you simply allow a small breath to escape your lips, hair tousled as you slip your jacket on through your arms. “nah, the bus works just fine” you say, wiping your hands on your pants despite your much irritation.
“and i’m guessing you don’t want to wait until it’s let up either?”
“i have to get home cause jeno’s working late and— hyuck’s alone, don’t want him to be..” you mutter, glancing down at your watch as you crinkle your nose at the time. “he’s been baking since the whole wonil thing happened, need to make sure he doesn’t burn down the apartment”.
jaemin doesn’t have to put anymore work into convincing you. “alright, have fun”.
you do the typical before leaving checkup, you have your keys, your phone, cash, and a bus pass, good. it’s silent, awkward, not much of a regular conversation when he isn’t bending you over a table.
but there’s something you really need to know.
“hey jaemin?”
“hm?” he doesn’t look up from his phone.
“should we talk about.. this?”
“well talking about it makes it weird”.
you consider your next words very carefully. “i’m lonely, you know”.
jaemin then puts his phone down. “i’m lost”.
you’re unaware of why exactly you feel the need to divulge context about whatever your relationship happens to be, you keep thinking back to donghyuck and you remember the liabilities caused by workplace relationships. you’re afraid you can’t stomach another complicated relationship, situations that wrap around your head in a nauseating fashion. not that jaemin is boyfriend material or anything but—
“the first time we hooked up? in the on-call room? i did it because i just got off a bad breakup and i was stressed and.. you were my first option”.
jaemin remains frozen in his place, gaze pointed, chest perfectly accentuated in his shir— stop looking there y/n. “what i’m trying to say is that i was desperate and it’s important you know that because—“
“get to the point”.
“i don’t want this to.. you know, be more than what it is, like.. domestic and shit”.
“oh jesus, okay y/n” he pinches the bridge of his nose, as if you irritated him. “you’re asking me not to fall in love with you right? you could’ve just said that then”.
“it sounds stupid”.
“and your other option sounded better?”
“whatever, i’m going, good talk”.
“great talk”.
“stop trying to get the last word in”.
“i’m not trying to do anything”.
“goodnight”.
“don’t say things you don’t mean”.
“fine, i hope you have a terrible one, i hope your roof catches on fire and you sleep through it and it all comes crashing onto you so your death is all slow and painful, happy?”
jaemin smiles, waving you off with each of his fingers as you storm out of the door, into the pouring rain, slamming it shut behind you.
you take a short walk and an even shorter bus ride home, yet when you enter your apartment you’re absolutely drenched.
the whole house smells of sugar and semi-baked sweets, it almost reminds you of home, back when you’d fuck shit up with your sisters in the kitchen. the now added on pain is the continuous ringing of the fire alarm, donghyuck standing at the counter fanning smoke with an empty box of brownie mix.
you sigh as you kick off your shoes.
“what the hell did you do?”
“i have it under control” donghyuck whines.
“hyuck—“
“don’t step any closer” he threatens, butter knife in hand.
your hands raise in mock surrender, a flat look sent his way. “you’re being ridiculous”.
“sorry” he puts the knife down, breathing labored. “help me?”
you two sit down on the kitchen floor and have brownies and ice cream for dinner, an ironic feat for a pair of medical professionals, but this is simply one of those things licensed under free will you have as an adult, the kind of thing that makes you think maybe parental supervision is a good need. besides, sugar is good for heartbreak.
“i don’t wanna go to work tomorrow” donghyuck mutters, beginning to consistently tap his head onto the counter, as if attempting to bash his brains out. “this is so stupid”.
“it’ll be fine, i’m sure no one will question you up front”.
he glances upward. “my former sort of boyfriend is fucking the most popular attending neurosurgeon, and people think i was homewrecking whatever the hell they have going, you think people just forget that?”
you lick your spoon clean. “yeah it’s not looking good,” you admit, scratching the back of your head. “but i’m here to help you through it, and samoyed will be there to bark at anyone who looks at you funny”.
donghyuck gives a weak laugh and leans his head onto your shoulder. “yeah yeah, whatever..”
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 5: fuck the domestics, fuck na jaemin.
of course because the universe has a really good sense of humor, mark lee and kim wonil are the first people you and donghyuck see when the elevator dings on the first floor. wonil looks at a loss for words, you’d pride him on such amusement if you weren’t looking to cause him bodily harm.
“uh” mark starts.
“we’re taking the stairs” and since you’re a good friend you do not complain when donghyuck drags you up four flights of stairs.
in his valiant efforts to stay away from neuro, donghyuck gets assigned to obstetrics for the day, whilst you end up back with dr. kim in cardio, which is always a simultaneous blessing and curse. the patient you’re seeing—kiara— has been going back and forth on getting the surgery for a while, and doyoung seemed more than relieved when you showed up with those signed consent forms.
you worked your ass off to get onto this case. you stayed up late all night reading into the procedure, designing a diagram which detailed the surgical process despite the fact that you wouldn’t be carrying it out yourself. observing a complex surgery like this is a rarity for interns, so you intend to soak up every bit of knowledge you can.
so, by design, you’re also standing beside the operating table when her pulse dips, her clutched hand falling dormant in your hold. after the frenzy of orders getting called out and defibrillators charging, there’s nothing but the long, insistent beep of a flatline.
dr. kim calls out the time of death.
realistically, nothing could have been done. she’d waited too long to take the surgery, her vascular walls were weak. it was the best surgeons in the room, and if they couldn’t save her then maybe it was just her time.
you break down in the tunnel despite all of that, you’re sitting on one of the beds against the wall, aware of your own ridiculousness, yet allowing for the tears to brim up anyway.
the only reason kiara was terrified of getting that surgery was because she was afraid of dying on that table, she was scared of dying, and you’d held her hand while they put her under, promising she’d be okay.
that was the mistake.
patient outcomes are never promised, and as much as they remind you, as much as you’re aware that this is in your line of work, death just so happens to spring up on you instantaneously, you can never really fully prepare for it.
“she was going to die anyway” you don’t have to glance up to meet the face behind the voice, simply acquainted with the sight of jaemin’s shoes.
“i know”.
“so why are you sitting here feeling sorry for yourself?”
you sigh, massaging a finger to your temple, your head hurts, it all hurts. “go away” another sob pushes itself up out of your chest, another sniffle, more snot.
but would na jaemin ever genuinely listen to an order? absolutely not. he did not go away, he stepped closer, a hand gracing your shoulder.
your own shoulders slump, you’re completely and utterly disappointed in yourself.
“i don’t need you to say anything,” he breathes. “i’m just telling you that it’s okay..”
“it’s not okay” you seethe. “would you have made the same mistake? would you be in my position if it was you?”
you take everything too personal, you need to start thinking like a surgeon, there’s no room for sensitivity in a field like this, dr. kim had said. he made you break the news to her family, have to watch the washed over expressions and the chorus of sobbing as you attempted to contain your own.
“well i wouldn’t have gotten attached..”
and it sounds so condescending, lowly, superiority reigned over your head. you’ve had a terrible day, and all you can do is sob in your own pity as jaemin just stands there.
it’s so easy to get swallowed up in your pride, tout your pigheadedness in front of jaemin on a regular front with spouted curses and illusions high. you suppose jaemin doesn’t have the best standards for you, you didn’t even do anything, but the fashion of your personality you’d displayed was enough of a case.
“y/n” jaemin calls, soft, you almost don’t hear him. the mattress dips with his added pressure, a hand coming to touch the side of your face, fingertips cold as they tuck strands of your hair behind your ear. jaemin’s hands are always cold. “y/n, hey”.
you don’t respond, can’t do anything but let jaemin pull you against his chest. it’s an odd feeling because it’s the thing you needed from the last person you expected to give it to you. you exhale shakily, closing your eyes and reveling in the prospect of being held.
“you suck at this” you sob, on principle of course.
“hush” jaemin murmurs. he rests his chin atop your head, and he says nothing more, doesn’t even pull away either. you cry until you have no more left to give, your shift isn’t quite over yet, you have charts to finish and labs to read over. you push at jaemin to let you go.
“m’fine” you sniffle, posture straightening as you wiped the tears from your cheeks. you feel reckless, embarrassed, like a child. your face is burning hot, but at least you feel better. jaemin is staring, as if he’s experiencing a certain thing for the first time.
you look away.
“i’m fine” you repeat. “don’t look at me like that”.
jaemin clears his throat as if snapping out of an episode. “i know you don’t care for my opinion, but i think you’re doing great”.
“you what..?”
jaemin nods, doesn’t elaborate on any of it, it’s awkward.
your pager beeps, and once you glance down at the location, you silently curse at the location being half across the hospital.
“right, um thank you, i guess i’ll.. uh, see you later?”
“you know where to find me”.
jeno seeks you out first once your shift is over, apprehensive as always.
“you okay? i heard what happened..”
“yeah m’fine” you pause before the doors to allow jeno to catch you, donghyuck and renjun won’t be done for another hour, and it’s once again pouring outside. “i just need to shower and sleep for fifty hours”.
jeno is already looking at you when you glance over. you’ve heard your fair share of stories concerning surgical failures, much too close to one when in your childhood, but experiencing one firsthand just really took it all out of you.
“i’m going to get better at this surgeon thing right? i have to?” you ask.
“you will” jeno replies, silent. he links your fingers together, a warm feeling. he then nudges you, the slightest bit of comfort in the affection laced gesture. “we both will”.
~
there’s a small switch flip after that.
jaemin remains jaemin. perfectly polished jaemin, hardened in the face of death, all precise and unphased, yet you lay your heart bare for it all, fortitude at the forefront of your emotions.
occasionally, you find yourself looking over at jaemin when he’s too engrossed in his work or conversation to notice.
when you observe him, you attempt to figure out where the fortitude of his beating organ lies. it appears jaemin acts in kindness when he thinks no one else is looking. you wonder if that’s a true display or if that’s simply another mask he wears around for the hell of it, getting into the sweet spots of littler kids is a spectacular move. then again, it takes a special kind of evil to be mean to kids. sure, jaemin’s a bit of an asshole, but he isn’t all bloods evil.
that isn’t such a hard concept to grasp.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 6: running out of terrifically timed titles
the tumultuous disarray of your life provides solace, somewhat regular sex escapades with jaemin continue and donghyuck is often too tipsy once you get home from your shifts later in the week. you surmise he’s simply coping with his situation in manners he’s accustomed to, though both you and jeno would love to chide him for the unhealthiness, you two also can’t talk, ever since you found that unlimited espresso machine in the second floor cafeteria, it’s basically become your life source. jeno will scold you for that one when he eventually finds out, though it’s good to know jungwoo doesn’t mind, simply passing you with mild apprehension whenever you go grab another cup.
you guess you can’t talk about anything, but you also can’t help worrying about your friend.
“l/n, did you follow up on those scans i asked for?” dr. kim unabashedly ambushes you whilst you’re in the middle of a good speed powered walk, files almost tumbling out of your bundled arms.
“uh— yes, they redid them so they aren’t blurry, and i also put in that psych eval you requested, i have all of them here”.
“nice work, will you be available to scrub in tomorrow morning?”
you blink at him, baffled. “i— oh my god yes, thank you um..” you honestly didn’t expect that one after the prior incident with kiara. you assumed for sure doyoung would stand between you and the O.R for a couple of months.
“is there a reason you’re still standing in front of me?”
you blush, embarrassed. “i’m sorry i just.. i know you don’t think i’m cut out for this so I’m unsure of why you chose me”.
for a slim moment, there’s genuine in doyoung’s eyes. “well i’ll have you know opinions can change, will you move out of my way now”.
you pause. “of course, sorry, thank you, i appreciate it”.
“you’d better” he beams, placing yet another stack in your arms. “could you drop these off at the nurses station for me?”
you make your way back downstairs, still reeling from the previous words said to your face, when you hear a familiar voice.
“is dr l/n here? well, no— he’s an intern”.
you look up from the nurses station immediately, catching a glimpse of osaki shotaro’s identifiable tuft of hair, golden blonde, still dyed. he hasn’t changed since you last saw him, well you suppose a few months really don’t provide anything substantial in the area of change.
“taro?”
when he glances up, he breaks into one of his bright smiles and he parts (hyperbole) the hallway to get to you. “y/n, hey, hi”.
“what— what are you doing here? is everything okay? is your mom oka—“
“i’m fine, everyone’s fine it’s just.. i mean— i don’t know actually i was just nearby and i wanted to see you? i know i’m the one who broke up with you and all but i was sure there was a high chance you’d be here instead of.. well anywhere else”.
“yeah” you laugh. “yeah that is true”.
“it’s nice to see you” he fiddles with his bracelet, reaching over to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear, a natural habit, you grab onto his wrist before his fingers can grace your skin. shotaro pauses for a moment, cheeks colored pink in embarrassment as he slips from your hold.
“sorry— i um.. can we just talk actually?”
your face warms rather quickly. “uh..”
“oh hello” jaemin appears—literally out of nowhere—“are you here for a patient?”
“no actually he was just leaving—“
“i’m shotaro” he tilts his head to read jaemin’s id card. “you’re.. dr na?” he extends his hand for a handshake, jaemin ignores it. you almost want to tell him off for such a thing.
“yes, you must be the boyfriend”.
“ex boyfriend” you both say.
jaemin inhales a bated breath, handing you a stack of files. “jungwoo said to give these to you, the chief needs all the records manually inputted before you get off your shift today”.
“but—“
“we’re all splitting work, that’s your stack and this is mine”.
“i’m supposed to be having lunch” you frown.
jaemin shrugs, nothing of helpful. “do them after, i don’t care, i’m just the messenger”.
“it was nice meeting you”.
“sure” jaemin flashes a noncommittal smile, then, as quick as he came, he’s gone.
“is he always like that?” shotaro inquires, you sigh, much loudly.
“yeah, kind of, at first glance..”
“so lunch! can i treat you?”
you chuckle. “well i can’t leave so i hope you don’t mind hospital food”.
it’s (surprisingly) a very enjoyable experience for you.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 7: coupling 1000
on tuesday, lee jeno walks into the locker room looking slightly askew, yet completely elated, brightened in some unusual fashion.
you let out a low whistle. “now what the fuck has you so happy?”
“nothing”.
“is it a guy?”
“no!” jeno refutes, the bright red hue paired with the shrill squeaked ‘no’ do naught for his argument. “it’s not that”.
“you have that after guy glow”.
“you’re insane”.
“he’s right though” jaemin wraps an inviting arm around his shoulder, jeno full on pouts. “you look awfully stunning this morning, jeno”.
“fuck?”
“you’re okay”.
“damn, why’s it feel like every intern in this hospital is getting some but me?” donghyuck grouches, you instantly share a look with renjun.
at the inevitable silence, donghyuck groans again. “don’t answer that”.
“yeah cause you’d only be told the obvio—“
“good morning~” kim jungwoo sings, much too delighted for the time of day. “glad to see all of you interns actually in on time, l/n and na you’ll be helping mark prep his patient, zhong and lee one you’ll be in the pit, and.. huang and lee two on charts, any complaints? wonderful! get going!”
mark lee has the discontented mannerisms of a teenage boy, awkward stutters and all, you often neglect to recall that he’s a revered surgeon prided for performing some of the best brain operations in the country, technically your boss.
you haven’t spent much time around him, you actively avoid kim wonil for the sake of donghyuck’s (and your own) sanity, looking into the eyes of mark lee, he appears bashful, shyly boyish in a manner akin to a formerly stranger lee jeno.
“guess he’s still avoidant”.
you snort, jaemin sucks his teeth, you then sigh with your tongue prodding at the side of your cheek. “well he can’t look at you without thinking about..”
now that you think about it, you’ve never really had a conversation with kim wonil, what’s even with the guy?
“oh” his face drops in that distinct kicked puppy fashion, you merely sigh.
“just give him space, okay? he’ll surely come around”.
“space.. really?”
“space is good” jaemin chimes in. “and either way he’s not your intern, we are, can we go now?”
he’s always been ever so impatient.
~
yang jungwon is a twenty year old college student with a tumor pressing down on his frontal temporal lobe. “it’s affecting his impulse control,” mark warns. “so if he says something a bit forward, that’s why”.
“forward?” you question.
when mark, you and jaemin walk into jungwon’s room, his mother is sitting beside his bed, smoothing over his sheets with her hands. mark bids them good morning and introduces you two as the interns which will be overseeing the surgery, the first thing jungwon says is:
“jesus you all are hot, is that requirement here? why are you all so hot? are there more of you?”
“jungwon” his mother softly chides.
forward, you hum, jaemin only makes an agreeing noise beside you.
“sorry, was that rude? i’m very sorry”.
“he’s usually shy” his mother explains. “he doesn’t mean to be offensive”.
“no offense taken ma’am, that’s probably the nicest thing a patient has said to us in a while” mark replies. “how are you feeling won?”
“my mom’s nervous so now i’m nervous and the food here sucks by the way, i don’t really wanna have brain surgery but i have to be optimistic so yay!”
“that’s the spirit!” mark cheers. “okay, dr. l/n here is gonna run a couple of tests to make sure everything is okay, dr. na will handle all the paperwork, if you still want to proceed i can have you scheduled for O.R two bright and early tomorrow morning, i’ll make sure everything goes smoothly for you okay?”
“can i get snacks from the vending machine to make it go smoother?”
“i’ll do it” his mother offers. “don’t give dr. l/n a hard time, okay?”
mark leaves with jaemin and mrs. yang to grab snacks and necessary consent forms, you begin putting on your gloves to give jungwon a routine examination.
“dr. l/n can i ask you a question?” jungwon asks.
you remove the stethoscope from your ears, giving him a small smile. “go ahead, i’m all ears”.
“well it’s more of a personal question” he twiddles his thumbs, smile stretched widely as he tilts his head towards you. “are you two like.. together?”
“me and who?”
“the other, other hot doctor with all the teeth, the one who was in here just now”.
“me and.. na?”
“yeah, is he your boyfriend? he was looking like he wanted to eat you, i was honestly getting worried by how intense he was staring”.
that shocks a fit of laughter out of you. “no no, he wasn’t—he’s.. he’s not my boyfriend”.
“oh okay, well if nobody’s told you yet then i’m a hundred percent sure he wants to jump your bones, and also be your boyfriend”.
you clear your throat, flustered by jungwon’s sense of earnesty. “we’re not together, just coworkers”.
“do you have a boyfriend?”
you sigh and lean forward, pressing two fingers on either side of his neck to feel for a carotid pulse. “you’ve said the word boyfriend an awful lot in these past few minutes,” you pause. “no i don’t”.
“okay” jungwon says. “this is going to sound a bit presumptuous, but if i survive the surgery, will you go out with me?”
you skillfully sidestep such a question. “that’s not presumptuous, dr. lee is one of the best brain surgeons in the country, he’s going to make sure you come out just fine, your most likely outcome is positive”.
jungwon stops, blinking up at you, galaxies in his pupils. “i think we might be soulmates”.
“yang jungwon”.
“that’s me”.
“you’re cute, and sweet, and funny— but i absolutely cannot go out with you”.
“is it the brain damage thing? i’ve been told that’s a dealbreaker”.
“don’t be cheeky, how old are you again? twenty?”
“twenty going on twenty five��.
you laugh. “you have your whole life ahead of you to find a soulmate, people don’t really have a good time dating me, you’ll be dodging a bullet”.
“what, why not?”
“won—can i call you won?”
“you can call me anything you want..”
“won” you stress, “i spend about eighty hours a week in this hospital, i barely have time to eat or sleep or even think about anything that doesn’t include cutting someone open, my last boyfriend dumped me for that reason, i couldn’t do that again, and i definitely don’t think you want to”.
“ah i see” jungwon says, he’s silent for a while before he asks: “you’re saying it would make sense for you to date someone who works as much as you do, like another doctor, right?”
“well that wasn’t the point but i guess that makes sense then”.
jungwon smiles as if he’s figured out something. “so do you like dr. na then?”
“dr. na is standing right there” jaemin chimes in. you two both turn to see him standing in the doorway, “i have consent forms, i already went over the procedure with your mom, i’m aware mark probably covered it with you, but if it would make you more comfortable i could go over it with you myself”.
both you and jungwon stare at him.
“what?”
“is he always like this?”
you smile in his direction, giggling as you ruffle his hair. “yeah”.
“didn’t peg you as the type to flirt with patients” jaemin utters later in the nurse station whilst you two idle around in feigned ignorance as if you don’t have mountains of work weighing on your shoulders. jungwon had personally asked for you to scrub in on his surgery, and it’s clear jaemin was just the slightest bit envious, you would be too if in his shoes. mark’s surgeries are always the most fun to watch.
“i wasn’t flirting, he was simply asking invasive questions so i entertained him, he’s a nice kid, it’s called having good bedside manners”.
“are you saying i don’t have good bedside manner?”
“your words, not mine”.
“i don’t care, you were definitely flirting back”.
“i thought you didn’t care?”
“i don’t”.
“well there’s your answer”.
jungwon comes out just fine, you and jaemin however, you take a while to recover.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 8: well i guess he’s fine..
at the end of the week you typically only prefer to gorge on the junk food remained tucked in your refrigerator and embrace the warmth of your bed, but everybody knows you don’t always get the things you want, especially you in your kicked rock of a life.
“are you ready?” renjun bounces on his heels, changed out of his scrubs already, breathing down your neck in an effort to fasten your process of changing.
“what are you all doing tonight?” jaemin inquires, suddenly nosy.
“well i wanted to go home to eat ice cream then sleep all night, but since it’s the last wednesday of the month and we have tomorrow off renjun wants to go do karaoke at the local bar”.
“it’s kind of our tradition!” jeno offers, he’s sat down on one of the benches, lacing up his dunks. “you should come with us, drinks are half off until midnight”.
“you should come! it’ll be so fun, y/n has the voice of an angel”.
your cheeks color red in embarrassment. “well actually—“
“stop trying to be humble now, just admit it” renjun then turns to jaemin. “please? you literally never hang out with us”.
you can’t see renjun’s face, but you know he’s using that pleading puppy look to sell his point.
you watch jaemin crumble in real time.
“alright, guess it couldn’t hurt”.
what hurts is your throat after demolishing a flurry of early 2000s hits. now your ears are beginning to pain as renjun, donghyuck and chenle go head to head, they’ve rapped to super bass three times in a row, and donghyuck continuously doubles over in laughter whenever chenle messes up a single lyric. you aren’t complaining though, this is about the happiest you’ve seen donghyuck in the week, it makes you feel all warm seeing him laughing and all full of bashful insults.
jaemin has been nursing the same beer since you’ve arrived, tucked away on the couch in an effort to not participate in such nonsense. it dawns on you that you normally don’t hang out with him outside of the hospital much, and you wonder if he even has friends outside the hospital.
before you stop yourself, you’re wriggling out of jeno’s lap and making your way over to jaemin. he looks over when you get close, eyes traveling from the loose neckline of your shirt to your face.
“hiii”, you greet.
“hello, you’re drunk”.
“just a little” you giggle, hiccuping on nothing. “you look all moody and broody in the shadows, are you not having fun?”
“i am, you guys are just..” jaemin pauses, again glancing back at the scene before seemingly taking back a few words. “i am”.
you hum, whistling in the air. “i need some fresh air, come with me?”
jaemin nods, following behind you in the manner of a shadow out of the establishment. you two end up sitting on the sidewalk, chilling air offering you solace as you attempt to sober up.
it’s chillier than it was before, but you bask in the cold instead, short sleeves acting as nothing of a barrier.
“that was quite the performance back there” jaemin says quietly.
“thank you, yeah i can’t compare to donghyuck but singing is.. you know, just a hobby”.
you shiver offhandedly, jaemin observes for a while before offering you over his jacket, caging it around you in his lingering warmth. you yearn to comment on it, he practically dares you to, so you take it in silence.
“you know what would be amazing? a hot spicy bowl of kimchi jjigae”.
it’s been a while since you’ve been able to cook a genuine meal, the shifts take it all out of you and turning on any kitchen appliances gives you anxiety after a long shift. eating is a whole shove and go sort of a thing, you don’t pay much mind to it anymore. “now why would you put that in my head? i’m hungry” you whine.
“i know a good spot near the hospital, their stuff is like home”.
you ignore the mention of home.
“you’re just making it worse”.
“sorry” jaemin is not sorry. “maybe we can go together after work sometimes”.
“oh, like with the other interns? that’d be nice..”
jaemin looks caught, he swallows down nothing. “no i mean.. just us”.
you freeze. “oh”.
“what? having sex with me is okay but dinner is completely out of the question?”
“no” you reply defensively. “it’s just— us, you know? we can’t even go a few words without arguing, we don’t do dinner, the only thing we have in common is that we’re stuck up surgeons, we don’t do dinner”.
jaemin presses his lips into a flat line, the kind of thing he does when he’s looking for something nice to say. “we’re friends”.
you almost lurch forward, perhaps drinking was not a good idea. you blink, completely knowing of your upcoming decision.
“you know what? yeah, let’s get dinner”.
“right now?”
“no time like the present!” you shout, holding your hand out for jaemin as you rise from the sidewalk. he takes it, intertwining your fingers as you haul him off the ground,
“what about the others?”
“they’ll be fine” you excuse. “come on”.
you realize belatedly that it’s about midnight, which means most, if not all restaurants serving kimchi jjigae are closed. you two end up at the popular twenty four hour ramen spot instead, and you take time to sober up as you two wait in line. hanging off jaemin’s arm, you simply allow your head to lean against his shoulder, the other making no room for little complaints, you’ll regret being all clingy in the morning, but for now, it’s all up in the air. the waitress who seats you eyes you in that knowing way, she thinks you two are a couple, you decide to not correct her, there’s no benefit, she ensures a comment about how cute you two are.
“first thing i want to do after getting my license is..” jaemin begins. “treat the uppers at one of these places, like a celebratory dinner”.
“ramen for surgeons?”
“basically”.
you hum, tongue hot, all warm. “you wanna split this with me?” you inquire, referring to the takoyaki before you on a plate.
“can you even eat all that?” jaemin poses, clicking his tongue as he eyes the spread of appetizers. you aren’t a quitter, especially after a week of subpar meals you didn’t even bother turning on the stove to create. you raise your plate in his direction, offering a takoyaki ball which he takes a stab at.
“have you always wanted to be a surgeon?”
jaemin sighs. “we don’t have to do this”.
“do what?”
“the thing where we ask each other questions and pretend to care about the answers”.
“i do care” you press. “aren’t we friends? answer the question, minjae”.
“is that supposed to be a nickname?” jaemin grumbles. you’ve always had a knack for nicknames, jeno your main victim. “it sucks”.
“answer the question”.
he sighs again, but this time he’s smiling. “i mean, guess i always had the feeling, i was obsessed with that surgeon game when i was younger, i would sneak into my dad’s office and read up on all of his procedures, i read a lot of his stupid textbooks and was hooked forever”.
“oh”.
“yeah”.
“well it probably helped your family’s full of doctors huh?”
he pauses. “not really”.
you stop for a moment. “your dad is na kiwoo, he’s crazy good at his shit, he invented a whole new way to transplant bone marrow! your uncle is literally the chief of surgery at the hospital we intern at!”
you probably appear nerdy, you scratch the back of your ear, somewhat embarrassed. jaemin stares, clearing his throat. “my parents didn’t want me to become a surgeon”.
you are absolutely gobsmacked, jaemin goes through the effort of physically putting your jaw back in its place. “seriously?”
“absolutely, they did everything to make sure i wouldn’t get into the medical field, wanted me to get some bullshit sports scholarship, they refused to pay my tuition and basically said i ruined their dreams of having an olympian son so i went no contact”.
you scoff. “god”.
“right” he grins, though there’s little genuine. “i tried so hard to get into any program that didn’t have to do with guleum but look where i ended up”.
you blink as you attempt to process the influx of information. “but you’re destined for greatness— you’re your parents’ legacy”.
he dismissively waves. “it would be great if they cared, they have their noses buried in their work, can’t believe they thought i wouldn’t take it personal”.
“you’re still mad?”
“what do you think?”
and then he chuckles. you deliver a small smack to his shoulder, along the lines of an affectionate gesture. “they’re dickheads, you’re gonna be one of the best surgeons in the world, besides me”.
jaemin is now the one who’s surprised. “did you just compliment me?”
“hm.. think you’re hearing things”.
“sure” he stops. “so what about you, then? what got you into this program?”
your nose scrunches. “my sister, she always had complications growing up but she had to get a lobectomy when she was young because she had a tumor, after that she couldn’t talk for a while, we spent a lot of time at the hospital so that’s where the interest came from”.
“i didn’t know you had a sister”.
well you didn’t exactly care. “i have three, never a moment of peace”.
“oh i bet”.
your expression falters for a moment. “dad and mom didn’t want me to, get into the medical field that is, they thought i couldn’t do it, said it was a future depicted in failure and that i’d quit at the first loud shout”.
“you? quit?”
he appears genuinely shocked by such a revelation. “are you surprised?”
“kinda” he mutters, opting to glance directly at you. “you’ve always been so persevering, can’t imagine you quitting anything”.
you shrug. “they weren’t around much, i had to kinda fend for myself with three girls running around”.
“well you did it didn’t you?”
“yeah, all those my little pony reruns and sugar cookies” you muse, shaking your head. “i should not know as much as i do about that show”.
jaemin laughs at that one, and you can’t help the pride which swells in your chest. you belatedly realize that you’re enjoying this conversation, you two haven’t had a petty fight in a while, go figure.
“you aren’t that bad”.
“surprise”.
“so why are you so hellbent on proving it then?”
“preconceived notions go a long way, people hear my last name and think seven thousand different things, it gets tiring trying to prove them wrong, i don’t care anymore”.
but if his voice is anything, then he definitely does still care.
“okay so how exactly do you plan on getting home?” he inquires to you, leftover bags swinging in the light wind.
“the night bus”.
“you don’t drive?”
“i would kill myself” you blurt, and jaemin snorts. “don’t laugh, highways are terrifying, besides, the bus is empty at this time”.
“do they really run now?”
you stare flatly. “of course they do, i memorized the running hours”.
he has half a mind to giggle at that one, you then grab onto jaemin’s hand as you drag him towards the nearest bus stop.
your building lights remain blindingly bright once you finally reach your stop, jaemin following behind you in the fashion he always does.
“you really didn’t have to walk me”.
“i needed to make sure you’re in safely” he emphasizes, as if that makes any sense, he opts for an eye roll to sell the stubborn bit.
“aww, what a gentlemen you are minjae”.
he grumbles at the nickname, though his smile threatens to jump up at every glance.
for the first time since you and jaemin eloped, you take a glance at your watch, shocked at it being half past two already. “don’t you have work today? why didn’t you say anything?”
jaemin shrugs, flatly, very jaemin. “you guys were having fun, my shift’s at noon, it’s fine”.
“okay well, goodnight?”
“goodnight,” jaemin replies, and he leans forward for a peck, it’s short and sweet, by the time he’s done, you realize all too late, cheeks gone red as you instead blink.
“uh” you begin, very intelligent y/n, stellar. “that was.. um—“
“you okay?”
“no! i mean— yes i just, that was nice it was nice..” you exhale, “can i have another one?”
jaemin gives in, cupping your cheeks and drawing you in for another kiss. it shouldn’t go on for as long as it does, but you’re much too embarrassing to admit such a thing, instead you let him do it again, and again, and again, all soft against your lips.
“we probably shouldn’t do that again because..” your lips attempt to twitch up, you try to fasten that sincere expression on your features. “well you know—“
“right, no domestic shit” jaemin smiles, all teeth, so cocky.
you refuse to give him the satisfaction of a smile, turning towards the entrance in order to hide it. “goodnight”.
“goodnight” jaemin lingers for a moment, as if he wants to say something more. however, it appears he changes his mind once you glance back at him, he mirrors your turn back and begins walking off.
it’s not until you put the leftovers away and begin undressing for your shower that you realize you forgot to return him his jacket.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 9: the crush-not-crush phase
jaemin does the friend thing exceptionally well, he relays obscure anecdotes that you giggle at and sneaks in slight jabs when doyoung’s in the middle of an important sentence that has you nudging him in the stomach with your arm.
like right now, he’s droning on about a moment when a nanny almost burned down his parents house whilst trying to cook for him and you’re very much interested, sneaking snorts under your breath.
renjun, jeno and donghyuck all arrive, tapping you on your shoulder, you turn to glance with the slightest confusion.
there isn’t an exchange of words, they simply observe jaemin until he smiles, making up a story about having to go check up on a patient.
they all silently watch him leave.
“why’d you scare him off?” you complain, almost tapering off into whining territory.
“i just want to know what’s up with you two” renjun finally says.
you groan, donghyuck pushes as he takes a seat beside you. “we are not having this conversation again”.
“is he your friend? your boyfriend? an eight month conquest? your shotaro replacement?”
“why does everyone think we’re dating—“
“i ran into him when he was leaving your room this morning” jeno drawls, flat, irritated in that soft way he always is. “i’m about to ask him to start pitching in on the water bill”.
“he’s not over that often”.
your argument falls flat at donghyuck’s eyebrow raise. “he has been this month, do you like him?”
“okay— i hook up with him a few times doesn’t mean i like him”.
“you two keep sneaking off every time we hang out, you basically made him our new pseudo roommate and you were doing that thing you do when you like someone”.
“what thing?”
“you get all giggly and playfully mean—“ donghyuck tucks his hair behind his ear and flutters his eyelashes, squealing in what you suppose is a high pitched imitation of your voice; “oh jaemin you’re sooo funny!”
you land a punch, neither renjun or jeno reach to stop your action despite donghyuck’s extensive complaints.
“i’m not— it doesn’t matter, how could i like jaemin? he’s a fucking shark, do you not remember what he did to me in my our first month?”
renjun glances around, as if searching around for a better excuse you could tout. “your point?”
“i don’t like him, i’m not dating him, it’s all for sex”.
“how long has this been going on again?”
you wrack your mind for an answer. “we started right after i got dumped so.. around late august?”
“oh my god” donghyuck says, his eyes blown out dramatically. “you’ve been sleeping with na jaemin for THREE MONTHS!?”
you decide to assault him again. “can you not be so loud?”
“and you haven’t killed him yet? ew, you do like him”.
“i don’t— what does—“
“oh you totally do! holy shit, is the dick that good!?”
when you take a liberal pause, renjun immediately crinkles his nose. “don’t actually answer that”.
“i wasn’t going to”.
“you were having sex flashbacks!”
“was not, get over yourself” you snark.
donghyuck looks one mouth opening away from speaking when mark lee suddenly shows up, plopping himself at your table. “is this seat taken?”
“yes!” you and renjun yell in unison.
donghyuck clears his throat. “actually, you were just leaving weren’t you?”
“we were?” you ask dumbly, donghyuck nods, tipping his head towards the door.
oh, you realize what he’s trying to do.
“right” you begin slowly. “just leaving, just going”.
“me too” adds renjun.
“i haven’t finished my sandwich yet..” jeno pouts, and renjun sighs as he grabs ahold of his collar, dragging him away from the lunch table where you’ll leave mark and donghyuck alone. “c’mon, they have something to fix”.
~
when you enter the kitchen the following saturday, donghyuck offers you a mere glance from his book before sighing. “jaemin’s?”
“yep” you pop the p, crouching down as you open the fridge, offering a squint as if your aid will magically appear given your gaze. “are we out of grapes?”
“jeno ate em all, why?”
“nothing, guess i’ll just starve”.
“are you gonna sleep over?”
“i don’t know..”
“sounds close to a yes”.
you glare, donghyuck chuckles.
“practice safe sex youngling!”
you flip him off, he offers you a kiss instead. “sure”.
“enjoy your weekend off!”
you pause before the door and turn back to give him a look, itching to ask a question you’re aware doesn’t have a definite enough answer. “so.. is everything good between you and mark now?”
“i’m working on it” he says, “just working on it”.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 10: blurring the line just a bit
you stumble into jaemin’s room and fall into his bed with your legs tangled. you feel warmth encapsulate you instantly. there’s lightheadedness, as if you’re drunk, intoxicated by the familiar scent of simply jaemin. his hair is in his eyes, yet for a long moment he simply stares. you doubt there’s a definitive way your imperfections could be glimpsed at in the vague orange lamplight, a small frown tugs at your lips.
“what?” you whisper, tentative.
“nothing” jaemin replies, equally silent. “it’s just— you’re just.. you look pretty like this”.
you blank for a moment, brightening yet attempting to shove it downward, reddened. “good, thought you were about to change your mind”.
“hush”.
when jaemin leans down to kiss you it’s soft, and your brain does that stupid malfunction thing once again, you sort of don’t know what to do with it. it’s syrup slow, the way jaemin licks into your mouth and his fingers trail up underneath your shirt, like you two have all the time in the world. you take in a long breath, tugging impatiently at his shirt which acts as a hurdle for you. he chuckles, you feel his smile against your own growing one.
you frown, such an expression heartens jaemin to no end. he’s torturing you, pressing slow soft presses against your soft skin, each press marked by his growing smile as he drags his mouth across each particular edge, exponentially leisure, nothing of vigor and more of attention to specific details. you squirm gradually, jaemin digs the pads of his fingers into your hips to hold you still in place, there’s a gentle edge to it that makes your head spin.
“hey” you tug at jaemin’s hair, and when he glances up at you there’s that huge urge to punch him, or maybe kiss him, do a crazy combination with the grin he’s sporting. “could you— fuck speed it up”.
“don’t you rush me y/n” he drawls, blinking up at you through his terribly beautiful eyelashes. “today is special”.
“it can be special when you get to it”.
“so bossy, maybe you should be in control then”.
despite his clear amusement, lingering insults on his tongue, jaemin again leans down to kiss you. it seems he enjoys that aspect, you don’t let go of his hair, hand on the back of his neck pressing him closer. it’s a good kiss, the slightest bit scary to you. you think you could get used to this, get accustomed to the sight of his dirty blonde hair and his hands pressing into the skin of your hip, possibly leaving marks.
it seems a little scary, but it also seems.. well, it makes you have all those mushy feelings you shouldn’t be having, feelings you’d have a heart attack at having three months ago.
you suppose you are blurring the lines a bit here, teeth ground and face buried into his neck, as if you were attempting to crawl into his skin. jaemin holds you and talks you through it like a lover would, it does terrible things to you, terrible terrible thoughts swirling around in your brain.
in the morning, you awake alone. you lie there for a moment, sunlight peeking through the curtains, then you allow your head to fall once more, taking in a deep breath which inadvertently means you’re smelling jaemin’s pillow. you shake your head instantly at such a thought, it’s really all over for you.
you settle for a moment before finally rising from your place, more of rolling off jaemin’s bed and almost breaking your bones with the fall on the floor.
you go through the motions, brushing your teeth and attempting to fix your hair, eventually just leaving it half done. you then venture into jaemin’s closet, grabbing at a random black hoodie and pulling it over your head.
you hear a commotion, head whipping in the direction of the door. you blink, poking your head out of the bedroom door. “jaemin?”
“i’m fine, it’s all fine! nothings burning down”.
you shuffle your way out of his room, feet mute against his bare floor. jaemin has his back to you, in nothing but a practically see through white shirt. “what’s this?”
“breakfast” he muses, eyes seemingly jumping when he catches a glimpse of you.
you lean over his shoulder, nosy as ever, his face is flat. “what?”
jaemin squints. “do you not like pancakes?”
“what kind of question is that? everyone likes pancakes” you reply, breakfast is one of the most foreign meals to you, you haven’t had an actual real breakfast meal in a startling while. “i thought you didn’t like strawberries”.
“they’re not for me” he says, nose scrunched. he uses a fork to cut up the pieces, getting an equal amount of each ingredient before holding it up to your face. “open up”.
“i know how to use a fork myself, you know”.
“open up”.
you drop your mouth open and allow jaemin to feed you, he observes you eat like a hawk. “good?”
you nod enthusiastically.
jaemin smiles, a real, toothless smile that blossoms alluringly over his features. “alright, eat breakfast, then we can go back to sleep”.
you pause, chewing. “i could’ve helped make breakfast”.
“well i didn’t want to wake you” you’re unaware of when he got closer, you opt to not question it, simply allowing his arms to circle around your waist and for him to kiss you once again. his presses are slow, lazy, warm, his sigh in tandem with him pushing you up against the counter.
“can’t i eat?”
“you look good”.
“my hair looks like shit..” you mumble, in response he ruffles it, which earns a grunt as you attempt to escape his hand by leaning backward. “and you just ruined it again”.
“i didn’t do anything” he’s got that smile on again, the one without his teeth, you found you enjoy capturing glimpses of that one much more than you’d ever gloat. “now eat, lord knows how long it’s been since you’ve had breakfast”.
he makes it up to you by helping you wash your hair in the shower, practically putting you to sleep with his ministrations, hand motions paired with a warm stream of water a dealing blow. he lets you do the same for him, sneaking in kisses between rinses to make your time a bit more difficult, water flicked your way resulting in slight squeaks. you spend the afternoon on the couch, bickering over what to watch before eventually settling on a drama you’d been recommended, cuddling closely, though napping quickly overtakes you. jaemin is heavy against your chest, and when you wake up past sunset, there’s a noticeable cramp in your arm, yet it’s the happiest you’ve felt in years.
~
it’s no wonder things change after that.
you see jaemin in the hallways of the hospital, messy hair paired with eye bags and your heart starts beating erratically. it remains in such fastened motions whenever he sends you a smile at lunch, or when you’re around the rest of your friends and can’t help but just.. stare. your chest warms inexplicably whenever he purposely bumps into you in the locker room or leans against you once he’s worn out, in the manner of a mind reader who knows what exactly such things to do your weak heart.
you’re still hooking up, obviously, but it’s become so ridiculously domestic that you’re unaware of when such lines began blurring.
jaemin brings you coffee, placing it atop the nurses station and patiently awaiting your response, smile akin to a cat bringing their owner a dead rodent as a gift.
you blink at it, then up at him, smiles all high. you recognize the doodles on the cup as from the cafe down the street, yet your mind is still the slightest bit woozy from a frankly terrible three hour sleep. “what’s this?”
“a little pick me up” he replies. “can’t just keep throwing back espresso shots, that’s unhealthy”.
how jaemin even figured that out is something you neglect to mention, you presume he’s some sort of alien mind reader, completely inhumane. you would’ve bitten back with a snarky remark a few months ago, yet it appears your mind is full of gray static now. you shake your head and go back to reading over the patient notes.
“i can’t drink that”.
“it’s your order” he drawls, and your eyes again shoot up.
“what.. uh— shit”.
jaemin pokes at your shoulder, sliding the cup over and encouraging you to take a sip. you’d argue with him, if you could with how he’s staring.
he was right, it is.
“how’d you even..?”
“i have my ways,” he brightens.
“thank you” you whisper.
“it’s nothing” he leans in to dart a kiss to your temple. “take it easy, okay?”
and your world successfully tilts on its own axis, you really need a word for that one.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 11: desperate times desperate looking man
“i feel like i haven’t seen you in ages,” renjun whispers. you’re sneaking into the NICU between patients, like you typically do when swallowed with work. the tiny preemie babies are so cute, they’re simply giving it their all to survive, it encourages you to keep going in the slightest bit. also did you mention they’re absolutely adorable?
“are you finally moving out? are you taking jeno with you? am i free?”
“i’m not leaving, stop trying to divorce me” you say, smacking donghyuck’s shoulder in retaliation to such words. “has jaemin been acting any weird around you?”
“you mean like— weirder than normal?” donghyuck raises an eyebrow, renjun distracted by cooing at the sleeping NICU babies. you always wondered the extent of dreams infants have, constantly intrigued by such a thing.
“no not really” he replies, nudging renjun slightly in an effort to get him back on track. the older startles out of his admiring daze, blinking in your direction.
“jaemin? jaemin’s always been weird, why are you asking?”
“i don’t know he’s acting.. different, i’m a little worried”.
“different how?” renjun does his award winning judgmental gaze, amping up your consciousness.
“well you know how i slept over at his place last weekend—“
“and spared me the ear bleeding noises yes”.
“shut up, this morning he got me coffee before rounds started, he kissed me and told me to take it easy, since when has jaemin cared about that?”
renjun and donghyuck exchange one mere glance before the latter speaks up; “you know what that sounds like? i think you sucked and fucked your way into a relationship”.
“don’t swear in front of the babies!”
“and don’t ever say sucked and fucked again” renjun glares, nose crinkling in disgust.
donghyuck sucks his teeth, though ignoring renjun’s distinct complaint. “seriously y/n, if you can’t see with your huge fucking eyes that jaemin has something for you, that might be a huge problem”.
your arms drop at their sides, readying up some terrible rebuttal when your pager goes off, you immediately sigh once jaemin’s name pops up. “speak of the devil” you muse.
when you walk into the E.R you spot him immediately.
“hey, what’s up?”
“just need you to come look at something for me” he immediately says. “i have a theory, but i need a second opinion”.
a smug smile creeps onto your face. “are you asking me for a consultation right now?”
he rolls his eyes. “don’t act coy, there’s a lady with glitter glue in her ears, you seriously have to see this”.
you let him lead the way.
~
it’s eerily quiet in the intern locker when you walk in to grab your phone, one single being in the room, that of na jaemin, lying back on one of the benches, leg propped up. once he catches sight of you, he sits up.
“hey”.
“hi” you reply.
“out or in?”
“out, apparently i hit my eighty hours for the week, jungwoo cut me off”.
“that sucks, i’m on call tonight”.
“that does suck” you hum, shoving your phone in your bag as you eye the suspicious way his leg is propped up. “what’s up with your leg?”
“nothing, it’s just— my knees a little sore, that’s all”.
you frown slightly. “let me see”.
“you know i’m an adult, right? i can take care of myself”.
“hush” you respond, flatly staring as jaemin sits back on the bench, allowing you to poke at the wrap around his knee.
“it’s an old injury” he says. “it’s supposed to be fully healed but it still troubles me sometimes”.
your mouth drops open in a silent ‘ah’, “speed skating, right”.
“yeah, i was just telling choi about it, i don’t know why everyone is so surprised i used to speed skate”.
“you’ve been telling everyone about your secret past? i don’t feel special anymore, na jaemin” you tease. you sit up on the bench, satisfied jaemin wasn’t lying about wrapping it up properly. you’re supposed to go meet your family after this, but you don’t want to leave jaemin’s side just yet, call it obsession.
“relax” jaemin drawls, giving you a salacious wink. “they all know i only have eyes for you”.
you ignore the heat rising in your ears. jaemin has been much more forward with his advances lately, unabashed, little shame, which reminds you—“everyone thinks we’re dating, you know? you’re fueling the fire”.
“you know i don’t care what people think of me”.
liar.
“well i care” you answer. “about us, about.. uh— well, people always talk, you know? makes me anxious”.
“you sure you want me to stop flirting with you? really?”
“yes” you have an airy undertone lacing your voice, eyes sliding towards jaemin’s mouth, you realize lately that all you want to do is kiss him. you’re about fully prepared to when your phone buzzes in your pocket.
“you got somewhere to be?”
you shoot off a text to your younger sister to assure her that you will indeed not be late. you meet jaemin’s eyes and hesitate for a moment, though you’re unsure of why. “yes actually i have a reunion, well— not exactly a reunion but my parents want me to come home for some reason, probably gonna try to set me back up with my ex like they do every single time..”
there’s a small shift in his expression. “oh? didn’t they try to do that last week? or was that something else?”
“shotaro offered last week and i couldn’t turn him down, they’re trying to push me back to another ex”.
“ah”.
you pick up your bag and stand to head out of the door.
“i promised my sisters i wouldn’t be late, can’t leave them alone at home, if they make anything good i’ll bring around leftovers” you look over your shoulder. “text me when you get home?”
jaemin neglects to respond, you squint as you look at him.
“jaemin?”
“what? oh yeah, yeah, i’ll text you”.
~
jaemin does not end up texting.
you’re aware of that because you continuously glance over at your phone whilst your parents mutter on their meticulous jargon, sneaking in less than vague insults pertaining to your character. you keep checking for some sort of ping, a rogue emoji or videos of his cats that he enjoys sending so much. you only get texts from donghyuck asking what kind of pasta noodles he should buy for dinner, nothing else.
“are we boring you?” your youngest sister inquires, her head leaning against her head as she takes liberal glances towards your own phone.
you sheepishly put your phone away, you have no idea what anybody has been droning on about for the past few minutes, and you’re much too embarrassed to ask. “sorry no, please continue”.
later, you get home and crawl into your sheets, swiping the notification bar one last time to see if jaemin sent anything. disappointment. you tossed and turned for a moment, uncomfortable in the air of your room. it’s late, jaemin clearly had a long day and crashed as soon as he got home. he isn’t obligated to text you everyday, especially when you’re both equally busy in your own right. nevertheless, you briefly entertain the idea of showing up at his place just to see how he’ll react.
that would be crazy, you freak, is what your inner conscious speaks. he’s not your boyfriend or anything.
you do wish jaemin were here, though, he warms your presence in just the slightest.
you get up one last time, grabbing a dormant pusheen plushie left on your floor and pressing your face into it, a silent scream escaping your lips. you peer over at your phone one last time, finally deciding to take a leap.
goodnight, you text, pausing. you take a few moments, typing out i miss you a good six times before deleting such an idiotic message, you two saw each other no more than a few hours ago, why would you even send that? your hands are clammy.
maybe he caught something?
in the next minute, you practically jump up on your feet as your message is registered as seen. you sit up on the bed, observing text bubbles pop up and disappear for several minutes. eventually, jaemin settles on simply hearting your message.
he didn’t even say it back, but your heart is racing, and an irreversible warmth encapsulates you. the sides of your mouth curve upward involuntarily as you think of jaemin, his stupid jokes and his wide smile and his messy blonde hair, lying in bed deciding over how to respond to a ‘goodnight’ text. it’s just a text. a mere reaction even, nothing of a true response, yet this is a feeling you haven’t had in a long time.
lovesickness, you realize.
oh lord.
THE ETHICS OF COWORKER HOOKUPS 12: and zhong chenle was right in the end
“fucking finally” chenle’s mouth does that swivel upward and he beckons renjun closer. “pay up”.
“what? no, this doesn’t count, he hasn’t even told jaemin how he feels yet” renjun argues.
donghyuck taps his feet onto the floor, nudging you with his shoulder as he shares a knowing look, you stick out your tongue, though completely anxious about your upcoming circumstances. “told jaemin how i what?”
chenle sighs as if the whole world rests atop his shoulders. “jaemin romances you every single day, cooks for you, buys you cute gifts, asks for free consults and you’re still wondering how he feels for you? you sure you were at the top of your class back in university?”
jaemin walks in then.
“jaemin!”
you internally wince at the extent of your excitement, tone overwhelming. “um.. hi”.
“hey”.
“you never texted”.
“must’ve slipped my mind”.
“cool— uh, listen” over jaemin’s shoulder, chenle gestures you a thumbs up, renjun making a cut throat motion across his neck whilst donghyuck simply observes the whole thing in the manner of daytime entertainment. “uh.. i’m— we’re ordering in tonight, pizza and a movie are you down?”
jaemin opens his locker and doesn’t look at you. “sounds a little boring, sorry..”
“we don’t have to watch the movie” you suggest, screw shame, you’re as desperate as they get.
he blinks over at you, as if attempting to keep himself grounded though looking into your eyes.
“i’ll pass, have fun though” he replies, “see you all tomorrow” then he’s picking up his jacket, rushing out the locker room in an instant, cutting you off quickly. he practically runs into jeno on his way out, startling the other into donghyuck’s personal space.
“what’s up with jaemin? he looks like his cat just died”.
you turn to renjun and chenle. “he just rejected me, right?
“that money is literally mine” chenle grits his teeth.
“you’re all useless”.
by the time you make it to the lobby, jaemin is about finished with his daily wrap up talk with the receptionist, bag over his shoulder and head pointed towards the door. you’re fully aware of how pathetic you must seem currently, but you suppose nothings worse than not getting the truth out of him.
“hey.. hey, jaemin, slow down?”
jaemin blinks again, the irritated furrow of his eyebrows jumping out at you immediately. “what do you want?”
“i want you to talk to me”.
“what’s there to talk about?”
“you— gosh, you’re so confusing, you know? i can’t read minds, can’t you just tell me what i did wrong?”
and how you ended up outside is beyond you, perhaps it was the better decision, after all, arguing in front of the front desk lady is about as embarrassing as it gets.
jaemin scoffs, glancing down at his watch as if he’s unaware of the time, his apple watch lights up and the background is a picture of his cats, the wallpaper is helplessly adorable, it endears you to no end.
“you didn’t do anything”.
“well you don’t exactly make that obvious with how you’ve been avoiding me, you’ve been weird ever since i told you i started hanging out with shotaro again”.
“that— that has nothing to do with it, what you do out of work is none of my business”.
you try not to feel hurt by that one, you’re aware of what jaemin is trying to do. “so what is it?”
jaemin bites into his cheek. “can’t you drop it?”
“no” you refuse, slightly blocking his way though he could probably carry you on a bad day. “you’re going to have to tell me or get through me”.
“are you insane?”
that almost earns a well deserved fit of laughter, you suppose you are at this point. “you’re being immature, we have all night”.
jaemin gives a long hard stare, and you actually think he’s about to push you out of the way, leave you rejected on the cold sidewalk, but then he sighs, picking at the ends of his hair before breaking into a sigh. “i let you down, you know?”
you blank, arms dropping at your sides as you instead give continuous blinks. “what the fuck are you talking about?”
jaemin looks a crossbred of punching you and kissing you. “of course you don’t remember it’s— god you say things and barely even mean them cause you just talk so much, you know? you make me mad cause you do these little things that just piss me off and i just don’t understand you, you care about people so much and you’re so bossy but you’re also so.. cute, and nice, and you’re funny and you always do these things that make me realize i’m stupidly in love with you, there, that’s it”.
your heart resounds like a drum in your ears. “jaemin—“
“i fell in love with you, okay? and i know you told me not to, didn’t want us devolving into any domestic shit but.. i am, present tense, i’m in love with you”.
oh, you suppose there’s always a catch.
“you done now?” you ask.
“am i— yeah” jaemin laughs, dry and all. “i’m done, are you happy? can i go home now?”
“no” you pull him by the front of his jacket to kiss him, it’s cute that jaemin is clearly surprised by it, the broken whimper he allows to escape when you bite into the swell of his bottom lip is even cuter. his hand comes to cradle your jaw, and for a few sweet moments you forget you’re in front of your building of occupancy. you pull away with your cheeks hot as you rest your foreheads together, suddenly amused.
“thought you would’ve let your parents set you up with your ex”.
“and you didn’t think to ask me?”
“i mean— we never talked about.. this”.
“because you said it would be weird!”
“oh so i’m the bad guy now?”
“yes! yes you are!”
“i told you i was in love with you all you had to say was—“
“shut up” you snap, cupping his impossibly perfect face between your hands. “lord i like you so much, love you an excruciating amount and i miss you all the time even though i see you everyday, you’re so annoying and you have that addicting smile and it’s— you piss me off”.
“as you’ve said before”.
“but.. you know, guess it wouldn’t hurt to try”.
he kisses you again and you can’t help how you smile against his own lips.
“you wanna come back with me?”
jaemin pretends to think it over, as if your fingers aren’t entwined and you don’t already have butterflies alive in your stomach. “i’m worried, what happens if my helmet swallows your tiny little head whole”.
“so romantic na, i’ll have to give you an award for that one”.
“aww, really?”
“no”.
jaemin sticks out his tongue, one last peck given to your lips before you two were off.
when you get back to your place, jaemin falls asleep on your lap midway through the movie like an exhausted old man, or maybe just the young surgeon subjected to the torturous work hours at guleum grave hospital just trying his best. you can’t believe how fond you are, gaze brazen in a manner that renders you nauseous. unable to resist, you reached out to tuck strands of his hair behind his ear.
you hate yourself, it’s just the slightest bit terrifying, you’re fearful at the oncoming future and the enigma of na jaemin in his all. you just want to make sure he wants this, the mushy and sticky feelings which come with the whole process. he is a mystery, yes, but he’s also kind, and patient, and so full of boundless devotion that he probably isn’t even sure he retains.
jaemin jerks awake once jeno flicks on the lights of the living room, but he settles down quickly once he realizes he’s in your lap, you run your fingers through his hair, quietly aching.
he blinks up at you slowly. “i missed the movie”.
“you did” you murmur, “wanna go to bed?”
“yeah” jaemin grabs ahold of your hand in his hair, fingers intertwined, beginning to leave light kisses on your wrist, just above your pulse. he’s so cute like this, so soft looking with his delicate feeling lips and soft all around the edges. you might get sick from the absorbent amount of love you happen to be feeling, his eyelashes flutter in your direction, a smile tugging at his lips which you mirror.
it’s a match made on this soul sucking earth. it’s only a little perfect.
#na jaemin#nct#nct dream#nct dream imagines#nct dream drabbles#nct dream scenarios#nct dream x reader#jaemin imagines#jaemin drabbles#jaemin scenarios#jaemin x reader#na jaemin x male reader#𑁍 ࣪˖ 𓂃 isa's works!
108 notes
·
View notes
Text
Various Predators x Predator! Reader (IV)
@avaleigh16 asked (a very long time ago, sorry for the wait!!) for a fourth part to the Predator saga, where Reader is brought to Yautja Prime. Therefore I bring a potential sequel that focuses on Predator culture, depending on who you’ve chosen as your partner!
[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Horror Masterlist]
Feral Predator
As promised, your new home didn’t stray much from your expectations. Feral Predator is from a different hemisphere, of a drier climate. The imposing, sprawling megalopolis of Yautja Prime is but a distant outline, fading before the marvels of raw, unforgiving nature this place has to offer. Tribal architecture and interminable tunnels are the prominent features of these ancient cities. One has no need for advanced technology. In a way, it does remind you of Earth, of your modest countryside roots. Communities are made of small family units, so days are spent hunting or training in the company of your partner. Feral Predator is a patient and caring father, guiding his offspring and showing them the ropes of survival. There will be frequent visits to Earth as he, too, favors its wilderness, especially when it comes to honing one’s skills. While he treats you as an equal, he does hold you in significantly high regards as the mother of his children.
Elite Predator
With great status comes great responsibility. Elite Predator has been eyeing the Elder status for some time now, in order to provide you with one further reason to be grateful for choosing him. That implies, naturally, that he is often on special missions to teach or rescue Young Bloods, or clear out Alien infestations. Your offspring will go through Spartan training as soon as they can crawl their way around: it would be shameful if his own younglings end up weak or devoid of skill. Although he does not worry about such outcome. He hasn’t picked you out of random chance. Only someone of his level could’ve made it as his mate, and he was certain of it from the moment he saw you. Hopefully you, too, can tell that this outcome was fated to happen. You most certainly won’t regret your life with him, he will make sure of that.
Fugitive Bad Blood
If you were hoping for an idyllic, peaceful life in a humble hut with ocean view, I have some bad news for you. Even settling on Yautja Prime is an optimistic stretch when your partner is a criminal on the run. You’ve unwillingly followed in the footsteps of your parents, watching your child grow from within the confinements of a ship, sailing through space with no ultimate goal. Not all is grim, however. Despite his ruthless nature, the Fugitive has kept his word when it comes to being a fitting partner for you. Your wish is his command and he will not allow anything endanger his family. To your great shock, he’s even willing to take risky detours on Earth whenever you feel particularly nostalgic. He will stare at you incredulously; why the hell would he have gone through all the efforts to court you if he didn’t want you as a partner? Have you forgotten who you’re dealing with already? Whatever your heart desires, he will make it possible.
Berserker
The Super Predator cannot wait for his younglings to be old enough to begin their hunt. He lives to kill and one can easily tell from his impressive collection of trophies he has gathered from all across the Universe. Truth be told, you’re somewhat afraid to see the outcome of your copulation. Berserker Yautja are much larger and much more aggressive than your species. You’d assumed his first choice for a mate should’ve been from his own kind, but for reasons unknown he’s preyed on you instead. The Berserker seems to have a fervent attachment towards you and will even growl at his own sucklings if they show any sign of disrespect. There’s not much space for freedom and sometimes you feel like you’re trapped under the suffocating affections of a savage animal ready to defend its territory. From his point of view, you should enjoy the privilege of belonging to the superior Predator. There’s no one out there that could go against him.
420 notes
·
View notes
Text
For You, I Want to Sing, but I Have No Mouth
A ShockOp plot outline/scenario ideas using songs based on @keferon Mech Pilot AU
This pairing has been eating me alive so I decided to write so I don't have to bottle it up any longer. Enjoy this New Year's gift 🎁
DISCLAIMER: The characterizations are mainly based on collective and selective headcanons and personal views and understanding. Some OCs will be included. Don't take them too seriously.
Also, some songs I skimmed from my playlist will be referenced for scenarios that are brought to mind, not in order of events. I just love the 'what ifs' and what happened in between for this pairing. If there's nothing after a song, then the scenario(s) is self-explanatory.
Using music just helps the creative process you know. There'll be more additions as I straighten my thoughts out.
Est-ce que tu m’aimes - GIMS (the translated lyrics speak for themselves)
Look Around - Under the Boardwalk (it’s a cute song and it could be akin to the Open Arms scenarios)
Run to Me - Clarence Coffe Jr.
Oh My Love - The Score (Orion’s POV)
Would You Fall in Love with Me - EPIC: The Ithaca Saga (Odysseus as SW, Penelope as Orion; probably when they meet in the afterlife or something)
LET THE WORLD BURN - Chris Grey
We Become We - Journey to Bethlehem
Raise This Barn - My Little Pony (A big stretch but this is where the imagination and headcannons comes in. Shockwave was an orphan for a while til he was adopted by a pair of farmers, Leonard and Tommy [Leonard in reference to Lanard Toys for trademarking right to the name for a while during his Bay Movie appearance, and Tommy in reference to Takara Tomy being one of the creators of Transformers]. The farm was his home, even when he went off to pursue his studies in the city, he might not be big on people but he holds his family close enough. Rebuilding after a certain natural disaster brings him home, which knocks out having a family gathering for the next decade cause that’s a lot of relatives he won’t remember but to help his dads is all that matters, especially in their old age)
Can't Help Falling in Love - Kina Grannis
To Build A Home - Patrick Watson (during some quiet moments on the farm when he brings Orion for some fresh air from the that place, Shockwave taking a moment to breathe too, maybe showing his dads’ cows too, Fluffy Ears hitting it off with Orion, watching from the side sending looks at him, oh does his heart get lighter when he returns the same look through eyes that cling to all the hope in the world for the both of them, he pitied and envied for those eyes, at least in a way they were his)
Die With A Smile - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (there was no way either of them could, this world doesn’t allow such a luxury, but maybe in another universe, another life)
More Than You Know - Axwell /\ Ingrosso (for the both of them)
Open Arms - EPIC: Cyclops Saga (could symbolize their contrasting outlooks, open arms for a more optimistic future in spite of their situation even for a moment, cause what’s the point if you don’t stop to smell the flowers and admire the stars)
Fix You - Coldplay or Danny Olson & Jadelyn
We'll Meet Again - maruwhat
A Million Miles Away - Belle (from Orion's ghost to Shockwave)
Yuri on ICE - Taro Umebayashi
Magic - Sia (stargazing outside of the mech or outside in the wilderness, where for now the world consists of him Orion and the stars above, but it goes unsaid that they’re each other’s whole world, for better and for worse)
The Line - Twenty One Pilots (they feel JayVik coded to me, like if Viktor survived but couldn’t revive Jayce or something like that)
Happy Ending / Sewer Home - TMNT Mutant Mayhem (some form of happy ending, it feels out of place but they're together at last, somehow)
Wu Ji - Xiao Zhan & WANG YIBO (the YEARNING)
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Scarlett Johansson & Bono
DREAM BOY Album - Morgan Clae
Count Me In - Liv and Maddie
Fantastic - King Princess (iykyk)
Until I Found You - Stephen Sanchez
KISS OF DEATH - Mika Nakashima (pilots with giant mechs, codependency stuff and romance and angst in and out of the cockpit)
Great Balls of Fire - Miles Teller (rare moment of Shockwave singing in the hometown bar, Orion was there singing along with his arms around him, a little bit drunk; Orion might not be able to sing as well later on down the line from deteriorating lung damage, doesn’t mean he won’t get to hear Shockwave sing to him every now and then)
Beautiful Things - Benson Boone
I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany (that one time they fooled around in the cockpit, luckily no one was there to witness, or not)
More Than Anything (Reprise) - Hazbin Hotel (moments of comfort and reassurance after a trying test or battle)
Good Old Days - Macklemore & Kesha (reminiscing)
Classic - MKTO (Orion’s POV again)
Independent Together - Caleb Hyles & CG
Carnaval Del Barrio - In the Heights (morality at a low but a musical number does wonders, even to progress their relationship)
Accidentally In Love - Counting Crows (Orion’s POV again, cause he fell first and hard)
Had I Not Seen the Sun - Robin, Chevy (post-battle moment, surviving another day, )
~~~~~
Headcannons and scenarios (I know most of these are not as angsty but the lot of you can make it up tenfold so how about some more soft stuff):
- For living in civilization for all his life, Orion isn’t up to date with the ‘pop culture’ but at least he has Shockwave to show him the good tunes, like classical and synth
- That one time when Orion got him a stuffed cow teddy with a recording of Fluffy Ears’s moos for his birthday. Since when did he have the time to acquire he still doesn’t know
- In their mech, they’re a beast on the battlefield. It might not have been amazing compared to the current mechs and pilots, but they’ve lasted this far with just the two of them for a reason. Got a marksman’s eye and the strength to rip the faces off those tentacled fuckers. Sometimes Orion forgets to take it down a notch outside the battlefield.
- Afters years of piloting evolving mechs, it takes a toll on the both of them, especially for Orion. Fatigue and back pains riddle him, along with a certain accident that caused him to wear a mask to not further damage his lungs. It also made his voice more deep with a certain timbre that gives Shockwave a soothing feeling compared to Orion youthful and lighter voice before.
- When Shockwave isn’t in piloting, he’d be in a lab overseeing the other operations on mech tech and poking at the Quintesson corpses. Orion had Ironhide to converse with and try as he might, he hasn’t had a chance to successfully evade Ratchet hawk like supervision. When Shockwave was working on the down times from attacks, there would be a myriad of medical tests and checks that would be at best tedious and “unpleasant” at worst. Post-medical exam cuddles are mandatory for them, behind closed doors of course.
===
I’ll add more when I’ve gathered my thoughts and straightened them out. You have other songs for them or any other headcannons for Shockwave and/or Orion Pax, share what additions you have for these tragic old gays.
#transformers#maccadam#keferon#mech pilot au#shockop#shockwave#orion pax#fluffy ears#ocs#songs#tf scenarios#ratchet#ironhide
55 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Silco Saga, Part Two*: Vander and Silco haunt the narrative (and are kinda gay for each other)
*This is the second (well, actually third) post in a series I’ve lovingly dubbed “The Silco Saga, a retrospective after Season 2”. It’s halfway between flow of conscience, meta, headcanon and review, spawned from my Arcane brainrot (and recent S1 rewatch) and vaguely aimed at trying to reevaluate the entirety of Arcane with a focus on my Main Man™ Silco. Here is Part 1 (on how S2 handled Silco and Jinx’s relationship) and Part 1.5 (miscellaneous thoughts regarding timeline issues and Silco’s actions towards the kids in S1ep3).
Please feel free to comment! I love hearing different perspectives on this show.
Also, quick disclaimer (just in case it wasn’t clear from the title of this post): I ship them. Don’t like, don’t read. And I swear to God, if I hear anyone say “but they’re brothers!!!1!”, know that I’m going to curse your entire genome until the thermal death of the Universe. Bye.
——————————————————
Vander’s original sin
The portrayal of Vander that emerges from S1 and S2 is that of a man who is trying to do good by his people, but is plagued by guilt and shame due to the horrific acts of violence he committed in the past. S2 clearly shows us that the events of the Day of Ash and the subsequent attempted murder of his best friend/comrade/homoerotic situationship (I’m looking at you, Brokeback Mountain jackets) were intensely traumatic not just for Silco, but for Vander as well. I’ll admit I didn’t much care for him in S1 (mostly because of his goody-two-shoes aura which most of the fandom seemed to latch on to), but I think the elements S2 added to his backstory turned him into a wonderfully complex and contradictory character. It cements something I already kind of sensed about him in S1: that there’s a distinct layer of hypocrisy in Vander’s strict adherence to pacifism (to the point of inaction), which is not really a byproduct of a deeply held personal belief about the ethics of non-violence, but instead a way to cope with his guilt about Silco and the other victims of the Day of Ash revolt. Vander chooses to “atone” for his sins by suppressing all forms of violence, both internal and external, thus generating a safe but stifling environment in which the Lanes survive, but arguably cannot thrive long-term. And in line with Arcane’s tragic narrative, he gets ultimately punished for it: he’s forced to loose all that he holds dear (Silco, the kids and his peaceful little world) and to ultimately embody what he hates and fears most about himself (being a violent monster only capable of destruction).
During my first watch of S2 I couldn’t really figure out whether I liked or not the fact that Felicia’s death was the reason for Vander’s “betrayal” of Silco (it felt a bit contrived and love-triangle-y), but after giving it much thought I have decided that, in fact, I quite like it. It plays heavily into the theme of guilt being central to Vander’s character, and how this guilt really ends up snowballing into something completely unmanageable. Guilt about Felicia (and probably many others that died on that day) leads him to turn on Silco; and later, guilt about Silco ultimately makes him give up all violent means of revolution because he’s too afraid to harm the people he loves. Guilt also becomes a motivating factor for his adoption of Vi and Powder, since we now know he’s not just selflessly picking up two strays, but acting on a promise done to a dear friend who’s just died because of him. The fact that the details of his “betrayal” of Silco are kept pretty much a secret also reeks of guilt and shame. There’s this layer of selfishness and cowardice to his actions that I find very refreshing for a character that’s introduced to us as the closest thing to a paragon of virtue in all of Arcane.
It’s deeply tragic how his inability to properly deal with his past impacts the rest of the narrative; perhaps, had he told Vi the real reason for his unwillingness to rise against Piltover, and not the wishy-washy “violence bad, be responsible” speech, she would have been less rash and black-and-white in her thinking.
I wish S2 spend more time on the two sisters reflecting on Vander and Silco’s relationship. While it’s natural for us to draw parallels between the dyads Vi-Jinx and Vander-Silco, in reality their situations are quite different. There was no ‘betrayal’ between Vi and Jinx, just two grief-stricken children unable to handle an immensely tragic situation; but, due to the ‘lessons’ imparted to them from their ‘parents’ (lessons which themselves were distorted due to their own inability to deal with their past), they are led to believe their situation is as hopelessly unsolvable as it was for Vander and Silco.
The letter
I still haven’t decided on whether the letter would have worked on Silco or not. I think timing plays a big factor. The Silco we meet in arc 1 of S1 probably wouldn’t have been swayed; he’s already too set in his “rebirth” mentality, and the new man he has become doesn’t care about Vander’s sentimental platitudes. A younger Silco, with less time to crystallize into his new identity… maybe. I think the Best Timeline of S2ep7 (yes, that’s what I’m calling it) sort of implies that Silco got the letter almost immediately, given the state of his wound (and the absence of Shimmer).
I wonder if we are also meant to implicitly understand that his use of Shimmer in the Worst Timeline (a.k.a. Arcane, the Netflix show) had some kind of negative influence on his psyche. After all, Shimmer does seem to impact the emotions of its users; if it did influence Silco’s radicalization, it would make his story doubly tragic. I’ve always found his use of Shimmer an interesting tidbit in S1, and the fact that the show doesn’t explain it very much beyond using it to show the amount of trust between him and Jinx has always been very intriguing to me.
Anyway. I think that, in any case, the letter would have been only the first step in Silco and Vander’s trajectory towards reconciliation. They both have a lot of issues to unpack; I love the headcanon going around that one of Silco’s prerequisites to their “peace treaty” is for Vander to rejoin the political fight for Zaun. It sounds just so… in character for Silco to demand something like that; it acts as both a justification and a shield, preventing him to expose himself too much at the beginning, while ensuring that he and Vander remain close.
I think it was already clear in S1 that they both secretly craved to be close again, especially Silco, given how hard he still tried to convince Vander to work with him in S1ep3. (Which is kind of insane of him, if you think about it, but I guess working closely with the man who tried to murder you — and almost succeeded — kinda fits into his whole “almost dying turned me into an Übermensch” philosophy?) Now, with Vander’s letter in S2, we know for a fact the feeling was mutual. Which is, again, horribly tragic for them both, because they’re both so set in their respective ways that actual reconciliation is made impossible.
And they were miners (oh my God they were miners)
Since we’re already kind of on the topic of whether or not Zaundads is real (or just the fruit of our collective hallucination), let’s give to Caesar wha belongs to Caesar: I don’t think the writers meant for them to turn out that way. Their dialogue doesn’t particularly strike me as hinting to anything beyond a very close friendship.
… The animators, however? Those French fucks (affectionate) knew what they were doing. The imagery of the jackets stored one inside the other cannot be a coincidence. There’s really no other cinematic parallel I can think of that doesn’t ultimately lead back to Brokeback Mountain. They were insane for that, and I’m deeply thankful to their perverted French minds (extremely affectionate) that they had the balls to just… put it there. No further comment. Just a glaring nod to the gayest movie ever.
(Also, Brokeback Mountain’s most iconic quote — “I wish I knew how to quit you” — perfectly applies to Vander and Silco. They just can’t seem to let each other go. Silco is still harping on about Vander years after he died. Vander can’t even bear to mention Silco in S1, and the moment they meet again the first thing he blurts out is “I’m sorry”, right after Silco murdered his friend — RIP king Benzo, you didn’t deserve it — in front of him. They match each other’s freak so well, I tell you.)
And then Silco’s scene in the Best Timeline. Just… the touching. The tenderness. The affection. Benzo going “ack!” at them while they gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes. It’s just… chef’s kiss. No further comment. Is it, perhaps, self indulgent? Yes. Is Silco’s line about forgiveness cheesy and a bit out of left field? Yes. Do I wish Ekko had more time to ask him what he meant by that, and get in on their backstory (since it would have been deeply meaningful for him too, given how much he idolizes Vander)? Yes.
(Someone please write me fanfiction of this scene. I beg you. I would do it myself but I lack the talent.)
Would I also watch 10 seasons of them being gay married and doing the most irrelevant domestic nonsense? Shamelessly. My poor blorbos deserve it.
59 notes
·
View notes
Text
"There is only Himself, his Opponent, and the Fight." For real one of my favorite monologues in the Dragon Ball franchise. Whis explains Goku's mastery of Ultra Instinct so well. Such an awesome technique.
RIP Akira Toriyama
#dragon ball super#goku#whis#ultra instinct#mastered ultra instinct#tournament of power#universal survival saga#jiren#team universe 7#dragon ball#dragon ball z#martial arts#akira toriyama#gohan#piccolo#vegeta#sci fi#anime#manga
87 notes
·
View notes
Text
53 notes
·
View notes
Text
Beerus in "Which Universe Will Survive?! The Strongest Warriors Are Gathering!!" Dragon Ball Super: Season 5, Episode 15 (2017)
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Curse of Cassandra [EP : III]
Read in Ao3 : here
Pairings: Qimir x f!reader(SEA Reader) [The Acolyte]
Content Rating : Mature 18+ Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warning (AT YOUR OWN RISK)
tags/themes : Alternate Universe - Dune & Star wars, Partners in Crime, Strangers to Lovers
Summary: Once, your mother told you that dreams are messages from the deep. This time, you dreamed of a terrifying future—your own death.
Status: finished writing this fic! (It will end in Episode 14)
A/N : For this chapter, I was inspired by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), particularly the nightmare scene. I find it incredibly romantic and beautiful (without any sexual elements)
So that's it, close enough, welcome back furiosa and praetorian jack LOL
➡ Intro // EP : 1 // EP : 2 // EP : 4 // EP : 5 // EP : 6 // EP : 7 // EP : 8 // EP : 9 // EP : 10 // EP : 11 // EP : 12 // EP : 13 // EP : 14 (Completed)
Special OS : Phantom Thread // My mother is my enemy
[Episodes 3] Dreams Are Messages From The Deep
Tonight, you dream, and it is far from a pleasant one.
Once, your mother told you that dreams are messages from the deep, the mysteries of the universe, akin to precognition. But dreams are often uncertain, uncontrollable, and unpredictable. like omens or cryptic hints of what is yet to come, they are puzzles you must piece together yourself.
You see it again: the puzzles of fateful catastrophes and the unclear path of the future. Corpses are strewn across the floors of spacecraft and the ground. The dream flashes between these scenes, intertwining them as one, despite being at different times and places. You know it all means something—these deaths are all the work of the same person.
And then you encounter it...the embodiment of the dark shadow that has haunted you in your dreams for months.
Before, everything was shrouded in impenetrable darkness, like staring into the abyss where nothing could be seen but an endless void. But this time, the dream is different. Beneath the shadows, you begin to see the figure of that person—a tall, imposing figure dressed in a sleeveless black cloak that blends seamlessly with the surrounding darkness. His face is hidden behind a cracked metal helmet, with a terrifyingly wide grin etched across the lower half.
A familiar yet strange feeling stirs as you gaze at him, and beneath that thick mask, where no eyes are visible, you know he’s staring back at you.
A Jedi? That’s your first thought. But the red lightsaber in his right hand says otherwise. No, this is a Sith.
Suddenly, something within you screams, warning you to flee.
You instinctively start running, but you never get far. The energy around you envelops you, pushing you back into the darkness. You see his hand raised, drawing you in effortlessly. The lightsaber is gone now. It’s no longer needed. With just one hand, he could kill you easily, like crushing an insect.
In an instant, his strong hand is around your throat, squeezing the air from your lungs. Your eyes widen in terror, unable to breathe, as the blackness of death moves closer, leaving a whisper deeply embedded in your consciousness.
"I told you, you can't run away from me."
You scream and struggle, refusing to surrender, desperately searching for any way to survive.
Then you feel the cold steel of a blade in your hand, and instinctively, you know this is your only chance. Without hesitation, you lift the knife and thrust its sharp point toward his throat, determined to kill him before he kills you.
But your flickering hope extinguishes just as quickly when he catches your hand mid-strike. His deep, menacing laughter sends a shiver down your spine, and in that moment, you realize—this is yet another failure leading you toward your death.
And then, you wake up.
The knife is still in your hand, just like in the dream. But now, you're in your bedroom, not on a spaceship. There's no blood, no death, and before you is not the mysterious Sith but Qimir, his hand gripping yours tightly, the blade barely a hair's breadth away from his throat.
His expression is calm, composed, a stark contrast to your own, pale and shaken. "You had a nightmare," he says softly, gently easing the knife from your grasp. "Go back to sleep."
His voice is soothing and tender, gradually dispelling the lingering fear from the nightmare as your racing heartbeat slowly returns to a steady rhythm. Almost as if in a trance, you do as he says. You allow him to guide you back onto the bed, his hands warm and reassuring as they touch your face, lulling you back into the realm of sleep.
This time, you don’t dream at all.
Qimir isn’t joking when he says he will teach you.
He starts with the smallest details, such as distinguishing between dangerous and harmless people. "You wouldn’t want to pickpocket someone who could kill you, would you?" Qimir remarks, pointing out a dark-skinned man blending into the crowd with tattered clothes, his body concealed under a cloak. Yet, you can still glimpse a large scar on his upper arm. "That’s a bounty hunter. His gun is hidden under the cloak. These guys are quick. He’d shoot you before you could even touch his pocket." It is astonishing how Qimir can discern such details just by observing a person’s gait or how they carry their belongings.
The next lesson is about disguise—how to blend in so seamlessly that no one could ever recognize you. "You’ve done well so far in hiding yourself, but it’s not good enough to fool me," he says. His words seem mocking, but you can’t deny their truth. "You can’t spend your whole life running and hiding. The key is to accept who you are before you start lying about it. A lie can never become the truth, but you can learn to live with it."
"You talk like you’ve done this many times before," you retort, unable to resist teasing him. Yet deep down, you are curious too. He knows too much and is too skilled—as if he has intimate experience with such matters.
But Qimir doesn’t answer your question. He simply smiles at you. For a moment, you are slightly taken aback. His smile seems oddly familiar, as if you have seen it before, but you can’t quite place when or where.
"Let the lies be a part of you, but never let them consume who you are. No matter where you are or what role you pretend to play, never forget your true self."—This is the essence of Qimir's teachings, beyond the various techniques and tricks of disguise he has revealed to you.
There is a subtle weight in his words, something that hints at more than just instruction.
The last thing Qimir chooses to teach you, and what you find most difficult, is the art of combat—both armed and unarmed.
It isn’t that you have never learned to fight before. Alongside rigorous mental training, your mother also taught you how to use a knife. "Our lineage is one of fighters. A knife is like a part of our body. We fight from cradle to grave. If you can't wield a knife, you’ve wasted your heritage." Your mother’s words echo vividly in your memory as you twirl the knife in your hand, trying to recall and review the lessons you learned long ago.
"What are you waiting for?" Qimir’s voice snaps you back to the present. "Just holding a knife won’t make you win."
You look up to see him standing in the open field outside the quarters. Qimir looks different today, dressed in white instead of his usual dark colors. His shoulder-length hair, usually a wild mess, is neatly tied back into a tight ponytail. A challenging smile plays on his lips as he raises his right hand, brandishing a short knife, ready for battle at any moment.
You step toward Qimir cautiously, your bare feet feeling the rough earth and stones beneath you. The muscles in your body are fully alert, a reflex honed from the countless times you have been trained.
Yet none of your previous lessons have prepared you for a face-to-face fight with Qimir.
Qimir’s lessons are nothing like your mother’s. There is no compromise, no leniency, despite the fact that you are just a small woman. Every move he makes is forceful, direct, brutal, and potentially lethal if he truly intends to kill you.
Qimir strikes first; his attacks are relentless and unyielding. You barely manage to dodge, feeling the rush of air from his arm sweep past your face. The sharp blade grazes the tips of your hair, sending strands fluttering to the ground, where they land like droplets of blood.
You retaliate, thrusting your knife toward his ribs and abdomen, but Qimir blocks each attack with ease. The clash of metal rings out, sending shocks through your wrist up to your shoulder, the pain forcing you to grimace.
Both of you pull back, sweat beading on your faces, eyes locked in mutual assessment. You swallow hard, slowly circling to the side, seeking an opening that wouldn’t leave you vulnerable.
Qimir’s strength is his advantage, but yours is speed. You know that the longer this drags on, the worse off you’ll be. You have to act quickly and decisively—one swift, precise move is the only way to defeat him.
This time, you let Qimir come close, allowing him to initiate the attack. You twist your body to evade his knife, all the while searching for the perfect moment to strike back. The pressure from his relentless assault closes in on your thoughts, triggering your survival instincts. You love life. You don’t want to die, and you will not surrender easily.
You are cornered, and a cornered animal will do anything to survive.
Quick as thought, in the split second, Qimir is preparing his next attack. You flip the knife in your hand, aiming straight for his throat.
But then, everything changes. The scene before you shifts abruptly, overlaying itself with the dream from the night before. The sunlit ground turns into an endless void of darkness, and Qimir transforms into the mysterious masked man from your dream. You plunge your knife toward his throat, just as you did in the dream, and he catches your wrist with the same speed as before. The sound of mocking laughter fills your ears—cold and terrifying.
Fear surges within you as you once again face the hopeless truth—there is no way you can defeat him.
The vision ends abruptly as you lose your balance. The next thing you know, Qimir throws you to the ground with all his strength. Your back hits the earth hard before his towering frame pins you down completely. The sharp edge of his knife presses against your delicate throat, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to cause pain.
"You are distracted. If this were a real fight, you’d be dead by now."
He lifts the knife away but doesn’t move from above you. One of his hands brushes the disheveled hair from your face as he peers into your ink-blue eyes. "Something’s bothering you. Is it that dream?"
You press your lips together, fighting back tears. The lingering fear still clings to your mind, refusing to fade, and suddenly, you feel a surge of vulnerability. "Qimir, I don’t want to die."
Qimir stares at you, blinking in confusion, his expression full of bewilderment. "I haven’t done anything to you."
"You won’t, but others will," your voice trembles, on the verge of tears, yet not a single drop falls. "When you hand me over to those people, I’ll surely die."
Your words make him pause, a flicker of hesitation crossing his features.
He knows it can’t possibly be true. The client who hired through the Bounty Hunters' Guild had specified clearly: they want this woman alive. The client doesn’t care how you are captured, only that you are brought in breathing. This means they have no intention of killing you. In fact, it is likely that you are of some special importance, something too valuable to be lost.
That’s what has piqued his curiosity all along. What makes a seemingly ordinary woman so wanted? What makes you so convinced that you are going to die when nothing points to such a fate?
"Can you tell me why you think you’re going to die?" Qimir asks, his tone unusually serious and firm.
His intense gaze makes your breath catch. Decades of pent-up emotions linger on your lips. You want so badly to tell him everything—about yourself, your family, and your bloodline.
But your mother’s warning remains deeply rooted in your mind and heart. "Never trust anyone. Never reveal our secrets to a soul. Your trust will lead to ruin, not just for you but for everyone."
You close your eyes briefly, deliberately avoiding his penetrating gaze. "I can’t tell you," you whisper, a wave of guilt washing over you.
A heavy silence settles between the two of you, thick and suffocating. For a moment, you feel the intensity in Qimir’s eyes grow stronger, as if he is desperately trying to unearth the truth from you with his gaze alone.
The minutes that pass feel like an eternity. Finally, Qimir rises to his feet and extends his hand to you.
"Don’t worry. As long as you’re with me, you’ll be safe."
You grasp his hand and push yourself up, feeling the firm, steady warmth of his grip. There is something oddly comforting about it—a strength that almost makes you forget your fears.
You can tell that Qimir is frustrated, though he isn’t the type to yell or complain. On the contrary, whenever something troubles him or when he is dissatisfied, he grows silent, his expression unreadable, almost emotionless. You have spent enough time with him to recognize the signs, and you dislike this side of him intensely. You would almost prefer if he just yelled at you outright.
You remain standing where you are, confusion and turmoil swirling within you as you watch his broad back retreat into the house, disappearing behind the old wooden door.
Deep down, you want to trust him, but you aren’t sure if you can really place your faith in this man.
Footnotes:
[1] Though the Bounty Hunters' Guild didn't exist during the High Republic Era, this fan fiction takes creative liberties with canon for storytelling purposes. It's not 100% accurate—just enjoy the read!
#star wars#qimir fic#qimir x reader#the acolyte fic#qimir#qimir x y/n#the acolyte#star wars fic#the acolyte x reader#qimir x you#the stranger x reader#the acolyte fanfiction#the curse of cassandra#qimir the stranger#the acolyte qimir#dune fanfiction#angst and tragedy
84 notes
·
View notes
Note
What would your favourite choice of the games interactive stories be? Would you have a favourite type? Romance, Fantasy etc. and did any of the inspire you with the ones you are currently writing? 😁
Oh boy! This is going to be a long answer, brace yourself lol
Let me start by saying that I have a degree in English literature (in fact, I'm going to do a PhD on it), so reading, in general, is one of the core activities of my life.
As for text adventures, even if not from Choice of Games Ltd., I'd like to mention a few inspirations: my passion first came from the original Choose Your Own Adventure series, and I still remember which numbers obsessed me as a child: Mountain Survival #28, The Dragons' Den #33, and more than any other, Space Patrol #22! (The latter may have also fueled my unhealthy obsession with Star Trek TOS, actually). For those unfamiliar with this fantastic book series, the genres of the three books I mentioned are, respectively, adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi. This gives you an idea of how varied my tastes are...
Later on, I discovered interactive fictions and text adventures. Dude, it was a dream come true. I started with Adventure ('76, never finished it, of course) and Zork ('79, never finished that either… of course. How damn hard were they?!). Then Mystery Mansion ('78), Castle Adventure ('82), and too many, many others. I'm a sucker for Sorcery! from inkle, and I deeply loved Magium (RIP Chris, you won't be forgotten). For my Italian-speaking friends, I also really enjoyed the Fra Tenebra e Abisso series (although its current status is unknown).
But back to CoG-related things. I've read a lot, and I'd probably be faster telling you what I didn't like! As you may have figured out by now, I don't have any particular genre preferences as long as a story is well-written, though horror-thriller stories usually grab my attention more easily.
Important note: I've read a lot of stories and, with a few exceptions, I liked most of them. To avoid writing a too-long list, here are the published stories that really impressed me:
A Crown of Sorcery and Steel,
A Midsummer Night's Choice,
Blood for Poppies,
Blood Moon,
Broadway: 1849,
Choice of the Cat,
Choice of the Vampire,
Donor,
Doomsday on Demand (1 and 2),
Gilded Rails,
Golden Rose: Book One,
Jazz Age,
Lies Under Ice,
Life of a Mercenary,
Life of a Space Force Captain,
MetaHuman Inc.,
Noblesse Oblige,
Paradox Factor,
The Evertree Saga (all four books),
Rent-a-Vice,
Revolution Diabolique,
Siege of Treboulain,
Tally Ho,
The Daily Blackmail,
The Dragon and the Djinn,
The Fernweh Saga: Book One,
The Fog Knows Your Name,
The Gray Painter,
The Grim and I,
The Ghost and the Golem,
The Lost Heir,
The Midnight Saga: The Monster,
The Parenting Simulator,
The Play's the Thing,
The Soul Stone War (1 and 2),
The War for the West,
Tudor Intrigue,
Vampire Regent,
Vampire: The Masquerade (all of them),
Way Walkers: University (1 and 2),
Welcome to Moreytown,
Werewolves: Haven Raising,
Zombie Exodus,
Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven.
And now, onto works in progress! There aren’t that many because I barely have time to follow my own (heh…), so here, in alphabetical order, are the ones I'm following with the most interest:
Adoriel's Tears (@adoriels-tears-if),
A Father's Love (@kal-down),
Crown of Ashes and Flames (@coeluvr),
Dawn Chorus (@dawnchorus-if)
Disenchanted (@disenchantedif),
Dragon's Edged (@dragonedged-if),
Elysium (@elysiumcircusif),
Fallen Lights (@fallenlightsif),
For King and Country (@forkingandcountry-if),
From The Ashes We Rise (@kal-down),
Hubris (@hubris-the-if-game),
Kingdoms and Empires (@kingdoms-and-empires),
Return to Misty Cove (@fluorescent-if),
The Abyssal Song (@ri-writes-if),
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An affair of the heart (@doriana-gray-games),
The Lonely Shore (@thelonelyshore-if),
The King's Hound (@the-kingshound),
The Reaper Watches Me (@thereaperwatchesme),
The Bureau (@thebureau),
The Unseelie (@theunseelieif),
Van Helsing (@vanhelsing-if),
When Life Gives You Lemons (@when-life-gives-you-lemons-if).
Okay, that was… a lot. As for direct inspirations, I don't have any direct ones, but I can say I felt like writing a post-apocalyptic story after reading Doomsday on Demand! Other than that, I guess the collection of narrative, text adventures, and interactive fiction I've read have led me to where I am now.
Damn, it took me hours to write this answer. I hope it's satisfying at least! Thanks for asking ☺
#readers mail#After Dark#The In-Between#Hope Abides#if wip#interactive game#interactive fiction#choice of games#hosted games#choicescript#dashingdon#interactive novel#if game#cyoa#cyoa game#cyoa book#choose your own adventure#multiple endings#interactive story#romantic drama#love story#romance#romance novel#contemporary romance#choose your own story#horror#horror novel#apocalyptic world#apocalyptic horror#apocalyptic fiction
71 notes
·
View notes