#welcome to hao's class

[cxffecoupx]

you could scream into a pillow right now.

In fact, you did scream into the pillow for a couple of minutes, but it never seemed to be enough. you might need to go to a cliff in order to release all that rage in you because it still hadn't lessened.

your colleague (fuck you, minwoo), had misplaced an important document needed for the project you had to submit. which ended up in your department head lashing out at you.

"who the hell does he think he is!?" you scream, now beginning to pull on the ends of the cushion.

minghao sat next to you, half in concern and half in fear. in all these years you two had been together, he had never seen you like this... like you could tear apart your whole office if you could. to say he was concerned was... putting it lightly.

he gently took the cushion from your hands. he took great care of it; he couldn't even think of it being ripped apart. placing it aside, he pats you on your back a few times.

"you know what? i'll go make some tea real quick, while you take a few deeeep breaths to calm a bit dow-"

"but he's at the wrong!" you butt in.

"I know, I know," he says as he places a hand on your cheek, "lemme just make the tea and we can put on some diss tracks and talk trash about him, okay?"

even though you were seething right now, you couldn't help but smile. hao had never been one to talk bad about someone, but you know that he's ever ready to put aside his meditated mind and join you, if that means you'll feel better (and that his cushion will remain safe).

[kkongdakz]

“ WE'RE SO CLICHÉ. ” ft. ot9

in which : i associate love tropes with members.

ot9 x gn!reader, genre : mostly fluff, warning : alcohol consumption in jiwoong's, bullying in hao's, swearing and blood in gunwook's, a little bit of jealousy in yujin's, word count : 3,164

kim jiwoong ♡⃗ exes to lovers

i feel like you and jiwoong had a little love story when you were younger, at the beginning of high school for example

so when you finished your high school studies, you lost touch and kind of.. break up

to meet up again later by chance, through a mutual friend you had and organized a "school memories" party where all former students gathered

and coming face to face with jiwoong brought back old feelings — he still looks the same, but in a more manly and mature way

and your heart suddenly raced, because seeing the love of your youth has made you all things again

and vice versa

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀« oh y/n ! i'm happy you're here ! » says your childhood friend as she welcomes you into her home with open arms. a smile on your lips, you embraced her, checking on her, recalling fond memories of the past. but as your eyes drifted over the other people in the room, they focused on one particular figure : your ex-boyfriend from highschool. apologizing to her, you walked away to gently approach jiwoong, who in turn laid eyes on you. he was always the same, but taller, more masculine, more mature, but always with the same deep gaze and prince charming smile. grabbing two glasses of champagne, he finally approached you, handing you one with a smirk that caused your heart to miss a beat. « hi y/n, it's been a long time.. » you nodded gently, watching him for a long minute, trying to understand why your heart was suddenly racing so fast. old memories resurfaced in your head as the evening progressed, until it was time to leave, finding the two of you in the entrance to the building. and when he placed a warm kiss on your cheek, innocently slipping a piece of paper into the palm of your hand, you thought that maybe, just maybe, the flame of your love wasn't totally extinguished.

other members under the cut !

zhang hao ♡⃗ rivals to lovers

listen, he's number one in everything he do

he's so so so so so competitive

so of course, when you're as good as him in everything, he understands he has competition

and oh boy, he is so determined to destroy you and so are you

so for many years, your relationship is based on arguments and repeated bickering — a competition the whole school knows about, even forming “team hao” and “team y/n”

but one thing's for sure : hao is the only one who can compete with you and make fun of your grades. so when someone decides to attack you, right in front of his eyes, he's the first to defend you

which surprises everyone

and create a new sensation in your heart

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀« who do you think you are, talking to them like that? » hao said suddenly, drawing the attention of the other students in the class. your eyes opened wide, observing his silhouette with his back to you, who had just slid in front of you — as if to protect you. the girl who had been trying to belittle you earlier suddenly found herself caught in the middle, with only one way out : to runaway. as she slipped away with a sigh, the other students around you commented in low voices, which didn't stop hao from turning to you, gently knocking the top of your skull. « don't let people put you down, okay? you know what you're worth. » — coming from the person who beats you all day long, it meant a lot. so you simply nodded, trying to ignore your heart pounding in your chest, but his hand grabbed your wrist, forcing you to get up and leave the classroom with him. which led you to end up in the library, studying in the company of the man you consider your rival. but well.. a cute one.

sung hanbin ♡⃗ soulmate

the invisible red string between you and hanbin is so real

ever since you were little, you've always felt that the love of your life, your soulmate, was not far from you

you pushed away every person who approached you in a loving way, to wait for the precise moment when you would meet the only one person who would be number one in your heart

and one day, as you entered the new cute and cosy café near your house

you saw it in the eyes of the pretty barista — the little spark that appeared when your eyes meet each other's for the first time

and instantly, your heart knew it, he knew hanbin (you still had the time to read his name on the nametag hanging on his apron) was the love of your life

your one and only soulmate

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀you were frozen, facing the cash register, your eyes completely hypnotized and stuck on the boy in front of you. he was pretty, handsome, he looked as soft as cotton, radiant as the sun, cute as a puppy. and he was watching you in exactly the same way : as if two wires had touched in your heads and you'd short-circuited. his eyes seemed like two deep wells, into which you suddenly lost yourself — your heart was pounding as you suddenly found yourself at a loss for words. this boy seemed to be the one you'd been waiting for all your life. but you were snapped out of your trance when the person behind you suddenly cleared his throat, leaving the cute barista to finally speak. « uh, mh, hi- welcome. i'm hanbin, what can we do for you? » after coming to your senses, looking everywhere but into his eyes, you gave him your order, paid, and waited patiently on the side. you couldn't help but observe him, the slightest of his delicate gestures and the smile that clung to his lips over and over again. until you received your order, and noticed a phone number on your cup. “ i'm hanbin, call me when you want :)xx ”

seok matthew ♡⃗ boy next door

he's the perfect cliché of the cute-hot boy who's just moved in next door to you

look at him, his smile, almost every morning when you're out to pick up your mails

and you just.. freeze, looking at him and his honey voice when he told you “hello neighbor”

and you just runaway — slightly embarrassed at having remained frozen in place without saying anything

and after that, every time you hear a noise near your door, you sneak a peek to catch a glimpse of him, watching him taking care of the plants around your shared balcony

until one day, when you suddenly need a carton of milk, and you have no choice but to ask your beloved next-door neighbor for help

..ending up cooking pancakes with him

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀you didn't know what to say, when he was standing in front of you, and you didn't look at all presentable. flour on your apron, and a spatula in your hands, you'd suddenly forgotten that you needed milk to make pancakes. « need help, neighbor? » he said suddenly, a chuckle escaping his lips, which brought you back down to earth. « hey, sorry, do you have milk? i want to make pancakes but i forgot the milk. » — nodding positively, he walked away for a few moments before returning with a carton of milk. but as you reached out to retrieve it, he gently pushed you as he closed the door to his apartment, pulling you into yours. « i'll help you, you seem to be having a hard time. » he announced, with a drop-dead smile that you didn't dare to refuse. following him to the kitchen, he helped you prepare the recipe, even taking the time to get to know you and make you laugh. finally, something interesting was happening between you.

kim taerae ♡⃗ first love

listen. taerae is so first love coded and you can't change my mind

he's the boy everyone secretly dreams about

the one you watch dreamily in class and who never fails to make your heart skip a beat every time he smiles

and when you finally get to date him, oh boi- you're in heaven

he's literally so sweet : always here for you, fingers that never miss an opportunity to tuck a lock of your hair behind your ear, take you home after school, help you study, ect ect..

he's the one who makes you discover love : the butterflies in your stomach, the scenarios in your head that become real, the sweetness of a first kiss, the soft warmth that settles in your chest when he tells you you're beautiful

a smile and you're won over. taerae is and will always be your first love

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀it was a pretty warm afternoon, cherry blossom petals dancing in the air and the sun streaming through the classroom windows. you watched the clouds sail across the sky, tapping your fingers against the wood of your school table, when he entered the room. a gentle smile tugging at his lips as he caught sight of you, dreaming in your corner. then he moved towards you, settling into the chair opposite you before placing a light kiss on your cheek to bring you out of your reverie. taken aback by his action, millions of butterflies flew into your stomach, while your stunned eyes finally found the face of taerae. « i was looking for you, » he says, placing a carton of chocolate milk in front of you, « would you like to go for a walk with me after school? » — of course, you weren't going to turn down the chance to spend a special moment with the boy who was introducing you to all the emotions of first love. with your heart pounding in your chest, you nodded positively at the same time as his fingers clasped yours.

shen ricky ♡⃗ forbidden love

honestly i was thinking about a secretly rich trope but i feel like ricky really likes to tell people he actually is rich.. so naur

so my other option is. i can imagine him as a fake bad boy.

like he hates everyone but you..

so when you noticed him at school, he had already noticed you — but he played the unapproachable guy until you needed a hand with another guy who was getting a little too close to you

and suddenly you saw him from a different angle, and that menacing yet nonchalant look he had on his face made your heart miss a beat — pushing you closer and closer to the forbidden

obviously, the people around you don't approve of your relationship with him at all

but it's not like you care

he may be mean to others, but he's always been upright, courteous and gentle to you

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀midnight had just passed, as the clock on your bedroom wall told you, and yet you were still working on your homework for the next day. a sigh left your lips as you rubbed your eyes, and suddenly your peace was disturbed by a few almost inaudible knocks against your bedroom window. frowning, you approached it, hesitantly shifting your curtain to finally catch a glimpse of ricky's face. hurrying to open your window, the young boy entered your room in no time, before hooking his arms around your hips to press you against him. « what are you doing here? » you asked, whispering so as not to alert your parents about the intruder who was currently in your room at such a late hour. slipping your arms around your neck, ricky simply smiled, « i missed you. » he affirmed, placing a kiss on your cheek before deviating to your lips. even if you loved the fact that he'd show up at any hours just because he missed you, you still had to be careful and make sure you could continue to see him despite your parents' prohibition. « you know my parents are here? » — ricky shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and lifted you off the ground, kissing you passionately while telling you how much he didn't care.

kim gyuvin ♡⃗ fake dating

he can't be serious but trust me, he's the most perfect fake boyfriend you could ask for

just imagine that you've promised to bring someone to your sister's wedding — but unfortunately you are completely alone

your only option is to ask someone you trust to take on this role for the duration of a ceremony : and that's where gyuvin comes in

and he's perfect : his hand on your hip and his eyes attentive to your every word, having fun with your younger cousins and talking to your parents about anything and everything

he's charming, polite and gallant — the perfect son-in-law according to your mother and the hot jackpot according to your sister

and when you finally have a little moment alone together, and you're about to thank him for the perfect fulfillment of his role, you meet the gleam in his eyes and that silly little smile that hangs on his lips

and suddenly nothing exists around you anymore — all that's left is him, you, and the sun shining on his caramel skin.

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀the sun passing through the leaves gently settles on gyuvin's face, who looks at you in the most tender way possible. his hand is naturally hooked on yours — which suddenly makes you realize that he doesn't have to put on an act when it's just the two of you. « you can stop pretending, you know? » you say softly, but his pupils don't move from yours. on the contrary, his free hand moves towards your face, grazing your skin, touching your cheeks with his fingertips, as if there were only the two of you left on earth. you thought your heart was going to escape from your chest, because he was no longer pretending — his hand gently tugged on yours, pulling you closer to him, spinning slowly to the rhythm of the background music. « i think we should be careful and always act like a couple so as not to arouse suspicion, don't you think? » he whispered in your ear, and you just love the way he makes you feel at that very moment. as if you two weren't just fake.

park gunwook ♡⃗ enemies to lovers

okay this is from a personal experience because my boys planet' story with gunwook is enemies to lovers

since you met him, your relationship with gunwook has been very complicated — he don't really like you, and you don't really like him either

he tends to play the big guy to show off his superiority and that's what annoyed you about him in the first place

so ever since, you've despised him and given him death glares at every opportunity — and he can't help but prank or scare you at every opportunity

until the day you get paired together for a school project.

and, even though you'd have liked to do the job yourself from start to finish, your teacher didn't agree with you at all, which forced you to tolerate him a little

and introduced you to a new side of gunwook that you'd never seen before — a cute and silly kitty

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀sitting on the floor of your living room, your work books covering every nook and cranny of the coffee table, not a word had left your lips or gunwook's since the start of the afternoon. but the atmosphere seemed heavy, this silence more distressing than relaxing, in the end. sighing as you got up to go to the kitchen, you tiptoed over to grab a glass from the top of the cupboard. but not everything went according to plan : and the next thing you know, the glass was on the floor, broken, and your finger was bleeding. « shit. » you say, running to the sink to put your wounded finger under the water, juggling from one foot to the other while holding back from swearing at how much it hurt. and suddenly gunwook was at your side, one hand on your shoulder and his eyes riveted on your wound, « do you have a first aid kit somewhere? » — nodding as you indicated where it was, you watched him grab the object and return to you, wrapping your finger in a clean cloth before guiding you into the living room. here, gunwook tended to your wound delicately, meticulously, asking you repeatedly if you weren't in pain. he was much gentler than most people you knew — he who tended to act tough in front of others, was actually an adorable kitten. with a smile on his lips, he lifted your hand and placed a magic kiss on top of the bandage he'd made, and that's probably when your heart decided to make room for him inside.

han yujin ♡⃗ childhood friends to lovers

he's still a child okay

so i can easily imagine yujin as a childhood friend

playing cards and video games as kids, right up to entering high school hand in hand

nevertheless, i imagine that you have different groups of friends, even if you remain each other's number one

and you meet up every day after class to go home together and tell each other about your day

obviously, you don't notice it, but yujin always keeps an eye on you — without showing the slight jealousy growing in his heart every time he sees you getting a little too close to your other friends

he's never shy about reminding you that he's right there and that he's still your favorite

just imagine ... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀waiting patiently in front of the school gate, yujin kicked a pebble before suddenly hearing your voice ring out. looking away from the road to observe you, he watched you walk up to him after you had greeted your new friends. as you reached your best friend, you planted yourself in front of him, a grandiose smile hanging on your lips, creating a slight reddish tinge at the tip of yujin's ears. squinting as you started to move forward, you hurried over to him and slipped your hands around his arm, pulling him closer to you, « yah. you walk too fast with your long legs. » — slowing down to walk at the same speed as you, he was content to listen attentively as you told him about your day, nodding from time to time and speaking up when necessary. but you could see that something was on his mind, so you stopped walking, forcing him to stop and turn to face you with a questioning expression. « what's on your mind, han yujin? » you say, your sun-filled eyes dazzling his. clearing his throat while looking away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, you tilted your head slightly to one side, watching yujin with a small smile on your lips. « i'm still your favorite, mh? » he asked, daring to look deep into your eyes, « because you'll always be mine. » — you couldn't explain, but it was like in the romance books, with butterflies in your stomach and your heart beating wildly.

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[mymegrokosmos]

a little soft bf minghao brainrot bc i felt like it. super era shoulder injury hao.

you set your bags down on the counter, dropping your keys by the front door and going to put your things away. by the time you've shrugged out of your jacket, hung it up in the front closet and put your purse in its usual spot on the credenza table in the hallway you're ready to melt into the sofa but there's still more to do before you can relax.

when you get to the kitchen, halfway through tying your hair up out of your face, you find yourself smiling. the familiar sight of your boyfriend's back, clad in his usual leisure attire of grey sleeveless top that leaves just a hint of his shoulders visible, peeks out of the fridge. he's already started putting the groceries away before anything gets too warm. just when you think your fondness for him can’t melt your heart any more than it already has he leans back to look at you from around the door and his soft smile has your heart in shambles.

if it’s possible to become one with the floor you're doing it. you've become a puddle. his shaggy mullet is in disarray, fluffy from where he's run his hands through it, and his face is bare. his usually sharp eyes are framed by big round glasses, softening his gaze as he closes the fridge in favour of coming over to press a kiss to your forehead.

"hi darling, welcome home. how was your day?"

you'd think after all this time you'd be used to how tall he was but it was still always a bit of a surprise just how much he towered over you up close. you sighed, letting him pull you into a hug and sliding your arms around his slim waist.

"hi. it was okay, very long."

he chuckles and you close your eyes, head resting against his chest. you're careful to lay it against the side of his good shoulder, nuzzling against the soft cotton of his shirt as his hand comes up to rest against the back of your head.

"i'm glad to finally be home. what did you get up to today handsome?"

the hand on your waist squeezes lightly and he holds you close for a minute before stepping back with another kiss to the top of your head.

"physio this morning again and then practice, even though I can't do a lot of the choreo yet they still need me for blocking when I can make it. mingyu came by earlier and dropped off some hotpot. why don't you go get into something more comfortable and we can talk about it over dinner?"

sometimes there was nothing better than coming home to everything already being taken care of. you know he misses being at work but being home more means minghao needs things to do. his physiotherapist also says that getting some movement in is good for his progress, so he's been taking care of household chores and spending a lot more time meditating lately to keep himself busy.

the members have been helping when they can. mingyu comes by or gets your boyfriend out of the house at least three times a week now. jun's often over in his free time to run lines with hao or catch up on the latest cdrama you're watching together. you think joshua has even dragged him out to a pottery class or two in their spare time. it's been good for him and the rest is doing him good, even if it makes him a little bit restless sometimes.

you nod. "i'll be right back. do you need me to help with anything?"

"no, just relax and leave the day at the office jagiya."

easier said than done but minghao always made you feel less guilty about sticking by work life balance and keeping them mostly separate. it's also been fun spending more time cooking together, he's good in the kitchen just a little impatient and you're enjoying getting to try out some of his mother's recipes. she's often on video call when you get home, minghao pouting about something while she scolds him playfully or they catch up on their weeks with each other. it's sweet and you love that their relationship only seems to get stronger as time goes on.

"you're still coming to the company dinner next week with me, right?"

another soft smile as he nods. "I'll be there darling. I didn't pick us out matching outfits just to not show up. now stop worrying and go change. you're hovering again."

you are, just a little bit. it's a habit you're still trying to work your way out of. you were a little traumatized when you got the call that hao was in the hospital at first and, though you both know he's fine and capable now, the instinct to make sure he's okay still lingers a little bit.

you sigh and make a face at him. "okay, okay. I'm going."

he just chuckles as you head towards your shared bedroom. makeup and weight of the day finally removed it's time to slip into one of hao's oversized tshirts and the matching cotton pyjama pants he bought for you last christmas. it feels like a cozy day so you take the time to find your slippers too before shuffling back towards the kitchen.

you find minghao stirring a pot of what seems to be mingyu's latest attempt at comfort food and slip your arms around his waist from behind, face pressed lightly against his warm back.

"smells good."

he hums in agreement, hand patting yours where it rests on his stomach. "I think he made enough to feed about seven more people than we currently have in the apartment."

you laugh and lean around him to peek at the food over his arm. "gyu probably plans to use it as an excuse to come over for lunch tomorrow or something. oh no guess you need someone else to help you eat it all."

that makes your boyfriend scoff. "why would he do that when he can just say he wants to come over? he knows where we live."

you kiss his bicep and move to get down some bowls for you both. "because he's kim mingyu and you're you myungho."

your boyfriend stops to look at you, blinking as he pauses his stirring. "I'm still not seeing your point love."

"you know how you don't like when people get too presumptuous about you?" you smile softly. "I wouldn't say he's intimidated because gyu knows you love him but... sometimes he's a little insecure and sometimes you can be a little cold."

he considers this. "he's never let that stop him before."

you smile and let him guide you, one hand on your hip as you slide between him and the pot on the stove to fill your bowls.

"and he won't, I don't think, because at the end of the day he knows that it isn't that you don't like his affection you just don't always know what to do with it and it needs time to process. but I think, and maybe this is just my take, he sometimes worries a little about intruding too much. especially now that you have a relationship outside of just your family and the members and your other friends."

it's quiet for a minute as he takes that in. you dish up hot pot for both of you and take the bowls over to your small dining table. minghao slowly follows behind, face impassive. you'd worry that you upset him but you know that expression. it's not anger or annoyance, he's just lost in thought. you take his hand, press a kiss to the back of it, and watch as he blinks back into the present.

"think about it all you need but let's eat first. like I said, maybe I'm just reading too much into it. maybe he has other reasons. we can finish that new drama and call him later if you want."

your boyfriend nods and joins you at the table, filling you in on his day. you can tell he's only half present but that's okay. by the time you finish and wash up he seems to have come to a decision.

"love?"

"yes myungho?"

he scrunches his nose. "try again please darling."

you laugh but the arms he crosses over his chest tell you he's serious. you smile softly, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek.

"yes, seo myungho great love of my life and most wondrous of boyfriends?"

he snorts. "closer but still not correct."

"baobei?"

he blinks. "close enough."

you laugh and brush a hand over his cheek, melting a little when he leans into the touch and takes your hand in his.

"you know I'm only teasing you, right?"

he nods. "I do."

you lace your fingers and press a kiss to the back of his hand. "what did you want to say honey?"

"do you mind if mingyu comes over tomorrow? I know it's your day off."

"babe, this is your apartment too."

minghao sighs. you know that look. the exasperated 'are you being serious right now?' stare. you smile.

"no, I don't mind if gyu comes over. just maybe warn me beforehand so I can make sure I have pants and a bra on this time."

that makes him smile, just a little, even as he rolls his eyes at you.

"come help me with my skincare?"

"only if you let me use the good stuff."

"mm we can even wear those matching headbands you like."

"lead the way love."

sometimes all you need after a long day is xu minghao ready with a hot meal, a long hug and a silly fuzzy frog headband keeping the bangs out of his face as he applies 6 layers of different creams to your face.

[seokmthw]

oh shit, are we in love? | zhang hao

⇢ pairing: zhang hao x reader

⇢ warnings: fluff, a smidge of angst, brief mentions of a toxic relationship

⇢ word count: 1.5k

prompt #5 "you don't have to be so brave with me"

prompt #12 "let's kiss and see where it takes us"

⇢ note: i realized i'm severely lacking zhang hao on my main masterlist and saw this request sitting in my inbox and just had to write it. i went a little crazy with the word count, but hao is so easy for me to write for so it came naturally to me. i hope you all enjoy!

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you sniffled, hand coming up to wipe the stinging hot tears away from your eyes, which were focused on the screen of your phone, an image of you and your now ex-boyfriend on full display for you to see. you’d been managing your breakup a lot worse than you anticipated, and when the photo had shown up in your memories, it caused something within you to snap and you cried harder than you have over the past several months since your breakup. maybe it was how happy you looked while he appeared to be losing his love for you, or maybe it was because you longed so badly for something like that again, but you just couldn’t stop the flow of your tears once they started.

throughout your mourning process, you relied very heavily on zhang hao, a boy you met in your music class a couple of semesters ago. he was always there for you when you needed him and made time for you even when he was busy with something. he was the type of person whose presence alone was comforting and you were grateful to have someone like him in your life.

you'd grown almost a little too fond of zhang hao. every little brush of his hand against yours or the hug he gave you when you needed it the most shouldn't have been making the butterflies in your belly flutter around, but they did, and you weren't sure what to make of it. part of you wondered if it was too soon, or if he might be the person you dreamed of being with all along, but you didn't want to ruin what you currently had and decided to keep your lips sealed.

during your most recent state of hysteria, you texted him something almost incoherent about not wanting to be alone and needing him by your side more than ever, but now that you had calmed down a little bit, you tried taking back your words and apologizing to him. but hao was stubborn, and despite being in the middle of his violin practice, he responded quickly and told you he was packing his things up and would be on his way soon.

you felt a little guilty, sure, but the bigger majority of your brain was just ecstatic he would be there, and you'd be able to vent and be in his presence. almost as if on a queue, the sound of his knuckles rapping lightly against your door was echoing throughout your room, mingling with a sniffle as you rose from your nest of blankets on your bed and shuffled to the door.

pulling the heavy, wooden object toward you, hao greeted you with gentlest and softest smile you think you'd ever seen from him. you stepped aside, allowing him entry into your room - which was a disaster, but he never really cared - and watched as he set his belongings down on the floor at the foot of your bed. you shut the door, turning around to be greeted with his arms outstretched, welcoming you to melt into him whenever you were ready.

it didn't take long, because within mere seconds you had your arms secured around his waist and your cheek resting on his chest. hao's arms wrapped around your shoulders, enveloping you in a warmth you didn't know you needed, and he rested his chin atop your head.

you sighed, new tears springing into your eyes and dripping onto your cheeks, and inevitably soaking through the fabric of his sweatshirt. you squeezed him slightly, desperate to get him as physically close to you as possible while mumbling, “thank you for coming here, i’m sorry i interrupted your violin practice.”

“hey now, you don't have to be sorry,” his voice was soft as he spoke, “besides, the instructor often wonders why i even show up because he thinks i’m a musical genius. when i told him i needed to go, he barely even let me finish my sentence and was practically pushing me out of the door.”

“well still, you didn't have to come at all. it's just me being a little ridiculous anyway,” you replied, finally pulling away from him and motioning for him to join you in snuggling down under your blankets.

he crawled into the bed beside you, allowing you to settle down into his side, your head resting gently on his shoulder as he pulled the thick comforter over the two of you. hao glanced down at you, parting his lips to speak, “emotions you feel are never ridiculous you know. you can talk about whatever it is you want and i will never judge you or think you're being silly.”

you nodded, hesitant to even say anything at all, so instead you just allowed your eyes to flutter shut, letting your words die in your throat so you didn't mess up and say the wrong thing.

hao was quick to notice, even though you felt you were hiding it pretty well. he brushed a strand of hair out of your face, concern evident in his expression as he said, “you don't have to be so brave with me. what’s on your mind?”

you shifted slightly, anxious to even think about beginning to tell him anything, but your mouth worked quicker than you mind, “it's just, throughout this whole breakup process, i think i’ve realized i have feelings for someone and it feels so soon but so right and i don't know what to do.”

“you're a human being, it's only natural you have feelings for people. besides, it's been months since your breakup and you're allowed to move on if you want to,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“i’m just scared it'll ruin everything,” you replied, averting your gaze from his to find interest in your chipping nail polish instead.

“well, if they're someone who truly cares about you, then they wouldn't let it ruin anything,” unbeknownst to you, he never looked away from you, “maybe you could tell them, the worst that could happen is that they say no.”

you sighed, “that's thing, i did just tell him.”

looking up, you caught the shocked expression of hao. the corners of your mouth twitched up ever so slightly, voice barely above a whisper as you said, “it's you, hao.”

the look on his face was incredibly difficult for you to read. you could feel panic beginning to settle in, knowing you had more than likely screwed everything up, and you couldn't help the tears that began to fall again. the only thing you could manage to say was “i’m sorry” in between your little cries, trying to put as much distance between the two of you as you could.

hao caught you off guard, pulling you back to him, hands cupping your face gently. he wiped the tears away with his thumbs, asking, “now why on earth are you sorry?”

“because i can tell you don't feel the same and that i just made everything so awkward,” you refused to make eye contact with him as you answered his question.

you heard a small chuckle slip past his lips, “y/n, you're not making anything awkward. i’m just surprised you return my feelings at all. why do you think i’ve always been so eager to spend time with you, even when i’m occupied with other things?”

now it was your turn to adorn a baffled look, jaw slightly agape as you processed his words. hao was the first to say something again, this time keeping your overall well-being in mind, “this doesn't have to move fast, it can be at whatever pace you want. it honestly could just not happen at all. tell me what you want and i’ll give it to you, i promise.”

“i-” you started, opening and closing your mouth like a fish out of water, desperate to find the right words. finally, you settled on, “let’s kiss and see where it takes us?”

you felt extremely shy asking, almost shrinking into yourself at such an absurd request, but hao wouldn't let you, because within mere seconds he was closing the distance between the two of you and molding his lips with yours. you gripped onto the front of his sweatshirt ever so slightly, eyes fluttering closed and the feeling of pure euphoria filling up every inch of your body.

you hadn't felt so seen or appreciated in a long time, and finally getting to kiss the boy you'd dreamed of for so long was almost surreal. you became putty in his hands, allowing him to pull you closer to his body, a string of kisses following suit.

you finally pulled away for air, your grin reflecting hao’s as you said, “i think i like where this is going.

“good,” he beamed, giving you another kiss in between his words, “because i do too.”

[mr-urple]

OC MASTERPOST

--

TAGS

#tmnt oc - Any post including any tmnt oc made by me or someone else

#tmnt dna and #tmnt ash - Any post relating to DNA, my main tmnt oc

#tmnt zach - Any post relating to Zachary, my second oc

#tmnt mari - Any post relating to Marina, who belongs to @/atomic-rattz

#tmnt cyclone - Any post relating to Cyclone, who belongs to @/splatting-stampede

#tmnt gal - Any post relating to Galileo, who belongs to @/rawcherrycake

#tmnt genji - Any post relating to Genji, who belongs to @/rawcherrycake

#tmnt laundry - Any post relating to Laundry, who belongs to @/cin3maa

#tmnt val - Any post relating to Valentino

#tmnt atomic - Any post relating to Atomic's sona

#tmnt cin - Any post relating to Cinna's sona

AUS AND TIMELINES

#tmnt bad future and #bad future - this applies to canon bad future too, but. You know. Oc bad future shit goes hard

#DND Au - A DND Au that I REALLY need to expand on….

#cyclomori au - That one omori au… I need to change the tags for that though so this tag doesn’t apply right now (I’ll. Do it later.)

#covert au - the au by the wonderful and amazing Captain @/chessman-protocol, but of course!

More will be added as more is made..

--

All comics and drawings under cut:

COMICS

Trust is not Easily Earned (BLOOD (?) WARNING)

Welcome Home (DEATH WARNING)

It’s a Canon Event, Gal (shitpost)

dumb comic I just like idk

Last One(s) Standing: Prologue - 1

DRAWINGS (at least, notable ones)

Destructive Neobiological Amalgamation (aka DNA’s beta design.. yes he used to be a 2012 oc SHUSH) (BLOOD WARNING)

Threat? Friend? (BLOOD WARNING)

2012 DNA doodles I still like (BLOOD WARNING)

Younger Sibling Behavior

Hold Me Close // Lets Forget

It’s Hard, Being the Last Survivor (DEATH WARNING)

Silly doodles I made in class KEKEKE

Ha-Ha-Hao!!!

Shopping Trip!!

DND au DNA concept

Cyclone practice doodles

DND au Mononoke redraw

Sector 4 concept doodles (these are rlly bad hELP)

Atomic as a turtle!!

DNA x Gal ship chart (slightly suggestive?? Idk there’s a horniness mention but that’s it BAHJSJAJ)

Turtlenauts in the Covert au

D and Mari as the Kagamine twins (collab with tomi!!)

Facial expression doodles

Otaku au doodles (Probably an abandoned au)

Aishitenoni

Tmnt oc comp propaganda!!

Ocean duo doodles

DNA Blog takeover intro post

"I'm not saying 'good job team' that mission was SHIT"

[Sea]glass

Old DNA studies (I should make more)

400 follower DTIYS

Zach beta design

Misc turtlenaut doodles

Brush experiment doodles I still kinda like

Bad future Zach reveal

Zach lighting practice doodle that's kinda cool

Get his fruity ass OUT OF HERE!!!

Super duper cool oc

DNA's sideblog pfp

Turtlenaut doodles that took too long

Bad Habits (TW: SMOKING)

Bad habits but make it dumb (TW: SMOKING)

Zach appreciation post

Growing up

Dree!!! >w<

neon

uhhh something cinematic idk (TW: SMOKING)

fuck clean lines bro

Let me take the suffering from you...

REFERENCE SHEETS

Canon DNA (OLD!!!!)

Bad Future DNA (OLD)

DNA (updated design)

Zach

[jaemified]

SNOWED IN ! [ep. i] | first time

“eyes on a certain someone.. whats his name?”

a barista xu minghao x receptionist reader smau

‘welcome to first class resort’

previous | MASTERLIST | next

updates ; every saturday or sunday !

synopsis ; trying the cafe in the hotel you work at for the first time, you realize the baristas are quite literally as hot (maybe even more) then your friend had described. yet a certain barista in particular manages to pique your interest the most.

🏷️; @minhui896 @minghaossv @snowcake666 @kissesfrmwonwoo @kokoiinuts @wonqr

couldnt tag ; @/heelariousx

read below the cut !

“hi, i can help you over here?” one of the guys spoke from the counter, y/n not realizing someone was already waiting for her.

“oh hi, sorry. you guys have boba as a topping right?”

“yeah, we do. so, what would you like to drink?” he asked patiently as he finished setting up the ipad to put in your order.

“right. could i get a large caramel latte with boba? extra whip, light ice, and aloe.”

the guy rose a brow in surprise. “caramel latte with.. boba?” he asked for reassurance.

“yeah. sorry is that weird? cause if it is i could just do a strawberry milk tea-” “-no no not at all. just a bit taken aback. your total is ₩10,000.”

“thank you,” you spoke as he handed you your receipt which read ‘order number 32’.

“oh and what was your name again?” you quickly asked as he was about to hand the order to one of the other baristas.

“chwe hansol, but you can call me vernon.” he smiled. “do you, by any chance, work here? like at the hotel, not here here.”

“yeah, im assistant manager at the front desk. did my uniform give it away?” you chuckled.

“maybe. sorry, i gotta keep the line moving. have a good one though.” hansol smiled before handing the order over to the other barista behind him.

damn. and you thought hansol was cute. not that he wasnt, but this guy was really cute.

“woo, look at this shit.” the person who was responsible for making your order whispered. “who orders a caramel latte with boba??”

wonwoo turned around and saw you sitting in a corner on your phone, grimacing as he didn’t think you were actually serious about your order.

“its a receptionist thing, hao. you wouldnt get it.”

“im a barista not a clerk. and just cause you dated one for a few months doesn’t mean you have the experience of one.” minghao rolled his eyes before reaching over to grab a new cup.

as he got your drink started, you couldn’t help but notice how cute the black haired boy was. his facial features really were something you couldn’t take your eyes off of. you could tell he was experienced as he didn’t even need to read the recipes before pouring in all the right measurements.

he jerked his head backwards as he read the bottom for extra info not realizing he missed it earlier, “aloe? who the hell puts aloe in a caramel latte.”

“you seem really fixed on her drink preferences.” joshua murmured as he reached over minghao for a napkin to clean the spill he made after knocking over the chocolate sauce.

“its just weird. like yeah they’re all good by themselves but altogether? its like vanilla mixed with cotton candy.”

“vanilla goes with everything.”

“he thinks he’s an expert on tea ‘cause his cousin’s boyfriend made him the manager at a tea house in china.” seungcheol scoffed.

“whatever.”

minghao finished up your order and went to the desk to call out your number before he thought of something that really bothered him.

he grabbed a post it near the register, quickly scribbling down something before sticking it on your drink and calling for you.

“who ordered the latte with boba?” he called our halfmindedly as hansol handed him the next order, not realizing he unprofessionally forgot to call you by the order number instead.

“hi, that’d be me.” you spoke as you walked up to the counter quickly, putting on your customer service face so it isn’t so obvious you find him attractive.

you didn’t even notice how his face twisted as your black heels clicked against the wooden floorboards.

“yeah okay, have a good one or whatever.. yoon.. y/n?” he mumbled as he skimmed over your name tag.

“yeah thanks.” you smiled while grabbing a straw and some napkins from the organizer next to him, your hand briefly grazing his as he set your cup down.

“you’re a receptionist?” minghao asked, crossing his arms as he watched you take an experimental sip.

“yeah, why?”

“then how come i never see you here for lunch?”

“i go to the restaurant instead of the cafe. less crowded and i have more friends up there.”

“such as?” “why does it matter?”

“i cant ask my co worker who her friends are?”

“we are hardly that close.” you tilted your head in confusion.

“yeah whatever. and stop fake smiling when you’re not helping customers. it’s annoying.” he whispered into your ear before you got the chance to walk away.

you rolled your eyes in faux annoyance, trying to hide your excitement at the fact you just talked to a really cute guy.

‘he’s lowkey more attractive when he’s mad. its.. kinda hot?’ you thought to yourself before pulling out your phone to text soyeon.

note ; hear me out bc a caramel latte w boba is my favorite 😭😭

[misojunnie]

PEACHES ─ xmh. ᜊ⋆ﾟ⊹

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏 - 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃

fresh peaches picked straight off the tree always reminded you of home, the summer breeze, the sticky frozen treats, and the blazing sun. they brought good memories, nostalgic places, but most importantly, they brought xu minghao.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

genre: fluff, angst, college au, brother’s best friend!minghao x fem!reader

warnings: substance use, a sprinkle of family issues, disloyal past relationships, break ups, toxic relationships and cheating, 22 yr old reader / 24 yr old hao

featuring: minghao and svt! (ft. brother jun) + twice

word count: 26.2k

playlist: peaches by kai, chaser by woodz, habit by seventeen

status: in progress.

# taglist: @msxflower @enhacolor @hiqhkey

# network tags: @ficscafe @kflixnet​ @k-radio​

back to masterlist !​

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

[more below the cut!]

𝐢. 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

You licked up the side of the dripping, vivid orange popsicle clutched in your hand, a lit cigarette tucked in your other, perched delicately between your index and middle finger as you walked down the sunny street. You must’ve been a strange sight to most, something so childish as a creamsicle held by the same person as a smoking cigarette. But you couldn’t help it.

You had promised yourself nearly two years ago to never smoke again. Mingyu hated the smell more than anything, and when he remained firm in his resolve to not kiss you while you smoked, you decided to quit for his sake. You knew it wasn’t healthy to fall back on bad habits, but difficult times called for difficult measures, and it was certainly a difficult time.

Your apartment came into view as you walked down the street, the worn out soles of your converse highs tapping lightly against the pavement as you approached the large building drenched in golden sunlight. It was a beautiful day. And that really pissed you off. Turning your key in the lock, you opened the door to your dingy shared apartment, taking in the sight of the seemingly empty room, rays of midday sun peeking in through the open windows. You kicked off your shoes, putting out the cigarette on the sole of the left one before your brother could notice, although you knew he would figure it out anyway. He had a way of always finding out when you did something you weren’t supposed to.

“Junhui! I’m home!” you called out, hoping that your brother hadn’t yet arrived from classes, and that you could rinse some mouthwash before he smelled the tobacco on your tongue. To your chagrin, the dusty blond boy emerged from the bathroom with a toothbrush dangling from one end of his mouth, wide eyed and with a foamy smile on his lips. You put on a smile to match his own as he walked to the door, helping you take off your jacket and hang it up, even though the help wasn’t needed.

“Welcome home! You want some tea?’ he asked, hanging up your denim jacket on a coat rack by the door. Before you could respond, he scrunched up his nose, a disgusted look coming over his face as he brought the fabric up to his face, taking a deep inhale from the powdery blue cloth as you grimaced sheepishly. He dropped the fabric, growing closer to you, sniffing with a skeptical look. Apparently he got the confirmation he needed from the prevalent smell of smoke in your hair, as he backed up, crossed his arms, and sighed heavily with a disappointed frown. “Y/n…”

“I know, I know.” you interrupted before he could finish his sentence, waving him off as you removed your school bag from your shoulder and set it on the ground by the doormat. “I told you I would quit.”

“So why’d you smoke?”

“You smoked?” another voice said, a head of dark brown hair popping out from the kitchen, startling you greatly. Minghao seemed to have appeared out of thin air, nowhere to be seen when you had done a quick once over of the apartment upon your entry. But now that you noticed his presence, you began to smell the familiar scent of tomato and eggs wafting through the small kitchen. The older boy brought out three teal bowls, all filled to the brim with appetizing rice, tomato, eggs, and green onion scattered on the top. “You’ve been clean for a long time.”

“I’m well aware.” you sighed, taking a seat at the little table in your makeshift “dining room”, barely large enough to seat three people, as Minghao slid a dish in front of you. The steaming plate of food sent you straight back to your times from middle school when you would wake up, roll out of bed, and stumble to the kitchen to see a smiling Minghao holding a plate full of breakfast. “Thanks for the food.”

“Hey! I’m not done brushing my teeth!” Junhui protested, running back to the bathroom, a bit of toothpaste dripping down his chin as he rushed to wash out his mouth. Minghao just chuckled quietly in amusement, sitting down in the seat across from you with an undistinguishable expression.

“So, what happened that made you smoke your first cigarette in three years?” You scoffed, taking a spoonful of eggs and shoving it into your mouth, eyebrows already furrowing at the mere memory of what had happened just earlier this morning.

“What, you’ve been keeping count?” you asked.

“You know I have.” he said, taking a small bite from his bowl without yielding his questioning gaze. When you didn’t respond, he propped his elbows up on the table, leaning his head on the tops of his intertwined hands. “I’ve known you for a long time. And if I know anything about you, it’s that you’re stubborn as hell. I don’t think you would’ve given up on quitting so easily.” You sighed. 

It was undeniably true. Today had been an unusually horrible day, bad enough to make you break your three year abstinence from cigarettes, which wasn’t normal of your iron resolve. Minghao could read you like a book. Probably better than a book, considering he didn’t read many.

“Nothing important.”

“We both know that’s bullshit.” he said matter-of-factly. “C’mon, you trust me, right? I’m your best friend.” It was smug of him to say it in that way when he knew he was Junhui’s best friend, but he was right. You absolutely trusted him, you always have, ever since he walked through the door on Jun’s third day of junior high, your brother bouncing with excitement from finding another Chinese student at his school. 

Even though he was Junhui’s best friend, he felt like he was yours too. He had always been there for you, like he day he finally overcame his inherent weakness to punch Lee Chan in the face after he called you a whore, or the day Joshua Hong stood you up on prom night for his ex and Minghao rented out a tux last minute to take you himself, even if it caused your brother to slap him later that night. 

He was as much a part of your life as he was Junhui’s, and that’s why you decided to finally tell him the truth about what had caused your utterly shitty day.

“Mingyu broke up with me.” you said, stirring your straw in the cup of water that Minghao had placed by your seat. The boy in front of you had an inexplicable expression on his face, and you weren’t sure what emotions were passing through his head at the moment. “It seems like the entire school found out before I did. He didn’t even have the balls to break it off until lunchtime, even though he went around telling everyone we were split since yesterday.” You could’ve been imagining it, but you were practically certain that you saw Minghao’s knuckles clench in anger, but if he was agitated, he didn’t show it, just calmly taking another bite of his meal.

“Didn’t see that coming.” You couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Minghao knew better than anyone what your relationship with Mingyu was like. After all, Mingyu was his classmate, and the boy you met on the date he and Boo Seungkwan set you up with, without your brother’s consent, you might add. But you didn’t allow him to provoke you, simply taking another bite and looking at your bowl as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. He nodded with an expectant look that made you feel as though you had to give him the rest of the news, and you sighed.

“Turns out he met back up with his old childhood friend a few weeks ago. You remember Tzuyu?” Minghao nodded again, and you continued with a heavy exhale, glancing over your shoulder to see if Junhui had returned, which, startlingly enough, he hadn’t, apparently still in the bathroom. “He’s in love with her.”

“No way.” Minghao said, and it was hard for you to tell if he was kidding, but after a few moments you decided he wouldn’t treat you with so much sarcasm while you were in a sensitive moment. Although, that betrayed all logic considering he just did it minutes previously.

“Yeah. Apparently she ‘helped him figure out he didn’t have feelings for me anymore’. So he told her he was going to break up with me.”

“And she told Momo, who told Jihyun, who told Sana,” Minghao continued, seeming to sense where the story was going.

“And she told everyone.” you finished. “I’m surprised you didn’t find out. I would’ve thought you’d be the first person to know.” You stirred the straw in your drink for the second time, absentmindedly twirling the metal tube between your pointer finger and thumb and watching the ice cubes glide through the liquid.

“I missed class today,” he admitted. “I had some business to take care of.” You knew better than to ask what, just nodding. “Jun doesn’t know…”

“And he can’t.” you emphasized, lifting your head up to gaze at him fiercely. “You know what he’d do if he found out.”

“...Mingyu would beat him to a pulp if he tried.”

“I know. But that won’t stop him.” There was a moment of silence between the two of you as you challenged him with your eyes, and he lifted his hands in surrender, letting out a little sigh as he caved, and you took a bite in triumph.

“Alright, I give up. I won’t tell your brother.”

“Won’t tell me what?” Junhui asked, timing horrible as usual as he came around the back of your chair with a suspicious look to sit next to Minghao at the other side of the table, the latter giving him a smile.

“I’m desperately in love with your sister.” he grinned, and Jun slapped him on the back of his head, your cheeks flaming as soon as the words escaped his mouth.

“Hey, cut it out.” Junhui complained, picking up his bowl of food, which had already grown cold in his long absence. “Jesus, I’d rather you not tell me.” Minghao gave you a wink and a thumbs up when your brother wasn’t looking, and you smiled gratefully, albeit tightly, in return, hoping he didn’t notice how your cheeks began to feel like fire and your heart pounded like a drum in your chest.

Dinner was energetic as usual, and it was somewhat encouraging to see how little things had changed at home, despite the big shift in your life outside your doorstep. Jun and Minghao easily lifted you out of your slump, and despite the haunting reminder that you had to go back to school the next day, you were feeling better than you had all morning. Junhui had begrudgingly agreed to washing the dishes after a fierce game of rock paper scissors, which had ended unfortunately for the navy haired boy. 

As the rushing sound of the sink soothed you, you rested your hair against the oaken table, letting your gaze focus on the sights outside your front window. When you caught sight of the peaceful view outside, something catching your eye, you sat up quickly.

“Hao.” you said, and Minghao let out a little noise of acknowledgement from beside you, head down on the table with his arms shielding his face from the last rays of sunlight slipping under the horizon. “There’s peaches on the tree outside.” He lifted his head from the table, face red and puffy from where he had pressed it, and gave a glance to the round fruits beginning to grow from buds on the tree just outside your apartment.

“They look pretty.” he said simply, moving to rest his head again.

“It’s weird. Peaches bloom in summer.”

“Maybe the tree knew we needed a bit of joy in the spring.” he said, voice muffled against the wooden surface. “They bloomed early for us.” You slowly lowered yourself back down to the table, a soft smile on your face thinking of his words. Maybe the peaches did bloom for you, maybe they knew that you craved something refreshing, a change in the old monotony of Seoul. Maybe they knew you were missing the trees that used to grow in your childhood home’s backyard. Or better.

  Maybe they knew that Mingyu hated peaches.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

─

𝐢𝐢. 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

“For the last time Dahyun, no.” you insisted with a deep and frustrated exhale as your best friend pouted from across the table. You averted your eyes from her doe expression, afraid that her pretty pleading might actually convince you to agree to her horrible idea. “I’m not going on a blind date. It’s too early.”

“Come on, y/n.” she pleaded, hands together. “You need to move on from that asshole, and soon. Mingyu’s party is coming up next weekend, and you have to prove to him that you’re better off without him.” she said, gesturing wildly at nothing. You sucked on your bubbling soda, unbothered, more focused on the sticky feeling of your bare thighs on the hot seats of the restaurant from where your shorts had ridden up than on her strange plan. Your friends Chaeyoung and Mina, however, are enraptured by her visual demonstration, hands resting on their chins as they nod along with her.

“It might be good for you.” Chaeyoung suggested, her chin resting on a perfectly manicured hand. “I think I know someone who could help.”

“The only person that could help is Mingyu, that fucking asshole, by getting back together with me.” you said bitterly, teeth subconsciously clamping around the striped yellow straw resting between your lips as you sipped on the soda clutched in your hand. The three girls across the table exchanged a look that you didn’t seem to notice, and Mina gently reached out for your hand.

“How about you just hear Dahyun out, yeah?” They were incredibly stubborn, and it made you want to slap them in the face, but you reminded yourself that their unyielding resolve is what made you love them in the first place, and kept your hand firmly at your side. A sigh escaped your mouth as you finally relinquished your tight grip on the straw, waving them on to continue as you lean back onto the sticky fabric seat.

“Continue.” Dahyun’s eyes lit up in excitement.

“Well, I was talking to Vernon about this guy-”

“I’ve heard enough.” you said, standing up and halfway ready to leave the diner  just at the mere mention of Mingyu’s best friend when Chaeyoung pulled you down with a strong tug on your shorts.

“Just hear me out.” Dahyun said petulantly, brushing her hair away from her face and continuing the story. “Vernon told me he has a friend in his grade who’s been painfully single pretty much all his life. He’s decently introverted and polite, very respectful and quiet. For the first time in years, just yesterday he finally agreed to let Vernon set up a blind date for him.” You didn’t like where this was going. You didn’t like where this was going at all, but there was something that made you hear her out, nodding silently and taking the straw back between your lips. Maybe it was that you really wanted to move on, or the boy sounded quite pleasant, or you wanted to give love another chance.

Or maybe you just wanted to spite Mingyu because he was not introverted, polite, or respectful at all.

“He’s newly 24, really smart, and pretty fun when he wants to be. And get this, he’s a cinematography and film production major. Sexy nerd type shit.” Dahyun finished smugly, knowing that you were successfully drawn in by the description of this mystery boy. You had to admit, he sounded like your type. You were always a film enthusiast, not to mention a fan of a strong willed person. Plus, introverts were always a safe bet. They were less likely to cheat on you, unlike a certain extrovert.

The three girls waited in silent anticipation as you pondered the offer, eyes down on the sunny surface of the table and teeth gnawing against the already ruined straw. After making your decision, reluctant and almost certain this would turn out to be a horrible idea as your instincts told you, you looked up into three pairs of expectant and excited eyes.

“Alright,” you caved exasperatedly, and Chaeyoung squealed. “I’ll do it. But I can’t promise any dates after this one.” The trio practically launched themselves over the table in unison to wrap you into a big hug, and you were certain they would squeeze the life out of you if they held on any longer.

“You won’t regret it y/n! I promise.” Dahyun said happily, and you sighed. 

You were fairly certain that you were, in fact, going to very much regret it.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

You browsed the aisles upon aisles of condiments in your local mart, searching for your favorite brand of chili paste. You were craving comfort food tonight, and despite Jun doing most of the cooking between the two of you, you thought it was about time that you learned to make mapo tofu. Your mother had taught you many years before, and you wanted to capitalize on your youthful mind before that core memory completely slipped from your brain. You tossed a small bottle of sichuan peppercorns into the basket clutched in your hand, your thoughts wandering as music pumped through your headphones, the volume so loud it threatened to shake your brain inside your skull. You barely had a moment of peace in the grocery store before your headphones were yanked out, the trembling bass replaced by a soothing voice near your ear.

“What’re you buying?” You practically jumped, shivering at the sound of the voice so close to your face, feeling the breath of the voice’s owner on your cheek. You whipped around, ready to slap the shit out of whatever stranger with no concept of personal space had interrupted your peaceful trip to the mart, but let out a breath of relief at the sight of an annoyingly smug, yet familiar brunette.

“Christ Minghao, never do that again.” you snapped at him, turning around to resume grabbing the container of chilies that you had finally found. It was just out of your reach, just a few inches above the tips of your finger. Your tongue peeked out from the corner of your mouth as you struggled to reach for the troublesome square box, but you soon felt a warm hand rest on your shoulder, Minghao’s long arm reaching up to easily snatch the container from the shelf that had seemed so out of reach to you.

“Here you go, m’lady.” he said teasingly, bowing playfully to present the chili paste to you as though one might present a crown to a king. You rolled your eyes, taking the red paste out of his hand and tossing it into your basket without a second glance in his direction. “Aw, don’t ignore me, angel.” You were beginning to feel confused and, more prevalently, annoyed at the sudden use of your favorite pet name.

“What’re you doing here?” you asked, ignoring his whining, and he straightened up, trailing behind you as you made your way to the produce section, searching for scallions among the recesses of the greens section.

“I just dropped by to grab something for dinner.”

“God, just my luck.” you said with a deep exhale as you bent down to grab a properly sized bundle of your desired onions from the stacks of produce. “What are the odds of meeting you here for the same reason?”

“Maybe it was fated.” he said with a shrug, and you whirled to craned your neck to face him with furrowed eyebrows.

“Since when did you start saying weird stuff like that?”

“Since Mingyu punching me in the face wasn’t a possible repercussion of my actions anymore.” he shrugged, and you could feel your cheeks growing a little warm at his strange behavior. Had Minghao always looked at you so mischievously? Had he always watched you with stars in his eyes when you were simply completing mundane, daily tasks? You shook the odd thoughts out of your head, searching for a witty comeback to throw at him to damper his grin, and hopefully cover up your flaming face.

“Me punching you is still a very plausible repercussion, and as you can see, my fists are ready and available.” That seemed to do the trick until he recovered from the snarky remark, flashing a charming smile.

“Not with that basket in your arms.” he said, picking it up out of your hands and holding it in his own, and you noticed how hot his hands were when his skin came in contact briefly with your own. “I can take that off your hands.” You failed to give a response, immersing yourself in finding the right package of ginger to distract yourself. Minghao’s eyes traveled over the ingredients in your basket, and his eyes lit up with excitement when he realized what you would be making later that night. “Are you making mapo tofu for dinner?”

“I am.” you said in response, and he bounced contentedly.

“Excellent. I’ll bring stir fry.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” you said, pushing a hand in his face as you dropped a stem of fresh ginger into the basket clutched in his hands. “I only have the capacity to deal with one hyperactive male idiot today, and that’s my brother. I thought you were making dinner for yourself. ”

“I was going to. But it’s just so sweet of you to invite me over for dinner, how could I refuse?” he simpered pretentiously, and you scowled, letting out an exasperated breath as you gave up on trying to understand him.

“Alright, whatever. Come over if you want.” Minghao smiled in triumph at your response, following along behind you as you made your way to the cashier, pulling out your credit card from your wallet. You turned at the last moment before you approached the little conveyor belt to carry your basket to the register, pushing a finger so close to Minghao’s face it almost pressed against his nose. “That stir fry better have snow peas. And a generous amount of meat.” He grinned coyly, giving you a playful salute as you handed your card to the cashier.

“Yes ma’am.”

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

You simply could not believe that after practically a decade since you had met Minghao, he was still capable of convincing you he was a good cook. Tomato and eggs was among about three dishes, all of which were egg focused, that he could cook, and when he tried to cook anything else, it was a disaster waiting to happen. So when he told you he didn’t have time to cook the stir fry at home, you naturally excused it and told him to take a seat. 

You shouldn’t have let him convince you to let him help with dinner, but the heaps of groceries in the canvas bag he toted in his hand that he had brought in preparation made you feel bad. So you allowed him a third of the kitchen to make his silly little stir fry, which turned out to be more of a science experiment than anything.

“Minghao, stop.” you said for what had to be the sixteenth time that night, sighing as you took the knife away from his, careful not to cut yourself. “You do not need to cut the carrots that small.”

“They’re a choking hazard.” he argued, and you had to suppress the urge to smack him. What happened to the peaceful Minghao from yesterday? Because you desperately wanted him back. You pressed both of your hands to the small of his back, shoving hard and sending him out of the kitchen with one push.

“Stay out. Go play with Junhui or something.”

“Play? I’m not five.” he said sassily, and laughed under your breath as he stomped away petulantly to go find your brother, likely about to drag him into playing a video game or whatever they did when they were together. It seems that Minghao’s sympathetic ‘post-y/n-breakup period’ had passed quickly, and he had shifted into some kind of mix of flirtiness and consistent pain in the ass. He often would set his hands on your shoulder for just a second too long, or smile charmingly when you asked him a question he didn’t know the answer to, going as far as dropping a pick up line or two when your brother was out of earshot. He sure knew how to use his looks to convince you to do things. A mere few minutes after you had begun to cook peacefully, a voice startled you out of your culinary reverie.

“Y/n!” Jun yelled from the other room, and you rolled your eyes, checking the wok full of bubbling sauce to make sure it wouldn’t burn before abandoning Minghao’s butchered pile of carrot chunks that you had been attempting to repair and making your way to the hallway.

“What?!” you yelled back, head peeking into the hallway where your brother’s voice was coming from, and immediately sticking out your tongue at the sight you were confronted with. “Put a shirt on, you freak!” you yelled at your shirtless brother, who was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, one hand clutching the towel hanging around his waist and the other held out in front of him as he dashed through the hall.

“Y/n! Where’d my freaking purple shirt go? I’ve been looking for it for ten freaking minutes!” he yelled, and you appreciated how much of an effort he was making not to curse, despite sounding a bit silly in the process.

“How would I know?” you screeched in response, not daring to take a step into the hallway lest you see your brother naked and permanently traumatize yourself. He didn’t respond, too immersed in his own panic, and you assumed he had a date or something important happening that got him so worked up. Letting out a breath of exasperation, you entered the hall cautiously, faintly recalling that you had borrowed his lavender button up for a meeting with your friends, and you reluctantly made your way to your bedroom, praying to god that you didn’t incidentally walk past your brother finding clothes, or lack thereof.

You were surprised to see your bedroom door firmly shut, the white door pushed into its frame and a faint voice coming from behind it. You didn’t recall inviting anyone into your room, in fact, there was an explicit sign taped to the front of the white wood that stated “y/n’s room: keep out”. You pressed one of your ears against the door lightly, picking up traces of a conversation coming from a low voice, a conversation that was whispered in hushed tones and seemed very one sided.

“Alright. I said I’d do it.” a voice said exasperatedly, and you recognized it to be Minghao’s low cappuccino voice from behind the door, seemingly annoyed and speaking on the phone. “I’ll meet you tomorrow. Nothing stupid, okay?” He seemed somewhat satisfied with the answer coming from the receiver as he hung up the phone, opening the door and almost smashing into your head. You scrambled backwards, managing to make yourself look busy with something you had snatched from the bookshelf next to you, studying what you later realized was a snow globe. 

Minghao, one hand on the doorknob and another holding his phone, looked at you with wide eyes, surprise evident on his face from your sudden appearance. Shock melted into ostentation as he smirked, resting the hand that held his phone against the doorframe as he watched you panic, “Eavesdropping, are we?” You shook your head, looking up at him with an unconvincing indignation.

“Huh? No, what? I wasn’t.” you defended lamely, shaking your head and placing the snow globe back on the bookshelf. “What’re you doing in my room?”

“What, is it illegal to go into my best friend’s room?” he asked, and you crossed your arms, giving him a knowing look.

“You’re Junhui’s best friend, and I’m his little sister. He’d be pissed.” He shrugged, and you took notice of a lollipop he held between his pointer and middle finger, drooping from his hand like a cigarette before he brought the cherry red sucker to his lips and licked a stripe up the side. “Where’d you get the lollipop?” An idea seemed to pass through his mind as he tilted his head to the side, a smile coming across his face that signaled something bad was about to come out of his mouth.

“Your underwear drawer.” That was the last thing he said before you slapped the daylights out of him.

Jun had barely managed, shirtless and covered in water, to stop you from obliterating Minghao any further than you already had as the brunette boy stood, hand pressed to his reddening face, laughing like a madman.

Minghao’s stir fry was never actually completed, the long forgotten carrots abandoned on the cutting board, and you burnt the mapo tofu horribly, considering you had left it in the pan for almost 15 minutes without attending to it. The smell of incinerated tofu seemed to be permanently wafting through the little apartment, all windows open to relieve the home of the scorched smell, to no avail. Dinner, safe to say, was an absolute failure, which only resulted in a red faced Minghao and beyond “caramelized” sauce, but still. He made you laugh all night.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand your dynamic.” Jun said, chopsticks protruding from the corner of his mouth as he munched on a badly burnt piece of tofu. “You’re always at each other’s throats, yet you seem weirdly… serene isn’t the right word.”

“Maybe it is.” Minghao said, who had calmed himself once his adrenaline died down and he began to feel the actual sting from the abrasion on his face. “I think we’re pretty serene, wouldn’t you say?” Your brother seemed to give him a vaguely confused and suspicious look, but you ignored him, nodding around a mouthful of rice.

“I think I’d say so.” You gulped down your bite. “But I just slapped you in the face, so I don’t know if my word is reliable.” you coughed out, and Jun stood, pushing his chair in and jabbing a finger towards the hallway to signal his need for the bathroom.

“I didn’t mind, you know.” Hao said nonchalantly once Jun was out of view, resting an elbow on the table and cradling his head in his hand. You gave him a skeptical look, but he just stared back at you. It made you wonder, did he always have such eyes? Eyes that held an infinite galaxy behind them? Such inexplicable eyes. “If seeing that smile on your face means you have to slap me daily, I wouldn’t mind.”

“God, I don’t know what’s gotten into you.” your cheeks flamed.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

─

𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

It was either the pale yellow dress, or the white pantsuit. You were honestly having quite a hard time choosing, both seeming like the wrong option. 

Today was the day of your blind date, and rather than setting you up properly, Dahyun had chosen to pass your phone number to the menace Vernon himself, who told you the location and time through a drunken text last night at 2 am. Sufficient to say, you were not satisfied with the arrangement. 

However, you persisted, keeping your word, which led you here. To an hour-long struggle about which outfit to wear to the date that might be the saving grace needed to revive your love life, or might be a disaster.

“The yellow.” Junhui said, resting against the doorframe with his arms crossed tightly over his chest and his jaw set. He had been less than happy all yesterday once finding out about your sudden plans that interrupted weekly “sibling time” —Vernon planned the date for a very bad day— and you had been putting up with your petulant older brother all morning. He was especially cranky considering the bad outcome of his date three days previous, and the fact that the very boy who stole his new “potential girlfriend” was the one ruining his bonding time. “What’s Vernon Chwe got planned that’s so important it interrupts our time?” You rolled your eyes less than subtly.

“Jun, we have plans every week. One missed day of bonding time isn’t going to ruin our relationship.” He’s right. The yellow dress was the best choice. You picked up the dress as Jun turned around to let you change in privacy.

“Still, Vernon? Honestly.” he huffed, releasing his grip on his arms and letting them drop to his sides. You came out from the closet area, fully clothed, and he turned back around, wagging a warning finger at you. “Don’t stay out too late. And-”

“Don’t stay out late?” you scoffed, hands to your ear and adjusting the new earrings you had bought, two little white daisies with a delicate gold chain that dangled so long it almost touched your shoulder. “What am I, fifteen?”

“-And don’t let Mingyu know.” Jun finished, and your jaw tightened, hands dropping from your ear.

“I got it.” you said tensely. “Don’t worry about Mingyu. I don’t think he cares.”

“If you say so.” Junhui said with a little sigh, backing away from the door. “Have fun. I’m making dinner, if you make it back in time.”

“Alright, I’ll try.” you said, brushing off the dust from the skirt of your dress and running up to your brother quickly, planting a light kiss on his cheek as you snatched your purse from the handle of your door. “See you soon Jun!”

“Have a good time!” he called after you, watching as you slipped on your converse and ran out the door. As soon as the door closed and you were out of sight, his smile dropped, melting into a look of concern. “She’s not telling me something.” He mused, exhaling deeply and trying to shake off his worries as he went to the kitchen. Maybe cutting up some of the peaches from outside would make him feel better.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

You weren’t early. In fact, you were right on time, sitting at a little chestnut colored table in the corner of the cafe, strumming your fingers across the wooden surface with an expectant look on your face. It was 5:30, and the cafe wasn’t rather busy yet, considering that it was far from campus and the students were busy at the nearby, always crowded boba shop. The nice location was one thing you thanked Vernon for, you supposed. You glanced down at the watch on your wrist. It was Jun's, and your brother had insisted you bring it with you in case your phone died, which was unlikely, but you appreciated the thought. The face now read 5:45, and you let out a little sigh. 

No, it wasn’t that you were early. It was that your date was late.

“My apologies for the tardiness.” a voice said from behind you, and you let out a shaky exhale at the sudden startle. The voice sounded oddly familiar, but by the time you turned to see who it was, they were gone, a rustling sound now coming from across you. The sight you were met with when you turned around was hardly something you could have expected, in fact, it was likely the last person you thought you would see.

“Minghao?” you asked in utter disbelief, and the boy only smiled, leaning his head on his upturned palm, elbow resting on the table.

“Hello, y/n.”

“You don’t seem surprised to see me.”

“I could recognize you anywhere, even if it’s just the back of your head.” he smiled, and you rolled your eyes, a smile creeping onto your face despite your annoyance. “Vernon’s a pretty bad planner, isn’t he?”

“I thought he knew we knew each other.” you said with a small chuckle. “If I knew Vernon was setting me up with you, I never would’ve come.” A pout came across the older boy’s face as he leaned back in his seat.

“Oh, y/n. That wounds me.” he feigned insult, pressing his hand over his heart dramatically, and you clicked your tongue.

“Like you wouldn’t have skipped out yourself if you knew.” you scoffed, and he shook his head seriously, the beginning of a smirk creeping onto his lips.

“I still would’ve come.” Your cheeks warmed up slightly at his nonchalant comment. Lately, it felt like you were blushing around him a lot more than usual.

“Right.” you brushed off his comment and cleared his throat, hoping he assumed you were unaffected and didn’t notice the flustered look on your face. “You think Vernon knows I’m Jun’s sister?” 

“Likely not. Vernon’s a little innocent at times, some say clueless.” Minghao sat up straight as the waiter dropped by, placing two coffees on the table and a pastry.

“Odd. I didn’t order anything.” Minghao picked at the pastry, inspecting the filling and sighing disappointedly when he discovered it was apple.

“Maybe fate knew we needed some coffee to get us through the day,” he joked. You nodded in agreement, picking up your cup of much-needed caffeine in a toast before bringing it to your lips and taking a long sip of the rejuvenating liquid. Minghao did the same, eyes drifting to the front counter of the cafe and laughing under his breath at something he saw. While he seemed distracted, you took the chance to silently address him properly, shamelessly looking him up and down. 

He dressed up. Minghao was never one to be caught wearing anything less than fabulous, but he seemed to have dressed to impress more than usual, wearing a pair of khaki pants, a long sleeve white blouse, a large light brown coat, a beret and– were those suspenders? You had never seen him looking so refined and, well, beautiful. But all you could think of was how the poor boy must be sweltering under all the layers. 

“I didn’t think I looked that good.” he said, and you brought your eyes back up to his face only to see a shit-eating grin across his lips. “But judging by your expression I assume I made the right choice on what to wear.” You covered your mouth, hoping your horror at being caught wasn’t conveyed obviously on your face, but judging by how his smile only widened, your cheeks were probably flaming.

“Don’t be so full of yourself.” you countered lamely.

“Don’t worry, angel. You’re the most stunning one here today.” Great. You think your face just got even warmer. You only chuckled awkwardly in response.

“What’s got you so flirty lately?” you asked, laughing nervously.

“Your lack of a boyfriend, I suppose.” he said, resting his chin on his fist. Was this how it was supposed to be, then? Was Minghao always going to be this way, and Mingyu was just in the way? Maybe it didn’t seem like a big deal, but it made your head hurt just thinking about it, so you decided not to.

“Right.” you said quietly, and Minghao seemed to notice your change in attitude, quickly composing himself and shifting away from his previous playful demeanor. A few moments of silence passed between the two of you as you picked uselessly at the uneaten pastry in the middle of the table, your coffee growing cold.

“You wanna know something?” he asked, finally breaking the silence, and you looked up to meet his eyes. “I think Vernon is shit at planning a date.” This finally elicited a giggle from you, and Minghao stood, pushing in his chair and nodding his head for you to follow him. “You wanna get out of here?”

“You read my mind.” you laughed, grabbing your purse hanging from the back of the chair and pulling it onto your shoulder. Minghao offered his hand, and you hesitated to take it, hands waiting nervously at your sides. “Is the coffee paid for?” You saw Minghao look over to the counter, and you swore you could’ve seen him send a wink to a particularly familiar cafe worker before he turned back to you.

“Doesn’t matter. They can’t catch us if we run.” 

“Xu Minghao, you are a bad influence.” you suppressed a smile, finally taking his hand and allowing him to lead you out of the cafe as he beamed.

Neither of you had a particular place in mind to go. Minghao lived over thirty minutes by car away from the inconveniently placed cafe, a two hour commute on foot, and it made no sense to walk there only to grab his car and drive to another location. Your car was unfortunately being fixed by a friend of yours, Seungcheol, who had promised it would be done multiple days ago, but it unfortunately turned out to be an empty promise. So, the two of you merely walked around town together, Minghao’s hands in his pockets and yours strangely itching to hold his.

“So, your love life has been boring I’m going to assume.” he said, pulling off his topmost layer, the burdensome coat, and unbuttoning the top of his shirt, letting out a breath of relief once he felt the wind on his exposed neck.

“That’s a silly question.” you laughed scornfully under your breath. “You know it has been. Especially since the breakup.” He nodded, avoiding your gaze. “What about you, Hao? I would’ve thought you’d be good with the ladies. I have an excuse for wanting to go on a blind date, but you don’t.” He clicked his tongue, looking at his shoes as the two of you wandered to nowhere in particular. Minghao seemed to ponder this statement for quite a while, no response coming from him as he thought, staring out at the sun and the way it was beginning to set in the sky, sending streaks of pinks and orange through the previously blue horizon.

“I’ve had someone in my heart for a while. I thought going on a date might help me get over her.” At his words, you looked up with surprise evident on your face, which quickly transformed into pure delight.

“Oo, Minghao’s in love?” you asked teasingly, and he further avoided meeting your eyes, kicking at a pebble lying on the pavement. “Oh, come on, Hao. You have to tell me who it is.” When he finally made eye contact, you noticed the bittersweet look in his eyes, how he watched you with disdain, before biting his lip and looking away again, distracting himself with another pebble found on the floor.

“You don’t want to know.” he said, and you knew to leave it alone, which you did. 

The silence held a tension that had never been present between you and him. You and Minghao always had somewhat of a comfortable aura when you were together, whether you were bantering, cooking, studying, or trading secrets on the couch at 2 am while Junhui was still asleep. But today, something was different. 

Something felt strange as the sun set in the sky, and with every inch that the star dipped down below the horizon, the urge to hold his hand only grew stronger, but you attempted to banish the thought from your head. You gulped, hoping it might satiate the burning feeling in your stomach, but it did nothing. 

A few seconds that felt like an eternity passed before you finally mustered up the courage to hold out your hand, which he looked at dully, not seeming to quite understand what you were asking for. 

“What?”

“Hold my hand.” It sounded like a demand rather than a question, and he widened his eyes, taken aback by the sudden offer. Neither of you quite realized that you both had stopped walking, your hand unwavering and hovering between the two of you, Minghao’s still firmly tucked into his pockets. “Hao. Hold my hand.” After a moment, realization creeped across his face, and he chuckled, placing his hand in yours and intertwining your fingers. His skin was soft, just the faintest bit of sweat across his palm, and you could smell the sweet fragrance of his hand lotion.

“Thanks, angel. I needed that.” You suppressed a smile at the pet name. He seemed to have developed a fondness for it, and you couldn’t help but find it a little cute.

After a moment of thinking, you shook your head, attempting to rid yourself of these sudden thoughts. This was Minghao. The idiot who forgot to pick up a licenseless 17 year old Jun from kung fu practice and left the boy to cry by himself in front of a 7/11. The boy who stayed up watching movies with you until three in the morning when you got rejected by Yoon Jeonghan in front of the entire school, the boy who drove halfway across town to get you takeout from your favorite restaurant while you had nasty cramps, the boy who took you out to prom when you were stood up, the boy that taught you wushu after a girl at school beat you in a fistfight, and helped kick her and her boyfriend’s ass when they wanted a rematch. The boy that was always there for you and – shit, now you’re blushing again.

“You ok?” he asked, leaning down to get a better look at your face. “Your hand is warm. Are you sick?” He smiled wolfishly. “Or is that just my effect on you?”

“You never stop.” you scoffed under your breath, and he laughed in response, squeezing your hand comfortingly. “Confidence is attractive, but there’s a thin line between that and arrogance, you know.”

“You love it.” he said, facing the sky.

“Yeah. Maybe I do.” you snapped back, and he coughed on his own saliva, which elicited a giggle, making him whirl to face you with an embarrassed look on his face. “What? Are you the only one allowed to drop snarky one-liners?”

“Wen y/n, when I get my hands on you-”

“You already have them on me.” you said back, and he stuttered, attempting to formulate a witty response. You took advantage of his silence, changing the topic as something large and sparkling entered your peripheral vision. “Oh look, a diner!” you exclaimed excitedly, letting go of his hand to run up the driveway of a cute restaurant, decorated like it just came out of the fifties. When Minghao didn’t follow, you turned back to beckon him forward with a wide smile on your face. “Come on!”

“Coming, coming.” he said with a sigh, tucking his lonely hand back into his pocket and trudging up the concrete driveway.

He really didn’t want you to let go of his hand yet.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

─

𝐢𝐯. 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

The sun had fallen far past the horizon by the time you were seated in the cushy crimson leather booth, and it made you wonder how time could fly by so fast. It seemed as though a mere hour before it was only 5:3o.

“Hello.” a sweet looking young man said, approaching your table with a pad of paper in his hand and a pink apron tied around his waist, straws and plastic forks tucked into the gaping pockets. With his free hand, he set down two opaque plastic glasses on the table, filled to the brim with ice cold water and a red straw dangling from the side. “My name is Wonwoo, and I’ll be your server for today.” You both gave him a nod of acknowledgement and he flashed a smile that seemed sent straight from the heavens, pearly whites all displayed in a row. “What can I get for you guys tonight?” You could’ve sworn that Minghao had scooted closer from his position when you first sat down, his thigh lightly pressing against yours, your exposed skin hitting the soft fabric of his tan pants, and you inched away to put some space between you, hoping he wasn’t close enough to hear your erratic heartbeat.

“You want food?” Minghao turned and asked nonchalantly, and you nodded, already feeling your stomach rumbling in protest of your lack of lunch. He turned back to the server, clearing his throat as his eyes scanned the menu. “One American style cheeseburger, and one chicken sandwich, with light sauce and no onions, please.” You grinned subtly at the fact that he remembered your food preferences.

“No problem.” Wonwoo muttered under his breath, hastily writing down your order, the pen cap perched between his teeth as he scrawled. He removed the cap from his lips, twirling it between his fingers as he looked up again, eyes searching between the two of you. “Any drinks with that? Something for the lady?” Minghao didn’t miss the way the older boy’s eyes scanned you, subtly attempting to look you up and down with his peripherals and grinning when your eyes met his. You were surprised at the sweet looking smile the angelic boy sent you when you looked up, and you smiled back in response. Minghao, on the other hand, scowled insecurely and draped his arm across the back of the seats, his sleeve rolled up and the bare, hot skin of his lower arms mere centimeters away from the back of your neck. 

“You want a drink?” he asked, leaning in, and your face flushed, nodding as you attempted to hide behind your menu. “Sure, we’ll take a strawberry milkshake.” Minghao held up two fingers as he challenged the waiter with his eyes alone. “Two straws, please.” Wonwoo coughed awkwardly, making sure to note it down on his paper.

“Of course,” he said politely. “Will that be all?” When Minghao nodded in confirmation, he gathered the menus in one sweep before turning and walking away stiffly. Minghao laughed under his breath, and you rolled your eyes.

“Was that really necessary?”

“Of course it was.” Now that the tension had dissipated and the server was far away from your table, you expected him to move away, but he simply moved his arm a bit closer, using his free hand to tuck a strand of flyaway hair behind your ear. 

He was close, much too close. He was close enough that you could detect the subtle scent of his sweet cologne, feel the silkiness of his blouse on your arm and see every detail in his bright, brown eyes. A few strands of his hazelnut hair dangled in front of his eyes, and you resisted the urge to brush them away. Before you could act on the feeling, he reached up to push his hair away himself, and you cleared your throat to ease the scratchy feeling in your esophagus. 

You couldn’t tear your eyes off of him. You couldn’t recall a time you had felt like this before, nervous and sweating, yet so content to simply sit and watch as he brushed a spot of dust off of his clean blouse. A warm feeling crept into your stomach, and you weren’t sure where it was coming from, but you desperately wanted it to go away. 

“Something the matter?” Minghao said with concern, seeming to have noticed the way your brows had furrowed and your lower lip was tugged between your teeth.

“Nothing at all.” you dismissed, and he nodded skeptically in response.

“I’m sorry.” he said suddenly, the abrupt apology surprising you. “I know this probably wasn’t the date you were imagining. After your breakup, I’m sure the last thing you needed was to be matched up with me…” he trailed off, avoiding your gaze as he looked out the window, chin resting on his hand.

“No, that’s not it at all.” a quiet sigh escaped your lips, and he turned back to you with glassy and unblinking eyes. “I had a nice time today. If anything, I’m glad it was you.” His eyes widened at that, smile lines appearing slightly in his cheeks as his lips spread in excitement.

“You mean that?”

“Of course. You’re my best friend, after all.” He chuckled in response, pushing a strand of flyaway hair behind his ear.

“Of course.” That same silence washed over you again, its hands gripping tightly around your throat and choking out all the words you wanted to say. 

The sun was already low in the sky, the streaks of pink and orange that had painted the horizon melting into a soothing navy blue, stars freckling across the heavens like flickers of white paint. It was a cool night, the soft breeze filtering through the leaves of the trees, sending petals of the newly blooming cherry blossoms down the street.

It was a nice night. Too nice to be spent in silence. 

Just as you were about to break the tension by speaking, a presence burst through the front door of the diner, tired, disheveled, and clearly upset.

“Xu Minghao!” he yelled, disturbing the customers, and you couldn’t tell if it was sadness or anger that was laced in his voice. He stomped over to your table, putting a large hand down on the marble counter with a frown, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. “You didn’t pay for that croissant, you asshole.”

“You gave me apple.” Minghao said, tucking the straw of his water in between his lips and taking a small sip with satisfaction. “I don’t pay for things I didn’t order.” Vernon stumbled over his words, blowing out a frustrated breath as he settled on no response. You took note of his uniform, an extremely familiar tan apron around his waist, a black, chalkboard name tag dangling from the right strap that clearly read “Jihoon”, which was certainly not his name. It suddenly dawned on you where you had seen it before, and you pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“You were working at the cafe!” you said, mouth gaping as Vernon only gave you a sheepish grin in return to your exclamation. You turned to your brunette companion who was sipping on water, an amused smile dancing across his face. “Was this your doing? I knew I saw you smile towards the front earlier!”

“I didn’t do anything, angel.” Minghao said, raising his hands in supposed innocence. “Ask the little doorway creep why he was following us, not me.” Vernon pointed to himself, wondering if he was the alleged ‘doorway creep’ your date had mentioned, and you put up a defensive hand in front of him out of pity for the poor, thoroughly disoriented boy.

“Hey, at least he tried. You have to give him props for finally getting you to go on a date. You’re gathering dust at this point.” you fired back, and Minghao smiled in acknowledgement and surrender, seemingly giving up on the banter. Vernon watched the two of you go back and forth suspiciously, a hand rubbing at his chin thoughtfully as he listened to your exchange.

“You seem like you know each other.” he said slowly, and Minghao sighed.

“Vernon,” he said, cupping your chin with one of his hands, which you found to be very soft and warm, and smelling significantly of strawberries. “Meet Wen Y/n. Junhui’s sister.” Realization creeped onto Vernon’s face as his eyes widened, confusion evident in the young boy’s expression. 

“Oh shit. You’re Mingyu’s ex.” he cursed, and you tensed up at the mention of your previous boyfriend. “Dahyun didn’t tell me you were that y/n.”

“How many y/ns could there possibly be in our school?” you scoffed, and your brunette companion laughed under his breath, covering it up with a cough. It really wasn’t Vernon’s fault he could be painfully oblivious at times, both of you knew that.

“A few, I guess.” he shrugged, tucking the apron under his arm. “Sorry about that. You must know each other pretty well then, if you really are Junhui’s sister.”

“I’ve known this nerdy brat since she played with trucks and her baby teeth were still growing in. Voluntarily or not, I know everything there is to know about her.” You slapped him on the arm, and he winced with a little frown on his plump lips. “What? Am I wrong?”

“Yeah, well you were still in your Power Rangers phase when I met you. I wasn’t the only nerd.” you bit back, and his eyes widened in betrayal.

“Hey, that information was told to you in confidence!”

“It’s not my fault you were 11 and still liked men and women who danced around in rainbow suits fighting evil.” Despite your bickering, you both looked rather amused with the conversation, fully immersed in finding the perfect diss for your inner 6th grade selves as Vernon watched you with a subtle little smile.

“Yellow is the best of the rangers, easily. She was such a badass.”

“You’re full of shit.” Minghao huffed, arms crossed as he contemplated your suggestion, firmly disagreeing. “Green is the obviously coolest one. Did you see his suit? He has a whole golden breastplate.”

“That’s not a breastplate, Minghao.”

“What’s it called then, genius?”

“Sorry, I’m not exactly a connoisseur of technical terms when it comes to power ranger suits. But if you find one of those, let me know.”

“You guys are a cute couple.” Both of you halted your argument immediately to turn to the younger boy with vehement shock and embarrassment obvious on your faces, which were growing redder by the minute.

“What did you say?” Minghao scoffed, a nervous type of scoff that revealed how caught off guard he was by his trembling voice and hot face, which was progressively getting warmer. You looked equally flustered, frozen in your spot and rooted to the seat of the sleek leather like it was the only thing keeping you grounded. Vernon, however, seemed to see nothing out of the blue with his statement.

“You guys are a cute couple-” he repeated densely, and Hao waved him off.

“Yeah, I heard what you said.”

“Then why’d you ask me to repeat it?” Vernon questioned with furrowed eyebrows, and you both ignored him, coughing and readjusting in your seats.

“Go home, Vernon. I’ll comp you the money later.” The younger of the two boys seemed awfully confused by his sudden dismissal, but he obeyed and left the diner with a promise of being returned his lost money. However, even after his exit, the tension between the two of you remained.

You had never thought of being anything more than friends with Minghao. Sure, he was beautiful and arguably understood you better than anyone else, but he was also your brother’s best friend, and classmate of your boyfriend at the time. 

He was always off limits, whether being guarded by Junhui, Mingyu, or simply your own conscience telling you that he wasn’t right for you, that it could only end up poorly and possibly destroy the fragile and wonderful relationship that you had spent over a decade building. It wasn’t worth it, you always told yourself, and you never thought you could imagine him as anything more than plain old Minghao.

But Vernon Chwe calling you a cute couple suddenly filled your mind with ideas. Bad ones that could lead to dangerous feelings and even more dangerous consequences.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

[pixelbytesquad]

Unity AU: Some lore

Welcome to my "least bakugan-like" Bakugan AU

Okay, this AU is kind of removed from what bakugan was originally (marbles becoming into beasts + the  fight for Vestroia), this is basically importing the bakugan characters into personal lore I made for an old story of mine (The “Funkinverse”, which initially started as an FNF multiverse but slowly drifted into something original-ish) and creating something different.

The basics of this AU

Bakugans are classed as “monsters”

There’s no Vestroia, so bakugans live on Earth, Vestal, Neathia and Gundalia. Bakugans are “core-beings” that always have a monster-like appearance and are tied to one element. While being classed as monsters, not all bakugans are ferocious beasts ready to strike, most of them can be great friends and companions to other “core-beings” (these being humans, vestals, neathians and gundalians).

However, the conflict on earth is started when the current “Order of Bakugans” tries to take over Earth and the humans.

Orders

Orders are like, the deities, the leaders of a universe. Earth has 2, Neathia and Gundalia each got 1, meanwhile Vestal has none. Since in my lore, Orders can’t be humans or humanoids,  that means in this, only Bakugans can be Orders.

Orders aren’t immortal, however, they do have extended life spans compared to ordinary bakugans.

Cores

Cores are heart shaped magic vials. Almost everyone possesses a core. Anyone who has a core can use magic, however, magic isn’t something easy to learn for everyone, for example, humans have a harder time learning it, and aren’t capable of performing complex abilities, like altering their own bodies.

A core keeps a person alive. If a person dies of old  age, sickness or any other method, the core breaks. However, it is possible to die due to core/magic complications as well. When a core breaks, a spirit emerges from it, this spirit has the same color as the core, and the spirit also takes the appearance of the deceased person.

Encores are cores that went through change due to magic. There isn’t one single way to get one. The main common one is to master magic. However, sometimes even just using a magic  ability once can trigger this change. If you have an encore, that means you’ll have a higher boost of magic energy inside you, you’ll be able to use magic more easily and also be able to use more advance magic abilities, but there may still be limits depending on what you are (humans can still not do things like altering their bodies drastically). When an encore happens, the person may have a different feeling, like they’re getting stronger suddenly or that they’re about to die.

Magic/Elements

This one will be fun, since I plan to split magic abilities/elements based on the 6 attributes from bakugan (Pyrus, Aquos, Ventus, Subterra, Haos and Darkus). 

Each Bakugan is tied to 1 attribute, meaning they can only perform magic from said attribute (For example, a Pyrus bakugan can’t cast a Haos ability). There are exceptions, when a bakugan is dual attribute or has the ability to switch to attributes.

In the case of being able to switch abilities, they’ll only be able to access the abilities of the attribute they switched to, the prior attribute’s abilities being locked until they return to said attribute.

Bakugans are also creatures that have higher magical matter than physical matter, meaning they can easily perform complicated abilities, as well as getting energy from other sources other than sleeping/eating. (For example, the sunlight for Haos bakugans)

Humans have a high physical matter and low magical matter. They can still perform magic due to having a core, but it’s much harder to learn. Humans nowadays don’t really bother with magic, not even telling the next generations about it, because it’s not something easy to do.

Vestals on the other hand, while on the surface they look closer to humans, you’d assume it would be the same story. Vestals have a higher magical matter than physical, meaning they’re more easily equipped to handle magic. In fact, vestals are ‘built’ in a way that they require to get their energy through the ‘magic’ way. However, due to the royal family trying to break the bond between vestals and bakugans, they also try to break the bond with magic. Vestals quickly became technologically advanced, but there’s still some issues. If a human is usually asleep for 8-9, that’s how much a Vestal is awake, they also require more food. This is not enough to keep their bodies working. Surprisingly, children seem to not have this issue, as they still have plenty of energy, however, as they grow, they start to lose that energy.

I still need to think of something for  Gundalians and Neathians, but I don’t really have anything in mind for now.

Fragmentation

This AU is more or less a small multiverse system. It started with 1 universe, which eventually splits into two. These two universes split further into two universes. In the first split, each universe got 2 Orders. However, in the second split,  only one of the new pairs got an even split of Orders (1 per universe, these being Gundalia and Neathia), meanwhile, the second pair, one universe got 2 while the other got none.

The Orders on Neathia and Gundalia aren’t really tasked with a specific role, they just watch the universes and try to protect the inhabitants.

Meanwhile, on Earth, since there are 2 Orders, one is tasked to handle the humans, while the other is tasked with handling the bakugans.

These are just some bits of information, I still need to work on the story proper (I mainly think about the Vestal portion, and while I need to write that down, I also need to start to properly work on the Earth portion and then the Neathian-Gundalian portion).

Also a funny bit- a funny overlap since I'm importing "Orders" in here, and Bakugan in canon has a group called "The 12 Orders"... honestly I think it would be funny if I kept that name, Barodius and co thinking they're gods lol

So this is all for now. I will eventually do posts about certain characters (I plan to do one for Mirage and the Resistance soon, but then I’ll try to get the Brawlers themselves doone too), but for now, this is just some starter info.

[umichenginabroad]

Stockholm Week 15: Already Time for Austria! 

My time in Europe is running out and I am trying to make the most of it. 

Welcome to Jiwoo’s blog. This week’s main attraction is Vienna (or Wien), Austria! 

However, before leaving for Austria, I enjoyed a new experience in Stockholm.  

4/24 Wed: The ABBA Museum

Our Glued to the Screen: TV Film course voted on the location of our field study  last week. The winner was the ABBA museum! 

Did you know that ABBA, who sang hits like Dancing Queen, was a Swedish  supergroup? To be honest, I did not know until I came to Sweden. Surprisingly many companies and groups are Swedish and I had no clue! Top examples I can think of right now are Spotify, IKEA, H&M, ABBA, Roxette, and Ace of Base. 

I knew the museum was popular but it was on the more expensive side so I never visited before. This was a perfect excursion for me! 

There were various interactive activities and photo spots such as karaoke rooms, dance stages with ABBA members, and places with phone stands for selfies (very convenient)! 

I was the fifth member of ABBA for an hour   

The ABBA museum is in Djurgården, an island that is rather far from everywhere. Since I was there already, I made it a whole trip by checking out Rosendals garden as well! 

It has been on my places-to-visit list for a while due to its flower gardens and cafes. 

I saw a wide variety of beautiful flowers, which momentarily healed my soul. I strongly encourage the gift shops too! 

I wanted to live here

On the way to a meeting, I saw the cherry blossoms that were starting to bloom now. I’m planning on visiting them when I return from Austria! 

There weren’t in full bloom yet but I think they are now! 

My partner and I met at illycaffe to practice our Swedish oral exam. The cafe had a relaxing, studious atmosphere but the wifi was a bit janky so we had to move around in the cafe.     

4/26 Fri: First Day in Austria!

Finally, the day of our flight to Austria. As soon as I finished my last class of the day, I headed to the airport. 

After flying for two hours, we arrived in Vienna! The first view of Vienna from the airport was unexpectedly so green, which made me helplessly fall in love with Vienna. 

The sun was going down when we arrived; soon, darkness covered the sky.  

Airbnb was our first destination, then the city center for dinner and touristy things. We devoured dim sum for dinner at this really good Chinese restaurant called Hao Han. After we got satiated, we walked around the innere stadt. Even at night, the palaces and statues were beautiful. We walked around quite a bit until our legs failed us.

You can find a few stars in the photo too!

4/27 Sat: Schönbrunn Palace

We started the morning early by leaving at 9 am since we did not want to waste any time that could be used to travel. 

My roommate started her day extra early by leaving for Prague at 4 am. My friend and I, who stayed in Vienna, went to a flea market. I didn’t buy any clothes or accessories there, but I bought a small digital camera that I have been craving for a few months now! 

After a small pastry and lunch break, we traveled to The Schönbrunn Palace. The place was HUGE. My friend and I decided not to go into the palace due to time constraints; we were glad of this choice because just walking around the free gardens, fountains, and viewpoints took us over three hours. 

The parks were free to enter yet extremely well managed and decorated -- we talked about how we would come here every single day to stroll around or read a book under the sun if we had studied abroad here. 

We went thrifting for an hour after our excursion, but couldn’t find anything that caught our eye. Stockholm has better thrift stores in my opinion! 

We called it a day after getting dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. Our legs were about to fall off and we had work to do :( 

Unlike our original plan of going back to Airbnb and working on our projects and presentations right away, we took a nap for an hour before getting everything started.

4/28 Sun: Prater Amusement Park, Albertina Museum, Austrian National Library, St. Peter’s Church 

I couldn’t pass by a hotdog stand in Vienna, so I got a classical Vienna hotdog for breakfast. The sausage came wrapped in a carved baguette! The bread was softer than I thought it’d be and the sausage was better than I expected :)  

Since we ate breakfast, it was time for dessert. We met up with my roomie at Cafe Demel, a popular cafe known for authentic Austrian desserts.

After lining up for thirty minutes, we got in and ordered sachertorte (a dark chocolate cake with apricot jam and icing, served with whipped cream) and kaiserschmarrn (bite-sized caramelized scrambled pancake with powdered sugar served with sour apple sauce).

It was such a good combi, a rich dark chocolate cake paired with savory pancakes and sour apple jam.

The souvenir store downstairs was also cute but pricey. 

For lunch, I went to Prater amusement park to meet my high school friend who is currently studying abroad in Vienna. It was so funny because I am going to meet her again next week on a trip to Italy. We are meeting more often in Europe than in the United States, and that was funny to us. 

As risk-taking adults, we invested some money into claw machines. And the best part: WE ACTUALLY GOT ONE! High risk high return  ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ 

Talented pookies right here

And with that adrenaline, we decided to go on a ride with five loopy loops. Why? I’m not sure because the moment we got on the line we were shivering with fear. 

FIVE WHOLE 360s

As proper grown-ups, we came out in one whole piece without crying. With our jittery legs and spinning vision, we somehow managed to walk towards the archery game stop and popped some balloons too (I popped one out of five balloons!!!). I had to say goodbye to my friend after that because the museums closed early, but it was definitely a core memory. 

I was a busy gal that day! I speed-walked to the train station to go to the Albertina Museum. I was debating between the Belvedere museum (has Klimt’s Kiss), but decided that I wanted to see more of Monet’s paintings. I found other pieces of artwork that I cherished on top of Monet’s artworks. I call that a win! 

I discovered during my study abroad that I love impressionism and still art!!! My favorite is Monet so far if you couldn't tell 

The souvenir shop had an assorted collection of goods made out of popular artworks -- I ended up purchasing several coasters and postcards :) 

Buildings right outside the museum

Without delay, I moved on to State Hall in the Austrian National Library.

Unlike other libraries, it had an entrance fee of 7.50 euros (student price). However, it was worth it. It was a mix of museum and cathedral with a hint of palace. In short, it was stunning and breathtaking.

People for scale

There isn’t any place to study because there are no tables, but other parts of the library might have had study spots. 

The ceiling was the final blow for me -- I was awestruck

At last, we went to a famous restaurant with authentic Austrian food. We got there without reservation but they were kind enough to provide a table for us. We got Pork Schnitzel (~thin katsu), Beef Goulash (~beef stew), and potato salad. The combination of those three dishes was amazing - the potatoes surprisingly went well with both main dishes, allowing us to eat every little piece on the plates. 

Our final destination in Vienna was a string concert at St. Peter’s church. For a little over an hour, we heard a true harmony of Classic Ensemble Vienna playing a series of songs by Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart. 

The concert sparked my desire to play the violin again!

Overall, my trip to Vienna was wonderful! The weather was perfect, the food was amazing, and the attractions were gorgeous. I would 10/10 recommend a weekend trip to Vienna for studying abroad students! 

Next week is when my Milan and Florence trip begins. Come back to see what I am up to in Italy! 

Danke, 

Jiwoo Kim

Chemical Engineering

DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden

[ohhmydyosfics]

(Haobin) Disconnected

Teaching Assistant: Hello! Welcome to HIST 125! This is your Intro to World History class! I will be your TA for the semester, Sung Hanbin! Our first class will begin on Monday and we will be learning about early civilizations. Please remember to be in room 3021 at 3 pm! I hope to see you all there :)

Zhang Hao: what kinda calculator will i need for this class

Teaching Assistant: ?

Teaching Assistant: None ?

[allieswithbenefits]

hey thanks for the program! i noticed it doesn't work very well with screen readers so I made a .txt file version that'll be accessible to screen reader users. i hope y'all are okay with that and i hope this is helpful to some other folks as well!

i'll put the plain text of the program under the cut (since it'll get cut off anyway) but here is a link in case that's anyone's preference: https://textdoc.co/6SvqcI5aMkelxf7p. i couldn't attach the actual txt file rip

the text is the same as in the original program file plus a few explanations of things that aren't as clear without the visual help of the formatting. there's also an image description for the absolutely epic linocut on the program!

Ghost Story Program

About the Show

Two love stories between Chinese American and Polish American men haunt the same Montana ranch house — one century apart. As past and present intertwine, the lovers confront long-held fears in their quest to determine if they love one another for the right reasons.

Ghost Story is a new musical exploring queer interethnic intimacies between working-class immigrants in the early Mountain West, as well as the complicated racial past of modern gay relationships. Through a story about love, culture, and identity, the show asks: In making meaning from the overwhelming tragedies of queer history, how do we balance seeking truth and beauty?

This presentation includes mature language and some mature themes.

Musical Numbers This section lists the song name, the characters who sing it, and a brief description of the events of the song. The footnotes are marked as [footnote 1-4] and the text of the footnotes is in the next section.

There’s a House Anthony, Hao, Joey, Józef The characters welcome us to the house – new to Hao and Józef, a hundred years old to Joey and Anthony – where the musical takes place.

Sheep in Wolf Country Anthony, Hao, Joey, Józef Recounting their journeys to Montana, each character feels out-of-place in their new home, and afraid of one another.

Montana Joey Joey, a PhD candidate in 2022, researches Józef, his great-grandfather, for his dissertation. [footnote 1]

Your Face Hao, Józef In 1882, ranch hands Hao and Józef fall in love.

Good Enough Anthony, Joey, Hao, Józef Anthony and Joey recount the first time they met, in a gay bar in New York City.

Don’t Die Wondering Hao, Józef Józef attempts to convince Hao to leave the ranch and move to Butte with him. [footnote 2]

If We Met Up Again Anthony Anthony reflects on his relationship with his ex-boyfriend, Garrett.

I Don’t Know You Anymore Hao After Joey and Józef switch places, Hao can sense something is wrong.

I Breathe In, You Breathe Out Anthony, Hao Hao attempts to summon Józef back by recounting his memories with him. [footnote 3]

The Ballad of Jimmy July ��� Anthony Anthony reflects on a figure from Butte’s past. [footnote 4]

Footnotes

Footnote 1: This song was inspired by our studies of old Montana country songs and our notes from the road trip we took to Montana. Footnote 2: This song was inspired by our research on Polish farmers around Billings in 1914 and the tension between Montana labor unions and Chinese immigrants in the 1880s. Footnote 3: This song was inspired by our research on Chinese-American immigrants and their experiences in early Butte at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives. Footnote 4: This song was inspired by our research at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, drawing on the colorful accounts of Jimmy July in newspapers from 1894-1912.

Production Team

Director: Jackie Vetter Music Director: Frankee Angel Writers: Mel Hornyak & Elliot Valentine (Melliot) See more of our work at melliotwrites.com!

Music Assistance by Rori Andersch-Jamieson Stage Directions by Essynce Nixon

Special Thanks to Open AIR Montana, The Historic Clark Chateau, and our Kickstarter backers for making this reading possible!

Actors The character name is followed by the actor name for each of these.

Anthony Tian: Seung Choi Joey Pulaski: Lana Gaige Haowen “Hao” Yang: Elliot Valentine Józef Pulaski: Mel Hornyak

Character List

Anthony Tian: A cis Chinese-American immigrant in 2022, recently engaged to Joey. Joey Pulaski: A trans man of Polish descent in 2022, recently engaged to Anthony. Haowen Yang: A trans Chinese immigrant in 1882. A ranch hand who is sharing a room with Józef. Józef Pulaski: A cis Polish immigrant in 1882. Sharing a room with Hao. Joey's great-grandfather.

At the bottom of the page is a black-and-white linocut of a house made of long wooden planks. The house is on dark grass and loose planks are blowing off its roof and away into the sky. There are four silhouetted figures inside the house: two hold each other in the doorway and the other two seem to stare at each other from across the room.

hello again! submitting for a friend without tumblr :)

Hi hi!! Question, I have some issues processing information which makes viewing some media hard and so I have been having trouble piecing together the whole plot for Ghost Story by watching the concert. I was wondering if there were any plans on your guys’s end to put out a sort of full synopsis? Thank you much!!

Your friend may find the show program, which includes summaries of what happens in each song, helpful! There are also subtitles on the YouTube video (pausing and reading the scene summaries might be more helpful, since they're a little quiet in our recording of the concert.)

~Mel

[seokmingiggles]

sleepytime herbal tea.

Prompt: "How about something warm? It will help you sleep."

Pairing: Xu Minghao x gender neutral reader

Genre: fluff, mutual crushes, roommate!au, college!au.

1.65k words

No warnings.

Sometimes, you believe there’s something unspoken between you and your roommate. Sometimes, he’ll do little things for you or say little things to you that will make your heart warm like it’s a teabag brewing in a toasty cup of fragrant tea.

Alternatively, maybe Minghao is your human equivalent of a cup of tea: warming, calming, and all-around comforting—particularly at 3 am when the rest of the world is asleep.

A/N: What started with Minghao shall end with Minghao. (Just kidding! I’ve already written a second piece for some members! ^^)

Back to the teacup masterlist.

•• "Oh, hey. What are you still doing awake?"

Minghao looks up from his novel to see you making your way into the kitchen. You're wearing the pair of slippers he got you for your birthday; the shuffling sound scampers across the apartment's wooden floor. Your hair is messy, going in every which direction, and your eyelids droop heavily. Your eyebrows furrow slightly.

"What time is it?" his expression is confused, lips gently pouting as he rubs his eyes with his free hand, the other one acting as a makeshift bookmark between the pages of his novel.

You glance at the clock on the microwave, "Just past three in the morning."

"No kidding," he mutters, standing from his spot on the sofa to stretch out his limbs after remaining in the same curled-up position for hours. The boy creases the top corner of his page, setting the book down on the couch's armrest. "What are you still doing awake?"

"I couldn't fall asleep," is your answer. You frown, "I was just lying there until my mouth got dry. But when I reached over for my glass of water, I realized it was empty."

Minghao hums, knowing the all-too-familiar feeling. "How about something warm? It will help you sleep," he says as he wades over to the kitchen, ending up by your side. He reaches up into the wooden cabinet above your head, "I like this one. You're welcome to try it tonight."

With a short hum, the boy presents his favourite herbal tea in the adorable little box: the brown bear clad in pyjamas and sat by a fireplace in its comfy armchair.

You set your empty glass on the kitchen counter and take the thin cardboard box in your hands. "Your sleepytime tea? I thought this one is off-limits."

Minghao shrugs, a gentle smile forming on his face in the dim lighting, "It normally is, but this seems like a special occasion."

"Us—both being awake at three in the morning with classes later today—is a special occasion?"

"Don't make me change my mind, (Y/N). Here," he grabs a pair of mugs from the dish-rack by the sink, "I'm going to have some too."

Minghao moves to fill the kettle with water and places it on its base, adjusting the setting on the side with a shrill beep at its programmed start.

You fiddle with the handle of the ceramic mug, trying to distract yourself from your roommate's delicate features in the faint light sourced only from the oven range hood and the moon outside the far window in the living room.

"What were you reading?" you ask him, still fixated on the countertop. "It must have been good if you lost track of time."

The boy nods with a hum. "One of my friends recommended it to me a little while ago—the one in my literature class. I haven't had the time to read it until tonight—or last night, I suppose—but I must be a third of the way in already. Maybe even half-way by now."

"What's it about?" you nonchalantly question, continuing the conversation while keeping your eyes low.

Minghao's ears begin to burn. "Ah, nothing in particular," he softly clears his throat. "Just a slowly-building love story between a couple of childhood friends. But," he adds quickly, "it's quite contemplative and poetic."

"A romance novel?" your eyes eventually meet his. "I wouldn't have taken you for someone who enjoys reading love stories, Hao," you can't help the playful smile that wiggles onto your lips.

The kettle's signal is high-pitched as the water reaches its desired temperature, giving Minghao a reason to pull his eyes from yours. He pours water into both of the mugs, allowing a few centimetres from the rim. You watch the rising steam as it tickles the bottom of your roommate's circular glasses when he leans over the counter to place the kettle back on its stand.

"It can be fun to read stories about a picture-perfect relationship sometimes," the boy continues. "Novels are the only forms of romances so pure and heartfelt. They're carefree, too," Minghao says in a hushed tone. "It makes me wonder why real-life isn't the same way."

You're now fiddling with the hem of your shirt when you whisper, "It could be."

Minghao looks up from his gaze on the teacups. He swears he sees a twinkle in your eye when you follow his movement to meet his stare.

"Relationships in real-life can be sincere and passionate too," you continue with a low voice to maintain the quiet three o'clock atmosphere. "Maybe not in the ideal way fiction can depict them to be, but that's what makes them real. It makes them human."

"Since when are you such a philosopher of romance," Minghao chuckles.

"At three in the morning, Hao, anything is possible."

"Anything, huh?" the boy smiles and nudges one of the mugs closer to you across the kitchen counter.

You softly thank him and take the cup in your hands. Your eyes focus on the teabag spinning in lazy circles, a solo slow dance on the surface of the hot water.

"Let's go sit down to drink our tea," you hear Minghao say as he begins to walk back to the couch.

You let him lead you, following behind in his shadow.

It's times like these where you aren't sure how close you should sit next to him. You sometimes wish you could curl up against his side and feel him hold you tightly in return, or even being able to rest your legs overtop his lap with his hand on your thigh.

Tonight, though, you take a seat at a respectful distance from the boy: about a couch cushion's length away.

Minghao rests his head on the sofa's backing, eyes trailing upwards to the speckled ceiling displaying the moving pictures of shadows from the foliage projected by the moon and streetlights outside.

"If you could have the perfect relationship, would you?"

Your eyes search for Minghao's once you hear his question, but he remains to look upwards and away from you.

You hesitate momentarily before saying, "No."

Minghao lowers his gaze and takes a sip of tea. He finally peers at you. "You wouldn't?"

You shake your head. "No. Because although disagreements and turmoil can be difficult to deal with, without either of them results in a relationship that won't grow," you take a small sip of your steaming tea. "If nothing else in life is perfect, then why should a relationship be that way?"

"Nothing's perfect, huh?" Minghao traces your facial features, trailing along the bridge of your nose and lingering at the dimple of your cupid's bow, but stopping himself before his gaze reaches the plush of your lips. He suddenly returns to your eyes, "But you have a point. Perhaps perfect relationships should stay within the pages of novels and works of fiction."

The wind rustles the tree branches nearby, and you find yourself bearing a small smile at Minghao's words. His gentle voice, combined with the warm mug of herbal tea in your hands, makes you lean deeper into the couch and pillows. Your eyelids suddenly feel heavier.

"I could lend you the book after I finish it if you'd like," the boy asks, turning his head to the side to gauge your reaction. But upon looking at you, he takes in the sight of your closed eyes with your head pressed against the couch backing, all while still sitting up.

Minghao's heart warms at the image. The boy drinks the remains from his cup before standing and moving to your side. He quietly places his mug on the table in front of him before slowly taking yours, still clutched between your hands, and setting your cup next to his on the coffee table. Your palms and fingers radiate the tea's warmth—his touch lingers.

"And you didn't even finish your tea," he whispers to no one, shaking his head with a smile.

He looks at you fondly before gently maneuvering your body to lie you down. Minghao gathers the blanket draped over the side of the couch and places it overtop of your body. He takes extra care to make sure it reaches all the way up to your chin but also without your toes peeking out from the bottom.

"Goodnight, (Y/N)," he speaks softly, carefully moving some stray hairs that have fallen onto your face.

Seeing you nuzzle into the soft blanket in your sleep nearly makes him coo at your cuteness.

An image pops into Minghao's head: he can picture himself leaning down, delicately kissing your forehead while his hand gingerly grazes the side of your face, thumb tracing the high of your cheekbone; he can feel your warmth radiate through his fingertips. He can feel your smile as it spreads across your cheeks. He can see your eyelashes flutter open and your eyes crinkling with your grin when you notice his proximity, your hand reaching up to thread into his hair when he leans in, and you close your eyes all over again–

But instead, Minghao decides he'll wait until you're awake so he can kiss you properly for the first time. He's not sure when it will happen—it could be this week or this month, perhaps when you're done with your semesters. It could be later today. It could be a year from now.

It may not ever happen for all the boy knows; what even are the odds that you return his feelings?

Minghao takes one last admiring look at you before he stands and retreats to his bedroom for a long-awaited sleep, collecting his novel from the edge of the couch on his way.

A pair of mugs remain on the coffee table—one entirely empty, one nearly full, but both belonging to hidden romantics. Buried feelings brew beneath the surface, steeping like the gradually darkening herbal tea.

••

[bvidzsoo]

Arts & Crafts

 Author: bvidzsoo

 Warning: nothing

 Pairing: Xu Minghao x female reader

 Word count: 15, 821

 Summary: You and Minghao met through the few classes that you share, as both of you have different majors. You couldn’t say that you were friends, but you got on well, and you lived in the same apartment building. One day, while walking home together, a ginger kitten comes onto your path and you both want to keep it, so you do. But when you get evicted out of the blue, you realize the kitten might’ve come into your lives with a purpose and...Minghao might be a little special compared to others, and he seems to think the same about you.

 A/N: Oh, surprise?! Were you expecting this one-shot? No? Here it is! This was totally, very randomly inspired by the middle picture where Hao is holding that cute kitten, my God I was melting throughout that GoSe episode. But this one-shot wouldn’t have come to fruition if it weren’t for my dear friend Gio, who brainstormed with me, so shotout to @sowhatwehotwe-tyong​, go check her blog out, she’s a deobi and a nctzen, and she’s an amazing writer! I hope you enjoy this one-shot and it leaves you feeling a little fuzzy, and don’t forget to leave feeback! Enjoy now!

Masterlist

           Sitting at the table alone, eyelids half open, mouth a little ajar and breathing slowly made me regret last night’s shenanigans. It’s not that it was entirely my fault, but maybe I could have gotten to work a little bit earlier. Yesterday, on the second of February, it was Brigid’s Day, or Imbolc’s, whichever you prefer, which means that spring is around the corner and you need to clean and organize your environment; which is exactly what I did. I cleaned my whole flat and then did some spiritual cleansing too by meditating and taking a cleansing bath. It was time to get rid of the cold winter days and welcome spring with open arms, which was great as my inspiration ran low during the cold season. Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed up until three in the morning, knowing that my first class would be at eight in the morning the next day; but was there a time when I followed the right thing to do? Rarely. So, here I was sitting in the big cafeteria, half asleep, as I waited for my next class to begin. I still had like fifteen minutes and at first I intended on having breakfast, but I realized that I didn’t pack anything this morning as I was forced to leave in a hurry after I overslept, which wasn’t surprising, at all.

The screech of the chair next to me made me rub my eyes in an attempt to wake myself up. I looked to my right and was met with the familiar face of my somewhat friend. He majors in fashion design, and I in interior design, but we share a few classes together and well…we also live in the same complex, he’s just a floor below me. This kid always looked amazingly flawless, no matter what he wore, fancy or casual, it’s like it was made for him specifically. It truly amazed me and sometimes I wished he told me his secrets, but we weren’t that close yet.

“Hi.” He finally spoke up after he realized I wasn’t going to say anything. People would’ve considered it rude, but I’m sure Minghao could see just how exhausted I was. I hope I wasn’t very loud last night while I did my cleaning and cleansing, I didn’t like disturbing Minghao. Both of us liked the silence and calmness.

“Hello there.” I muttered and rubbed my eyes again, even though I was conscious that if I kept doing that, I’d make them red.

“You look…terrible.” Minghao remained expressionless as he continued looking at me and I sighed, letting my head fall against the table. That was another thing about him, whatever was going through his mind was also coming out of his mouth, he had no filter. Meanwhile I really appreciated and enjoyed that, sometimes I wished he would’ve realized that people didn’t always want to hear the truth.

“I know,” I muttered, eyes closed as I wished the Earth would swallow me up, “I went to bed late last night.”

Minghao hummed and I heard the thump of his bag as he placed it on the table, “I know, I heard you. I thought you were playing bowling or something…”

Now, that’s what I dreaded hearing, I really didn’t mean to disturb him, but this was another issue…no matter how hard I tried to be quiet, I always ended up creating a lot of noise and disturbance.

“Shit, sorry!” I opened my eyes to be able to look at him, as my lips jutted out. Minghao had a smile on his face and it eased my nerves a little bit. I watched him as he reached into his bag and realized his hair was a different color compared to yesterday.

“Oh, you did something to your hair?” I asked surprised, lifting my head off the table to be able to sit adequately. That was a dumb question as it was very clear that he dyed his hair a silvery blue with electric blue highlights, but the question just slipped from my lips. Minghao pulled a notebook from his bag as he nodded and gave me a look.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen, but…” He shrugged and slowly pushed the notebook towards me, “I mixed something wrongly.”

I hummed and gave him a questioning look as I took the notebook from him, “Well, if it’s of any reassurance, you still look dashing.”

That brought a wide smile onto Minghao’s lips and it made me smile as well, “What’s with the notebook?”

“I didn’t attend last class, so I got the notes from the power point the professor sent us.” Minghao explained and I opened the notebook to look through the notes he had taken from the power point.

“I know, but honestly, his power point didn’t have much information.” I said as I quickly read over the notes. Minghao sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He was wearing a black turtleneck and a knitted, very colorful, vest over it. He wore beige colored chino pants and black tennis shoes. He definitely wasn’t looking bad. And his hair color weirdly made his cheekbones pop out, and actually matched his vest too. I bet he planned his outfit on purpose.

“Right,” Minghao sighed and I quickly averted my eyes from him, “and because of that I couldn’t exactly do the extra work he assigned us. Could I borrow yours?”

My lips pulled up into an amused smirk and I leaned back in my seat, narrowing my eyes at him, “Is Xu Minghao actually asking to copy someone’s work?”

Minghao scoffed and rolled his eyes, but knew I was just teasing him, “I don’t want to copy it…I just want to understand it better—”

“I’ll give you my notes then—”

“Okay, I’m copying it.” He cut me off and I started giggling, then closed the notebook and pushed it back towards him.

“Well,” I reached for my own bag and pulled my notebook out, “I’ll let you copy my work gladly, since I didn’t bother much with it, but unless you have this ability to write at sonic speed—I don’t think you’ll be able to copy it all in time. We’ve got like…nine minutes until class starts.”

Minghao reached for my notebook and I let him take it from me as I watched a small smirk appear on his lips. I raised an eyebrow but he didn’t say anything as he placed my notebook in his bag.

“Don’t worry about that.” He had a glint in his eyes, which made me really curious, as he stood. I quickly followed suit and took my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I kept looking at him with a questioning look, but Minghao just ignored me and started leading the way to class. How was he going to copy my work if we’re walking to class right now, which will take us at least five minutes to get there, if not more?

“Can I worry about your grade though?” I asked as we walked beside each other and Minghao gave me a quick look.

“You don’t have to worry about that either, I’ve been doing just fine so far.” He said with a proud grin and I sighed, nodding my head.

“True, you got the highest-grade last evaluation…pity, I could’ve sworn I was going to come in first…” I muttered the last part bittersweetly and it made Minghao giggle, a sound I became used to and actually enjoyed. It sounded tiny and cute and it just instantly made you smile or giggle too; it was contagious. So, it wasn’t a surprise when I found myself smiling.

“You’ve still got like…three more chances to finish first until the year is over.” Minghao said as he turned to the right and started walking up the stairs. I was a little bit behind him as I followed after him and hummed, eyes falling on his left hand. I watched his fingers move around as if they were creating a wave, clench then unclench, waves again then clench and unclench. My eyebrows furrowed as I realized he was doing a pattern and I looked up to stare at the back of his head. I never noticed Minghao having specific habits when he was stressed; which now probably was caused by the fact that he hadn’t done his work and he wouldn’t have enough time to copy mine either.

“Hey, you’re okay?” I asked as I caught up with his pace; my question confused Minghao as he looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked bewildered and I shrugged, looking down at his left hand, which was still doing that pattern.

“You’re doing that thing with your hand…you shouldn’t be stressed, the professor doesn’t check our works on Mondays, you know that.” I said and I could see how Minghao’s eyes widened just a tiny little bit. He quickly evened his expression though and cleared his throat, looking away as he started walking faster. I rolled my eyes and caught up with him again, but didn’t say anything. He shouldn’t be embarrassed about being stressed, it was a normal reaction, but maybe he didn’t like talking about it. Minghao rarely shared his feelings, even though we weren’t very close, I would still rant to him about my day if I was too loaded with emotions.

I felt him giving me a glance as we walked down the lengthy corridor towards our classroom, and then finally he cleared his throat again and looked at me with a funny expression, “Y/N, were you chanting something last night?”

Now, that question made me cough as I had just swallowed. Was I that loud? But I couldn’t have been…are the walls too thin? Impossible. But then how did he hear me? I quickly put on a smile, hopefully convincing one, and looked at him.

“No, you probably heard my horrific singing though.” I tried to joke, but Minghao shook his head, looking determined.

“No, I’m pretty sure you were chanting the same thing over and over again for almost an hour.” My eyes widened and I started walking faster, being the first one that got to the classroom. What do I say to him? Maybe if I ignore him he stops talking about it.

“Were you talking to the moon?” The question made me jump as I didn’t feel him sneak up behind me, even though I was usually well aware of my surroundings.

“No, that’s silly.” I managed to say with a roll of my eyes as I found a seat for myself, Minghao took one next to me. He didn’t say anything else as he handed me my notebook back. I looked at him with raised eyebrows, but he just gave me a smile and placed the things he needed for the class on the table. I shrugged and did the same, knowing that if he wasn’t the one who initiated the conversation, he wouldn’t answer my question.

           After classes were over I found myself wandering around campus, until I found the vending machine that I was looking for. I sighed and stared at the contents of it, trying to decide which snack I should get. I finished two hours earlier than I was supposed to, but Minghao and I agreed on going home together, so instead of ditching him, I went to the library and did some research on a paper I needed to hand in by the end of the month. Today felt a little bit weird. Something about the vibes surrounding me were different, I didn’t understand why. Maybe my senses were really clogged and doing the cleansing yesterday helped ease up a little bit. Sometimes college was so time consuming that it didn’t leave time for me to focus on myself, instead, I would just sleep or watch a movie if I had a little spare time. Being stressed was never good when you wanted to do a spell, or anything really, so I missed tinkering around in my apartment. I was running short on a few potions and as it was just the start of February, I needed to do a refill of some herbs that I used during the winter to keep myself healthy. As I finally decided to get the biscuits with chocolate, a breeze brushed past me, but it felt unnatural. I could feel it when spirits were around, but this was something else. I looked around confused, but as expected, I saw no one and nothing around me. I was alone in this area and with a shrug, I pushed the money inside the vending machine and pressed the number for the snack I wanted. I watched it roll forward very slowly, gaze lost in the reflective glass of the vending machine. I almost felt like I was in a trance, unable to look away. And just as a face started materializing in the glass, the snack was thrown out and I jumped out of the state I was in. I shook my head and leaned down to get the snack, straightening back up with a wide grin. But as I looked in the glass, once again, a new face was in it and I shrieked, turning around. Minghao couldn’t help but giggle as he watched me amused and with a racing heart, I shoved him back lightly.

“That’s not funny.” I muttered as I focused on ripping the package of my snack open. Minghao chuckled and adjusted his bag.

“Sorry, I didn’t think I’d scare you.” I hummed and broke the snack in two, offering Minghao one half of it. He stared at my hand for a little bit longer than necessary, but finally took the snack with a smile. It was the first time I shared something of mine with him, maybe he just wasn’t expecting it.

“It’s really good.” I said as we started walking towards the bus stop, after I took a bite of the biscuits. Minghao’s eyes fell on me and then he nodded, also biting into the snack. He remained silent as he slowly chewed it and I grinned when a surprised look crossed his face.

“You’ve never had one of these before?” I asked him and Minghao nodded, glancing at his watch. We should probably hurry if we want to catch our bus.

“I’m not a fan of biscuits…and I haven’t been living here for long, I still have many things to try.” Minghao explained as he finished the snack in one bite. I nodded my head and threw the package away when we walked by a trash bin, coming to a stop at the bus stop. Minghao looked around and then towards the panel which showed which bus came when. I watched him curiously, until I noticed his fingers moving around in a new weird pattern. He continued looking at the panel as his fingers moved and I could have sworn I saw a few words move on the panel. What was happening? And just like that, I felt tingles travel up all over my arms, and Minghao sharply turned to face me. My eyes grew wide as I looked at him, he was just frowning.

“Did you touch me?” He asked, tone confused and curious. I cleared my throat and shook my head, turning away to look out for the bus if it was coming. Minghao hummed and I could see from my position as he turned back towards the panel, but didn’t do anything with his fingers this time. I was starting to realize that I didn’t know many things about Minghao and I was growing more curious to get to know the real him.

“It’s coming!” He exclaimed excited as the bus pulled up and I looked down at my wrist watch, to see that the bus came ten minutes earlier. Buses never did that here. They were pretty punctual.

“Weird.” I muttered as we got on, and Minghao just gave me a small smile as he lead us to the back of the bus, where we found two empty seats.

We remained silent for the rest of the ride, periodically glancing out the window as Minghao got his phone out and started texting. I glanced down at the screen a few times, but he was texting in Chinese and realizing I didn’t understand anything, I stopped trying to peek at his phone. The ride usually took around ten minutes and when we finally got to the neighborhood, we got off and I let out a sigh as I stretched my arms over my head, offering my spine a much-needed release. Minghao didn’t even notice as he kept walking and as I adjusted the strap of my bag, I felt eyes on me. I looked around, but the people who were on the street weren’t paying any attention to me. And besides, my arms started tingling all over again, which meant something else was around. Not wanting to be alone, I quickly ran up to Minghao and cleared my throat. He glanced at me with a frown and then went back to typing away on his phone.

“Who are you talking to?” I decided to speak up. He shrugged as he typed for a little longer in silence, then closed his phone and put it back inside his pocket.

“My mother.” He finally answered me and I hummed, nodding.

“That’s nice.”

“She worries a lot, because I’m in a foreign country…you never know what threats lie around.” Minghao muttered and I gave him an amused look, pointing around.

“This is a relatively safe neighborhood; you can tell her that. And…if you don’t wander to the bad parts of the city, you’re pretty safe. Besides, you’re a man…you’re less targeted compared to women.” I said with a shrug and I felt Minghao’s eyes on me. But my arms tingled again and I looked around confused, feeling another pair of eyes on me. What was happening?

“It’s unfair…” I looked at Minghao to see him frowning at the ground, “that you have to be more cautious…and scared, probably.”

“It sucks, but you get used to it.” I said with a shrug and suddenly stopped walking, feeling goosebumps all over my body as a strong, cold, breeze hit me in the face, “Did you feel that?!”

I could see the uneasiness on Minghao’s face, so I knew he did. He started looking around as my eyes were rooted on the trees. They weren’t moving, the wind wasn’t blowing.

“The sudden cold air? Yeah.” His voice was a little quiet as he seemed to realize what I had realized seconds ago, and he stepped closer. I smiled a little as I glanced at his profile, which was really pretty from up close. His skin was even and it looked really smooth, I kinda wanted to touch it.

“Maybe it was…a breeze.” He said with a shrug and I chuckled, making him look at me.

“The wind isn’t blowing.” I muttered quietly and suddenly realized how quiet it was around us. We were alone on the street, which was a little bit weird. There wasn’t a noise coming from the houses lined up on each side of the street, and now that creeped me out. Out of instinct, I gripped Minghao’s arm and started pulling him.

“Let’s just hurry.” I said as we started walking, quite quickly, getting closer and closer to the end of the street. There were some tall bushes and for some reason, today they were giving me the creeps. I didn’t like the vibes surrounding us, so I urged Minghao to walk even faster, we were close to full on running.

“Uhm…are you okay?” He asked confused, but he didn’t try to stop me. I shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile.

“Sure, just excited to get home!” I said with a nervous chuckle and Minghao nodded, seemingly thinking the same as the bushes started rattling. I was once again covered in tingles and I couldn’t help it, I stopped walking, eyes on the bushes. Minghao gulped and looked at me a little bit confused, trying to move, but I haven’t let go of his arm.

“Wait.” I whispered as I continued staring at the bushes, gulping when it started rattling more. Minghao looked pretty panicked and I realized he had brought his right palm up, in front of his face, as he stepped in front of me. I would’ve appreciated the effort of him trying to protect me, but I was too focused on the bushes. I had a feeling something would jump out of it and when something did jump out in our direction, I quickly burst into laughter. Minghao remained tense for another second before he sighed and lowered his hand, looking back at me. I quickly released his arm and went past him, feeling pulled towards the little kitten that decided to scare us. It was so tiny, a baby still. Its fur was ginger mixed with white and two big green eyes were staring up at us. The kitten sat on the ground and watched us curiously. I crouched down in front of the kitten and narrowed my eyes at it, feeling the tingles on my arms once again. Interesting, could this kitty be something else? But before I could ponder more on it, Minghao was next to me with his phone out, and as I looked at him, I realized he was taking pictures of the little kitty. He was grinning widely and the kitty suddenly stood and walked in between my legs, pressing itself against my left leg. I chuckled and took the kitten into my arms, petting it. It closed its eyes and sighed loudly as it enjoyed my warmth and nails scraping gently against its skin. Minghao was quick to put his phone away and press up against my side as he started cooing at the kitten. The kitten opened its green eyes and meowed, trying to get out of my hold. I realized it wanted to go to Minghao, so I quickly passed the kitten to him. Minghao’s smile widened and I tried to ignore the way my fingers brushed up against his big palm. The kitten started almost immediately purring as Minghao continued petting it and I couldn’t help but smile at the scene in front of me. I couldn’t decide who was being cuter and it wasn’t a surprise when Minghao had his phone in his hand and was holding it out for me.

“Take a few pictures, please.” He said with a chuckle and I nodded, starting to snap pictures of him holding the kitten. It was the cutest sight I had seen in a while and my cheeks were starting to hurt from how widely I was smiling. Besides, the longer I continued looking at the kitten, the more familiar it felt. And as if the kitten was a mind reader, it looked up at me and meowed loudly, its eyes seemed even rounder. It was all I needed, I decided to take it home as I watched Minghao play more with it. He seemed unable to put it down and I realized that Minghao’s hair looked as if it got lighter and almost as if his whole body was glowing. It was something I hadn’t seen ever before and my eyes widened as I watched him smile at the kitten. Then, I became aware to some movement to my left, where the bushes were…and a bunch of withered flowers. And as if a miracle happened, one by one, the flowers started to bloom and my jaw dropped open. Now that’s something I had never seen and I didn’t think I’d ever see again. The flowers came to life as they stood straight up, all colorful and almost radiating. When I looked back at Minghao to point it out to him, he was already looking at me with the biggest grin I had seen on his face.

“I think I want this kitten.” He said and I remained unresponsive for a few seconds, still thinking about the flowers that bloomed out of nowhere, just like that.

“Oh—yeah! I’m taking it home with myself. It looks to be a stray.” I said once I had cleared my throat and stood up, as my legs started to get numb. Minghao stood as well and his eyebrows furrowed. He cradled the kitten to his chest and started walking, so I followed after him.

“I was thinking of doing the same thing…” Minghao muttered, then looked down at the cute kitten, it had fallen asleep in his arms. Minghao still seemed to be glowing and I tried not to focus on that, because as fascinating it was, it was also really creepy.

“Well…” I hummed and scratched the back of my head, thinking about the situation, “We could, like…I don’t know…share it? Like…split custody, you know?”

Minghao looked at me like I was crazy and I gave him a wide, awkward, smile, “I mean…we both want the kitten, but we don’t live together, which makes it inconvenient. So, how about we switch between us, like, I get to keep it for today and you for tomorrow, and so on…?”

Minghao’s eyebrows furrowed as he pondered on my words as we started walking up some stairs. He didn’t look very keen of the idea, but if he said no, I would’ve fought to have that kitten. There was something about it that made me want it.

“You have morning classes tomorrow and I have afternoon classes, so…keep the kitten for tonight and bring it over before you head to college,” Minghao said as we came to a stop in front of the apartment building, “I’ll come up with a schedule.”

“I love that idea.” I said excited with a big grin and took the kitten from Minghao’s arms as he started walking inside right away. I smiled at the kitten, but didn’t fail to notice the disappearance of the glow around Minghao as soon as he passed the kitten to me. Weird.

           The evening was spent with staring at each other. The kitten and I. The second we got inside my flat, I placed it on the couch in the living room and asked it to stay still. The kitten meowed a little bit as I moved to the kitchen to try and find something to give her to eat. The longer I looked at the kitten, the more and more confused I grew. There was something so familiar about the kitten, it felt like we’ve know each other before. After the kitten ate a little bit, I sat next to it and started petting it. And the same feeling I got before, suddenly took over me like a cold wave. Goosebumps erupted on my skin and my arms started tingling. The kitten started purring and suddenly I felt safe and at ease. It was a nice feeling, but it brought up some questions. Could this little kitten be something else? Maybe it was placed in our path with a purpose, and now I wanted to decipher the meaning of it…if it had any. And as I continued petting the kitten, the thought of finding a name for it flew out of my mind, as my eyes fell on the grimoire and I felt a powerful pull towards it. It felt like the world disappeared around me and all I could feel was the fur of the ginger kitten, hear her purring, and the grimoire which seemed like it started shaking as if it wanted to beckon me over. And just like that, as fast as the feeling came over me, it disappeared. I blinked, feeling a little bit dazed and when I looked down, the kitten wasn’t in my lap anymore. Eyes wide, I looked up and there it was, in front of the bookcase, sitting right where the grimoire was. A shiver traveled along my spine and I quickly shot up from my seat, walking towards the kitten. It meowed loudly and ran away before I could shoo it away. I narrowed my eyes at the kitten as it started licking its fur clean, without a care in the world, and I just knew there was more to it. The kitten didn’t show up randomly. It had a purpose, and I was going to find out which one it was.

The night went by quickly and I had a good rest, the kitten ended up sleeping next to me. I didn’t mind as it made me smile when I opened my eyes; that is until I realized I didn’t have much time to get to college, and I still had to stop by Minghao to give him the kitten. So, I went ahead and quickly got ready, messily tying my hair in a high bun. The clothes I picked out weren’t matching, but I couldn’t care less. What was important right now was to get to college in time and not miss the first lecture I had. With my bag slung over my shoulder, and the kitten in my arms, I quickly locked my front door and then walked down the flight of stairs to knock on Minghao’s door. It was still early in the morning, but I assumed he was up as he said I could bring the kitten over before my classes. I knocked on his door loudly as I could hear some sort of commotion coming from the inside, and waited until Minghao unlocked and opened the door for me. The door was slightly ajar and Minghao’s head popped out.

“Hey—” He coughed as he was chewing something, “Good morning, I mean.”

“Good morning.” I said with a chuckle and tried to peek inside his apartment, when the kitten started moving around in my arms, “My class starts soon, so I’m kind of in a hurry.”

“Oh, yeah!” Minghao exclaimed and extended his arms, opening the door a little bit wider. I glanced past Minghao’s shoulders and my eyes widened. I could’ve sworn there were dishes floating in the air in a straight line, as if they were headed somewhere. But before I could question my own sanity, the kitten jumped out of my arms and landed next to Minghao, brushing up against his leg. A big smile appeared on his lips, and he crouched down to take the kitten in his arms, just as the lightbulb in the hallway turned on, shining brighter than ever before. Minghao’s eyes widened and he quickly stood up, the kitten in his arms as the lightbulb started making a sizzling sound. I looked up at it and stepped a little away from Minghao’s door, uncertain whether it was about to explode or not. He cleared his throat awkwardly and started petting the kitten behind its ears, making it purr.

“I haven’t given it a name yet.” I said as I kept glancing at the lightbulb, “It’s a girl…”

Minghao hummed and looked down at the little kitten in his arms, eyebrows furrowed, “I’ll find a fitting name for her then.”

I hummed and jumped when the lightbulb flickered, then suddenly went out. When I looked back at Minghao, the kitten was gone from his arms and the door was barely open once again. My eyebrows furrowed as Minghao scratched his head awkwardly, then gave me an apologetic smile.

“My house needs tidying up—sorry.” He excused himself and I nodded with an understanding smile.

“Don’t worry about it…” The crashing sound coming from Minghao’s apartment brought a worried look on Minghao’s face, so I quickly made my departure, “I’ll be back before your classes start to pick the kitten up…hopefully she’ll have a name by then.”

“Yes, see you later!” Before I could even greet him, Minghao slammed the door closed in my face and I stood there for a second dumbfounded. Then I remembered I was going to be late if I didn’t take off right now. What a peculiar morning.

           I was running short on time, but thankfully managed to stop by the esoteric shop before I had to pick up the kitten from Minghao. I was running low on some herbs I would need tonight and I really couldn’t afford not going to the shop. I just hoped Minghao would still get to his classes in time and as I ran up the stairs of the building, I found Minghao sitting down on them with the kitten in his arms. He was pouting as he tickled the kitten’s belly and a fond smile appeared on my lips as I took in the view. But running up the stairs was a loud activity and Minghao was quick to notice me as I came to a stop in front of him. He was up on his feet in a second and handing me the kitten hurriedly.

“Sorry for being a little late—” But he was already running down the stairs, shaking his hand in the air.

“Her name is Sparkles!” Minghao called out loudly from two floors bellow and my eyebrows furrowed as I looked down at the kitten in my arms.

“He named you Sparkles?” I asked bewildered and the kitten just meowed. I shrugged and walked up one more flight of stairs to get to my own door. Sparkles kept fidgeting in my arms and it was difficult to unlock the door while making sure I wouldn’t drop her or the bag full of herbs and new crystals I had purchased. But as soon as the door was pushed open, Sparkles was out of my arms and running inside happily, paying no attention to me. I huffed and closed the door behind me and locked it, walking to my kitchen to drop all things on the table. Taking the heavy bag off my shoulder made me sigh in content and then I opened the bag to take out the contents of it. But before I started doing anything, I went to shower and eat some dinner. As I was walking around the flat, trying to find the shadow book which my grandmother owned, with a toast half tossed in my mouth, Sparkles let out a loud meow. I paused and turned to look at her, confused, but she was sitting on the counter next to my fridge. I realized I didn’t buy any cat food in my hurry and I would have to feed her milk again, which she didn’t seem to enjoy. After getting the shadow book from the highest shelf, I walked up to Sparkles and got the milk out of the fridge and poured a little for her in a cup.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered as I placed the milk back in the fridge, finishing my toast, “you’ll eat delicious food at Minghao tomorrow.”

And after that, as the sun slowly set, I prepared everything. I opened most windows and saged the flat, walking around as I murmured the spell I learned from my mother to get rid of the negative energies that had accumulated. Sparkles was hot on my tail all the while, meowing sometimes if I didn’t give her attention, which I didn’t as I was focusing on my task. Once the flat was saged, especially the kitchen, I placed the remaining incense on a plate and placed it on the highest shelf I had in the kitchen, to prevent Sparkles from reaching it. Last night after I showered, I found her sitting on top of my dresser. Then, I took the crystals scattered around the flat and walked to the open window in the living room, placing them on the windowsill outside, to let them be in direct moonlight. An hour ago I heard Minghao returning, so I assumed he was studying, therefore I needed to be quiet once again. I made sure to chant lower than on Brigid’s day, not wanting him to hear me once again. As I opened the cabinet in which I kept my herbs, I realized that I never cleared the altar I had made for Brigid’s day and the four candles were left there, half burned down and the little bell I inherited from my great-grandmother. Sparkles was curiously watching me as I walked back inside the kitchen and poured rain water I had gathered a while ago into the little cauldron I kept underneath the sink. I set my intentions for the potion and turned on the stove, letting the rainwater boil as slowly I started adding all the herbs I had bought. Chamomile was the first one added as it has anti-inflammatory purposes, then followed the ginger and onion roots. I stirred it thirteen times with my athame before adding the rest of the ingredients. The mist raising from the cauldron had a strong scent and I inhaled it with a smile on my face, loving the scent it had. I repeated the intention I had once again before I let the potion brew and prepared a mason jar in which I stored my potions. When I turned around, I found Sparkles curled up in a ball, sleeping in the middle of my table next to the vase with flowers in it. A soft smile crossed my lips and then I suddenly remembered the shadow book of my grandmother. She used to be very good with divination and all of her dreams were noted down, even the occurrences she had with her spirit guides. My sixth sense wasn’t well developed and I gave up after a while, realizing I wasn’t very talented for divination. It was then when I realized that I was an excellent potion brewer and that I could create anything I wanted, unlike my mother, who was all about working with crystals and tarot cards. She taught me at a young age how to use them, but I only turned to their aid at crucial times. I was aware of the spirit guides I had with me at all times, one of them was my great-grandmother, but I could never really communicate with them. I tried channeling them through a pendulum, but I just got more confused in the end, so I gave up trying to contact them. But the longer I looked at Sparkles, the more confused I grew. Tingles ran up all over my arms anytime I started pondering on why she felt so familiar and it drew me towards my grandmother’s shadow book. Maybe she had something similar happen to her and noted it down. I could always find something useful in there. But as I opened it, someone knocked on my front door. My heart almost jumped out of my chest and I scrambled around, running to the bookshelf to hide the shadow book as I placed it back to its place. Who could it be at this hour? Was I being loud? I tried to smooth down my frizzy hair, but it didn’t work, so I quickly threw it in a bun and sprinted to the front door when the knocking stopped. I forgot to look through the peephole first as I threw the door open panicked. Minghao was just about to descend the stairs, but he stopped and faced me.

“Am I bothering you?” He asked quietly as he held his hands behind his back. I shook my head and a smile appeared on his lips as he sauntered towards me, “I’ll come inside then.”

I opened my mouth to refuse him, to tell him that I was just about to head to bed, but Minghao gently pushed the door open and invited himself inside. I hummed confused and closed the door, turning to face Minghao. His eyes were wide as he looked around my flat, clearly taken aback by what he was seeing. Well…I have a lot of plants and my apartment is really blue. Tons of books are scattered around and I’m pretty sure he can see my cabinet full of jars and herbs. And I also forgot to gather the things I have on my altar…and maybe the crystals sitting on the windowsill aren’t a very usual sight either.

“What are you brewing?” It was my turn for my eyes to widen and Minghao watched expectantly.

“Soup!” I quickly answered him, thankful that the window in the living room was still open, otherwise the whole flat would be covered in mist.

“You eat herbs?” Minghao’s eyebrows furrowed as he took off towards my kitchen and I laughed nervously, following after him.

“No, why would I—” The scent of the potion was the strongest in the kitchen and when both of our eyes fell on the cauldron, I grinned nervously, “I’m brewing some—medicinal tea, yeah…not soup.”

Minghao nodded and looked around curiously, touching the few clear quartzes hanging from the chandelier. Sparkles suddenly exhaled loudly and we both looked at her, she was still sound asleep on my table.

“I see she likes it here,” Minghao muttered and raised his right hand, he was holding a little bag, “it feels cozy, I’m not surprised.”

I chuckled and took the bag when he handed it to me, peeking inside. It was cat food and I beamed at Minghao, thankful that he brought some over for Sparkles.

“Thank you, I was in desperate need of it!” I said with a chuckle and walked to the cupboard, to place the food aside.

“Yeah, I figured you were too busy to stop by the vet.” Minghao took a seat and I felt awkward for a second, thinking of what I could serve him with, “I also made an appointment for Sparkles. A regular check up and some preventive shots. We can split the bill.”

I nodded and reached for a bowl and the package of nuts I kept in the cupboards, taking a seat across from Minghao, “That’s alright with me. Do you want anything to drink?”

“No, thank you.” He declined politely as I poured the nuts in the bowl and pushed it in between us. Minghao quickly took a fistful of them and quietly started chewing them. I felt a little awkward having Minghao inside my flat, this hasn’t happened before. I didn’t know what to talk about with him and I felt like he was trying to ignore the very obvious fact that I was a witch, which made things even more awkward for me.

I cleared my throat and looked at Sparkles, “Why did you name her Sparkles? It’s a bit weird…”

“She seemed to like it,” Minghao chuckled, “things almost sparkle around her.”

“You are the one that sparkles around her—” I quickly stuffed nuts inside my mouth, pretending that I didn’t say anything as I felt Minghao’s intense gaze on me. I continued looking at Sparkles, acting clueless, as I focused on not chocking on the excessive amount of nuts I had in my mouth. I wasn’t wrong, weird things seemed to happen each time Sparkles touched Minghao and I swear to God he was sparkling the first time he petted her.

“You really like plants, don’t you?” I tried to remain impassive as I looked back at Minghao, who’s eyes were on the boiling cauldron. I soon would have to close off the stove and finish the potion with some incantation, something I couldn’t do with Minghao breathing down my neck.

“Uh, yeah…” I shrugged, “In a city where all I see is concrete, it’s nice to have a little green in my house at least…”

“Understandable.” Minghao gave me a nod and I smiled a little, looking at Sparkles when Minghao’s gaze became too intense. There was something about his eyes sometimes, almost as if he was trying to read into your soul, I didn’t like it.

“Do you use bezoar?” His sudden question took me off guard and my eyebrows furrowed as I looked back at him.

“Bezoar? Uhm—isn’t that thing found inside the stomach of—”

“Snake venom?” My eyes widened and Minghao was quick to start laughing, as if he was trying to joke around. But his expression a second ago said otherwise and I wasn’t buying it.

“I’m not trying to kill anyone…” I muttered quietly, but Minghao heard me. He gave me a doubtful look and I scoffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“Have you ever seen flowers just bloom out of the blue? At the beginning of February?” Minghao gulped, but didn’t answer.

“Or I don’t know—flying pans?” I realized my voice sounded a little hysteric, but if he was trying to accuse me of being an evil witch, how was he going to explain these magical things that only happened around him? I wasn’t insinuating anything as I was still under the impression that I was going crazy, but the tight expression on Minghao’s face had me feeling like what I saw could very possibly be real and that was freaky.

“Did you start working on the project for the color technique course?” Minghao just disregarded the tense air between us as he let himself lean back in his chair, looking at me with tired eyes. I didn’t mind the change of subject as I didn’t see how my curiosities could be answered.

“I was planning on doing that tomorrow.”

“I started it tonight.” Minghao said casually.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes playfully, “Of course, you did. You’re always one step ahead of me.”

“We can help each other out, the professor didn’t mention a certain theme…” A grin appeared on Minghao’s lips and I was quick to grin back at him.

“I like the way you think, Minghao.”

“Thank you, but you have to tell me where you bought these nuts from…they are amazing.” I started laughing as I emptied the package into the bowl for Minghao to eat more nuts.

           This certainly wasn’t the way I imagined I’d spend my Thursday night. Definitely not with three duffels bags around me, a kitten hanging onto me desperately and me trying to hold three heavy plastic bags as I knocked on Minghao’s door quite desperately. Yeah, it definitely wasn’t what I had in mind for tonight, and all I could do was hope that Minghao was still up, as my landlord just randomly showed up an hour ago and told me I had to leave the flat. He gave no further explanation, he didn’t even try and listen to me as he stood leaning against the doorway, glancing at his watch every five minutes, as I had to pack up everything I owned. I was just having a casual night; Sparkles was sleeping over in my flat as Minghao wanted to focus on finishing up his thesis on a very important course. And like most nights spent together with Sparkles, I watched her eat and after that we had a staring contest. She seemed to love doing that and my arms would always starts tingling the deeper I looked into her eyes. She was an enigma, and after talking to my mother on the phone, I realized I haven’t touched my tarot cards in a while. With a wicked grin, I winked at Sparkles and went to retrieve my deck and my grandmother’s shadow book. Before doing a reading, I started flipping through the pages of her shadow book, and surprisingly, Sparkles decided to settle in my lap and look through the book with me. My grandmother’s dreams were truly fascinating and sometimes scary, but I enjoyed reading through them. As I flipped the page, Sparkles extended a paw and it looked almost as if she tapped the page. I gave her a suspicious look as I quickly read what my grandmother had written down. It was talking about spirit guides and how some would take up forms and guide you as a friend through a certain period of life, if they felt like you needed a little push, or extra help, to find yourself or someone. When I looked down at Sparkles, she was sleeping deeply and I rolled my eyes, closing the shadow book. I wasn’t very keen of that idea; Sparkles was just a little kitten. But once I did my spread, the tarot cards seemed like they were screaming a message at me. They talked about a new friend, a little friend, and perhaps a suitor that I hadn’t considered until now, but a spark always existed between us. With a sigh, I started putting the cards away, and that’s when the knocking on my door startled both Sparkles and I. At first I was sure it was just Minghao coming over once again, but instead it was my landlord…and he was kicking me out without an explanation.

I was about to give up knocking on Minghao’s door and just collapse on the floor and call my mom to ask for advice, but the front door opened. And Minghao didn’t look very impressed as he stood with a deep frown, looking at me and my belongings. He was wearing a dark green silky pajama set and I felt worse for disturbing him.

“This will sound crazy—but I got kicked out. Without an explanation, I had one hour to get out—you were the first one that came to my mind.” I was quick to explain myself to Minghao and his frown disappeared as he looked confused.

“He can’t do that.” Was all he said before he leaned down to take two of the duffle bags into his hands, “But come inside now. I can’t let you walk around at this hour.”

I sighed quietly and released Sparkles as I took the one duffle bag left next to me and stepped inside Minghao’s flat, right away noticing how neat it was…totally the opposite of my flat. However, I was quick to notice the theme he had going on…silver and dark blue. It was a nice combination and my eyebrows furrowed when my eyes fell on a fireplace, where wood was burning. How was that happening? The two sofas were dark blue and had silver pillows on it. Minghao had a few diplomas on his walls and I stopped to stare at a flag with an emblem on it.

“Hog-warts?” I muttered; eyebrows furrowed. He disappeared to a room, and I was left standing alone in the living room, even Sparkles seemed to have gone to her own place…which was next to the fireplace as she was curled up and seemed to have gone back to sleeping. I placed the duffle bag on the floor and the plastic bags I was holding and walked towards the bookshelf, where I could see some faint movement coming from one of the frames. It felt like my eyes were playing a trick on me and the closer I got, the more certain I was of Minghao winking in the photo as his two other friends laughed, one pushing the other’s head. I was ready to curse, but a hand appeared and slammed the photo frame down, cutting my view off of the moving picture. My mouth hung open as I turned my head to look at Minghao, but his eyes were narrowed as if he was challenging me to say something about what I just saw. I gulped and took a step back, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“I don’t keep anything in the storage room so you can stay there until we solve this whole deal with the landlord.” He said, pointing with his chin towards the storage room. Our flats were the same layout, so I knew which way I was supposed to go. As I went to pick up my duffle bag and two plastic bags, I passed in front of the fireplace on purpose, and noted how warmth was radiating from it. How was that even possible?

“How do you have a fireplace in here?” I asked as I held my bags, throwing Minghao a small, curious, glance.

“It’s fake, for aesthetics.” He said with a shrug and walked past me, leading the way towards the storage room, even though I knew where it was. But I could’ve sworn the fireplace was real and I narrowed my eyes at the back of Minghao’s head, my suspicions of what he was growing more.

           Three days passed since I moved in with Minghao and it’s safe to say that Sparkles was the happiest one. I found staying with Minghao really peaceful and quiet, a little opposite to how I lived my life most days. I was constantly trying to do something in my apartment, especially trying out new potions, but Minghao either worked on his college coursework all day or he just read, cooked and watched something on the TV. There wasn’t anything bothering us, and the quietness of his flat was a little eerie and slowly driving me crazy. It felt like the shadow books started whispering to me after a day of staying there, so I started reading through them before I decided to note down the strange occurrences with Sparkles and even Minghao. Sometimes I had to double check when I saw some things move across the table, counter or even floor towards Minghao when he thought I wasn’t watching. I could’ve sworn the other morning the dishes were washing themselves before Minghao noticed me in the doorway and quickly jumped in front of the sink and cheerily greeted me good morning, dishes in his hands as he scrubbed them clean. I tried to sneakily find the moving picture while Minghao occupied the bathroom, but it was nowhere to be seen. He must have hidden it somewhere safe and it left me wondering what kind of technology he was using. I felt borderline crazy for even entertaining these thoughts of mine, but something inside me told me that I wasn’t far from reality, and everything I had seen and experienced around Minghao were real; which was a little bit freaky. After I settled in and scattered my things around the place, my crystals essentially, we had decided on watching the newest Marvel movie. Sometime during the middle of the movie, Sparkles sneaked up on the couch and very graciously landed on Minghao’s lap, purring when Minghao finally gave her attention and started scratching behind her ears tenderly. But my attention was no longer on the movie as I could see from the corner of my eyes the few books placed on Minghao’s study table floating. I gulped and stared at them, convincing myself that I truly wasn’t imagining it. And then I realized, whenever Sparkles rubbed up against Minghao or he petted her, something weird would always happen. Yesterday, all morning, the lights were flickering in the living room and bathroom as Minghao played with the kitten in his room. We were discussing our thesis when Sparkles landed on his lap and a few plates fell in the kitchen, startling us. But the most noticeable one was when I was in my room, Minghao’s storage room, trying to find the right spot for my dreamcatcher and he walked in with a tray in his hands, a few plates placed on it. I missed lunch due to college and he was nice enough to cook something for me for when I returned. When I realized he was there and waiting for me to take the tray from him, Sparkles suddenly appeared next to him and rubbed her head against Minghao’s leg. Suddenly, it felt like the air was charged with electricity and tingles ran over my body as the soup in the bowl suddenly started boiling and Minghao was glowing, once again. My mouth hung open as I watched him, but he seemed oblivious, as he cooed at Sparkles. It was what baffled me most, how oblivious Minghao was to all the things happening around him. As if he was used to them. As if floating things, glowing people, things moving on their own were normal things to him.

But the peace in the apartment didn’t last for long, of course, Minghao didn’t like my crystals scattered around his flat, so he started moving them around. And I did not appreciate that as each one of them had its own place and role, therefore they were placed in that spot with a very serious intention. Sparkles seemed to enjoy our little bickering as she sat on the couch and meowed each time one of us tried to contradict the other, pushing the crystals between each other. But after Minghao touched my shadow book, it was all over, I had asked for a key to the storage room. I couldn’t have him touching that without my permission.

I had just finished washing up after a tiring day, my hair was still a little damp as I opened the bathroom door. The flat was silent and I assumed Minghao had gone to sleep while I was in the bathroom as Sparkles was sleeping on the couch already, belly full after the dinner she had. But when I got closer to my room, I realized the light was on and I didn’t leave it on. I pushed the door open and I found Minghao sitting on the floor, holding my own shadow book as my grimoire and a few other books about witchcraft were scattered around him.

“Don’t touch that!” I exclaimed, eyes wide as Minghao was about to open my shadow book. He froze and turned his head back, looking at me guilty. I had caught him red handed. But if he were to open that book without my permission, something bad could’ve happened to him.

“Seriously, just don’t open it.” I said a little calmer, walking further inside the room. Minghao quickly placed the book down and stood up, brushing off the dust from his silky pajama pants. I kneeled and started gathering the books from the floor, giving him a little glare, “It’s really rude to snoop around someone’s things, Minghao.”

He looked away and cleared his throat, his hands behind his back, “Sorry…I got curious.”

I hummed and stood with six books in my arms as I turned to face him, “I have some books that you really shouldn’t touch without my permission…unless you want to get cursed.”

Minghao gulped and I gave him an amused smile as I walked to the table inside the room and placed the books on top of it, “You don’t poison people, but you curse them?”

I giggled loudly at Minghao’s question and turned to face him a little bit, “It’s not my fault that these books hold century old secrets that must be protected at all cost.”

Minghao’s eyebrows rose, “If I wasn’t curious enough before, now I am.”

I chuckled and crossed my arms in front of my chest, “I’ll tell you when I’ll think you’re ready to hear them. And…when you explain what Hogwarts is, how you have a fireplace in here and why that picture I saw of you and your friends was moving…”

Minghao’s expression hardened and he stepped out of my room swiftly, “I assume we all have some secrets that can’t be told.”

I nodded and pointed at the door, “I’ll need a key to this door.”

“You’ll find it on the kitchen table tomorrow morning.” I gave Minghao a crooked smile as he turned and walked to his own room to get some rest. I closed the door and turned off the lights, also getting in bed and trying to find a term that I could classify Minghao with. What is he?

           It had been cloudy all day and as I had forgotten to bring an umbrella, I was really glad that it didn’t start raining before we got home. Minghao and I had similar schedules, so we, once again, waited for each other to walk back home together. We stopped by a little restaurant next to the bus stop and bought some food for dinner as we weren’t in the mood to cook anything. The sky was covered in clouds and the sun was already setting, a chilly breeze running through the air. I was snuggled up in my scarf and coat as we finally reached the building, and Minghao chuckled when he noticed how red my nose was.

“You’re cold?” He asked as we went up the stairs, headed towards his flat. I rolled my eyes, knowing it was very obvious that I was indeed cold.

“Yeah, it was really cold today.” I answered him as we reached his door and he took his keys out of his long coat’s pocket.

“You could’ve told me…” He muttered as he quietly unlocked the door, “I would’ve offered you my sweater.”

I stared at the back of Minghao’s head as he pushed the door open and stepped aside to let me walk inside first. I felt my cheeks warm up a little bit, but it wasn’t from the sudden warmth inside the flat, it was from the thought of having to wear Minghao’s sweater. I imagined it on myself, and I knew it would’ve looked really baggy on me as I was visibly smaller than him, shoulders narrower and arms also shorter. And Minghao’s scent was something very delicate, it smelled of a specific flower that I didn’t recognize and burning wood, like the ones from the mysterious fireplace in his living room. Knowing that if I were to wear his sweater I would borrow its scent too, made small butterflies erupt in my tummy.

“Sparkles!” I was finally snapped out of my day-dreaming when Minghao softly called out for the little kitten. He had ditched his bag and shoes next to the entrance and was walking around the flat, looking for Sparkles. It was a little bit weird that she didn’t greet us at the door, we got used to her always sitting there, meowing when we opened it. I felt worry twist in my stomach, an unsettling feeling coming over me. It was weird, I rarely felt like that, but my intuition was telling me that something was wrong with Sparkles. I dropped my backpack next to Minghao’s bag and was about to discard my shoes too, but Minghao came rushing towards me, looking very worried.

“Sparkles isn’t here!” He said, panic lacing his voice, and my eyebrows furrowed.

“She’s not?” I muttered and looked around, biting my lower lip, “Did we leave something open through which she could’ve escaped?”

Minghao’s eyebrows furrowed, but he shook his head, “No, of course not! I don’t know—I don’t understand how she got out…”

I crouched down and took Minghao’s shoes, handing them to him, “Put them on, let’s go look for Sparkles.”

He nodded and quickly put on his shoes, taking his keys in a hurry as we left the flat and he locked the door. We hurried down the stairs and ventured outside, looking around, feeling lost. She could be anywhere. I bit my lower lip and turned towards Minghao.

“We should split up.” I said, making him nod, “Let’s meet at the convenience store in twenty minutes?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Minghao hummed and before I could take off, he gripped my wrist, making me look at him curiously, “Stay away from the back alleys if you can…the sun has almost set.”

I felt those butterflies once again, and nodded at Minghao a little flustered, “Yeah-yeah, I will. But you too! I mean—be careful!”

Minghao offered me a tight smile and then released my wrist, going towards his right, to search around the little houses that littered the street, where the alleys were too. I turned towards my left and took off towards the main street first, hoping that Sparkles was somewhere around here. I felt unsettled about her disappearance, she hadn’t been with us for a long period of time, but I cared for her. After all, she was a little soul and on top of that, it also felt like I’ve known her my whole life. I just hope that Minghao and I can find her, before anything bad could happen to her.

But after running around the main street, calling out her name, I wasn’t successful. Then I remembered to check the place where we found her and as I took off towards it, still having ten minutes until I’d have to go to the convenience store, the first drops of rain started falling. I looked up towards the sky, but it was dark already and you couldn’t see the clouds, but suddenly I realized the breeze got even colder and harsher. It was only February after all and the weather forecast had warned us of potential snowfall too, but instead it was raining; and I didn’t have an umbrella. I took a few shortcuts as the rain started picking up and came to the place where we found Sparkles.

“Sparkles! Hey!” I called out, getting closer to the bushes, “It’s Y/N! Minghao and I are looking for you…Sparkles?”

I jumped a little when the bushes rattled to my left, but upon inspecting it, I found nothing. My hair was wet by now and I had to rub my eyes to get rid of the rain, as it was falling hard now. My clothes were slowly getting soaked and this was bad news, I could catch a cold. My eyes fell on the flowers, which had withered again, but had bloomed when Sparkles and Minghao touched. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it and feeling defeated, I headed towards the convenience store which was down the street and around the corner, hopeful that Minghao managed to find Sparkles. I ran to get there, wanting to shelter myself from the cold rain, as if I wasn’t already drenched. I even considered going inside to buy an umbrella, not that it would do much anymore, but the store had already closed. Just as I got there, Minghao also rounded the corner, just as drenched as I was, and ran up to me.

“Did you find her?” He asked, water dripping on his face as we stood underneath the eaves of the convenience store.

“N-no.” I muttered, hugging myself as I became aware that I was trembling from the cold. I pushed my hair back, getting the wet strands off my face and Minghao’s expression suddenly fell, realizing that I didn’t have Sparkles with me. I took in his appearance, and despite him being drenched, he looked pretty fine. He wasn’t trembling, nor sniffling, as if he wasn’t feeling the cold at all. I wished that was me, but I couldn’t ignore the wet clothes sticking to me like a second skin, and making me shiver and tremble due to the cold temperature.

“I haven’t found her either…let’s go look for her—”

“Minghao, I’m freezing.” I stopped him from suggesting to stay outside for any longer, looking him in the eyes, “I’m sorry, but we could both catch a very serious flu and—I’m starting not to feel my toes.”

Minghao’s eyebrows furrowed as he worriedly examined my face and then sighed defeated, stepping back out in the rain, “You’re right. We have to prioritize ourselves, I just—I really love Sparkles, I’ve never had a cat and—I don’t know. It’s weird how quickly I got attached to her.”

I hummed and stepped out into the rain too, and we started hurrying back towards his flat, but it was at least fifteen minutes away, “I know, I got attached too. Something about her feels familiar, it’s really weird.”

“Do you like cats?” Minghao suddenly asked, looking down at me.

I shrugged as we passed by the, now, withered flowers, “I get along well with them, but I never owned a cat before…my grandmother did though.”

Minghao hummed and I felt him looking at me as I tightened my arms around my middle, trying to offer myself a little warmth, but it wasn’t working. He cleared his throat and a little awkwardly, he reached for my hand and took it in his. My eyes widened as I looked at him with confusion written all over my face, but what was the most surprising thing was how warm his hand was. His fingers intertwined with mine and my heart jumped, starting to beat quickly as my cheeks also warmed up. We stayed quiet as we marched back to his flat, but gradually, I stopped feeling cold. It was a strange feeling, it was as if the warmth from Minghao’s hand traveled through mine and up my arm, then spreading into my body. I even stopped trembling despite still being very wet. I turned my head to look at Minghao curiously, but he didn’t budge, didn’t look at me. His cheeks were a little red, but maybe it was from the coldness, or maybe he wasn’t even cold as his hand was so warm. As we reached the building, I noticed how Minghao was slightly trembling and before I could point it out, his eyes went wide.

“Sparkles?!” My eyes snapped forward, and indeed; there she was. Sitting under the roof, in front of the entrance door, looking at us almost as if she was amused.

“Sparkles!” I exclaimed and we ran up to her, hurrying up the few stairs to take her in our arms. She meowed loudly when I touched her and my eyes narrowed at her, trying to see if it really was her. But the tingles instantly traveled up my arms, and I knew it was her. She purred and before I could pet her, she jumped into Minghao’s arms, who just now released my hand. Minghao’s smile was wide and he chuckled when Sparkles very suddenly licked his cheek. A sizzling sound came from behind us and we turned around to look at it, the street light suddenly exploded, making me shriek as Minghao tried to shield us all three from it, stepping closer and turning his back to it. I looked up at him wide eyed, feeling the cold once again.

“We should go inside!” I proposed and he nodded his head quickly, taking his keys out. I opened the front door and as we rushed up the stairs, I noticed how Minghao seemed to be drying off, as if something was drying him. He had that slight glow to him and I remained quiet as I fumbled with the keys to open the door once he handed them to me, realizing that when Minghao released my hand, the warmth slowly slipped away from my body.

            I woke up to someone’s coughs coming from the kitchen. My first reaction was to panic as I thought I was late for classes again, but quickly realized today I only had afternoon classes. Which reminded me of how Minghao had morning classes, but he was still at home…and coughing. I sat up and rubbed my face, getting the sleep out of my eyes as I lazily stood and adjusted my pajamas. I ran my fingers through my frizzy hair, trying to tame the morning wildness in it as I opened my door and slowly walked to the kitchen. Another cough came and a sneeze right afterwards and then I heard Sparkles meowing. Minghao was muttering something and as I stood in the doorway, he was crouched down, putting cat food in Sparkle’s bowl. Minghao sniffed as he stood and when he turned around, my lips clasped together tightly. His eyes were puffy and slightly red and even the tip of his nose was starting to turn red. He looked tired and, well, sick.

“Good morning.” His voice was hoarse and he cleared his throat, taking two glasses out from the cabinet.

“Good morning.” I greeted back, watching him as I walked to a chair to sit down.

“Do you want something to drink?” Minghao muttered, his voice the lowest I’ve ever heard it be.

“If we’ve got juice, I’d like that.” I answered, he hummed and then opened the fridge. He took the cartoon of orange juice out and poured it into both glasses.

“You missed your first two classes?” I asked as he handed me my glass, looking up at Minghao with my eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, I only woke up now…” He muttered with a sigh, sitting opposite from me, “I didn’t sleep much last night and I feel really sick.”

I hummed and took a sip of the orange juice, “You do look sick…”

Minghao nodded and slowly started drinking from the orange juice, his eyes falling on Sparkles, who was quietly chewing her food in the corner. I knew how to help Minghao, but for that he needed to stay home all day.

“You should skip your classes today; you don’t look very well.” I suggested after I cleared my throat, but Minghao’s eyebrows furrowed when he heard my words.

“I can’t do that—”

“Minghao, you could have a fever. You should rest today, missing one day of classes isn’t going to affect your grades, you know that.” I said with a reassuring smile, but Minghao’s frown deepened. Sparkles finished eating and she turned around, looking at the two of us. Her eyes focused on Minghao and then she started meowing loudly, as if she was scolding him. I chuckled and looked back at Minghao, raising my eyebrows at him.

“I don’t want to sound crazy, but I have a feeling Sparkles agrees with me.” I teased him with a grin, making Minghao sigh. His shoulders were slouched forward and I could see the struggle behind his eyes, he really wasn’t feeling well.

“Okay, I say…you go back to bed and sleep, or not, do whatever you want. I’ll prepare you some breakfast and brew one of my teas. And then for lunch I can cook again something that will help you with the sickness.” Minghao’s eyes fell on me and I offered him a big smile, trying to show him that I didn’t mind helping him out.

“Shouldn’t you get ready for your classes?” He asked quietly and I rolled my eyes as I stood.

“My classes only start at three, Minghao, don’t worry about me.” He nodded wordlessly and then stood too before he walked towards his room. I gave him a small smile and then looked at Sparkles, raising my eyebrows at her.

“Won’t you go keep him company?” I asked and she meowed before she took off after Minghao, making me chuckle. I had a feeling that Sparkles preferred Minghao; she really liked him.

I washed up first and then went back to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Minghao and myself. I made toast and omelet with bacon, onion, tomatoes and cheese. I cut up cucumbers too and then I went back to my room, opening the small cabinet Minghao had in there, to search for two of my potions. One was for the immune system, to give it a strong boost, and the other one had calming and nurturing effects in case someone had a flu, just like Minghao. I took the two mason jars and walked back to the kitchen, to which I found Sparkles sitting on a chair, licking herself clean. I gave her a small glare, she shouldn’t be doing that in the kitchen, but of course she didn’t take me into consideration.

“Did you get bored of keeping Minghao company or did he shoo you away?” I asked as I got out a smaller pot for the tea. I searched for the chamomile tea Minghao had and started brewing the tea for him. I added ginger roots to it, not much as I didn’t want to make it spicy, and little cinnamon and when it was almost done, I poured a little bit of my two potions into it. I closed my eyes and chanted a little healing spell under my breath, setting my intention. I carefully poured the tea into a tall glass and watched the steam for a second. Then, I searched for the tray Minghao had used for me and carefully placed everything on it. The plate with half of the omelet, toast and the cucumbers, and of course the most important one, the tea. Sparkles meowed as I started moving, gripping the tray tightly, and I glanced at her to see her following behind me. Minghao’s door was wide open and he had just blown his nose as he fell back into the pillows. I chuckled quietly, which alerted him and he looked at me alarmed, sitting up quickly.

“I hope you have appetite, I worked really hard.” I joked as I neared his bed and lowered the tray on his lap. A smile stretched onto Minghao’s lips and he looked down to see what he had for breakfast.

“How did you know I was craving omelet?” He muttered with a chuckle as he looked back at me and I shrugged, looking back at Sparkles, who was sitting in the doorway.

“I had a hunch.” Minghao chuckled as he gripped the glass and brought it up to his nose. I bit my lower lip as I looked at him expectantly. He gave me a swift glance and then took a big gulp of it.

“It’s hot—” I tried to stop him, but it seemed like he didn’t mind. He placed the glass on his nightstand and then grabbed the fork, looking up at me with a sour expression.

“The tea tastes really weird.” He said and I chuckled as I started backing out of his room.

“Yes, but it will heal you fast, trust me.” I winked at him before leaving the room, headed back to the kitchen to prepare chicken noodle soup for lunch and, to have breakfast too of course.

My textbook lay forgotten on the kitchen table as I was flipping through my grandmother’s shadow book. I had already gone through my mother’s but nothing mentioned anything about spirit guides or even spirit animals. The chicken noodle soup was done and I waiting for it to cool down a little bit before I’d serve it to Minghao, who was in his room, resting, as he should be doing. Sparkles hadn’t even bothered joining me after she followed me to Minghao’s room and I’m pretty sure the two are cuddled up on Minghao’s bed, it wouldn’t be a surprise. I turned another page and sighed loudly, realizing that my grandmother’s book wasn’t telling me anything that could help me with my dilemma. I guess I had to figure this out on my own, and just as I was about to close her shadow book, a title caught my eyes. Ancient Witches. Curious of that could mean, I kept on reading.

  There was a time when witches and wizards had actual magical powers. It was a long time ago and while I wasn’t born yet to meet any of them, our ancestors had made notes about them and the great power they wield. Us, modern witches as I like to call ourselves, have lost our magical powers for unknown reasons, but we never lost touch with out sixth sense and esoteric senses. What I could find about these ancient witches was that they could perform any sort of magic, if they practiced it well enough, and often times they would have animals that would amplify their abilities if a connection existed between them. This amplifying would make the witch or wizard do spells involuntarily, sometimes being oblivious to it even; and if the witch or wizard was trained well enough, they could use the amplifiers for great purposes. Often times, a wizard or witch would know that they had found their amplifier by the sudden glow of their body if the two touched. Often times, this animal could be someone’s spirit guide as well, having taken up a new form, however, ancient witches did not share the believes that we have today and disregarded this little information, denying it profusely.

I blinked and leaned back in the chair, looking at the shadow book, feeling a little confused. Magic…as in actual magic? That sounds interesting, why has no one told me of it before? Suddenly, I realized I had seen Minghao glowing before. But it can’t be possible…my grandmother says that ancient witches do not exist anymore. Shaking my head, I closed the shadow book and glanced at the clock, realizing that I had to get ready to attend my classes. I took the bowl with soup and placed it on another tray, pouring more tea for Minghao to drink, and I tucked the shadow book between my ribs and arm, took the tray and headed towards his room. I could hear his quiet snores as I got closer and I smiled, glad that he was resting, the tea would make its effect even faster now that he was sleeping. I walked in, and instantly felt the electricity in the air, but ignored it as I focused on not tripping or tilting the tray as I placed it on the nightstand. I huffed and took the shadow book in my hands once the tray was safely on top of the nightstand, and stood up straight, ready to head out of Minghao’s room. But I paused, my eyes grew so wide I feared they would pop out. Strands of my hair had risen in the air, as if someone was pulling on them, and when I looked around, almost everything in Minghao’s room was levitating just a little bit away from the ground. A sudden shiver ran through my body as I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, just having read about real magic which once had existed. My eyes fell back on Minghao’s sleeping form and I realized that Sparkles was curled up into his chest, her head resting on top of his hand. It would’ve made sense, if Minghao was an actual wizard, why Sparkles liked him so much. If she was an amplifier, she’d naturally prefer him over me. And then I remembered what my tarot cards had said about a little friend that was here to guide me towards a person with whom I’d have a new beginning. Minghao stirred and I flinched, realizing that if I stood there gaping at him, he’d eventually subconsciously feel it and it would wake him up, so as quietly as I could, I basically ran out of his room and marched inside the storage room, stopping in the middle of the room, head filled with thoughts of confusion and slight fear. This was something of which I’ve never heard of before, magic was deemed to be a fairytale, and yet now it suddenly existed. I shook my head and placed the shadow book away, starting to change into jeans, a tank top and a turtleneck, pulling on the thickest socks I had as I had to prepare to head into college. In order to have peace of mind and the ability to focus on anything I had in mind doing today, I just ignored, locked away, the potential information I learned about a thing that might actually exist, and just pretended like everything was fine; and then I realized, I had totally forgotten to prepare samples for the inside décor style I had chosen. At least that helped forgetting about the inner crisis I was having about witches and witchcraft and people with actual magic powers.

           I had gotten little sleep as my mind wouldn’t stop overthink everything even for one second. Yesterday, once I was done with classes, I decided to stay at the library and catch up with some homework I was given and it was also time to start working on my final project for the year. And well…it also meant staying away from Minghao, which was kind of what I needed yesterday. He texted me during the afternoon that he had eaten the soup, even had a second serving, and that he suddenly started craving pizza so he’d order my favorite one as a way of showing gratitude for me taking care of him. I told him that I was staying at the library until it closed and that he shouldn’t stay up and wait for me if he wanted to feel better tomorrow. I was surprised when I walked inside his flat to actually find Minghao asleep at nine in the evening, but knowing how much he hated missing classes, I wasn’t surprised that he was doing everything he could to feel better by today. And since I couldn’t sleep much, I woke up at around six o’clock and decided to have some coffee as I knew I needed something to keep me awake for the day. I moved around the kitchen quietly and had some leftover pizza as I watched the coffee machine filling up my cup. I took the sugar and placed five teaspoonfuls of it in my coffee and then stirred it well. Knowing that Minghao wouldn’t be fully healed yet, I prepared more of the tea I made him drink yesterday, but this time I didn’t add any ginger or cinnamon. Just as I sat at the table and took a sip of my coffee, I heard movement outside the kitchen and as I looked up, I saw Minghao. He was ruffling his hair as he looked a little disoriented, but a wide smile appeared on his lips when he spotted me.

“Good morning!” He called and walked further inside, checking out the tea, which was still steaming.

“Good morning.” I greeted back quietly, trying to relax my stiff posture. I told myself that this was Minghao, a guy I shared a few classes with and became suddenly friends with, not some kind of ancient witch. But knowing what I knew about everything now, it made me tense. Was Minghao dangerous? If he could perform magic, it meant he could do literally anything.

“Y/N?” My eyebrows furrowed and I looked up, raising my eyebrows at Minghao as a sign that I didn’t hear what he asked me, “I was asking, how come you’re up so early?”

“Oh,” I scratched my nose and placed my cup of coffee on the table, “I didn’t sleep too well.”

He hummed and sat opposite me, sipping the fresh tea I had made, “I slept a lot yesterday, it’s very unlike me, but surprisingly, I feel so much better.”

I offered him a little smile and my eyes were drawn to Sparkles, who passed by the kitchen and peeked inside as if she felt the tension in the air, “I’m glad my food and tea helped, but it’s also important to rest when you’re sick.”

I hated how tense I looked and sounded, because Minghao instantly picked up on it and sat up straighter in his chair, “Yeah…it’s as if you, somehow, charmed the food and tea.”

I took a sip of my coffee and ignored Minghao’s burning gaze, staring into the cup, “It’s all about the ingredients, Minghao, nothing was charmed…unlike the dishes which washed themselves, and all the levitating things around you, and that moving picture.”

My eyes snapped up at Minghao and I realized he mirrored my tense stance; his hands were folded together and he had placed them on the table. His sharp eyes had narrowed and his face sported a cold expression, if I didn’t know him, I would’ve been intimidated, perhaps even scared of him right now.

“What do you know?” Was all he asked quietly, continuing to watch me with the same intense gaze.

“What are you?” I answered his question with a question and Minghao remained unmoving as we stared into each other’s eyes.

“What are you?” He fired back my own question and I rolled my eyes, huffing.

“I asked you first—and I know you’re some kind of wizard, so don’t try to convince me otherwise!” I smoothed my palms onto the table and Minghao hummed, leaning back in his chair.

“Okay, I’m a wizard. I can do magic, but my question is how do you know?” I rolled my eyes and Minghao’s eyebrows rose.

“You’re not very good at being subtle, and besides—my grandma’s shadow book talks about ancient witches—which is why you shouldn’t exist!” I accused, voice raising just the slightest bit, and it made Minghao huff offended.

“I shouldn’t exist? That’s a little insulting, Y/N, when you’re the one that-that brews potions and-and curses people!” Minghao wasn’t one to stutter, but his cheeks grew a little red as he became agitated and I would have found it really cute if I wouldn’t have been getting angry too.

“I don’t curse people!” I exclaimed, giving him a glare, “I’m a good witch! I make potions and I study nature and plants and how I can improve my lifestyle with healthy food and teas and-and I read tarot cards and—stuff like that!”

Minghao’s eyebrows were furrowed, “You’re not a witch.”

I huffed offended, crossing my arms in front of my chest, “Excuse me, you’re really in no position to tell me that I’m not a witch.”

“You can’t do magic.” Minghao shrugged, crossing his arms in front of his chest too.

“Doesn’t mean I’m not a witch.” Minghao rolled his eyes, but I pressed on, “I’m Wiccan, therefore I can call myself a witch.”

Minghao’s expression changed, which took me by surprise, but he still seemed unconvinced, “Wiccan? I can accept that, but wizards and witches are those who have magical powers.”

I narrowed my eyes at Minghao, “So, you just confessed to being a wizard—a wizard with magical powers?”

“No? I never said—”

“Minghao, I know what I saw, you can’t make me seem crazy.” I interrupted him, giving him a pointed look, “You’re a wizard. I’ve seen you do stuff no one else can…and what even is Hogwarts?”

Minghao’s lips slowly pulled up in amused smirk and I gave him a glare, “Hogwarts is a school. For the magically gifted. Muggles, half-bloods and pure-bloods attend it—”

“Muggles?” I interrupted again, looking at him confused.

“Humans who never had anyone in the family with magical powers, but themselves were born with them—”

“Weird.” I muttered, interrupting Minghao again, so he gave me a glare. I shrugged and he sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“If you stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you more.” He paused and waited for me to answer, so I nodded my head, “I come from a pure-blood family, meaning that both of my parents have magical powers. Muggles can’t know that we exist, therefore I’m asking you to keep this secret or else I’ll have to take away your memory and you’ll never know—yes, that’s something I can actually do.”

Minghao was quick to say as he saw me open my mouth, about to question him if he really could do that, “There’s four houses at Hogwarts, and I was in Ravenclaw. Which basically means that my forte traits are creativity, wisdom and wit, and I’m very driven, ambitious when it comes to my academics.”

“Yeah, that does sound like you.” I muttered, placing my chin in my palm, “This kinda sounds cool, I can’t lie…are there many wizards like you around us?”

“Probably, we are everywhere.” Minghao answered casually leaning back, “But most don’t live in this world—”

“You have a whole different world?!” I exclaimed, eyes going wide, making Minghao sigh.

“Yeah, we do—but I wasn’t drawn to any of the jobs the Wizarding World had to offer me, so I decided to pursue my most important dream.” Minghao explained with a calm tone, voice leveled, as if he was trying to calm me down.

“Wizarding World.” I muttered, eyebrows furrowing again, “Okay, I get it…you’re a wizard with magical powers, which is pretty damn weird—but do you know why Sparkles found us?”

Minghao shook his head and I gave him a satisfied smirk, leaning back in my seat, “She’s an amplifier to your powers, some people with magical powers have that. When you touch Sparkles, she enhances your powers and your magic becomes more powerful—and you glow.”

Minghao’s eyes widened, finally he was surprised too not just me, “I glow?!”

I chuckled and nodded, “You do, it was pretty freaky the first time…but you’re kinda beautiful—”

I bit my lower lip, quickly clearing my throat as Minghao started giggling loudly. Suddenly, Sparkles meowed and she quickly jumped on the table between us, tilting her head at us.

“And,” I said, staring at Sparkles as I felt tingles run up all over my arms, “I think she might be my spirit animal…or spirit guide, I haven’t figured that one out yet.”

“Things like that exist?” Minghao wondered as he reached forward and started petting Sparkles’ head with one long finger. I chuckled and gave him an amused look.

“Yeah, things like that exist.”

“Weird—” Just as he said that, the cupboards in the kitchen flew open and the tap turned on, the water coming out in little bubbles that started floating in the air. My mouth fell open as Sparkles meowed loudly, pressing her head against Minghao’s palm. Minghao’s eyes widened as more bubbles scattered around the air and when I realized he was about to lift his hand off Sparkles, I quickly placed mine on top of his, tingles running up my arm instantly.

“Don’t!” I exclaimed, looking at him panicked, “Can you control the water so that it won’t splash everywhere if you stop touching Sparkles?!”

Minghao gulped and looked around, the kitchen being filled with water bubbles, “Uhm, I think so.”

I closed my eyes and sighed, opening them to look into Minghao’s eyes, “Seems like Hogwarts didn’t prepare you well enough then.”

“Would you like to teach me then?” Minghao was sarcastic but also teasing me.

“If I find something in one of my books, I’ll let you know.” I gave him a wink and released Minghao’s hand, “You can lift your hand off Sparkles when I’m out of the kitchen.”

I giggled and quickly stood up, taking my cup of coffee with me, poked Sparkles’ nose and quickly ran out of the kitchen. Minghao let out an obnoxiously long sigh, to make sure that I heard him, but the next second a loud curse left Minghao’s lips.

“Y/N! Bring the mop! Quickly!” I laughed loudly as I took a sip of my, now cold, coffee and went to the bathroom to retrieve the mop for Minghao to clean up all the water.

It seems like you learn a little everything every day, like…actual wizards exist, how crazy!

[mydisenchantedeulogy]

One for the Money [Chapter Four] Emotion vs. Logic [Asakura Hao]

“Doctor, are you in?” Ame asked as she peeked her head into the infirmary, taking a look around.

No one was inside. She hummed. Where was Faust? Or his wife? Ame had a lesson she was supposed to attend with them.

They must be tied up with something else.

Lessons were becoming less common since the warm season came. Faust and Eliza were famous around Funbari. Anna brought them in from Germany to be doctors at her inn; Ame was an intern at the time and when Skype calls became too much, she came to Japan to continue her training. That was two years ago. Since then, she attended lessons and worked at the hot springs in hopes of furthering her dream of becoming a doctor. It was rough, but she was patient.

Leaving the medical wing, Ame returned to the foyer. Since she wasn’t needed, she decided to go home and rest before her dinner date. It was three days before she accepted Hao’s proposal. Ame had Matilda tell him since she didn’t have his number and in turn, he gave her a time and date to meet him according to her schedule. She was appreciative. As she walked towards the door, Ame heard someone call her name.

Turning towards the source, she saw Yoh near the front desk. He panted as he hurried over to her. It wasn’t unusual to see him attending the reception desk but to be in a rush, Ame wasn’t used to.

“Is something wrong?” she asked in concern.

Yoh shook his head.

“No. Seeing you reminded me that Faust had a message she wanted me to tell you. I almost forgot, but your class was moved to tomorrow.”

He raked a hand through his long hair and apologized. The resemblance between him and Hao was uncanny.

“It’s fine. I appreciate you telling me,” Ame mentioned.

As if Yoh remembered something else, he widened his eyes.

“Oh! Manta said you found my brother’s shirt in the laundry room. If you haven’t given it to Kanna or one of the other waitresses, I can take it to him.”

“I took it back to him a few days ago, actually,” she uttered.

An embarrassed heat spread across her face.

“Did you speak with him?” Yoh asked.

Ame opted not to mention that she had a date with Hao and nodded.

“Only for a minute or so, to give him back his shirt,” she lied.

Yoh grinned.

“He can be hard to deal with sometimes, but he means well.”

Was he trying to assure her, or himself? Ame puckered a brow. Was it wrong for her to accept a dinner date with Hao? Considering that she knew nothing about him. He and Yoh seemed to have a strained relationship, but as to why was none of her business.

“Hao seemed welcoming towards me,” she admitted.

Yoh grinned.

“I’m relieved, but hey, don’t let me keep you. It is your day off.”

Ame snorted and said her farewells, waving to Yoh as she left the inn. Her date was at seven, so she returned home and bathed, then took a nap. Around five, she woke up and got ready, leaving her apartment at a quarter till seven. It took her eight minutes to reach the subway station and once inside, she stood near the entrance, looking through the crowd for Hao.

“Someone is eager,” Ame heard behind her.

She turned and saw Hao coming down the stairs towards her. He looked nice, wearing a track top with his hair up. An embarrassed heat spread across her face.

“Perhaps,” she stated.

Ame was more nervous than anything.

“Come on,” Hao ordered as he walked by her.

“And where to?” Ame asked.

Hao snorted.

“Wait and see,” he simply said.

He led her to the platform where they boarded the line bound for Ueno and Tokyo. Six minutes later, the train arrived at Komagome in Toshima where they exited. Ame had never been away from Ikebukuro or Funbari, so she stuck close to Hao as he guided her to the entrance of Rikugien Gardens. Paying their admission, he took her further inside, grinning as she stared in wonder at the beautiful autumn foliage; the maple trees illuminated by the lights were especially beautiful.

Coming to a stop at the Tsutsuji no Chaya teahouse, Ame ordered something sweet to eat and a green tea, sitting in front of Hao as her order was being made. The teahouse overlooked the central pond; it was gorgeous.      

“This beats a crowded restaurant in the city; hands down,” Ame stated.

Hao snorted.

“I never cared much for the city.”

She hummed. Perhaps he lived in the city to be close to his brother. Strange she has never seen him around the inn before.

“Do you visit Yoh much?” Ame asked.

A waitress brought them their orders, then left them be.

“I travel a lot, so no, but I’m home for good now,” Hao answered.

Ame recalled him mentioning that his current abode was temporary. She wondered if he had plans to move soon.

“Are you staying long in Ikebukuro?”

Hao took a sip of his tea, then grinned.

“Are you eager to spend time with me while I’m in the city?”

Ame felt her face heat up in embarrassment. She didn’t mean for her question to come off like an eager attempt to see him again, but she had to admit, the idea had crossed her mind.

“I meant––”

“I was only teasing,” Hao said with a laugh. His eyes darkened. “Once I’m done with business here, I plan to move back into my estate in the mountains.”

Ame understood now.

“And you?” Hao asked.

She hummed.

“I’m in Japan to study medicine, then get my license,” Ame answered back.

“And then what?”

She hummed; she wasn’t sure.

“Perhaps I’ll work at the inn with my teacher. I’m sure Anna wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to have another doctor at the spring.”

Hao grinned.

“I’m sure.”

For a moment it grew quiet between them. Ame ate her sweets and stared at the pond as the stars reflected off the water. She was at peace here.

“Do you like to watch the stars?” Hao asked, noticing the sparkle in her eyes.

Ame nodded.

“My mother would take me stargazing in Brandenburg all the time. She knew all the constellations and their tales,” she answered. “But it’s so hard to see them in the city nowadays.”

“I’m going to Tochigi soon for business. Why don’t you come with me? There is a hot spring in the Nasu Highlands that is great for stargazing,” Hao offered.

Ame widened her eyes and looked at him. She wanted so bad to go.

“I don’t know if I’d be able to, not with work. But I appreciate the offer.”

Hao grinned.

“I’m sure my little brother would give you the weekend off if asked. It’s only for three days.”

Perhaps. Ame took a sip of her tea and shook her head.

“I’ll ask him, but won’t I get in the way of your business trip?”

“Not at all. You can relax at the inn while I am away,” he answered.

Ame was flattered; she had never been asked on a vacation before. As she remembered what Yoh said about Hao earlier, a laugh poured from her mouth.

“Oh! Is something funny?” Hao asked.

He leaned his head against his palm, narrowing his eyes in a spirited manner. Ame felt her face heat up.

“Yoh said you were sometimes a bit hard to deal with,” she answered back.

Hao grinned.

“And your assessment?”

“I’m not sure. Honestly, I don’t know enough about you, but Yoh also told me you mean well and so far, you’ve done nothing to upset me or set off any red flags,” Ame answered.

Hao hummed. She was blunt. He liked her answer.

“I knew from the moment I saw you that I’d relish getting to know you,” he mentioned.

Ame felt nervous. She never experienced something so personal before with a person. Her heart felt like it might burst. Was she expected to say something? She was so unprepared.

“T-thank you for all this,” she uttered. “I am grateful.”

Hao laughed.

“There’s no reason to thank me. It was my pleasure.”

He was too much. Ame took an uneasy breath. For the next few minutes, she and Hao chatted casually as they ate. When they were done, she accepted his invitation to escort her to her apartment, then helped him clean up. One thing she learned about Hao in the short amount of time she spent around him was that he seemed to love nature; he had a dislike for the city, but his work forced him to remain rooted there, at least for the time being.

Leaving the garden, Hao rested his hand against her back and led her along in silence. As they rounded the corner heading towards Komagome where they exited the station, a person came rushing at them, standing in their path. Ame stared in confusion at the dark-haired female as she glared at them. Who was she? And what did she want?

Her pale eyes averted to Hao.

“I thought that was you, troll. What are you doing here?” the said female asked.

Hao laughed.

“I’m on a date.”

His eyes narrowed.

“So, you see you caught me at a bad time,” he added.

The female paled and looked at Ame. She opened her mouth to retort, but another voice cut her off.

“Leave them be, Bāji,” a woman ordered, walking around the corner.

Ame noticed the burns on her face and averted her eyes to Hao. She had no idea what was going on here.

“We’re not here to start trouble, Asakura,” the scarred woman mentioned.

Hao snorted.

“That’s yet to be seen.”

Bāji curled up her nose in disgust.

“Damn I hate you.”

Ame widened her eyes. What brought that on? Did Hao do something to them to warrant such a comment? She looked to him for answers, but his attention was on the two women in front of him.

“It’s time you both moved along,” he said in a dark tone.

The scarred woman ushered Bāji around them, but not before the said woman spat on the ground at Hao’s feet. He said nothing and led Ame towards the subway station. She was curious, but she wasn’t sure how Hao would react to her asking. Even so, something had happened between the three of them; it was obvious there was bad blood.

Looking over to Hao, Ame frowned. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts; even his hand fell from her back, resting at his side. She hummed and raised a finger, trailing his knuckle. A grin pulled at his face as he took her hand.

“I owe you an explanation, don’t I?” Hao asked.

“Under the circumstances, yes, but you are not obligated to,” Ame answered back.

She was considerate, but she was right. Some of the truth should set her mind at ease.

“Niaesu Bāji and Dong Honhon are members of a rival agency. They tend to take things too far,” Hao explained.

No kidding.

“They seem to have it out for you,” Ame mentioned.

Hao laughed.

“That is an understatement, but yes, their leader, Yabisu and I go way back. His beliefs are biased and centered around the motto that the one with the money rules the world. He runs Japan for the time being with the most real estate, but others want to tip the balance away from his favor.”

Like you, Ame opted not to say.

She had no idea the real estate business was so vicious. Readjusting her hand, she linked her fingers with his. In doing so, Ame was taking a big step, but she wanted to show Hao that she was interested. His grip tightened, bringing a smile to her face. She could get used to this sort of attention.

Ame should have read the signs better; she would have seen the underlying problem, but her heart got in the way.

A/n: when I write Ame, the picture above is how I see her. I'm not the best artist, but sometimes I like to do headshots of my original characters.

[destroy-some-evil]

I realized that History 4 might be another full stop on the apology tour for the sins of History 3: MODC.

Maybe I’m seeing this because I re-watched History 4 right after finishing all of History 3:MODC because I needed the comfort of History 4 and to rewatch Bo Xiang and Zhi Gang get married now that I actually know who they are and how they got together. But I couldn’t help but see the similarities, to a certain degree, in the main characters and the broad strokes of the storyline. Like Taiwan was like I’m sorry about MODC; here is something similar but with a happy ending and just a bit a lot more unhinged.

You got the lovely and loveable himbo Hao Ting in History 3, but in History 4, they took him from a 10/10 himbo to an 11/10 golden retriever himbo as Li Cheng. (As a side note, I wanted to send both Hao Ting and Li Cheng to a financial literacy class over their spending habits when making their other half happy, especially when buying/leasing housing outside the budget.)

We’ve got our ice prince smarty pants Xi Gu, but since History 4 is the apology, they took out the Tragic Backstory TM and made him a wine mom as Mu Ren and only tortured him a little bit.

And the first couple's storyline centers around the golden retriever Himbo realizing his love for ice-prince and winning him over. (like I said in broad strokes)

Then we’ve got our second couple but with extra sparkling on it. It is not just an age gap relationship but also a stepbrother relationship!

And so that it’s not just copy-paste; instead of being another himbo with golden retriever energy, they made Yong Jie (our Bo Xiang analog) into a wonderfully unhinged Doberman with Bad Plans. His plans were terrible. Book smart Yong Jie might be, but he’s such a dumb.

Xing Si is just as much of a cinnamon roll as Zhi Gang, only with an added brother complex that makes it 1000% impossible for him to say no to Yong Jie. Meanwhile, Zhi Gang only gives in about 98% of the time.

And for the second couple, after getting together, an important part of the storyline is also having and executing a plan for allowing the older person to come home to their parents and be welcomed back into the family.

Maybe it’s a stretch to add this to the apology tour, but it did make me feel better seeing these similarities and thinking of it that way. I watched History 4 as my first inroad to the History series and loved it for its own sake. But I think I love it even more now after rewatching it after History 3: MODC. It is like a remix that also happens to be in the same universe and which you might not see unless you watch both. Similar but definitely not the same. Enough to be comforting to me, at least as an added layer, along with being something I like on its own merits.

Hey petty so recently I told you that you’d single-handedly convinced me to watch the HIStory and I have been having a great goddamn time Taiwan my absolute my beloved my belle of the ball you give me everything I want baby, but…I’ve come to Make Our Days Count and I need some encouragement to start it. Because I KNOW how it ends I KNOW it’s gonna hurt me so I need someone to hype me up and talk me into it

Anon, I told you not to follow me down my trashy path!

I'm not trying to convince y'all to watch anything. Never. Not ever. I loved Hit Bit Love, but I will never recommend that to anyone because I know what it was.

So now you're asking me, the person who consistently tells you not to watch anything unless you want to and not based on my unabashed love for it, to convince you to watch the HIStory-that-shall-not-be-named?

Well, I can't because, as you very well know, it's gonna fucking hurt! That series was, on average, ranked around an 8.8 each episode by 20 faithful watchers on My Drama List until the final episode which is a 4.8 with double the raters (40). Not only did it bury the gay at the last possible second after jailing the gay mafia lead in the previous installment right when Taiwan legalized marriage equality, but half of the world was going into lockdown, and the other half was burying its head in the sand about it. Basically, the morale was so low in BL Land, hell had to make new layers because HIStory decided to be high art and kill someone.

And it would be another two years before we got the next installment, my beloved HIStory 4: Close to You.

Knowing what I know, I wouldn't even tell myself to watch the HIStory-that-shall-not-be-named? I don't want to remember watching it, so I definitely don't want to talk about it.

Instead I'm going to convince you of why it's important that I did watch it four years ago in retrospect:

The Apology Tour

Taiwan knows it fucked up.

Every year since that ill-fated series, we get Wayne and Huang playing in the final episode of other BLs which greatly relies on us knowing who they are and their HIStory because without it, the emotional impact is wasted.

2020 - Life: Love on the Line (Japan) - They played tourists seeing the Northern Lights which is something they mentioned in HIStory.

2021 - Be Loved in House: I Do - Wayne played a random guy the lead runs into and tells him to never let anyone take his love away, but the two actually played in HIStory together, so Wayne's character realizes this as the lead runs away.

2022 - Plus & Minus - They are guests at the leads' wedding who run into each other and feel an instant connection as if they have met in a previous life.

2023 - Kiseki: Dear to Me - They play gangstas from a rival squad, but some of y'all have not watched episode 8, so I'll shut up.

Oh, and the side pair also pop up places like HIStory 4: Close to You.

Basically, each time these guys show up somewhere, it's a spectacle. It's basically AU fanfic every year for us. If they couldn't be together in HIStory, they can be together in other ways, in other shows, and in other universes, so I'm excited to see where they will pop up in 2024, but the commoner who hasn't watched the HIStory-that-shall-not-be-named will not care as much.

Anon, do you want to feel those feelings?

Do you want Taiwan to continue apologizing for its grave misdeed? Do you want to be "in the know" each time you see these two appear on your screen? Do you want to believe that they are together in another universe? Do you want all of this?

Because if you do, you can't have it if you don't watch the series that caused this ripple effect. You are missing a foundational competent of their legacy if you skip out on the HIStory-that-shall-not-be-named.

However, I can't encourage you to watch this.

I watched nine glorious episodes, then got beat down in the finale, only to spend the last four years gleefully sitting front row to the apology tour, so ask yourself if you are comfortable making that deal as well?

You decide.

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 5

Here is the long awaited Chapter 5. Also, due to my own desire, all of the temporary heroes will have suits fashioned after outfits from “Avatar: the Last Airbender”.

Con trai means “son” while Con gài means “daughter”, or at least that’s what the website I found them on says. (the website is www.vietnamesepod101.com if you’re wondering)

Also, I made a typo in chapter 2/3 with Marc’s pronouns but since then, I’ve changed it. I hope you all will continue to receive this fic with the same enthusiasm you have thus far.

Jason danced around his kitchen with Damian on his hip, his sisters sitting on some of the kitchen counters. Bobby Day’s “Rockin’ Robin” poured into the kitchen from his bluetooth speaker.

Tim wandered into the kitchen, one hand rubbing at his eye and the other on the wall, and ran into Steph’s legs. “‘ephanie?”

“Hey Tim.” Steph gently pushed Tim in the direction of the fridge and laughed as she watched him stumble to the fridge.

Jason ruffled Tim’s hair as he walked passed and smiled. “Good morning Timbers.”

“Good morning Uncle Tim.” Damian murmured from where his head was resting against his dad’s shoulder.

“Wha-?” Tim turned to look at the pair. “When did-?”

“Just went through yesterday.” Jason smiled. “Don’t worry too much.”

Tim nodded and got his glass of water before returning to the girls and settling between them. “Have you told Dick yet?”

Jason shook his head and opened the oven door to peek at the muffins he was baking. “No. But he, Wally and the kids are supposed to come over for lunch today.”

---

Jason carefully pried the sleeping form of his son off of his hip and passed him to Roy with a smile before looking at his brother. “So, Dickiebird, how are you holding up?”

Dick shrugged, playing with Mar’i’s hair to distract himself, before smiling. “I’m fine.” He glanced over at Wally for a moment. “Wally and I have been helping each other with this single parent thing.”

Wally smiled before turning to watch Jai and Iris chase each other around the dining room table. “Dick’s a great help with those two, they always have so much energy.”

Jason chuckled and shook his head. “Of course they have so much energy, look at who their father is.” Jason was about to say something when someone knocked on the door. “Give me just a moment.”

Wally and Dick sent him a pair of thumbs up as he stood up and walked towards the door.

Jason opened the door and simply raised an eyebrow. “What can I help you with Mr. Wayne?”

“There’s a French class coming to Gotham. They’re staying in one of the company hotels in the heart of the city. You and your brothers had best be on your best behaviour since Dick is the tour guide for their tours through the company buildings and you’re the acting bodyguard for their tours around the city.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Hey Dickiebird! I didn’t know you signed up to give some tours to some hoity toity French kids.”

“I didn’t know I signed up to give some tours either.” Dick leaned on the wall next to the door. “When did either of us sign up to help you?”

Bruce sighed and looked at his two oldest sons. “Don’t do it for me. Do it for Alfred, he would like it if any of you came around.”

“Mmm, no can do B. My son is the child of a rogue and the grandchild of a rogue, my sister is the child of a rogue, my sisters are children of rogues, my brothers and I associate with rogues. Alfred is more than welcome to come around. You can give him my address and then forget it.”

Dick nodded and slung an arm around Jason’s shoulders. “When is the French class supposed to be here?”

“They’re flying in on Saturday but don’t start their tours until the following Monday to allow for them to get used to the time change.

---

Jason nervously tapped his foot on the floor, hoping and praying to whatever deity came to mind first a certain god of destruction that everything would turn out alright. He took a deep breath, shook out his hands and knocked on the door to the apartment.

The door opened and Selina appeared, dishevelled hair and shirt falling down her arm. Selina was sleepily rubbing at her eye with the other hand still held the door, just open enough she could see whomever was at her door but not open enough that anyone could see into her apartment.

“Aunt Selina?” Jason whispered while praying again to the deity. “Do you remember me? I’m-”

Selina let go of the door to wrap her arms around Jason, pulling the much taller boy against her chest. “Oh Jason. Why didn’t you come to me immediately after you breached city limits?” She pulled back just enough to hesitantly trace her fingers over the scars that marred his otherwise conventionally handsome face. “My poor bird. My poor, poor, little bird.”

“Aunt Selina. I’m fine now. Dick and Tim have sided with me against Bruce. I know how much you care for him and I understand if you’re taking his side, I just, I needed to see my Aunt Selina one last time.”

“Jason Peter Todd. I’m not the Joker. My one goal in life isn’t to be the Bat’s one and only. The day he brought Dick on the scene I decided then and there that you all weren’t his birds. You were mine. And cats are just as likely to attack bats as they are birds.” Selina’s fingers paused on top of a set of three very faint white-silver scars just under his jawline. “I am sorry that I ever caused you pain my little bird.”

---

Jason nervously straightened things around his apartment, Damian, Roy and Lian sat on the couch watching his mad dash around the apartment while Stephanie and Cass sat on a pair of counters with Tim standing between them. Dick, Wally, Mar’i, Jay and Iris were nervously looking out the window as Jason continued to clean.

Dick, Wally, Mar’i, Jay and Iris suddenly scrambled away from the window to sit down around Damian, Roy and Lian.

A few minutes after they sat down, a firm knock came at the door. Jason brushed the dust off of his shirt and approached the door. Jason opened the door and smiled. “Hi Aunt Selina. Hi Grandpa Alfred.”

Alfred smiled at Jason and glanced down at the covered dish in his hands. “I made my key lime pie.”

Selina simply chuckled. “Little bird. At this point, I’m your mom. Just call me Mom.”

-*-*-*

Thana looked at her friends, Chloé steadfast in her loyalty, Nino firm in his friendship, and Kim unshakable in his protection, and smiled. “I love you guys so much. You are my family.”

Chloé smiled and wrapped her arms around Thana. “We love you too.”

Nino and Kim joined their hug, the four friends uniting in their found family and solidifying their bonds. “You’re our family too Thana.”

---

Desgracia watched as Marc took a deep breath before looking at Kaalki. “Kaalki, full gallop.”

Marc was encased in a pale brown light. When the light disappeared, they stood in a loose-fitting gray bodysuit with brown knee-high boots with dark orange-red bands around the top of the boots and around the ankles, dark red wrist gauntlets covered in orange horseshoes with dark golden yellow bands around the top and bottom of the gauntlets. Over the gray bodysuit, they had a dark red tunic which crossed over their chest which was hemmed in a red-orange. The bottom half of their face was obscured by the turtleneck of their gray bodysuit while they had a dark orange-red domino mask with light gray eye lenses. The domino mask had a thin golden yellow outline, akin to glasses, while their hair had reddened. While their hair had previously been pitch black, it was now a dark chestnut that had lengthened to resemble Sesshomaru’s.

“What’s your name?” Desgracia’s eye lenses were blue-green and flicked over his suit in vague interest.

“Ma-”

Desgracia’s eye lenses darkened to green and hissed. “Hero name. We don’t use names in the field.” A gruff voice repeating the same words to a much younger version of her older brother sounded in her head.

“Oh, uh, um.” Marc frowned and tapped their chin in thought.

“Well, you’re using the Horse Miraculous so it should be something horse related. Poulain, because you’re new at this so you’re like a foal.”

“Poulain rouge.” Marc smiled and shook out their shoulders. “Poulain rouge because my hair is more red now.”

“Welcome to the team Poulain rouge.” Desgracia smiled and leaned over to ruffle their hair.

“Thanks.”

---

Thana sat under the stairs which lead to the second floor of the school, sketching an outfit for a client when another person tripped over her legs. She glanced up to see it was Marc before looking back down at her sketch.

“Sorry. I didn’t-” Marc started before Thana cut them off.

“Would you wear this?” Thana pushed her sketchbook towards them and tapped her fingers on her leg.

Marc looked over the sketch and nodded. “Yeah. Looks good. Who’s it for?”

“A client. Hey, you’re good at writing, right?” Thana looked at them and seemed to be imploring them to answer.

“Yeah?”

“Could you look over my website and figure out what’s wrong with it?” Thana smiled. “You can come over to Chlo’s to look over it. Well, Chlo’s or Kim’s.”

Marc nodded. “Sure.”

---

Thana and Marc followed after Kim as he walked into his home.

“Mẹ! Mèo con and our friend came over, I hope that’s okay.” Kim called as they entered the house. Kim and Thana toed off their shoes on instinct while Marc just copied their movements.

“Con trai. Con gài.” Kim’s Mẹ wrapped the two up in a hug before pressing kisses to their foreheads. “Ni hao. I’m Kim’s mom, and Marinette,” Kim’s Mẹ noticed how she flinched at the use of the name and corrected herself, “Thana has practically become my daughter.”

“My name is Marc Anciel.” Marc shook Kim’s Mẹ’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am.”

“None of that ma’am stuff. Just call me Mẹ, those two do.” Kim’s Mẹ was, arguably, a very attractive woman. She had short black hair and warm caramel brown eyes and she was just a few centimeters shorter than Kim. “Come on in.”

The three teens smiled at the woman before they went back to Kim’s room. Thana pulled up her website and moved out of the desk chair to allow Marc to look it over.

Marc looked over the website while Kim and Thana did their homework. “Are you sure you want the whole webpage to be gunmetal gray? You could mix it up with the background being light purple so the gray stands out.”

Thana nodded and let out a quiet “huh”. “Hey Marc? Do you care if I hug you?”

Marc’s eyes widened and they smiled shyly. “Sure.”

Thana wrapped her arms around Marc. “Thank you so much.”

---

Desgracia looked over the field, making sure each of her teammates weren’t being overwhelmed with this Akuma’s minions, when she saw the Akuma gunning for Poulain rouge.

Desgracia lept from the rooftop, landing on her toes in front of Poulain rouge and glared at the Akuma. She twirled her baton in her hand, keeping it low enough to not hit Poulain, before she looked back over her shoulder at Poulain. “Go get Monsieur Punaise. Tell him to hurry.”

Poulain nodded, turned around and ran to get their fearless leader who had one fear and it was Desgracia.

By the time Poulain returned with Monsieur Punaise, the Akuma was barely holding on. Monsieur Punaise called for his Lucky Charm, a plane ticket (specifically one for the flight they were taking soon), before deakumatizing the Akuma and throwing the Lucky Charm in the air with a call of “Miraculous Monsieur Punaise”.

Desgracia wrapped an arm around Poulain’s waist before jumping away, leaving her more even tempered teammates to assist the Akuma victim.

Desgracia landed on a rooftop and put Poulain down on the rooftop. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. He didn’t get close enough to take a swipe at me.” Poulain rouge chuckled and shook their head. “Don’t worry about me. Are you okay?”

“Poulain. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. All damage dealt in the battle was rendered useless and disappeared when Monsieur Punaise cast his final charm.” Desgracia cupped Poulain’s face in her hands. “You have to be on guard at all times in battle. I won’t always be here. You need to trust your teammates to protect you in battle.”

Trâu landed on the rooftop and chuckled. “Desi, you can’t just kidnap our Foal.”

Desgracia turned her green eyes on him, however after assessing him as no threat her eye lenses turned back into their normal blue. “Trâu. I didn’t kidnap them. I just needed to ensure that they were fine.”

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