#what if all of the party members were frozen by the time she got to them/where she'd meet them 😭

[uwuinhell]

So I was looking at some story prompts and I saw this and my brain went "...what if that was an ISAT au..."

[jihyoruri]

❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ COME BACK TO ME(PLEASE ) kim minji x reader

↳ warnings this takes place during ditto era, minji is down bad, 6th member reader

minji stood frozen, her gaze locked on the ethereal girl as she glided past without stopping. every movement seemed choreographed, every step a graceful dance. time seemed to slow as minji drank in the girl's beauty—a beauty so unique, it made minji question her own perception of the word beauty. 

it was the kind of beauty that transcended mere physical appearance, captivating minji’s senses and leaving her speechless and then that specific feeling started creeping upon minji.

regret.

the feeling of realizing you messed up the best thing that could ever happen to you.

yeah, that’s what she was feeling right now.

"oh no, don't give me that look," minji turned to hanni, who shot her a scolding glance. "you broke up with her, bro. don’t act all heartbroken just because your ego got in the way."

minji’s shoulders sagged under Hanni's sharp gaze, her expression a mix of regret and frustration. "I know, I know," she muttered, “she’s just so pretty.”

minji couldn't fathom why their ceo thought it was a stroke of genius to add yn to the group after pitting her and yn against each other the entire time. It felt like a cruel joke, especially considering the rule of having only "five people" for debut for the group only to suddenly change course and introduce yn months after their debut dropped. the decision felt like a slap in the face.

like everything she did was for nothing, like letting yn go was for nothing, being an asshole was all for nothing.

“she is.” hanni  responded with no remorse, not even flinching at minji’s glare, “and I don’t know what you were thinking.” she says rubbing salt into the wound causing minji to groan and throw her head back.

"I don't know what I was thinking either," minji whispered to herself, the weight of her own words echoing in the quiet of the room. 

with a heavy sigh, she pushed herself up from the couch, a weariness settling over her like a heavy blanket. "I'm gonna go lay down," she muttered as she trudged away, her steps heavy with the burden of her thoughts.

"don’t forget we're all meeting back in the living room in an hour to watch ditto drop!" hanni’s voice called after minji, her words giving a burst of energy that clashed with minji’s mood. but minji was already disappearing down the hallway, her groan serving as a half-hearted response to hanni’s reminder.

minji kept her gaze fixed on the floor as she made her way down the hall to her room, lost in her thoughts and oblivious to the figure approaching that makes their way down to opposite side of the hall with a bag of caramel popcorn in their hands, with a sudden collision, their bodies collided, eliciting a yelp from both parties involved.

startled , minji looked up, her breath catching in her throat as her eyes met yn’s. time seemed to stand still as they locked gazes, minji momentarily forgetting how to breathe in the presence of the girl.

while the girl stuffs an handful the popcorn she already had in her hand in her mouth while clutching the bag in her other.

minji observed yn’s awkward attempt to slowly chew the sweet popcorn, her mind racing faster than her mouth could keep up. "you're still obsessed with caramel popcorn?" she blurted out, the words tumbling from her lips before she could fully process them.

yn’s eyes flicked up to meet minji’s, a hint of sheepishness coloring her expression as she swallowed the popcorn. "yeah," she admitted but immediately hardening up, “that doesn’t matter though, since nothing about me matters.” she responds quoting the older girls words causing minji to cringe.

“yn-“

"I really don't want to hear it," yn interjected quietly, cutting off minji’s attempt to speak. "you said what you had to say already," she added, her tone tinged with a hint of vulnerability before turning and walking down the hall.

minji hand instinctively reached out as if to stop her, but she hesitated, the weight of yn’s words settling heavily in her chest. With a resigned sigh, minji let her hand fall back to her side, watching silently as yn disappeared from view, the distance between them feeling wider than ever before.

she felt the weight in her chest get heavier as she turned around and headed to her room, being around yn has been so hard, the more she interacts with the girl the more she feels like she’s going to explode in tears.

minji lets herself sink into her bed and closes her eyes letting her guilty tears fall, she pulls her blanket over her and lets sleep slowly take over.

and just as she closes her eyes she opens them, when she feels an excited hyein open the door of the room, minji looks at the time, it’s been an hour since she fell asleep.

“minji unnie, get up!”the younger yells, “we have two minutes.” she says before running out the room

minji stares at the ceiling before letting out a sigh and dragging herself out of her bed, she makes her way out her room and she immediately here’s the loud noises of her members.

despite her reluctance, minji knew she couldn't stay holed up in her room forever. with a resigned sigh, she squared her shoulders and began to make her way towards the source of the commotion, steeling herself for whatever awaited her on the other side.

as soon as she walks into the living room she’s met with danielle’s of hurry’s.

minji can’t help but smile at the girls contagious excitement, but that smile immediately disappears when she sees that only spot open is the one beside yn who hasn’t looked up from her bowl of caramel popcorn since minji entered the room.

taking a deep breath to steel herself, minji forced a shaky smile and approached the couch, taking the seat beside yn.

the air between them felt charged with tension, a silent barrier that seemed to loom larger with each passing moment. despite her best efforts to ignore it, minji couldn't shake that feeling she got in her chest around yn.

she opened her mouth to whisper a greeting but was cut off by the greeting and of the other girls as the countdown started.

she played with her fingers as the screams got louder when the music video started, she couldn’t help but smile at the music video, especially the scenes where it was just her and yn, she remembers how nervous she was when the director told her that her and yn will have multiple parts alone together, the filming was so awkward but seeing how nice it tuned out made her warm inside.

feeling a gentle nudge, minji turned to look at yn, who had her eyes fixed on the music video playing on the screen. furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, minji followed yn’s gaze down to the bowl of caramel popcorn nestled between them. 

A soft smile tugged at the corners of minji’s lips as she realized yn’s subtle invitation to share the snack.

minji reached out and scooped up a handful of the sweet and salty treat, the warmth of yn’s gesture washing over her like a comforting embrace. 

as she popped a kernel into her mouth, minji couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope flicker within her, a silent reassurance that perhaps, despite the distance that had grown between them, there was still a chance for reconciliation.

once the music video finished all the girls got up, they all agreed to make cookies after watching the music video, minji watched as they made their way around the corner to the kitchen, their conversation buzzing about the music video.

hanni shot minji an encouraging look before nodding to yn who still at bedside minji with her face in her phone probably texting her family members about the music video, she then turned the corner and made her way to the kitchen like the rest of the girls.

minji swallowed nervously, the lump in her throat betraying the turmoil of emotions swirling within her. "Um, yn?" she began tentatively, her voice barely above a whisper amidst the din of the room.

yn finally tore her gaze away from the screen of her phone, turning to look at minji with a raised eyebrow, a silent question lingering in her eyes. the weight of their unspoken tension hung heavy in the air, casting a palpable unease over their interaction.

minji took a deep breath, summoning the courage to voice the words that had been weighing on her mind. "I... I just wanted to say... I'm sorry," she stammered, her voice trembling with the raw vulnerability of her confession. "For everything."

"I... I don't know what I was thinking," minji continued, her voice cracking with emotion. "the pressure of debuting was just so high, and the fact that it was either me or you getting kicked out of the lineup made everything worse." She paused, her words hanging heavy in the air as she struggled to articulate the depth of her remorse.

"I let my fear and insecurity cloud my judgment," minji confessed, her gaze dropping to her hands as she fidgeted nervously with her fingers. 

“But that's no excuse for how I treated you. You didn't deserve that, and I'm truly sorry for hurting you, I don’t even know how I even thought of hurting someone I love so much, I need you to know that ever since that day all I’ve wanted was you back.”

the weight of her confession hung between them, the silence stretching taut with the unspoken hope for forgiveness. minji heart pounded in her chest, her pulse echoing in her ears as she waited with bated breath for yn’s response.

"the pressure was pretty high, huh?" yn echoed softly, her tone tinged with a mixture of understanding and resignation. she sighed, her gaze flickering briefly to the bustling activity in the other room before returning to minji’s troubled expression.

"I get it," yn admitted, her voice carrying a weight of shared experience. "we were all under immense pressure, and it's easy to let it get the best of us." she reached out, laying a gentle hand on minji arm, a silent gesture of solidarity. "but that doesn't excuse what happened between us."

there was a quiet intensity in yn’s gaze as she locked eyes with minji, a silent plea for honesty and accountability. "I appreciate your apology," she said softly, her words carrying a note of sincerity. "but apologies alone won't mend what's broken.”

minji felt her chest sink and it was obvious that yn could see it in her eyes, “I do see us together minji I really do, but let’s do this slowly.”

minji nodded, her throat tight with unspoken words. despite the ache of longing that pulsed within her, she knew that yn was right. rebuilding what they once had would take time and patience, a delicate process that couldn't be rushed.

"Okay," minji murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "I understand, I’ll do anything to fix this, I’m kinda obsessed with you.”

yn laughed and pressed a soft kiss to minji’s cheek, “yeah, it’s obvious.” obvious she teases before getting up from the couch and reaching out her hand towards minji, “lets go help with the cookies.”

minji couldn’t contain the smile that broke out on her face as she interlocked her hand with yn’s letting the girl drag her towards the kitchen.

she looks at yn and is completely mesmerized and just like always her mouth is faster than her mind, “you looked amazing in the music video, best way to make your official debut.”

“oh, shut up.”

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

@steddie-spooktober day 4: corn maze | G | wc: 1,147

uhhh i know i'm the one who came up with the corn maze prompt.. but hay bales suited this story better 🧍‍♀️

“Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Where the hell is that kid?”

“Probably back there where I said we should’ve gone left.”

“You go find him then if—” Steve cuts himself off when he comes face to face with another dead end. The stack of hay bales mock him. “Alright. You know what, fine. I give up.”

“You give up.”

“I give up.” Steve plops down onto a pile of stray straw at the base of the five-bale-tall wall.

“That’s not the Harrington I know.” Eddie says, a smirk in his voice.

“Yeah, well, if this was a corn maze like they normally have every year, I’d just walk through the walls to the center. But no. They just had to have a crazy amount of hay this year, didn’t they?”

Eddie laughs at him, the bastard. Steve takes a second to glare furiously at him. It’s almost enough to kill off the unforeseen crush he’d developed on their newest party member, but even now, Eddie’s frustrating and frustratingly good looking.

The cold has brought some prickles of pink to his cheeks, the wind that would flood down on them whenever they’d turned down a parallel leg of the maze having done wonders to his hair, the exasperated smile he’s currently sporting.. Damn him and damn his pretty.. everything.

“Who would’ve thought that Captain of every team he’s on Harrington would only ever be a bad sport when it comes to harmless, family fun mazes.”

“...I’m not directionally gifted. Shut up.”

“Do you want me to take the lead, or do you actually want me to leave you here in the dirt?” Eddie holds out a hand for him to take.

Steve has no choice but to take it.

“Damn, your hands are cold!” Eddie says, pulling him up, “Alright sweetheart, you hang onto that, and I’ll get us out of here.”

Some of the heat that Steve could have routed down to his hand floods into his face instead.

Eddie stands still, almost frozen, for a few seconds, then says, “Right.” and starts pulling Steve along the way they came.

One right, two lefts, and one more right after that, and they break into the large, sunny center of the maze.

“Surprise!!” The entire rest of the party is there already, waiting for them with grins on their faces. “Happy Birthday Steve!"

He has to fight the urge to pinch at the bridge of his nose as the group surge forward toward them.

“We got you a birthday doughnut!” Robin says, holding up a small paper plate with a sugar-crusted doughnut on it; a single candle is wedged into a glazed doughnut hole that’s been smushed into the center of the other. The flame gets gusted out by the wind as she passes it to him. “Whoops..”

“I brought a canteen full of hot cider!”

“There are presents too, ours was Mike’s idea.” El’s comment surprises him, and Mike is already looking away from him pointedly when he glances over at him.

“The maze thing was Eddie’s idea!”

“Hey, the whole thing was Eddie’s idea, Henderson. Give him some credit.” Eddie says, pointing accusingly at Dustin.

Steve turns to raise an eyebrow at Eddie.

“How was I supposed to know that mazes are the one thing you’re bad at?” he says in a mock affronted tone.

Everyone laughs, and are soon piping up to tell their own stories of trying to get through from the other side.

“Dustin got all claustrophobic like, two minutes in, and it actually made him get through it faster.” Mike teases, poking Dustin in the side.

“I wish it was corn like last year, I would’ve gotten through in half the time.” Lucas grouses. (“That’s what I said!” Steve says, gesturing heartily at Lucas.)

“Me, Max, and Erica were the first ones through, it was so easy.” Robin says, “I thought we’d have to eat all the doughnuts to survive.”

They hang out in the center for a while, and it isn’t until he goes to reach for another pumpkin spice doughnut, pulling his hand from Eddie’s to do so, that he realizes Eddie was still holding his hand, thumb running idly back and forth across his knuckles the whole time.

Maybe Steve’s not the only one with a crush after all…

“Alright, ready Eddie?” Steve says once all the baked goods are gone and the presents (a sweater from the boys, a mini leather bound journal from Robin, a hefty handful of new pins for his work vest from the girls, and a new walkman from Hopper and Joyce) are packed away back into Will’s backpack. He stands up and starts doing some useless stretches, his arms, his calves, jogging in place.

“For what?! Are we running a marathon next? ‘Cause I gotta tell you Stevie, I may do a lot of running, but that doesn’t mean I’m good at it.”

“Nope, for my redemption arc. I’m leading us back out. And I won’t get lost this time.”

“Sure you won’t, Dingus.” Robin says, standing too and grabbing their trash. “See you boys on the other side.”

The party all tear out at the same time, splitting in half and timing their exits to go back through opposite sides, something about the winning half getting some sort of prize. Hopper and Joyce similarly split, a dinner date on the line for the winner.

“Alright Munson. Eyes closed, hand out.” Steve says once they reach the break in the wall too.

“Ooh, bossy. I like that.” he says, smirking at the eye roll Steve gives him as he squashes his eyelids shut.

Steve’s cold-ass fingers lace through his, not at all the platonic grip he’d had on Steve’s the last time.

They turn and weave and wind through the walls, and soon, as the drone of the crowds filter out, Eddie can tell Steve’s gotten them lost once again.

“There. Think this is good enough.” Steve murmurs, and before Eddie can ask what he means by that, Steve has pulled him sharply around, spinning him and pressing him back into the prickly wall of hay.

Eddie’s eyes fly open in surprise when his back hits the bales, but closes them again in the next second when Steve’s lips connect with his.

Funnily enough, they’re warmer than Eddie’s, and the press of them makes his stomach swoop almost violently.

Too soon, way too soon, Steve is pulling back. “You planned a surprise for me.” he breathes.

“Robin helped.” Eddie breathes dumbly in return.

Steve snorts, pushing closer to him, “I’m going to kiss you again.”

“Uh huh.”

He leans closer, gaze hooded. “That okay?”

“More than.”

Steve tastes like cinnamon sugar, and suddenly it’s the best flavor in the world.

(“Okay, you can lead us back out now.” Steve says, after ten minutes spent warming his hands on the skin of Eddie’s torso.)

divider from @saradika-graphics!

[chibinasuu]

Kid x Reader ― surprise; present

part of the cozy holidays event

🎁 ― anonymous tags: sfw (just a tiiinyy bit suggestive at the end), fluff, GN!reader, no use of y/n, established relationship, cw language (it's the kid pirates)

“Oi, Kid!” You shook the sleeping form of your Captain, “Wake the fuck up!”

He groaned in protest, refusing to open his eyes.

“Oh, come on!” You whined, shaking him more violently, “You promised you’d teach me how to ice skate today!”

“Alright, alright!” He finally conceded, throwing aside his blanket and reluctantly getting up, “Just shut up and let me get ready in peace.”

You grinned, reminding him to meet you on the deck in ten minutes, before rushing to the kitchen.

It was good that your Captain always skipped breakfast, because the kitchen and dining room of the Victoria Punk was currently in a state of chaos. 

Emma was mixing a huge bowl of red cake batter under Killer’s supervision, whilst the Commander himself was seasoning some ground meat for the filling of Kid’s favorite cabbage rolls. 

Dive was perched on Wire’s shoulders, hanging streamers from the ceiling all around the room. Quincy’s tongue stuck out as she concentrated on carefully painting elaborate letterings on a large white banner – it only said “HA” for now, but she had plenty of time to finish the rest of that sentence. 

The other members of the Kid Pirates were also busy with various tasks – wrapping presents, blowing up balloons, polishing the fancy silverware they got from their last loot, taking out the clean, non-blood-stained tablecloth. 

You nodded in satisfaction at the progress of the party preparation.

“You still here?” Heat scoffed, “Aren’t you supposed to keep Kid away from the ship?”

“Running a bit late – he literally wouldn’t budge when I woke him up.” You sighed, “But he’s up now. We’ll head off in a few minutes.”

“Don’t let him in here!” Papas yelled. 

“Well, duh!” You rolled your eyes, hand on the door handle, “I’m not stupid!”

You yanked the door open only to come face-to-face with the redhead himself.

“Kid!” You exclaimed, immediately shutting the door behind you before he could see anything. 

He stared at you with one eyebrow raised, “What’s with the commotion?”

“Oh, you know,” you shrugged, “The usual breakfast quarrel. Heat preferred hard-boiled eggs, Wire liked them soft-boiled, and now the rest of the crew are taking sides –yelling and throwing stuff at each other.” 

Kid only hummed in response, not at all suspicious of your lie since it was a likely occurrence on this ship. 

“Come on,” He offered his non-mechanical arm to you, “Let’s go then.”

You happily linked your arm with his, and off you both went ashore. Your heartbeat picked up in anticipation – it had been a while since you went on a date with Kid.

The Victoria Punk had been docked for a couple of days on this little winter island when Kid came upon the frozen lake in the middle of its woods. You had been on watch when he returned to the ship, immediately telling you all about his discovery. You had found it very endearing how he looked like a little child with that huge, excited grin as he rushed off to find his skates. 

It was never even cold enough for snow on his home island back in the South Blue, so it went without saying that Kid had never ice-skated until he entered the Grand Line and set foot on his first winter island. It wasn’t long until he found out that he had a natural aptitude for it, a fact he loved bragging about to the rest of the crew.

Yesterday, you watched with envy from the sidelines as Kid, Bubblegum, and UK raced a few laps around the lake. On the way back to the ship, you had begged Kid to teach you how to skate until he finally relented and said yes, which brought you to your date today. It also happened to be the perfect opportunity to get Kid off the ship for a few hours while the crew set up the surprise.

It was a short trek to the lake, and you shook in excitement when you caught sight of the smooth, glassy surface of the ice, shimmering with the blinding reflection of the morning sun. 

Kid dropped his bag on the snow-covered ground, crouching to rummage through it. He took out his own skates, a pair he made for you, and…

“I’m not wearing that fucking bowl on my head.” You looked disgustedly at the ugly metal thing that Kid was holding out to you.

“Yeah well, too bad, sweetheart.” He plopped the helmet on your head and tied the strap under your chin, “You’re wearing it, or I’m not teaching you how to skate.”

Kid then proceeded to help you put on your skates, making sure to double-knot the laces, before putting on his own. He then stood up easily, while your effort to get to your feet resulted in what probably would be a bruised bum.

The bastard had the audacity to laugh before pulling you up, guiding you to carefully step onto the icy lake. You wobbled at the slippery surface, knuckles turning white at how hard you were grasping Kid’s arms. 

“Relax, doll, I got you.” Kid’s unusually soft voice calmed your nerves, and you started to slowly loosen your iron grip. 

“There we go,” he grinned as he started skating backward, propelling you to go forward along with him. 

“Shit, Kid.” You panicked again, staring at the speed of which your blades were carving the ice, “Slow down!” 

“Hey, look at me!” He searched your eyes, “Keep your gaze straight.”

You met his amber eyes, and Kid smiled, “Good. Now, bend your knees a little for me.”

You did as he said, and when he started gliding again, you found it much easier to follow his movements.

The two of you skated across the lake – hands joined, eyes locked – until you finally felt like you got the hang of it. Kid seemed to sense your increased confidence too, because he smirked and asked, “Think you’re ready to try on your own? Or are you too much of a coward?” 

The thought of losing the tether of Kid’s hands daunted you, but like hell were you going to back down from his challenge.

You reluctantly let go of his hand, and Kid skated away from you – just a short distance away, but the gap between the two of you looked massive from where you stood, frozen to your spot. 

You hesitantly pushed the edge of your skate against the ice, just like Kid showed you, taking one tentative stroke, then another, and another.

He stealthily skated backward bit by bit, increasing the distance which you had to skate to reach him. 

“Kid, I’m doing it!” Your smile was so bright, Kid was afraid it would melt the ice and plunge you both into the freezing waters.

With one last broad stroke, you gained speed and flung yourself straight into Kid’s waiting arms. He caught you and lifted you a few inches from the ground, spinning you around in a dizzying twirl. You laughed in glee, holding on tight to him until the spin lost its momentum and he set you down onto the ice again. 

Kid rested his forehead against yours, “Not bad for a beginner.”

You both stood there in silence for a few moments, enjoying the warm rays streaming through the canopy of trees, and the birds singing softly overhead. 

You cleared your throat and called out his name, heat rising to your cheeks, “I, uh, got you something. For your birthday.”

You reached into the front pocket of your jeans and took out a simple metal bracelet with a single ruby embedded in the center. 

The craftsmanship was extremely shoddy – the edges uneven, the stone crooked. Kid immediately knew that you made the accessory with your own hands. 

You slightly pushed up the sleeve of your sweater to show the perfect bracelet Kid made you for your last birthday, crafted from the same material and inlaid all over with the blood-red gems. You rarely ever took it off, not even during showers.

You licked your lips nervously, the heat from your cheeks spreading to your entire face, “I wanted us to match.”

Kid took the bracelet from you and wordlessly slipped it onto his wrist. You waited with bated breath as he admired it glint under the sunlight. 

"I know it looks awful, you don't have to wear–"

“Thanks, love.” He interrupted you. He’d never admit it, and you pretended not to notice, but his voice sounded a bit choked up when he continued, “Best damn present I’ve ever got my whole life.”

His metal hand came to rest on your hip, while his other cupped your cheek. He leaned in, capturing your lips in a rare, tender kiss. 

You circled your arms around his neck, pulling him flush with you. The familiar press of your body made him groan, and his lips melded with yours more insistently, gaining a hunger that you were more used to feeling in Kid’s kisses.

You reached up to bury your hand in his crimson hair and pulled at the threads, tugging him closer. 

That was the moment your feet, still fairly unused to the skates, slipped under you. Your heart dropped and Kid’s eyes widened as you toppled backward, bringing him along with you. 

Your hand instinctively reached out in a desperate attempt to stop the fall and you felt something crack when it slammed onto the hard ice. Kid, thankfully, succeeded in planting both of his palms down, narrowly missing crushing you flat to the ground.

“Fuck, are you alright?!” Kid yelled as he helped you sit upright.

You winced at the sharp sting on your wrist, but nodded at him anyway, “I’m okay.”

You knocked on your helmet with your uninjured hand, laughing as the metallic bonk echoed throughout the area, “Good thing you had me put on this hideous thing, huh?”

Kid didn’t respond as he inspected your wrist with furrowed brows, “I think it’s sprained? Or broken? We need to get you back to the ship.”

The ship. Where the preparation for Kid’s surprise party was still in full swing. 

“Uh, you know what? I’m good. Can we just stay here for a little longer? I haven’t even finished a full lap around the lake yet–“

“Just let me take care of you for once, won’t you?”

You melted, unable to resist that look in his eyes, so earnest and caring despite his raised voice.

“Fine.” You finally answered with a sigh. 

It was fine. You just had to keep him out of the kitchen. Easy!

Not. 

The kitchen was exactly the very first place Kid marched to when you two arrived back at the ship.

“Whoa, why are we heading to the kitchen? The medical supplies are in the sick bay.”

“Killer keeps a first-aid kit in the kitchen, you know that.” He squinted his eyes, starting to get suspicious, “And it’s closer. The sick bay’s all the way across and down the deck.”

You stood in front of the door, blocking it. Your ears slightly picked up the rowdy voices inside that were definitely not expecting you and the Captain to return this early.

In a last-ditch attempt, you tried to put on a seductive look, batting your eyelashes at him.

“Wait, Kid.” You trailed your hand up his chest suggestively, “Why don’t we go back to your room and I’ll give you a proper birthday present, hmm?” 

“You’re being weird.” He scowled, “Step aside.”

When you didn’t make a move, Kid effortlessly picked you up by the waist and set you to the side, his hand reaching for the door handle.

“No!” You yelped as he slammed the door to the kitchen open.

Silence greeted you as the whole crew froze, pausing whatever they were doing and staring in shock at their Captain.

The cake was only half-decorated, with most of the frosting seemingly ending up on Emma’s face instead. The banner, still spread on the floor, now read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY K”, with a smudge on the “K” where Quincy’s brush slipped at Kid’s loud entrance. 

You cringed and glanced at Kid, whose eyes were wide as saucers, “Uh… Happy birthday, I guess?”

A cacophony of yelled-out happy birthdays started all at once, thirty voices chaotically overlapping with each other.

“Wow, you guys suck at surprises.”

A moment later, Kid doubled over in laughter and the crew let out the breaths they didn't know they'd been holding.

Kid ended up lending an extra hand to finish the rest of the preparations for his own party while Heat treated your sprained wrist.

Despite the rocky start, the festivities turned out to be a success, with everyone enjoying themselves immensely, especially the birthday boy himself. 

Kid absolutely refused a birthday song, though, so Hip and Reck busted out their electric guitars and played some of his favorite tunes instead.

The singing, dancing, and drinking went on all day and well into the night. And when some of the crew had started passing out drunk on the floor, Kid came over and whispered in your ear, “Now, about that proper birthday present…”

You dragged him out of there and into the Captain’s quarters without another word.

a/n: aksjldkj i didn't finish this in time to publish at the normal time i usually post, but it's still 10th Jan so happy birthday Kid!!!

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taglist: @jintaka-hane

[general-kenobis]

"Here's your treat, Sailor" - Steve Harrington x f! Reader

Summary: It's Halloween and you're celebrating your birthday. You throw a small party at your house, but end up locked in your closet with Steve. Give him a treat, he's upset, yeah?

Warnings: A little fluff, a little smut. Oral sex, cursing. 18+ DNI

Word count: 2.6k (just a quick story)

Being born close to Halloween means it was always most likely you would throw a themed birthday party. Two days before the actual date, you were celebrating at a bar with your closest friends, always excited to gather all of them and your other friends. 

Hours before the party, you were getting help from Robin and Eddie with the decoration, while Steve and Dustin - your not-so-baby-brother - were cleaning the house. 

Jonathan and Nancy were in charge of the rest; food, crockery, cups and stuff like that. A faint rock music was playing on a boombox as you were all busy with the arrangement. 

You were pretty excited this year, for the first time after getting into college you invited a few friends you got along. Not that you weren't missing having a boyfriend, but every time you'd go out with someone, it turns out they just want sex, and you didn't like that. 

Pumpkins with wicked grins lined the path to the entrance, their flickering candles casting eerie shadows. A large, ancient oak tree was adorned with fake cobwebs and ghostly apparitions hanging from its branches, swaying gently in the autumn breeze. A fog machine sent wisps of mist rolling across the yard, setting the perfect, eerie mood.

It was 8 pm sharp when the first guests arrived. Mike with El, Lucas with Max and Will, who were not that young anymore either, they were all like 18, 19. You couldn't hold a grin to see them dressed as Ghostbusters, like every year they wear matching costumes.

You and your friends made a deal you'd surprise each other with your costumes, so a while after the kids arrived, Eddie knocked on the door and as you opened it, and it was impossible to miss. He had transformed himself into a member of the legendary rock band, Kiss. 

He was wearing a very made up costume. He even painted in the signature black and white makeup, wearing a black leather vest, displaying his flat abs.

He wore a skin-tight, leather jumpsuit adorned with studs and spikes. Behind him, Robin was wearing a camouflage outfit, along with black boots just like Eddie. 

"Wow, you took the 'dressed to kill' idea very seriously!" She said as she complimented you. As a lesbian, she couldn't stop looking at your cleavage.

You went for an Elvira look with a black, form-fitting, low-cut dress, with a slit on the side. The v-neck showed a little too much of your chest, which would make every guy look at you for more than five minutes. 

"Eddie, come on dork. Stop stripping her with your eyes!" She mocked him, laughing at the way he was just frozen, still looking at you. 

"Happy birthday, sweetheart. Nice choice. Gonna make every dude in this house get a boner" He tried to sound playful, but he only just turned himself in. 

"Thank you so much for the heads-up. I had no idea" Ironically, you weren't really expecting that. Maybe that's why Mike and Lucas got flickered in their foreheads earlier. 

Steve was more obvious and it made you laugh. He just chose to wear his Scoops Ahoy uniform, without the hat. Because that would ruin his perfect hair.

And again, what Eddie said echoed in your head, because the hairy chested guy couldn't stop staring at your breasts until you tried to pinch him. Jonathan and Nancy were wearing something very couple-like, and it was heart melting. 

There were people chatting in the backyard, some were listening to music while talking and drinking, Dusty and the kids were talking about some game. The couple was somewhere, probably exchanging saliva, and you were talking with Robin, listening to her charm about Vickie, while Eddie was smoking a joint. 

"Hey, where the hell is Steve?" She asks after a brief pause, watching as Eddie shrugs his shoulders. "I haven't seen him in like, twenty minutes, I think?".

"Probably fixing his hair or managing to get his dick wet" He scoffed. 

Both of you looked at him in disbelief, he was just trying to mock. "Ew, Munson. I know he used to be like that, but he wouldn't do this. Not at my house at least" You respond, but he doesn't agree. 

"Eh, could be. But let's be honest. The guy is charming, pretty, and has a good talk. Any girl would jump on him like that" He snaps his fingers. 

"I'm gonna look for him around here. You can go upstairs" You tell her before leaving him alone, who mumbles something about Steve "needing a babysitter" or something. 

You had no idea where the guy could've gone. He just didn't say anything before ghosting, and it's not like there was a way of communicating to him, unless he had a walkie. But this wasn't one of his gatherings with the kids. 

You looked behind the curtains, because, you never know right? Under the table, behind the couch, in the guest restroom and even behind any door, but still nothing. Robin said she didn't see him upstairs.

She went to the backyard and asked the others about him. Until you realized you didn't look for him in one spot that anyone could fit in: the closet under your stairs. 

He was sitting there with a different look on his face. Maybe tired? You didn't know. He had his back resting against the wall, fidgeting his fingers. A cup with some drink was also resting on the floor. 

"Care to explain why you're hiding at my party without saying anything?" You ask, but he doesn't bother to look at you. 

He shrugs his shoulders, pouting. "I'm sorry it's your birthday party. I just didn't feel like being around". 

You wanted to ask, but you weren't sure he would answer you. Still holding the doorknob, you reach out your hands, so he can lift himself up, but he doesn't. 

"C'mon Steve, let's try and cheer up, yeah? You want me to change the music? Is it boring?" He shakes his head. "You want something else to drink? Food?". Nothing. 

As soon as he gets up, he closes the door behind you, before you protest. What he doesn't know is that If you close the door, it locks from the inside. He just locked you both in there. 

"Steve-" You try to tell him, but he cuts you off.

"Can you not tell this to Robin just yet? It's going to sound really stupid" He asks, his tone was low and pretty hurtful. 

"Steve, you can't close this door from the inside. We're locked in here". 

He snaps his eyes and raises both eyebrows. He tries to open the door but nothing happens.

"You're fucking kidding me. I just locked the party host in the closet" He groans, yanking his head against the door. 

"Yeah, thank you. Now Robin is going to think we're either missing or messing around". 

Steve still has his head resting against the door, banging it carefully. 

"Could this night be any shittier?" You don't get why he seems stressed, but you try to ask him anyway. 

"What happened, sailor?" He chuckles lightly, almost like in a bittersweet way. 

"If you make fun of me I'll get your gift back" He threatens. "Just this girl I was talking to earlier in the backyard.. I asked her for her number and she said I was a 'stupid momma's boy and that my reputation is wrecked'" He mourns.

"You know you're not like that anymore, right?" You try to ease him and reassure you don't think of him that way. 

He still laughs sarcastically. "Seems like I still am". He sighs. "That's the problem. People still see me like that, and I hate it". 

"Just because some random girl said that to you, it doesn't mean it's true". 

Steve tries to take in your words as he crosses his arms on his chest and ponders. He hasn't been like that in ages, why would he still make it a big deal anyway? Seems like he needed to work out his self-esteem. 

"Maybe you're right. How's the party?" He still sounds like he's offended, maybe he just needs a hug.

"Well, it's been pretty good until you locked us in" You joke, watching him slightly chuckle.

"You look really good as Elvira" Steve gives you a gentle side smile and you grab his hand. 

"You look the same as always, sailor" Snorting, he gives you a death glance. Like, it's not the first time you see in that outfit. 

"Just think you missed the boobs". Oh, that was a burn. 

Walking towards him, you make sure you're pressing your sides to show a little more cleavage, and he gulps. "What, you don't think this cleavage isn't enough?" Your voice was smooth and low. 

As you reach to both his arms, he tries to not stare at you for too long or he breaks. Your pleading eyes actually hold something different and it makes his boxer feel uncomfortable already. You've always thought he was good looking, even with the stupid outfit.

"I.. uh- No, it's great" He nervously laughs, his hands never meet your body out of respect for you. 

You tease him as you lean against his body, and Steve is looking confused at you. "Eddie was right when he said every guy would get a boner with my costume".

He tries to hold a nervous chuckle and fails. "I don't have a boner, what do you mean?"

"Then what are you hiding in there, an ice cream scoop?" The taunting was terrible, but it makes him laugh as his cheeks flush. 

"You're a terrible person" This time he holds his gaze directly at your eyes and leans closer until your noses bump. "You're incredibly sexy and terrible".

"And yet you're the one dressed as a sailor with your uniform" You retort, wrapping your hands around his neck. He feels your chest pressed against his, as well as his growing crotch. 

He doesn't give you an answer, but instead he just crashes his lips against yours, holding your chin in a light grip. He tastes like beer, he smells like Calvin Klein and you don't regret this little show you're having. 

It doesn't have to be something serious right now, so you just enjoy it when he slides his tongue against yours, letting out a groan to your surprise. One of his hands slides down your body, holding your waist as he tries to bring you closer to him.

You feel his hard cock rub against your cunt under the dress and it burns your skin. Grasping his lower lip against your teeth, you let out a teasing gasp, learning Steve is just about to throw you against the wall and fuck you there. 

But before he even tries anything, you start kissing him again, feeling his hot tongue swirling around yours in a battle for dominance. It makes your brain twist and your stomach sink. It makes your entire body shiver. 

He pulls back only to breathe, his haired chest is heavily panting and his lips are swollen. "This is what they're missing. So, fuck them" You praise. 

His big squared hand grabs your cheek carefully as he uses his thumb to rub his digit against your skin. "Thank you" That's all he says. 

Watching him from that position, it makes you realize he's everything Eddie said before. He is charming, pretty, and has a good talk. He's also caring, smart and gentle. If you could, you would put him in a bubble and take care of him. 

You pull him by the collar only to give him a peck before sliding both hands down his stomach until your hands reach the elastic of his shorts.

He looks at you, confused and sort of lost with the action. "Here's a Halloween treat, sailor". You kneel in front of him.

The tone of your voice is barely above a whisper and it carries luxury, filling the air of the small closet. His throat is now dry as he gulps harshly. You pull down his piece of clothing before glancing carefully at his hardened cunt under the fabric.

It pulses when you softly touch his base and Steve almost collapses under your hands. He helps you get rid of his boxer, muffling his grunt when you hold it in your right hand. Your best hand, the one you know you can give a nice handjob. 

But this time you catch him off guard when your mouth gives him a soft open mouthed kiss on the glistening tip of his cock. He's kinda big, and thick, and it makes your mouth water with desperation. You glide your tongue until it reaches his balls and he flinches, hissing. 

"Jesus fuck" He cries. It makes you grin through his cock. 

Slowly, you swallow him until it reaches the back of your throat and you try not to gag. His reflection is to pull a handful of your hair and he slowly loses it.

Working along with your tongue, you start bobbing your head up and down, careful to not choke on his cunt. You cup his balls with your free hand and softly rub them against your soft fingers. 

Steve almost starts sliding down the wall, trying to hold himself up. He feels himself completely at your mercy, not knowing why it feels so good, considering you were good friends.

You hum while tasting every inch of him, feeling his dick twitch inside your mouth, dripping with precum.

He uses one hand to hold himself while the other one still pulls your hair. The sound of your throat against his dick is echoing inside the closet, while his breathing makes the air become stuffy. Your mouth sucks him so perfectly, your throat tightens around him.

"I'm not gonna las- Fuck-" He sttuters when you hollow your cheeks and suck him hard, the loud gasp coming off his mouth makes you feel so horny you almost give up on this. 

The way you concentrate on your movements, always switching so it doesn't give you cheek cramps, makes him want to thrust against your mouth. But he knows his limits and he doesn't want you to choke on him either.

He watches with bliss on his eyes the way your head bobs towards him and it makes him dizzy at your sight. You look at him with lust and awe, savoring his salty liquid, feeling how his fat cock stretches your mouth so it can fit in.

Your hand falls from his balls to his hairy and thick thighs, digging your nails into his skin, listening to every moan he spills against the thin air. 

"I'mgonnacum" He slurs and you feel his hips shuddering as he finally reaches his peak, washing over your throat. You swallow him entirely, his warm cum suddenly makes you feel too blissed from the moment. 

Steve can barely breathe, you watch him almost gasp for air. His chest is heavily panting and sweating, just like his flushed face.

You noticed how messy his hair is. After swallowing it all, you give him a quick peck on his sensitive tip and he pulls back from the sensation. 

He helps you get up from your knees, still staring at you amused. You quickly clean the corner of your mouth, licking the same spot. "God, you are fascinating". 

When he leans forward to give you another kiss, not giving a shit you taste like him, the door finally opens and Robin stares at both of you in shock. 

"What the fuck happened here?".

[fuckedupcleric]

Okay no so hang on, this art got me thinking (isat spoilers ahead)

So if the party goes to the House without Siffrin, someone makes it to the King and gets attacked.

The death corridor normally kills Siffrin, but it only triggers if everyone believes it's safe. So, when they don't have Siff, the options are: the party makes it through that corridor while at least one person is feeling unsafe the entire time (doesn't really make sense since after remembering that it's the death corridor Mira doesn't walk forward at all while Siff and the others are trying to convince her that it's safe, meaning that the moment she DOES think it's safe enough to start walking, the rock would fall), they find the switch themselves while initially looking for traps (also unlikely unless Siff really DID do a terrible sloppy job the first time, which I find unlikely in such a high stakes situation where they're doing what they're supposed to be good at - I think they think to themselves that they did a sloppy job because their self-worth is just that low and that no one else would have found it either), the rock hits no one when it falls (unlikely, because even when I hugged the walls trying to go through the corridor without hitting the switch it still got me), or the rock kills at least one of them and misses at least Isa - BECAUSE (I would really need to play through the House again to know for sure but I think) the only one who ABSOLUTELY MUST survive that corridor in order for the party to progress to the King IS Isa, because only he knew about the mirror, which lets you get the smiling key that is required to keep advancing on floor 3. (Technically, you could argue that someone might eventually find the switch on the mirror without knowing, but I find that hard to believe when it isn't implied that the party takes significantly longer to make it to the King without Siff.) It is EXTREMELY unlikely that Isa could make it all the way to the King alone because of the fact that he only uses rock attacks and is incapable of learning other craft attacks and would have to use up tonics for healing (which are limited in supply), so it's very likely that either Odile OR Mira survive the death corridor along with Isa since they both know scissor and paper craft skills. I feel that Mira would be the one more likely to have survived the death corridor because of tear- and crest-related reasons (which I talk about more in a second) and since she's the only one who can heal and unfreeze allies in battle. They are all also very protective of Bonnie, making them walk in the back while traveling and stuff like that, so I think they would definitely not let Bonnie walk around alone in the death corridor, meaning that Bonnie would stay close to someone while they're in there. Since Isa and Mira likely survive, then either Odile is crushed or both Odile AND Bonnie are crushed by the rock and the surviving members must continue on after witnessing that.

Floor 2 has the key that's in the Head Housemaiden's office, which means they HAD to be thorough enough to find the key the first time they were in there. There's no other option for them to have progressed to the King.

Another challenge is the tears and crest situation on floor 3. Technically, the surviving party members could get very very lucky and guess which tears to use the floor 3 crest on correctly, but it's more likely that they would guess wrong and get stuck - in which case only Mira could advance since she's immune to the tears and could maybe, MAYBE, pass through them in order to keep advancing - meaning the others would either be dead, frozen, or left behind at this point.

Because of all these factors, I hc that Odile is crushed in the death corridor and that, unless they got unlucky and someone else died or was frozen by a tear on the way, Mira has to leave Isa and Bonnie behind to fight the King by herself - and she almost certainly dies trying to fight him alone, because she doesn't know the shield skill. So it's all for nothing.

[bows-n-fluff]

I wonder if you could write for Black Clover : Mimosa Vermillion X Male! Reader. It will be a modern AU. The reader is a childhood friend of Noelle and he’s the only son of a wealthy family, the oneshot will concern Asta, Yuno, Noelle, Klaus, Mimosa, Yami, Leopold, William and the rest of the Black Bulls and Golden Dawn members celebrating Y/N’s birthday.

I haven't written or read anything for male reader before but I tried

Hopefully its somewhat what you expected

(Mimosa Vermillion x Male! Reader | Modern AU | Birthday Celebration)

One Week Before the Party – The Golden Dawn Headquarters

“You want us to help plan a birthday party?” Klaus’s skeptical gaze shifted between Noelle, Mimosa, and a very tired Yuno, who had been roped into this conversation against his will.

Noelle crossed her arms. “Not just any birthday party. It’s Y/N’s, and as a friend of his from childhood and probably his only friend at the time, I refuse to let it be anything less than perfect.”

Mimosa nodded along, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. “He’s always been the calm, composed, responsible one, so it would be nice if, just for once, he could relax and enjoy himself.”

“…I see.” Yuno, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke. “If it’s for Y/N, I’ll help. But you know how he is—he won’t enjoy anything too extravagant.”

Mimosa nodded. “That’s why we’re keeping it elegant, but fun.”

Klaus was still skeptical. "And why exactly does Captain Vangeance need to be involved?"

At that moment, William, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke. "Because Y/N is a member of The Golden Dawn. If we're arranging something for him, it’s only natural that I oversee the event." His voice was calm. "Besides, it’s rare for our squad to celebrate such occasions. "

Klaus sighed in defeat. “Fine. But the party will remain elegant.” He shot a pointed look at Noelle. “Which means we must be careful about who we invite.”

Noelle stiffened slightly. “Of course. Only the members of The Golden Dawn and I will be there.” She explained.

Mimosa, lost in thought, spoke quietly. “I just hope… I get a chance to talk to him properly that night.”

Noelle raised an eyebrow. “You mean—”

“Nothing!” Mimosa yelped, turning red. “Let’s just focus on the arrangements!”

Present Day – The L/N Estate

Everything had been perfectly arranged. The venue—a luxurious ballroom in Y/N’s family estate—was decorated with warm golden lights, elegant centerpieces, and a grand buffet lined with the finest food and drinks.

Guests from the Golden Dawn and a select few nobles mingled, the atmosphere refined yet celebratory. Y/N himself had spent the first hour greeting people, indulging in light conversation, and doing his best to enjoy the night.

And then—

CRASH!

"WHOOPS!"

The entire room turned toward the grand entrance, where Asta stood frozen, a toppled champagne tower beside him.

Right behind him, Captain Yami strolled in like he owned the place, exhaling smoke from his cigarette. "Not bad, rich kid. Fancy place ya got here."

Trailing behind him was every single member of the Black Bulls.

Luck was already grinning, eyes darting around for someone to fight. Vanessa had somehow acquired a wine glass within seconds. Finral was winking at every noblewoman in sight. Gordon muttered something no one could hear. Asta challenged Leopold to an arm wrestling match and Magna had somehow gotten the spectators to place bets on Asta or Leopold.

Y/N stood there, stunned.

"...What the hell is going on?" Klaus demanded.

Asta scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh… I might have accidentally told Captain Yami about the party when we were training the other day."

Noelle visibly paled. "You WHAT?"

"Oi, don’t act all surprised," Yami smirked, clapping Y/N on the back. "Of course we came to celebrate, right?!"

“None of you are even acquainted with Y/N. It's best you leave.” Yuno said, deadpanned.

“I agree. Let's not steal the attention away from Y/N for tonight” William chimed in.

“Eh, it's not a big deal. Noelle knows him and she's one of us so it's basically the same thing.” Yami retorted, throwing the used cigarette onto the floor.

Before anyone could stop it, the Black Bulls had fully integrated themselves into the event.

This was supposed to be his night. A celebration for him. A moment where, for once, he didn’t have to worry about etiquette, status, or expectations. But instead of feeling at ease, he felt like a glorified babysitter.

He had spent all evening keeping his usual composed demeanor intact, but it was cracking. The noise, the interruptions, the pure, unfiltered chaos—it was too much.

No one seemed to notice how tense his jaw was. How tired his smiles had become. How, despite all the laughter around him, his patience was wearing dangerously thin.

With a sharp breath, he turned on his heel and strode toward the grand balcony door. No one noticed him leave amongst the chaos. No one, except Mimosa.

The Balcony – A Moment of Solitude

The night air was crisp against his skin as he stepped onto the balcony, overlooking the cityscape. Tall buildings stretched toward the sky, their lights flickering like stars. The sound of cars and distant laughter hummed in the background.The city stretched endlessly before him, golden lights twinkling against the deep indigo sky.

It should have been beautiful.

It was beautiful.

And yet, all Y/N felt was exhaustion.

For a moment, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

Out here, away from the overwhelming noise, he could finally think.

And yet—

“HEYYYY, WHO WANTS TO START A FIREWORK WAR?!”

Y/N’s eye twitched as he still heard the commotion echoing from inside.

Unbelievable.

He gripped the railing, his knuckles turning white. He wanted to enjoy this night, but how could he when he felt more like a referee than a guest?

Even out here, he could hear the faint sounds of shouting, laughter, shattering glasses—making it clear that, inside, the chaos continued without him.

He closed his eyes.

This wasn’t what he wanted.

All he had wanted was a peaceful evening, surrounded by people he genuinely cared for.

Instead, it had turned into an overwhelming spectacle—loud, crowded, chaotic.

And he couldn’t even be angry about it, because he knew just how much effort Noelle had put into arranging this.

That didn’t change the fact that he wanted to scream.

Another breath. In. Out.

Yet the tension in his chest refused to fade.

His fingers drummed against the railing as his jaw tightened. He just needed one moment—one moment to himself, where he didn’t have to pretend.

And then—

"Y/N?"

His eyes snapped open.

Turning slightly, he saw her.

Mimosa stood at the threshold of the balcony, her light golden-brown hair cascading down her shoulders. Unlike the others, she wasn’t flushed from drinking or caught up in the wild energy of the party.

Instead, she looked at him with quiet concern.

She hesitated before stepping closer. "Are you okay?"

Y/N exhaled slowly.

"Yeah," he murmured, turning back to the skyline. "Just… needed some air."

She didn’t say anything at first.

Then, after a moment, she leaned against the railing beside him, following his gaze toward the city.

"I thought you might," she said softly.

A breeze passed between them, cool and refreshing.

For the first time that night, Y/N felt like he could breathe.

And then—

“…I’m sorry it turned out this way."

Y/N blinked. "What?"

Mimosa looked down, fiddling with the ruffles of her dress. "I know this wasn’t the kind of night you wanted."

His grip on the railing loosened slightly.

She continued, voice gentle. "We really tried to make it nice for you. But… I can tell it’s been overwhelming."

Y/N let out a dry chuckle. "Overwhelming is putting it lightly."

Mimosa pursed her lips, guilt flickering across her face. "...I just wanted to make sure you felt appreciated tonight."

At that, Y/N turned to her fully.

She wasn’t just saying that out of politeness.

She meant it.

Her voice softened further. "You do so much for everyone, Y/N. You carry so many expectations, and I don’t think people ever stop to ask if you’re okay."

His chest tightened.

"I see it," she murmured. "The way you force yourself to endure things. How you smile even when you’re exhausted. You always try to be strong for others, but… I wish you’d let yourself be human too."

Y/N swallowed.

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Then, slowly, she reached into her purse and pulled out a small, carefully wrapped box.

"I, um… got you something," she admitted, holding it out.

Y/N carefully took it from her hands, unwrapping it to find a dark green leather notebook with gold accents—his initials embossed on the cover.

Opening it, he found a handwritten note inside:

"For Y/N,

May this book hold your thoughts and dreams as dearly as you hold them in your heart. Wishing you the happiest birthday."

In the corner, a small, delicate floral design was drawn in ink.

Y/N felt warmth spread through his chest.

He looked up to see her flushed face.

"I wanted to give you something personal," she admitted, cheeks flushed. "Something that’s just for you. Something that no amount of your money could buy."

He carefully ran his fingers over the embossed letters, letting the weight of her words settle in.

“…You made this?”

Mimosa nodded shyly. “I know you keep handwritten records of everything… so I thought… maybe you'd want something to keep to yourself and write how you feel…”

A rare softness overtook his usually composed expression. “Mimosa, this is… perfect.”

She bit her lip, hands clasped in front of her. “I— I’m really glad you like it.”

“I love it,” he corrected, his voice gentle. “Seriously, it… means a lot to me.”

Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, the rest of the party faded away. The noise, the chaos, the dozens of people—it all melted into the background.

Mimosa felt her heart hammer against her ribs. She had spent days preparing this, rehearsing different ways to give it to him. But now that she was here, embedded in the shining indigo hue of the night, she realized she didn’t need a perfect speech.

“Y/N,” she murmured, fingers twitching at her sides.

He tilted his head. “Yeah?”

“I… I just—” She took a shaky breath. “I really admire you. Not because of your family or your status, but because of who you are.”

His expression softened even further.

“I know I can be clumsy with my words sometimes,” she continued, cheeks burning, “but I just wanted you to know that… you’re important to me.”

Y/N was quiet for a moment, then, with a small chuckle, he reached out slowly, gently, and took her hand.

“Mimosa,” he said, his thumb brushing over her knuckles, “I already knew.”

Her breath hitched.

“You did?”

“I’m not that dense.” He smirked, squeezing her hand lightly. “And, for the record, you’re important to me too.”

Mimosa felt like she was floating. The warmth of his touch, the sincerity in his voice—this was everything she had hoped for.

“…You’re really sweet, Y/N,” she whispered.

“Only for you,” he replied smoothly, making her turn even redder.

Mimosa ducked her head slightly, voice barely above a whisper. "...I've liked you for a long time. And not just admiration but… "

“I love you too, Mimosa.” He interrupted, grinning softly ear to ear.

The city around them blurred.

The distant echoes of the party faded.

Mimosa looked up, startled—only to see the warmth in his expression.

And as the chaos raged on inside, the two of them remained on the balcony, wrapped in a moment that was theirs alone.

That was until the sound of muffled snickers caught their attention.

They both turned—only to find a group of familiar faces spying on them from behind a decorative plant.

Asta, Noelle, Leopold, and Luck all scrambled to look innocent, while Klaus dramatically cleared his throat.

Yami, arms crossed, smirked from a few feet away. “You two done makin’ heart eyes at each other?”

Mimosa yelped and snatched her hand away, utterly mortified.

Y/N groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Really?”

Finral whistled. “Well, that was the smoothest confession I’ve ever seen. Good job.”

Mimosa, now burning red, hid her face in her hands.

Y/N sighed, running a hand through his hair. “…You guys are the worst.”

“Oh my.” William, ever the composed one, simply gave a knowing smile. “At least the night ended on a lovely note.”

Y/N groaned louder. “Why is everyone like this?”

Mimosa giggled despite herself. Even with all the teasing, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Because tonight, under the moonlit sky and amidst all the chaos, her feelings had not only been heard but also reciprocated.

And that was worth more than anything else.

[carbo-ships]

Seeker x Yvonne - Chapter 2

Previous

When Yvonne’s companion won that map in a game of dice at a rowdy Marquesian tavern, she immediately recognized the symbols scrawled along the tattered borders. She knew they were runes of the ancient giants, but more importantly, she knew who would be able to read them. As luck would have it, the man on her mind could likely be found a day’s journey away in Ank’harel. The party was eager to have a few days to rest and plan for their upcoming adventure, and a stop in the big city seemed like the perfect place to do so. This is how Yvonne had found herself standing in the shadow of the Temple of the Mentor deep within the Guided District. The three blue ceramic mosaic eyes above the arched entrance told her they were certainly in the right place. After taking a deep breath to collect herself, she led her party up the stairs and through the tall wooden double doors. She obviously hadn’t told her party members that she was hopelessly infatuated with the man they were about to meet, but she imagined it would likely be obvious soon enough.

Grateful to be out of the hot desert sun, the party took a moment to appreciate their surroundings. The entire ground floor appeared to be a public library. Dozens of long wooden tables hosting diligently-studying patrons formed a central aisle that led to the main staircase up toward the upper floors. Off to each side was a wing of the building with seemingly endless rows of bookshelves, each filled to capacity with carefully-filed scrolls and tomes. The entire library had a low hum of activity – shuffling, pages turning, mumbled conversations – that reverberated slightly off of the pale stone floors and tall ceilings.

One member of the party spotted a large desk off to one side that was attended by several people dressed in matching cream robes. Deciding that was likely some sort of reception, the group crossed the room to them. Yvonne, being the one whose idea it was to come here in the first place, took it upon herself to speak for her party.

“Excuse me,” she said, relieved that her voice was coming out steady. “We’re here to see Seeker. Is he in?”

One of the robed men smiled politely and stood. “I was just about to head up. I’ll send him down for you.” With that, he climbed the stairs and disappeared around the corner.

The party stepped back from the desk to wait, glancing around the room curiously. They would certainly do some snooping through the collection after their meeting. After a few minutes of waiting, the elven woman Yvonne had been traveling with caught her attention. “Remind me how you know this guy?” she asked quietly.

“I was on a contract with him in the Kaal Mountains last year,” Yvonne explained. “He was doing work on an archaeological site and the team needed someone who knew the area. We, um, got along pretty well, so he told me to find him in Ank’harel if I ever needed anything.”

She grinned, giving Yvonne a once-over. “That’s all?” she asked, clearly suspecting that Yvonne wasn’t sharing the full story. “You seem awfully nervous to be meeting an old coworker.”

“Is that him?” her companion whispered curiously as they glanced between the two of them, clearly having noticed the sudden change in Yvonne’s expression. She could only nod silently, frozen to the spot.

“I– I just admire him, that’s all.” Yvonne insisted. Admittedly, she was nervous. It had been how long? Six, seven, eight months? Would he even remember her? What if he was too busy? What if he had only extended the invitation of his help to be polite? What if–

Oh, gods, there he was. Yvonne had to remind herself to breathe. Seeker’s towering stature made him easy to spot as he rounded the corner to descend the central stairwell. He was at least a head taller than almost everyone in the building, and firbolgs certainly stood out in a city like this.

Seeker was certainly a sight to behold. The last time Yvonne had seen him was after two months of travel and outdoor sleeping, and she only now realized that he probably hadn’t looked his best during their journey. Now, he was dressed in cream linen robes with delicate blue embroidery that were carefully draped across his broad shoulders. Dark scars peeked out from underneath the neckline and sleeves of his loose, long-sleeve white tunic. Matching trousers obscured the girth of his sturdy legs until they met his tall brown boots midway down his calves. His silky auburn hair was still neatly styled in his signature braid that cascaded over his chest and stopped below his ribs. He paused when their gazes met, his eyebrows shooting upward toward his hairline. The dark veins of obsidian that adorned his cheeks creased as his lips moved to form a surprised smile. “Yvonne?” His pace quickened, and she felt her pulse do the same.

She moved to greet him at the bottom of the staircase, her party trailing behind her. “Hi, Seeker,” she replied bashfully. She was sure she looked like a lovestruck fool as she gazed up at him, but she didn’t care. She was too happy.

When he reached her, he rested his large hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. “It really is you! To what do I owe this pleasure, my friend?” he asked her softly so as not to disturb the other patrons who were diligently studying. “They told me I had guests, but not that it was you!” This close, she could admire his well-kempt beard, the darker blue hues across the bridge of his nose left by the hot sun of the Rumedam Desert, and the twinkle in his pale blue eyes that told her how genuinely pleased he was to see her.

“Well,” she stuttered, suddenly finding it difficult to look him in the eyes, “during our travels, my party and I found an old map with some runes we couldn’t translate and I figured that, well, since you’re here, maybe you could help? If you have a moment, that is?”

Seeker was beaming. “You have certainly asked the right archivist!” He seemed quite pleased to be called upon for his particular area of knowledge. “Come, we shall go to my office, yes? We can talk there without disturbing the other patrons.”

After a brief round of introductions, the group followed Seeker up the stairs he had just descended. Yvonne’s mind was racing. It was really him. She settled into a pace beside him with her party close behind.

“It is good indeed to see a friendly face,” Seeker chuckled as they made their way down the hall. Dozens of identical wooden doors lined the walls, which Yvonne assumed were offices. “I admit, it is always a little jarring to be asked for by name.”

“Sorry if we startled you,” Yvonne said. “I hate to distract you from your work. I know you must be awfully busy.”

“Nonsense. You have given me the opportunity to talk runes with a friend. Truly, your visit has brightened my day.” His expression softened. “I am… touched that you actually seemed to be listening to my rambles on our journey,” he continued sheepishly. “I do know I tend to go on a little.”

Of course she’d listened. She’d hung on his every word in those days. “Oh, not at all! I found it all quite fascinating.”

He offered her a tender smile. “You are a sweet girl, Yvonne. It is nice to see you again.” The warmth in his gaze made her heart skip a beat. “I am glad you took me up on my offer. How long are you in town?"

“A week or so. We’re just gathering some information and restocking our supplies before we set out,” she explained.

“Really? In that case, what would you say to the two of us getting lunch together sometime this week?” Seeker asked. “I would love to catch up and hear of your travels since we parted, if you have the time.”

“Oh!” Yvonne hoped her cheeks didn’t look as red as they felt. This couldn’t possibly be happening. He wanted to see her again? Just her? “I, um, I’d like that, yeah.”

“Good,” Seeker grinned. “Tomorrow? My treat. Call for me at midday.” He stopped in front of one of the doors and pushed it open. He and his guests stepped into the small office. It was a narrow space with a bay window at the far end that let some of the afternoon sun into the room. Bookshelves were carved into the right wall, and each worn volume seemed to have notes sticking out between every page. The opposite wall housed a desk and workbench beside a glass cabinet filled with all sorts of ingredients and oddities. An archway in the back right corner of the room was obscured by curtains – Yvonne wondered to herself what was back there. Beneath her feet was a worn green rug that dampened the sound of her footsteps. It was notably quieter in here than the rest of the building. The rug, she couldn’t help but notice, appeared to be singed in multiple places.

“Now–” Seeker clapped his hands together once the party had shuffled into his office, recapturing Yvonne’s attention. Excitement was evident in his eyes. “I do believe that someone perhaps mentioned a map?”

Next

[fontasticcrablettes]

I recently watched an 11 hour critique of Arise, because I'm the kind of person who loves an 11 hour video essay, but it's got me thinking about all the building blocks Arise put in place but under-utilized. So I've been brainstorming some "I can fix him" ideas.

For now I'm focusing on the lords, and how each one sorta has a connection to a party member in a way reminiscent of the God Generals or the Chimeriad. But those connections are flimsy and not fully realized, so how can we make this better?

Originally this post was going to be ideas for all of them, but my total rewrite of Vholran and Alphen's backstory got away from me so this is just focusing on Vholran for now.

--

Vholran desperately wants to be a dark foil for Alphen, but he comes across more like Zagi in his meaningless obsession with cruelty and totally one-sided rivalry with the protagonist.

So what if, Vholran and Alphen had a pre-existing relationship? 300 years ago, they were soldiers together in Dahna, with a bit of a friendly rivalry going on. Both came from noble Dahnan families, and they became friends when they entered the military academy around the same time (for even more spiciness, they could also have been lovers).

That friendly rivalry, though, was started to become progressively less friendly as Vholran grew jealous of Alphen receiving more attention and higher scores. It got even worse once they were actually officers on the field, and Alphen was promoted faster and received more decorations from their superiors.

One of their biggest clashes was in how they valued their troops. Alphen cared about every soldier, and was hesitant to use strategies that would cause large casualties, while Vholran saw them as expendable and would use reckless tactics to secure goals even if it led to high casualties for his troops. Vholran justified this by claiming that since they were of noble birth, it was their right to use the lower classes for their own gain. Alphen, meanwhile, thought all people had equal value, and nobility meant he had a duty to defend those with less power.

Then, they both got kidnapped by Renans to be used in the sovereign experiments. Neither of them really knew what was going on, except that it involved giving them some kind of power and the researchers were trying to find the 'strongest' subject to receive them. Vholran's jealousy intensified, and he was furious when Alphen was chosen and not him.

Vholran escaped the lab and sabotaged the Spirit Channelling Ceremony, and it was his interference that caused Alphen's powers to go berserk and cause all those people. Naori gave Alphen the mask as per the game, and took Alphen to the space ship back to Dahna.

Seeing this as a chance to get home, Vholran stowed away when she wasn't looking. Naoir had set the ship to cry-sleep for the trip home because Alphen had been injured in the destruction and needed the healing. But, Vholran once again fucked things up when he snuck his way onto the ship, and instead of being frozen for a few months to heal, they both ended up sleeping for 300 years.

Vholran came to his senses a bit before Alphen did since he hadn't been injured to start with. A quick scouting trip from the ship gave him some idea of what was going on in Calaglia. With his ability to use magic and pass as a Renan, he dragged a weak and still mostly out of it Alphen to the nearest Renan troops and announced he'd captured a runaway slave.

(At which point they would have put a spirit core on his hand, because... seriously why didn't they do that)

From there, Vholran does his thing in Ganath Haros, killing and replacing the current lord. His goal from here is to win the Crown Contest so he can return to Lenegis as the true Sovereign and take his revenge on the Renans for what they put him through 300 years ago. Once he hears about the uprising and Balseph's death, however, he decides to go investigate.

When they first encounter Vholran in Cyslodia, Alphen has a sudden flash of memory that this was the guy who'd sold him out to the Renan's a year ago. They have no idea who he is or where he came from, but the party is immediately wary of him as they see him as someone who had the chance to help an escaped Dahnan find freedom and instead turned him in.

The next time they meet, on their way to Mahag Saar, Vholran talks to Alphen more and flashes of memory come back, leaving him certain that he knows Vholran from somewhere. It's even more powerful than his sense of knowing Shionne from somewhere, because he actually does have strong memories of Vholran rather than her simply resembling someone he knew.

So when we finally get to the Ganath Haros arc, Alphen's mask has been smashed and he has all his memories back. Now, the opponent they are facing is not just the lord of Ganath Haros who kidnapped Shionne and has a one-sided grudge against Alphen. Now Alphen is out to confront his old friend who became his enemy out of jealousy and an inability to work together or value others. Alphen wants to rescue Shionne, but he also wants to confront the man who sabotaged the ceremony and put all those people's blood on his hands, the man who sold him into slavery, the man who ruined his life in so many ways over the years even though all Alphen ever wanted was to be friends.

But this shouldn't end in Ganath Haros. As the main protagonist's biggest foil, Vholran should be the main antagonist through to the end. So, after they defeat him in Ganath Haros, Vholran flees back to Lenegis with the Helganquil. Vholran isn't a Renan, so he has been able to see the Red Women the entire time, and figured out what was going on.

Because simply being ruler of Lenegis isn't enough for him, especially when he realizes Rena is empty. What's the point of being sovereign of a dead planet? But they have starships, and there's a whole galaxy out there. The water master core already gave him massive amounts of power, so what could he do with the astral energy of an entire planet?

The final act sees Vholran as the main villain, who has given up ruling Dahna, in large part because he's a petty bastard and wants Alphen to watch his world die, and has set his sight on the stars. He uses the wedge to begin draining Dahna of energy, and plans to use the Great Astral Spirit + Dahna's energy to power Renan starships to another world and begin the colonization and extraction of astral energy all over again.

We can tie Shionne's thorns into this, too. In the year since Vholran awoke and began plotting to use the Great Astral Spirit, his manipulation of it triggered heightened activity in her thorns, giving her the visions of the thorns destroying the world and convincing her to set off on her own journey.

I'm not entirely sure how he fits in with the Helganquil. I try to keep as much as possible from canon in proposed rewrites, but... I really think Vholran needs to be the main architect of evil schemes here. Perhaps he's overthrown the Helganquil and part of the third act sees the Helganquil reaches out to the party for help.

[ketaks]

“why Atlantis?”

I shared some very quick and informal thoughts a while back on why I hoped enough children grew up with the movie (or are discovering it now) to be influenced by Kida despite her exclusion from the “Disney Princess” brand; or by Milo as an unconventional hero who might remind them of themselves. that post received a couple of standout personal additions from mutuals, so I thought I would share my own “Atlantis story” whether anyone asked for it or not, because it is a bit different. it’s a so-so sample of my writing to lead with, and it came out schmaltzier than intended. but it’s how my pen happened to hit the paper in the moment and shows pretty clearly my typical romanticism, for better or worse.

I was eight years old on opening day in 2001 and as ecstatic as a little girl could be. my mom and I had taken a day trip to see my dad, who out of the goodness of his heart had agreed to sit through a local children’s entertainer in the afternoon and then a Disney movie in the evening. but in between singing puppets and my difficulty keeping still and responding as expected to questions and social cues, his patience started wearing and my mom slipping into a helpless bystander role. when we got to the theater, I had a gut feeling nobody was in for a fun time.

“two adults, one child for Atlantis,” my dad groaned at the ticket window.

I felt I was sitting between one person having teeth pulled and another smiling for the most awkward photos of her life. my mom was always my animated movie buddy, so her silence especially was deafening. her chuckle at Milo in the boiler room was a pin dropping, and her breath in on Helga’s “ho, ho, ho” was a disquieting hiss.

…alright, my dad finally motioned as the Leviathan tore across the screen.

“they talk so fast, it’s hard for me to understand them. and there aren’t even any songs,” was the most explanation my mom would give. the ride home was long, silent, and pitch-black as I lay across the backseat. I wanted to know what happened to Milo, but the wooziness of shame swirling through me let me know that wanting wasn’t even worth it.

pin trading was at its peak the next year at Disney World, and I was on a mission to fill my new pink lanyard with all my favorite characters before the trip was done. in very little time I found myself gazing up at a cast member wearing a Milo pin, and I shocked myself how quickly I asked her for it. I hoped holding onto it would reassure me that that wonderful story and character would wait for me as long as I needed.

watching the movie in high school felt a bit like the very rare party I was lucky enough to inexplicably find myself. I loved what I saw, but I felt my simply being there was a fluke. I wondered at first why I struggled to enjoy beyond arm’s length, but the damage was still in effect. it only reminded me again what I wished every single day: that my brain had kept developing normally, and all the things my autism either distorted or outright forbid would have happened exactly as they were meant. and since attitudes toward special interests had far to go, what would have fed me soup and covered me in kisses at age six could only visit through the glass at sixteen.

the days of LiveJournal and early Tumblr and Instagram came and went, and “Disney adult” culture went from a trickle to a wave. I attended community college as an English major and met my sister-bestie there on Halloween 2013, she dressed as Violet Parr and I as Minnie Mouse. our Anna and Elsa cosplay just a month later on opening night of Frozen couldn’t have been more fitting. a decade later, she made my dream come true of finally seeing Disney World as an adult, and no planning could have prepared me for the personal growth that trip would inspire. I loved throwing my arms around Mirabel in the Magic Kingdom because of, not despite, the emotional control that had finally taken hold at thirty. I wouldn’t have traded that interaction for the one awaiting the costumed little girl right behind me. that realization shook me to the bone.

“don’t cry because it’s over. smile because it happened,” my dad would tell me countless times since childhood with only the best intentions. “I haven’t been able to stop smiling,” I told him week after week following my trip. falling asleep for months scrolling back through those four special days was the most satisfying thing ever.

then one night, deep within a Magic Kingdom dream like any other, there they were. Milo Thatch and Princess Kida, just as they appeared in the “rare character guide” videos I had watched before the trip many months ago. they were hugging a child who had just run up to meet them: a young girl who looked very familiar. that settles it, I thought. the circle had at last closed.

now about once a week, my darling pup hears, “ready for Atlantis?” or “ready for Milo?” and leaps to my side in bed as I start the movie on my laptop. indeed, it feels exactly like a big warm hug every time. the artistry, the story, the characters, the humor, the heart. Milo is every bit the hero I needed as an uncertain child who loved words and language but hated being different…but he’s the one I got as an adult finding peace with her brain and eager to keep chasing her dreams. I’m writing more original words every day, journaling again, and speaking and thinking more fluidly all because of jotting down random thoughts about this movie and liking how they sounded. I’ve also put aside the idea that the influencer path might bring me joy, and I feel comfortable online again and have met some great folks so far through fan works and discussions from silly to profound.

and so I thank that little voice that whispered for 23 years: “…Atlantis is waiting.”

[heehoonieluvs]

Please love me

Sunghoon x reader

Angst, fluff

The way that the members are depicted in this story has nothing to do with how they really are or how I feel they are. It is all solely for the storyline so please bear that in mind 🫶

Summary: Too many times already, Sunghoon has messed up. He knows himself that he shouldn’t be given another chance but he just wanted to show that this was all just a misunderstanding. But how can he when everything is just a blur?

F/N = female name

Warnings: cursing, spiking, use of drugs, harassment, violence (please let me know if I need to add any more 🤍)

Series masterlist

Masterlist

“Y/N please! Please don’t leave, let me explain”

Sunghoon ran behind to catch up with you and Niki. Niki found the others and told them that he was going to take you back home without an explanation. They were slightly confused but assumed that it was because you weren’t feeling too well

“Y/N, I swear it wasn’t what it looked like! F/-”

“Sunghoon just stop ok! I don’t want to hear it. Whatever I saw in there was clearly self explanatory” you cut him off with tears in your eyes

Sunghoon froze at the sight of your tears. Seeing you so hurt and him being the cause felt like a stab in the heart

“No Y/N please I’m telling you I di-“

Niki decided to step in after picking up on how uncomfortable you looked from all of the unwanted attention

“Hyung I think you should leave Y/N noona alone. You’re too drunk right now so go back to the other hyungs and go home. I’ll take her back to hers and make sure she’s safe”

He didn’t leave much time for Sunghoon to respond before wrapping his arm around your shoulder to take you back to your flat

As for Sunghoon, he remained frozen where you guys had left him. He wanted to scream out to you about how it was all a misunderstanding but he just couldn’t move. How did he manage to fuck up so bad? It was going so well for you two and he ruined it so fast

He stumbled back into the party in hopes of finding his friends so he can go home and wallow in his sorrows. It didn’t take him too long to find them but when he got closer to the table, he felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. How was he going to explain to them about what just happened?

“Hey Hoon are you good?” Heeseung called out to him

Sunghoon shook his head “No I want to go back now. I’m not feeling well”

His friends looked at him with concern but instantly got up to leave the party. The wait for their ride was silent and Sunghoon didn’t know whether to speak up and explain now before things went south, but Jay beat him to speak first

“So what happened mate? Niki and Y/N left earlier as well. We weren’t sure if you knew about that already?”

Sunghoon froze at his question “Oh. Um. Yea I saw them before they left”

“Really? I thought you would’ve left with them hyung. Y/N wasn’t feeling to well” Jungwon piped up from the back seat

Sunghoon took a deep sigh to calm his nerves. He knew that the best thing to do now was to come clean since after all, he fucked up big time

“Um. S- so, I saw Y/N and Niki before they left and um. They walked into the bathroom when F/N kissed me” his voice trailed off as he lowered his head in shame. He couldn’t stop his bottom lip from quivering, thinking back to your teary eyes when you walked in

“Are you fucking serious hyung?” Sunoo spat “How could you be so fucking stupid? Why do you keep on messing with Y/Nie as if you hadn’t already put her through enough already? I know you guys agreed to take things slow but I didn’t think you’d go fucking low to kiss another girl. And you just had to top it off with it being fucking F/N out of all people. God I don’t even want to look at you right now”

“I know and I’m so sorry Sunoo. Everything was just blank till Y/N came into the bathroom. I don’t even remember how I ended up in there.”

“Hey I think you need to calm down. You’re turning pale” Jake rubbed his back and quickly gave him a bottle of water to sip

Sunghoon felt his eyes getting heavy so decided to go to sleep in hopes that this was all just a nightmare

At Y/N’s flat

You were so thankful for Niki as he took you back to your flat. He helped you to settle in and made his way to your kitchen to get you some water and snacks to make you feel better

“Thank you for doing this Niki. I’m so sorry you had to put up with me being like this”

“Ay don’t worry about it noona. You know I’m always going to look out for you”

You patted his head like he was a puppy and rested your head on his shoulder

“Niki? Do you think it was a mistake for giving Sunghoon a chance? I feel like I’m just overreacting since we’re not actually dating”

“Noona, I know you two haven’t made things exclusive but he should’ve had the respect to not be doing these things after you both confessed to each other. You don’t have to try and justify his actions ok?”

“I guess you’re right. I don’t know. Just seeing them together tonight made them look like they were an actual couple. Technically they’ve known each other for longer so they’re bound to end up getting together at some point”

“Stop thinking like that noona. Yes hyung may be one of the people I value the most in my life, but there are no excuses for what he did. He is clearly head over heels for you so he should’ve shown that, yet here he goes and pulls this shit. You have every right to be mad at him. Because I most certainly am”

“You know I appreciate you Niki, so much. I think I should just sleep it off and that should hopefully clear up my head. Do you want to stay in my spare room for the night? It’s too late and I don’t want you going out on your own at this time”

“Ok! Thank you so much noona”

Back to the other boys flat

The 6 boys filtered back into their flat in silence and they all made their way to different rooms except for Heeseung who quickly said that he had to head out.

Sunghoon didn’t know what to do with himself. Sunoo had already let his anger out whilst the others remained silent. Yet he could feel the lingering judgment towards him, and rightfully so. Jake came over to his room and patted his shoulder with a goodnight before leaving him on his own.

He sat down on his bed and rested his head in his hands. Without even realising, the tears started to pour. The guilt and disgust was draining out and all he could think about was how to get you to talk to him and make things better

It had been about 30 minutes full of tears before there was a knock on his bedroom door. He let the person on the other side know that it was alright to come in and with that, Heeseung walked in. Seeing how distraught his friend looked, Heeseung came over to Sunghoon and engulfed him in a hug to let his friend cry it all out.

“Hyung what do I do? I’m so fucking stupid. I hurt Y/N. I care about her so much but I hurt her” he hiccuped between his words

“Look Hoon, you need to breathe ok? When you calm down, tell me what happened” Heeseung calmly soothed his friend whilst patting the back of his neck

After a few deep breaths, Sunghoon started to try and recall his memories “Most of it was just a blank to me. I remember being with Y/N and you guys but then F/N took me away to have some drinks with her friends. I don’t remember how long we were drinking for but next thing I know, F/N pinned me to the sink and kissed me. And uh, yea, that was when Y/N and Niki came” his voice trailed towards the end after bringing you up

Heeseung listened carefully before responding “You know that I will always be here for you ok Hoon? We’ve all seen each other through our worst times but we get through it together. I’m not gonna act like what you did that hurt Y/N was right, because you know yourself that it isn’t, but I’m never gonna turn my back on you ok? None of us will”

“Thank you hyung. Seriously. I don’t know how I’d be if I didn’t have you guys. I just don’t know what could’ve been going through my head. I like Y/N so much and I never want to be anywhere near F/N so I don’t know what came over me”

Heeseung let out a sigh and brought out a bag that had been in his pocket “Ok I know this is going to sound really weird but just trust me alright Hoon? I didn’t think it have to come to this but something just doesn’t seem right and I want to make sure you’re safe. You need to pee in this tube and take these antibiotics. Don’t worry about what else to do, just let me deal with everything.”

Sunghoon was shocked to say the least

“You don’t think?”

“I don’t know but I’d rather be safe than sorry”

“Ok, I trust you hyung. And really, I cannot thank you enough”

The next day

After getting a fresh start in the morning, you came to the decision that you weren’t going to put up with the way Sunghoon had treated you and this time, there was no forgiveness. You didn’t want him and F/N to think that they won by hurting you, so you kept your head held up high and went about your day like normal. The boys acted how they usually did when you bumped into them in the hallway, and Sunoo stayed by you to fill you in on the daily gossip. The only thing that was different was that you barely saw Sunghoon and when you did, he’d look a lot paler than usual. As soon as you made eye contact with him, you turned to walk the other way

As days went by, you saw him less and less, to the point where he was absent for an entire week. Even though you basically wanted nothing to do with him, you weren’t heartless. So when you saw the boys during lunch you didn’t hesitate to ask

“Hey how is Sunghoon? I swear he’s not been in for a few days”

The boys froze at your question but tried to play it cool

“Don’t worry Y/Nie he’s just not feeling too well” Jake spoke up

“Oh ok that’s fine then”

There was a moment of silence before Heeseung broke it “I know you probably don’t want to talk about it Y/Nie but we want you to know that Hoon really hates himself for hurting you. He truly does care about you, you have to know that. We’re not going to defend his actions but if you ever want to, please talk to him because he’s not doing to good”

“I’m not sure Seungie. There have been so many things that he’s done that have hurt me. Yes I may still like him, but I’m not going to tolerate someone treating me like that.”

“We understand Y/Nie and we’ll never force you to do something you’re not comfortable with”

Heeseung’s POV:

He felt frustrated with the entire situation but at the same time, he wanted to solve things between everyone because it hurt to see everyone so down. As the oldest, he felt obligated to make everyone felt better no matter how hard it was

Everyday, he and the boys would take turns to check up on Sunghoon and keep him a bit of company to show that they had his back. It had been a few days till he finally got a long awaited letter in the post first thing in the morning and his palms were sweating as he opened the envelope. As he read the writing, he felt a bubbling rage before he stormed out of the flat with the paper crumbling in his hand

No one’s POV:

“You are fucking disgusting” Heeseung spat with clenched teeth as he slammed the letter on the desk

F/N was completely startled at the sudden attack

“What do you mean Seungie”

“DON’T call me that you bitch. You are fucked in the head you know. Just read this”

F/N picked the paper up with her shaking hands. Her eyes made her almost look manic as she read through it

“It wasn’t me I swear!”

“Oh don’t give me that bullshit F/N. I can see through your fake innocent act. He was with you the entire night since you wouldn’t let anyone else near him. You better explain everything, and I mean everything to Y/N and Sunghoon. Because if you don’t, I will use this and go to the police”

Y/N’s POV:

You had just finished up in the library as it was your free period and you were making your way to the toilets. The last thing you were expecting was F/N to approach you, and looking worried

“Um, I really need to talk to you. Are you free now?”

You were surprised that she wasn’t screaming at you. Or at least flaunting Sunghoon to you “Uh yeah sure what’s up?”

“It’s about my birthday party with Sunghoon”

“Look F/N if this is your way of bragging to me then I don’t want to know about it. You won ok? Are you happy now”

“No you don’t understand ok Y/N. If I don’t tell you this, I can get in serious trouble. Just please promise that once I tell you this, we sweep it under a rug and just move on”

“What are you on about? I don’t owe you shit”

“Please Y/N! I can’t let Heeseung go to the police. I can’t!”

You were taken aback by her outburst. Your eyebrows furrowed as you questioned her “Why would the police be involved with this”

F/N choked up and took a deep breath before explaining everything

*Flashback*

F/N dragged Sunghoon from his group and brought him over to the mini bar where her friends were. They were all over him, asking him questions and running their hands all over him. It was obvious to anyone that he was extremely uncomfortable but no one came to help him.

Whilst he was distracted, F/N poured a drink for her and Sunghoon before pulling out a small bag of powder from her purse. She didn’t hesitate to pour some of it into his drink before handing it to him

Because Sunghoon felt so overwhelmed with the unwanted attention, he downed the drink, as well as many others the whole night to try and distract himself. He just wanted to get this all over with so he can go back to his friends and cuddle with you. His plan was to take you out the next morning to get breakfast, and hopefully have a date before confessing that he wanted to make things exclusive between you two. But as time went on, he felt like the room started to spin a bit and the noise started to drown out his thoughts

When F/N asked how he was feeling, it was like the sound was echoing as his vision started to blur

“Girlies I’m going to take Hoonie to the bathroom. Don’t miss us too much” she smirked as she grabbed the poor man’s arm and dragged him upstairs

When she shoved him into the bathroom, she instantly pinned him to the bathroom and grabbed his face to try and kiss him. With the limited strength that he had, he pulled his face away to get away from her. His speech was slightly slurred and he wobbled as he moved away.

“What are you doing F/N? Get off me”

“I just want some fun Hoonie. Why would your bore yourself with that bitch when I’m right here”

“I don’t want you why can’t you get that through your head. Y/N is the one that I care about so just leave us be. Whatever the deal is that we had is done. I’m going”

“Why is it always Y/N? She doesn’t deserve you! No one does but me! Why won’t you fucking love me?!”

And with that, she grabbed his face again and forced her lips onto his. At that moment, the bathroom door swung open, revealing you and Niki

Sunghoon felt like someone had thrown ice water at him when he made eye contact with you. He knew what this would look like from you perspective so he instantly shoved F/N with his last bit of strength and went to chase your crying figure

“Y/N wait! Please!”

*End of flashback*

Your eyes were stinging as F/N explained everything that happened that night. You felt absolutely disgusted by her, the more she elaborated on each detail. A burning feeling of rage came over you and before you knew it, you lunged at her and punched her in the face. There was nothing stopping you as you straddled over her and threw constant punches. It wasn’t till two strong arms wrapped around you and dragged your body off her

“Get off me! I’m going to fucking kill her”

“Hey Y/N stop it, ok! You don’t want to get in trouble yourself”

You struggled in the grip but turned around to look at Heeseung

“Y/N you need to calm down. She’s got a lot coming for her so don’t handle this with violence alright? This isn’t you and she isn’t worth it. Just let me handle this all and don’t get your precious hands dirty alright?”

He brought you into a tight hug and stroked you hair as you cried into his chest. It hurt him so much to see you so distraught. But he knew that you had to hear the full story so you would understand everything that actually happened.

F/N struggled to get up but when she saw the deathly glare from Heeseung, she felt a shiver go down her spine and ran off

“Seungie I feel so stupid. He was left so vulnerable and I took it all out on him. I hate myself so much for not letting him explain”

Heeseung sighed as he rocked you side to side

“Y/Nie it’s not your fault ok. No one is at fault here but F/N. I didn’t want to believe it but things weren’t adding up so I got Hoon to do a test. The results only just came in and it confirmed that he was spiked”

“Please tell me he’s ok. He’s feeling better now right?”

“Don’t worry I made him take antibiotics as soon as. He’s just feeling down right now and refusing to eat so that’s why he’s not feeling well enough to come in”

“It’s all my fault. I should’ve just listened to him”

“Hey! I said you have no reason to blame yourself Y/Nie. I know you must be overwhelmed right now, but if you can, please speak to him. He’s not been the same since since that night”

“Ok Seungie. Thank you”

Time skip

You walked back with the boys to their flat as you mentally prepared for how your conversation with Sunghoon would go. Heeseung had updated the rest of the boys about everything that happened and even though they wanted nothing more than to confront F/N themselves, they knew that at this moment in time Sunghoon had to come first

You knocked on Sunghoon’s door and he responded with a weak voice

“I’m not hungry right now hyung, I’ll eat later”

Instead of responding back, you opened his door slowly and peeked your head through a bit

“Sunghoon? Are you ok?”

Instantly, the boy shot up from his bed and looked at you in awe

“Y/N! I, um, what are you doing here?”

You couldn’t find the words to say, so you ran over to him and gave him a hug. The tears were falling non stop and you hiccuped into his shoulder. You felt his arms wrap around you to stroke your back and he tucked his face into your neck

“I’m so sorry Sunghoon. I should’ve been there for you. F/N told me everything that happened that night. And then Seungie showed me your test results. God I’m so stupid”

“Shh it’s ok. You didn’t know Y/Nie, I didn’t either. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be around her and something wasn’t right. Just seeing how upset you were because of me again, absolutely killed me. When Heeseung hyung told me about taking the test, I didn’t want to believe that I could be so vulnerable. And I didn’t want you to see me as weak for getting into that situation in the first place. But please believe me Y/N, I care about you so much. I would never dream of intentionally hurting you like that”

When you felt his shaking shoulders, you stroked the back of his head to play with his hair

“Oh Hoonhoon, you don’t need to explain it to me anymore. I shouldn’t of been so stubborn to ignore you. And you are not weak ok? You are the strongest person I know. F/N took advantage of you and she will pay for what she’s done”

Seeing you so angry for him, he felt so giddy inside. He shouldn’t be thinking about it but you looked so adorable in his eyes, like an angry kitten. He brought his hand up to grab yours and give it a kiss. But he paused when he saw how red and sore they looked

“What happened to your hands pretty girl?” He stroked over each one with his thumb

“Well, when she told me what she did to you… I may have… punched her?”

“Y/N. Why would you put yourself in danger like that? It’s not worth you getting hurt over”

“But it was worth it for me! What I did to her was nothing compared to what she put you through. She deserves more than just a few punches” you pouted as you looked at your interlocked hands “Are you upset with me?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at your cute antics. Everything that you did made him fall even harder

“Of course not pretty girl. I can never be mad at you. I just don’t want you getting hurt because of me. I care about you so much. You have no idea how much I think about you all of the time. Being away from you was absolute torture”

His heart was pounding in his chest as you looked him directly in the eyes. He brought his hand towards your chin to bring you forward and after what felt like forever, he pulled you in for a long awaited kiss. You could practically hear the fireworks going off around you as you both moved your lips perfectly against each other. It was so sweet and perfect for your first kiss and you didn’t want it to stop. Unfortunately, you started to lose your breath so you pulled away to get some air. He whined at the loss of your lips and quickly chased after them, making you giggle. You let him litter small pecks on your swollen lips with a wide smile

“Sunghoon! I can’t breathe” you giggled

“Sunghoon?!? What happened to Hoonhoon?” He pouted and looked at you with his best puppy eyes “It was so cute! And you never call me by a cute nickname. Everyone but me has one. Call me Hoonhoon from now on ok?”

“Ok ok Hoonhoon I promise”

You two carried on cuddling and kissing on his lap till he reluctantly pulled away

“I had a perfect plan to take you somewhere cute before saying this, but I can’t hold it anymore. Y/Nie, I like you so much and I honestly don’t know how to cope without you. You are the most perfect, beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes upon and I was such a fool to treat you the way I did in the past. I admit I was a complete asshole to everyone but once I met you, I just knew I had to make you mine no matter what. You bring so much joy into my life and I want to experience this forever. You don’t have to say anything now pretty, but will you be my girlfriend?”

You looked at him in shock as he confessed. Your chest was swelling with joy from his words and you felt the overwhelming feeling to just cry. However Sunghoon took this the wrong way and immediately panicked

“I’m sorry Y/Nie I didn’t mean to make you cry again! Just forget what I said ok y-”

His words were cut off by you smashing your lips onto his

“Hoonhoon of course I’ll be your girlfriend silly. You were just so cute that I couldn’t handle it. You don’t have to take me somewhere cute because this was perfect. Being here with you is all I want”

It was like he was the Cheshire cat the way he smiled so wide. Finally! You were his! And he was never going to let you go

“You don’t know how much this means to me Y/Nie! Thank you for giving me a chance, I’m never let anything hurt you ok baby?

You nodded but he quickly picked up the redness of your cheeks so he instantly teased you for it

“Oh does my pretty girl like being called baby? Oh my baby is so cute I just want to kiss you”

“Hoonhoon! Stop teasing me it’s not funny!”

“But it is baby! Don’t worry I’ll make it up to you” he cooed at you and pressed a massive kiss to your burning cheeks

“Ok well first, you can make it up to me by getting something to eat. The boys have been telling me that you’re refusing to eat”

He looked at you sheepishly and nuzzled his face into your neck and agreed to get some food

The boys cheered as they saw the two of you emerge from Sunghoon’s room, holding hands. You’d expect this kind of reaction when they won their rugby match but to them, this was better

You all celebrated by going for a nice bbq where you had to fight the boys over who would pay for the meal. Unfortunately for you, your boyfriend was quick to hold you back as you reach your card out. They weren’t going to let you pay so they agreed to split it between the 7 of them

At that moment, you realised that this was what true happiness felt like. Surrounded by the people you cared about the most. Looking at your precious boyfriend, you interlocked your hands and gave him a small peck which caught him off guard. He tried to keep his composure though so he returned a kiss which resulted in the boys teasing the two of you. You all laughed as you hid in Sunghoon’s shoulder from embarrassment, but you wouldn’t have it any other way

Sunghoon made it a goal to be the best boyfriend ever and he was doing a good job at proving it. He constantly spoilt you, despite you saying that he didn’t need to. You were always the first thing he thought about in any situation. Did you need a lift? Were you hungry? Should he buy you that plushie you briefly looked at the other day?

Either way, he was perfect. You planned to have date nights every week but it turned to it being almost everyday, not like either of you were complaining. And they would always end in you two kissing and cuddling till you fell asleep.

It was safe to say that your life was perfect

Oh you wanted to know what happened to F/N? Well obviously she wasn’t going to get away with that shit she pulled. Heeseung may have told her that all she had to do was confess everything to you and Sunghoon, but he wasn’t going to leave her unpunished. She messed with his loved ones and she was going to suffer

Whilst you and Sunghoon had your talk, Heeseung left the house briefly to go to the police station where he told them everything they needed to know, alongside Sunghoon’s test results.

A few days later, she was arrested and she never returned to classes

Safe to say, there was nothing for you, Sunghoon and your friends to worry about any more

Author’s note: Ah it’s finally out! Thank you so much for supporting this series and I hope you’re happy with it! 🩵

Ik this may seem quite rushed but I feel that with these situations, there shouldn’t be the need to drag out the horrible situations 🤍 I will be happy to take requests for small drabbles based on this series so feel free to send them to my inbox 🥰

Taglist: @nikikids @vampenha @yjwluver @mrchweeee @satan-223 @dancinginthemoonliqht @yxhdhhdhdhd

[mantisgodiveblog]

Hello, fellow time loop enjoyers. Back at it again at the House of Change. We have recruited a new fool to the "guys who will finish the game before us" council. Egg, if you're reading this, hi! If you're not Egg and you're reading this: hello, this is a liveblog, you probably know the drill by now.

(Part 25 is here)

We're curious about this, as well. We think that we can gather a good amount of information even at this point, just from context clues and things stated - currently, we know that it's

something crafted to represent the wearer by their bonded partner

a pair, where one half goes to the partner and one half is, presumably, kept by the crafter

romantic?

From Mirabelle and Isabeau's little bout of fanfiction writing, we assume that there's a decent amount of weight on the romantic thing - similar to a wedding ring, possibly, considering the usage of "bonded partner" and similar. Is crafting bonding earrings for a partner a significant part of the ceremony, or is it merely lead-up, we wonder? It would certainly require a certain amount of care and such, especially if it's the partner crafting something made to represent you.

The way that the earrings dialogue is phrased would imply it's monogamous, or that it would require some amount of effort to modify for any sort of nonmonogamy - would a trio do something like wearing one each of just the earrings their partners made to represent them? What weight does this have, culturally speaking?

…we do wish to add, if mismatched earrings are a statement of marriage-equivalent, here, then we'd probably be flagged as a married man perhaps too often for comfort. What sort of requirements do these have to follows, we wonder? For Mirabelle and Isabeau to be capable of spotting them on sight, there must be some sort of distinctive feature, and by the way that the mismatched but complementary designs were notable, we don't think it would just be "being mismatched", but there's still a chance it's That. We like pairing earrings in interesting ways. We wouldn't want people to assume we have an actual romantic relationship because we chose to have asymmetrical earrings today.

Anyways, more importantly than any sort of "romance", we got another time freeze!!! This makes it four five attempted time freezes on Mirabelle and two attempted time freezes on Literally Every Party member! Worth the wait, though - the time freeze portraits just have a certain something to them that none of the other portraits really come close to. It's that... imminent death factor. Something about being, quite literally, frozen in the face of it. Surprise, realization - and the way that the eyes seem to faintly glow is very fun. We're a fan!

(not included due to our inability to screenshot sound effects: loud THUMP between "...please!" and "CRAB YEAH")

Ah, delightful, something to improve our fishing skills! AND a melee weapon to boot! We wonder if this one's "heavy enough to kill a cat", as they say. Or would Colonel Sassacre's Daunting Text of Magical Frivolity and Practical Japery be too undignified to equip to Odile?

Incredible interactions all around. We will note the changed dialogue for getting that book - our inventory is divided between party members, it seems! We do wonder how deep those pockets are, and how she can carry that without being concerned for the abrupt new weight. Will having this book on future loops raise suspicion? We can't imagine that having something that heavy just appear in your pocket when you know all too well it wasn't there before would pass without comment - she starts loops in the store, doesn't she? We doubt that something like that could just turn up without comment, and the more stuff we pick up especially...

...if we acquire enough items over the course of the game, then we can very easily picture our party growing suspicious over time. Swords don't grow on trees, after all, and even if the "correction" tries to make it so they retroactively always had these, unless it fabricates a new origin, we can easily see there being Glitches with that. Think too hard about where you found the sword you're carrying- hell, think too hard about where you found anything you're carrying, and...

Well, you probably get the picture. Now, let us just check out that book...

And another of these! Boost to damage, at the cost of making an already-slow Odile slower... ah, we'll take it! We're already leaning on turn relays to get her actions, this really won't mean that much to us. Probably means she'll mostly be useful in +speed loops.

[jr-acrux101]

Rebirth - Ch.5 :

Hospitality

Jasper Cullen × OC 《- Chapters

Summary: Jasper comes over to study.

Word count: 3.5k

The treeline blurred as the speed picked up. Aurora’s grip tightened around Jasper’s waist, the heat that should've been exuding from his body was not there. With a final turn, and a long stretch of a road, they arrived at her house, "That was pretty fun, cowboy."

Jasper took the helmet as he followed Aurora, getting off the bike, "Glad you enjoyed it little miss." 

Aurora shook her head, "Come on, also this is a no shoe house hold, so when we get to the door just take them off on the rug." 

Jasper nodded, and the couple walked up to the door. Once they entered and took off their shoes, Aurora called for her grandma, "¡Abuela, estoy en casa! Traje a un compañero de clase de español." 

No answer. 'Odd.'

"Stay right here." Aurora walked down the hallway, to her grandmother's room and found her sleeping. 'She probably stayed up all night again.'

She rushed back to Jasper. "My grandmother is asleep. So if you don't want to stay for dinner, you might be able to sneak out." A deep chuckle escaped him, he nodded at her taking in her beauty. She grabbed his hand, "Come on." Her eyes widened instinctively, she stopped herself from recoiling at his ice cold hand. Ignoring it, she led him up the stairs and down the hall. Whilst she was trying to speed down the hallway like a bullet, trying to ignore the embarrassing pictures of her scattered throughout on the wall. But her speed couldn’t beat that exceptional vampire vision. He saw almost all of them, her pink hair phase, her messed up hair phase trying to cut the pink out, her hospital stays. He hid his smile as he entered her room, there were sketches everywhere. They were polaroids by her bed, of her: friends, beaches, and family members. Her room felt like her. 

"Nice room princess." He admired the jade walls, the soft green pastel throw pillows, and her green and beige bed set.

"Thanks." She grabbed her designated pillows, throwing them on her oval floral rug.

"Come Jaz, let's get this party started." She expressed unenthusiastically. If Jasper had a heart, it would have skipped a beat at her using his nickname.

Jasper stared at her face, she had freckles spread across her nose. Her brown eyes were the color of the tree's when the sunlight hit them. Her hair was short. Her cheeks; chubby, with a tinge of blush. She was everything he was looking for. 

Her eyes darted to his, and his concentration of admiring her was broken. He got his bag and started to get out the assignment. 

The two carried on till 6 pm. Aurora noticed the time, they were almost done. He could come back tomorrow seeing as the two of them had til the next Wednesday to complete it.  

She put the binder to the side, "So cowboy, you staying over for dinner?" 

"Well little lady, as enticing as that sounds, Edward should be back today along with our father, so I'm gonna help my mother."

Aurora nodded understandingly, "Okay let's get you out of here before my grandma notices you and makes you stay." 

They pair got up, as Jasper went to get his bag that was laying against the end of the bed, he saw the stone. Aurora turned to see Jasper frozen, eyes fixed on the orb. “Jaz?”

His gaze stood on the rock as he stood straight, “Do you know what that stone is?”

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows, inching a little closer to him to peer at the stone he mentioned, “No. Why?”

Finally breaking the trance, Jasper looked down to Aurora, “It’s a Jasper stone. It was mine, I lost it in the woods the day we met.”

Eyebrows were raised, “What?”

“Yeah, I got it in- I got it a long time ago.”

“Oh. Do you want it back?”

Jasper’s eye bore unto Aurora’s soul, “Do you like it?”

Aurora returned his earnest gaze,“Very much so.”

He leaned a bit closer, Aurora’s breath hitched, “What do you like about?” He could hear the heartbeat quicken and the blood traveled faster. Jasper’s eyes darted to her neck and then back to her eyes. ‘Control! Control! Control!’ 

Aurora gulped, eyes darting at Jasper’s lips then back to his golden honey eyes, “It’s stuck in time. It’s going to be beautiful forever.” Jasper’s hand hovered over Aurora’s cheek, before gently sweeping the strands of hair that were astray.

The two could be stuck in this moment forever, but alas that was not in the cards for them. Aurora broke the spell that held them captive, she avoided his gaze as she took a small step back. She bit her lip, nervously waiting for Jasper to speak.

Jasper cleared his throat, straightening his posture, “Keep it darlin’. Promise though, you think of me everytime you hold it.”

Aurora bashfully nodded, eyes still trained on the floor. Gathering courage Aurora finally re-met his gaze, “Alright Cowboy, we should sneak you out now before you’re caught.”

 The pair quietly walked down the hall, down the stairs. Aurora peered over the staircase, to the back screen door,and saw smoke. 

"Okay, well, get cowboy, get." 

Jasper quietly chuckled, "Calm down princess, I'm going, I'm going." He got his shoes and put them on.  

As he opened the door as quietly as possible, before crossing the threshold, Jasper turned to Aurora. "Alright princess, I will see you tomorrow." Aurora grabbed his hand as he was about to turn. He was numbingly cold.

"Wait." Jasper froze still. 

"Yeah little miss?" 

She looked up to him, he noticed the light brown spots in her eyes and her long eyelashes. "It was fun, even though it was mostly homework." He nodded, lost in her gaze once again. She went on her tippy toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

He sucked in a breath: he stepped forward. Aurora closed her eyes, and Jasper gently touched her face. Her eyes ever so fluttered at the piercing touch. His lips lightly brushed against her. Aurora leaned a bit more in, Jasper basked in her warmth. He put one hand on her hip while Aurora gently grabbed Jasper's face. 

They slowly pulled apart. Aurora's pupils were blown and Jasper's were pitch black.

'CONTROL. CONTROL. CONTROL.' 

She was beautiful. The said beauty blushed, and shyly looked away, "You should get goin Jaz, wouldn't want to make your mom wait."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow darlin." He kissed the top of her head and turned away. 

"See you tomorrow Jaz." As Jasper left and drove away, Aurora closed the door. She felt as if she was floating on cloud 9. Said euphoria dropped as Aurora heard a throat clear. 

She froze. 'Of fucking course.' Aurora turned to face her grandma, "So… how much did you see?" 

"Enough." 

"Well. This is very awkward.” 

Silence hung in the air. "Are you going to tell mama?" 

Abuela sighed, "No I am not. But you should soon. And have that boy meet us properly before going around kissing you again."

Aurora fiddled with her hands, "Does that mean he's already on your bad side?"

"He seems like a sweet boy. I just wished he asked to date first." 

"Um… well… about that. We’re not dating."

"He calls you princess?"

"Yeah… because of Princess Aurora."

"He called you darling?"

"He's southern."

"He kissed you."

"You got me there. But… we aren't dating."

"Yet?"

Aurora nodded shyly, "Hopefully, yet." 

"Well he needs to hurry up and grow some balls to ask you out. Then ask us for permission." Aurora laughed and went to hug her grandma. 

"Thanks Abuela."

"Now come on and help me prep, I'm sure your little skinny friend needs some good food in her stomach." The doorbell rang, Aurora glanced at Jacinda, "Speak of the devil."

She went and opened the door, seeing Bella. The girl hurried in, hastily taking off her shoes and rushed to Aurora’s side, "You guys kissed!" 

"Bells! Calm down. How did you even know?" 

"Well uh… I… happened to glance outside and the curtains were open and I saw him kiss you!"

"You were spying on me?"

"No?"

"Very convincing Bells. But yeah we kissed." They grinned at each other. 

"Yes, yes, yes, Aurora found her prince charming. Now hurry up, help me prep and cook."

Bella laughed and Aurora rolled her eyes, but the girls went into the kitchen to help. The evening was spent cooking, cracking jokes, and full of life with the three of them. Bella felt as if this was the missing puzzle piece from her life.

The night crept up on the Flores house, Bella left, excited to talk more about the enigma known as Jasper Hale and Edward Cullen. Amora opened the door slowly and quietly. As she closed the door with a soft click, the hallway light turned on. Jacinda was sitting there doing her sudoku and drinking her coffee. "I'm surprised you didn't stay out til 12." 

Amora rolled her eyes. "Mama, I'm not a teenager no more." 

"And yet here we are." 

She rolled her eyes again. "How was the date, mija?"

"It went pretty good."

"Hmmm."

"How was Aurora and her study partner?" 

Jacinda looked up at her, then back to her sudoku, "You gotta ask her that mija." 

Amora narrowed her eyes. "Alright, I will. But you try to go to sleep, before you're up all night till the sun rises."  Jacinda waved a dismissive hand towards her daughter, and Amora went up stairs to go to sleep.

Friday morning rolled around and Aurora woke up with a smile on her face. She turned her head, sight fixed on the Jasper stone. She replayed that moment in her head and squealed. She went down stairs, where her mother was making coffee. 

"Good morning mama." 

"Hi cariño, good morning. How was yesterday?"

Aurora nervously looked at her, "Well. Actually… um."

"Let me guess,” she gave a fake pensive look, “you two kissed?" 

Silence was in the air again. Aurora's gaze dropped to her shoes, "It was more like a peck?"

"Hmm." Amora stirred her coffee, "Do you like him?"

"Yes."

"Can you handle a relationship and on top of your classes, well maintaining your gpa?"

"Yes." 

Amora exhaled, "Is he nice to you?"

"Very much so." 

“Will you tell him about,” she paused, not knowing how to say the next word.

“I know mama, I will. I wouldn’t be able not to.”

"Okay,” she breathed out a sigh, "Well, when he asks you out, you have permission. Abuela and I still have to meet him though. But you should tell him about Celio."

"Really?" Aurora was excited. “And of course.”

"Yes, really. Now come give me a hug."

Aurora was in her arms in a blur, "Oh my little girl, about to start dating. Then you’ll get married! No, you’re not allowed to."

"Okay calm down."

She faked sobbed, "All grown up." Aurora rolled her eyes.

Her and Bella pulled into school as the bell rang. They rushed out of the car into their respective classes waving bye to each other. Aurora sat next to Jasper, she blushed and he smiled at her. 

"Hey there princess." Aurora's stomach did flips. She felt giddy. 

"Hi." As class started and the teacher droned on, Jasper slowly inched his hand towards Aurora. Halfway through the class, Jasper firmly clasped their hand together. Aurora's heart started to beat faster, and she closed her hand around his. Aurora got used to Jasper’s numbingly cold body temperature. Each class, somehow their hands always found their way together.

When lunch time came, Jasper glanced around and made the surrounding area of people disinterested in them. He checked one more time before he gave her a kiss on the head before they parted their ways. She went towards Bella in the end of the parking lot while Jasper went towards the school entrance where his siblings were. 

Bella looked up from the book, and saw Aurora standing in front of her. 

"Guess what?"

"Chicken butt?"

"Very funny."

"I know I'm a comedian." 

Bella rolled her eyes. She shot a glance at the Cullens before her eyes met Edwards. She moved Aurora to the side of her and scooted them a little backwards, " Haha. No. You know how when I first met Edward and he was like a total dick and like hated me?"

“Sure, vaguely."

Bella lightly tapped Aurora with the book, "Aurora! I'm serious," she emphasized her last word by raising her voice.

Aurora threw her hands in mock surrender," Okay, okay, jeez yes he was an asshat. What about it?"

"All of a sudden after being gone for a week, M.I.A. He is nice to me! Like genuine interest and conversing with me!" 

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"So like some Jekyll and Hyde type thing?"

"That's what it feels like! I feel like I'm going-," a screech was heard from the opposite side of the parking lot. Tyler swerved out of the way from the back car, the black ice made Tyler lose control of the van. Aurora turned to look and pulled Bella closer to the van. They braced to be crushed. Aurora's left arm felt pressure and snap was heard, Bella hand wrist shattered and Aurora's shoulder was dislocated. 

Aurora yelped in pain, as did Bella. Aurora eyes welled up from the tears. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Bella was silently crying and clutching her hand. 

She turned slightly and looked up, Jasper was there and had a big dent. She turned to Bellas direction and saw Edward through tears. 

"Okay darling, I'm going to pop it in place okay?"

Aurora's eyes widened in fear. She shook her head no. Jasper took off his jacket and balled up the sleeve. "Bite this."

"No, no, no. Jasper please no."

He held the sleeve in front of her. She stared at him with bloodshot eyes and tears falling. She took it with her other hand and bit down on the sleeve, "Okay ready?"

She shook her head, "1, 2-" a pop was heard as was her muffled scream.

She breathed heavily. A fresh set of tears falling now. The ambulance appeared. She passed out. Bella calling her name went deaf to her ears. Aurora woke up in a bed. The bright lights did not help her unfocused sight. Her mother was hovering over her, Dr. Cullen put the smelling salt away. 

"Aurora, cariño."

Aurora hummed and closed her eyes. She shifted and pain exploded. "Fucking christ!" 

Amora got closer, "Mi amor don't move too much okay." There was a nod given as she shifted back down.

"Hello Ms. Flores. I am Dr-." 

Aurora's eyes flew open, "How's Bella? And Jasper? And Edward?" 

"I'm right here Aurora. Dr.Cullen just finished patching me up." She turned her head and saw Bella in the bed next to her, a cast on her wrist. 

She sighed in relief. "Okay, okay good." She looked at the young doctor, "I'm sorry, I know I passed out but I didn't know what happened to Bella. Being crushed and then having my shoulder popped back in kinda made the memories fuzzy." 

"No apologies needed Ms. Flores. As I was saying though, your shoulder is in a cast. I was told my son Jasper popped it into place, very well so there's no issues. Just rest, take your medication, and when the time is right do exercises to strengthen it."

Aurora nodded, "Okay. Thank you, and Aurora is fine." 

"We want to monitor you for a few hours and then you're fine to leave later today."

"So she's good to go? No surgery or extra care."

"No like I said Jasper popped it back into place quite fine, the brace is just to help make sure it stays there and give extra support. She'll be given pain management medication, but other than that she's okay. No head trauma, no other breaks. Just her shoulder." 

"Thank you Doctor Cullen. And please thank your son Jasper for us." 

Carlisle nodded. "How is he?" Carlisle turned his attention back to the young girl.

"He's fine, no need to worry." Aurora nodded and dozed off. 

Bella got up to go to the cafeteria, Charlie and Amora were whispering to each other, probably about them. She heard a familiar voice in the hall, "Seriously, both of you!"

"What you rather they had been crushed!" Edward glowered at Rosalie while Jasper huffed.

"Of course not! But Bella already questioned everything and so will Aurora, the two of them are not stupid!" Rosalie growled.

"Okay let's calm down and take this back to my office." Bella flinched when Jasper layed eyes on her, they were cold and murderous. The rest of the Cullen's eyes were on her. Carlisle herded his children to his office while Edward went the opposite way and sought out Bella. 

"Eavesdropping now?"

"What was that? I saw you on the other side of the parking lot and suddenly you're behind me?"

Edward avoided Bella’s gaze, "Yeah, um...I had an adrenaline rush. It's very common. You can Google it." Bella huffed and rolled her eyes.

Aurora woke up an hour later, the pain in her shoulder was still there. Amora, Charlie, and Bella got up when she groaned. She saw the three of them, and gave a weak smile. "Great news everyone, we weren't crushed to death."

Amora eyes watered, "Aurora Evangeline Cordova Flores! This is serious. You and Bella could have died!" 

Aurora gave a sad smile, "But we didn't, we're still here. Still breathing and hearts pumping. So please, I am in pain and am trying to make light of this."

Amora wiped her eyes, "Fine you can crack some jokes." She stressed the word 'some.' She couldn't deal with the almost dying jokes, not again.

Aurora smiled and then grimaced, the pain was pulsating, "When can we go? And when can I get hopped up on more drugs?" 

Charlie laughed as soon as he heard Aurora finish her sentence. Amora shook her head at her incredulous daughter, "Soon cariño. Just relax." The adults left to find the Doctor. 

Bella stood closer to Aurora. "Hey there." 

"Hey there, one of my saviors." Bella chuckled. "I'm serious if you wouldn't have pulled me in closer and to the side..." she trailed off. 

The older girl nodded, not wanting to think about the other possibility. "So was I hallucinating or were Jasper and Edward there? Like they physically stopped the car and left dents?"

Bella's eyes widened," Yes!" She excitedly whispered. "No one believes me, say that they came afterwards to help you but I knew I saw them! Plus I overheard them talking about us questioning them, and then Edward said no one would believe us!" This was too much for Aurora to handle. 

"So they saved us and regret it or what?" 

"I don't know, but there is something off."

"Oh yeah for sure. We're gonna find out Bells." Bella nodded. 

Aurora went home around 8 pm. They grabbed pizza on the way home, Bella and Charlie came over after both girls pleaded for Bella to spend the night since it was the weekend. The two almost died so it was hard to say no. 

Jacinda jumped and rushed to the door hearing the car in the driveway. She saw her grand-daughter in a shoulder cast and her little friend with a wrist. 

"Oh pobrecitas. Ven, vamos a meterte dentro." 

She waved them to the couch. Amora helped Aurora take off her shoes and helped her to the couch, Charlie did the same for Bella. Jacinda brought the girl some albondiga soup, "Here Charlie and Amora help feed these kids. I added beef bone broth and chicken bone broth to it. You have to start early with healing." 

The girls filled up on the soup, feeling the warmth spread through their body. "Thank you Ms. Flores, this was really good." 

"You're welcome cariño. Now you and Aurora rest and watch some tv." She got the plates and put them in the sink. She went to her room and grabbed 2 extra blankets, and hurried back to the other room, "Here stay warm." The two teenage girls thanked Jacinda.

The older three headed to the dining room. "What happened Amora?" Jacinda whispered.

"From what Bella told us, they were right next to Bella’s truck talking, and this kid Tyler, who will by the way get his license suspended, swerved away from a car backing out and almost killed them." Amora nodded to Charlie's retelling.

"The doctor said that Jasper, his son, popped Aurora's shoulder back in place so it should heal no problem. And that Bella's wrist was broken but that too will heal fine. He prescribed pain killers for the girls and check-ups." 

Jacinda nodded. "Okay. Did he say when they should be healed?" 

"About 6-12 weeks or so." Jacinda nodded. The girls were dozing off, as the adults continued to talk, eating the pizza they got on the way home.

Alright guys here is ch. 5!!! I've got this almost done but I have exams so wish me luck as I slowly post :)

[eddie-van-munson]

Warnings: Mentions of Smut (no actual), Cursing, Mentions of Blood, Bullying

Eddie's first tattoo was two little bats on his elbow. At this point, Eddie was already the town pariah, endlessly confusing and unnerving to the dull people of Hawkins. Deep down, Eddie was soft hearted. Kind. He'd taught every kid in his trailer park to ride a bike, and widow Halverson down the street knew Eddie was more than happy to mow her lawn anytime she needed. Hell, a slice of apple pie and an hour or two of conversation was payment enough. But, things were different outside of Forrest Hills.

Too many times to count, Wayne had come from work to find Eddie spitting blood into the kitchen sink, a bag of frozen peas held to his cheekbone. The whispered rumors that floated through the town only ever added fuel to the fire. One week, a PTA mom was swearing she'd Eddie seen performing a ritual sacrifice in the parking lot afterschool. Then a member of the track team claimed Eddie had been dealing coke on the playground across from the Kreel house. Next, a cheerleader was advertising that if you snuck behind the school bleachers on a Friday night, Eddie Munson would give you the best head of your life.

Those rumors were the most confusing to Eddie. He'd only ever had actual sex once, and his further experience ran thin at some over the clothes action, but nonetheless, a lot of girls were intrigued by the idea of "fucking the freak." Maybe Eddie should have just been grateful for this, but something about it made him feel like he was the butt of a joke. On the rare occasion that a girl would actually approach him, urged on by a group of her giggling friends, Eddie would ignore her. He had learned the hard way that in all likelihood, they were only trying to fill a stupid dare.

That didn't mean he didn't have fun with the rumors though. He'd always loved messing with people...leaning into the whispers just to see how outrageous they could get. It was endlessly entertaining to scandalize boring people.

The bat tattoo was evidence of this in itself. At first, it was just the two bats on Eddie's elbow. It wasn't anything super noticeable. That is, until Eddie caught wind of a whisper.

"You see the bats on his elbow? I hear he adds another bat everytime he fucks another one of the girls on the cheer team. He's already got two."

Immediately, Eddie's brain started swirling with evil little ideas. This...this would be fun. Eddie had gotten his face beat in multiple times by every one of those cheerleader's boyfriends, and high school romances never lasted long...

The first victim was Tommy Jackson, an old friend of Billy Hargrove's. His girlfriend Sarah dumped him over the weekend at a party, giving Eddie a golden opportunity to begin his fear mongering among the jocks. Monday morning, the students of Hawkins high were shocked to see a third bat etched onto Eddie's arm.

The implications sent the student body spiraling. Rumors flew like it was going out of style, but the consensus was unanimous. Tommy Jackson's girlfriend had dumped him to have a round in the sheets with the freak.

The next was Tony Andrews. Everyone knew Tony and his girlfriend had been on the rocks. The rumor mill would tell you that she had been cheating on him. Eddie's arm would tell you exactly who she was cheating with. The school was in shambles.

Tony slammed Eddie against the lockers the next morning, knocking the air clean from his lungs. "What the hell kind of game do you think you're playing, freak?"

Eddie chuckled, giving a wolfish grin, "Tony...I have no idea what you're talking about."

One by one, Eddie's arm sent every member of the football team spiraling. The best part was, the cheerleaders seemed to enjoy the attention just as much as Eddie did. The majority of them would lean into the implications of the bats, refusing to confirm or deny having had any run ins with the devil of Hawkins himself.

***

[cherriegyuu]

seventeen as songs from folklore (ts)

this is also include songs from evermore

a/n: for this, i'll be giving songs and lyrics to each of the members, as well as small plots based on those lyrics. i don't plan to write all of these, but they are still my ideas (as basic as some of them might be). so if you are interested in writing one of them, you can message me about it. if you want to read one of them you can send in a request and i'll write for you

red | 1989 | reputation | lover | folklore | midnights

• Seungcheol ➝ Champagne Problems Your mom's ring in your pocket Her picture in your wallet You won't remember all my Champagne problems ↳ you watch from afar as Seungcheol moves on with his life after you broke his heart.

• Jeonghan ➝ Gold Rush I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch Everybody wants you Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you ↳ you always took pride in the fact that you aren’t very jealous of your boyfriend, mostly because you trust him blindly. But, sometimes, you need him to remind you that you’re the only one he loves.

• Joshua ➝ ​'Tis The Damn Season You can run, but only so far I escaped it too, remember how you watched me leave But if it's okay with you, it's okay with me ↳ it’s been years since you last saw Joshua. At the time, both of you had been desperate to leave and ready to start your lives in the big city, however, you were the only one who managed to escape. Years later, you came back for the holidays and things seemed to be the exact same, including your feelings for him.

• Jun ➝ Hoax Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in Don't want no other shade of blue but you No other sadness in the world would do ↳ you knew Jun had fallen out of love with you a long time ago but still you couldn’t bring yourself to let go, having him hate you was better than not having his at all.

• Soonyoung ➝ Mirrorball And I'm still a believer, but I don't know why I've never been a natural, all I do is try try try I'm still on that trapeze I'm still trying everything to keep you looking at me ↳ Soonyoung is just tired of being the life of the party, of always being the one people go to when they aren’t feeling well because they know he will cheer them up. For once, he wished someone else did the listening and comforting.

• Wonwoo ➝ Seven Love you to the Moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs The love lasts so long ↳ never in your life would you have thought that you would be able to love someone but then you met Wonwoo, and he showed you just how great love could be with the right person.

• Jihoon ➝ Illicit Affairs Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me You showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else Look at this idiotic fool that you made me You taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else ↳ Jihoon never thought that he would be the third person in a relationship and yet, there he is, looking at you from afar as you dance with your fiancé.

• Minghao ➝ Cardigan But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss I knew you'd hunt all of my what-ifs ↳ as a college student, you had a one-sided crush on Minghao. even years later, when he's no longer in your life, you can't help but compare every guy you meet to him.

• Mingyu ➝ Right Where You Left Me Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen? Time went on for everybody else, she won't know it She's still twenty-three inside her fantasy ↳ you were never ready to move on after you lost Mingyu.

• Seokmin ➝ The One I persist and resist the temptation to ask you If one thing had been different Would everything be different today? ↳ you never thought you'd see Seokmin again, but when you're forced to change jobs you discover that he is your new boss you can't help but reminisce on the past.

• Vernon ➝ August Back when we were still changin' for the better Wanting was enough For me, it was enough To live for the hope of it all ↳ you always had hope that one day Vernon would see you as more than just a friend, so when he introduces you to his new girlfriend you feel your heart break into a million pieces.

• Seungkwan ➝ Invisible String Time, curious time Gave me no clue, gave me no signs We're there clues I didn't see? ↳ since you were kids, life always found a way to put you and Seungkwan together in the same room.

• Chan ➝ This Is Me Trying I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere Fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here Pouring out my heart to a stranger ↳ Everyone always had high expectations for Chan, he was always the future of something. For once, all Chan wanted was to live in the moment, and with you, he found an opportunity to do so.

taglist: @wonwooz1, @ryuwonieebae, @sobun1est, @mirtaspace, @ho34gojo, @feat-sun, @wonvsmile, @mhlsymlysn, @swinterr, @immabecreepin, @uniq-tastic, @miriamxsworld

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[olliescorner]

Enchanted

Pairing: Park Sunghoon x Y/N

Warnings: none

Word count: 2k+

Summary: You meet a cute guy at a party.

Based on Enchanted (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

There you were again tonight, in a room full of people you don’t know, forcing laughter, faking smiles. Eunbin thought it was a good idea to crash the freshman’s welcoming party. She dragged you out of your afternoon nap for this, and the moment you stepped into this party, she disappeared. She always has new people to meet, friends to greet, and of course, boys to get involved with. You've been to your fair share of parties to grow bored of them, no matter where or who you're with, it always feels like the same tired, lonely place to you. You're not big on socializing. Meeting new people is a terrible experience, you never know what to say or how to behave. It's a really unpleasant process that will undoubtedly cause any bystander second-hand embarrassment.

"How’s it going?"

You turn your head in the direction of an unfamiliar voice. It’s a boy you’ve never seen before, you figure he must be one of the freshmen. 

"Nothing much going on."

You replied politely. You know how it goes, walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy. A genuine conversation is not what most boys are looking for at a party like this. But since you have nothing to do, and he still knows his place, you’ll entertain him for a few minutes. 

"Are you enjoying the party?"

"Not really. You?"

"I’m feeling great! Just excited to be here to be honest. I’m Jiseok, Department of Civil Engineering, you?"

"Y/N, sophomore, Department of Linguistics."

You start to zone out mid-conversation. You mostly just smile or nod your head while he goes on and on with something you couldn’t care less about. But everything vanishes when you see his face, someone in the crowd, someone you feel like you’ve known forever.

He’s tall, with eyes so bright it feels like he holds a galaxy full of stars in them, it seems like he attempted the 5:5 ratio parted hair, but his hair is just all over the place now, like a frisky puppy. He’s wearing a white simple shirt underneath a flower-patterned cardigan in the same color with black trousers. All you can say is you were enchanted. You're spellbound. You're just dying to get out of this monotonous conversation now, before you lose him in the crowd. 

"Uh… Jiseok, isn’t it? So sorry but I gotta go, nice to meet you anyway. Bye!"

You give Jiseok your cup, then make your way through the throng of partygoers, trying to get to the cute stranger. All of a sudden, he looks up, and your eyes meet. You think you're electrified. He holds your gaze for quite some time, and you can't look away. His eyes whisper: “Have we met?” And across the room, his silhouette starts to make its way to you. You're frozen in place and time, until he comes and breaks the ice. 

"Hi."

"Hi." 

The playful conversation starts. Despite his placid demeanor, he is funny and playful, with a hint of shyness that is rather endearing. His name is Sunghoon, he’s a freshman, and he got a scholarship due to the fact that he’s a treasured member of the figure skating team. Right now he’s studying multimedia. He still acts a little bashful with you, but he makes a lot of jokes and witty remarks that you respond to with the same level of mischief. You keep talking about everything you could think of, from your studies, to your hobbies, to the people you know, and even some trivial facts you found on the Internet. It’s like passing notes in secrecy, with all these people mingling and dancing around you, but you’re deep in your own world. He bursts out laughing at one of your jokes, and that’s when you notice his cute dimple, he has the most radiant smile you’ve ever seen, it lights up the whole room, and it sets your heart ablaze. And it was enchanting to meet him. All you can say is you were enchanted to meet him. 

"Shoot! What time is it?"

You questioned, suddenly aware of your surrounding.

"It's only a little past 12. Why?"

He looks at you puzzled. And your heart breaks a little bit, knowing you have to go.

You look around for Eunbin, she's laughing with some blond dude in the corner of the room. 

"I'm so sorry but I have to go, I have an important exam in the morning. I guess I'll see you around. Eunbin!"

You make your way to Eunbin at last. You literally have to drag her out of her conversation with that dude, the girl is mesmerized. You head straight for the door and leave, much to Eunbin's opposition. 

This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go. You're wonderstruck, blushing all the way home. And you're not the only one. Eunbin's whining about you dragging her out of the party too soon. She’s blushing, but it’s not just the alcohol, it’s that blond guy. 

"So, who’s the lucky guy?"

"What?"

You roll your eyes at the question. She always plays dumb. After a while, she finally starts talking. His name is Jake, and he’s from Australia. Apparently, he has an irresistible accent, he has a dog named Layla bla bla bla, the list goes on. You smile to yourself, looks like you both found more than you bargained for at this party. 

You finally arrive at your dorm. You immediately lie on your bed, sighing wistfully. I wonder if he knew that I was enchanted to meet him. Eunbin nags at you after emerging from the bathroom, having removed all her makeup. You pull yourself up reluctantly, you just want to sink into your bed right now, but you know she would kill you if you slept with your makeup on. You remove all your makeup in a dream-like state, you can’t stop thinking about him. You drag yourself to bed. You was almost lethargic a moment ago, and now you're wide awake. Your thoughts are running at lightning speed. Questions keep popping up, one after another. He won’t forget about me, will he? Did I tell him my name? Oh my god, what if he already has a girlfriend, or a boyfriend? No way! He wouldn’t act like that if he’s already taken. But what if he’s a player? Oh gosh! You scream into your pillow. The lingering question keeps you up. You stare at the ceiling for God knows how long. You turn your head to the side, checking the time on your digital alarm clock. 2 AM, who do you love? You wonder ‘til you're wide awake. You sit up on your bed, Eunbin is sound asleep on hers. You sigh, I’m gonna screw the exam tomorrow, God! You plop back down, staring at the ceiling like you're in an eye-contact contest. I can’t do this! You get out of bed. And now, you're pacing back and forth, wishing he was at your door. You’d open up and he would say: “Hey, it was enchanting to meet you.” It’s your problem, you could never leave something unfinished, you can’t stand the thought of not knowing the exact answer to something, and right now, you're dying to know if he feels the same about you. Because you’ve been there before, infatuated with someone who would never like you back. And you’ve watched your heart being broken into pieces time and time again to know that you can no longer wear your heart on your sleeve, it’s brutal out there. You need to know. This is dangerous, maybe you were too reckless, maybe you should have looked away, maybe… Why did we have to go to a party right before an exam? Why is there an exam in the morning? Why did we even have to meet at such a bad time? And why didn’t I ask for his number in the first place? You just want to bang your head against the wall now. All you know is you were enchanted to meet him. 

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I'll spend forever wondering if you knew That this night is flawless, don't you let it go

You're wonderstruck. You haven’t felt this way about anyone for a long time. It’s exciting. You would have started dancing around all alone, if you were truly alone. You glance at Eunbin’s sleeping form, hoping you didn't wake her up. 

If you can’t sleep, you figure you’d better utilize the time you have. You turn on your desk light, retrieving your journal from the white plastic organizer on your desk. It’s been a while since you last wrote anything. You’ve been busy, and you were exhausted every day after classes and all the partying. You barely had any time to think about writing. But now you have all the time in the world for this. You grab one of the pens you use for writing important and extremely emotional things, and start letting your emotions take the lead. It feels like there’s a dam inside you, and now you're releasing all the water stored inside. 

This is me praying that This was the very first page Not where the story line ends My thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon I was enchanted to meet you Please don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you

Please don’t be in love with someone else. Please don’t have somebody waiting on you. You close the journal and take another look at your alarm clock, 5 AM. Since the exam is scheduled for eight o'clock, you still have time to catch some sleep. You lie down on your bed, and finally, drift off. 

Fortunately, you think you did fine on your exam. But you're totally exhausted after that, so you drag yourself back to the dorm like a zombie, an action that requires more strength than you thought. By the time you arrive, you don’t even have any energy left to change your clothes, you just collapse on the bed. You quickly fall asleep, having stayed up until 5 in the morning. But your peaceful slumber is disturbed by a sharp knock on the door.  You dismissed it at first, whoever that was could come back later, you don’t care. But they are consistent, or should you say stubborn? The knocking continues for about 10-15 minutes, you're not sure. You can’t take it anymore. You sit up straight on your bed, cursing to yourself, whoever that is, they're in for an earful. You yank the door open with all your might, ready to give whoever’s on the other side of the door a piece of your mind.

"I swear to God! I’m gonna-"

"Hey." 

There he is, the boy you couldn’t stop thinking about, Park Sunghoon. He’s wearing a white shirt with a beige knitted vest and a checkered brown coat. He’s holding a drink carrier with two cups inside in one hand, and a paper bag smells of fresh pastries in the other hand. He’s looking at you with those sparkling eyes you thought you would never be able to see again. He seems startled by your reaction. He takes a little step back, then breaks out a tiny smile. Your heart melts. He looks like your dream come true. You're still trying to process this. Then you remember your disheveled look. You immediately slam the door shut to comb your hair and adjust your clothes to an acceptable state. Then you yank the door open again, with a bright smile on your face this time. 

"Hey." 

Sunghoon looks up at you with the same smile as before. He doesn’t seem to mind all that fuss. And your heart swells at the thought. 

"Sorry about that. I need to freshen up a bit."

"No worries. You didn’t expect me anyway."

That I didn't.

"What are you doing here anyway? Not that I don’t want you here! I’m just surprised, that’s all!"

"You told me you had an exam this morning. So I bought iced tea, because you said you prefer tea over coffee. And I also brought you some pastries, I don’t know what you like, so I kinda bought a bunch, but don’t worry, I can finish it off if you can’t. How did it go anyway?"

He blurted out in one go, and you could see the rosy tint on his cheeks when he finished his sentences. Cute.

"It went well. Thanks for checking in on me. But how do you know where my dorm is?"

"Before you come to any conclusion, I swear I’m not a stalker! I told my friend Jake about you, and apparently, he knows your roommate Eunbin, one thing led to another, and now I'm here."

He blushed after blurting out everything again, and you chuckled at the way he awkwardly scratched his neck, eyes glued on the floor.

"I guess the thing they say about the Six Degrees of Separation is right after all."

"The what now?"

Sunghoon looked at you perplexed.

"You know, there's this theory saying that everyone is six or fewer social connections away from each other. I know Eunbin, Eunbin knows Jake, Jake knows you, so we're three degrees of separation."

"But I don't know you through them, so aren't we like, zero degree of separation?"

"You have a point."

You put your fingers under your chin, contemplating.

"Can we do this somewhere else, Y/N? We're kinda in the middle of the hallway now."

Sunghoon remarked playfully, his eyes glinting with mischief.

"Oh, sorry. You wanna go to the lake? My room is kinda messy right now."

Now it's your turn to blush. You detach yourself from the door you were leaning on, your hand reaching for the drinks.

"Sure. Let’s go."

"And hey, Sunghoon?"

"Yeah?"

"I just want you to know that I was enchanted to meet you."