#was wondering why i was so tired and realized id been panicking about what i ate for breakfast for 3 hours straight. fucking kill me

[caveangelascendant]

shoutout to every single fucking pcos resource thats like

Hey girl! It sounds like you have Women Disease for Women. You are fat and hairy and infertile, which is bad, because you are a woman. Here are some eating disorder speedrun strats

[ghostwise]

26 & p from the writing prompts if you like :-)

Glow: “We’ll be alright, won��t we?”

Zevran did not often indulge, but as it was his wedding day, he saw no reason not to permit himself a glass of wine or two. The Chantry sister that married them—a woman with a broad smile, who kept glancing over at them, shaking her head, and chuckling—had brought out her finest bottles for the occasion. And for a while, everything was wonderful. Hamal hadn’t stopped laughing. A third glass beckoned.

The evening found him retching into a bucket.

Maker, how had he made such a mess of things? Were his body and spirit that unaccustomed to joy? All the warmth and excitement of the day had snapped, like a rubber band pulled too far, sailing clear into the opposite direction. His mind was murky and swimming with awful thoughts.

Hamal, for his part, simply stroked his hair and offered him water as he began to cry.

“I’m sorry,” Zevran muttered, trying his damnedest to keep his words tidy. “S… started thinking about Rinna… wish she could’ve been here…”

Vocalizing the thought made his stomach twist. He grimaced and coughed up into the bucket once more while Hamal held him through it. He was being so kind, he was always so good to him, and it was their wedding night, and had he ruined it all?

“And… I killed Taliesen, also…” Zevran added. His closest friends were long gone. He didn’t want to lose Hamal, too. He really needed to stop thinking along these lines; it made his stomach worse, made his breathing hurt, and he held back a sob. “H-he wouldn’t have been a good wedding guest, y’know… I once told him, you, you, you were still spitting up salt water when I met you… he never had a kind word to say… never…”

Zevran blinked back more tears, then rested his head on the bucket’s edge. “I am sorry. Ignore me. What a mess.”

“You’re alright,” Hamal said simply, smoothing his hand over his back. “It’s alright.”

Zevran scowled at how wrong he was. Hamal was usually better in his assessments, and at present, he was most certainly not alright. But his head hurt, and he was much too tired to argue.

That was the last memory he had of the night.

The next morning he was hung over, but mortifyingly clear on what had occurred. As he waited for Hamal to wake up, Zevran couldn’t recall what had come after the unfortunate ‘weeping and vomiting into a bucket’ situation; possibly more inappropriate mumbling about past lovers, which was exactly what every wedding night needed.

He shut his eyes, much too weak to feel anything but irritation at himself. Then he heard the bed shift, and the sheets rustling.

“Hello, husband,” Hamal greeted, his voice raspy and touched by sleep. Zevran looked up across the room.

Hamal rested an elbow against his knee, still clad in blankets, and the vest he’d worn to their wedding. His shirt was rumpled linen, his hair tangled curls, and morning light fell over his frame. He looked very much like someone who had stayed up half the night drinking. And yet, somehow, he glowed.

“Good morning,” Zevran said. Then, eager to get it out of the way, he continued. “I am sorry for last night. I suppose now you know why I do not often imbibe. I said… all manner of terrible and embarrassing things. I apologize.”

Every time he made a mistake it was like this: Somewhere in the deepest parts of his id existed a small thought that Hamal might not want him once he realized that he was broken in a way that was permanent; not transient like the Blight, not as easily defeated as an Archdemon. Sometimes the thought was loud. Right now, however, he was able to confront the thought, because the fact was, Hamal had married him.

On purpose, even.

It was why he was able to hold his gaze and apologize sincerely. No fawning, no panicked impulses causing him to shut down. Zevran focused on the rings on both their fingers. He looked at his husband waiting for a response.

“It’s alright,” Hamal said. “I am just glad you’re feeling better. You are feeling better, yes?”

“Yes…” Zevran frowned. “But I ruined our wedding night. You only get one. I ruined it. Aren’t you angry with me? I certainly am angry with me. I had so many things planned for us. Fun things.”

Hamal was smiling now, leaning forward over the bed. “Well, let me let you in on a secret, vehnan,” he said, and his voice was very low, tired, and fond. “We, in our clever ways, have cheated the system. We actually get two wedding nights.”

Zevran blinked. He was too hung over for mind games. “Two?” he repeated helplessly.

“If, once we return to Var’myathan, you, Zevran Arainai, allow me the honor of being your bondmate.”

A moment’s silence, and then Zevran laughed. It hurt his head terribly, and he punctuated it with a sore little, “ow,” moving as quickly as he dared to the bed, and simply collapsing on top of the other man.

“Yes,” he told him, settling in between his legs. “I will bond with you. I’ve told the Maker already, so next I will tell the Creators just how much I adore you. And I do. I love you. I must look a sight right now, gods. But I love you.”

Hamal smiled and just gathered him up in a kiss, headache and all.

There was an implicit promise in this arrangement, one which they made together: the promise to survive. To return to Ferelden one day. The path they had chosen was full of danger. If they endeavored to bring down the Crows, one misstep could cost them their lives, but this morning, hung over and tired, Zevran promised to survive, and moreover, he intended to have his wedding night. He’d do it proper, next time.

“We’ll be alright, won’t we?” he asked, wanting to confirm, though he already knew. This morning was like something out of a book.

Hamal smoothed his hair back from his face. “Yes. Always.”

[viastro]

when the stars align | lee seokmin

ミ★ synopsis: four different seasons, four different lives, and you meet seokmin in each and every one.

ミ★ genre: reincarnation!au, soulmate!au (?), angst, fluff, some humor

ミ★ warnings: major character death, mentions of blood and car accidents

ミ★ word count: 6,320

ミ★ pairings: seokmin x gender neutral reader

ミ★ notes: hi guys ! this is my first oneshot after about a month of not releasing any ? i recently started winter quarter at my uni and i’m also working now so i probably won’t be able to release oneshots as much as i used to </333 i hope that’s okay </333 but anyways, thank you to @sunlightwoo​ for helping me come up with a few ideas for this oneshot ! sorry for lying to you about who this was about, i didn’t want to get strangled <33333 i love you <333 i hope you all enjoy this, make sure to give seokmin lots of love <3

The sky is so blue today, you think to yourself as you sit on the bus, heading towards your workplace. Resting your head on the window, you stare up at the sky, music pouring in from your headphones as the busy city scenery flashes by before your eyes. 

You lift up your head when you see that you’re close to the hospital, quickly pressing the button to signal that you want to get off. The bus stops in front of the building, and you lift up your bag from the seat and walk into the middle aisle. You step off the bus and walk in the direction of the hospital, glancing up to see a man standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring up at the sky. 

The sky is so blue, Seokmin thinks to himself, tilting his head to the side as a small smile forms over his features. You feel your heart stop in your chest when he looks back down, only to lock eyes with you. A tingle makes its way down your spine as you stare at him, similar to the feeling of getting shocked when you touch a person's hand. 

He’s pretty, you think to yourself. Immediately pausing right after that thought registers in your head, realizing that you’re literally stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and just staring at the pretty man. You look away, heading straight into the hospital without another glance back. 

Seokmin watches as you disappear, running a hand through his hair at the strange feeling he got when the two of you stared at each other. Shrugging his shoulders, he turns back towards the hospital, letting out a nervous grin as he walks inside to start his new job.

“Yn, you’re here!” You grin at Soonyoung, giving him a thumbs up as you put your things into your locker. “Wow, we’re sharing a shift together? That’s new. I wonder why Seungcheol scheduled us together after the rather… unfortunate…”

“It was not unfortunate!” 

“You almost jumped out of the 8th story window.” 

“Sounds fake.” You stop and turn towards the blonde, squinting your eyes at him. 

“Yn, this is serious! The patient thought I was cute and asked for my number but I got too shy and told them I’m married!” Soonyoung cries out onto your shoulder, and you silently glance at your clipboard as you let him screech in the middle of the hallway. 

“I don’t get why you said you were married.” You mutter, clicking open the pen and writing down a note on the patient’s form. Soonyoung looks up at you, and yells, “I don’t either!”

You turn your head and give him a smile, placing the clipboard between your knees and squishing Soonyoung’s face with your hands. He pouts at you, and you just continue to hold his face.

“This is a you problem.” Soonyoung glares at you, before pushing your hands away as you laugh at his reaction. “I should just jump out the window, I’m humiliated.”

You pull the clipboard back up, flipping the page over and looking at the other side. You mutter out, “don’t do that.” as you write more notes, only to pause when you don’t hear a snarky response in return. Looking up from the clipboard, you turn your head, only for your eyes to widen.

“SOONYOUNG! ABSOLUTELY NOT!” 

“I’M GONNA DO IT!!!” 

“KWON SOONYOUNG!”

Soonyoung rubs the back of his neck, giving you a sheepish smile after the reminder of what occurred a few months prior. You slap his shoulder, making him let out a whine of protest. 

“Don’t ever do that again.” 

“I wasn’t actually going to jump.” You roll your eyes, throwing the lanyard over your neck that displays your ID. You give Soonyoung a close-lipped smile, “Let’s go.”

The two of you step out of the break room, walking over to the front desk to ask which patients checked in. Minghao glances up from his monitor to find you and Soonyoung heading in his direction, and he lets out a heavy sigh, making you squint at him.

“I saw that!”

“Why did Cheol let the two of you work on the same shift after Soonyoung almost died?” Minghao asks himself, and Soonyoung rests his head in his hands. Shrugging your shoulders you lean against his desk, “I don’t know, ask Cheollie.” 

“Anyways…” Minghao begins, and you let out a giggle. You lean your head onto Soonyoung’s shoulder, waiting for Minghao to finish up typing. “Yn. You’re training the new guy today.”

“I’m training the what?” 

“Lee Seokmin, today’s his first day. Seungcheol wants you to watch over him.” You bite the inside of your cheek at the fact that you have to watch over another new nurse. Leaning forward, you ask Minghao, “Where is he?”

“I’m here.” The three of you turn around at the sound of the sweet voice, and your heart immediately drops into your stomach when you realize that he is the man you practically gawked at when you were about to head in. 

“I’m Lee Seokmin, nice to meet you all.” He says with a grin, only to tilt his head when he locks eyes with you. He points his finger in your direction, “I think I saw you outsi-.”

“No you didn’t.” You interrupt, and he bites the inside of his cheek. 

“I’m pretty sure I did.”

“Sounds like a scam.” 

“Is it?”

“Do I need to pull up the security cameras just for you guys to confirm this or can you finally leave me alone?” Minghao interrupts with a tired expression on his face, and Soonyoung snickers behind his hand. Squinting at your overwhelmingly pretty but rude coworker, you slap him on the back of the head, before pointing at Seokmin.

“Let’s go do nurse stuff.” And with that, you walk away, not checking to see if he’s following close behind you as your face is incredibly hot from trying to act like you’re not embarrassed. 

“Are they always like that?” Seokmin asks Soonyoung, to which the blonde nods his head with an entertained grin on his face. “Yeah, you should go hurry after them. They’re not gonna stop and turn around to check if you’re following.” 

Seokmin’s eyes widen, before turning to look at you again, only to find you nowhere in sight. Now panicking, he quickly waves bye to Minghao and Soonyoung, before running down the hallway to find you. Soonyoung and Minghao watch as Seokmin hurriedly turns the corner, only to run the other way when he doesn’t find you.

“Ah, why can’t yn be nicer to the new recruits.” Minghao mutters to himself, and Soonyoung tilts his head to the side when he sees you poke your head over the corner and call out to a very lost Seokmin, gesturing for him to come over. 

“I don’t know. I think this time will be different.” Soonyoung says quietly, watching as you and Seokmin sneak glances at each other as the two of you look over the clipboard. Minghao purses his lips, before turning back around and facing his PC. 

“Only time will tell.” 

“You wanna go buy drinks? Are you crazy?” Seokmin asks you with a chuckle, and you let out a tired groan, turning and resting your forehead onto his shoulder. His eyes widen slightly at the contact, before reaching out and patting the back of your head.

“I just, I’m so tired. One of the patients tried to throw their pee at me and I-”

“They tried to what?”

“And then this other patient’s wife yelled at me about touching her husband’s chest but I was just trying to hear his heartbeat.” Seokmin’s eyes continue to widen the more you tell him about your rather chaotic day at work. Tilting his head to the side, he recalls that his day went rather smoothly in comparison. 

It’s been a couple months since Seokmin first started working at the hospital with you, and the two of you have gotten relatively close. There’s no denying the attraction and the chemistry between the both of you. Minghao and Soonyoung even have an ongoing bet on when the two of you will finally start dating. 

“By Spring they’ll be together.” Soonyoung says, and Minghao slaps his shoulder.

“Absolutely not, they won’t be that slow. They’ll be even slower. I bet by Summer they’ll be together.” 

“50,000 won?” 

“50,000 won.” Soonyoung confirms with a nod of his head, and Minghao lets out a small smirk. Standing up to his full height, he extends his hand towards the blonde.

“You got yourself a deal, Kwon Soonyoung.” Soonyoung glances down at his hand, before smiling cockily to himself as he reaches out and grasps the latter’s hand.

“Right back at you, Xu Minghao.”

Seokmin lets out a grin, jostling his shoulder slightly to make you lift your head up. You pout up at your pretty coworker, and he smiles down at you. “Okay, I’ll buy us drinks.” 

Your pout turns into a happy smile, and the two of you quickly walk out of the hospital doors. You immediately shove your hands into your pockets, shivering slightly from the brisk winter night. Seokmin notices you shiver out of the corner of his eye, and he remembers the red scarf wrapped around his neck. 

You’re about to make a comment about how it’s cold, only to freeze when Seokmin removes the scarf from his neck and tenderly wraps it around you. Your eyes slowly trail up towards his own as he softly ties it so that it’s covering your mouth. He looks up into your sparkling eyes, and gives you a smile, his face a bit pink from the cold.

“Don’t catch a cold, yn.” Seokmin says in a soft voice, eyes full of warmth as he stares down at you. You nod your head in response, as no words seem to currently be forming in your brain. He smiles, before motioning towards the direction of the bar. 

“Let’s go drink.” You watch as he heads off towards the bar without another word, and you aimlessly follow him, wondering why you suddenly feel so warm.

“I-” You hiccup, and Seokmin chuckles at the drowsiness to your eyelids as you fight to stay awake. Resting his chin on the palm of his hand, he takes a sip of his water, as he decided to not drink a lot in order to make sure you get home safe. “You what?”

“I want a pet.” You mutter with a drunken giggle, and Seokmin smiles at how tired you are. Letting out a breath, he stands up from his seat and walks over to your side of the table. You notice a looming presence to your left, and you slowly turn your head and glance up at the figure, seeing Seokmin staring down at you with an amused expression on his face.

“Why are you so… tall?” You ask, and Seokmin shrugs. He helps you up out of the chair, making sure to put money on the table and grab your bag as he escorts you out of the bar. Rubbing your eyes once the cold air hits you, you turn your head to look up at Seokmin, wondering why your heart is so warm whenever you stare at him. 

“Tall… pretty… nice…” You begin to quietly count all the nice qualities about Seokmin as you lean against him, and he laughs when you stop walking, holding up all ten fingers towards his face. 

“This isn’t even all of the good things about you.” You say with a squint to your eye, and he shrugs his shoulders at you. “I wouldn’t say that I’m that great, yn.” 

Your eyebrows furrow at his response, and you reach out and slap his shoulder, eliciting a whine of pain. You shake your finger at him, “You are great! Don’t you,” You burp mid-sentence, making Seokmin smile. “Don’t you ever say you’re not great ever again.” 

Seokmin nods his head, raising his hands up in surrender to emphasize his answer, and you give him a content grin. Your eyes widen when you see a snowflake fall onto the top of his head, and the two of you look up towards the sky to see millions of snowflakes descend towards the ground. 

You let out an excited smile, turning your head to see Seokmin already staring at you with a soft grin on his face. Your heart stutters within your chest when you feel that familiar feeling of warmth, and you bite the inside of your cheek. 

“First snowfall of the year.” Seokmin mutters quietly, looking back up towards the sky as a means to stop his face from turning red at how ethereal you look. You squeeze your fists at your side as you stare at the pretty man, hearing your own heartbeat in your ears at how nervous you are. 

“I love you.” You state, and Seokmin freezes, slowly turning his head to look at you with wide eyes. Seokmin glances behind him before looking back towards you and pointing at himself, “Me?!”

You nod your head, pointing directly at him. “You.” 

Seokmin feels warmth flood his features, and a sheepish smile slowly forms on his face as he lifts his hands up to feel how hot his cheeks are. He turns back towards you, “Really? You’re not just saying this because you’re drunk, right?” 

You nod your head again, patting your heart as a way to try and calm it down. Seokmin tilts his head to the side, “Are you gonna forget that you confessed to me?” 

Pursing your lips, you shrug your shoulders. The pretty man gives you an incredulous stare, making you chuckle in response. “We’ll see~”

“Yn, you can’t just-”

“Do you love me back?” You ask, watching as the snowflakes fall down around the two of you. The visual is similar to that of a painting, with your surroundings being painted in a brilliant shade of white. It makes it appear as if you’re an angel sent from heaven. Seokmin stares at you in silence for a moment, before nodding his head. 

“I do. I love you.” Seokmin says softly, and you bite the inside of your cheek harshly to stop yourself from smiling. He steps forward, “But yn, we need to talk about the fact that you might forget-”

You bend down and quickly make a snowball, before throwing it at Seokmin’s face. You let out a bright laugh as he sputters, trying to wipe the snow away. He stares at you in shock, before pointing directly at you. 

“I’m gonna get you for that.” 

“Bet you will!”

The sound of your guys’ laughter fills the cold January night, the first snowfall of the year.

“Are you gonna take yn out to eat somewhere fancy tonight for your guys one year anniversary?” Minghao asks as Seokmin looks through the patient’s folder. Seokmin glances up at his newly dyed silver-haired friend, giving him a grin. “We were thinking of something simple, they’d rather we save money.” 

Minghao chuckles, nodding his head. “Sounds like something they’d want.” 

Seokmin tilts his head, glancing down at his watch. He purses his lips, realizing that you should’ve come in already since your shift started a couple minutes ago. 

“I wonder if their bus is late today.” Seokmin says, and Minghao checks out the time. He nods his head, “It probably is. Life’s unexpected, that’s why I told them to get a car.” 

“What if they get into traffic in the car too?”

“Then that’s on them.” Minghao responds, and Seokmin rolls his eyes with a chuckle. He opens his mouth to say something when the two hear the sound of sirens. They turn towards the entrance of the hospital, seeing multiple ambulances pulling up and hurriedly taking out injured patients. 

“What’s going on?” Soonyoung asks the two as he walks up to them, seeing everyone beginning to be transported in a gurney. Seokmin shrugs his shoulders, eyes squinting when one of the EMT’s comes closer with the injured patient.

“Might’ve been a bad accident, I’ve seen something similar to this only a few times. Such as the bad accident with the bus a few years back, lots of casualties.” Minghao answers, watching as the nurses hurry towards the emergency room. Seokmin’s heart stops when he sees a red scarf on the gurney.

“Y-yn?” Seokmin says quietly, eyes widening when the nurses push the gurney past them. It’s as if time comes to a slow when he lays eyes on your lifeless body on top of the gurney, watching as the nurses hold the oxygen mask over your mouth and nose. 

“Yn.” Seokmin breathes out. Soonyoung and Minghao’s mouths drop open when they recognize you, and Minghao immediately wraps his arms around Seokmin to prevent him from chasing after you.

“L-let me go!” Seokmin shouts, beginning to panic when he can’t free himself from Minghao’s grip. Soonyoung looks at Seokmin, “You’re not in the right headspace to help them right now. I’ll go, they’ll be okay.” 

“No! Let me see them! Let me help them!” Seokmin yells out in pain, continuing to struggle against Minghao’s hold. He lets out a sob when Soonyoung runs after you, “LET ME GO! LET ME- LET ME GO!”

Seokmin’s knees buckle underneath him as he lets out a blood-curdling scream, and him and Minghao slowly sink to the floor. Silent tears fall from Minghao’s eyes as he holds onto Seokmin, trying to mutter out soothing words as his friend breaks apart right in front of him. 

“Please, live.” Seokmin sobs quietly. 

It’s only a few hours later when the surgeon steps out of the operating room with a solemn expression on her face, that no words need to be said for Seokmin to fall apart on the floor of the waiting room. With Soonyoung and Minghao quietly crying as they try to offer him comfort. 

The clouds are pretty today, You think to yourself as you walk to the auditorium that holds your calculus course. 

“Yn!”

You turn your head in the direction the voice came from, and your eyes brighten when you realize that it’s Mingyu. He walks over to you with a happy grin on his face, textbook in his grasp as he pats the top of your head in greeting. 

“Morning, Gyu.”

“You ready to learn about derivatives?” Mingyu asks, and you scoff at the tall man, nudging him away from you. “Don’t ever say that cursed word to my face.” 

“Derivat-”

“You absolute whorebag.” You interrupt, causing you and Mingyu to break out into laughter at your lingo. The two of you converse as you head towards the building, and you suck in a deep breath, smiling at the fresh air. 

“You know how it’s Spring, Mingyu?” You ask, and Mingyu purses his lips in thought. He points towards the weeds on the ground after a moment, “Cause the weeds pop up?”

“Okay... that too. But that’s not what I was thinking.” Mingyu chuckles, looking up at the sky to see the pretty white clouds. “What is it then?” 

You smile excitedly, jogging a bit so that you’re now in front of Mingyu. He glances back down at you, eyebrow raised as he sees you lift your arms up and gesture around your guys surroundings. He looks around, finding the cherry blossom trees beginning to sprout the beautiful pink flower that you love so much. 

“The cherry blossoms are blooming!” You say with a bright smile on your face, and Mingyu laughs in embarrassment when you spin around as if you’re in a coming of age movie. You only stop when you see someone smiling up at the cherry blossom trees. 

The cherry blossoms are blooming, and the clouds are nice. Spring is here, Seokmin thinks to himself, taking a deep breath of the nice air. He adjusts his bag with a smile, turning around to walk to his building, only to pause when he locks eyes with you. 

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, finding the other to be familiar. However, neither of you are sure why. You let out a breath, raising your hand up and giving the pretty man a wave as you smile. 

For some reason, Seokmin feels an overwhelming feeling of relief when you smile at him. He slowly lifts his hand up and waves back at you, an ethereal smile etching itself onto his features. 

“Spring is beautiful!” You shout out towards the man who holds a smile that can outshine the sun. Mingyu chuckles in amusement, watching as his best friend and a stranger fall in love right before his eyes. Seokmin nods his head as he stares into your bright eyes, feeling warmth flood his chest as he says, 

“Yeah, it is!” 

It’s only Mingyu who notices that Seokmin wasn’t talking about the season. In fact, you won’t realize he was talking about you until it’s too late.

“It’s so damn hot.” You mutter to yourself as you sit in front of your fan, wondering when you’ll be able to get your AC fixed in this fucking oven of an apartment. Your phone rings beside you, and you pick it up, seeing that Joshua’s calling you. 

“Are you coming to my rescue now or do I have to hang up again?” You joke, and Joshua chuckles on the other end of the line. “Very funny, but I’m heading to your apartment now. I brought my friend, he usually sets up the AC’s for my family.” 

“Old friend I’m assuming?” You ask, and Joshua nods his head even though you’re unable to see it. 

“Very old.”

“Bitch! I’m younger than you!” You hear a sweet voice say, followed by laughter and apologies from Joshua. You smile, letting out a sigh of relief. “I’ll see you soon, Shua.” 

“See you.” 

Only thirty minutes pass of you laying in absolute agony on your floor that you hear your doorbell ring, and you practically drag yourself to the door. You whip it open, seeing Joshua staring at you with an amused expression on his face. 

“You look hot.”

“I’ll wipe my sweat on you.”

“Ew, that’s a bad first impression on Seokmin.” Your eyes widen slightly when you remember that Joshua brought a friend. You let out an awkward laugh, “I was obviously joking.” 

“It’s okay, I knew you were kidding.” The sweet voice you heard over the phone interrupts, and you glance over Joshua’s shoulder, only to feel your breath get taken away when you lock eyes with the man. Your heart beats rapidly against your chest as the two of you stare into each other's eyes in silence, an indecipherable emotion making itself apparent.

“Yn, this is Seokmin. Seokmin, this is yn.” 

You slowly reach your hand out towards the man, giving him a small smile. He grins back at you, extending his hand and grasping yours. You let out a breath when you feel a shock of electricity go down your back, while Seokmin bites the inside of his cheek at the feeling. 

“T-thank you for coming to fix my AC.” You mutter quietly, and Seokmin nods his head. The two of you let go, hands awkwardly falling to your sides as you do so. Joshua looks between the two of you with a raised eyebrow, “Why are you two so quiet? It’s weird, there’s so much tension it makes me wanna hurl.” 

You squint at Joshua, reaching out and slapping his shoulder as the both of them step into your apartment. He giggles at your reaction, patting your head affectionately. “I don’t know how long you survived in this hot ass apartment, but Seokmin will fix it soon.”

The man in question rolls his eyes as he takes off his jacket, placing it onto your coat rack as he walks over to your broken AC. Seokmin turns around and points at Joshua, “You’re helping me too.”

“Me?!”

“Who else?”

“Yn.” 

“You have no manners at all, do you?” Seokmin asks with a disappointed expression on his face, causing you to burst into laughter. His heart fills with warmth at the sound, and he turns to glance at you.

what is this? what am i feeling right now? Seokmin asks himself as he watches you turn around to head into your kitchen. You turn back with a smile on your face, giving Joshua and Seokmin two thumbs up.

“I’ll get you guys some cold water!” Joshua throws finger hearts your way as a response, making you roll your eyes with a chuckle as you disappear into the kitchen. Joshua turns to glance at Seokmin, noticing the furrow to his brow. 

“Do you know yn?” Joshua asks, making Seokmin break out of his daze. The brunette runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head no at Joshua’s question. “Why would I know them?” 

“I don’t know, it just seems like the two of you knew each other.” Joshua answers, and Seokmin bites the inside of his cheek. He turns to glance at the kitchen, watching as you quietly dance as you place the ice cubes into the cups. Letting out a breath, he turns back towards the AC, preparing to open it. 

“Nah, we’ve never met before.” 

“This is stupid.” 

“It’ll be so fun!” 

“Jeonghan’s the last person I’d expect to look forward to going to a fortune teller.” You say with a grin, watching as he practically drags Joshua into the small shop without another word. Seokmin and you glance at each other, shrugging your shoulders. 

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Seokmin asks as he opens the door for you, and you let out a groan. 

“That’s the worst thing you could’ve possibly said in this situation.” You whine, making Seokmin laugh at your reaction. The frown on your face slowly morphs into a smile at the sound of his laughter, and you rub the back of your neck.

It’s been a few months since you and Seokmin met, and the two of you have become friends. You were later introduced to Jeonghan, who looks like an angel and is an absolute angel, but has devilish tendencies when it comes to games. Now the four of you are close, and you try your best to ignore the way warmth floods your face when Seokmin sends a smile your way. 

 “It’ll be okay yn, let’s just head in to make sure Jeonghan and Joshua don’t get scammed.” Seokmin tells you, and you nod your head with a grin. You let out a low whistle at the sight of all the crystals on the tables once the two of you enter the shop, before your attention lands on Jeonghan and Joshua talking to a rather old lady. 

“So you guys don’t actually use the crystal ball?” Jeonghan asks, and the fortune teller nods. She giggles, patting the ball softly, “It’s just for decoration.” 

You and Seokmin snicker behind your hands at the look of awe on Jeonghan’s face, and the lady hears you, as she glances up and looks at you both. Her mouth drops open slightly at the sight of you and Seokmin, and she waves her hand for the two of you to walk over. 

You and Seokmin share a glance, before heading over to the table and switching seats with Jeonghan and Joshua. The lady extends her hands out towards you and Seokmin, and you both tentatively reach out and grasp her hand.

“You’ve both lived such tragic lives.” She mutters, and you raise an eyebrow. 

“I beg your pardon?” 

She glances up at you and Seokmin with tears in her eyes, and the two of you stare at her in shock at how emotional she is. She squeezes your hand, giving you a sad smile. 

“The two of you are soulmates. Born as the same star but were later separated. In other words, your hearts are tethered to one another. In each and every life you’ve lived, the two of you have found each other and fell in love.” Warmth floods you and Seokmin’s features at her words, and you both don’t dare to share a glance. Joshua and Jeonghan grin, finding this all to be rather precious. However, Joshua’s grin slowly turns into a frown when he catches sight of the tears falling from her eyes. 

“Why are you sad? Isn’t this a good thing?” Joshua asks, and the fortune teller bites the inside of her cheek. The five of you stay in a relative silence, and you find a frown etching itself onto your face when she looks back up at you. 

“Because the two of you were never given the chance to be happy. Fate would rip one of you away from the other when you were close to reaching your destiny.” Seokmin’s mouth slowly falls open at the news, and you stare at her in shock. The fortune teller runs a hand through her hair, giving the two of you a solemn look.

“This is your third and final life as it seems that your stars will no longer align in the future. I hope fate will let the two of you be happy and leave you alone this time, so don’t wait until it’s too late.” She says quietly, and you abruptly stand up from the seat. Seokmin looks up at you, and finds that your eyes are filled with tears. 

“This has to be a joke. This is a joke. There’s no- there’s no such thing as soulmates or reincarnating.” You mutter, and the fortune teller shakes her head at you. She opens her mouth to speak, only for you to shout, “Fate doesn’t exist!” 

The fortune teller gives you a sad smile, reaching out and wiping away the tear that’s escaped from your left eye. “Then why are you crying, my dear?”

You harshly bite your bottom lip, quickly wiping your eyes. You push the chair and walk out of the shop without another word, promptly ignoring the calls of your name from your friends, and instead choosing to bask in the warmth of the summer night air as you try to put as much distance between you and the fortune teller. You feel a sob bubble up in your chest, wondering why you feel so much pain. 

“Yn!” You turn at the sound of Seokmin’s voice, seeing him run up to you. You rub your eyes to try and get rid of the tears, only to feel your breath get taken away from you when you’re encompassed in warmth. You slowly lower your hands, finding that Seokmin has wrapped his arms around you in an embrace. “S-Seokmin?”

“It’s okay, fortune tellers are paid to tell us weird things. There’s no need to worry, yn.” Seokmin tells you softly, rubbing the back of your head as a means to comfort you. You close your eyes, hiding your face in the crook of his neck as more tears flow from your eyes. 

“You don’t believe her?” You ask quietly, and Seokmin shakes his head. “No, I don’t.” 

You nod your head, continuing to feel the overwhelming pain in your chest as the two of you hold each other. You open your eyes to find the moon glowing down onto the two of you, with millions of stars shining bright in the air. 

fuck fate.

“I love you.” You confess, and you feel Seokmin turn rigid in your hold. He slowly pulls back to get a good look at your face, and you give him a small smile. 

“You love me?” He repeats, and you nod your head. The two of you stare into each other's eyes, and his beautiful brown eyes bore brightly into yours as your confession sinks in. Seokmin finds millions of stars in your gaze, a direct rival to that of the stars in the night sky that hangs above him.

“Do you love me back?” You ask quietly, and Seokmin gives you a small smile as his own eyes begin to water when an overwhelming emotion washes over him. And so, he nods his head.

“I do. I love you, yn.” 

You let out a smile as you make a waving motion with your hand, watching the scenery pass as Seokmin drives the two of you to the beach. You turn your head to glance at your boyfriend, finding him quietly singing along to the music as he drives. He seems to notice you staring at him though, as he lets out a grin.

“You think I’m handsome?” 

You immediately scoff, reaching out and pinching his cheek. He lets out a little whine of pain, causing you to laugh and retract your hand. “Of course I think you’re handsome. It’s why I confessed to you.” 

Seokmin rolls his eyes, sparing you a glance as you eat a piece of candy. He looks back towards the road, feeling nothing but content as he drives. “So you only confessed to me that night after the weird fortune telling because I’m handsome? Not because we were born as the same star?” 

Letting out a giggle at his weird way of saying the sentence, you grab a sour patch kid and place it into his mouth. You watch as his face scrunches up slightly from the sourness to the candy, and you chuckle. 

“I love you for you.” You say softly as the two of you pull up to the stoplight. Seokmin lets out a sigh, finally getting the chance to turn to look at you now that you’re at a stop. “Wanna get married?” 

You choke on the piece of candy you were eating, causing Seokmin to burst into laughter. You reach over and slap his shoulder twice, still coughing as you take a large gulp of water. You shoot a glare at the pretty man, “That’s such a lame way to propose.”

“Yeah, but you still had a great reaction. It’s all about the element of shock, love.” You roll your eyes, turning your head to see that the light has turned green. “I guess you have a point.” You mutter, making Seokmin grin. He presses on the gas, and heads into the intersection. 

“Does that mean you said yes to my proposal?” Seokmin asks as he stares at the road in front of him, and you purse your lips. You turn your head to face him as you answer, only for your eyes to widen.

“SEOKMIN THERE’S A TRUCK COMI-” 

You don’t get the chance to finish your sentence as the car flips over. 

And you don’t get the opportunity to tell Seokmin that your answer was yes.

However, fate decided to let your stars align one last time.

You walk down the sidewalk on your way home from school, smiling up at the orange and red leaves that are falling from above you. You shove your hands into your pockets, stepping onto each and every crunchy leaf in your path as you enjoy the sound it creates. 

“I love Fall, I wonder if the scenery is this beautiful at SNU.” You whisper to yourself, looking up at the blue sky. You squeeze your eyes shut when the reminder of all the new responsibilities that will be placed on your shoulders once you live on your own next year.

Being an adult sounds hard, You think as your gaze slowly trails over to an orange leaf falling from the tree. You watch as it lands on the top of a student’s black hair, and you raise an eyebrow at the uniform. 

“He goes to the other high school.” You mutter, tilting your head to the side when he plucks the leaf off his head and smiles at it.

“Ah, it’s really Fall.” Seokmin says softly, squinting back up at the tree with a grin on his face. He lets the leaf fall back to the ground before running a hand through his hair and turning to continue to walk home again. 

He stops in his tracks when he looks up from the sidewalk, only to lock eyes with you. Your heart beats rapidly within your chest as the two of you stare at each other in silence, the orange and red leaves falling from the trees around you both. 

why... why is he so familiar? why do i feel... relieved just by looking at him?

why does it feel like my heart is breaking as i stare at them?

Seokmin looks away first, ignoring the thoughts in his brain as he stares directly at the ground and continues to head home. You quickly follow suit, looking at anything but the pretty man as you try to calm your beating heart. 

Time comes to a stand still as the two of you pass each other, the leaves continuing to fall as you do so. You bite the inside of your cheek when a bit of distance is put between you two, and you come to a stop. You slowly turn your head to look back at him, tears falling from your eyes as you let out a breath.

Seokmin stands not too far from you, tears trailing down his own cheeks as he stares into your sparkling eyes. He bites the inside of his cheek, before sending a tentative smile your way. He lets out a wet laugh when you smile back at him, feeling warmth flood his features as more tears pour from his eyes. 

home.

“I’m Seokmin!” He greets from afar, and a feeling of relief washes over you when you hear his voice. You quickly reach your hands up, wiping away the tears on your cheeks as you stare at him. However, it’s of no use.

it’s like i’m finally home.

As tears fall from your eyes, you smile at Seokmin, finding him to be brighter than the sun when you shout back, 

“I’m yn!”

[murderslugs]

Slasher Bf/Gf Scenarios/Imagines! || Meeting Them

Jason Voorhees (Friday The 13th)

You were out with friends, and it was getting awfully late. But still, there you were, with a flashlight and a backpack with a first-aid kit, some snacks, and water in it, just in case, walking through the abandoned camping trail with your friends. You guys had grown up in a town not too far away from the little old camp, and you’d heard all the stories that surrounded the place. For years you had just dismissed it, you all had passed it off as a local legend or rumor, but still there was a little spark of curiosity. Of course, this is what led you to where you reside now, exploring the camp in search of something peculiar, maybe a story to tell.

“Maybe we should go home...It’s late and I’m not feeling well..” your friend, Ruby, said wearily. It was true, you could see the illness in her dark, drooping eyelids. “Oh, bullshit! You’re fine, just drink some water and go throw up on a tree or something!” another friend yelled out. You just rolled your eyes. “Shut up! She doesn’t look too good, Otis! I think I should bring her back to the car to sit down.” You said with concern. To the dismay and groaning of the group, they let you and Ruby on your way back down the trail and to the car while they continued down the path. 

As you made your way to the car, Ruby fell close behind in your steps. Your flashlight flickered continually, and then suddenly gave out; leaving you two in the dark, and the pale moon barely illuminating through the trees above you. “Shit,” you muttered to yourself, hitting the battery pack to the light repeatedly. “Stop, quiet,” Ruby whisper-shouted. That’s when you heard the rustling of the branches getting closer. Closer. Closer. “Maybe we shou…” You turn around, to see Ruby gone. 

“Ruby? Ruby?!” You shouted out, to no response. You turned frantically, searching for any sign of her presence. A large man in a ski mask and an old, ruined jacket stood before you, silent. Before you could turn to run or get around him, you felt a sudden pressure on the side of your head, and then you saw black.

Michael Myers (Halloween)

It was Halloween night, and you were home from college for fall break. Your mom insisted that you took your younger sister trick-or-treating, even though you refuted that she was 12 years old, and could handle herself. So, you just took her block to block instead and sat on the corner of the street for her to walk down to the other end and get to all the houses. It was a small town, so there were never really concerns about kidnapping and such. It was just never a problem, you guess. 

“Go, Riley. You’re a big kid, you can go down the street.” You groaned, tired of her constant whining. “But (y/nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn), It’s dark down there!! There’s not a street light at the end!!” she whined insistently. You sighed heavily and pulled your phone out of your pocket. “Here. You can use the flashlight on my phone, just don’t snoop through my info.” You told her, handing over the old smartphone, and pulling a pumpkin-shaped sucker from her trick-or-treat bag. “You owe me this.” 

You unwrapped the cheap candy and popped it into your mouth, leaning on the house fence as your sister skipped down the sidewalk. The leaves rustled in the trees, and suddenly you heard footsteps behind you, and whipped around to see who it was. It was on the quieter side of town, and it was getting late. This meant that there shouldn’t be many people out, so there shouldn’t be someone behind you. But still, you came face-to-chest with a tall man in a dark blue jump-suit type outfit, and a white mask. You panicked, and thought quickly about how to fight back. Unfortunately, he seemed to be faster than you, and your mouth was covered as you were picked up and carried off into the darkness, legs kicking uselessly. 

Carrie White (Carrie)

You were at the library when you saw a pale girl browsing through the young adult fantasy section. You observed her actions, as she readjusted her dress and collar. She carefully picked a book from the shelf and flipped it to the back to read the description. You saw a flash of the cover, and realized it was one of your favorite series, Chronicles of Narnia. You hesitated but stepped forward in a bit of excitement.

“That’s a good one, I, um, really recommend checking it out.” You told her with a smile, and she looked up, seemingly a bit taken aback. You realized this, and took a step back to give her space. “Sorry, didn’t mean to alarm you...I’m (y/n).” You stuck out your hand, and she just looked down at it, book in hand. “Carrie...Sorry, mama never liked me talking to strangers…” “No, no, it’s okay, I underst-” “No, it’s okay...She’s been gone a while now.” She looked down. 

You stood awkwardly, feeling a bit bad now. “You seem kind enough. I’ve got to go, but we can talk again another time. I come here every Sunday, around noon.” Carrie said quietly, smiling softly and turning, taking Narnia with her. You sat to yourself, a bit confused about the interaction. You shook your head and carried on. “Next Sunday it is,” You thought to yourself.

Jennifer Check (Jennifer's Body)

There was a new girl at school, as you had heard. How could you not have when everyone was talking about it? She had moved here recently after some sort of tragedy occured, or so you’d heard. It was rumored that she had to have surgery cause someone tried to kill her, she was all stabbed up and shit and nearly bled out. You can’t imagine how awful that would be, and you kept thinking about how she probably came here for a new start, and wouldn’t want people asking about it, but you knew it would happen anyways.

It was 3rd period, Anatomy, when a girl you’d never seen before walked into the classroom. This, of course, must have been the new girl. She was absolutely glowing, even from afar. Her hair was voluminous, rich, and dark, her skin was clear and shiny, her eyes were sharp and bright. It took your breath away trying to take in the sight. The girl’s heels clicked as she trailed to the back of the classroom, to where you were. She sat beside you, at the lab table. 

You tried not to look at her, after all, you didn’t want to seem weird. You looked at the floor and over to her shoes. A few drips of a thick, crimson substance were on the floor beneath her, seemingly originating from her shoe. You wondered for a moment if she was hurt. Or, could she have hurt someone else..? It scared you a bit to think about the second option. God knows this school didn’t need another bully, or anything worse than it.

You were tranced, stuck in your own looming dark thoughts, when a velvet voice came to your ears. You snapped your glance up from the floor, to see the girl looking at you, specifically. To your dismay, blood rushed to your face out of embarrassment. “I’m Jennifer. Do you have a pen I can use?”

Billy Loomis (Scream)

You were in your brand new house, you had moved out and into the next town over from your parents. You wanted to be further away, but you knew that your mom would be upset, she was always so protective. She even said that she expected you to come visit her on the weekends. The relationship was a bit exhausting sometimes. But now, you were in your own house, and it was great. You could decorate it however you wanted, you could have whoever you wanted over, you could do basically whatever.

Though, for now, you decided to just make some off-brand pizza rolls and blare some music, maybe even dance around a little bit. Season Of The Witch by Donovan was playing on your stereo when suddenly your phone rang. You paused the music, and quickly answered. Normally, you would check the caller ID, but you were in a good mood and it completely slipped your mind. I mean, who cares if it's a scam caller? You can just hang up. To your surprise, it wasn’t a familiar voice, but didn’t seem to be a scam-caller. Maybe a wrong number? 

“Do you like scary movies?” The other line said. You were suspicious, and for a second you considered that maybe it was a survey. It didn’t seem to be a harmful question, so you replied, “Yeah, duh. If you don't, you're pretty lame.” You turned the music back on, but turned the volume down. He asked a few follow-up questions, and you gave your honest answers. You just strolled around the kitchen, occasionally checking the timer on your food so that it doesn’t burn. 

You had your phone pressed between your ear and your shoulder, and you had on oven mitts as you grabbed your pizza rolls from the oven. “What’s your name?” The caller suddenly asked. You paused for a second as you put the cooking sheet on the counter. “Why do you wanna know..” You asked cautiously. “Well, I wanna know the name of the cutie I’m looking at.” He said, and your heart damn near stopped. “Excuse me..?” You hung up and quickly ran to the doors, double-checking the locks and locking the windows and shutting the curtains. You grabbed a knife from the silverware drawer and locked yourself in your room, where you eventually fell asleep in the dark silence.

Thomas Hewitt (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

You had just moved out to the country-side to start anew, planning to start a small farm and just live in peace on the quiet little land. Little did you know, you had neighbors across the field that weren’t exactly the type of neighbors that you could ask for a cup of sugar. You were hanging the new drapes for the windows after having taken the old ones down. They were old, dirty, ragged. Honestly, the old farmhouse was sort of let to rot for a while, and you knew it. It was cheap though, and you were up to the challenge. You decided that you would decorate it, clean it up, and make it like brand new, even with the little money that you had. 

As you were hanging the drapes, you kept looking out into the distance of the rolling fields outside the window, littered with patches of wild flowers in the grass. You fantasized about making gardens, maybe even building a little stable for a horse or two. It was a lovely thought; there was a small village a little while away from the farm that you could ride a horse to if you wanted. 

Though, some distance away in the field, you saw the figure of what looked to be a man wandering in the field. You weren’t too worried, as you had all the locks in place, it was the middle of the day, and he looked peaceful. So, you just forgot about it and went on fixing up your house, unpacking, and getting the rest of the things in place. Although you had been there about a week, you still understandably weren’t completely unpacked. 

A few hours later, you were doing a bit of drawing on the couch and taking some time to relax. That’s when you heard a thud on your door. Just a single thud, that’s all. Still, you had reason to be concerned, as you were sort of in the middle of the country and it was starting to set into the evening. You quietly walked to your bedroom and grabbed a shotgun from the closet that you kept for protection, a tradition in your family. You carried it with you as you checked the door. You looked through the thin peephole, but saw nothing. You opened the door to find a paper stuck to the door by a rusty hatchet, buried deep into the oak. Your heart rate spiked as you tore the note from the door and read it. “Welcome to the neighborhood, pretty person” was spelled in crude handwriting.

[cinnaminsvga]

🌸 social media au where y/n posts a fake boyfriend application on twitter as a dare but ends up seeking something real in the long run (aka how to fall in love the zillennial way) 🌸

A/N: I know I said this update wouldn’t be written, but I decided to fix the little drabble I already had written and... It’s not as bad as I thought and now I’m moderately happy with it. Anyway... We’re entering angst city babey so please put on your seatbelts because we are SOARING! || W.C. 1.8K

prev // part 18 of ? // next masterlist here.

[updates every 6PM PST]

After sending his last text to you, Namjoon is only slightly surprised when he sees your caller ID flashing on his phone screen. When he looks at the time, he notices that it had taken you less than a minute for you to call him, no doubt ready to scream your head off at his outrageous suggestion. Admittedly, he knows that his idea might be a little outside of your comfort zone, but he believes you can do it. If his people reading skills are even remotely average, then he’s sure that it’ll work if you just—

“KIM NAMJOON! HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT CONCLUSION?” Your voice is loud enough to burst an eardrum, but luckily, Namjoon had already expected your volume and had held his phone an arm away. In his nine-ish days of knowing you, he’s somewhat accustomed to your theatrics, though you’re still no match for Hoseok’s excited shrieks.

“Hello Y/N,” Namjoon hums, sitting up groggily from his bed. It’s a bit too early to go to sleep, but he supposes that your panicked screams are going to keep him up a little bit longer. “I feel as though you’re overreacting a little.”

“A little?” You scoff loudly, and Namjoon can imagine you pacing circles in your room. You did always seem a little fidgety when you two went out together. “Namjoon, you can’t just expect me to go on a date with Jungkook—“

“Why not? You guys go out all the time, don’t you?” Namjoon points out, smiling slightly at your exasperated huffs.

“Well, that’s different! Those were platonic hangouts! Just bros being bros!”

“Then change the context a little bit. You don’t have to ask him to be your boyfriend just to go on a date.”

“Namjoon, I know you’re a smart man but I don’t think your math skills are all that great,” you say brusquely. “That doesn’t add up! If I ask him on a date, then he’ll know I’m into him and—“

“And that’s a bad thing?” Namjoon interrupts, raising a brow. “Y/N, we both know you’re being a little unreasonable right now.”

You splutter for a moment, but you find that you’re unable to retort. Namjoon smirks, continuing, “Y/N, I know you’re worried that Jungkook might get swept away now that he’s quote-unquote ‘single.’ I get it. But if you’re not going do anything about it and suffer in silence, then he’s definitely going to leave. Besides, I already told you that he probably likes you back, judging from how jealous he got. You could probably even ask your friends and they’d tell you the same.”

You snort. “God, I’d rather die than talk about… love stuff with those freaks I call friends,” you cough out a laugh, muffling the sound before it can continue. Namjoon knows you’re a bit conscious of your “unflattering” snorts, but he just finds them cute. A lot of the things you don’t like about yourself are cute in Namjoon’s eyes. “I can’t even imagine going to any of them about this… They’d just bully me and make me do something I don’t want to do!”

“Isn’t that basically what I’m doing right now?” Namjoon laughs, giggling even harder when he hears your tired groan.

“Yeah, but you’re nice. Unlike those meanies,” you say. Namjoon hates to admit it, but he does appreciate being special to you, even if it’s over something trivial like this.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Namjoon starts. He can hear you humming in agreement, but he doesn’t stop there. “But, it is a suggestion. Seeing as how you don’t have any other idea how to solve this mess, I’d say go for it. What’s the worse thing that can happen?”

“Um? I get rejected? Hello?”

“You don’t have to let him know it’s a date, you know.”

“What do you mean? Namjoon, you should stop speaking in riddles because I honestly don’t have enough brain cells for this, clearly.”

Namjoon sighs. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… What if you fake date him?” When you don’t reply immediately, Namjoon is quick to keep talking. “Not that I’m asking you to stop fake dating me! What I’m trying to say is… Maybe try to rekindle the rumor that you and Jungkook are dating? He doesn’t have to know it’s a date, so long as everyone else thinks that you two are.”

“I… I guess?” You sound unsure, though Namjoon admits it’s kind of a long shot to begin with, not when you wouldn’t know the last thing about being subtle. He kind of wants to throttle you, in a gentle way. It’s honestly frustrating to see you like this, and he just wishes he could… Make the problem go away.

That would be easy. If Y/N just stopped pining after Jungkook, then he could just come in and—

His thoughts skid to a halt, nearly slapping himself to keep from going down that road again. Look at him, trying to help you with your mess when even he can’t get a handle on his own emotions. What is going on inside my head, he thinks sadly to himself.

“Listen, it’ll be really easy! All you have to do is text him and say, ‘Hey, wanna go have dinner with me tomorrow?’ but bring him somewhere nicer, perhaps? Then take a photo of him all dressed up and looking boyfriend-y and post it on Instagram. I’m sure that’ll shut people up.”

“Namjoon, I don’t know if you’re aware, but Jungkook’s definition of ‘dressing up’ is combat boots, a hoodie, and his god-awful backpack the size of Africa. He looks like a nerd.”

“I mean, you kinda dress alike…” Namjoon mutters, and he’s thankful that you don’t hear his slight slip-up. He clears his throat. “A-anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine? I think it would be more suspicious if he wore a suit and tie or something. So long as you guys look cozy and comfy together, I’m sure people will take the hint. If worse comes to worst, I can maybe slip something to Johnny and he can retract his statement or something.”

“I hope to god that isn’t the case,” you say. Namjoon nods, before realizing you can’t even see him.

“Right. Well, I think everything should work out perfectly. Just ask him to some popular couples restaurant. Maybe the nice Italian place in Hongdae? Something more romantic, not necessarily fancy.”

There’s a pause on your end for a moment causing Namjoon to sweat a little, wondering if he might be overstepping. He does genuinely want to help you, though he hopes he isn’t actually weirding you out somehow. He’s not adept at handling love problems as much as he’s trying to appear to be, since he’s mostly using the romance novels he had read during his teen years as his sole source of reference. This is what I get for not dating for so long, Namjoon thinks, grimacing.

“Namjoon.” You break the silence, your voice quieter than before. Namjoon has to strain his ears a little, pursing his lips as he waits for your response. “Are you…”

Namjoon tilts his head. “Am I?”

Namjoon hears you hesitate, stuttering syllables over his phone speaker like you aren’t quite sure how to ask your question. “Do you remember when I asked you a few days ago if you were sure you don’t actually have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah?”

“I just… I don’t know how to say this without being weird, but I just want to say you’re great. Like,” you huff out a laugh, incredulous. “You’re just… The perfect package? You’re so kind and so sweet and it’s just? Almost mysterious how you don’t have someone special to call your own yet.”

Namjoon smiles wryly to himself, head bowed as he stares at his wrinkled bedsheets. “I suppose other people don’t feel the same way.” He tries forcing out a laugh, but it sounds a little strangled. His chest feels tight, strangely. Hopefully, you don’t notice.

“No, I highly doubt that! You’re literally the perfect guy. Any person would be lucky to have you as their boyfriend.” You sound almost indignant, like you can’t imagine anyone ever thinking badly about him. He almost wants to laugh, but he tightens his hands into fists instead, digging his nails into his palms and leaving crescents in their wake.

“Well then… I guess that makes you lucky to have me, then?” Namjoon nearly slaps his hands to his mouth, a cold tingle of embarrassment mixed with fear running down his spine. Did he really just say that— “What I mean is, erm…”

“N-no, I get you.” You’re giggling, but—is he imagining it?—you sound a little nervous to his ears. If he thinks hard enough, he can almost imagine you blushing, bottom lip trapped underneath your teeth. “I guess I am lucky to be your fake girlfriend, huh? Even for just a few weeks?”

“Yeah,” Namjoon breathes out the word, guilt washing over him like waves. Here he is, feeling things that he shouldn’t be, over a girl who was never his to begin with. There are seedlings in his chest, barely anything to write home about. But he knows—a gardener can see the garden even before the flowers have bloomed. Each day he spends with you is another day they get a chance to grow, and he’s afraid he’ll soon be overrun, unable to handle the forest that is bound to erupt. “Just a few weeks,” he echoes, unable to completely hide the sadness from his words.

“I guess I am just being melodramatic about everything, huh?” you say. It takes a moment for Namjoon to even remember what the two of you had been talking about, so caught up in his thoughts that he has to pinch himself back to reality.

“Think of it as a funny story to tell your grandkids,” Namjoon says.

You laugh, and Namjoon can feel a seedling sprout its first leaf. “Yeah. Definitely. God, I can’t even begin to think about kids… Not when I can’t even ask him out on a fucking date.”

“You can do it, Y/N.” Namjoon whispers. He flops back down onto his bed, eyes half-closed as he stares at his cracked ceiling. If he breathes quietly enough, he can hear the sounds of Seoul outside his windowpane. If he stops breathing altogether, he might be able to hear you across the city, your socked feet padding towards your bed, curling up into your own blanket.

“Thank you, Namjoon. Really.”

For what? Namjoon leaves that part unspoken. “You’re welcome,” he says instead. He drops the call, feeling a little emptier than before.

[fluffi]

my little dirt ball. | hueningkai

pairing: hueningkai x reader

genre: fluff, friends to lovers!au, hauntedhouse!au

word count: 9k

author’s note: wow...my first published fic and its 9k words...i don’t really know what to think of this, but I hope everyone likes it!

warnings: vague descriptions of things in haunted houses, y/n being an oblivious idiot

others: this is part of a halloween group collab. You can see everyone else’s works here! this also is in correlation to an upcoming yeonjun fic i have planned (see bonus)!

special thanks: @/spookybias for literally taking 30 min of her time to help me get the entire fic in order and @/yeonjuncore as inspiration for the correlation fic thingy (see her hueningkai and soobin halloween fic).

October 31, 2020 | 6.38am

You were unable to fall asleep. Tossing, turning, and sitting up ever so often in a sweaty mess. You would walk over to the thermostat, turn it down, only for you to wake up shivering. Then the cycle would repeat, so you never ended up actually sleeping.

While squirming in bed, you heard loud thumps emitting from your bedside window. What the heck? It wasn’t raining, you were sure of it, since you couldn’t hear water leaking in your bathroom. Just then, your phone rang. You groggily sat up and pressed the green answer button, without bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Wake up, loser. Did you forget that it’s October 31? Halloween?”

Right. That was what I forgot. You were so busy doing projects and finishing assignments in school that you forgot your yearly tradition with your Halloween-enthusiast best friend, Kai. He was probably very annoyed at your lack of attendance, but you were tired. Maybe the tradition could wait till next year.

You groaned. “Sorry, sorry. I know we’re supposed to meet at the park like we do every year, at 6am. But Dude, I’m so tired. Can we postpone this meetup? I have 3 more English projects that I have to finish, and I can’t seem to fall asleep tonight.”

“Perfect! Since you can’t sleep, we’re meeting. Dress up and sneak out, like last year, and every other year before that. You don’t have to walk to the park. I’m outside your house right now, throwing these really nice pebbles at your window. By the way, these pebbles are nice. They’re like, really freaking shiny. Where’d your mom get them fro-“

You accidentally ended the call, cutting him off. To be fair, you weren’t expecting him to blabber about stupid walmart pebbles for such a long time.

Sometimes you wondered why you were friends with Kai, and then you remembered that it was because you liked him. A lot. You liked him way too much. Kai was always stuck in your brain. Every thought you had when you were alone was about him, and almost every thought you had when you were with him, well, you couldn’t even think straight when you were around Kai. But he didn’t need to know that. He was just that popular cute boy, living his best life surrounded by drop-dead gorgeous girls who would do just about anything to be with him. They were ten times prettier than you, surely he wouldn’t settle for a girl like Y/N L/N.

You pulled yourself out of your pity puddle when you remembered that Kai was waiting for you outside. The boy you were probably in love with, who might break your window if you don’t hurry up and meet him right now. You swear, if you hear the tapping of rocks at your window one more time...

You sat up, opened your window, and screamed, “Kai Kamal Huening, I swear, if you do not stop right now, I will drag your as-“

7.02am

“Hey, random question. Why does this tradition have to be exactly the same every year? Why does it matter if I meet you at 6am? What if I meet you at 6.10am? In that case, will you stop being friends with me?” You teased, trudging alongside Kai on a rugged concrete path.

Kai sighed, tilting his head to look at you with his beautiful, brown eyes. “It matters because it takes 15 minutes to walk from your neighborhood’s park to Mr. Roger’s pumpkin patch, and he opens at 6.20am exactly, every single Halloween. If you get to the park at 6.10am, we’ll reach his pumpkin patch at 6.30am. By then, all the competitive mothers who want their child to have the best pumpkin will have taken all the round, orange, hard-enough-to-carve-but-not-so-hard-that-carving-becomes-a-chore kind of pumpkins, and we’ll be stuck with the oblong shaped, ugly pumpkins.”

“Then why aren’t we running? At this rate, we will only get rotten mushy pumpkins.”

“We aren’t running because you have tiny legs and we won’t make it that far before you get tired. I don’t want you to get hurt, shortie.” Kai teased, sticking out his tongue while leaning over you in an attempt to intimidate you.

At this point, he was only a few inches away from you, and the both of you were so close that you could peck his lips. As much as you wanted to, you resisted the urge to lean closer towards him and instead laughed nervously as he smiled at you. This action only made your heart beat faster. It didn’t help that he just said that he cared about you, and despite the statement being so lighthearted, it warmed your heart to know that he prioritized your well-being over pumpkins.

Your heart was thumping faster and faster, and you were turning into an embarrassed mess. Cheeks hot and red, eyes darting everywhere. Come to think of it, that plant behind Kai looks interesting, how come you’ve never seen it before?

The awkward tension was getting quite unbearable at this point, and you couldn’t take it anymore. “I-uh...we…um….uh...race you to the pumpkin patch! Yeah..uh..let's go!” You nervously muttered, trying to sound confident. You immediately ran opposite the direction of where the both of you were supposed to go.

“Y/N! The pumpkin patch is this way!” Kai confusedly shouted. “You’ve been to the pumpkin patch multiple times! Where are you even going?”

You were getting out of breath, but you would only stop running once you were out of Kai’s sight. “Uh...I’ll take the longer route! Yeah...I’ll meet you there...uh...don’t follow me!” You turned around and started running backwards, so you could see if Kai would start following you.

“Y/N! Stop running, wait! No! Look behind you!”

The last thing you saw was Kai’s figure running towards you before your head hit the ground with a loud thud.

7.46am

“Ugh, what do you want? Why did you wake me up? And why is Y/N sleeping in your arms?”

Kai was at Beomgyu’s house, holding your unconscious self bridal-style in his arms. You had tripped over a brick ledge all because your idiotic self was too panicked with the thought of kai finding out that you liked him.

Kai sighed, “Look hyung, I’m sorry if this is a huge hassle, or that I may be disturbing your 8-hour beauty sleep, but Y/N fell down, and she isn’t asleep. I think she got knocked out.”

Beomgyu started frantically waving his hands and shouting incoherently. “Oh my gosh, are you serious? If she’s knocked out, we have to go to the hospital! We have to call 911! What if she doesn’t wake up?? Kai, why did you bring her here, this isn’t my problem! Oh my goodness, I’m not even kidding, wh-“

While Beomgyu was going full-on emergency mode, you had regained your senses and was starting to stir. Maybe it was because Beomgyu’s panicking actions had woken you up, or that you had a sixth sense blaring huge warning signs all across your brain because you were in Kai’s arms. Wait, you were in Kai’s arms?

You slowly fluttered your eyes open to see Kai looking confusedly at a screaming Beomgyu, who seemed so sure that you would never wake up. As you laid in the Kai’s arms, you gazed at his ethereal features. Brown eyes with gorgeous golden specks in them, wavy brown hair, his cute little boopable nose, he was a literal angel who looked perfect from every angle. Just then, said angel looked down at you.

“Beomgyu-hyung! She’s awake! Her eyes are open! Why is she smiling? Hi Y/N, good morning, why are you smiling? Her cheeks are really red too, she looks like she’s drunk! HAHA! Y/N, Y/N?”

It took you a few minutes to register that Kai was talking to you, and that he was indeed, calling your name. By the time you tried opening your mouth to respond, gross-man-Beomgyu was already looking over at you with utter disgust and relief clouding his face.

“Oh, good. I thought she was going to die. Okay, now just in case idiot Y/N stumbles and falls again, she should rest here. You guys can leave when she feels better. Ugh, the things I do for you guys. Sacrificing my 8-hour beauty sleep, my privacy, and most importantly, my lovely couch, that disgusting Y/N is going to lay on.”

You once again came back from Kai Dreamland when you realized that Beomgyu had just insulted you. About to rebut, you remembered that you were still in Kai’s arms and that he was starting to carry you to the couch. Feeling the heat that was rising up your cheeks, you immediately tried squirming out of Kai’s arms.

You tried lifting your legs off his left arm and grabbing on his right one for support. “Uh, Kai, actually, I feel better already. I can walk myself to the couch, yeah, thanks.”

Kai stifled a laugh and bemusedly stared at you. “Y/N, you just fell down and knocked yourself out. The couch isn’t too far, if I can carry you to Beomgyu’s house then I can surely carry you to the living hall.”

“No, um, I’m good. I’m independent!” As you fumbled out of Kai’s grasp and began attempting to get to the couch, you thought to yourself. Y/N, how stupid. Who uses ‘I’m independent’ as an excuse? Way to blow it in front of your 10-year-crush.

Meanwhile, Beomgyu, who had been grabbing water, immediately put the cup down and ran towards you, who was struggling to even walk in a straight line. Grabbing your arms and dragging you to the couch, he tutted. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Y/N, you really be walking like a drunk man at 4am. Why did Kai stop carrying you? He shouldn’t have put you down, for goodness sake, you nearly knocked down my mom’s sacred glass vase with your swinging beanstalk arms!”

Kai lifted both of his hands in defense. “I didn’t put her down. I insisted on carrying her all the way to the couch but she flailed around in my arms and said she could walk just fine. I’m starting to think that she might have an actual brain injury.”

You, being perfectly fine and functioning decently with your 3 brain cells, had only gotten dizzy from the sudden shift of laying down to standing up. You had laid down on the couch and was starting to drift off to sleep. The last thing you heard was Kai and Beomgyu giggling about something related to brains, but you were too tired to ask them about that inside joke.

8.40 am

“So...have you told her?”

Beomgyu and Kai were sitting on the floor in the living hall, with you fast asleep on the couch behind them. There were cards messily sprawled across the floor, and 2 cup noodles on a chair placed in front of them.

Kai sighed. He discreetly held up his uno cards in front of his face to block the reddening that was beginning to form on the apples of his cheeks.

“Told who what?”

“Oh, stop acting so oblivious. Ya know, have you told Y/N that you like her?”

Kai felt his cheeks heat up even more and he embarrassingly smacked Beomgyu’s arm. “Hyung, are you dumb? Y/N’s right behind us. She probably just heard you say that. Plus, did you forget about the very special Halloween plan happening in like, 10 hours?” He quickly turned around to see if you were actually asleep and not just getting some shut-eye. You were definitely deep into your slumber, hair all messed up and your body spread across the couch in an very uncomfortable looking position. However, to Kai, you looked extremely cute. He couldn’t resist the urge to smile ear to ear. Kai wanted to boop your nose right then and there, and was fighting hard to resist this temptation in fears of waking you up. He removed his baby blue hoodie and gently placed it on your sleeping figure, doing his best to not wake you up.

Beomgyu, who was looking disgustedly at Kai’s chival gesture and his beaming face, made a heart with his hands between the both of you. “Wow, you are whipped for Y/N. Anyways, she’s clearly asleep. She looks like a pig! And it wouldn’t matter if she heard me say that you have a crush on her. She clearly likes you too.”

Kai scowled at Beomgyu’s insult, and sat back down. “First of all, do not say that Y/N looks like a pig, she’s gorgeous and way prettier than you. Secondly, no! She definitely doesn’t like me that way! She probably thinks my Halloween obsession is weird, and I’m probably not the type of guy she likes. She likes ‘hot’ dudes.” Kai gagged when he said that statement.“She probably likes Yeonjun or something, they would be cute together.”

Beomgyu rolled his eyes and declared. “Have you seen the way she looks at you? Her eyes sparkle and she awes at you like you're the only thing that matters on this planet! Heck, you probably are the only thing that matters to her on this planet.” Beomgyu sighed, rolling his eyes. “You two are so oblivious.”

“Let’s divert the topic, this is making me flustered and I don’t like it.” Kai said, as he picked a draw 8 card from the fan of uno cards that was still covering his burning red cheeks. “I was initially planning to just skip you, but because you brought this topic up, draw 8.”

Beomgyu innocently smiled, then put down a draw 4 card. He looked back up at Kai, stuck his tongue out, and then cheekily laughed at the fuming boy.

Kai’s cheeks were glowing red again, but this time, it was for an entire different reason.

October 31 2020 | 8.10am -> October 31 2009 | 9.33am

While the boy you were in love with and the boy you wanted to punch into a different dimension were talking about you, you were deep inside Kai Dreamland.

Almost every night, you dreamed about dating him. Being able to feed each other food, holding each other’s hands, cuddling, and being able to do ‘justcouplethings” with him. This dream, however, was very different.

Unbeknownst to you, a past flashback was about to happen, and it would make you finally realize why you liked Kai so much.

You were looking at your very young self in third person, who was wearing a weird wire contraption shaped like a sphere. Draped on top of the contraption was a dirty brown blanket, and stuck on top of it were what were supposed to be sprinkles and icing sugar. The sprinkles and icing sugar were made of horribly cut colored paper, and they looked like they were on the brink of dropping off because of the faulty glue gun job that was barely keeping the whole costume together. You had your purple Dora backpack in your right hand and your left hand was lifted up, about to knock on a wooden birch door with the placard “Class 1C” right in the center of the door.

Oh, no. Oh, no no. Present Y/N knew what was coming. You hated this moment so, so, much, because you knew what was behind that innocent-looking door. Out of all things, did I really have to dream about the most humiliating moment of my life?

Young Y/N finally knocked with all her strength on the wooden door, and a young adult wearing a witch hat that did not match her professional blazer and work skirt opened the door.

“Hello, dear! You must be Y/N L/N, our new student! I see you that you must’ve got the memo to dress up. I love your costume. My name is Ms. Kim. Do come inside!” Ms. Kim flashed an exaggerated smile, and gestured for you to come in.

Your younger self was very oblivious to the fact that Ms. Kim did not like your costume one bit just based on her fake smile and the giggle she tried to hide. Nonetheless, you confidently strutted in the decorated classroom, unaware that your sprinkles and iced sugar pieces were starting to fall off, leaving a trail of cut colored paper from the door to where you now stood, which was in the center of the classroom.

A few classmates had already started to snicker, proudly pointing their stubby fingers at the trail of papers, and the brown sphere you were wearing, then bursting into immature giggles. However, you continued to lift your head up high.

“Class, class, settle down. We have a new student. Y/N, do introduce yourself.” Ms. Kim announced. The high-pitched laughter echoing from the audience died down.

“Hello, class of 1C! My name is Y/N L/N, and I am proud to be here today! I will do my best in this class!” You beamed, and the class burst into booming laughter. Chaos erupted, making the giggling just now nothing compared to this event.

Paper balls and pencils were thrown, and the monstrous classmates could no longer keep their childish giggling to themselves.

“She looks like a dirt ball! She looks like a dirt ball!” A loud shout emitted from the back of the class, and soon, everyone else caught on.

“Dirt ball! Dirt ball! Y/N is a dirt ball!” The class hooted, enjoying this Halloween party way more than they should.

Ms. Kim sighed, and looked down at your fragile figure who was on the verge of tears. “Class, if you do not quiet down and respect Y/N, we will cancel this party. All of you can go back to doing your addition and subtraction.”

Immediately, the mean teasing and laughter died down, and you shuffled your way to your assigned seat, leaving a trail of more cut colored paper. Once you put your backpack behind your seat and sat down, you put your head in your arms, not bothering to look at the wavy-haired boy leaning his head on his elbow, smiling innocently at you. Noticing your sad self, he immediately placed it upon himself to cheer you up.

“Hello, you’re Y/N, right? I’m Kai. I really love your costume! Is it a cake pop?”

Kai really did love your costume. He liked the fact that anyone could tell that you had worked so hard to make it. Compared to his target-bought jellyfish costume, it was a piece of majestic art.

You immediately sat up, all signs of sadness gone. You were happy and satisfied that at least one person knew what your costume was. The hard work you spent gluing on the paper and the hard work your mother spent looking for a wire contraction that would fit you had finally been paid off.

“Yes! It’s a cake pop. I love your jellyfish costume too!” You smiled, revealing one of your missing front teeth.

“Nah, my costume isn’t as good as yours. I'm sorry if the class was so mean to you, I think your outfit looked great. In fact, my mom is having a small Halloween gathering this week, would you want to come? There will be lots of food, and I got my dad to build…”

At this exact moment, your past self realized that you liked this boy. You didn’t care if you married him, or if you just stayed friends, you wanted to be with him through thick and thin. For your present self, this just proved that you loved him more than he would ever know.

October 31 2020 | 10.35am

“...ding, ding, ding, ding…”

Ughhhh. What is going on with my phone?

“...ding, ding, ding!”

As soon as the ringing from your phone stopped, you immediately dozed back to sleep.

“Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…”

“ARGHHH! Kai, can you please help me check my phone! It's ringing like it's a bomb about to detonate!”

No response.

“Kai? Gyu?”

As you worriedly stood up and glanced around bemusedly, the baby blue hoodie that Kai had carefully draped onto you slid off, and dropped at your feet. You noticed it and picked up the familiar looking sweater.

You suddenly realized that this hoodie belonged to the one and only Kai Kamal Huening, and your heart started pounding when you came to terms with the fact that he had just draped one of his favorite hoodies onto you. You scrunched the sweater up in your hands, and wore it over your graphic pumpkin shirt (which was your “costume”). It smelled exactly like Kai, and with the faint scent of his maple autumn leaf perfume (that he only used in October) wavering in the air, you felt like you were in Kai Heaven.

However, the annoying dings in the background didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, so you finally addressed the noise by grabbing your phone from your bag on the dining table.

You groaned as your phone screen lit up with an incoming call from Yeonjun.

“Hi, Yeonjun. I don’t think I can come.”

“What, why?” Yeonjun dragged, the ‘y’, sounding like a whining baby. “We’re doing a haunted house. All the cool kids are gonna be there. Are you not a cool kid?”

‘Well, number one, I'm not going cause haunted houses are scary. Number two, I’m not cool Jun, you know that. Number three, Kai and I were supposed to do our yearly tradition, but I fell down this morning. I think we’re going to continue it afterwards, and I don’t think Kai likes parties that much. Speaking of Kai, do you know where him and Beomgyu are? I’m in Gyu’s house by myself right now, and when I woke up they weren’t there anymore, are they with you?”

Yeonjun coughed from the other end of the line and seemed to hesitate before replying. “No, I don’t know where Kai and Beomgyu are. But I think Kai wants to come to the party, he said he would, Y/Nieeeee, please come, it’ll be fun.”

You were about to reconsider your choice and dial Kai asking if he wanted to come, when you heard an oddly familiar high pitched dolphin laughter occurring from the other end of the line, followed by a loud shout of glee.

“Wait, Yeonjun. Isn’t that Kai? Is he with you?”

“No. Kai isn’t with me. I don’t know where he is. I really don’t. I think I saw him yesterday? Uh…”

Yeonjun muted the call and left your curious self waiting on the line.

“Okay, I’m back, sorry, technical problems. But yeah, don’t know where Kai is. Totally don’t know.”

“Yeonjun, I can tell when you’re lying.”

Yeonjun sighed from the other end of the line.

“I’m coming over.” You said, as you ended the call, furious and confused as to why he lied to you about such a trivial matter. At least Kai is safe, you thought to yourself, as you grabbed your bag roughly. You were about to stalk out of the house, when you remembered that you were still wearing Kai’s baby blue hoodie that looked extremely over-sized on you. You considered wearing it to Yeonjun’s house, then decided against the decision in fear that Kai might get the wrong idea.

As best friends, the both of you didn’t exchange much skinship or share many things, so this was your first time wearing Kai’s hoodie. You didn’t want him to find out that you like him, and was planning to keep your sacred secret for as long as you could.

After taking off Kai’s sweater, you folded it into a little bundle and shoved it in your bag, just in case he might want it back at Yeonjun’s house. Finally, you walked out of your house, still curious and disappointed as to why a close friend would lie to you about such a small issue.

11.13am

Instead of going to Yeonjun’s huge house, you were now seated across an anxious, fidgeting Kai, in Magic Island, a homely cafe that the both of you would go every halloween for their special rainbow halloween-themed cupcakes. Kai had requested the both of you to meet at this cafe instead of Yeonjun’s house for who knows what, but surprisingly, you didn’t question his rushed and breathless statement when he called you as you were walking out. In the call, he anxiously explained that he would explain in the cafe, and begged you to not go to Yeonjun’s house. Even though this statement only made you more curious as to what they could and were doing there, you reluctantly obliged and began walking in the opposite direction to Magic Island.

And right now, you were seated on a very comfortable sofa with a witch cushion behind you and a pumpkin-themed cover draped over your seat. Around you, there were assorted forms of Halloween decorations ranging from black and orange themed hanging tinsels to the cafe’s signature baby witch statue that took its place at the shop’s entrance.

There was an awkward silence beginning to form between the both of you, so after glancing at everything else but Kai, you finally tried staring him down as sternly as you could, trying to show that you wanted an explanation.

“Kai, why would Yeonjun lie to me about such a trivial matter? What are you guys hiding from me?”

“No, you don’t understa-“

“I thought friends were supposed to be truthful to each other. Am I not trustworthy? I don’t remember doing anything that broke your trust.” It was getting harder and harder to control the words spouting out of your mouth at this point. You were curious and disappointed, and he had been acting shady recently. Kai has never left you alone so randomly, and to your knowledge, none of your other close friends have ever lied to you about his whereabouts.

“Look, wait! Don’t interrupt me! I can see your eyes getting unnaturally huge, and you only do that when you’re about to interrupt someone. Here, let me cut to the chase, I, uh, we, Beomgyu and I, we were at Yeonjun’s house to help him prepare for the party.”

He is a horrible liar, you thought to yourself. Nevertheless, you let him continue to see what else he could spur up.

“We uh, we went to, his house because he needed help preparing, and you know, Yeonjun’s house is huge, so like, obviously, one person couldn’t just decorate the place himself, plus, we’re helping him for the haunted house too, so uh, we-“

“Kai, you're still not answering my question. If it was nothing, why did Yeonjun lie to me about your whereabouts?” You rebutted, impatient and wanting the answer to your question quickly.

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you. I really can’t keep it anymore. Y/N, the reason why I’ve been acting so shady, was because I was planning a-”

“SURPRISE!” A loud chorused shout echoed from the entrance of the cafe. As you turned back, you saw Yeonjun, Beomgyu, and Taehyun strutting in. Yeonjun was holding a few helium balloons with the words “Happy Birthday” and “Merry Christmas” printed on them in jazzy handwriting, and Taehyun was beside him lighting up candles on a cheap walmart chocolate cake that probably tasted like garbage. Beomgyu was trailing behind the two boys with a cheesy smile and jazz hands. Turning back, you glanced at a bemused and shocked Kai, who, seeing that you were staring at him suspiciously, covered his previous expression with a shy giggle and a smile equally as fake as Beomgyu’s.

Taehyun put down the lit up cake on the candy corn colored table and Yeonjun handed you the Target-bought balloons.

“Yeonjun lied about where Kai and I were because he didn’t want to spoil this surprise, right, Yeonjun?” Beomgyu said while maintaining his ear-to-ear smile.

Yeonjun glanced back at Beomgyu, who was still smiling but now with his eyes wide open and blinking rapidly as if he was trying to send morse code. Yeonjun responded with a small smirk and looked back at you. “Yes, we spent the morning at my house buying these things and preparing it for you. It was Kai’s idea, wasn’t it?” Yeonjun winked at Kai and finger gunned him. Wow, Jun, way to be cringey, you thought to yourself.

If this “surprise” were for any other sane person, they would’ve obviously realized that it was some last-minute pull together and would immediately called them out on it. But you, being head-over heels for Kai, felt touched that he had planned a surprise for you (and only you) and completely ignored all the screaming signs that it wasn’t an actual surprise, and then it wasn’t just a surprise for you, but for him too. Nonetheless, Taehyun’s idea of this cover-up was working perfectly and had completely erased all your previous suspicions of what Kai had been doing before.

However, your oblivious self was curious about only one thing. “Hmm, I have to ask about something.”

The four boys started breaking out in cold sweat, but Taehyun kept his cool, and managed to ignore the panic boiling inside. He calmly asked, “What are you curious about?”

“I would like to know why the balloons Yeonjun gave me say ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Merry Christmas’ on them, it is certainly not my birthday today and Christmas is in two months.”

In order to break the awkward tension rising up in the room, Beomgyu finally spoke up. “Oh, uh, a-about t-that-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Kai clapped his hands loudly and stood up, “this surprise was made for you to be happy anyway! Do whatever you want with it!” After boldly exclaiming this statement, he turned around and mouthed a word of thanks at his three friends, before turning back to you. You were busy sucking helium from the balloons and did not see the interaction that just went down.

“Kai, can you hear it? I sound like a chipmunk!” You innocently smiled at him and sucked even more air out from the deflating “Merry Christmas” balloon.

Kai felt his heart start beating just a little faster, and he laughed quietly, before walking over to join you in your little helium endeavor.

The three boys saw this as an opportunity to step out, and waved goodbye to a giggling Kai and his future girlfriend. After leaving the cafe, they burst into a fit of laughs and fake gags.

“Nice idea Taehyun, they’re a cute bunch, aren’t they?” Yeonjun giggled as he fist-bumped a Taehyun who was fake gagging.

“Wait till Y/N sees what we have planned for her later, then maybe she won’t act so ‘cute’ anymore.” Taehyun said, laughing as he stared once more through the window of Magic Island at Kai (attempting to) impersonate a gorilla and you in a heap of laughter.

‘Race you to the house! Losers!” Beomgyu teased as the three of them started sprinting back to Yeonjun’s house, where the real party would begin.

5.34pm

You were standing in front of Yeonjun’s house, no, house wasn’t the right word to describe it, it was a huge, tall, extravagant, white mansion. Said white mansion was now decorated with a  wide assortment of Halloween decorations that ranged from fake graveyards that were stuck into the soil, live-sized skeletons, realistic looking decapitated heads, and a huge amount of gruesome plastic bones scattered on the entrance of the house. The roof of the mansion had orange lights and actual fire burning, probably to make the illusion of something scary, but you couldn’t point out what that seemed to be.

After the questionable event that occurred in Magic Island Cafe, the both of you decided to continue with the tradition: doing everything on the list from baking ghost cookies, watching Halloween movies together, carving pumpkins (even if they were super mushy this year), and last of all, trying out costumes.

Usually, the both of you would go to the small homely costume store that opened on the other end of town and try out the wackiest costumes, knowing that the both of you weren’t going to wear them out anytime soon. However, today was different. You were now about to face the tons of popular kids at your school, and you were dressed in an orange pumpkin costume and an idiotic pumpkin hat. To be frank, you looked like a cutie, and Kai knew it. He had made you wear this outfit to the party, and he matched with you by wearing the same pumpkin costume, the only difference being that his was black. Obviously, Kai wanted the both of you to match so that you guys could look like a couple, and so everyone would know that you were his. Your oblivious self however, did not comprehend the true intentions of his actions, and could only think about how cute Kai looked in his round black pumpkin costume.

As the both of you admired the scary decorations adorning the entrance of the mansion, and the menacing fire burning on the top, you turned to Kai and smirked. “Wow, Yeonjun and his team really went all out this year, huh?”

“Yeah...I didn’t think it would be this great…” Kai said with his mouth agape, still busy staring at the entire mansion from top to bottom. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting Yeonjun to put in this much time and effort into his little idea, but he was appreciative of his hyung and hoped that everything would go as planned.

Just then, the two enormous doors to the inside of the mansion opened, and someone in wearing a red sweater motioned for the two of you to come inside.

“Kai! I haven’t seen you for so long! Come inside!”

That girl was gorgeous. The epitome of all popular girls.

Kai smiled softly and ran up to her, giving her a warm hug while still wearing his pumpkin costume. At this sight, a tinge of jealousy sparked within you, but you did your best to hide it. Kai and this girl would be cute together, you thought to yourself. Two popular kids, one pretty, one handsome, it's no wonder i'm no match for Kai.

You walked up the steps afterwards and gave her a small nod as a greeting. She stayed at the entrance to greet other guests, but she kept eyeing you for some weird reason.

As you stepped in with Kai, you suddenly stopped in your tracks. Letting him trail in front of you, you awed at your surroundings. Oh my gosh. Even though you had been friends with Yeonjun since middle school, this was your first time visiting his house and you were shocked to say the least. Bright orange and grey fairy lights were placed on the extremely high ceiling of the house, and there was green slime hanging around the huge glass chandelier. The living hall was almost as big as your school cafeteria, with a long glass table at the corner filled with halloween themed snacks. There was a cauldron, an actual cauldron, with gory fruit punch, eyeball cake pops, spider pancakes, and so much more. Any halloween-themed food you named was probably on the table, and if it wasn’t, it could be whipped up within an hour by the private chef on hand.

Just then, Yeonjun came up to you. “So, how is it?”

Trying to hide your amusement and shock unlike Kai, who was hyperventilating over all the decorations and prancing around like a kid with too much candy, you merely responded. “It's okay, I guess.”

“Its okay, IT'S OKAY? Do you know how many days it took for us to make this for you-”

“HEY Y/N! Long time no see!” A hand was placed on Yeonjun’s shoulder, and he was shoved aside abruptly. Replacing him was Soobin.

“Omg! Soobin! It's been a long time. How’s it going?” You squealed, as you embraced the lanky boy.

You hadn’t realized that Kai was missing because you were too busy catching up with Soobin, and your oblivious self didn’t realize the lack of people in Yeonjun’s obnoxious living hall to realize that this was not a normal party.

7.07pm

“Alright, next participants! Kai and Y/N!” The staff at the front-desk of Haunted Matchmakers called out.

The both of you exchanged questioning looks at each other as you felt multiple pairs of eyes drawn to the both of your figures.

“Why were we the only ones that he called out?” You whispered to Kai, not expecting an answer.

“Probably because together, we’re special.” Kai turned his head and winked at you cutely.

Thank goodness the two of you were still in the dark waiting room, so he was unable to see your burning cheeks.

Little did you know, Kai’s cheeks were just as fiery as yours, if not hotter.

“Alright, you ready?” The waiting room assistant asked cheekily, as he shifted his gaze between the both of you, and gestured for the two of you to enter the menacing rusty entrance.

“Yes!” Kai shouted, and pumped his fist into the air.

You, on the other hand, was a scaredy-cat, and without thinking twice, you grasped onto Kai’s hand tightly, and shifted so close to him that both of your shoulders overlapped each other.

Kai could feel your nervousness, and he was nervous too, but for an entire different reason. After you grabbed his hand, his heart started hammering in his chest and his hands started becoming clammy.

Not wanting to waste his time, Kai screamed in glee and nodded at the assistant, who pushed open the rusty wooden door. He was about to walk in while still holding your hand, when he realized that you weren’t budging.

Kai was afraid that you were going to back out of the haunted house, and as he glanced back, he was met with a teary-eyed you, shivering and trying to wipe your stubborn tears with the sleeve of your pumpkin costume.

“Hey, Y/N, what's wrong?” Kai immediately crouched in front of you so that the both of you are at eye level. land you sniffle even more.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey. Y/N. I know you’re scared, but it’s alright. I’ll be with you every step of the way, okay?” Kai coaxed, running his thumb over your intertwined hands.

You looked up at Kai with your watery eyes, and nodded ever so slightly. Kai swore his heart could’ve melted right there and then.

Just then, you realized that there were people lining up behind you. The people, who, surprisingly, were patiently waiting as you and Kai shared your cheesy moment. Realizing that you were being an inconvenience for their halloween experience, you straightened up, fixed your fallen hair, and nodded at Kai as firmly as you possibly could.

With the rusty door ajar, the both of you confidently stepped inside. Your hand was engulfed in Kai’s, and as long as you were with him, the both of you would be able to get through anything together.

7.34pm

Take deep breaths. In, out, in out. Hee, hoo, hee, hoo. Y/N, you can do this. They’re just humans dressed in manufactured plastic, with a face full of over-the-top makeup. Remember what you said before, just now? When you’re with Kai, you can get through anythi-

“AHHHHHHHH!”

Your thoughts were interrupted by yet another piercing dolphin scream from the two of you after being jump-scared by the long-haired lady with a bad case of smallpox.

You had initially thought that Kai was the brave one here, but now that the both of you were finally experiencing the actual haunted house, you couldn’t decide who was more of the scaredy-cat.

Kai had already known about this plan and played the biggest part in the creation of Haunted Matchmakers. However, he was still scared because...well….it was you he was going to surprise...and, he’s still a baby at heart.

“Kai, I don’t think I can do this. I wanna go back to the entrance.” Your shaky voice shook him out of his thoughts.

“No, no, it's okay! We just finished the third room! We’re almost there! There’s only one more room left.”

“Wait...how do you know the amount of rooms this haunted house has?” Finally, your oblivious self had started to pick up on Kai’s many mishaps.

“Well, I, uh, I, I asked the admin staff when you went to the bathroom!” Kai exclaimed.

Suddenly, you realized that it was quiet. Too quiet. The eeriness was scaring you. There was no more haunted house music, no jump-scares, nobody else with the both of you.

You shakily clung onto Kai, hooking both of your arms between one of his and pressing your cheek into his neck.

“Kai, it doesn’t feel right. This place doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean? Of course it doesn’t feel right, we’re in a haunted house!”

“No...I mean, like, it doesn’t even feel like a haunted house anymore, it feels like something is…” You trailed off on your speech as you spotted a small Polaroid of a selfie of you and Kai taken many moons ago at Soobin’s birthday party.

When you were too busy stuck in your place as you tried processing what a picture of the both of you was doing on the wall of a haunted house, Kai had disappeared. He was there for a second, and suddenly, your arms were clinging onto nothing but air.

“Kai? Kai? Kai?! Don’t scare me like this! You know I hate jump-scares! You promised me that you would be with me every step of the way! Kai, stop playing around!  This isn’t funny anymore!” Tears were threatening to fall out of your eyes, and you started rapidly blinking and looking back and forth to see if Kai would be hiding behind a statue or corner just to scare you.

But no, he wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere.

Back in the control room, Kai frantically paced back and forth as Yeonjun stared through the screen at you, who was crouched down and silently sobbing. The sniffles you tried to hide echoed through the corridor, and Yeonjun knew that doing nothing wasn’t going to help.

Grabbing the walkie-talkie from the girl with the red sweater, who was sitting next to him looking at other screens on an armchair while mindlessly fiddling with said walkie-talkie in her hands, he turned the knob to channel 5 and spoke into it rapidly.

“Haeun, plan B. Get back inside to corridor 2, where Y/N is, and lead her to the beginning of the trail. This surprise won’t work if Y/N doesn’t start moving.”

7.42pm

You were sitting down on the ground, head in your arms, sobbing aimlessly as you thought to yourself. What kind of sick joke is this? Why isn’t anyone coming to scare me? Where did Kai go, why did he just leave with no explanation? Shouldn't someone come now to tell me to stand up and move on so that they can keep the line going?

Speak of the devil, you felt a light pat on the shoulder. Thinking that it was staff, you looked up to be met with a gory, bloody, devil mask. Squealing and screaming, you started running away, pushing off the hands that landed on your shoulders. Suddenly, said mask was removed, and you were met with a very familiar face. Haeun? Lee Haeun?

Lee Haeun was a close friend you met outside of school in a theme park when you were by yourself. She wasn’t close to anyone here, and she was one of the last people you expected to show up here.

“Hey, Y/N! Surprise, surprise, I'm here! Sorry for scaring you,  I forgot to remove my mask!’”

“Lee Haeun...what are you doing here? Wha-”

“I’ll explain later, for now, just keep moving forward. Promise you, there’ll be no jumpscares, no nothing. Just lots of love.” She winked at you, and she had pushed you forward without you noticing, so now you were standing in front of a closed door that had a purple letter stuck onto it.

“Open it,” Haeun gestured, and pat your back twice before leaving.

“What…?” Nonetheless, you listened to her, and grabbed the folded purple letter, carefully unfolding it to reveal Kai’s handwriting:

Dear sweet Y/N,

Hi, this is Kai. I have a feeling that you’re going to be really shocked and surprised right now. ‘What? This is a haunted house, why is a letter here? Also, where is Kai? I'm gonna slap that son of a…’, anyways, yes, I know that’s what you’re thinking right now, but trust me, it’ll all make sense as soon as you walk through this door. If you thought that I disappeared into thin air, don’t worry. I’m in a control room, and I can see you right now.

Upon reading this sentence, you looked around frantically and spotted a small camera with a red blinking light. You cheekily waved at it before looking back at the letter.

About this whole event...well...firstly, if you couldn’t tell already, this haunted house isn’t real. We set it up, yes, Y/N, and if you’re here reading this, that means everything is going to plan. I knew your oblivious self wouldn’t find out ehehe! However, I couldn’t have done this large-scale event myself, you see, I only have four close friends: Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, and Taehyun, and all of them helped me out on this large-scale project. No, Y/N, I didn’t forget about you (I can practically read your thoughts right now!). You see Y/N, we’re not friends, you’re not my best friend, you’re my..ne. You’re myne. You’re mine. Ugh, I’m going to shut up now. Open the door and see for yourself, beautiful Y/N.

Lots, and lots, and lots of love,

Kai ;)

You were appalled and bashful to say the least. Wait, this can’t be? This isn’t, this isn’t what I think it is. No way. He also just called me beautiful. Me, beautiful?

For your information, Y/N, you are beautiful. You’re gorgeous, more gorgeous than that girl in red, or whatever.

You carefully folded the letter and put it in the pocket of your costume, and nervously pushed open the door to reveal...Soobin.

Oh, Soobin. What’s he doing here?

Soobin was mischievously smiling at you, while gesturing with his hands to literally everything else besides him.

Only when you stopped open-mouthed gaping at the boy, you looked around and realized the wallpaper was...interesting. There were zillions of pictures of you and Kai, all from when you met, to just 3 days ago, glued to all 4 sides of the room, covering basically every spot of the wall until you couldn't even tell the color of the room itself. Cute little pumpkin fairy lights were hung, giving the room a warm orange glow. Soft and calming Halloween decorations and statues were situated around, and you spotted the same little witch statue as the one in the entrance of Magic Island Cafe. Wow, Kai, has really been focusing on his symbolism lessons in english class.

You walked every inch of the room, and you realized that all of the pictures on the left were when the both of you first met, and as they continued on to the right, the pictures taken became more and more recent, and at the end of the room were pictures of the both of you just this year.

Soobin snapped you out of your little room tour when he walked to the side of a brown cauldron, grimaced at it, and turned back to you with a plastic smile.

“Uh, stick your hand in it.”

You tilted your head in confusion as you went over to where he was and looked over the eerie looking cauldron. It was glowing, and was neon green. You were half expecting something to pop out to scare you. You turned back to Soobin.

“No.”

“Come, on! It's part of the process, ya know? To get things rolling.”

‘What, that's not a valid reason for me to stick my hand into something so gross. What am I gonna get out of it?”

Soobin smirked. “You'll get Kai’s love.”

As you felt a blush tinting the apple of your cheeks, you immediately stuck your hand into what you thought was liquid. It was definitely not green-colored water, it was green-colored Jello. You felt a hard plate, and was about to remove your hand from the gruesome, slimy solid, when Soobin wrapped his fingers around your arm and gestured for you to lift whatever you had grabbed.

What you pulled up was not a plate, it was a picture frame. Inside said picture frame was a photo of a memory you wanted to forget forever. It was a picture of you and Kai, you in your hideous cake pop costume and Kai in his cute colorful jellyfish costume. The picture was taken by the both of your moms after the first day of school. Your mother, seeing that you had only made one friend, wanted to cherish the sacred moment. In said photo, both of your arms were slung over each other and your heads were leaning against each other. Kai had a crooked smile on his face, and you were happy as you could ever be.

On the frame were 4 words written in Kai’s writing with a sharpie. Said four words were enough to make you tear up.

“My Little Dirt Ball.”

Soobin, noticing your entranced state, tapped your shoulder.

“Flip to the back of the frame.”

Behind the picture frame was a sticky note attached. You plucked it off the back and squinted your eyes to read the small print.

Hey Y/N, I know you hate that picture, but it's my favorite, because the picture was taken on the day I met you. To continue our journey together, pull the back frame open, and insert the key inside to the orange door. Thank you, Y/N. Like I said earlier, we’ll get through this together, and I’ll see you on the other side.

Impatient to see Kai, you quickly, but carefully, pulled open the back frame, revealing a golden key. After grabbing the key and firmly wrapping your palm around it, you ran to the orange door and with shaky hands, inserted the key and twisted it. The door immediately swung open.

Behind the ajar door was a nervous Kai, still blessed with the same crooked smile as all those years ago. He was still rocking the same black pumpkin costume, and you were too mesmerized by his beauty to notice everyone else around him.

Soobin entered after you, and guided you to be right iinfront of Kai. You were now right in front of him, looking at his eyes, his gorgeous eyes, his presence, just, being with Kai. You couldn’t believe it. Your crush for almost a decade just confessed to you, in the most extra way possible. You loved it.

You looked up to see a huge banner that read: Y/N L/N, will you be myne?Around Kai was all your friends, all from different places:. Yeonjun and the gang, joined by Soobin, Haeun and your girls’ clique, the emo dude that you’re really chill with, the list goes on and on.

A beautiful voice broke you out from dreamland, to enter into yet another one.

“Y/N, will you be mine?”

You looked back at the boy you loved, and ran forward, practically throwing yourself onto him. You smashed your lips onto his, not caring that all of your friends were watching.

Kai was shocked at your sudden bold action, but quickly pulled himself together and kissed you back.

If you could describe the best feeling in the world, it was this. Fireworks erupted in your head, and all you could think about was those soft, plump lips and the boy who owned them. Kai put his arm around your waist, and the other behind your head, and you wrapped your arms around his neck.

You were doing it. You really were. You were kissing Kai Kamal Huening. In front of everyone, and you didn’t care.

It’s childish, one could say, to see two people dressed in child-like costumes practically making out with each other. However, in your opinion, that was what your love was. It was extra, childish, weird, and unlike any other typical highschooler’s romantic relationship. You wouldn’t change it for anything else.

BONUS

After the extremely extra confession took place successfully, the real Halloween party could finally commence. After all, Yeonjun hadn’t decorated his place for nothing. There was now an assortment of alcohol displayed everywhere, and suddenly the huge living hall didn’t seem so big anymore, as there were people from all over the town invited and it was getting quite cramped. Yeonjun, however, didn’t fail to notice the two of you at a small carpeted corner, just chatting. You had changed out of your pumpkin costume, and was now wearing Kai’s baby blue hoodie. Both of your hands were intertwined in his and they were being swung back and forth as you giggled about an inside joke that no one else would ever understand.

As Yeonjun quietly observed the two new lovebirds, a red object appeared in his peripheral vision. Looking down, he sighed in content. Her again.

“Yeonjun! Success, right? I knew we could do it!” She was crouching down, cutely looking at him in his eyes. She took his hand and smashed it against hers trying to imitate a high 5, while giving him a gleaming, enthusiastic smile. Yeonjun lifted the corners of his lips slightly, and squeezed her into a tight hug, earning a shocked gasp from her as she put her arms around his neck.

Choi Yeonjun better start planning out his confession soon.

© magicisland9-34. do not repost.

click here to return this book back to the library.

[princessjungeun]

Nothing Can Pull Us Apart

Request: Hii, could I please request an angsty Yeji scenario where her girlfriend hasn’t come out to her family because they are homophobic but she’s accidentally outed one day and they don’t react well at all and disown her, but she knows Yeji has been stressed about a comeback and doesn’t want to add to the stress so she doesn’t tell her, which results in her distancing herself from Yeji, only worrying her even more. Angst with a happy ending please. Thank you in advance :)

CW: Homophobia, accidental outing

“Hey Mrs. L/N look at the pictures we took!” Your long time best friend, Yerim waved her phone around excitedly. The two of you as well as a few other friends went to the beach for the weekend, staying at someone’s beach house overnight. Your mom agreed to let you go only because she knew Yerim was going as well.

The mini vacation was quite fun, you took your girlfriend and Yerim took hers. As well as four other kids that went to school with you all, and Yerim’s older brother, the cool chaperone.

As far as your mom knew Yeji was just a close friend of yours, nothing more. But the truth was you and Yeji had been together for the past 11 months. The two of you concealed your relationship knowing your mother would probably make you break up, or worse if she found out.

You snapped out of your thoughts and busied yourself trying to unpack so you could just go to sleep. The sound of Yerim’s happy voice and your mother laughing along filled your house.

Not paying any mind to them you threw your dirty clothes in a laundry basket, and folded the clean ones before putting them away. Now was when you noticed the house fell completely silent.

The silence hung over for at least three minutes, as if everything just came to a stop at once. You had a bad feeling but tried your best to push it aside, deciding you’d unpacked enough for tonight.

“Y/N. Come here please.” Your mother’s voice echoed through the hallway. By her tone she seemed upset, slightly angry, and a little sad?

You noticed Yerim’s phone still in your mother’s hand, with Yerim standing with watery eyes next to her.

“What is this?” Turning the phone so you could see what was on the screen, your mother moved her hand closer so you could see.

It was a picture of you and your friends sitting around a campfire. Yeji was sitting on your lap, her hand laced with yours. You held your finger on the screen activating the live photo feature. Watching the scene flash before your eyes, the scene of Yeji kissing you on the lips.

“I-I’m...She’s um-” You tried to form sentences but you couldn’t. Yerim tried to interviene “it’s not that big a deal Mrs-”

Your mother cut her off “get the hell out of my house. Don’t even think of coming back either.” She continued to talk, her words laced with hate. Yerim grabbed your arm and led you outside, tears running down her face.

You watched as your best friend immediately panicked in front of you “Y/N i’m so sorry I didn’t realize that was even there...I’m so sorry. You can stay with me as long as you want, you know my mom won’t mind too-”

Wiping away her tears you told her “it’s fine...she was going to find out either way okay? It’s not your fault. I’m not upset with you. Come on let’s go to your place hmm?”

•

•

•

It’s been three weeks since you were kicked out and you moved in with Yerim and her family. They didn’t have a problem with you staying and honestly they preferred it this way. Finally you didn’t have to hide such a large part of your life.

The only one in your inner circle that didn’t know about all of this was the one person who mattered most, Yeji.

Your girlfriend had been so stressed out about her comeback these past weeks. She’d been getting up early in the morning to do vocal rehearsals and recordings, then dancing for hours into the night. You knew she barely had time to eat let alone sleep. So you knew for a fact there was no time for her to worry about you.

Although you had somewhere to stay and you were being well cared for, there was still a problem. On the outside you pretended to be unbothered. But on the inside you were falling apart. You’d become distant from most of your friends, not talking as much as usual. You barely ate anything, and what you did eat was because Yerim forced you to.

Laying on your back you blankly stared at the ceiling lost in your own thoughts. Your ringtone sounded, Yeji’s specifically, snapping you out of your thoughts. As much as you didn’t want to answer the call, you knew she’d worry more if you didn’t.

Answering the call you smiled weakly at seeing her face.

“Hi baby!” She excitedly smiled at you, her eyes curling into crescent moons.

You responded “hey...what’s up?”

She immediately noticed you weren’t in your room, “where are you? That’s not your room.”

Looking around you laughed “yeah I’m just sleeping at Yerim’s...”

Yeji smiled and asked “oh how is she, I haven’t seen her since we went to the beach a few weeks ago.”

Your stomach churned at the thought of the trip, remembering once again why you were at Yerim’s place.

Realizing you didn’t want to continue talking you replied “She’s fine...actually i’m really tired, I’ll call you tomorrow ok?”

The blonde frowned but gave in “ok...I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”

Smiling softly you told her “love you too.”

•

•

•

For the next couple days Yeji noticed that you had grown even more distant from her. You barely talked when she called you and from what she could see, you didn’t look good.

Usually Yeji was able to get you to talk about your troubles but this was different. No matter how much she pryed, you didn’t give in. Not knowing what else to do she called Yerim to see if she knew what was going on with you.

Yerim didn’t want to share what wasn’t really her business. So when she got a call from Yeji asking about what was going on, she didn’t know exactly what to do. As vaguely as she could, she told Yeji that you were going through a hard time. Beyond that she didn’t share any details, knowing it wasn’t her place to tell Yeji.

•

•

•

After weeks of nonstop work, Yeji was finally able to get a day off. So her first instinct was to call you asking if you two could see each other.

You were sound asleep when your phone went off, your ringtone jolting you awake. Squinting at the caller ID you slid your finger to accept the call.

“Hmmm?” You sleepily hummer wondering what she could want at 8 am on a Saturday.

Yeji asked “I finally have an off day... I miss you, can I come see you?”

Eyes opening wide you remember you still hadn’t told her you were living with Yerim. “I- Today isnt...I’m not feeling it today.”

She responded, her voice laced with sadness “are you sure?”

You felt your heart break upon hearing her response so quickly you told her “i’ll come to you ok? Maybe seeing you will make me feel better...”

Giving in you replied “yeah I’ll be over in a bit okay?” As much as you didn’t want to get out of bed, you knew Yeji would come to you if you didn’t show up in the next hour.

•

•

•

Knocking gently on the front door to her dorm you practiced a fake smile. The door swung open, Yuna standing in her pajamas half asleep.

“Y/N unnie! Are you okay? You look...off.” The girl rubbed her eyes sleepily while oncing you over. Before you could respond Yeji came from around the corner, a smile on her face.

“Yuna-yah, be nice!” Your girlfriend scolded the younger girl.

Holding your hand she led you to her bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her. Turning to you she pulled you closer to her body, an arm around your waist.

Her eyes met yours before she frowned “what’s wrong baby?”

You wiggles out of her grip and shrugged your shoulders “nothing...i’m fine.”

Yeji told you firmly “Stop doing this to me. You have been so distant these past few weeks and you won’t say why! Everytime I try to get something, anything out of you, you just shut me out. Are you mad at me? Is that what it is? What did I do?”

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, her voice cracking as she spoke. She took a deep breath to compose herself, wiping away her tears. “Just- Please talk to me Y/N.”

Realizing that by keeping everything in you did more harm than good, you were overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt. You didn’t want Yeji to find out and worry about you. But that’s exactly what ended up happening even though you stayed quiet.

Deciding to just rip the bandage off, you simply stated “i got kicked out...”

Yeji looked up at you with wide eyes “What? What do you mean? When? Why?”

At this point you just decided to come clean, not wanting to cause your girlfriend any more pain.

“Yerim was showing my mom pictures from the trip and in one picture you kissed me. She got really mad as expected and told me to get out and not to come back. So I’ve been staying with Yerim since then, her parents don’t mind either.” When you finished talking you looked up to see your girlfriend frowning.

“Wait really? I’m sorry...this is my fault if I hadn’t done that you would still be home and-” You cut your girlfriend off from her anxious rambling.

Running your hands up and down her arms you told her “It wasn’t your fault. She was going to find out eventually, and it’s fine now.”

“Baby why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you...” Yeji reached for your hands so she could intertwine your fingers.

You told her “I knew you were stressed about your comeback and I didn’t want to overwhelm you with something that wasn’t as important. Besides I’m fine now.”

Your girlfriend pulled you into her arms “If it involves you then it is important to me. Don’t ever think that you can’t tell me something, or that you shouldn’t tell me. No matter how busy or stressed I am, I’ll always be there no matter what. I need to know that we’re both okay...right?”

“Mmmm yeah I guess. Im sorry I didn’t talk to you, I didn’t mean to make you worry.” You held her tight and kissed her on the cheek making her blush.

“So what do you want to do now?” You asked poking her side playfully. She wiggled out of your grip before pouting and saying “cuddles?”

She poked her bottom lip out and puppy eyed you while reaching out for you from her bed. You gave in almost instantly, not being able to resist how cute she looked.

As soon as you were in bed you let her be your little spoon, her head resting on one of your arms. You wrapped your free arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

A soft giggle escaped her lips before she mumbled “you know I love you right?” You responded “of course...and I love you too more than anything.”

Placing a gentle kiss behind her ear you tightened your hold on her, happy that nothing would be able to keep you apart anymore.

[preparetosufferemotionally]

Home: I can’t see!

Logicality

TW: Toxic/Abusive relationship, destruction of object, yelling, mentions of a fight,fighting, violence, past abusive relationship, slight dissociation, guilt tripping, physical abuse, unsympathetic Patton, emotional abuse, confused thinking (If you know, you know),and manipulation. 

Logan was terrified. Why did he try and win the argument this morning? It wasn’t important! It was very unimportant! If he was being honest, he didn’t fully understand what he did wrong. He could barely remember the fight. All Logan could remember was shouts that seem incoherent and far away. And now he was locked in their small apartment bedroom, waiting for Patton to come back from work. 

He hadn’t always been like this, terrified of the outcome of an argument. In fact, he had been well known for his debating abilities in highschool, when he led the debate team. Logan had even considered becoming a lawyer, he thought he would do well. But when he met Patton, everything changed. 

Janus, a fellow law student and Patton’s older brother, first introduced the two after a “project” with a few friends had just barely been saved by Logan. Patton had a bright smile, and the moment he smiled at Logan, the fears of Logan being alone forever washed away. Patton and Logan were inseparable in their early college years, becoming best friends. What Logan had not realized was that he slowly, at Patton’s prodding, began to drop friends. 

The first to go was Remus Empire, Janus’s best friend, a slightly cocky guy, with crazy ideas, but a big heart. Patton complained one night that Remus made him uncomfortable and that if Remus was around, he should stop inviting Patton over. Logan scrambled to apologize, and slowly stopped hanging out with Remus.

Then Patton asked him to be his boyfriend. Ecstatic, Logan said yes, as Patton subtly took control of Logan’s life. Soon, Remus’s brother, Roman and his boyfriend Virgil Black were shoved aside. Virgil had been getting suspicious of the relationship, having previously dated someone who abused, controlled, and manipulated him. Roman had full trust in his boyfriend and encouraged him to go forth to talk with Logan. Virgil met up with Logan after class, and gently asked about the relationship. Logan quickly realized that Virgil thought he was in an abusive relationship. He said it was preposterous and left early.

When he got to the dorm, Patton was waiting for him, clutching Logan’s phone. Logan was appalled he was invading his privacy and started to tell Patton off for taking the phone. Patton argued back, insisting that he didn’t do anything wrong, and that he should have told him. The argument escalated quickly, Patton turning to petty insults and complaints. Then Patton snapped. He slapped Logan across the face.

It was the first time Logan had ever been hit like that before. He gasped and clutched his cheek. Patton immediately burst into sobs, crying about how Logan made him do this, how could he do that to him! Logan, still in shock, didn’t know what to do. Eventually, when Patton kept crying, Logan crept forward, apologizing and soothing Patton, who made him promise to block Virgil and Roman out of his life immediately. Logan did. And fights became more frequent, Patton demanding something from Logan, Logan refusing and fighting back. Each became more and more painful, first slaps being doled out, then hair pulling (NOT in a consensual way), and being shoved against the wall. Hard. And Logan became tired. So, so tired. He stopped fighting back, just agreeing with every word out of Patton’s mouth without a second thought. 

Logan dropped out of law school. He blocked his friends on his phone. Logan married Patton, signing the document that made them spouses. Janus was there as a witness. He moved into an apartment with Patton and stayed home when Patton worked as a Preschool teacher in a private school. But it didn’t really stop the fights. Patton always found new reasons to be mad at Logan. And Logan sometimes tried to fight back, even though it just made everything worse.

And now he was here. Freaking out and reminiscing in his bedroom. The door suddenly opened and Logan jumped up.

“Logan! I’m home!” Patton sounded happy, but Patton always sounded happiest when he was angry. “I missed you sweetheart.” Logan’s breath caught in his throat as the bedroom door began to open. Patton’s ID was swinging in his hands, coat soaking wet from rain. Instinctively, Logan walked forward, taking Patton’s coat and ID to put them away. He moved carefully, not wanting to upset his husband anymore than he already was. 

“How... how... How was work?” Logan asked quietly as he placed the ID on their small bedside table. Patton hummed cheerfully moving out of the doorway and sitting on the bed. 

“Oh it was wonderful Logie. My students are such good little listeners and just so curious!” Patton dried his glasses on his light blue shirt as he spoke. “You know, they didn’t understand why we couldn’t play outside. I told them about how the rain would make them wet and how it would get all over my glasses so I couldn’t see. Then little Remy Empire, such a silly kiddo, tried to steal my glasses so they couldn’t get wet. They almost broke.” Logan froze as he put away Patton’s coat in the small closet. “And it reminded me of you.” Patton went up to Logan, a silent threat. Logan didn’t move. “Give me your glasses Logan.”

“I-but-I-what-” Logan stuttered, panicking. Patton rolled his eyes, hands out. 

“Now!” Logan quickly obeyed, handing his glasses to Patton, his sight quickly blurring. “Good.” Then Patton dropped his glasses on the ground, lightly pushing Logan, who stumbled forward, smashing them. Logan couldn’t breath. He couldn’t think. And most importantly, he couldn’t see. “You obviously didn’t need these very much Logan. Why else would you be so carelessly clumsy?” Patton said sweetly. “Now, do you have something to say to me?”

“I’m sorry for arguing earlier. I trust your judgement.” Patton smiled. At least, that’s what Logan thought he saw. 

“Good. Because I already have a kiddo in mind. Just put your signature here, and we can adopt him.” Patton pushed a pen into Logan’s hands and had him sign the adoption papers. Logan did so mindlessly. Patton clapped cheerfully, planting a kiss on his head. “I can’t wait for you to meet him, Logie. His name is Emile and he’s so sweet and smart. He’s perfect. You’ll be raising him while I’m at work of course.” Logan nodded absently. Then he frowned slightly.

“Will I be getting.. getting new g-glasses? I can’t... I can’t... I can’t see.” Patton ran his fingers through Logan’s hair. 

“Mmm, maybe after you’ve really learned your lesson. Now, isn’t it your turn to cook dinner sweetheart?” 

“But-”

“But what?” Patton asked innocently. Logan sighed in defeat, stumbling out to the mini kitchen. As he did his best to cook a satisfactory meal, he thought about the son they were adopting. He remembered why he was against it at first. He felt strangely as though a child should NOT be here. It didn’t feel safe. 

As Logan stirred the sauce, he promised himself that he would make that child feel safe. He would protect him. 

[caandlelit]

HATE to that person but do you wanna give up some league in quarantine hcs, maybe with hawks depending on if you hate him rn

oh my fucking god ur asking me for quarantine hcs,,,,,,,, lets take a moment to acknowledge that thats a thing that you just did,,,,

like ill dO IT but like,,, after im done laughing my ass off 2020 is off the shits 

okay so this is like assuming that the league are all chill and vibing and alive at the time of corona alright

no one is in a glass jar pulling a mewtwo yet, no one is in jail with their past being revealed yet, no one is TRYING TO KILL TWICE

its corona time

so there would be absolutely no change in shigaraki’s behavior he already just sits around inside gaming and slash or planning a revolution and both of these are strictly indoor activities 

theyre not even allowed to take mariokart out of his room 

kurogiri forbid it after toga made an attempt on dabi’s life 

so shigaraki finds out theyre in quarantine when he realizes

dabi hasnt disappeared mysteriously and come back looking like someone mauled his neck for a whole week !

naturally he walks blearily out of his room at an ungodly hour bc he got thirsty and sees spinner, twice and toga playing monopoly while dabi sulks on the couch and hes like

‘what the fuck is going on’

kurogiri takes precautions !!!

not in a rich white person way 

more like

hes sanitizing the bar more often

he makes sure the gang has masks for if they feel the need to yolo and venture outside

he makes a dramatic speech 

‘so im sure ur all wondering why ive asked you here’

‘we cant leave kurogiri just get on with it’ - bitchy and tired and emo

hes embarrassed about it but he goes on 

‘please,,,, im begging you all,,,,,,, wash your hands i know some of you think of yourselves as above it but tomura i am begging-’

ok 

look im not calling him out or anything, no tomura hate i think hes very sexy (now... he wasnt at the start)

but does he LOOK like the kind of guy whos always washed his hands after pissing ? nO he looks like the guy who was recently cornered by his friends to under no uncertain terms, ‘wash your hair you can scheme later’

hes had a lot of character growth 

toga is really incredibly disappointed nothing is happening this sucks

sticks up a one of those small whiteboards up on the wall in the bar 

it says in bright red marker ‘⬜ days since quarantine’ 

shes also one of those ‘fearless’ kids,,,, 

shes like ‘no illness can hurt me im not afraid !!!’ 

sneezes once and she sits wondering if she should panic

starts wearing the mask,,,,

jin is kinda like 

just walking around as cool as you please

and compress, whos been freaking and panicking since day one, corners him and hes like ‘why ! arent ! you ! affected !’

‘i wear a mask !!!!!!!!!!! daily!!!!!!!!!! what the fuck could HAPPEN im basically in a hazmat suit im FINE’

compress is like ‘huh. reasonable’

spinner is unafraid he is a lizardman he will be okay

love him

boi got ,,, opinions,,,,,,,,

his take is that the government is either exaggerating because rich people are afraid

or that theyre hiding the full extent of the disease from news media

he doesnt know that its both

dabi is a walking talking freakshow

like okay hes horny and mad and sick and tired of being stuck at league hq 

he walks around with his eyes wide and unseeing and shigaraki is staring to get worried because he’s scaring the newbies

‘dabi what the fuck is wrong with you’

dabi, numbly: if endeavor dies because of coronavirus i’m going to hunt down the root of this virus and kill everyone starting with them

shigaraki exhales and purses his lips

slaps him on the back a few times in vague comfort and moves on

dabi’s also like

again 

‘really horny’

thats his excuse for why hes moping around 

when hes not bitching about endeavor to everyone who’ll listen

but he misses hawks

and he wishes he couldve been at hawks’ place when the quarantine was announced

hes complaining on the sofa to spinner on the first weekend as the rest of the league play risk, which shigaraki is dominating and absolutely demolishing everyone in

when

!!!!!!!! hawks appears !!!!!!!!

hawks at home on the fourth day of self isolation: *texting twice* sos please send teleportation guy ujiko whatshisname i miss u guys lol

twice, not knowing hes gonna kill him: aw okay fuck yeah ! bitch !

hawks at home ‘ahhh twice. what a nice guy. what a good dude. what a real homie’

hawks shows up at the league hq 6 days late with starbucks and tells himself hes using the quarantine as an excuse to get closer to the league but he misses dabi’s face 

appears and falls onto the risk board as dabi is mid sentence going 

‘god what id give to have him appear in my lap’

then everyone is shouting hysterically, shigaraki is pissed bc he was winning, toga is excited bc this is the coolest thing to happen in a week, twice is triumphant bc he organized this, dabi is stILL somehow complaining because ‘i said LAP was that TOO MUCH for the universe’ and hawks beams at the mayhem because he missed them

can u ??? tell im bitter ???? about something?????? 

[enchantedlokii]

Tired

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mild language

Alternate Universe: endgame fix-it

Characters: Peter Parker, May Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Morgan Stark

Mentioned: Thanos, Happy Hogan

Prompt Credit: @tadie1234 || insomnia

Saying that Peter was tired was an understatement. Peter was beyond exhausted. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep, he just couldn’t. Know matter how hard he tried, he could not fall asleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he got more than two hours of sleep in the night was. Honestly, he wasn’t sure that he had gotten more than that since the Blip, which had been over two weeks ago now.

At first, he had assumed it was his worry over Tony. He spent several days in the hospital after the battle, and it had been touch and go at first. But he was better now. Not healed completely, but well enough to go home. Peter thought that he would be able to finally be at peace now, knowing he would be okay, but he still wasn’t sleeping.

Peter refused to tell May what was wrong. Whenever she asked him, he would snap at her. He would feel guilty later, but he was afraid to apology. He knew that if he wasn’t careful, he would break down and tell her everything. He didn’t know why that felt like such a bad thing to him, but he didn’t plan on her finding out any time soon. Still, May knew something was up. It wasn’t like him to be so irritable.

For a few weeks, she put up with it. The boy had been through a lot. She knew that what had happened with Thanos hadn’t been easy on him, and she had an idea that was part of the problem. She had hoped he would come around soon and open up to her, but she still had no luck. Eventually, just over a month after the Blip, she broke down and called Tony. She hated to bother him, but she was lost at what to do. She couldn’t watch her nephew obviously suffer for any longer.

Tony wasn’t expecting the call from May. It was later in the evening; he had just got back downstairs after putting Morgan to bed when he heard the ringing noise. When he read the Caller ID, he struggled not to panic. He couldn’t think of why she would be calling him so late unless Peter was hurt. “Hello?”

“Hey, Tony, it’s May,” she started. He could hear the hints of worry in her tone, but he assumed by the fact she wasn’t panicking that Peter wasn’t terribly hurt. “I’m really sorry to bother you so late. I was just wondering if you had time to talk.”

Pepper raised an eyebrow at Tony and he mouthed to her that it was May before replying. “It’s no trouble, May,” he promised her, moving farther away from the stairs so he wouldn’t disturb Morgan. “Is everything okay?”

May sighed on the other end. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “That’s why I was calling. Something is up with Peter. He’s seemed so tired lately and he’s really irritable. Whenever I try to ask what’s wrong, he snaps at me and you know as well as I do that’s not like him. And I hate to bother you with it, but I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I’ve done something wrong or if he just doesn’t want to talk about whatever is going on.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Tony told her. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness for the boy. “I was actually planning on seeing if he wanted to come spend the weekend with us sometime soon. If he wants to, you can bring him by Friday after school and he can stay until Sunday evening. Pep and I can see if we can figure anything out, and it might help him having Morgan around for a bit.”

“Are you sure?” May asked uncertainly.

“Positive,” Tony told her. “I would have asked sooner, but. . . Well, you know.” He glanced around the mechanical arm he was still getting used to. He had become irritable himself as he struggled to adjust, but he was grateful that Pepper had been there the whole time. Morgan helped too, and had been more understanding than he expected a five year old to be when they explained that Daddy couldn’t play too much for awhile. “It would be hypocritical of me to not invite him over, really.”

He knew that Pepper had told May the truth of why he risked everything. That it was for Peter more than anything. Because he knew that he couldn’t live with the guilt knowing that he could’ve done something if he decided not to. All because of what Peter had told him the first day they met. “When you can do the things that I can do, but you don’t. . . And then the bad things happen. . . They happen because of you.” He felt like he would be letting Peter down if he didn’t at least try to fix everything.

“I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow,” May decided, pulling Tony from his thoughts. “Thank you. . . Not just for this. For everything. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for bringing us home.”

“Hey, it wasn’t all me,” he said, chuckling a bit. He had grown used to the thanks that people kept handing out. And while he did do something, he didn’t do it alone. “If it wasn’t for that boy of yours. . . Well, let’s just say things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.”

Peter plastered on a tired smile as he carried his bag up the porch steps, turning to wave at May before she drove away. They had come to the lakehouse a few times before, but it still amazed him how beautiful it was. He never imagined Tony to be one to want to live anywhere but the city, but he could understand why he loved it here. It was quiet and peaceful, and far away from paparazzi and politics.

“Peter!” Peter’s enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps and Morgan’s squeal long before she made it to the door.

“Morgan!” He bent down to pick her up as she came through the door. His smile grew a bit more genuine as he let her sit on his hip while he went inside. “I missed you, M.”

“I missed you too, Petey,” Morgan said quietly, pressing her head into the crook of his neck as he put his bag down. She hummed with contentment when Peter sat down on the couch and hugged her tight. “Spidey hugs?”

“Big Spidey hugs,” he murmured, squeezing her a bit. He heard footsteps as another figure entered the room. He didn’t have to look up to know who it was. “Hey, Tony.”

Peter jumped as his hair was ruffled, shooting a playful glare at the man. “Hey, Kiddo. May not want to come in?”

“She has an early shift tomorrow,” Peter explained, releasing his grip on Morgan as she started to wiggle away, moving towards her dad. “Thanks for asking me to come. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course, Pete,” he replied, picking up Morgan and placing her on his lap. “You’re always welcome here. If May can’t bring you, one of can pick you up or I can call Happy. He’s here at least once a week anyway.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Peter promised. “Thank you.”

Even at the lakehouse, Peter struggled to sleep. It was close to six in the morning when he finally drifted off, and he was woke at eight to an excited child bouncing on his bed, ready to play. “Morgan. . .”

“Wake up!” Morgan squeaked. “I wanna play!”

“Give me a few minutes,” Peter whined, tugging at the blanket. He let out a small growl when the girl pulled it back. He did his best to stay level-headed, not wanting to snap at her despite his annoyance. “Stop, Morgan. I’m trying to sleep.”

“But it’s morning!” Morgan protested, tugging at the blanket again. “Come on, Petey! Play with me!”

Peter was silent for a few moments, trying to fall asleep again when Morgan stood up and started bouncing. That was the last straw; Peter swung at her before he realized what he was doing. He didn’t even know what had happened until he heard her start crying and realized he had hit her. “Morgan!”

Morgan pulled away as he reached out to her, jumping off the bed and running out of the room sobbing. Peter immediately felt guilty. He hadn’t meant to hurt her. He could feel tears gathering in his eyes but he refused to let them spill as he stood up and started to pack up his things. He was sure that he would be forced to leave now. No matter how much Tony and Pepper cared about him, he had just hurt their child. He deserved whatever punishment came to him.

“Are you serious, Peter?” Peter flinched at the harsh words. He turned slightly to face Tony, but couldn’t manage to look him in the eyes. “You can’t do sh*t like that. She’s five!”

“I’m sorry,” Peter mumbled, looking down.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it this time,” he replied. His anger reminded Peter of the ferry incident, and he knew that he was serious. “You could have seriously hurt her.” Peter was silent, not daring to look up as he heard the man sigh. “I was looking forward to having you over, Peter. Straighten up your act or I’m calling May to come pick you up.”

Peter broke the second that Tony left, sobs wracking his body as he kneeled on the floor. He wasn’t sure how long he was there before he heard footsteps and someone kneeled beside him, rubbing his back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, shaking his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Shh,” Peter was surprised with how gentle Pepper was with him, pulling him close as he cried. “It’s okay, Kid. It’s okay.”

“No it’s not,” he protested. “I hurt Morgan. I-I swear I didn’t mean to. I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Peter heard another set of footsteps and didn’t dare look up. He could tell from their heaviness that it had to be Tony. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I-I’ll go home. I-I won’t bother you guys anymore, I promise. I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, Pete. . . Look at me.” Peter hesitated. He felt tricked by the sudden softness of Tony’s voice. It wasn’t until he felt a finger on his chin that he finally looked up. “You want to tell us what’s going on?”

“I just— I-I’m so tired,” Peter cried, his sobs growing louder. “I can’t sleep. I-I can’t sleep a-at all and it’s m-making me so. . . So, terrible. A-and I— I got mad a-and I didn’t know wh-what I was doing and i-it just happened, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I-I messed up.”

Peter was surprised when Tony pulled him close, running a hand through his messy hair. “Breathe, Pete,” he murmured. “I’m sorry I yelled. I won’t say that what you did was okay, but mistakes happen and I should have heard you out before I got mad.”

“I deserved it,” Peter mumbled. He didn’t pull away, just letting the man hug him. “Sh-she probably hates me now.”

“She’ll be okay in a day or two if not sooner,” Pepper told him. “She’s young and forgiving. Just let her know that you’re sorry and she’ll forgive you. She loves you, Peter. We all do.”

Peter sighed but didn’t protest. “I-if I need to go home, I understand,” he said quietly after a beat of silence, finally pulling away. “Yo-you guys should be worrying about her, not me.”

Tony exchanged a glance with Pepper before looking back at Peter. “You’re our kid too, Pete,” he said softly, putting a hand on the boy’s knee. “We’re allowed to worry about you just as much as we worry about Morgan. When you’re hurting, it hurts us too. Let us help.”

Peter glanced down, not sure. As much as he wanted the help; he wanted sleep, he didn’t want to take away from Morgan. Because even if they saw him that way, he wasn’t really their kid and he was sixteen. He should be able to help himself. But the more he thought, the more tired he felt. More tears threatened to spill, and he shook his head, taking a shaky breath as he felt two sets of arms around him. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but he eventually heard quiet footsteps and then felt a tug on his sweater.

As the three pulled apart, Peter glanced over to see Morgan looking at him shyly, holding something behind her back. She seemed unsure of herself at first, but she finally lifted her eyes to look at him. “I’m sorry for making you upset,” she said quietly. She pulled a plushie out from behind her back and handed it to Peter. He noticed that it was a chubby Iron Man bear. She held another bear in her hand, hers dressed in a Spider-Man outfit. “When I’m sad, I cuddle Spidey Bear ‘cause you’re my favorite. You said Daddy’s your favorite, so you can borrow Iron Bear until you’re happy again.”

Peter smiled softly and held out an arm. He was a bit surprised when she moved closer, letting him pull her into a side hug. “Thanks, M,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry I hit you.”

“It’s okay,” she replied. “It doesn’t hurt that much now. Mommy kissed it to make it better.”

“Good,” he murmured, his voice wavering a bit. “It won’t happen again, okay? I promise.”

“I know,” Morgan told him. “I love you, Petey.”

Peter almost choked on his words as he replied. “Love you too, Morgan.”

[janekfan]

Dispossessed

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26292337

Curled up in his chair and safely ensconced in his office, Jon shivered intermittently with cold after his confrontation with Elias following his narrow escape, release? from the Circus, numb and empty. Thank god he’d had a change of clothes in here because after all his last set had seen they were better off burned, and he’d changed into them after scrubbing his skin raw with the hottest water he could stand out of the tap. Standing there. Staring at his reflection in the glass.

They hung from his frame, easily two sizes large, and He’d practically run from the restroom to hide, ashamed and embarrassed and overwhelmed.

His stomach hurt and he wrapped his arms around the gnawing void behind his ribs, begging the pressure for relief. The last time he’d eaten...well he couldn’t remember the last time, days blurred together there, the passing of time marked in his useless struggles against the hands, hands everywhere and touching, touching, touching him.

He’d lost his flat, his things, his wallet, parts of himself. All lost. All taken.

Like he had been taken.

And no one noticed.

No one had cared and he wasn’t surprised because he knew how they felt about him, he knew, he did, he just didn’t expect it to cut so deeply.

Leaving this small bit of sanctuary was out of the question and Jon was too exhausted to do anything else today, so he did what he did in his captivity when things became too much and forced himself to sleep.

When he woke up there was a cup of tea cooling on his desk and a jumper draped over him.

He’d gone through his desk twice, the first time for a protein bar he knew was in there and ate in small, controlled bites, and the second because he hoped for another. He couldn’t live like this. Not without cash or a way to eat and he wasn’t crawling back to Elias to ask for any favors. But just a few more days and he’d have a replacement ID and a few more after that he could access his bank account .

Until then he’d have to make do.

In the evenings he ventured outside with his knapsack, almost daring the Circus to grab him again, wondering if this time, Micheal would just kill him and be done with it. He just walked. Mostly aimless, placing what spare bottles he found in his bag so he could return them for their deposit. With his secrets close and kept, Jon tried not to think of the new lows he’d sunk to as he dipped chocolate digestives from the vending machine into Martin’s tea and lost himself in statement after statement, the static in the background like a laundry line where he hung the rest of fears and insecurities and let himself go.

But Jon didn’t feel well. Shaky and tired, counting the seconds until he had access to his funds again and feeling more and more like he wouldn’t be able to make it off a quid’s worth of biscuits and tea. He scrubbed a trembling palm down his face, massaging his temples and willing the persistent headache to stop its pounding. He dug his fingers into his hollow stomach, twisting up the fabric there and holding it so tight they ached with the strain.

It affected his judgement. Not that many would say he had much of that to begin with.

He was being pulled too thin.

And suddenly it was all he could think about. A box in one of the cupboards, shoved towards the back. He remembered seeing them before he was taken. Long before. So maybe they didn’t belong to anyone. Just some old cream crackers. Just anything to avoid begging Martin because that’s where his mind went next. He’d been so cruel to him, he couldn’t take advantage like that. He wouldn’t. He slipped out of his chair, grabbing the edge of the desk almost desperately when his vision swam and the office tipped violently to the side. Clammy, his hand flew to his forehead as though he could press the equilibrium back in.

On silent feet he crept to the dark break room, thankfully avoiding anybody and making it there without much trouble. Leaning up on his tiptoes he just managed to coax his prize off the shelf with the tips of his fingers, catching it against his chest when it fell. There was dust on the box. And yet he was riddled with shame and guilt as he pulled out a half package.

Just as the lights flicked on.

And Tim and Melanie caught him.

“Boss.” Like a curse and Jon winced, clutching the package, shrinking under his flinty stare. “Haven’t seen you in days.”

“What are you skulking around in the dark for?” She laughed and it was a mean thing that twisted around his heart like barbed wire. “What are you doing?”

“N’nothing.” He tilted his chin up, willing his flight response to quit it because he was safe here even if they didn’t like him.

“Looks like you’re stealing, boss.” Tim tore the package from his grip.

“No! I wouldn’t, th’they--”

“They’re what? Out of words now?” Tim crushed them, threw them at the floor. “Boss?”

“I can expla--” When he shoved him, Jon’s mind blanked, transported very suddenly back to Nikola’s jeering, cheerful, awful voice and wandering hands and--

“Not enough you got Sasha killed?”

“S’stop.” Barely a breath, he didn’t have anything else.

“Not enough you trapped us here?”

“Stop.”

“Not enough to snare Melanie?”

“P’p’please.”

“You have to steal? And take? More??” Each increasingly loud demand for answers accompanied with another push until he was pinned by his shoulders and still Jon couldn’t speak louder than a whisper when he asked, "how long before you take the rest of us?"

“Stop.”

“I won’t.” His face was inches from his own, and so angry. “Not until you tell us the truth.”

Stop stop stop

“Tell us, Jon.”

“Stop, stop, please, stop, stop touching me, please, please…” He wasn’t upright under his own power, the hands on him had him trapped against the wall and he couldn’t breathe with them on him, couldn’t think, couldn’t answer their questions because he didn’t have answers and didn’t understand the words because he was in the tunnels again and the echo made it impossible to hear and they kept touching--

“Tim!” It was like a gunshot and Jon recoiled like he’d been the one to fire it, sliding down the wall when the hands released him as if burned, all sharp angles and days old clothes and suddenly it was Tim’s face above him again, horrified, before it disappeared and the room fell quiet.

“Jon?”

Martin.

“S’sorry.” The weight of his pathetic incompetence pressed down on him like a stone, crushing the air out of his body and there was none left in the room for him to take. “Sorry, m’sorry, m'sorry.” The pulse hammering through his blood hurt like a bruise bone deep, left him dizzy, and he couldn’t, there was no air here.

“I know, I know you are.” Martin. Martin. Martin should hate him along with the rest. Why, why. Why was he here? Why was he so, so, so very kind? “You need to breathe, Jon, or you’re going to pass out.” Didn’t he understand? There wasn’t anything left to breathe? All gone, nothing left but crumbling paper and fading ink and the dust would cover everything, including him until he didn’t need to breathe.

“Martin.” Gasping, breathless, choking on dust, dust, dust, the damp on his face trickling through it carving paths like desert rain.

“I’m here.” Jon realized he’d been looking up where Tim’s face had been this whole time, finally dropped his gaze to see Martin, brows knit with worry. Worry. He didn’t deserve that. Not after the ruin he caused. The people he’d killed. “I’m not going anywhere.” Narrow chest heaving in shallow, short attempts, Jon let his head fall into the corner between wall and cupboard, curling there, small and safe on all sides, because Martin was here and Martin was staying even though he shouldn’t.

“Martin.” At some point his eyes closed while listening to him ramble about inconsequential things and the different dogs he saw around his flat though he didn’t know their names and wanted to.

“I’m still here.” At least one of them was. Jon felt disconnected, loose, and forced his lashes apart like he was moving mountains. Now that he was no longer panicking the ache in his stomach was back. “Jon?”

“Mm.” Martin was sitting against the cupboards too. Wasting his time here with him. Keeping a measured distance between them as if he knew the kind of tentative control Jon was managing.

“Why don’t you go home?”

“Don’ have one.” Jon hugged himself closer, unmoored without a place to return to.

“Why were you in here?” In here stealing.

“Jus’ hungry.” And the pangs were very real and he was so lightheaded.

“Oh, Jon.”

“M’sorry.” He ducked his face, hiding behind folded arms. “Didn’t. I d’didn’t realize. Thought.” He shuddered, hot with embarrassment and shame. “Didn’t mean to steal.”

“Is that what Tim was yelling about?” Miserable, Jon shook his head, the tears dripping into his oversized jumper.

“No, he's. Angry.” Martin sighed, heavy and tired, and Jon’s throat closed up around his sorrow. “I understand.”

“Well. Jon, you weren’t stealing.” Why was he kind after everything he’d done to him? After how poorly he’d treated him? “They were probably very stale considering they’ve been there since. I think since before I started.” Caught off guard, Jon laughed a bit, face still in his knees, until it turned to crying. Loud and ugly and foolish and shameful, and oh if only his grandmother could see him now when her presumptions and predictions came true as he failed every person who'd dared allow him close. But Martin let him sob himself dry, until he was left with an aching head and the kind of tired that only happens after a cry like that. “I’m inviting you to dinner.” His head snapped up so fast he dashed it on the wall.

“No, n’no, I.”

“Am coming with me.” His tone brooked no argument. "Would be rude to refuse my invitation, you know."

“Martin--”

“We can give those clothes a wash.” He went on, ignoring Jon’s stammering. “I’ve got other things too, you can have, while you’re living here.” Again, the tears welled up, spilling over, and this time Martin held out his arms. And this time, Jon was ready.

I was really inspired by @voiceless-terror fic A Place for the Night! 

(I can totally take it down if I’ve overstepped!)

[absinthemadness]

Long distance axel and Roxas and one of them falling asleep on the phone

Oh dang. I've written something like this before. It was this cliche/prompt filling mess that got me back into writing. A modern college AU, enemies to lovers, roommates... thing. 

So I'm going to self indulgently use my own AU  (This is from the ‘oh crap, feelings’ part)

Though I might come back to this idea in an established relationship kind of thing.

More under a cut for length. 

Contains: Swearing, Axel being a punk, entirely too much cliche, akuroku (In case the ask wasn’t a given)

---

Roxas rested his head against the cold wood, wondering just what he was doing. He looked around the empty hall like someone was about to catch him, chuckling to himself when he realized what he was doing. He sucked in a deep breath and pushed the door open, slipping inside and closing it behind him. What was he doing? Why was he sneaking into his roommate’s bedroom?

But his feet were moving again, walking him across the room and he dropped back onto the bed, immediately surrounded by the scent of Axel, faded from the week and a half he hadn’t slept in the bed, but still there. He was halfway through a brief crisis of wondering again what the hell he was doing and kicking himself in the mental shins for how bad he had it when his phone started buzzing. He rolled over onto his back, pulling it from his pocket and checking the ID.

Sometimes he wondered if Axel had a sixth sense.

“Hey, Axel.” He couldn’t help but grin.

“Hey, kid! Miss me yet?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” He teased back.

“Do you have a camera on that thing?”

“Uh, all phones do now?”

“Then why isn’t it on?”

Roxas pulled the phone away from his ear, and sure enough there Axel was, face clean, hair hanging loose and still damp, an enormous smile on his face. He must have propped his phone on a nightstand because he was lying on a bed, turned on his side, and propped up on one arm.

Completely forgetting where he was, Roxas held the phone up over him and turned on the camera, glimpsing briefly the equally huge smile on his face.

“There you are!” Axel’s eyes lit up before he started laughing. “Are you on my bed?”

“Uh, I plead the fifth?”

Axel sighed dramatically. “I finally got you into my bed and I’m not there to enjoy it.” He shook his head, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “I guess I should have stolen one of your hoodies… or a pillow, or something then.”

“Shut up.” Roxas could feel his cheeks growing warm. “Man, I wish I had a laptop or something. Holding this thing will get uncomfortable quickly. That or I’ll drop it on my face.”

“Look under my bed. I think I left my laptop there, I haven’t been able to find it.”

“What?” Roxas paused. “You’re not going to freak out if I touch your stuff?”

“Roxas, you’re in my room… laying on my bed… I think we’re past that.” Axel rolled his eyes with a grin.

“That’s fair.” Roxas chuckled. “I just had a girlfriend freak out on me any time I touched her phone, even if I just wanted to bring it to her when she left it laying somewhere.” He paused, thinking for a second. “Turns out she was cheating on me… so kinda makes sense.”

“So see, I’m obviously not cheating on you.” Axel stuck his tongue out.

“Green today, I see. Don’t think I’ve seen that one yet.” Roxas rolled over and propped his phone up on the nightstand.

“Felt like being different.”

“You? Different? No way, mister punk.” He hauled his upper body over the edge of the bed and slid a slightly dusty laptop from underneath. “Sweet! Power cord and everything.”

“Shit. Power!”

Roxas straightened up just in time to watch as Axel dove off-screen for a moment before the camera angle moved wildly.

“How about we get things set up and I’ll call you back? Preference for video chat method?”

Axel rattled off a program and ended the call. Roxas finagled with the laptop and power cord until he had it set up on the far side of his bed. A quick glance of the clock told him how late it was getting, so he flipped off the lights before laying back down and pulling Axel’s blankets over him.

Axel answered almost immediately when he called, face reappearing in a similar glow. “Still in my bed, I see.” There was just enough light to see the mischievous grin.

“You’re glowing an awful lot for a phone.” Roxas grinned back.

“Borrowed one of my kid nephew’s tablets.” Axel waved a hand. “The twerp’s already in bed, so his mom was happy to hand it over. Still using my phone for the call, but I figured I could screen share the tablet and we could watch a movie or something while we talked.”

And so he put on some silly kids' movie and Roxas told him about his day, about the snowball fight and how there’d been a debate over who got ‘the bartender’ on their side. Axel told him a bit about his family, all the relatives that had come in for the holidays.

As the night wore on, the filters broke down and they shared more and more as they got more sleepy. Roxas talked about how it was too quiet without Axel around, and Axel talked about how he wished he’d brought Roxas with him. Axel also complained about his parents, how they’d been onto him about finding someone to settle down with, maybe not partying so much, his wardrobe, how his mom wished he could get a haircut. Roxas may have threatened him with death if he cut his hair, he wasn’t sure. He was half asleep at that point. But anytime one of them suggested hanging up for the night, one would claim that they weren’t that tired, and the other would agree without fail.

The last thing Roxas remembered was Axel telling him in between movies that Lark had his key and would probably be by tomorrow to bring him some food since the cafeteria was closed for the holidays and he didn’t want Roxas to have to dip into his meager savings.

Roxas mumbled thanks before he fell asleep.

He woke a few times throughout the night, briefly panicking at the strange surroundings before his brain placed the scent of the sheets and he’d turn over and find the faint glow of the laptop, Axel still on the screen, fast asleep. At some point, the tablet screen had dropped, so he took up most of the screen.

Every time he’d wake up he’d turn to face the laptop if he wasn’t already, watching with half-lidded eyes, listening to the gentle breathing or soft snoring before he’d fall back asleep. Each time Axel would be more lit up by the rising sun and he could take in more details, finding himself staring more often than not at the tattoos under his eyes whenever he was facing the camera, occasionally the missing earrings when he was on his back.

But he could remember once when he turned over, and it was still dark out, Axel had his eyes open, so he stared sleepily into green lit just enough from the screen, watching as a small grin spread across Axel’s face before he yawned, making Roxas yawn as well.

“Hey there, sweetheart.” Axel’s voice was scratchy as he spoke. “Go back to sleep.”

And in his half-asleep state he mumbled something like “yes, dad,” and closed his eyes, smiling at the soft rumble of laughter he received in response.

I’m sorry, this is a little rambly. 

[euphoria-vmin7]

Gnossienne Pt.2 | myg

pairing: min yoongi x reader

genre/warnings: again fluff for right now, non idol! au, future angst, future gore, mentions of blood

words: 4,505

--summary: staying away from Yoongi proves to be harder than you thought. but certain things happen at home that make you wonder if it’s a good thing that he’s away.

a/n: sorry for the wait everyone!! here’s part 2! I’ll publish part 3 asap. I hope you all like it :)

Gnossienne

gno·ssi·enne

n. a moment of awareness that someone you’ve known for years still has a private and mysterious inner life

****

| part 1 | part 2

You blinked in confusion. The words didn’t register in your mind until your eyes scanned them over multiple times. 

Name Min Yoongi. Stab wound to the lower abdomen. Name Min Yoongi. Stab wound to the lower abdomen. Name Min Yoongi. Stab wound. Name Min Yoongi. Stab wound. Min Yoongi. Stab wound. Min Yoongi. Stab wound. 

You ran to grab your phone, heart hammering worriedly as you tripped over yourself. You hastily began scrolling for his contact, fingers shaking, before holding up the ringing device to your ear.

You gnawed on your fingernails, terrified, as you awaited his voice. 

Except it rang once, twice, three times, four times, five times. 

“If you’re hearing this, it means I don’t wanna talk so stop calling m--”

You angrily ended the call before redialing his number. 

It rang once, twice, three times--

“Ugh hello?” 

You quieted. Pulling the phone away from your ear, you checked your screen quickly. You had indeed dialed your boyfriend’s number…

….so why was this voice one that didn’t belong to your boyfriend? 

Yoongi had a pretty deep voice, but this voice could definitely compete with his. It was deep and rich like honey, a dulcet baritone that was melodious to the ears; it was a contrast you weren’t used to with Yoongi’s voice. 

“Hello~?” the voice rang out, now taking on a slightly irritated tone. You gulped and steadied your voice as best as you could. 

“Who is this?” 

“Uhm who is this?” the voice asked sassily. 

“This is Min Yoongi’s girlfriend and last I checked this was Min Yoongi’s phone number. So who the hell is this?” you were proud that you could come off more confident then you felt. The truth was, your heart was beating a million miles an hour, both out of fear and confusion. 

“Oh shit….” you heard him quietly curse. “Right, sorry. I’m Yoongi’s cousin. Uh, Yoongi is kinda asleep right now. No offense, but isn’t it kinda late for you to be calling him?”

It just struck you that it was nearing 1:30 in the morning. 

“R-Right,” you mentally facepalmed. “Sorry...I just---is Yoongi okay?” 

“What…? Uhm yeah he’s fine? He’s a little stressed about his grandma, but we all are,” 

“H-He’s not...hurt, is he?” you asked nervously. 

The man quieted for a second. 

“Hurt? No,” he chuckled a little awkwardly. “He’s fine,”

You breathed out a sigh of relief, before cracking a smile. 

“Oh okay, thank you. Just tell Yoongi to call me in the morning please?” 

“Sure,” he yawned. 

“Sorry for waking you,” you chuckled sheepishly. 

“It’s okay,” he smiled through the phone. “Goodnight,” 

When he hung up, you realized that you didn’t ask for his name. 

You were awoken by ringing. 

Groaning, you pushed the disheveled strands of your hair away from your face. 

“Who the hell is bothering me this early?” you complained, blindly reaching for your phone. When your eyes focused on the ID, you had a miniature seizure. 

“SHIT!” you cursed, fumbling with your own fingers before picking up the phone. 

“Baby?” Yoongi’s voice rang through the speaker. 

“Yoongi?!” you questioned. “Oh thank God,” 

“Baby, what’s wrong? Why did you call last night?” 

You sighed with relief. 

“I’m just so glad you’re okay. Your cousin said that you were fine but I just had to make sure for myself,” 

“Yeah, he told me that you called at around 1 in the morning? What happened?” he asked, confused. 

“Oh...uhm….” you suddenly felt nervous. Why did it feel like you were revealing something big to him? 

Almost like something bad was bound to happen. 

“....Oh I get it, you just couldn’t stay away from me for that long, huh?” you could hear his cocky smirk from the other side of the phone. 

“Haha,” you chuckled, though it wasn’t very enthusiastic. Yoongi immediately picked up on it. 

“(Name), sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

His tone coaxed the words out of you. 

“Well, in the mail we got a letter from the hospital and it said…” you sighed. “....it said that you had a stab wound to the stomach,” 

You heard his breath hitch. 

“And I-I panicked. I mean I didn’t know why we got the letter now and that made me think that it happened recently but then I realized that I didn’t see you get hurt at all when you were home so it had to have been that it happened while you were there in Daegu or it could be that it happened a while ago and they just forgot to send it-” 

“(Name), calm down. You’re rambling,” Yoongi interrupted. You shut your mouth quickly. “It’s some kind of mistake, alright. I’m fine. Wouldn’t I tell you if something like that happened to me?” 

“Yeah,” you agreed easily, knowing that there was truth behind his question. “Yeah, sorry, I was being stupid and paranoid,” 

“No baby, it’s okay you were just scared. I’ll call the hospital and clear that up. Don’t think about it anymore. Thanks for worrying about me,” he smiled through the phone. 

“Don’t thank me for that,” you laughed a little. “Anyway, how are you doing? How’s your grandmother?” 

You listened to him sigh as you stood up to start getting ready for the day. 

“She’s okay. I think she’s getting better,” 

“That’s good to hear,” 

“So that means I shouldn’t be away from home for too much longer...maybe like a few days or---uh actually maybe a week?” 

You frowned at the unorthodox stutter and confusion in his voice. 

“Well..okay?” you said, though it came out in a more questioning manner. “Take all the time you need,” 

“Are you sure you’re not just trying to keep me away so that you can invite some hot dude over?” and just like that the regular teasing was back. You snorted. 

“Well maybe one,” you joked and Yoongi chuckled. 

“Don’t even think about, sweetheart,” he warned playfully and you giggled. 

“I won’t, I won’t. You know I only love you,” you reassured. 

“You’d better,” he chuckled. “Wait...aren't you late for work?” 

You paled. 

“CRAP!!” 

Ignoring Yoongi’s laughs on the other end, you quickly began running around your bedroom, trying to pull on something presentable. 

“I gotta go, Yoongi. I’ll call you later?” you asked, stuffing some toast in your mouth. 

“Okay, baby. Bye,” 

“Bye Yoongi,”

And then you ran to work.  

***

Your finger was getting tired of the continuous scrolling you were doing and your eyes felt overused as they lethargically scanned the screen of your laptop. Your senior had asked for your report in two days. The morning of the day after tomorrow, you’d be handing her a report all about gangsters in Seoul. 

Without any solid proof.

That’s right. After more than a whole month of searching you had made no progress with finding any evidence that the gang existed. It made you feel terribly upset that all of your hard work would be thrown out the window so fast and without even a bit of consideration. 

To make things worse, Yoongi was still in Daegu, so you had no one to comfort you and rant to. 

You frowned at yourself. 

Wasn’t that a little selfish? Here you were complaining that you needed Yoongi for a stupid work article while he was alone in Daegu suffering in fear for his grandmother’s health. 

But the fact that you couldn’t fix either of those problems was annoying you. 

You groaned loudly and fell back on your bed. Might as well accept your fate early and go do something else useful. You shut the screen of your laptop closed and stood up from the bed before making your way to the kitchen to make something edible. You turned on the stove and began to boil water, intent on making some pasta. You had to correct yourself when you realized that you were making it for only one, not two. You frowned. You missed Yoongi. 

Your pasta was just reaching al dente when the doorbell rang. You blinked in confusion. Who would come over at this time of night? 

You quickly checked your notifications for Yoongi’s name, thinking and more so, hoping, that he had come home and wanted to surprise you. The lack of what you were looking for suspended most of that hope and you quickly rushed to the door, smoothing your hair down in attempts to look the least bit presentable. 

Seemingly for nothing because when you wrench the door open, you don’t find anything looking back at you except the regular view. You frowned in confusion, craning your neck from right to left to find a remaining clue of who had approached your door. You were about to dismiss it as some kids fooling around when you looked down. A brown box lay on the welcome mat (the mat that so graciously welcomed people with a ‘leave the money and go’ printed across it; Yoongi picked it). You picked up the box and headed back into the apartment, kicking the front door shut with a slight raise of your leg. You carefully scanned for a sender’s address but all you could see was the word FRAGILE scribbled across it in black Sharpie. It looked like some kind of amateur packaging, not like the typical post that came from the regular mail. The packaging tape was mediocrely pushed against the opening flaps to hold them together and the edges of the box were bent, as if it had been used multiple times before. 

After finishing the pasta, you grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer, before quickly slicing all of the tape and the flaps opened up. You looked inside to find something unexpected. 

There was no styrofoam or plastic that would have normally come with a fragile package. Instead, there were two items inside the otherwise empty box. 

You pulled the first item out. A folded piece of paper. 

Opening it, you began to read the few words scrawled across it: 

You’re welcome. Use it well. 

You frowned. You didn’t recognize the handwriting at all. First of all, who the heck was this? What did they do that deserved your gratitude? And use what well? 

You flipped the paper over and felt your breath catch in your throat. 

Don’t tell anyone about this. Danger is closer than you think, princess.

What? What the hell was going on?! What danger? And who is this?

That’s all that was on the paper so you reached into the box for the other item. A CD. 

You got up and turned the T.V on, heart hammering in your chest. Sliding the disc into the slot, you waited nervously for it to load, taking a seat on the couch and suddenly craving Yoongi’s comforting presence. The loading sign disappeared. 

At first, it was nothing but black. Then the scene unfolded. 

Someone was filming. It was nighttime in the video. 

“What are you doing?” someone hissed in the video. The screen panned to the voice, revealing a man. You couldn’t see anything but his eyes. A black mask covered the bottom half of his face and he had on a leather jacket that was zipped up to reveal no skin. 

“Something important,” the filmer responded. He too was male, though he sounded a bit younger than the first. Hearing the filmer’s voice, the first man smirked. Or so was assumed by the stretch of his eyes. 

“You’re a genius,” someone from behind praised, along with a few other murmurs that told you that the filmer wasn’t alone. You heard the filmer chuckle before he moved closer to the edge of the building wall they were hiding in. The camera moved to peek into the alleyway.

And you gasped aloud. 

Seven men stood in the alleyway. They were tall, built, and clad in all black. They all wore practically the same thing. Black masks across their faces, black shirts, black pants (though a few were definitely ripped skinny jeans), and big heavy black combat boots. That wasn’t what caught your attention though. It was the gun resting on each hip that had you nervous. And their jackets. Because on their jackets was it. The thing you had been looking for since the day you got your assignment. 

The logo. 

The logo from the old woman’s alleyway was printed on the breast pocket of each jacket. It was a blood red symbol, although the shape was quite simple. Two trapezoids were facing each other, short side almost touching and you wondered how such a measly shape could have shiver going up your spine. When you saw the back of a few of them, the symbol was switched, this time the longer sides close together but still in deep red. 

This was it. This was the gang. 

The tallest of the group stepped forward, towards a crate you just realized was there. Along with being the tallest of the group, he exuded an intimidating aura. His light brown hair was styled in a way that made messy look confident. You couldn’t see his face, but his eyes were void of emotion, his perfect brows resting in an unimpressed frown. He snapped his fingers. 

“Open it, Number 4,” he ordered and the deep voice that resonated through the quiet alley made you curl up on the couch. Another man stepped forward, a crowbar in his hand. He too, was tall, maybe an inch or two shorter than the first. His hair, unexpectedly, was a faded red and he gave the man a curt nod. Raising the metal bar in his hands, he eased the end into the lid and pushed hard. It popped off and Number 4 stepped away.

“Check it, 6,” the tallest said, turning away. Another man, as tall as Number 4, stepped forward. His hair was different, a pretty silver with a black bandana wrapped around his forehead. He crouched down in front of the crate and began rummaging through it. As he did, you looked to the bulkiest one of the lot. He had longer hair of a dark black that fell in front of his narrowed eyes. A plethora of piercings graced his ears and the muscles of his biceps strained through the leather of his jacket. But you were more focused on the knife he was skillfully twirling between his fingers. 

Then you moved to another one. He was shorter in comparison to the rest of the group, but he could easily tower over you if he so desired. His hair, a shade of faded orange was messily unkempt, as though he had run his fingers through the strands multiple times. He too, was built, toned muscles visible through the outline of his clothes. He stood leaning back against the wall, his arms crossed and a leg crossed over the other, though he gave off a certain type of grace. 

The next was too was a bit shorter in comparison. He had dark black hair and nothing more could be said except that he was basically shrouded in black. Even his eyes looked like they were black holes. The next one had light brown hair and a very big physique. His shoulders were basically broader than your future. His eyes were trained on Number 6 as he rummaged through the crate. One of his hands rested on his gun. 

“All good, Sir,” Number 6 replied in the deepest voice you had ever heard, shutting the crate quickly.  

You couldn’t help but notice that they never gave names. Smart. 

“Good. 5, 2,” was all the leader, or you assumed, the leader said before he cocked his head towards the crate. The orange-haired man and the broad-shouldered man stepped forward and pulled the crate up together. 

That’s when you noticed the big one. His breathing stilled and his shoulders tensed. The twirling of the knife stopped. 

“Hyung,” was all he said, his voice strong. The leader made eye contact with him and then Knife Boy whirled around at the speed of light and chucked the knife straight at you. 

You let out a shriek in the middle of your quiet apartment as the knife hit the wall. 

“Shit!” the filmer yelled and another voice behind him yelled, “Fall back!” 

The screen shook as the group of men ran before the video came to an abrupt halt. 

You sat in your living room with wide eyes, pressed back against the couch as far as you could go. You legitimately thought that knife was going to pierce you through the eyes. Your heart was pounding like crazy as a spectrum of emotions ran through you. That was possibly one of the most thrilling things you had ever seen but a streak of happiness cut through that. 

This was your proof. 

This had everything you needed to actually submit this and have it published. It was perfect. 

You stopped. 

But wait, this was given to you by some mysterious stranger who was warning you of some kind of trouble and danger. Was this safe to use? 

But they had given it to you with the message of ‘Use it well.’ So didn’t that mean that you could? 

You thought about it. The gang in the video could so easily track you down for exposing them. They could hurt you, and the ones you loved. Was it worth that risk? 

No. No, definitely not. 

You pulled out the CD and placed it back in the box before closing it up, your heart sinking with disappointment.  

As you sat down and stabbed a fork into your pasta you couldn’t help but think about how nice it would have been if you did manage to get some good evidence. Despite obviously having perfectly good evidence sitting on the counter. 

No, (Name), it’s not safe. 

But maybe you could use it. If you used it, it was almost 100% sure you’d be recognized by your seniors and your boss. Recognition could give you a promotion. You could finally start earning more money and win back your parents. You wouldn’t have to restrict yourself whenever you saw a pretty dress that was above the budget. Maybe you could even buy a better house for you and Yoongi to live in together. And then, perhaps you’d be able to comfortably pay for a wedding. Marry Yoongi, have kids--

You stood up and ran to the box, wrenching it open and pulling out the disc. 

You had some downloading to do. 

***

“(Name), can I see you in my office for a minute?” 

You quietly groaned as your senior’s voice interrupted the conversation you were having. 

[2:13 p.m.] (Name): ugh the witch is bothering me again 

[2:14 p.m.] Grumpy: lol good luck  

[2:14 p.m.] Grumpy: call me after work 

[2:14 p.m.] (Name): ok <3

Clicking your phone shut, you stood up from your desk and started walking towards your senior’s office, not before throwing Seo Jin a pained expression, to which she responded with a sympathetic smile. When you arrived, you gave three knocks to the wood. 

“Come in,” 

Pushing the door open, you peeked inside and your senior was staring straight at you. 

Oh God.

“Shut the door, (Name),” she said before motioning for you to sit down in front of her. You did as told. 

“I read your report,” she stated, holding up the files between her fingers. You nodded nervously. 

“I think you did a great job,” she said, the corners of her lips twitching upwards. You couldn’t help but beam. 

“You have some great information here, along with a good setup for the interview. But what really tied it together was that evidence! Where on earth did you find that?” she asked curiously. You stilled for a second before spewing: 

“Ah, you know you can find anything on the internet!” 

She laughed a little. 

“That’s true. Well I’m glad you found it. This is a very good article. I’ve forwarded a copy to the boss and she’ll review it. Depending on her take, we can talk about publication, yeah?” 

You nodded eagerly.

“Thank you so much!” you said excitedly, bowing a full 90 degrees as she chuckled. 

“Yeah yeah, don’t be too happy. Now get back to work; don’t you have those files to organize?” 

“Yes! I’ll get right to that, Ma’am!” 

After another thank you and eager smiles, you stepped out of her office and squealed silently before whipping out your phone. Clicking on Yoongi’s contact, you started typing: 

you’ll never guess what just happened to me….

You paused. 

You never did tell Yoongi that you submitted your article. You didn’t want him to worry about the evidence on top of all of his stress at home. So maybe it would be better to surprise him once he got home. Yeah, once he got home. 

You tucked your phone back into your pocket and headed back to your desk. 

***

Two days later, you found yourself in your senior’s office again, this time not alone. 

“I have to say, Ms.(Name), this article is very professional,” your boss remarked as you sat quietly. “Your use of evidence is exactly what we need to make this a great hit!” 

You looked up with wide eyes. 

“Wait, so does that mean-?” 

“(Name), we’ll be revealing your article to the public. It will be aired on the news along with the footage you provided. Congratulations,” she smiled. You couldn’t believe it. The thing you have been working at for so long was finally happening!

“O-Oh my goodness, thank you so much,” you stuttered not able to coherently form words. 

“Mhm, and I believe that success like yours shouldn’t come without reward. How would you like to discuss a promotion?”

You couldn’t wait to tell Yoongi. 

***

You sat on the cold seat, bouncing your knee eagerly, eyes trained on the doorway. You were absolutely sure Yoongi would walk out of there soon. It had stretched into a little over a month since you had last seen him and it felt like forever. Now you were waiting for him at the train station. 

“....substantial information that gangs are running rampant in Seoul. A witness statement describes the men seen: “He was wearing all black and on the back of his jacket there was a logo. It was some kind of diamond. And he was holding a gun.” Investigators have reason to believe that this gang may be more dangerous than first thought. The witness attested to hearing a gun go off right outside of their home. Now we wonder just how many gangs run around our city and what they really do. Here we have some footage of an encounter with the gang….”

You eagerly watched the newsreel, seeing the clip that you received playing on the screen. You couldn’t help but be proud that your work was making the city more informed. You tore your eyes away from the screen when the clamor started. An influx of passengers flooded in from the platform and you excitedly stood up, searching for your boyfriend. You beamed when you caught sight of him looking around the station. Clad in simple black jeans and a dark blue hoodie, your boyfriend never looked so handsome. You eagerly ran towards him and he didn’t have any time to react before you threw yourself at him. Wrapping your arms around his body, you nuzzled into his warmth and breathed in his scent. He winced as you squeezed him but then relaxed, holding you close. 

“I knew you missed me too much,” he muttered and you pulled back to give him a sharp smack. 

“Shut up,” you frowned up at him. “I just missed your cooking,” 

He scoffed with a roll of his eyes before pushing you away gently. 

“Fine, I’ll just go back--” 

“No, it’s fine! I’ll allow you to come to my house. But not because I like you or anything,” you said clutching his arm with a cheeky smile. He chuckled a little bit, eyes softening down at you. 

“Missed you, (Nickname),” 

You smiled. 

“Missed you, too, Yoongs. Now, will you buy me some ice cream on the way home?” 

***

“Okay, there aren’t any signs that there were any men here while I was gone,” Yoongi remarked playfully while inspecting the house after he had dropped his bag. 

“Maybe I covered my tracks up well,” you responded, putting his other suitcase against the wall. He glared at you, though it was hard to take him seriously when his gummy smile was on full display. 

“You know what you didn’t cover up? That,” Yoongi said, pointing at the couch where empty tubs of ice cream and piles of blankets lay from all of your Netflix marathons. 

“Ehehe,” you chuckled weakly. “I meant to clean that,” 

He raised a brow and fixed you with a pointed stare. 

“I was going to! Honest!!” you defended, though now your smile was on show. 

“Uh huh, sure you were. You remind me of a child, you know that?” he said, shaking his head with a grin before turning to go into the bedroom. 

“Was that a compliment?” you called after him. 

“No~~” 

You pouted before following him and taking a seat on the bed. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Yoongi. I’m clearly the more mature one in this relationship,” 

“Sure. When I was turning 4 years old, you were just born, sweetheart. I’m definitely more mature; I’ve been in this world longer,” he replied, now pulling out clothes from his suitcase. 

“Yeah but girls mature faster than boys, don’t they?” you countered. 

“Not 4 years faster,” he smiled. 

“Fine, you win this round,” you admitted defeat, shoulders slumping. His smile widened a bit at that, taking in your playfully dejected pout before he leaned forward to peck your lips. You blinked before smiling. 

“Hey Yoongs?” 

“Hmm?” 

“You never told me about your cousin. The one I woke up at 2 in the morning,” you giggled. 

“Oh haha, doesn’t matter. He deserved that. Lazy ass,” Yoongi muttered with a discreet roll of his eyes. You laughed. 

“Why? You don’t like him?” you asked. He shook his head. 

“It’s nothing like that. Of course, I like him. He’s practically my closest family. I just like bullying him since he’s younger. You know, like how I am with you?” 

“Yeah, I know,” you replied sarcastically to which he grinned. “What’s his name?” 

Yoongi paused for a second. 

“Taehyung,” 

“Ohh,” you nodded. “How old his he?” 

“23, but why are you so curious?” he asked skeptically. 

“I don’t know. He sounded cute,” you risked teasing and Yoongi smacked you with the shirt he had just pulled out. You laughed, pushing his hand away before your eyes caught something that made your jaw drop. 

“WHAT IS THAT?!” you shrieked, looking at the shirt in Yoongi’s hand. “IS THAT BLOOD?!!”

.

.

.

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Tag list: @ireadfanficsonthisleavemealone, @sunshine-ruins  

(comment or dm me if you want to be added!)

[hostgalli19]

Tired Dad Author

Hello everyone here's the first chapter of my Tired Dad Author Au I come up with after reading a post about a time-displaced Author.

Date: 08/10/19 - 21/10/19

Time: 12:48 am - 12:56 pm

Arthur Coredelian had no idea how he had ended up looking after 14 children between the ages of 3 and 19. Needless to say, it was exhausting. He was tired, struggling to stay away, he hadn’t felt like this tired since he had to pull several all-nighters in order to get his first book finished. The youngest child was Howl at 3. He was physically the youngest. His eyes had been returned and no longer bled but he couldn't see.

They were however sensitive to light so Arthur had to write special bandages into existence for him. The Jim Twins were 8 and loved to cause trouble. Eric, Silver and King were 5, 10 and 12 respectively. Eric was so jumpy and flinched at every sound it was heartbreaking. Bim and Ed were 16. Arthur had to scramble to find an explanation as to why Ed couldn't go into work when one of his clients called and asked where he was.

He had to do the same for The Host and Bim. Bing, strangely enough, was 14-year-old and had a tendency to leave his skateboard lying in the hallway. Arthur had tripped over it many times. The Googles were the oldest at 19 and often helped keep an eye on the younger egos. Despite their help, Arthur was still exhausted. He had no idea where Dark and Wilford were or how to contact them, Mark or Matthew.

He had been trying to get some work done and had fallen asleep in the meeting room and had closed his eyes. The next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by Howl. The three-year-old pulling on his trench coat.

"Ome on ake up. Id yous get enough seep?" Howl question, having climbed onto a chair next to Arthur to wake him when pulling on his trench coat hadn't worked. Arthur groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes and stretches. He was still tired. That wasn't anywhere near enough sleep. He froze when he realized he and Howl weren’t alone in the meeting room.

He looked down at Howl. He let his head thump against the table. He had the worst luck. Of course, he had to end up in a different universe while somehow still being in his own. This one felt strange.

It made him feel warm and tingly and not quite so tired which was nice. Host was sitting next to him, Dr Iplier on his other side and Silver next to Dr Iplier. He was sitting across from Ed, Ben (Google Blue) was sitting across from The Host and Bim was sitting across from Dr Iplier. Dark was sitting at the head of the table. Wilford was standing in front of a TV looking shocked.

“Is today going to be a good day or am I going to be exhausted and want to slam my head against a wall by the end of it?” Arthur questioned Howl, temporarily ignoring Will, Dark, Host, Ed and Ben. He picked Howl up off Host lap, only now realizing the three-year-old was standing on the radio show hosts lap. He stood up, putting Howl on his hip. He had to lean against the table when the room started to spin

“No. Tay ares going to elp you” Howl stated smiling up at Arthur. He looked at the egos and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when there was a loud crash followed by the fire alarming going off. Arthur quickly put Howl on the table just as something was dumped over his head. He whipped his face and looked at whatever was on his hand. It looked like a fix of chocolate and fake blood and smelled like candy.

“I’m going to murder the two of them. CJ, WJ GET HERE NOW” Arthur yelled, stalking over to the door ignoring the shocked looks of the egos behind him. He glared down at CJ and WJ when they come running down the hall. They slowed and stopped running when they saw him and immediately looked nervous sharing a panicked look clearly knowing why they had been called. 

“We didn’t do it,” The Jims said immediately, Arthur just glared at them, he knew they were responsible. They were just as easy to read as the Even’s Twins but nowhere near as good at covering up that they were the ones who had done something when they got caught. He looked up when he heard another crash and the lights flickered before they went out plunging them into darkness until Wilford pulled the curtains over the window open.

“Yes you did. Go and get the cleaning supplies, get one of the Googles to get the power back on. You’re both grounded for the next month,” Arthur snapped glaring down at the Jims who paled and nodded before scrambling to do as they were told. Arthur whipped his face and shivered. Whatever had been dumped over him was cold and had soaked through his shirt.

He jerked when Wilford handed him a towel with a smile. There was something familiar about that smile that made him think of William and Scene-Stand-in but that was impossible. William, Damien and Mark hadn’t come to visit him for a long time. He still heard from then thanks to the enchanted paper he had given to them allowing them to contact him. 

Celine had apparently been keeping them busy and they hadn’t gotten any free time to ‘go camping’. Mark was being slammed at the studio, apparently, he had to reshoot some scenes and it was taking forever. Ben had picked up Howl and was whipping the bits of chocolate and fake blood that had managed to splatter on the three-year-old despite Arthur putting him on the table. 

“When was the last time you got a decent night’s sleep? Ben?” Wilford asked then looked at Google Blue. Arthur shivered when he felt Ben scan him. Arthur knew it had been a least three weeks since he had gotten a decent night sleep, he never slept well anyway. He was almost always writing and had developed a way of recording what he said a night as he found from Mark that he tended to talk in his sleep.

“You’re exhausted. How are you still standing? You should have passed out a long time ago? He hasn’t gotten more than 30 hours of sleep in the last three weeks” Ben answered staring at Arthur with a curious look on his face, Arthur sighed, no wonder he was so tired. He couldn’t help but smile when Howl poked the glowing ‘G’ on Ben’s shirt.

“I don’t need as much sleep as normal humans but I haven’t been sleeping to well for the last three weeks thank to having to lo-” Author was cut off when there was another loud crashing followed by screaming, very loud screaming. Arthur paled he knew who that was as he darted from the room wondering what on earth had happened. He somehow knew he was going to be exhausted by the end of the day despite what Howl said.

When he got downstairs he saw Eric was lying on the floor, a large cut down one of his legs. His prosthetics were lying on the stairs next to Bing’s skateboard which he was certain Bing had put in his room after he had gotten back from the park. The Jims were standing in the kitchen doorway holding a bottle, rag and a bucket, they looked horrified and scared.

“Eric what happened?”

[shadowofthelamp]

Two AM

Another kofi commission! Some post-canon heartshipping (can be taken as platonic or romantic) with video games and bad cartoony ice creams. This was commissioned by @temporallyanduin. Feedback is super appreciated, in replies, comments, or tags!

AO3 Link

Wordcount: 1480

Warnings: None

Yugi was asleep. It was 3:45 am, a time one normally would be asleep at. But his phone started blasting out his ringtone from its spot upon his bedside table, and he fumbled for it, jamming the home button a few times before remembering how to actually answer the call.

“ ‘ello?” He mumbled, only to hear static followed by a muffled shriek. That helped wake him up. “Who is this?” He stumbled out of bed, checking the caller ID- he saw it was from Ryou moments before the call ended.

Yugi shoved his duel monsters deck in his pocket immediately hurried downstairs- his sweatpants would be good enough, and he tossed on a jacket and coat before running outside to the subway. It was light on foot traffic at this hour and he fired off a few worried texts.

[ru ok?]

[this a magic thing? i grabbed my deck in case]

The colors of the subway car seemed washed out and too bright at the same time, and Yugi practically sprinted out as soon as he hit the right stop, running until he reached Ryou’s apartment. He hit the doorbell and was buzzed in, and took a deep breath, bracing himself before opening the door-

-To see Ryou on the computer with headphones on his head, playing some game with creepy lighting where he was flicking though screens in a grimy-looking office.

“Ryou?”

Ryou jumped, before whirling around. He tugged his headphones down to his neck. “Yugi? What are you doing here?”

“You called, and then there was a scream and you wouldn’t answer my calls-”

“I did?” Ryou glanced over at his desk. “Where is- oh.” He reached down and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I must have called you on accident, I’m just playing a game and I’ve been dying a lot. You probably just heard one of those times.”

“So- you’re fine?”

Ryou smiled. “Yes, I’m- dammit!” Something must have roared in the headphones, because he flinched. “I was so close that time…”

Yugi’s heart was still going about a mile a minute, but his breathing was starting to settle. “What.... what game was it?”

“It’s about a haunted pizza place. The animatronics try to kill you, and you just have to survive your shift. I’m on night four and it’s really tripping me up.”

“Can I watch? I kind of ran here, and-”

“Of course- as long as I’m dead, I’ll make us some tea. I probably needed a break anyways.”

“Don’t you have work in the morning?” Yugi asked, and Ryou shrugged.

“If I do the shelving at the gift shop with bags under my eyes, it’s not like they’re going to buy any less.” He paused. “Want to stay for the night?”

Yugi opened his mouth to decline, but then realized it would be a lot nicer to just wait here than heading back home right away after that panicked sprint. He had an afternoon shift at the shop today, not a morning one. “Alright.”

“The couch is pretty comfy.” Ryou said, heading over to the kitchen and pulling out a few teabags. “Cream or sugar?”

“Sugar.” Yugi said, glancing at the screen. It showed a bunch of empty mascot suits, like the ones at Kaibaland. “You said it was a horror game?”

“Yeah, it has a bunch of jumpscares but it’s the tension that gets you.” Ryou said, setting down a kettle of water to boil.

“Huh.” Yugi pulled out his deck and shuffled it just for something to do with his hands, and Ryou noticed.

“You brought your-?” Suddenly, a grin slid across his face. “You thought I was in trouble and you brought your deck?”

“Hey, it’s saved our lives more than once!”

“I’m not complaining, it’s just… man, our lives are wild, huh?” Ryou leaned against the counter. “I was sent to another dimension and you playing a card game saved me.”

Yugi smiled. “It does sound kind of weird when you put it like that.”

“Want to play a round while we wait for the tea?”

Yugi yawned. “As long as we’re here…”

Ryou pulled his deck out from his desk, then plopped down on the floor. “I’ll go first. I set a card facedown and summon Headless Knight in defense position…”

_________

Maybe it was because Ryou’s adrenaline was still running high from the game, maybe it was because Yugi was just tired, or both, but Ryou managed to beat him by the time the tea was ready. Dark Necrofear had taken control of his Summoned Skull and used it to finish him off.

“Nice one.” Yugi said as he scribbled down -600 points as it destroyed his Armored Dragon. “I probably should head to bed-”

“Didn’t you say you wanted me to watch me play?” Ryou said as he put his deck back together.

Yugi raised an eyebrow, but smiled. “You’re a bad influence.” He joked, but grabbed a chair from the kitchen to set it next to the computer.

Ryou unplugged his headphones so Yugi could hear too. The rapidfire clicking and moving around almost made him dizzy, but he could see why Ryou was getting frustrated- most of the time, he almost made it almost to the end, but then something killed him or he ran out of power.

Ryou’s commentary was more colorful than he’d expected, and Yugi realized this was the first time they’d really been alone together, especially since school had ended. Ryou’s pale skin looked almost ghostly in the game’s washed-out light, and seeing him so focused was almost like seeing a whole new person.

He ended up falling asleep on the chair and woke up with a blanket on.

_______

After that, Yugi took time to visit Ryou about once a week. Usually after work, as their sleepovers were starting to become more commonplace. Ryou had showed him the game, and Yugi found out that while he had a knack for games like chess or duel monsters, video games that required lightning-fast hair-trigger reflexes took more getting used to.

Yugi also came over to drag Ryou outside- when he wasn’t at work or doing errands, he tended to coop himself up in his apartment. Really, it was a wonder he’d survived living on his own for so long.

“Holy crap.” Ryou had been pulled out of his apartment earlier by Yugi for lunch together, but now it was his turn to drag Yugi towards the ice cream truck.

“What?”

“Look at the new flavor!” Ryou was holding back a laugh as he pointed, and Yugi’s eyes widened.

“Me?” It was his face, right there with gumballs for eyes.

“I’m getting it.” Ryou pulled out his wallet, rifling through for a few yen bills and handing them over. “One duelist pop, please.”

“Certainly- oh!” The man running the truck stared when Yugi met his eyes. “Ah… hello!”

Yugi thought for a moment, and the man simmered in his own sweat before he said “I’ll have one of those too.”

A few minutes later, they were sitting by a park fountain as they unwrapped their treats together.

Yugi stared- one of the eyes was down by the mouth, and the colors all melted into each other.

“Tough luck.” Ryou said. “I’m glad I’m not famous enough to have my image mutilated like this.” He took a bite out of Yugi’s hair. “Huh, you taste like raspberry.”

“I would have thought I’d be more of a cherry man.” Yugi said, taking a bite himself. “Oh, you’re right, I do.”

“What flavor you think they’d make me?” Ryou wondered.

“Boo-berry.” Yugi grinned, booping Ryou’s nose with his ice cream and leaving a little red stain on it.

Ryou started laughing, trying to lick at the bit of ice cream, but his tongue couldn’t make it all the way, so he just gave up and booped Yugi right back with his melted likeness. Yugi wiped at his nose with his thumb, then licked it off there.

“Coward.” Ryou said. “You didn’t even try to get it.”

“I don’t think my tongue somehow grew that much while I wasn’t looking.” Yugi said, taking another bite of the ice cream. “Besides, I’m not sure you aren’t just sleep deprived.”

“I still haven’t worked all the way through my game library yet!” Ryou protested.

“You also haven’t gotten back the money’s worth on your mattress either.” Yugi said. “I’ll stay over tonight, and if I bring dinner, do you promise to go to bed by two?”

“Are you going to just get Burger World?”

“...Answer the question.”

“Counter idea. You bring dinner, we both play, and then I’ll go to bed at two. Deal?”

“Deal.”

They didn’t end up getting to bed until 3:15, but they were so tired they ended up just falling asleep on the couch together, and Yugi counted it as a victory.

[rkxsungwoon-blog]

a bitter pill

✦ — an rkmga4 backstage solo ; set on tuesday ( 07/08/18 )

if you lie down on your back in the practice room, you can count eleven hairline cracks in the ceiling. maybe more, if your eyesight is good. sungwoon’s is not. 

he can’t remember how long he’s been in this position. doesn’t think it matters, to be honest. this is a rare reprieve from practice, from his teammates’ well meaning helpfulness. he can tell they feel bad for him—the lone singer amongst a group of talented dancers—and while he appreciates the fact that they’re all good people, he wishes they would stop. good intentions or not, he doesn’t want pity from others; he’s wallowing in enough of it on his own. 

truth is, he’s tired. he’s had enough. his fault—his team’s ranking last week was his fucking fault. he was the weakest dancer among them and he stupidly thought he could make up for it, but instead he ended up dragging everyone else down. the weight of that responsibility is crushing and sobering. he can’t do this anymore. he can’t keep being told he’s lacking, lacking, lacking in something he never wanted to do in the first place. it all comes down to fucking dancing once again and he can’t do this so why is he here? 

sungwoon never wanted to be an idol. it wasn’t something even remotely on his radar after his disastrous first few weeks in seoul. this is not his dream. for a scant few minutes he felt like it could be, but he’s been told again and again that he’s just not good enough. honestly, he only joined the show because daniel said he deserved to and because sungwoon craved the validation, the acknowledgement that music could be his life, not just an aside. it was never about getting signed, though sometimes he wondered. 

because empty enigma, as safe and comfortable as it is, can’t last forever, nor does sungwoon want it to. he can’t sing like that for the rest of his life: as a metalcore vocalist not respected by his musical peers, unable to show what he can really do, trapped in a genre of music that doesn’t allow him to explore his tastes. and he can’t hide behind squall forever, never getting anywhere under the merit of his own name. but as this competition has proved, he can’t do anything without them either. he needs empty enigma more than they’ve ever needed him. 

the proof is there: the one thing he tried to do on his own—a failure, because he can’t dance. no matter how how hard he tries or how much he believes in himself, he’s not good and will never be good enough for this industry. sungwoon takes it as a sign that he’ll never get beyond being the lead singer of a small time band, and maybe this is far as life can take him. it definitely feels that way. maybe he should just accept it. 

he laughs dryly, unhappily. his throat hurts along with the rest of his body and he’s not sure why. he’s barely used it aside from the pre-recording of their song, the only time he felt like himself since the song selections. but the euphoria faded far too quickly, leaving him stuck in pit he can’t climb out of. sungwoon doesn’t know what he’s doing here still. he’s not sure what he’s fighting for anymore. and he’s tired—so fucking tired—of killing himself over this every week.

he wishes, not for the first time, that he could talk to someone. seek reassurance. just have someone there to fucking pat him on the back and tell him that things will be okay, even if they won’t. but there’s no one for him to lean on, really. sungwoon did this to himself, eternally obsessed with taking care of other people, with fixing them to the point where he forced himself to become invincible in their eyes. you can’t show weakness in front of people who believe in you because then you won’t be someone to believe in. 

and so many of his friends—they need that from him. sungwoon the level-headed, sungwoon the caretaker, sungwoon the person who has his shit together and never seems fazed. sungwoon the comic, sungwoon the mediator, sungwoon the leader.

there’s no room for sungwoon the mess. 

his eyes feel wet. fuck. he’s not going to do this. he is not going to do this in this stupid fucking smelly practice room in front of cameras or god knows what else. this is not his sanctuary and he will not break down here. forcing himself onto his feet, he presses his lips together and slips out of the practice room. his feet carry him through the hallways, past the other rooms, past the few people milling around, and out of the building. it’s only when he’s outside that he drops into a crouch and allows himself to cry. 

sungwoon hates feeling this way, like he’s lost control of himself and his life. he hates—he hates feeling hopeless, he hates feeling so stressed he can’t even sleep, he hates trying and trying and trying only to fall. maybe if he’d just been eliminated already—fuck, he wants his freedom. he wants to feel, once again, like he’s good at something and not just a gigantic failure. 

he wants a fucking hug. 

taking a deep breath, he stands up and wipes his face with his sleeve. this isn’t him. he isn’t allowed to act like this. never did, even as a kid, unless his grandmother was there to comfort him. but she’s… long gone now, and his grandfather isn’t nearly the support system she was. still, he feels small and tired and suddenly homesick for a time when things weren’t so complicated. fishing his phone out of his pocket, he calls his grandfather and hopes the elderly man will pick up. sungwoon just wants to hear his voice. 

it takes eight rings, but his grandfather does eventually answer the phone with a brusque, “who is it?” 

“grandpa, it’s your only grandchild.” even feeling as shitty as he is, he wants to laugh at his grandfather’s no-nonsense tone. “i made sure you had caller id last summer.” 

“oh.” he still doesn’t sound impressed. “what do you want?” 

“nothing, i just…” want you tell me i matter. tell me i’m good. tell me i’ll be okay and that the hard times will pass. tell me it’s okay to be bad. tell me— ”i’m having a hard time right now. i miss home.” 

his grandfather is quiet for a while. “hard time?” he repeats, finally. “did you go into the military?”

oh fuck. “no.” he’s half crying, half laughing. “i—” his grandfather doesn’t know about the mgas. he doesn’t watch television, and when he does, it’s certainly not music shows. and sungwoon’s never been able to tell him that he likes music or that he likes being on stage because he doesn’t want to disappoint him. his grandfather wants simple things for his grandson: a good career, a pretty wife, a nice house, and a few children. music doesn’t factor in. “i took a second job.” it’s the only thing he can think of to say. 

“oh. call me when you enlist.” 

“grandpa—” 

his grandfather snorts. “jobs are supposed to be hard,” he says. “you’re not doing it right if it is not hard.” 

“this is a different kind of hard.” and here’s the most bitter pill to swallow: “i’m bad at it. i didn’t think i would be, but i’m so bad i’m going to get fired and i don’t know what i’ll do if that happens.” empty enigma won’t be waiting for him like a security blanket either. sungwoon doubts daniel will be eliminated anytime soon. he genuinely thinks his friend can win this, and he wants that for daniel, but it would leave empty enigma... empty. sungwoon can see it falling apart in front of his eyes. he’ll have nothing there to welcome him back. “i don’t—i don’t have any confidence in myself anymore.” if he fails as sungwoon, does he even deserve to take a different stage as squall as if nothing happened? 

“then quit.”

“i can’t.” god, if only… but his pride won’t allow him to, and even though this is an individually ranked performance, he can’t let his team down like that. he doesn’t half-ass things under any circumstances and he doesn’t just want to bow out of the competition like a coward. “i’m not a quitter.” 

“good.” for the first time, his grandfather doesn’t sound annoyed or stern. “then see it through, and when it’s over, come home.” 

home. he swirls the word around in his mouth. sungwoon always goes home for the summer for a week or two, but he hasn’t gotten the chance to this year with the show and everything else. he didn’t realize how much of his time and his life it ate up. god, he really does want to go home and get away from all this. see this commitment through and go home for a while—back to his grandfather, to the house he grew up in, to the people who know and love him. it’d give him time to think and recover and maybe stop feeling so fucking panicked. 

home calls to him now, and deep down, he knows he’s just looking for an escape, an excuse to run away, but sungwoon also needs this for himself. he just wants to feel—at home. 

“yeah,” he swallows and looks up at the cloudy sky. “i think i will.”