#which is why i picked breeze as the tank lol

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than eepyness

The final Miitopia party has been formed, with Jamie reclassed into a Princess, Breeze the Tank, Elian the Cat, and last but not least, Kindness Anon the Flower!

[luvtsumu]

atsumu's "bad" habit

atsumu x chubby reader!!!!, friends to lovers, more of a blurb of thoughts tbh LOL, gentle biting???, fluff, middle school atsumu, high school atsumu, timeskip atsumu LOL

best friends to lovers atsumu who never outgrew or got rid of his habit of biting you. at first it was a cuteness aggression, something he picked up from his mom who used to always lightly bite him and his brother's arms; now it was just a bad habit that is 9 times out of 10 done unconsciously

it started in middle school when you were voluntold to be his partner for a class project that would have to be worked on during summer vacation. the heat is brutal and so you had shown up to their house in shorts and a tank top that showed your arms off—all the other times you just showed up in a baggy shirt that allowed the breeze to hug you before leaving through the rest of the shirt.

there was no wind that one day--at all--so this was the first time atsumu had caught a glimpse of your shoulders.

he fought the urge to bite you the entire time you two were working on whatever the hell it was—it's not like he actually focused. it was only when dinner time came around and you had to go that something just came over him. at the door, as he and osamu were saying goodbye to you, atsumu just leans over and gives you a soft bite on the arm with his lips covering his teeth.

you literally froze and just gawked at him, unsure why the hell this dude was doing what YOUR mom would do

"atsumu!" osamu hissed, smacking his brother which pulled his twin right back into reality. atsumu stands straight with his face flushed red and frantically rubs your arm.

"m'sorry! i couldn't help it! y-yer so--" he swallows thickly, panicking to find the right words. his rubbing only gets quicker which generates a tickling heat on your skin. "yer just-- i was just-- when i-- i mean--"

it's only when you burst into laughter and grab onto his wrist that atsumu's shoulders relax. in fact, his whole body could have just dropped to the ground.

"it's okay," you reassured him with a smile, dropping your hold to give his hand a quick, gentle squeeze. "my mama does that, too. says it's because i've got chubby arms 'n it reminds 'er of marshmallows."

atsumu gasps and nods. "y-yeah!! and-- and yer just so sweet anyway!"

the biting continued and sometimes he'd even ask to which you always responded yes. it's not at all hurtful and it's pretty cute, especially when atsumy accompanies with a little chomping noise.

his teeth never actually grazed your skin, always covered by his lips to make sure he never actually hurt you. sometimes, if he couldn't bite you, he'd just opt to give you a gentle pinch. his nose would always scrunch when he did this and you'd always laugh.

eventually, it went unnoticed. eventually, because perhaps you were enabling him too much, the biting actually reached to other parts of your body like your shoulders, your forearms, sometimes even your ankles. but it was never something you two noticed. eventually, it was something others always noticed.

like that one time in 3rd year high school that atsumu bit (once again with his lips covering his teeth) your cheek to say goodbye.

"why don't you just give her cheek a kiss?" suna chuckles as he, the miya twins, and ginjima made their way from the cafeteria to the gym for a quick meeting, "it's more normal that way, you know?"

atsumu gives him a confused look. "huh? what do you mean?" the blond tilts his head. "why would i kiss her cheek?"

osamu rolls his eyes. he's tired of his brother's oblivion.

"why would you bite??? her cheek???" ginjima shoots back.

there's a silence and everyone just stares at atsumu. he, for the life of him, couldn't even recall that he actually did that. he bit your cheek??? really???? he's quick to yank his phone out of his pocket to text you, typing, "did i??? bite your cheek?????"

you respond with, "ya. i don't mind LOL it didn't hurt."

"bro i didn't even recognize that i did that."

"really? LOL i always thought you knew. you've been doing it more often actually. i really don't mind though. it's cute."

"yeah anything i do is cute. but damn. maybe i am an airhead..."

"yeah and conceited too :-|"

it eventually stops though when you two separate after high school. you went to osaka for university and atsumu went straight into achieving his dreams of professional volleyball.

of course you two didn't lose touch!! there were plenty of video calls, text messages, voice messages, video messages, personal poscast episodes, you name it!!! there just wasn't as much physical closeness as there used to. there was something missing and at first atsumu couldn't figure out what.

he tells you he misses you, says that things aren't the same when you aren't there to yell at him in person or throw things at him. he says it's even more lonely that osamu isn't with him 24/7. he says he's not used to having nobody whine about the heat, or whine about wanting a popsicle, or almost cry about an onigiri craving they've had for weeks.

and then, he remembers why it's YOU he misses. he jokes that he misses biting you and nothing satisfies him (even if he downs an entire bag of marshmallows ((which is???? wtf??? 😭😭😭))))))

you jokingly tell him there's so many new people he can meet and start biting, especially when he finds "the one"

this is you testing the waters a bit, wondering if atsumu might talk about any kind of feelings he juuuust miiight have. it's always been confusing for you, not sure where you fit when it comes to his categories of relationships. sure you were the only one he was ever that physically affectionate with... but what if it's because you two grew up together and he maybe sees you as some sort of sibling?

you're reassured when atsumu lets out the biggest sigh, telling you that "nah. no one's like ya. i only wanna bite ya. s'never gonna be the same and i don't even wanna try it."

you laugh and atsumu smiles. there's a dreamy look in his eyes that goes unnoticed by you during this video call.

but you see it so clearly when you surprise atsumu during one of his games.

"y-y/n?!" atsumu screams at the top of his lungs, "that you?!???!?! you standing there with my jersey number on??!?!"

you laugh and wave your arms, not even given a chance to respond before you're body checked almost to the ground. you laugh harder as atsumu cages you in his embrace, giving you the tighest hug you've ever had thus far. he squeezes you, lets his hands grab at your skin and breathes you in.

"i fucking missed you," he'd breathe into your neck, almost tearing up at the way his body knows he's safe with you, "even though you literally sat in a video call with me during my before game poop."

you laugh and smack his arm. "why would you say that out loud?!" you exclaim, your head thrown back which atsumu places his hand behind. he lets you stand, admiring you expression before joining you. he keeps you close though, his other hand glued to your hips as he moved the one behind your head to your cheeks.

"i missed these!" he beams, giving your cheek a pinch before leaning in to bite them gently. he pulls away, giggles to himself before nipping down your jaw, to your neck, to your shoulders, and eventually to your arm. your breath hitches the entire time and you're tense.

you're adults now. it's just a little different than before.

but it's all the same to atsumu. especially when he pulls away only to give you a quick peck on the lips.

"since suna was tellin' me that biting ya wasn't enough."

your expression twists, but the both of you share a laugh.

[dc41896]

Safe Haven

Hey guys! So a little backstory for this imagine, I randomly had a dream about this scenario with EZ and as soon as I woke up I was like “I gotta write that!” so here we are! Also just want to add how I really miss Mayans MC and my bois and I can’t wait for season 3 to come out🥰! Okay that’s pretty much it other than I hope you guys like it and sorry if it’s long or doesn’t flow well (I feel like it kinda seems rushed and towards the end doesn’t sound the best, but then again that might just be me being overly critical of myself 🤷🏽‍♀️ lol).

Pairing: EZ ReyesxBlack Reader

⚠️: Bit of angst, mentions of blood (very tiny), fluff mixed in throughout though

Sunlight beaming down from the small window above your bed, EZ slowly opens his eyes to see your still figure lying next to him. Hand placed just below his newest tattoo marking the birth of your son and leg draped over his, he gently brings you closer taking in the coconut scent of your lotion still radiating off your skin from last night.

Living a life like his, rarely could he experience peaceful mornings just lying down hearing the birds chirp outside, so he made sure to appreciate every second of it that he could.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!?! YOU THINK IM THAT DUMB TO NOT KNOW YOU’RE LYING?!??!!”

Barely muffled shouting from your neighbors coming through the walls, EZ rolls his eyes with a soft groan while you begin to wake up.

“They’re arguing again?,” you groggily ask rubbing your eyes as a yawn slips from your mouth.

“Yea they just started.”

“Well, it could be worse. They could’ve started at one in the morning like last time,” you softly laugh grazing your thumb along his cheekbone. Taking your hand in his, he kisses your knuckles before leaning down to give the same attention to your pouted lips. Slightly calloused yet soft hand gripping your thigh, you push against his chest separating his lips from yours.

“Don’t start.”

“Start what?”

“You know exactly what,” you smirk. “Today we’re supposed to go get more diapers for Omari and more food for my fridge since someone and his brother keep eating everything.”

“That’s all on Angel, I know how to limit myself. And your leg was draped over me so really I should be the one telling you don’t start,” he chuckles kissing your jaw as you stick your tongue out at him. Sitting up, you carefully step over him to make your way to the bathroom.

“Whatever, I can’t help how I sleep Ezekiel.” Closing the door behind you, a wide smile spreads across his face as he shakes his head. While the use of his full name was only reserved for his father and brother, the way it rolled off your tongue made him want to hear you say it all day.

Swinging his legs over the side, he stretches before hearing the soft cries of his eight month old son in the other room. Quickly putting on his white tank and boots, his long legs guide him to the wooden crib in the next room. Tiny arms reaching between the bars, he carefully lifts him up to bounce him in his arms.

“Hey man, annoying neighbors woke you up too huh?” Reaching in his crib, he removes an older looking stuffed bunny with different sized buttons for eyes and a random patterned patch sewn on its belly. “Look what I got.”

Calming down, his hands roam around it’s face fixated on the black point that was its nose. “That patch was because your uncle Angel decided to keep throwing him at the ceiling fan seeing if he would stay on the blade. Don’t ever let him play with your toys ok?,” he smiles kissing the top of his head.

Like every event in his life, he could vividly remember everything that happened that day. Him begging Angel to stop. His hard headed older brother not listening until cotton fell from above. His mother calming him down insisting how it could be fixed as she smoothed his dark hair before kissing his forehead.

It may sound weird, but every time he saw that bunny he felt his mom’s presence as if he was back to that day sitting in her lap watching as she sewed his friend back together. That’s one reason why he wanted his son to have it, so his abuela would be with him.

Hearing your footsteps, he looks up to see you suspiciously looking towards the door instantly making him worry. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing I just thought I heard someone stop in front of the door,” you answer taking one last glance towards the front of your apartment. “It’s nothing though, they probably just paused for a second.”

Handing Omari to you, he approaches the door looking out the peephole before opening it to peak outside making sure no one was hanging around.

“Something like that happens again and I’m not here, call me.”

“I doubt-,”

“I’m serious Y/N.” Locking the door behind him he walks up to you and your babbling son peering down with dark brown eyes that were stern enough to know he meant business, yet still displayed their usual softness showing it was out of love for you and Omari that he was being so protective.

“Okay,” you answer; soon after feeling his beard brush against your skin as he pecks your lips.

———

“Ready to go to the park love?”

Bringing the diaper bag higher on your opposite shoulder, you balance your baby boy on your hip as you lock your door. Just as you turn around, you’re faced with three men patiently waiting while two of them intensely looked at you and your son. The tall, slender one in the middle, clad in a grey suit, displayed a small smile trying to appear friendly, but mostly seemed awkward as if he wasn’t used to that emotion.

“Hello, my name is Lincoln Potter and these are a couple of my associates. We’re looking for a man by the name Ezekiel Reyes, or EZ, as some call him. We have a couple witness accounts on seeing him in the area so we’re asking around for more possible information.” Holding up a candid picture of him on his bike outside his dad’s carneteria, you lightly bounce Omari hoping to distort his view so he wouldn’t possibly recognize his father.

“Sorry, haven’t seen him.”

“Well it doesn’t have to be around here. Have you seen him anywhere else? In town perhaps?”

“No, nowhere else,” you answer showing no emotion. While this was your first physical interaction with Potter, you were definitely familiar with the attorney. A few times while you were at EZ’s trailer he’d have to step away to answer his call or meet him in some secluded location. It was then you saw how much of a pain he could be to any target he had his sights on.

Looking at you for a few seconds his mouth parts as if he had more to say, but instead the awkward smile returns as he hands you his card.

“If you do happen to see him, please call. He’s needed for...very important matters.” Taking the card from his hand, he gazes down to Omari innocently nibbling on his fingers. Black coils on the top of his head shifting from the light breeze, his dark eyes finally meet Potter’s crystal blue ones causing a low chuckle to escape the man’s lips.

“Might I add you have a beautiful son. His father is very lucky to have such a beautiful family.”

Through his compliment you could feel a sense of iciness laced within. Like he knew what information you were keeping from him and was 10 steps ahead of your two.

Politely nodding your head as a soft “thank you” leaves your mouth, you walk by the three men feeling eyes on your back. After buckling your son in his car seat, you move to the drivers side quickly closing the door behind you before resting your head on the steering wheel to take a deep breath.

“Mama,” Omari whines lightly kicking his feet wanting the car to move.

“I know we’re going baby boy just give mommy a second.” Dialing EZ’s number, you pull out of the parking lot onto the busy street anxiously waiting for him to answer.

“Hey, you okay?,” he asks, deep voice full of concern and worry.

“Um well yes and no....it’s Potter.”

———

Sat on the floor watching your little boy laugh as he plays with his interactive animal book, you occasionally look out the window anxiously waiting to see EZ and Angel arrive any minute. After telling him what happened, he instructed you to meet him at the clubhouse where he’d take you to his dad’s just in case you were being followed.

Dropping you both off, he didn’t say much as he walked you into the small house. Kissing Omari’s cheek and then your lips, he quickly left again with his brother instantly making you worried. Knowing what was going on, Felipe tried to get your mind off things by offering you food and getting you to talk about yourself or Omari, which worked but not for long.

Now over three hours later, it was dark outside and neither you nor Felipe had heard anything from the brothers.

Motorcycles humming outside, you peer out the window to see Angel and EZ slowly making their way to the front of the house causing you to sigh in relief. However, your worries quickly returned seeing both tiredly trudge through the front door and the front of EZ’s grey shirt crimson with blood.

“What happened?!,” you ask rushing to examine him for any other injuries.

“Calm down, it’s not mine,” he answers bringing your hands to his lips with a small smile. “Just had to save this one as always.”

“Save me? Pretty sure that’s not how it went at all but ok. And I’m good too, thanks for asking.” Shaking his head Angel picks up your son before sitting down on the couch and flipping through the channels on the outdated tv. “You care about your tio don’t you man?”

Little hands pulling his hair as he giggles, Angel lets out a small yelp trying to loosen his strong grip.

“Omari be nice,” you laugh before returning your attention back to your boyfriend. “Here, let me help you clean up.” Leading him to the bathroom, you close the door behind you as he removes his leather vest and shirt before sitting on the toilet.

“Try not to cry this time alright?”

“Psh, whatever,” he lightly chuckles resting his large hands on the back of your legs. A comfortable silence falls over you while you stand between his legs carefully cleaning the blood from his scars. Although you had grown used to these moments being with him for a while now, that still didn’t take away the ache you always felt seeing him hurt.

“You and Omari might want to stay with your mom for a while,” he speaks just above a whisper.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? You saw what happened today Y/N, I don’t want you guys hanging around for it to happen again.”

“If it happens again,” you correct making him roll his eyes as he stands up.

“Now’s not the time to be naive, I’m driving you tomorrow. Your stuff is already packed waiting at the trailer.” Reaching for the door, you stand in his way planting yourself against the worn looking wood with arms crossed over your chest.

“Last time I checked, you’re Omari’s father not mine.”

“Y/N move.”

“No. I’m not afraid of Potter or the men under him, he’s all talk.”

“And how do you know?”

“Because if he really wanted to do something he would’ve done it then and there. I mean think about it they had me at my most vulnerable state with no where to go and no way to defend myself,” you explain receiving an exasperated sigh from EZ as his hand rubs down his face.

“It was a warning. Yea they didn’t do anything when they could’ve, but they wanted to scare you into telling them what they wanted to know and intimidate both of us with what they could do.”

“Well it didn’t work,” you reply guiding his chin to look at you. “Ezekiel I knew what I was getting into when we started talking and I’m still here. If it ever gets to the point where I don’t feel safe or fear for our son’s safety then we’ll leave, but until then I’m not letting Potter get to me. Plus do you think it would be easy for us to just leave after all this time?”

Placing both hands on either side of your head, he slightly bends down leaving his face inches from yours. “I’m not saying it would be easy, but if it needs to be done then that’s it bellita.”

“And when it needs to be done it will be.” Connecting your lips with his, your hands roam from his bare chest to the nape of his neck while his wrap around your body bringing you closer.

“We’re gonna need to put you in a new apartment too,” he says separating his lips from yours as his fingers graze up and down your spine.

“Hopefully your dad is okay with me staying here for a while longer then.”

“Here? What about the trailer?”

“I think the constant revving of motorcycles and occasional parties might not be ideal for a baby to be around.”

“True, you’re probably right,” you both laugh before being interrupted by loud knocking.

“Aye I hate to interrupt your probably intimate moment in there, but your kid is hungry and I’m not sure if it’s for what I can give him or what only mom can,” Angel explains as Omari fusses in his arms. “Relax man I’m trying to get her out here.”

“I’m gonna shower, you better go ahead before he starts pulling his hair again,” he smiles kissing your temple.

Opening the door, you carefully take Omari from his hands tickling under his chin to make him laugh. “Okay my baby lets get you fed.”

“The amount of strength he has that’s not a baby, that’s a tiny grown man,” Angel adds making you laugh.

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[jksmoongf]

Baby’s Breath [pt.8]

Pairing: (idol!dad!) Jungkook x reader  Genre: angst / fluff /smut  Wordcount: 8.1k Plot:  Sometimes one reckless night is all it takes to completely turn your life upside down. But what if you can’t even trust your best friends to keep your secret? Warning pt.8: drama, awkward!jk ( a hard fave), just some baby fluff if you squint.  A/N: so it’s been a long time since I last updated BB (I’m kinda nervous tbh) but now that KF is finished, I’m finally getting back to it. I hope someone still reads this but probably not lol.  As always, feedback would be nice, my loves! 💕 I wanna thank @struggleofarmy​ for always helping me :( D. you are angel, without you I’d probably never write anything and ily 💕

The car came to a halt; she watched as Jungkook hastily unbuckled his seatbelt and stumbled out of the car. He felt the need to run - to run as far away from his life as he possibly could but his legs gave out when his feet sank into the sand, falling to his knees. He didn’t even try to get up, cowering down as he hid his face in his hands.

How was he supposed to feel okay again? His whole life took a complete 180; the universe had pulled the carpet from underneath his feet as he had tried to make things right for his little family. Not for one second did he have any bad intentions, he just wanted everyone to be happy but it all backfired.  

All this hurt inside his chest really sucked the energy out of him; from day one the other members had looked after him, comforted him when he needed them, he had learned everything he knew from them and for them to betray him like this, was too much for him to handle. His heart was crumbling to pieces, bits floating in his body - and he knew they would never find their way back to repair the cracks.

Why did they have to betray him like that? He always tried his best to make them proud, and although he knew he wasn’t perfect, he was there for them to comfort them, to cheer them on, to listen to their worries. Was it all his fault that they went behind his back? Did they only care about themselves and their career and not at all about his happiness? His right hand balled into a fist, repeatedly hitting the sand.

His stomach churned, when his mind wandered off to the headlines when people eventually found out about him leaving the group, bile forced its way up into his mouth. He didn’t want the fans to hate him for leaving but for the first time in a long time, he had to put himself first. He wanted to see his little girl grow up, he wanted to be there on her first day of kindergarten and school; he wanted to go dance recitals and pick her up from school. He wanted to sing her to sleep and comfort her when she was upset. He wanted to help her blow out her birthday candles and see her eyes light up when unwrapping presents. He just wanted to be there for every important moment in her life; even the small ones that people always tend to forget but he seemed to remember those the most. 

The thought of being a father had scared him to death when y/n had confessed to him that she was pregnant but now he would’ve given everything to turn back time, just so he could be there for her; holding her hand through all of it - he had been too weak, too selfish back then. But maybe it wasn’t too late to make things right, he would be there for her, for his daughter, no matter what; even if it meant to give up his dream. He would be okay as long as he could be with them.

“Kookie…” Y/n said softly, her hand rubbing circles on his back. “Baby…hey.” She managed to pull him up, his eyes were puffy and red from crying, lips quivering, she brushed his hair from his face. “It’s cold, we need to get you somewhere warm, okay?”

But Jungkook didn’t feel the ice-cold breeze that was seeping through his clothes, everything inside him was numbed to protect the last bits of his heart from breaking. “No..” He yelped, his voice too weak for any real protest but to his surprise, she sat down next to him. “Okay.” Carefully she wrapped her arm around his torso. “We can just stay here for a bit.”

Shakily he exhaled, as his eyes closed more tears seeped from them without his consent. Her fingers intertwined with his, his head was resting on her shoulder as he listened to the calming ocean waves hitting the shoreline.

At that moment he knew that everything would be okay again; they could start over and be happy together- they would fight all the odds that were against them. No one was going to keep them apart; not his company and not his brothers - he so desperately tried to push them to very back of his mind. If he just stopped thinking about them, they wouldn’t be able to hurt him any further.

With his sleeve, he wiped the tears from his cheeks, eyes still fixated on the ocean. “I-I’m sorry I dragged you out here…” He whispered after a little while. “But we had to go, we couldn’t stay in Seoul. They were going to separate us again.” “Who?” “The others told the boss about you and me and he told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to you ever again because it would ruin my career…” Deeply he sucked in a salty breath of air to stop the hiccuped sobs that were piling up in his chest. “He threatened to stop giving you money if I broke the rules and I just snapped…” He trailed off, trying to find the right words to describe what had happened a few hours ago. “I yelled at them…I pushed Jimin, I didn’t care that I hurt him…I just wanted to know which one of them rammed a knife in my back and wanted to take you away from me again…” Closing his eyes to stop the tears from escaping again, he tightened his fingers around her hand. “I-I just can’t believe they would do this to me, they are my family.” “You know they love you, Kookie. They just wanted to protect you, don’t be too hard on them.”

He pulled away, shaking his head. “No, they don’t deserve it. They wanted me to be miserable again, they wanted me to go through all this pain of losing you again.”

“I don’t think that was their intention, they worry about you and they only want what’s best for you.” She tried again to make him see that others were just looking out for him but he ferociously shook his head once more. “Then why can’t they accept that you’re what’s best for me?”

She didn’t say anything, only taking her bottom lip in between her teeth; not wanting to make him feel pressured when he was so upset, knowing him well enough to be sure that he would come around sooner rather than later. He had to forgive them, after all, they were a big part of his life, one screw up surely wouldn’t ruin the bond between them.

For a little while longer she let him rest, just listening to the ocean, hoping that it would wash away his sorrows. “Kookie…” She mumbled, shifting in her spot trying to suppress the shivers that were about to riddle her body. “Can we go back to the car? We need to check on Soo-Yun…” “Oh, yes. Yes, of course.” Within seconds he had gotten up and also pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go.” She smiled, holding her hand out for him to take. Carefully he intertwined his fingers with hers, following her to the silver SUV.

“Why did you leave her in the car?” The question was burning on the tip of his tongue. “I- it’s too cold for her and she was sleeping, so I didn’t want to wake her up. But I-I also wanted to give you some time alone…before I went to check on you…” She rambled, not looking at him.

Without giving it any thought, he stopped in his tracks, pulling her back to face him. His shaking hands cupped her face, thumbs gently caressing her cheeks before he crashed his lips onto hers; the tingling sensation of her warmth making his heart flutter. He knew it would be too soon to say those three words that held so much meaning but he needed her to know that he was still in love with her - hoping she would feel the desperation that had been caged up in his chest. She pulled away, cherishing the warmth his hands provided on her cold skin. “What was that for?” “I’m just happy to have you back in my life. I really missed you.” He knew, he’d be able to blame the cold air for tinting his cheeks and ears red in embarrassment.

Clutching his sweater, she got on her toes to peck his lips once more. “You’ll have such a hard time getting rid off me now…” He puffed up his cheeks, letting out a grunt. “Can’t believe you’re making me say those things…” “What things?” “Cheesy things…” He tilted his head. “You know I’m not good at that.” “It’s okay, you can always just text them to me if that’s easier for you.” She winked, before turning around to open the car door. “She’s still asleep, thank goodness.”

Jungkook peeked over her shoulder; Soo-Yun was still sound asleep, the tiniest snores he had ever heard, leaving her mouth. “Can you believe we made her?” He said in awe, still having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that he took part in creating the most beautiful little girl he had ever laid his eyes on.

“Well, yeah she was inside my stomach for 9 months and gave me a really hard time sleeping. She was a night owl just like you…” His hands subconsciously wandered to her shoulders, gently applying pressure. “I should’ve been there for you, I’m sorry.” “You’re here now, that’s all that matters.” Her hand closed around his on her shoulder. “Kookie, please stop feeling guilty, you didn’t know.” “If I- I should’ve reacted differently and none of this would’ve happened.”

She turned around, now cupping his face. “Listen, I’m not mad at you and I’ll never hold it against you so please stop apologizing. You’re going to be a part of her life and that’s all I ever wanted for her.” He nodded, feeling tears brimming in his eyes - hoping that eventually, the overwhelming feeling of guilt would subside.

*

“Okay, the tank is filled up.” Jungkook shivered as he got back into the driver’s seat, rubbing his hands together for warmth. “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t know, I was thinking we could go to my place in Jeonju but…” She trailed off, tracing the rim of the window to her right. “We shouldn’t. I’m sure that’s where they’re going to look for us first.” “I mean, my parents’ house is not too far from here…” He muttered, finally revealing to her what he had wanted to do ever since he had left the dorm. “It’s only a little over an hour to Busan…” “Don’t you think they’ll come looking for you there too?” “Probably yeah but do you have a better idea? At least my parents can help us and it would be easier to take care of Soo-Yun there instead of hotel rooms and they could meet you…finally”

She scrunched up her nose. “Okay, yeah…let’s go to Busan.” Not able to bring herself to crush his newfound sense of positivity, she agreed. Jungkook leaned over the middle console to kiss her cheek. “I’m just going to let my brother know that we’re coming.”

Forcing a smile onto her face, she nodded. It didn’t feel good; she didn’t want to burden his family with her presence and surprise them with a grandchild they didn’t know about. It made her stomach feel queasy as her leg bobbed up and down nervously. She knew his parents had known about their relationship but they had never met and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to meet them under these circumstances.

“Ah, I hope my mom has some food for us, I’m so hungry.” He beamed as he started the car up again - it was almost like he had forgotten all his troubles at the prospect of seeing his family and she couldn’t help but softly smile at his excitement.

Every now and again her eyes drifted off to Naver Maps on Jungkook’s phone on the dashboard, focusing in on the small timestamp that disclosed their time of arrival at his parents’ house; the nauseous feeling still swimming in her stomach, was slowly rising up in her throat.

“Is everything okay? You’re awfully quiet…” He muttered, not averting his gaze from the road. She wanted to lie and tell him that she was fine but her mouth betrayed her before she could bite her tongue. “I’m nervous.” “Why?” Judging by the tone of his voice, it didn’t occur to him that it was a weird situation and that everything that had happened on that day felt simply overwhelming. “I’ve never met your family…and under these circumstances - it’s just making me nervous.”

“Ah, they’ll love you, my parents are really cool. You don’t have to worry about anything. They will be so happy to finally meet you and Soo-Yun and Junghyun is really excited that we’re coming.” For a brief second, he smiled at her, his right hand leaving the steering wheel to give hers an encouraging squeeze.

“Okay…” She mumbled, forcing a smile onto her face. Maybe Jungkook wasn’t aware of the implications of him bringing her and their daughter to meet his parents; maybe he was in over his head and he couldn’t think straight. “I’m being serious! Please don’t be worried, I know my parents will be over the moon when they meet you.” “Sure yeah…” But before Jungkook could try to calm her down, even more, Soo-Yun started whining in her car seat. She turned around, simultaneously sending a prayer up to the gods for the distraction. “I think she’s hungry.” “How do you know?” “I can just tell from the way she cries…” Shrugging her shoulders, she fished the small box of crackers from her bag that Jungkook had bought at the gas station. “Really? Do you think I’ll be able to do that too?” He wondered, watching his daughter munch on one of the wheat crackers in her hands in the rearview-mirror. “Probably, yes.” Turning back around, she offered the box to Jungkook. “Do you want one?” He nodded his head, and she held one up to his mouth so he wouldn’t get distracted from driving. “I’ll have to feed her when we get there…” Jungkook handed her his phone without warning. “Text my brother that we’ll be there in 15 minutes and let him know that we’re hungry.”

She gulped down the lump in her throat when she quickly read the Kakao chat, even in writing he sounded really excited to go home and although he only mentioned a surprise to his older brother, he seemed just as happy that his little brother was coming home for a little while.

*

Jimin let out a disgruntled noise when he sat up in bed, his back was still sore from when Jungkook had pushed him. His hand automatically flew to apply pressure to the bruise that decorated his skin next to his spine.

“Jungkookie…” He mumbled to himself, as he got up, his face scrunched up in pain and he slowly waddled down the hallway to the youngest room. He had locked himself in and wouldn’t come out or make any noise, even after Jin had told him that there were leftovers in the fridge for him if he wanted something to eat, Jungkook had stayed quiet. Jimin knew he was hurt; someone had stabbed him in the back but he couldn’t help it - his heart felt heavy for his little brother. He just wanted him to be happy and so did the other members but to Jimin’s dismay, Jungkook’s behavior had left a sour taste in their mouths. He had stayed up until the early hours of the morning in hopes of catching Jungkook sneaking into the kitchen which would have given him the perfect chance to talk to him and maybe straighten things out, but it never happened. His feelings must have been seriously hurt if he shut them all out completely.

Carefully Jimin knocked on the door. “Hey Jungkook-ah, are you awake? Can we talk?” He asked his voice piping up in hopes that some sleep would’ve helped to calm things down and make the youngest act more rationally and maybe he would be willing to listen. But he got no response, so instead, he pressed his ear to the wooden door, trying to hear if he was awake yet.

“Screw it…” His hand slowly pushed down the door handle and to his surprise, it actually swung open. “Jungkook-ah?” He asked again, taking a few steps into the room, his eyes looking for the raven-haired boy but his bed was still made and he was nowhere to be found. The first thought that popped into his head was that Jungkook might have gone to the gym to release his anger lifting weights but his gym shoes were still lying on the floor next to the black backpack he always carried around.

“Something’s not right…” Jimin crossed the room, inspecting the wide-open closet. A few hangers were sticking out, others were scattered on the floor. It was very unlike Jungkook to make a mess of his closet, yes his room was always a little messy but he kept his closet remarkably tidy, even color-coding his shirts.

“Jimin-ah, what are you doing?” Hoseok’s voice made him spin around, only to see his roommate standing right behind him, a coffee mug in hand. “Where’s Jungkookie?”

“I don’t know, I wanted to check on him but he wasn’t in here…”

“Maybe he went to the gym?” Hoseok suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

“That’s what I thought too but something is very off…” Jimin let his eyes wander around the room. “You see all the hangers?” He mumbled absentmindedly when his eyes fell on the small collection of backpacks in the corner. “His army backpack is gone…”

“What? How do you know?” Hoseok peeked over his shoulder.

“He always keeps his bags there and it’s the only one missing…” Jimin’s mind was racing, making his heart rate speed up. “I think…hyung...I think he left…”

“Maybe he just needed to get out for a bit to clear his head? I’m sure he will be back soon.”

Jimin nodded, not wanting to worry the older boy but a bad feeling was stirring up in the pit of his stomach. No matter how bad their fights had been in the past, Jungkook had never left, not like this at least - making him feel sick.

*

“Look, that’s where my friend Kangdae from school lives. We used to go to Taekwondo together.” Jungkook pointed at a house as they drove past it in the dark. “And that’s where I fell because I was wearing Junghyun’s skates and they were too big and I scraped my knee pretty badly.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at how happy he was to be back home and to share a part of his life with her that she had only ever heard him mention a handful of times. He always said that he didn’t have a lot of memories from home and that his life as a trainee was more memorable to him but it was heartwarming to hear his little recollections of his childhood in Busan. Fondly she ran her fingers through his hair. “You’re so cute…maybe you can show me around and tell me more stories…” She suggested, earning an enthusiastic nod from him. “I’d love to, we can take Soo-Yun with us…you know so she knows where I grew up.” “Oh! I-we didn’t take the stroller with us.” She gasped, wanting to slap herself for forgetting one of the most important things. “Don’t worry, we’ll just buy one.” Even in the dark car, his eyes twinkled like stars in the night sky and everything seemed okay for just one moment.

Jungkook turned the engine off. “That’s my house…” He proudly announced, gesturing to the modest house on the right side. “Oh, I gotta text my brother…” Quickly he grabbed his phone when the door opened.

In a daze, she watched Jungkook getting out of the car as fast as he could and running up to his brother.  After unbuckling her seatbelt, she slowly got out of the car but hesitantly stayed still next to it, wanting to give him and his family a moment of happiness before she had a chance to ruin it. “Mom! Dad! Come here!” His brother called over his shoulder before ruffling Jungkook’s hair. “I haven’t told them you’re coming.”

Moments later his parents appeared in the doorway and his mother let out a squeal, pulling her son into a bone-crushing hug. “You look so thin.” She scolded him lovingly, cupping his cheeks in her hands before her eyes narrowed and she could feel goosebumps travel down her skin when their eyes met for the first time.

“Ah, right. I-…” Jungkook paused, rushing to her side. “Come on, they won’t bite you.” He mumbled, only holding her hand a second before he let go. “I want you to meet y/n.” He grinned, gently nudging her to take a step forward to properly meet his family but he immediately left her side again.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Forcing the corners of her mouth upwards before she bowed, her legs wanting to run in the opposite direction. “Y/n…” The resenting tone of his mother’s voice was petrifying - she knew that she had broken her son’s heart into a million pieces over a year ago. “Nice to finally meet you.” Junghyun smiled, the all too familiar crinkles around his eyes forming but before he could say anything else, his mother stood in front of her, hands on her hips, a stern look on her face.  “I don’t want a dirty girl like you around my son. Leave.”

Y/n’s eyes darted from Junghyun to Jungkook’s father who was silently pressing his lips together,  perhaps he didn’t want to argue with his wife or maybe, he wanted her to leave as well - it was posing more than difficult to read his facial expressions. She felt awful, her heart falling from her chest down to her stomach; she knew that coming here was a bad idea - why did Jungkook think that his family would welcome her, the girl that hurt him so badly, with open arms? “Mom, I think it’s a little too late for that…” Her older son chuckled when footsteps were heard right behind them.

“I’m assuming you don’t want to meet your granddaughter then…” Jungkook slowly walked up to them, Soo-Yun propped upon his arm, the other tightly wrapped around her as she held onto his neck. Her big eyes wearily evaluating the tense situation. “We can go somewhere else, all three of us need to be welcome, mom.”

“Gr-granddaughter?” His father repeated in disbelief, staring at the small child in his youngest son’s arms. “Yes, this is your granddaughter.” “Aw, she’s so cute.” Junghyun made grabby hands at his niece, waiting for his brother to let him hold her. “She surely gets her beauty from her uncle!” He made cooing noises at her. “Yes, you do. Ah, she’s so cute, my heart.” Soo-Yun giggled, as he held her closer to his face to get a good look at her and her hand grabbed a chunk of his hair.  “You are the prettiest little girl.”

His mother cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure; still not fully able to wrap her head around what was happening. “Are you even sure she’s yours?” She addressed Jungkook while side-eying the baby, who was happily babbling along to the cooing and kissy-faces.

“Mom, just look at her. She looks just like Jungkookie!” Junghyun held his niece up to his mother’s face and her expression softened immediately. Although she was hellbent on disliking the girl that broke her son’s heart, she couldn’t deny the fact that this little girl looked so much like him when he was a baby - from the little button nose down to the big brown eyes that she had always adored on her son.

“I know, I hurt Jungkook when I broke up with him and I understand that you don’t like me but…”

“Y/n, don’t.” Jungkook interrupted her. “Mom, she’s mine and if you can’t accept y/n or Soo-Yun then we’ll leave. I thought you’d be more understanding but I guess, I was wrong.” Without waiting for an answer, he took his daughter from his brother before turning around to go back to the car. “Let’s go.”

“Mom!” Junghyun’s tone was pressing, fearing that once Jungkook left, he would never come back. “Wait!” His mother called out. “You can stay here.” “Are you sure?” He raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out if his mother was being sincere or not. “Because if you’re not then we’ll…” “I am. You’re all welcome to stay.” She cut him off, an ounce of panic straining her hoarse voice.

Almost immediately, Junghyun took his niece back into his arms before disappearing in the house. “You know, you should forget about those uncles back in Seoul. I’m your real uncle…” “Thank you.” Jungkook mumbled, pecking his mother’s cheek before his dad wrapped his arm around his shoulders and led him inside. Hesitantly she followed them, making eye contact with his mother in passing - she still didn’t look happy but she forced a smile onto her face.

It was awkward to be at his parents’ house, she just didn’t feel like she belonged; she had anticipated his mother’s reaction but seeing his brother and father playing with her daughter on the couch made her feel a little less on edge. Maybe his mother would eventually warm up to her; she could only try to imagine how shocked and overwhelmed she felt. 

“Can she talk?” “No, not yet, still waiting for her first word.” “Soo-Yun can you say Halbi…Hal-bi…” Jungkook’s dad tried to encourage her to call him grandpa but the little girl just eyed him curiously before he started tickling her and her cute giggles echoed from the walls.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” Jungkook whispered, taking her hand as he pulled her out into the hallway and up the stairs. “I’ll start making dinner for you.” His mother called from the kitchen, where the rattling of pots and pans could be heard. “If you need help, let me know.”

But she didn’t respond and as they reached the top of the stairs he came to a halt. “This is my parents’ bedroom…” He pointed to the left. “Next to it, is the bathroom and that’s Junghyun’s room, which leaves us with my room..” He opened the door last door on the right that had a few paint chips missing.

“Cute…” She commented, trying to suppress a giggle as she walked around the room. It still very much looked like a kids room, posters on the wall, ribbons from sporting competitions and comic books filled the two small shelves on the left wall. “I’m never really here, so they just left it like this. Last time I was here, I wanted to change it but I never got around to it…” He sat down on the bed that was clearly only fit for one person. “Plus if I changed it, it just wouldn’t feel like my room, you know?” “I get it.” She sat down next to him. “Are you okay?” Feeling his eyes on her, she turned her head. “Yeah, it’s just a little much but I can handle it, don’t worry.” “I know but we’re safe here and my mom will come around. She’s just…she knows I had a really hard time after we broke up, she’s worried.” “I understand, if I were in her shoes I’d probably react the same way.”

He nodded, pinching his bottom lip between his index finger and thumb. “I’ll talk to her, I want you to feel comfortable here.” “Thank you.” She smiled weakly and out of the blue he pressed her down into the pillows, innocently planting little kisses to her lips that she wished would last a little longer each time. His hand softly traveled up and down her waist, slowly disappearing underneath her shirt when his lips left hers to trail down her neck, the tip of his nose brushing against her skin. “Kookie it tickles…” She whined, kicking her legs lightly but he didn’t care, covering every inch in butterfly kisses. Someone coughed, making them pull away from each other.

“Hyung.” Jungkook felt his ears heat up; he let himself get carried away - it wasn’t easy to stop when he felt like he had to make up for all those months they were apart. “Mom says dinner will be ready in half an hour or so but I can just tell her you’re busy…” He winked, making his brother jump to his feet. “No, hyung! No, don’t tell her, please.” “Calm down.” He patted his shoulder. “But - I never thought I’d see you with a girl in here, dreams do come true.” He wiped away a fake tear, earning a slap to his arm from Jungkook. “Stop teasing me.” He pouted, stomping his foot just like he would when they were kids.

“Where’s Soo-Yun?” She interrupted their bickering after checking her watch. “Downstairs with dad, he’s playing peek-a-boo with her.” She nodded. ��Would it be okay if I took a shower?” “Of course, I’ll go get our stuff from the car and Soo-Yun.” “Thanks.” Smiling at both of them, she excused herself to the bathroom.

Junghyun followed his little brother downstairs to the car. “Is everything okay? The other day you told me that you were really busy with practice and now you’re here…” He trailed off while lifting the suitcase from the trunk.

Jungkook wanted to lie and pretend like everything was fine and that his heart wasn’t painfully contracting in his chest every time he thought about his other brothers back in Seoul but he couldn’t. “Not really, hyung. Something happened, something really bad happened…” “What’s going on?” He wanted to tell him that they betrayed him, that he yelled at them and that he hurt Jimin but the words got caught in his throat; he wouldn’t believe him anyway. “I-I don’t want to talk about it right now…”

Junghyun watched him as he got the purple plush puppy and the car seat from the backseat; he knew his baby brother was deeply hurt, his eyes drooping in sadness but he didn’t want to press the issue. Jungkook would talk when he was ready. “Let’s go free your baby from dad’s grasp.” “Is it that bad?” His eyes widened. “No, it’s actually really cute how he plays with her.” “To be honest, I thought mom would be the one to…” “Give her some time, she’ll get used to it. You know, when we heard how upset you were from Jin…” He paused when he noticed the tortured expression on Jungkook’s face at the mention of his member’s name. “Mom was really upset as well, she wanted to go to Seoul to take care of you, you’re still her baby and now you have a baby, I think she just needs to process everything.”

He nodded, pressing the button on the car key to lock it. “I hope so, I really want mom to like y/n and Soo-Yun…” “I’m sure she will, don’t worry. When did you find out anyway? You haven’t been with her in over a year.” “A couple of days ago…” Jungkook’s voice was really quiet, almost inaudible when he followed him back inside. Slowly but surely the sinking feeling in his stomach told him that what had happened back in Seoul must have been a result of Y/n being back in his life.

She wrapped the dark blue towel around her body before she took a closer look into the mirror - she was a tired mess, even a steaming hot shower wasn’t able to hide the bags under her eyes. Faintly she heard Jungkook’s voice coming from his room when she walked back, it was a higher pitch than usual when he sweetly talked to Soo-Yun. “Are you sleepy? Oh right, your mommy said you were hungry earlier. I’ll get the crackers, wait.” She watched how he clumsily reached for her bag and rummaged through it to find the small carton.

“It’s okay, I’ll feed her now. It’s almost time for her to go to bed anyway.” She announced herself, crossing the short distance from the door to the bed. “Ah, perfect. Would it be okay if I jumped in the shower real quick? I feel like I have stand stuck everywhere from earlier.” “Sure.” Pressing his lips to her forehead, before he grabbed clean clothes and disappeared in the bathroom.

“Are you hungry?” She sat down, picking her daughter up to place her on her lap. “You’ve been such a good girl today but it’s almost bedtime, princess.” Soo-Yun usually demanded to always be fed on time, she just loved to eat and snack all day, although she was a bit fussy when it came to vegetables, cucumber being her favorite by far but before bed and once during the night, she still wanted milk. Naturally, her chubby little hands reached for the towel that was standing in the way of her dinner, once she had cradled her in arms like she usually would.

“I can’t wait for you to only eat solids.” She cooed, gently pushing her daughter’s hair from her forehead when the familiar sucking noises started.

For a moment she watched her drink, the little eyelashes fluttering shut before she busied herself on her phone. Three messages from Jihoon and two missed calls were amongst the messages from her sister and brother in law wondering where she was. Quickly she replied to the latter, not wanting them to worry but Jihoon was a different story. They weren’t dating- they had kissed a handful of times but only ever after she had cried to him about her struggles with Soo-Yun and to her they were just good friends; maybe she was trying to fill the void in her heart that Jungkook left but to him, they were clearly more than friends. Before she could type out a reply to yet another ‘I miss you’ message, she heard a gasp.

Looking up from her phone, she saw Jungkook standing in the doorway, staring at her with his mouth open, only in his underwear and a t-shirt. “I’m so sorry, I’ll go…” He covered his eyes quickly, wanting to give her some privacy but his body had turned to stone. There were too many thoughts rushing through his head to sort through them. To say that he was embarrassed was an understatement, he could feel himself starting to sweat profusely, his cheeks burning up in a crimson red.

“You don’t have to go, you can stay…I don’t mind.” “No, no…I’ll go…” He wanted to turn around. “Kook, are you embarrassed?” She raised her eyebrows, not fully able to banish the amused tone from her voice. “I-I…” He stuttered, still not looking at her, just wanting to hide somewhere until she was done. “You don’t have to be, it’s normal. Babies have to eat too.” “I know that…” He mumbled, dragging his feet over to the chair by the small desk. “I just thought…she was eating food and you didn’t have to…" Ungracefully he gestured towards her, not wanting to say the word breastfeeding out-loud. “For the most part, she eats regular food, yes, but she still likes her milk in the evening and at night…just like you, you love milk, so that’s something you have in common.”

Jungkook scrunched up his nose, his ears were on fire and he still couldn’t bring himself to look at her. “If you have questions, just ask…” He didn't even have to think twice, there was one question predominantly pushing its way forward in his brain. “Uhm, you know…the other day when we, you know…I did that too and nothing came out…” She burst out laughing, earning a disgruntled noise the baby in her arms. “I guess, you were just lucky. I should’ve warned you, I’m sorry.”

Throwing his head back, he let out a whiny cry. “Yes, you should have. That would’ve been weird.” Suddenly his head snapped back and he was directly looking at her, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. “You know, I was wondering why your boobs were a little lopsided” “Just like your balls.” She shrugged, shifting her focus back to her daughter. “What? Are you serious? Is one really bigger than the other?” He leaned forward, trying to inspect his lower region through the black fabric of his briefs. “You’re an idiot.” Rolling her eyes, she reached for a pillow, aiming it directly at his head.

*

“You did what?” Hoseok whispered yelled, although it was just him, Yoongi, Namjoon and Jin who were at the dorm, while the two youngest were out looking for the maknae. Jin nervously hid his hands inside his pink sweater when he ever so lightly nodded. “I can’t believe you two were the ones that told on Jungkookie.” Hobi’s face was pulled into a grimace of contempt. “So he was right. Unbelievable…” “Well, it was mainly Namjoon who did the talking, I didn’t say much….I couldn’t….” Jin tried to defend himself, still feeling the heavyweight of guilt resting on his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter, you were his accomplice!” “I thought, I was doing the right thing.” Namjoon covered his face with his hands. “He was so happy but I knew that if management found out later, it would be a lot worse for him, them…all of us.” “That was not your decision to make. You did stab him in the back.”

“Hoseok-ah, he just wanted to help and it won’t do any good or change anything if you keep scolding him now.” Yoongi crossed his arms. “I don’t condone what you did but I get it. We all worked too hard to have this potentially ruin everything. You had good intentions but it blew up in your face.” “You should’ve talked to Jungkook first, I’m sure, he would’ve understood what’s at stake here.” Hoseok lowered his gaze. “I-I really only wanted to do what’s right. I didn’t think he would listen to me and I thought, he would understand if the boss told him that he’s making a mistake.” “But he always listens to you, you should’ve been the one to knock some sense into him.”

Namjoon let out a heart-wrenching sigh. “I know that now…” They fell silent for a moment, where they all succumbed to their thoughts. It was the first time that a fight between the members had gotten so out of hand that one of them ran away and didn’t come home. “We have to make sure Jimin and Taehyung don’t find out what you two did, they will take it to heart.” Yoongi muttered, his thumb pressed against his bottom lip before he sunk his teeth into the already tortured skin - if things didn’t start to look up again soon, he’d never be able to break this terrible habit.

*

Dinner had been awkward, to say the least; not once had Jungkook felt this strange and out of place in his parents’ house, even the light-hearted conversations his brother had tried so hard to hold, faded into silence very quickly.

Y/n was sitting on the floor in his room, watching as Soo-Yun peacefully let out little snores in the car seat. “Do you think she’ll be comfortable enough in this thing the whole night?” He wondered, carefully eyeing his daughter, feeling bad that it was too late to get a proper bed for her to sleep in. “Maybe we should have stayed at a hotel for the night…” “It’s not ideal but it should be okay for one night, don’t worry too much.” She turned around, now kneeling in front of him. “How’s your hand?” She inspected his knuckles, that had slowly started to bruise. “It’s a little sore.” “What did you do anyway?” “I might have punched a wall…” He trailed off, watching her mouth open in shock. “Jungkook, what? Are you serious?” “I was angry, they were still lying to me. I-I just needed to do something and it was better than hitting one of them.” “You know there’s pillows or punching bags for that so you don’t end up with a bloody hand.”

Letting out an airy chuckle, he cupped her face and moved in closer. “Thank you, what would I do without you?” She smiled against his lips before they connected sweetly when suddenly the door opened. Quickly they pulled away from each other, his mother scrunched up her nose, holding extra bedding in her arms.

Crudely she walked over to the bed. “Here, help me put this on. Your father is bringing the air mattress in a few minutes.” “Air mattress?” He repeated with a dumbfounded look on his face. “But we don’t need it, we can just sleep in my bed.” She let out a sardonic chuckle through her pursed lips. “You two are not sharing a bed. Evidently nothing good comes from that.”

“Mom!” He protested, feeling a sting in his heart from the snide remark aimed to hurt his and y/n’s feelings. “Jungkook-ah, I don’t want to hear another word.” Silently he nodded his head as he started helping his mother with the bedding. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Y/n offered, when his father walked in, carrying the old air mattress. “No, I think you’ve done enough already.” Quickly Jungkook looked at her, mouthing ‘sorry’ before stuffing a pillow into its designated pillowcase. “Honey, where do you want me to put it?” “Hm, over there, in front of the bookshelf.” His mother instructed her husband after making sure there would be enough space between the mattress and the bed. “Here’s a fitted sheet for you.” Coldly she handed it to y/n, shooing her husband to the door. “Don’t stay up too late.” “We won’t. Goodnight.” Jungkook wanted to close the door behind her but instantly his mother pushed it back open. “The door stays open!” “But mom.” He whaled, feeling like a little kid again that was being treated unfairly. “If you insist on closing it, you can sleep in your brother’s room, then y/n can have your room all to herself and close the door if she pleases.” She smiled sweetly, her eyes drilling into her son’s, letting him know that she didn’t appreciate his behavior. “Fine.” He mumbled, just pushing the door a little so it wasn’t fully open. “Is that okay?” “No.” “But mom, y/n has to feed the baby later, please…” “Just for tonight.” She caved, turning to leave. Impatiently Jungkook waited for his parents’ bedroom door to close before he sat down on his bed again.

“That’s unbelievable. I’m not a kid anymore.” “It’s okay, at least you don’t have to sleep in Junghyun’s room.” After finishing putting the fitted sheet on the air mattress, she sat down on it. “But still, we’re not teenagers anymore. We’ve already done it, there’s no need to keep us apart.” Groaning, he let himself fall back, hitting his head on the wall. “Ouch, I forgot how small his bed is.” “See, maybe it’s good that I’m sleeping over here.” “You’re not sleeping on that old thing. You can have my bed and I’ll sleep on the floor.” “I don’t mind, you can really sleep in your bed.”

But Jungkook wouldn’t budge, he got up and grabbed the end of the air mattress, dragging it over, right next to his bed before he lifted her up with ease to make her sit on the bed. “Ah, much better.” He smiled, sitting down cross-legged. “You know, your mom will be mad if she sees this.” “I don’t care, I want you to be comfortable and I can sleep pretty much anywhere.” He pulled the duvet over his legs. “Do you need me to set an alarm for when you have to feed her?”  “No, my body now wakes up by itself at 2:30 am…fun, right?”  “That’s usually my bedtime.” Jungkook watched her, as she tried to get comfortable in his bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin.  “We can stay up if you want.” She yawned, her eyes already hooded with sleep. 

He simply shook his head, reaching for the light switch of his desk lamp. “No, it was a long day. I’m glad when it’s finally over.” Rolling onto his side, he closed his eyes. Maybe tomorrow would be different, maybe tomorrow would be a better day where he didn’t have to think about his brothers at all; his priorities had shifted so fast that maybe he would be able to forget about them just as quickly. “Kookie?” “Hm?” He hummed drowsily, wanting to open his eyes when she didn’t reply but then he felt her hand underneath his duvet, searching for his; their fingers intertwined. His body relaxed instantly into the mattress, and although he couldn’t sleep in the same bed, it was more than enough to know that she was there, holding onto his hand - and heart like she always did. *

Namjoon was pacing up and down in front of the sofa; his hands were clammy so he repeatedly wiped them on his sweat pants. “Can you please sit down? You’re making us all nervous.” Hoseok’s eyes were glued to the clock on the wall, his pupils moving rapidly as they kept up with the seconds that passed. “Sorry, I’m just…” The leader was cut off when the two youngest members hurried into the room. “Did you find him?”

Taehyung shook his head. “He’s not at the gym, nor is he with any of his friends…” “They could be lying and are covering for him.” “I doubt it, hyung, most of them said that they haven’t heard from him in a while.”

Jimin slumped down on the floor. “He’s not responding to messages and when I try calling him, it goes straight to voicemail. Have any of you tried calling him?” All of them pulled their phones out but every call ended with a disappointed sigh. “Voicemail.” Jin mumbled, dropping his phone to massage his temples.

“He’s just mad and needs to clear his head, he’s probably with y/n.”  Yoongi tried to reassure his members but even he couldn’t entirely ignore the uneasy feeling inside of him.

“I tried calling her too earlier but the same thing happened.” “Well then we know that he told her what happened, that’s something.” “It’s not, we still don’t know where he is and if he’s okay.” Taehyung sat down next to his best friend. “I’m sure he’s fine and will be home soon.” Yoongi tried his best to sound hopeful, only to earn a sad look from both boys on the floor.”

“Maybe we should call the police. It’s been over 24 hours…” “But Jungkookie is not missing…” “Yes, he is! We don’t know where he is and that makes him a missing person!” Jimin protested, determined to find the youngest. Namjoon cleared his throat. “We can’t call the police, but we can tell one of the managers what’s going on. They have to know.” “And what are they gonna do about it? If we can’t find him, they won’t either.” Jimin threw his hands up in despair. If only Jungkook would have talked to him; he was sure that he would’ve been able to calm him down and make him stay.  Was this just part of a plan to make them all feel bad or had the youngest been so heartbroken, so upset that he couldn’t stand living with them anymore?  They would never turn their backs on him but Jungkook had just walked out of their lives. 

[bts-reveries]

page turner | 19

“Did you bring Moonji’s dress? The one you bought in Korea?” Namjoon asks you, digging through his suitcase, unable to find Moonji’s princess dress. You were currently sat on the bed, doing Moonji’s hair while she watched shows on your phone.

“It should be in my suitcase, her little crown is in there too.” Namjoon looks around and you point to your suitcase, which was next to the closet. Namjoon, quickly walks over, kneeling down to dig through yours.

“Ah, here it is,” he says, holding up the little Cinderella dress you bought. He turns to look at you. “Did you get her a crown too?” He wanted to make sure his princess got the princess look she deserved.  

“Yes, I just said that it’s in there too.” Namjoon turns back around and lifts up one shirt and finds the crown. 

“Oh, you’re right,” he laughs. He gets up holding the two items, putting them down on the bed. He crawls over towards the two of you, planting a kiss on Moonji’s forehead. 

“Hey princess,” he says, knocking on the phone screen to get her attention. Moonji looks up to him and smile. “Are you excited for your first trip to disneyland?!” She yelled a loud ‘YAAAA’. Making the two of you laugh. 

“What about my other princess?” He says, looking up at you. You laugh, shaking your head. He leans in to kiss you on the cheek.

“Are you excited too?” You nod your head, holding back a smile. 

“Heck yeah, I hope we can see Flynn Rider, I have the FATTEST crush on that man,” you say, tying the little bun on Moonji’s head. Namjoon rolls his eyes at you, jokingly.

“Why crush on a thief when you have a real prince-- king actually, right in front of you?” You scoff at him, looking over Moonji to see how the bun looks. 

“There you go princess, we just need to get you dressed now,” you say.

“Really Yn, my fans call me King Namjoon instead of Kim Namjoon you know.” 

“Sweetie, I know, I was one of those fans.”

“Was?!” 

“Yeah, why call you King Namjoon when I can call you mine?” You winked, getting off of the bed. Namjoon burst out laughing.

“You’re cute.”

“I know.” You make your way to the bathroom, stopping halfway, “Can you put the dress on Moonji by the way? I’m going to take a quick shower.” Namjoon nods, looking at his daughter. He pulls her into his arms and places a fat kiss on her cheek, making her giggle.

“No more watching princess, we have to get ready now,” he says.

“Okay daddy,” Moonji says, handing him your phone. She stands up on the bed, walking to the edge to pick up her dress. She looks at it with a happy smile, handing it over to her dad so he could put it on her. At the moment, Moonji was wearing pajamas which was tan long sleeves and matching leggings. Namjoon was debating whether he should put the dress over or take it off. It was a little cold outside.

“Yn!” He yelled.

“What?” You yell back from the shower. 

“Do you think I should just put her dress over her pajamas or should I take it off?”

“Keep her leggings on, just change her top into a tank top and bring a jacket. It might get hot later.” Namjoon nodded and told Moonji to raise her arms up. He carefully pulled her top off, making sure he doesn’t mess up the bun you spend time on doing.

The cold breeze makes Moonji shiver, making Namjoon laugh. “Hold on sweetie, let me grab your tank top.” She clenches her teeth, shaking as she watches her dad run to his suitcase.

“Come here baby,” he says, running over to the edge of the bed where Moonji raises her arms again so that her dad can put on her top. “There we go.” 

“Dress time~” Moonji says, running across the bed to grab her dress. 

“Dress time,” Namjoon repeats, taking the dress from her when she handed it to him. He unzips the back, letting her step into the dress. 

“Daddy is Y/n unnie gun’ be my mommy now?” Namjoon’s eyes widens, taken aback by her question. “She’s like my aunties but she loves me and you mostest,” she says with the happiest smile. Namjoon zips up her dress and have her turn around so she’s facing him. 

“Do you want her to be your mommy?” Namjoon asks. Moonji smiles big and nods. “Okay. You’re not going to understand this yet, but we just started dating so we can’t rush to that just yet, but that’s our goal okay?” Moonji agrees, even though she had no idea what her dad meant. 

By now you step out of the bathroom, your hair wrapped in a towel, and so is your body. The two looks at you and what Moonji yells almost made you drop the towel you were holding up to cover yourself.

“Mommy look I’m princess Moonji now!” Your eyes widen and you look at Namjoon who reflected your expression. He put two fingers over Moonji’s mouth to keep her quiet. His whole hand would’ve covered her entire face. Namjoon laughs nervously.

“Uh, haha, Umm-- Get dressed, we’re going to get breakfast downstairs before we head to the park.” He says. You nod, kneeling down to grab your clothes from your suitcase. You made your way back into the bathroom to change. 

As soon as you were out of sight, Namjoon puts his hand down and looks at his daughter with a straight face.

“Yah, you can’t just blurt stuff out like that,” he says. Moonji giggles, covering her mouth. “Did uncle Taetae tell you to do this?” 

❆❆❆❆

~Meanwhile, in the bathroom~

You: moonji just called me mommy.

You: both me and joon looked pretty shocked. he covered her mouth and just laughed nervously and just ignored the situation and told me to get ready.

Sohyun: OMG !! been there, done that lol

Mae: how do you feel about it??

You: i kinda like it 🥺🥺🥺

You: it just feels so.. right? but too fast

but i don’t mind fast? it feels right so i want to just go for it 

You: i always wanted to be a mommy 🥺 

You: when moonji said it, it gave me butterflies 

You: but i want it when namjoon wants it! 

❆❆❆❆

“This… is what Taehyung had made for us?” you say, looking down at your shirt. You and Namjoon were wearing Cinderella themed shirts to match little Moonjirella. Namjoon’s shirt says Prince Charming. It fits him, his look. Definitely a prince and definitely charming. You look up at Namjoon with a disgusted look on your face. “Evil Stepmother? He couldn’t have put Fairy Godmother instead?” Namjoon laughs at you, pulling you toward him by your jacket. 

“Well you’re definitely not an Evil Stepmother, so let’s just,” ziiiiip!, “zip this up shall we.” 

“Thanks.” The three of you just got inside the park and you could already feel the magic.

“Daddy!” Moonji yells, pointing towards a crowd of people. Namjoon and you turn to look and you see your first disney character of the day.

“Moonji you want to go see him?” You say, holding out your hand for her to grab. She nods, happily taking it and running towards the giant mouse. Namjoon smiles as he watches the two of you run to the line that was forming behind the staff that walked around with Mickey. You looked up at Namjoon when the two of you got to the back of the line, gesturing for him to come over. 

“Are you excited baby?” You say, turning to Moonji, she nods but as the line grew smaller and she was getting closer to Mickey, she started hesitating, reaching to go behind your leg instead. 

“What’s wrong sweetheart,” Namjoon says, pulling her away from your leg and picking her up. She immediately wraps her arms around her dad’s neck, pressing her cheek against the side of his face. Eyeing the giant mouse.

“Next guest,” the staff says, gesturing for the three of you to stand with Mickey. You stand to his left while Namjoon and Moonji were on his right. Mickey notices little Moonji’s stare and he tries to tickle her with his giant gloved finger and Moonji frowns.

“Sorry, it’s her first time,” Namjoon says to the staff. 

“That’s okay, here you go sweetie,” the staff says, handing her a button that read 1st Visit! Moonji reaches out for it and smiles, you quickly hand your phone to the staff worker to take your picture. 

“Thank you,” you whisper, quickly jumping back into the photo. 

“Hey little Cinderella! Look over here!” Moonji looks up and smiles for the camera. 

CLICK!

“Thank you so much,” you say to the staff, taking your phone back.

“No problem, you’re such a cute family! Have a nice day!”

❆❆❆❆

“I don’t know how to feel about this,” you say, looking down at the pinkish churro in your hand. 

“Just try it, maybe it tastes like actual strawberries,” Namjoon says, biting down on his oreo flavored churro. Moonji grabs his hand, pulling the churro into her mouth. You giggle at her, taking a bite out of yours. You frowned a bit when it didn’t taste like how you hoped it would. 

“Moonji you want it?” You ask, your cheek stuffed. She leans in to take a bite and grimaced when the flavor hit her tongue. 

“What’s wrong with strawberry flavored food?” Namjoon says, switching his churro with yours. 

“It’s disgusting,” you say, scrunching your nose. Namjoon shakes his head, tapping Moonji’s nose with the pink churro.

“I can’t believe your mom passed that down to you.” You quickly look back at him, biting down on the churro he gave you.

“She didn’t like strawberry flavored food either?” You ask, Namjoon nods.

“She hated it as much as you two do.” He smiles. 

“I didn’t know we had anything in common, that’s nice,” You say smiling up at him. 

“Yeah, it’s like she’s here again,” he says, leaning down to peck your cheek. 

“Daddy! El’ pant!” Namjoon looks to where Moonji was pointing and it was the Dumbo ride, and surprisingly the line was short.

“Oh-- Yn there’s barely anyone on this ride, let’s go!” Namjoon says running towards the line before it gets longer. You smile as you watched him run off, but you feel a little off by his previous statement. “Come on!” He yells.

“Coming!” You say, trying to shake it off as you run after him.

❆❆❆❆

“Daddy I want baby!” Moonji says reaching for the baby bambi stuffed toy on the wall. 

“Bambi? You want it, we’ll buy it then,” Namjoon says, grabbing the little toy and giving it to his daughter. Namjoon’s smile was so endearing, for some reason, his daughter wanting the little stuffed deer made his heart ache.

“Bambi?” You ask him as you watched him watched Moonji hug it with all her might. 

“It’s her mom’s favorite movie. Moonji’s never watched it before though. Maybe we could watch it when we go back to the hotel tonight! What do you think?” You nod and smile at him. 

“What about you babe? What do you want? I’ll buy you anything.” You laugh.

“What are you? My sugardaddy?” 

“No, he’s my daddy,” Moonji speaks up, looking up at the two of you with a blank expression. You look up at Namjoon and the two of you burst out laughing. 

“Okay sweetie, you’re right. I do want some ears though..” You say, scanning around the store until you found the shelf full of headbands.

“What about this?” You ask him, putting on a pair of Minnie ears. They were sequins and purple.

“I think the silver ones are better, they fit the Cinderella vibes we’re going for.”

“You’re right, then I’ll get that one,” you say, handing him the headband. “Thanks baby.” You tippy toe and place a kiss on his cheek.

❆❆❆❆

“So it isn’t your first time here?” He asks you, carrying a sleeping Moonji. 

You shake your head, “no, I’ve been here once when I was little. It was a loooong time ago so I don’t remember much. A lot has changed since then.” The two of you were currently walking around California Adventures, the other park in Disneyland. Since Moonji was still sleeping, you two were just taking a nice walk across Paradise Pier. “What about you? You seem like you’ve been here once or twice.” Namjoon nods his head.

“I went here with the boys back before any of us had kids. Then I went a second time with my wife when we got married.” 

“Oh..” 

“Yeah, we always planned to bring our future kids here one day. So I’m glad I got to bring Moonji here today.” Namjoon looks down at her sleeping face. “Even though this little stinker decided to fall asleep so early.”

“Is it weird then?”

“What is?” The two of you found a bench to sit on and just sat there for a while.

“To go here with your kid, with someone you ‘love,’ I guess, but that’s not with your wife.”

Namjoon shrugs, his movement made Moonji stir. “I don’t know, I didn’t think of it that way.” 

“Is it weird that you’re doing things with your daughter with me and not with her? I kinda feel bad to think that I’m taking her place or like… not being as good as her, because she sounds great.” You say, playing with your fingers.  

“Hey..” he says softly. Moonji was on his right thigh and you were on his left side. He holds Moonji with one arm, reaching out to you with his left. When his hand wrapped around your arm, you scooted in, laying your head on his shoulder. 

“If my wife knew that I finally found someone again, she’d be happy to know that that someone is you. You treat our daughter like she’s your own. I’m sure that she’s glad that it’s you that’s taking care of us now and no one else.” 

“Really?” You ask, Namjoon leans in to kiss your forehead, pressing his cheek against it.

“Really.”

“Then… would it be weird if I take the role of Moonji’s mom..?” You kept your head on his shoulder but you felt him pull away, taking a good look at you. You swallow down your nervousness, you’ve been thinking about it all day after Moonji called you ‘mom’ and you didn’t feel worthy… but after his last statement you felt like it was right to ask.

“I know it’s fast, I’m not saying that we should get married now or anything. We just started dating and who knows? Maybe you’ll end up not liking me in a month and--” Namjoon turns your head up towards him and presses his lips onto yours. Your eyes widen. He pulls away after a few seconds that felt like forever.

“Were your eyes open the whole time?”

“You kissed.. me..”

“I did..”

“Wow so this is how the girls feel in dramas..” You breathe out. Namjoon laughs at you.

“Way to ruin the moment.”

“Sorry-- it was unexpected, I- I don’t.. What were we talking about?”

“I’d love-- We’d .. love for you to be Moonji’s mom.” Suddenly you felt the tears forming in your eyes.

“Daddy,” Moonji mumbles, the two of you look at her. “I needa poopoo.” Namjoon’s eyes widen and yours does too. You hear her tummy rumble and you quickly pick her up, wiping your eyes in the process.

“I’ll take her,” you yell as you run to the nearest bathroom. 

“Aish… the moment was ruined twice, I should’ve put a diaper on her.”

❆❆❆❆

“Let’s go on the Winnie the Pooh ride!” You say, running to the line with Moonji in your arms. Namjoon laughs, running right behind you. 

“Look baby it’s a beehive,” Namjoon says, pointing to the carts shaped as a hive. Moonji giggles, squealing as the three of you got into the cart. 

“Winnie!” She yells as the cart started rolling in. 

“This is kind of trippy,” Namjoon says, looking around the inside as the cart rolled into the dark room. 

“Is-- is this what drugs feel lik-- I-- I don’t know how to feel right now,” you say, blinking hard as you watched the honey pots fly around the room. The music was loud and a little creepy if you do say so yourself. I guess it’s more enjoyable when you’re younger.

“Pooh!” Moonji yells, pointing to the fat, yellow bear. She giggles the whole time, tugging and pulling on Namjoon and your shirt to get you to look at what she was looking at.

Luckily, these rides don’t take too long and you were able to get out of there as soon as you can. 

“Babe, the sun’s going down soon and we haven’t gotten a picture at the castle yet,” you pout. 

“Oh yeah, we should do that before it gets dark, let’s go,” Namjoon says, picking up Moonji and grabbing your hand.

“Daddy I want that!” Moonji yells, Namjoon’s feet immediately pulls to a stop. He looks behind him to see what she’s pointing at.

“Balloon! Balloon!” She yells. Of course, Namjoon didn’t hesitate and immediately turned around to get a mickey shaped balloon for his princess. 

“What color sweetie?” You hear him ask. You stayed where you three stopped and you just watched them from afar, admiring the cute duo.

“Puple!” 

❆❆❆❆

“Ask someone to take it,” Namjoon says, when you two got to the front of the castle. 

“What, why me?”

“I don’t know, just ask,” he says, holding Moonji’s hand. 

“But I’m shy,” you pout. 

“When are you ever shy?” He says, giving you a face.

“Fine, whatever,” you say, walking away and finding a staff.

“Excuse me!” You yell. The staff turns around to you and smile.

“Hello, do you want me to take a picture?”

“Yes please,” you smile, turning around and pointing to your two loves. “My boyfriend and his daughter are over there.” The lady follows you and you two make your way to the front and center of the castle. You hand her your phone.

“How do you want to do this,” you ask Namjoon.

“Is it alright if you can take a few shots?” Namjoon asks the lady.

“Of course, I’ll be here all day if you want,” she jokes.

“Okay, normal one,” Namjoon says, carrying Moonji and having her in between you two. You put your arm on Joon’s back and your other hand on Moonji. 

“Alright, One, two, smile princess!” Moonji squints her eyes and shows her little teeth for the camera.

“Okay now let’s kiss her cheeks,” Namjoon says, pressing his lips on one side of Moonji’s face while you kiss the other.

“So cute! One, two, three!” Moonji giggles the longer you press your lips on her face. 

“One more?” Namjoon asks the staff, she gives him a thumbs up. 

“Okay, just stand here baby,” he says, putting Moonji down. She takes a couple steps in front of you two and stares at the lady with your phone. 

“What are we going to do?” You ask.

“Just follow me,” he says, pulling you towards him and sweeping you off of your feet. 

“Joonie,” you whisper, you felt your cheeks heating up as he leaned down to kiss you.

“Smile princess!” You hear the lady say to Moonji one more time. You close your eyes melting into the kiss and then you heard a CLICK!

❆❆❆❆

“This was fun,” you say, your head resting on Namjoon’s shoulder. The three of you were sitting on the floor, waiting for the fireworks show in front of the castle. Moonji was quietly eating her cotton candy, Namjoon had a turkey leg in his hand.

“This was, we should go with everyone else next time,” he says, taking a big bite. “Want some?”

“No thank you. But you’re right, we should. But maybe when they’re slightly older. I don’t know how we’re going to deal with eight children in this whole park,” you say, Namjoon nods in agreement.

“Yeah, maybe next time they’ll be more kids added to the group.” Your eyes widened at what he said.

“More?” Namjoon nods.

“I’m sure Taehyung will find someone, Rina wants another baby, a lot of the kids are only childs, pretty sure there’s going to be more added.” Namjoon says all this calmly. 

“What about you? Do you want a sibling for Moonji?” 

“Moonjiah, did you hear that?” He says to his daughter. She looks up at you too with a very sticky face from the cotton candy. She shakes her head no.

“Do you want a brother or a sister?” He asks her. Your eyes widened and you look at Moonji for her answer. 

“Sister!” She says. Namjoon looks at you.

“Did you hear that?” And just in time, the firework show began to start.

“Oh look, it’s starting,” You say, redirecting the conversation and having them focus on the pretty lights instead. Namjoon shakes his head, smiling down at you. 

“Mommy look!” Moonji yells, pointing up towards the castle. There goes the butterflies again. And who knows? Maybe one day, far far into the future. Those little butterflies would be little feet.

❆❆❆❆❆❆❆

page turner

❆part nineteen: moonjirella❆

→ pairings: author!namjoon x fangirl!reader

→ a/n: i hope you guys like this one, i don’t know if it lived up to your expectations for a disney trip, i never been on one with a toddler... or a namjoon so like :3 idk hehe i hope you like it 

→ taglist:

@xclo02 @salty-for-suga @monosomes @bitchpeachyboo @dammit-jjk @anonymous-assets @lysjeon @realsparkles @igotarmyofarohas @kuroidi @yuriah04 @my-petaldrop @butterflylion @unlikelylittlemiss @mayumioutloud @raplineh0e @dreamcatcherjiah @moon6rop @taehunnies @sope-and-shine @blueberrykenn @oh-worm-yee-haw @tirednation @heartfeltscribblings @chiminilove @lylanie12 @moonlightrose19 @the-things-in-the-dark @sagey-rages @osnapjenn @crystxljinie @brutallysoftwoman @threedecadesofawkward @bts-kay @chims-kookies @taekookcaneatme @callmepaopao @forkpops @sailor-moonss @listless-losers @hhhhwww7 @hellomousie @kxkth @strwberry-jam @parkjiminstan16 @annie-panda @greencorduroyjacket @incredibleella @betysotelo18 @pure-otaku106 @goldenchemistry​

TAGLIST IS CLOSED!

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[7team7]

I'm twenty when I'm with you: chapter four

Chapter title: Drinking mates

Summary: Soulmate AU: It must be fate when Sasuke chooses Sakura as his drinking mate in King's Cup. 

Rating: M

chapter one / two / three / five / six 

A/N: kings cup is a drinking game with a bunch of rules based on a pack of cards, when you pull an 8, you choose someone to be your “mate” and every time you have to drink, they drink too lol

.

.

They made quite the picture. Sasuke was having trouble walking in his inebriated state, so Sakura had her arm around him and he was pressed into her side for support, despite their notable size difference. His feet were dragging all over the place and Sakura silently thanked her hours spent lifting in the gym, she wouldn’t have had the strength otherwise. She hoped he would cooperate and not throw up all over her, but Sasuke was full of surprises.

“You’re good at taking care of people, you know that? You should be a doctor or something,” he slurred, shaking his index finger.

“That’s the plan, Sasuke, that’s the plan,” she sighed as she blew some hair out of her face. They had become closer than she ever would have expected, given the way he almost seemed to avoid her in high school. Normally she would’ve jumped at the chance to talk about her future profession, passionate as she was, but he was heavy and she was drunk and 2 am was not the best time to discuss med school.

“It’s really warm,” he commented.

“Alcohol will do that to you. Keep walking, it’s cold outside.” Her buzz was wearing off as the breeze bit through her thin, red tank top. Was Sasuke that much more of a lightweight than she was?

Sasuke’s stumbling steps came to a halt, forcing Sakura to stop too. “No,” he clarified, “you’re really warm. It’s nice. Alcohol doesn’t feel this nice. Don’t like alcohol that much.” A hiccup punctuated his statement.

Sakura tried to ignore it, he was drunk and it was 2 am. The confession—if it could even be called that—probably meant nothing. The light at the crosswalk changed to green just as they approached, so Sakura tried to drag her companion along a little farther. They just needed to make progress, no matter how slow. She readjusted her hold on him before crossing the street. She tried not to gasp when she felt his fingers dig a little harder into her side, gripping her firmly right where her tank top left a gap of skin exposed above her jeans. Even when he was right next to her, every action seemed to be a surprise, and her body reacted accordingly. She shivered, but not from the cold.

They finally made it to their dorm, and the dingy lighting and stained carpet had never seemed more comforting. Her room was closer to the elevator, so she let herself in with the sole intention of making sure Sasuke drank some water, then she’d send him on his way.

“Sasuke, where’s your key?” she asked after he downed one of her emergency plastic bottles of water. They were standing in the middle of her room and she was very ready to get some sleep.

He smiled dazedly at her, as if she had made a joke or he had a secret. She didn’t understand until he mumbled, “in my pocket.” It didn’t matter which pocket, there was no way she was going to fish it out for him. She hoped he would be so inclined as to be a big boy and get his own key out, but then he surprised her yet again, and stepped forward. She thought he was going to slump against her, so she brought her hands up to support him. It wasn’t his intention, but he leaned into her anyway as he sighed, “thank you, Sakura.”

And he was really warm and her room smelled good and her roommate was away for the weekend, so he ended up staying the night, taking up half of her bed. She made sure he was positioned in a way where he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit, then tried to go to sleep. Despite exhaustion weighing down on her bones, Sasuke’s presence vibrated throughout the room and kept her awake.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had the greatest night of sleep. As he drifted off, nuzzling closer to the warm body next to him, he wondered if his comfort had anything to do with Sakura’s presence.

.

“That’s why you didn’t answer my texts? Are you serious right now?”

Sakura winced as Ino’s voice blared through her phone. In her attempt to get herself and Sasuke home safely, she had neglected to answer her best friend’s text messages. Ino did not take being ignored very kindly. Girl code was highly important to her.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Not really something I expected to happen, but it probably won’t happen again, so...sorry?”

“Won’t happen again? Oh, Sakura. There’s no way you actually expect to not have another late night with Sasuke?” Her suggestive tone rang loud and clear over the phone. “How did he you even end up like that anyway? Tell me everything or I’m driving to KU and forcing it out of you.”

So Sakura recounted her night in painstaking detail, like any best friend would.

.

It was the usual scene, tons of college kids packed into a house with the music blaring. The kitchen table had been appropriated for round of King’s Cup. Without even realizing, Sakura ended up next to Sasuke at the table. That had been happening lately.

Cards were drawn and the game was carrying on at a normal pace. When they reached Sasuke, he drew an eight of hearts. The table cried out the rule as they had for every other pull, “eight is mates!”

Sasuke twisted slightly and poked Sakura’s shoulder. She was clearly confused by the choice, but he shrugged and said, “You haven’t had to drink in a while.” She was surprised he noticed.

He put his drink down on the table to subtly wipe his palms on his pants. Had she noticed the way he always seemed to be choosing her these days? Sasuke tried to reassure himself. Sakura was too nice to confront him about it in front of all these people.

If she was counting (which she was, she was just in denial), she would’ve noticed how often Sasuke seemed to pick her for one thing or another. But in the middle of an intense round of King’s Cup was no time to dwell on a certain someone and his inexplicable actions. It wasn’t that weird to study together everyday, right? And going to the dining halls for dinner afterwards was only the natural progression, right?

Just their luck, as the game went on they had to drink a lot. They were both pretty good at holding their liquor, but Sasuke’s ability to hide his drunken state meant they continued for far too long. Someone really should’ve told him to tap out. As the game was winding down, he turned to her again, his mate throughout the entire game, and whispered, “hey. I’m drunk.”

Sakura smiled at him, “I can tell.”

His eyes widened. She could? Could she just read his mind or something? He really didn’t think it was that obvious.

Sakura winced. Had she acted too familiar with him? Since when did she know his drunken behavior so well as to call him on it?

“Don’t tell anyone though,” he added very seriously. He trusted her, but he wanted to make himself very clear.

“Promise,” she said while holding up her pinky. They pinky promised on it, as though they were discussing something much more important. Sakura felt like the moment stood for much more, but before she knew it, the game was starting up again. They kept having to down cup after cup, but Sakura didn’t stop them even though she was privy to Sasuke’s state of inebriation. She almost blew their cover when he gave her a look that seemed to signal that he had reached his limit. His expression was so unusual for him, it made her want to crack up laughing. Times like these reminded her that he was human.

As the game ended and Sakura made the executive decision to get the two of them home before more shenanigans could ensue, Sasuke laughed drunkenly, “mates!” They drew the eight-mates card more than anyone else. It was an extra mate-y night.

“Yup, Sasuke, mates. Mates go home together, right? They can make it home in one piece, right?”

Sasuke furrowed his brow. He was really hammered, and he wanted to say of course, he would go anywhere with her—because that was the truth—but he held back. He vaguely remembered Naruto complaining to him in high school about how Sakura was scary, so he had a feeling he should listen to her right now even though he knew she treated him and Naruto very differently. Wait, but he wasn’t going to defy her? What was going on anymore?

“Home,” he finally concluded, “we should go home.” A bed sounded fantastic right about then, but then he almost whined at the thought of walking all the way home in the cold.

Sakura tugged him out the door, but he kept tripping over his own feet so she encouraged him by wrapping an arm around his waist, “come on Sasuke, we’ll go together. See, not so hard, right?”

Sakura was such a firm presence in his life, it only made sense that she would be the one supporting him on the way home. Her warm, soft body only made it more pleasant. He threw his own arm around her shoulders (oh, her skin is so soft?) and allowed himself to be guided out into the night.

.

[spiffysixxsense]

Hello annoying best friend here to fulfill my duty by asking you to answer all of the cute asks

angel; do you have a nickname?

not really. my name is already short and I don't have a prominent quality to nickname me after. The only person who refers to me as anything other than my name is my boyfriend, but I don't think “babe/baby” really counts as a nickname lol

awe; how old are you?

24

baby; favorite color?

dark teal (blue-green? I've never found a good name for my favorite color)

bloop; spirit animal?

so because I didn't have a good answer for this, I decided to google a quiz to find out, lol. My answer was a deer. here's why;

When you have the deer as spirit animal, you are highly sensitive and have a strong intuition. By affinity with this animal, you have the power to deal with challenges with grace. You master the art of being both determined and gentle in your approach.

The deer totem wisdom imparts those with a special connection with this animal with the ability to be vigilant, move quickly, and trust their instincts to get out the trickiest situations

blossom; favorite book/movie/song?

i don't really have a favorite book, i don't read much outside of school (I wish i did)

movie: A Beautiful Mind

song: oh dear lord i cannot pick just one, but all-time favorite band of mine is Shinedown

blush; what was your stuffed animal as a child?

a little stuffed dog that looked like Kipper from the TV show, I still have him :)

breeze; most precious childhood memory?

lmao what came to mind was when i pledged to never drink, smoke, or say bad words. two out of fucking three ain't bad i guess. 

bright; mermaids or fairies?

(honestly neither but) fairies

bubbles; do you have a best friend?

given the asker, i would say yes :) also i am lame and my boyfriend is also my best friend 

buttercup; showers or baths?

S H O W E R S. hate baths!

butterfly; dream destination?

I've never had a huge desire to travel honestly. like sure i could say Italy or Greece look beautiful, but the actual act of traveling overseas really stresses me out lol. so i would have to say more like upper midwest, like Maine, in the fall time for all the pretty trees.

buttons; are you religious or spiritual?

i am neither

calm; favorite scent?

anything fruity - pineapple, mango, berries, apples. at least in terms of what candles i like lol.

candlelight; what did you dream about last night?

i do not remember anything from last night - the last dream i remember involved my boyfriend, dad and i being lost up north lol

charming; have you ever been in love?

currently 

cozy; eye/hair color?

hazel / brunette 

cuddly; what’s your favorite time period?

the 1970′s for the fashion

cupcake; favorite flower/plant?

love me a good succulent

cute; what did you get on your last birthday?

well this last birthday was amidst quarantine, so I got some candles and granola (my boyfriend knows me well lol)

cutie pie; most precious item you own?

i have no idea? what an odd question? probably some stuffed animal?

cutsie; what makes you happy?

picnics, alone time, my boyfriend, my cat choosing to cuddle with me.

daisies; describe a moment when you felt free.

I really cant think of a time I've ever felt truly free. maybe when i drove myself to school earlier this year & didn't have to wait for someone to pick me up? 

daydream; how do you want to be remembered?

as a light in others lives. happy, bubbly. things i currently am not

daylight; favorite album of all time?

gosh these dang music questions. well, Nickelback - All the Right Reasons was the first album i ever bought myself. then maybe Shinedown - The Sound of Madness (i cant pick one OKAY)

dear; zodiac sign?

Taurus 

delightful; concerts or museums?

concerts

dimples; have you ever written a letter?

yes? this question makes me feel old, lol. 

dobby; dream job?

criminologist. some way to be reducing the mass incarceration rate in the US. 

doll; how do you like to dress?

comfy, v necks and leggings. As i have gotten older i have slowly wanted to be more feminine i think, because i really want some sundresses for summer lol

dovey; any paranormal/magical experiences?

one! when i was 12ish, i swear i saw a reflection of a uniformed man (like old school soldier uniform - blue blazer with gold cufflinks) behind me in the glass of my snakes tank at the time. it was weird because the only reason i even looked that way was because my snake started shaking his tail against the glass, something that corn snakes do when they are scared, but also something that in his entire life had never done unprompted ever. 

dreams; do you want or have any tattoos?

want yes, have no

drizzle; do you believe in aliens?

100%. no way we are alone in this universe

euphoric; talk about someone you love.

he makes my days so much better :)

fairy; do you have a pet?

I have one little old kitty :)

fluffy; ocean or mountain?

to vacation, ocean. to live, mountain

forever; where do you feel time stop?

the secretary of state? lol

froglet; are you a good plant owner?

I've never owned a plant lol

garden; how many languages do you know?

one :(

gem; who are your favorite tumblrs?

@cy-ne-fin 

giggles; what is your aesthetic of choice?

sepia photography/old books that have yellowed into sepia. or fresh greenery on white marble. 

glittery; do you like anons? why/why not?

i don't really get any anymore, but as long as they are nice or just questions/venting, im down. don't be offended if i never answer though, for some reason i never get Tumblr notifications lol

glow; list the top 5 things you like about yourself

im compassionate

im empathetic (which is similar but im struggling to get to 5 lol)

im goal-oriented

im determined (once i have said goal. again, related lol) 

i guess i like my lips/lip shape

heart; silk or lace?

lace

honey; coffee or tea? how do you take it?

tea. iced, black or green really, with sugar. 

hugsy; do you enjoy people watching or bird watching more? why?

bird watching because it means i am probably alone and in nature as opposed to somewhere in a crowd of people. and i wont feel creepy for watching the birds lol

hunnybunch; what sounds help you sleep?

white noise, a fan running. if that's not enough, i enjoy asmr. if i am really struggling/having anxiety, i will look up sleep stories from the headspace app on youtube (life hack to not have to pay for the app lol)

jewel; what’s your favorite kind of weather?

to be outside, i enjoy just warm enough to be comfy in pants and a t-shirt (so like 65F-ish) and sunny.To be inside, i love when it is cooler (like 50F?) and raining. I love the look, sound, and smell of rain but it is usually just inconvenient to be in. 

jiggly; what do you usually like to do on weekends?

well now all days are the same for me, #quarantine, so the same thing i do every day, just about nothing, lol

joy; do you laugh loudly or giggle more?

i guess laugh loudly because i am a loud person in general. i have a deep voice

kinky; do you blush easily?

i don't think so, my embarrassment turns into sweat, not blush, lmao

kisses; what romantic cliché do you wish for most?

i guess being proposed to someday? but i don't have a certain dream way of it happening, just the fact that its happening is enough for me lol. id enjoy if someone (cough Elle or also maybe Michael lol) were secretly filming and/or taking photos of it? I am not sure how you'd manage that though

kitty; what’s your favorite time of the day?

late at night when everything is quiet

ladybug; what’s your favorite artist to listen to when you’re sad?

old school three days grace (one-x album in particular)

love; what is your favorite season and why?

i always gravitate to fall for the leaves and pumpkin patches. but honestly, i think my favorite season is spring. i love the newly budding trees and flowers, the feeling of renewal, the release from the horrible Michigan winter lol, but most importantly, spring time for my whole life as of yet has always meant that school is over for the semester! as opposed to the fall when the semester starts. this is very long winded but spring final answer lol

lovey; what is your favorite flavor of macaron and ice cream?

I've never had a macaron and blue moon ice cream 

magic; what are five flaws you have?

ooooo boy

im short tempered/angry too much 

im unmotivated (which is confusing maybe because i said i am determined earlier. you see, once i HAVE a goal i feel determined to finish it. but i am unmotivated to create said goals, lol) 

im nonconfrontational to a fault where i always put others’ feelings before my own

i let fear of change stop me from ever taking risks/ am anxious

i am stubborn and sometimes have a hard time admitting i am wrong

moonlight; do you prefer soft pastels, warm neutrals, or cool darks?

this depends - screw pastels. warm neutrals for makeup purposes, but cool darks for aesthetic or decor purposes

munchkin; what do you look for in your significant other?

someone who feels like home. I am not entirely sure how else to explain that. you just feel peace and content with them. 

paddywack; how would you describe a perfect date?

something that allows you to only be with your date - so like a picnic or hike or just a walk even. my boyfriend and i liked to walk around in the fall for me to take pictures of leaves while he played pokemon go (man i miss the pokemon go summer and i have never even PLAYED it, it was just so fun to be with him while he played)

pebbles; how do you spend free time by yourself?

on youtube usually

precious; what is something valuable that you learned in your life?

The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. if your family is toxic for whatever reason, you do not owe them your time strictly because they are family. 

pretty; do you like to cook or bake more?

cook, im not super into sweets & i want to enjoy the final product

prince; how would you describe your handwriting?

normal? like its legible but its not pretty or cute

princess; do you play any instruments? if not, are there any you wish you could play?

no:( wish i could play bass or drums

prinky; how do you relieve stress?

i don't :)

i really don't have an answer other than solving whatever is stressing me out, lol. i wish i had more mechanisms to calm me down but nothing i have tried has ever really worked

pumpkin; what is your favourite kind of fruit/vegetable?

you know these favorites questions are hard for me lol. right now, i am loving watermelon, but i also love most fruits. kiwis! vegetable, i feel like i have to say potato lol

rainbow; what was the last line of the last book you read?

lol the last thing i read had to be some academic text, so that's boring

roses; what is the most significant event in your life so far?

meeting Alex i guess, it changes my whole life path to have someone you want to do life with 

smile; what is one thing that has greatly affected you?

quarantine? lol

shine; art or music?

music is art.

shimmer; do animals tend to like you?

i think so. Elle’s dog griffin loves me for some reason lol

smitten; do you collect anything?

not really

smoochies; how many pillows do you sleep with?

4

snuggle; what is your favourite candy?

jolly ranchers 

snuggly; do you have a camera? if so, what kind?

nope

sparkle; do you wear jewelry?

nope

spooky; sunrise or sunset?

sunset

sprinkles; do you like to listen to music with headphones or no headphones?

headphones

starlight; what was your favourite show as a child?

Spongebob probably. unless we are talking like really tiny, toddler age, then Winnie the pooh

soft; describe your favourite spot in your house.

i live in a 2 bedroom apartment, there arent any spots. lol. my bed i guess

soothe; digital or vinyl?

i mean digital for convenience but vinyl for aesthetic 

squeezed; who do you miss right now?

i mean the only person i really actively miss ever is Alex. @cy-ne-fin sometimes, but i have also grown used to living away from each other

sugary; what traits do you value most in friends?

loyalty, honesty, & humor

sunshine; do you prefer for things to be practical or aesthetically pleasing?

if i must pick, practical. 

sweet; do you find it easy to open up?

absolutely not. i feel like a burden with my feelings even though i shouldn't 

sweetie; do you like kids? if so, do you ever want to have any?

honestly not really. am on the fence still about ever having any 

thimble; is there somebody you look up to? who are they?

not really

toot; what is something you find unique about yourself?

i am as average as they come man, nothing is unique about me lol

tootsie; what kind of friend are you?

like a background friend? like i am not very social, so we do not have to talk every day to be friends. so like im here if you need me, but i enjoy alone time. 

treasure; what was something that made you smile today?

the way my boyfriend looks at me, & as i was working on this my cat came to cuddle, which i gave as an answer earlier before he jumped up here :)

velvet; are you an early bird or a night owl?

night owlllllll

whiffle; if you could have a magical power, what would it be?

the power to heal those who are hurting (including myself)

whimsical; do you prefer doing stuff at home or going out?

home home home home

whiskers; do you usually wear makeup?

not anymore, i did in high school/early college years. not I've stopped caring

wiggly; are you a messy or tidy person?

messy? kinda in the middle really. 

wispy; do you like the place where you grew up? do you think you will live there when you get older?

my state, sure. my city in particular is definitely pretty boring

wobbly; have you ever wished upon a star?

I've never seen one :(

[djmayday]

S.p’s Shocking Tale!

(look man, i had too, the pun was waiting for me asdfg)

Words: 4258-ish  hh-

ok, for once, i had genuine fun writing something, its not my best, but its good practice asdfghgfddfgh

also fair warning, its not horribly graphic but like,,, action scene (a single one asdfgh) that mentions some weird/bloody, idk lol, i need to practice more asdf

enjoy?

It was nice day.

S.p was soaring through the spring air, her wings spread out wide and her hair flowing in the breeze as she flew over the city. Today was a good day she thought.

In between the big jobs Timara gives her, S.p helps out her aunt’s package delivery service. Right now she’s got only two to do for today, but it was far out away from where she’s used to.

‘Uuughhhh, this is gonna take forrreverrrr,’ S.p groaned to herself, she looked back down on the label on the smaller box, hoping that maybe it magically moved where she needed to be closer. Nope, instead all she saw was the dark iridescent boxes shine in the sun, the name of the business in light pink/purple cursive and a M.p signature near it.

The label read ‘Madame Pink’s Delivery service.’  S.p couldn’t help but smile a little as she remembered who she was helping. It was short lived though as she realized she wasn’t flying over buildings anymore, just a field. She quickly stopped and did a double take. Then took out a little compasses on a string out of her pocket and got a good look at it.

“No, I’m still going north,” She mumbled, taking another glance around before shoving the compass in her pocket. She quickly took off her necklace that was tucked into her shirt, it had a rather large pearl looking piece on it. Holding it out by that pearl, it glowed purple for a moment, before creating a holograph revealing someone with their back turned.

“Uh, hi auntie,” S.p said, the figure gasped and turned around.  

It was the mysterious Madame Pink. She held her fan so it covered most of her face, except for the eyes.

“Why, my little angel!”  Madame joyfully exclaimed, “Have you already delivered those packages? That was rather fast,”

“Uh, noo,” S.p admitted, looking a little flustered, “I think I’m like, very lost,”

Madame’s eyes widened a little,“Oh my, that's quite the predicament-,”  She closed her third eye for a moment, then continued, “Pray tell, can you describe to me where you are?”

S.p looked around again, “Uhhhhh, not a place with buildings,”  S.p stopped when she heard her aunt giggle,” Hey, what’s funny?!”

“Oh do you not remember?  You’re on the path to the edge of the mountains, it’s the right way my dear,”

S.p blinked, “Oh-” then her face scrunched a little in annoyance, “Oh, the mountains? But that’s like, soooo farr aunite!!”

“Now now child,”  She said as she tapped her forehead, “I know you have ways to get there faster than anyone else I know, you’ll be fine, just be sure to protect the boxes when you do it,”

S.p’s ear drooped a little and she sighed, “Ok…”

“Excellent, now if you excuse me, I have to be on somewhere, as you do as well,”

S.p perked up, “Okie, bye auntie! Love you!” She said with a big grin while holding up a peace sign.

“Take care, my little star, ta-ta~!”  Madame said as she waved, the holograph faded, and so did the glow on the pearl, ending the call. S.p put the necklace back on, tucking the pearl back in her shirt.

‘Alright, a faster way, huh?’ S.p thought as she looked back down at the packages, they both went to the same place, but to different people, ‘Guess that means it’s time to break another record for fastest travel eva!’ She said as her hands glowed a soft yellow, which passed over to the boxes, covering them in a magical coating before fading, making the boxes look normal again. She flew down to the ground, and got into a flight-ready stance.

Focusing all of her thoughts on what she wanted to do next, she started to be filled with energy. Little flicks of lightning shot off of her as she stored more energy, her hair floofing up a little as well. Then…

BOOM!

A huge explosion of energy sent her flying up into the air as a lightning bolt. Her wings straight out, letting her glide through the air. The world rushed past her in a colorful blur of greens, yellows, and the occasional blue. S.p made a mental note to get a gopro with her pay after the trip for when she flies.

‘Or maybe just beg Molly for it…’ S.p thought to herself.

Despite her speed, she could still faintly see the plains below, and there’s no building in sight, not even a road. Just… grass. There wasn’t even any trees.

‘Who even moves out this far?’ S.p thinks.

After a long while of flying, she eventually felt her energy falter, and she begins to slow down, she had to start flapping her wings again to keep from crashing, which isn’t an easy transition.

“Yipe! This never lasts long enough!” She exclaims, she held the gifts closer to her chest, making sure she didn’t drop them. Soon enough she got back into balance, and could glide a bit more, but it wasn’t nearly as fast.

“I gotta ask T how to make that last longer,” She mutters.

Luckily for her, she could see a dirt road below. S.p looked forward and finally saw a humongous mountain that stretched and faded into the clouds. And at the bottom was two dark blobs.

“Finally freakin build...ings,”  S.p slowed down to a halt and squinted. When in focus, one blob as definitely a building, a bit creepy but it had a roof and all. The other though… well… S.p’s eyes couldn’t focus on it for some reason, and everytime she could get a clear glance at it, it was... something else, something just as menacing thing as the last.

“Welp, not that one, I ain’t that dumb,” S.p says as she flies to the other building. Which wasn’t that better than the blob, if she was being honest. The building was worn down, as if it hadn’t been used in years; Nature was reclaiming it with vines everywhere.

She lands in front of two big metal doors, both rusted to hell and back. With a nervous gulp, S.p knocks on one of the doors with a nice loud thunk. The doors partially opened when she did.  S.p stood there for a few moments wondering if she should pull a ‘person in a horror movie’ move and go in.

S.p thought for a second,  ‘Auntie would kill me if I came back full handed-’ She sighs, ’- and I can't just waste that stupid long trip,’ she thinks as she pushes the doors open and steps inside. On the inside, it looked ransacked and barren; Boxes were emptied, barrels pushed over, etc.

Making sure not to stand far away from the door, S.p calls out, "Uhh, hello?"

No answer.

"Helloooo?" S.p calls out again, walking deeper into the warehouse. Something wasn't right, it seemed a lot smaller on the inside.

She stood in what she thought was the middle of the warehouse, when she heard a crash behind her, making her jump and her wings spread out instinctively.

It was the doors.

They slammed shut.

Breathing heavily, she looked all around her, trying to find what or who shut the doors.

Nothing. This place was empty.

Was.

Cause the next thing S.p heard was a gun cock.

"Freeze!" Yelled the stranger.

S.p froze, and slowly turned around to see the person. It was a young man in a basketball tank top, with blond hair that faded to dark brown, he also had raccoon ears that were also blond. He had two different colored eyes. To S.p his left eye was red, and his right eye green. He also had bandages wrapped all around his arms down to his hands boxing style.

There was a moment of silence between the two, both of them were scared, you could see it on their faces, but neither were backing out.

“Who the heck are you??” S.p finally said, slightly cringing at how loud she was. To be fair, she couldn’t quite hear herself over her thudding heartbeat.

The boy looked confused and lowered his gun slightly, “Who the heck are you?”

“Um, I asked first?”

The man sighed and his ears went back in annoyance, “...Toby,” He raised the gun again, “Now it’s your turn,”

“M-my name’s S.p!” She exclaimed, forcing back as much stuttering as she could.

Toby put his gun down and into his holster, “The hell are you doing out here?”

“I could ask the same to you, but I’m just a delivery person!” S.p exclaimed, sounding more enthusiastic than she felt.

“Well, I’m here on a search for a friend that went missing,” Toby said, looking around as he talked,  “You didn’t happen to see to douche-y lookin’ dude around, have you?” Toby asked sarcastically.

S.p shrugged, “Just you so far,”

“Fuck you,”

“Hey! That wasn’t an insult!” S.p said, finally calming down a bit, she thought for a moment, “Hey, maybe we can help each other,”

Toby’s ears perk up and he tilts his head, “How so?”

“Well, we’re both looking for someone, and I have a feeling that they’re both in the same place,”

Toby hesitates, “I- well… Fine, it’d be better than searchin’ this hell hole alone, I guess,”

S.p grinned, “Cool cool! Let’s get movin’ then-” There was a small crash, making both of them flinch horribly. Toby got his gun back out, which was still cocked. S.p listened very carefully for what made the noise

There was nothing but silence.

Toby ears twitched and moved, also trying to find any sign of something weird.

Soon enough they heard another quiet bang.

“That way,” Toby whispered, as he walked in the direction of the noise, S.p following close behind, clutching the boxes close so they wouldn’t make a lot of noise.

The two found themselves at the back wall of that room, carefully approaching a door that was slightly open. Toby hesitated, but reached out for the door handle.

A crunch made him stop.

S.p had stepped on something, slightly panic-y she lifted up her foot to see what it was, it was just bag. The both of them sighed in relief. S.p quickly picked up the bag and put the boxes in it, ‘It’ll be quieter, and safer for the boxes!’ she thought to herself.

Toby rolled his eyes, before opening the door slightly and looked inside, “No one’s in there,” He whispered, before motioning for S.p to follow as he went in.

Both of them couldn’t help it but stand still for a moment, surveying the room.

It was a long hallway at a slight angle going down. It was looked as if someone had looted it; Bookshelves looked like they were thrown, paper, bags, and all sorts of stuff scattered on the floor, and there was a random stove flipped over and scratches all around it, yet nothing seemed missing. The chaos of the hallway went until it was too dark to see tdown the hallway.

Once they got a good look, they continued onward.

“It’s like someone was looking for something,” S.p whispered.

Toby’s ear twitched, “They still might be,” he said as he pushed a button that was on top of his gun, it turned on a flashlight that was built into it, it gave off pretty decent light.

But it revealed that there were smears of bright color on the walls, that and a ton of scratches. S.p gulped and wishfully assumed it was paint.

The farther they walked the more narrow the hallway got, and the more empty it was too, except for the constant scratches and color. It couldn’t even be called a hallway anymore.

“What… is this?” Toby said, “Why would a warehouse have this?”

“It’s a hide-away tunnel,” S.p said as she got nervous, she recognized this sorta thing from her mom, and things involving her didn’t always end well. The familiar concrete walls made her breath catch in her throat.

“How do you know?”

“I-... just do,” S.p said, doing a little fake shrug.

Not really satisfied with the answer, Toby looked back forward. S.p could feel the tension in the air, neither of them really trusted each other, but Toby seemed a lot worse.

So why not break the ice a little?

“What’s your friend like? Apart from being a douche,” S.p asks.

Toby thought for a moment, his ear twitching, “He… was very full of himself, although I’ve always thought of that as a better than when he lacked self esteem,”

“Call that ‘growth’ where I’m at,” S.p said light heartly.

Toby had a sliver of a smile on his face, that is until he stepped into a pile of something, with a unsatisfying ‘glorp!’, “Ugh! Gross!” He cursed as he quickly stepped out of it, “The fuck is this??”

S.p looked at the pile, it wasn’t shit, it was the same rainbow stuff they had seen on the walls, “It kinda looks like, puke almost…” She mumbles to herself.

He grunts before pointing ahead at more puddles/piles, “Lookat this, there’s tons of it! What sick freak pukes rainbow till their lungs go out??”

“W-whatever lives there, probably,” S.p whispered in horror. The two of them reached the end of the tunnel, it led to a large, empty room. They stood at the entrance in awe, it was massive!

Slowly, Toby put himself in a battle ready stance and walked into the room, S.p reluctantly following behind. Their steps echoed off the walls, if there even was any, the room was pitch black, except for Toby’s light, which basically only revealed more puddles of colors on the floor.

Breathing began to get harder for S.p, her heart was racing so hard that if you listened close enough, you could hear it clear as day.

They heard a slither behind them, Toby pointed his gun in that direction, but saw nothing.

“What are you doing here?” A voice called out, it sounded cold and unwelcoming, it’s voice boomed and echoed off the walls.

Another slither went behind them, they stood back to back to each other this time.Toby was aiming his gun at basically everything and S.p was scared stiff.

“Have you come to take my prey?” It called out again, in a more mocking tone. Now the slither sounded like it was rounding them.

“Show yourself!” Toby yells out. His, light caught the end of something.

A tail?

Not just any tail, a snake tail.

S,p was already shaking horribly, but even Toby started to buckle under the stress. They felt a presence loom over them in the dark.

With shaking hands, Toby followed the tail up, and soon met a menacing face, glaring down the two.

S.p couldn’t help but gasp and hide behind Toby, making the figure laugh.

“My my~ What are two children doing here?”  They asked, leaning down to get a better look at them. Their face was half human, half reptile, with scales decorating their face. Their eyes looked just wrong enough to send chills down Toby’s spine.

“You know, it’s rude to enter my home without permission,” They continued, getting closer. Now their eyes were in the light, which reflected off their pupils in dozens of colors. You could see color dripping from their mouth onto their chin.

“In fact,” Their tail shuffled, revealing that the part of the tail that was still hidden in the dark was holding two people who were tied up, “I was in the middle of something~”

Toby looked at one of the people and gasped, “Jake!” He looked back up at the creature while it laughed, “Give. Him. Back.” He growled.

“Or what? You’ll kill me?” They said as their laugh became maniacal.

Suddenly they slammed the people hard into the two, sending all four of them flying. Toby’s gun went flying too, leaving them all in the dark.

As quickly as she landed, S.p got up panting, “T-Toby?!?!” She called out breathlessly.

Slithers and echos of laughs from all around made her head spin. In a panic, she focused her energy into her right hand, and shot a lightning bolt into the dark. It lit up the room for a moment, and it was enough to see Toby’s gun.

Instinctively, she started to dash for it. Just as she grabbed it she was pulled back by her feet, making her chin collide and drag on the floor. Then she was held up in the air, the creature’s tail wrapping itself around her and letting the blood drip onto her face, she couldn’t even shoot the gun if she wanted to. They laughed as she struggled.

She couldn’t breathe.

She was panicking.

Then, animal instinct took over.

Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out.

That’s all her brain told her.

She sank her teeth as best she could into their tail. And refused to let go, even after they had basically dropped her.

Then she held onto their tail with all her might and released all that energy and electricity with a powerful scream. You could see their shadows on the walls from the light it emitted. The creature screamed in pain and convulsed, which knocked S.p off and onto the floor. Practically knocked out from the drain

The creature twitched and convulsed still, struggling to catch its breath. When they heard the footsteps of the others, they growled and skittered away.

In the corner of S.p’s eye, she could’ve sworn she had saw natural light, but at this point the world was spinning, so she couldn’t really be sure.

Toby came running up to her first yelling, “Fuckin’ hell, dude! Are you alright?!” S.p only whimpered in response, before passing out completely, “Shit!” Toby exclaimed, “Hey, Jake, other dude! Help me out here!”

Running up came two dudes; Jake, a young man who looked about Toby’s age, he always wore his signature red hat, even in dark times like this. The other without a name was a rather old fella, in a now ruined cleaning suit, he had a badge on him that said ‘Finoe’ on it, so that must be his name

Jake quickly got to work, helping Toby carry her on their shoulders, they struggled, though, carrying someone knocked out is harder than you think.

The other dude ‘Finoe’ was clearly in shock; shaking knees and wide eyes, but he spoke up in a whisper, “Do you… know her?”

Jake looked over at Toby and tilted his head, Toby sighs, “Not really,”

“Then who the heck is she?” Jake asks.

“A delivery person, and your hero,” Toby stated blankly, “In fact I saw the bag right about there,” He says as he points his flashlight-gun at the ground, showing the two boxes in perfect condition.

Finoe quickly ran over to it and scooped the boxes up carefully, “This… This is what that thing was after,”

“Well what is it?”

“It’s... A form of magic dust, that thing made order some for it,”

Jake blinked, “Oooooh, that’s the stuff that powers your gun, right B?” Toby simply nodded, then Jake continued, “But why would it need it so bad it made you order it?”

Finoe visibly shivered, “It has drug like properties when consumed, it’s why you can only order one at a time, I had to use two names,” He sighs, “I’ve never wanted anything to do with this damn powder in my life-”

“Well,” Jake interrupted, “Like I said, we use that stuff for our own things, it’s our job, we could take it off your hands!”

Finoe thought for a moment, “When we leave, I’ll give it to ya,”

And with that, they off up the tunnel, to safety.

…

…

…

S.p woke up to soft sunlight and back pain, as soon as she tried to get up, someone pushed on her forehead gently and kept her down.

“You’re hurt, stay down,” S.p quickly realized who it was, it was Toby! A wave of relief washed over her, and she calmed down a little, that is until Jake popped up right by her.

“Hey, you’re not dead!” Jake exclaimed, making S.p flinch, “Hey so ummmm, the dude over there - His names’ Finoe- he’s cools, said that he knew someone who’d come pick us up and help us, so he had to borrow your necklace thingy, sowwy,”

“Normally I’d say if someone said that, it’s a scam, but he’s proven himself, I guess,” Toby added on. S.p couldn’t help but giggle at that, Toby seems so much different when he’s not serious. S.p eyes trailed to the floor though, and saw that Toby’s leg was wrapped up too, she also noticed he had a raccoon tail that was blond with dark brown rings, dang, how’d she miss that?

She went to speak but her throat was practically killing her, she had to hold it as she spoke, and the only thing she could really get out was a simple, “Wha-?”

Jake shook his head, “Yea no, I don’t think you’ll be talkin’ for a while, you screamed SUPER loud when you were shockin’ the fuck outta that snake beast thing-”  he got super close to her face, “By the way- that was epic, how the hell did ya do that??”

“She’s just got the witch’s blessin’,” Finoe said, walking over to the group, “Anyone in that family is bound to have some strange power,” He holds out S.p’s necklace, “Here, I had to borrow it to make a call,” S.p nods and puts the necklace back on, tucking it into her shirt once again.

Then there was awkward silence between the four of them.

“So, Finoe, what exactly is this place?” Toby finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Hm? Oh! This was my lil personal research area, that place next door was what I was observin’,” Finoe said happily, “Also, there’s no need for formalities, call me Fin,”

“Wait, the area next door? That...blob?” Jake asks and tilts his head.

“Exactly! It’s an anomaly, and Ms. Timara asked me to observe, at a safe distance of course,”

“Heh, overshare much? How do you know we’re not some enemy to her?” Jake snarks, Toby hits him on the back of the head.

“Well,” Fin points at the badge that Toby was wearing, “All fetchers wear that sorta badge, and I know it’s not the most fashionable, so no one’s wearing it willingly,” Toby looked away sheepishly. Fin then pointed to S.p, “And this lovely lady is quiet well known considering she’s paired with Timara’s A-rank, Molly-”

“WHAT?!” Both the boys yelled out, it made Fin jump and S.p covered her ears at the sudden noise.

“So that’s why she could do that, holy shit!?” Jake jumps up and really gets in S.p’s face, she’s visibly uncomfortable, “That’s sick as fuck!” Toby tugs on his shirt, forcing him back a few steps.

Holding her throat again, S.p speaks up, “I’m just…..C-ra...rank” she croaks. Her ears drooped a little at the sound of her voice.

Jake had sparkles in his eyes at this point, “Um and?? You’re being trained by The T and her almost top class, like yo! That’s epic!”

“It’s definitely quite a high place to be at your rank,” Toby adds on, Jake nods furiously.

Fin playfully nods as well, “Yes ind-” He’s interrupted by the fwoom of smoke, and the overwhelming smell of lavender. The four of them turned to where the smoke is coming from. Out from the shadows of smoke came the one, the only,

Madame Pink. With her fan in hand over mouth, she gracefully glided from the smoke.

And her ghost ferret-like familiar came from the smoke as well, looking alert until it finally saw S.p. Then it rushed over and tackled her like a puppy would, licking her face in excitement. S.p giggled and pet the lil ferret, soon it decided to just wrap itself around her like a scarf, back legs on one shoulder, front on the other.

“Hi, aunt,” S.p manages to say, putting a grin on her face.

Madame looked over at S.p and gasped, looking dreadfully worried, she quickly rushed closer to S.p, kneeling to get a better look at her, “Goodness dear! I knew you weren’t in best of shape but...” She quickly shook her head and sighed, “It can be fixed,”  She gets back up and turns to Fin, “Thank you for letting me know of this Fin,”

Fin nods, “Thank ya’ kindly dear, although you must thank these boys though, they were the ones that got her out,”

Madame looked over at them with a harsh but not mean stare, “Is this true?” They both nod, Jake keeps glancing back at the ferret, which is eyeing him down. You can’t see her mouth, but you can tell that Madame is smiling,” Well then, it would be rude to not heal you all as well,” She walks towards the exits, and motions for them to follow, “Come along now~”

Like little kids, Jake, Toby, and S.p followed close behind like little ducks, talking about how cool Madame is and talking more about themselves, (Well, S.p tried to anyways…) and Fin walked at a decent pace behind them.

In a fwoof of smoke, Madame sends everyone to her home to be healed.

This was the start of a pretty weird B-team, but no one was complaining, so we’ll just have to see what adventures they get into next.

The end!

WOWZA THATS A LOTTA WORDS

AND A LOTTA LORE

WOOP I TRIED, TANKS FOR READING

uwu

[hvalross-artinactive]

Snow

Here we go, my first time posting my writings on here.. I dont know why I’m so nervous ;;n;;

I originally wrote this back in 2013. I did go through and fix some things before I decided to post it up.

Series: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Rating: Everyone, No Adult Content

Genre: Romance / Humor

Pairing: Judar x Kenmei ( OC )

Please click ‘Keep Reading’ to, well... read lol. 

“It's so hot out here! Can't we move to a different area? Or inside, maybe?”

Judar blinked at the sudden outburst of irritation from the girl beside him and he turned his head to look at her. Kenmei's irritated gaze met his as she fanned herself with her hands, causing a barely visible, weak breeze to run across her face and move the loose strands of hair that fell across her features. Her mass amounts of black hair were pulled up loosely into a high bun on the top of her head, relieving the back of her neck and shoulders from being suffocated by the extreme heat of the day. She had even neglected to undo the braid in her impatient attempt to cool herself and it stuck out like an odd lump among the puffy blob on her head. Her cheeks were pink and the freckles that covered her skin seemed to pop, which was a normal occurrence when she got too hot or spent too much time out in the sun.

“If you're hot then you can go back inside, I don't care.” He turned his head back away from her to look down into the palace courtyard. The two were perched in his usual hiding spot up on the roof, hidden perfectly from wondering eyes.

Judar seemed perfectly at peace with the heat, the light amount of shade provided from the next level of the building was enough to keep him cool. Kenmei couldn't believe that he was okay with this overbearing heat, especially dressed in his puffy black pants and his large braid pulled over his shoulder, resting on his chest and lap to allow him to lean back against the wall comfortably. Kenmei had already removed her two outer layers of her top, leaving herself in just the small tank top she kept as the under layer. She had her body pushed up against the wall, her legs pulled up so that she was completely under the shade, except for the very tip of her shoes. And still, she felt like she was about to die.

Even still, she couldn't seem to find it in herself to leave him up here alone. Sure, she knew he wouldn't mind one way or another, but leaving him always made her feel bad in some way. But more than that, she craved his company and would rather suffer through heat to be able to sit with him for a while before he was dragged off somewhere again.

The night before, he had just arrived back from a week long trip to another Kou military camp where Lord Kouen was stationed. He had greeted her that morning in a different way, though it was a way that Kenmei preferred to his usual pranks or scares to get her attention. Instead, Kenmei had woken that early morning to find him sprawled out over her bed like he owned the place, with herself squished to the very edge. She had been so shocked to see him that she actually jumped and had fallen out of her bed. Thankfully, the boy had not woken by the sudden movement, so he didn't know about her embarrassing reaction. She didn't plan on telling him, either, knowing the teasing she would receive if she did.

After he awoke, they continued to spend the day together. Or rather, Kenmei followed him where ever he allowed her to. He didn't seem to mind that she was on his heels every second and seemed to be in a great mood, which made Kenmei very happy. Even now, as they both baked in the sun, he was calm and relaxed, hardly picking on her at all or acting like the brat he did when he was irritated. She loved that he was relaxed, and she didn't want to miss a second of it just because it was hot that day.

She shook her head, causing the puff on her head to bounce about. “No, I don't want to leave you up here. It's just so hot!”

“You're a Magician, make a breeze, then.” he slumped down a bit more against the wall, giving a yawn. He was obviously bored with the choice of conversation and her company at the moment.

Kenmei sighed, scratching her cheek. “I kind of left my wand in my room..” Her voice started out quiet and was even more quiet by the time she finished speaking, cheeks turning more red from embarrassment. She knew it wasn't a good thing that she left her wand, but she hadn't thought she'd need it at the time. He always got annoyed with her when she left it, because she'd always end up needing it later and then have to run to her room to get it.

Sure enough, he looked at her with an annoyed glance. But instead of being about the wand, he leaned a little closer towards her. “What?”

Kenmei timidly smoothed out the fabric on her knees as she repeated herself. “I said I.. left my wand in my room..”

He gave an annoyed grunt and sat back up. “Of course you did. I didn't even notice.” He put his arms behind his head. “Oh well, then.”

Kenmei gave him a look, knowing he always had his wand on him and he could easily create a nice breeze for them both, but she knew it wouldn't if he himself didn't need it. She sighed, deciding not to let that get to her and she instead fixed the way she was sitting, crossing her legs in front of her. Her knees were now burning in the sun, but she didn't mind it for the time.

“You know what I bet would feel really nice?” She pulled her top down a bit so that it covered a bit more of her stomach, since it had curled up while she had her knees pulled up. Judar looked at her again, curious as to her movements and question. “What?”

“Snow. I bet it would be great. I've never seen it before myself, but from what I've read it seems nice. Especially in comparison to this heat.” She almost had a dreamy look on her face as she thought about it, imagining the descriptions she had read.

Judar gave an amused, light snort and put his arms back down, pushing himself to sit back up right all the way. “I wouldn't know. The only place that I know has snow is way up north. You could always go there to find out, no one's stopping you.”

She shook her head. “I can't just go up to some random place I've only read a little about. That's dumb and reckless.” She scooted a bit closer to him, taking his arm and hugging it gently. “Unless, you'd like to go with me, of course.”

Judar allowed her to hug and lean on him, knowing it wouldn't last long because she'd get too hot and complain in no time. His hand rested on her leg and he gave a snicker. “And go freeze my ass off? I don't think so.”

Kenmei gave a sigh, though wasn't really hurt by his decline, since she had been teasing in the first place. “Well darn. I'll have to find a way to do it with Magic, then.”

He shook his head. “Good luck with that. That's a lot of commands, I don't think your stupid brain can figure it out.”

The girl glared at him from her spot leaning on his shoulder, tightening her grip on his arm gently. “Then why don't you do it?”

“I'm not going to waste my energy to try to make stupid snow.” He looked up as he heard a loud crash of thunder. Above them, dark and angry looking clouds had started to roll over the palace, blocking the suns rays. Kenmei hadn't noticed the increase in humidity and heat, too distracted by her conversation. She looked up as well to view the clouds, which were coming in quickly.

“Oh, I guess that's why it's so extra hot today. It should cool off now.” She lied her cheek back onto his shoulder, hiding half of her face in the soft white fabric. She could already feel the cool wind of the storm reaching them, even though it was blocked by the large building they were leaning against.

Judar huffed. “Well, there goes that.” He started to stand, making Kenmei have to sit up and release her hold on him. “Where are you going?”

“I don't want to be out in the rain.” He grabbed her hand before she completely released him and pulled her up to stand easily. Kenmei grabbed onto him to catch her balance, which he didn't mind for the moment. “Don't forget your stuff.”

Kenmei released him and walked over to her clothing that was folded neatly off to the side. She started to put the clothing back on, but heard Judar speak. She didn't pick up on what she said, so she turned, confused. “What?”

Judar snickered. “I said, there's no point in putting your clothes back on.” Kenmei's face turned red and she hit him an article of clothing. “Judar!”

He laughed, giving a smirk.“Geez, what are you thinking?! I was just saying that you shouldn't because you're just going to go bathe anyway, since you got so sweaty.” He patted the fluffy ball of hair on her head. Kenmei still glared at him with a red face, holding the clothing tightly over her chest, as if trying to hide herself. “You're such a liar. But you're right. And you can't go!”

Judar shook his head as he grabbed her and picked her up. “Who ever said I wanted to? Geez, you're such a pervert.” He hopped off the roof and landed gently on the ground. Kenmei wiggled herself out of his arms and stood up on her own, giving him a look. “I am not! You're just turning it around on me.”

She turned and started towards the public baths that she had to use, since she was not of high enough status to have her own private one. She heard the 'pat pat' of his bare feet and looked behind her, greeted with him following, arms behind his head.

Kenmei turned her head back around. “I said you couldn't go.”

“I can go where I want to, stupid girl.”

Kenmei gripped her clothing tighter over her chest and she glared at the ground, face dark. She knew he was teasing her on purpose just to get this kind of reaction out of her, as he always found it funny when she got embarrassed.  And she fell for it every time.

As they walked in silence under the protection of the hall, it started to pour down rain. It hadn't even started with a light sprinkle, it just suddenly started to pour. Kenmei watched it as she walked, listening to the light 'pat pat' of Judars feet to reassure her that he hadn't walked off and away. His presence was comforting to her, even if he was silent.

Soon enough, she reached the end of the hall that led out to the public baths for the women of the palace. There was a large section of uncovered ground before she could reach the building, so she knew she'd end up getting wet. She turned to look back at Judar, but found that he had gone.

She frowned, looking around her to see if she could find him, but he was no where to be seen. She sighed, feeling a bit let down. She knew he would have left when she went into the building anyway, but she always felt bad when he left without saying anything. She continued to walk out into the rain once she realized he wasn't playing a trick.

The rain was actually quite warm when it hit her skin, but along with the large breeze, it chilled her. By the time she reached the building, she was completely soaked. She rushed into the dry comfort so quickly that she didn't notice the bare feet hanging over the edge of the roof of the building.

Kenmei headed into the first open stall to the left, closing the curtain across the opening for privacy. She couldn't hear anyone else in there at the time, but she didn't mind either way. The water in her stall was bubbling with the welcoming heat, as they had servants working at all times to keep the baths running.

The stall was small, only enough room for the maximum two person tub with about a foot of room on all sides of it. There were two hooks on the left side, one for clothing and the other holding a cloth used to dry off with. There was also a small shelf under both hooks for any clothing that couldn't be hung up. And, to allow more light into the room, there was a very small window near the ceiling, just high enough so no one could peek in. Rain occasionally fell into the room from it, but Kenmei didn't mind it for the time being.

She began to remove her clothing, starting with her shoes. She continued to glance up at the window as she stripped, feeling a bit exposed because of it. She would feel better if her lover was just a normal person, but she knew that Judar could easily peek into the window. He had never done it before, but he had thrown things in through the windows while she was bathing to disturb her. He had even once thrown a very large, flying bug into the room, which caused Kenmei to come running and screaming out of the building in just the drying cloth. The teasing she received for that was unmerciful.

By the time she was stripped and lowered herself into the tub, there was only silence around her. The rain did continue to pour hard outside, the thunder causing a bit of anxiety to grow in her stomach. She liked calm storms, but storms with large amounts of rain, thunder and lightening always made her nervous. She had no real reason to be nervous, as they were perfectly safe in the palace, but no thoughts seemed to help her calm. So, she distracted herself by cleaning her body instead.

Through the minutes she spent in the tub, she started to realize that it felt colder outside of the warm water. It was odd to her, as it had just been very hot and humid. She glanced up at the small window, unable to see very much rain anymore, but she could hear it. In fact, what she could see falling outside of the window didn't look like rain at all.

As she pulled her now wet, but clean hair up into a bun to keep it out of the water, she saw a white flake of something fall into the room from the small window. It slowly floated down and fell into the water, vanishing instantly. Confused and curious, she stood and got out of the tub, quickly using the cloth to dry herself. It was like ice outside of the warm water and she began to shiver. “What the hell is going on..”

She quickly dressed herself in her still wet clothing, leaving the stall once completely dressed. It seemed a bit darker in the area, but it was still chilly. She tossed the cloth in a bin for them and headed to the door, sliding it open.

Kenmei was not met with the rain she thought that she would see. Instead, she was met with white. It covered the ground around the front of the building and fell from the sky. But, it wasn't all around. It was only around the front of the building, while further past was nothing but the pouring rain.

Timidly, she stepped out into the crunchy white stuff. It fell from the sky and she watched it land onto her clothing only to stick. She held out her hands and it slowly began to fill up her cupped palms. She was very confused, not exactly sure she understood how this could be here.

“It's not like it's going to kill you, you're all scared of it.”

Kenmei jumped at the voice and quickly turned, looking up at the roof of the building. Judar sat there at the edge, soaked to the bone from the rain and covered with the white specks. His hair stuck to his face as he gave a grin, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, wand in hand. “Wake up, stupid girl.”

Kenmei blinked as she looked up at him, a bit worried she would get the specks in her eyes. “W-what is this?” She looked down at her feet, squatting down and putting her hand down into the plush white. “Is this snow?”

Judar rolled his eyes. “No, it's fire. What do you think.”

“How did you make it?” She looked back up at him, not even put off by his sarcasm. Judar gave a sly smirk, twisting and moving his wand between his fingers. “I'm a genius.”

Kenmei shook her head and stood, holding the soft ice in her hands. “Of course you are.” She smiled as she looked at it closely, though froze her skin and made her begin to shiver. “That's so cool.”

Judar huffed, annoyed that she wasn't praising him. “Hey, you better be happy I decided to try to see if I could do it.” Kenmei dropped the snow and looked back up, still smiling. “Oh? And here I thought you had done it out of the kindness of your heart.”

Judar scoffed and scooted closer to the edge, getting ready to hop off. “Yeah right!” He pushed himself off the roof and landed next to her, though he almost instantly hopped back up into the air, giving a shocked yelp. “That's cold!”

The instant he hopped back into the air, his concentration dropped, as all the soft ice around them on the ground and falling from the sky melted back into the warm rain and began to pound onto them both once again. Kenmei laughed as Judar floated in the air with his legs crossed, feet hidden in the warmth of his pants. His face had a pink hue to it as he glared at the girl, crossing his arms over his chest. “What are you laughing at?!”

Kenmei shook her head as she walked closer to him, putting her hand on his knee gently. “Nothing, that was just cute.”

Judar turned away from her, his braid slapping her lightly in the side in his quick movement. “Oh shut up.”

Kenmei's smile grew and she grabbed onto the white fabric around his shoulders gently. “Come on, stand up.” She tugged lightly on it a few times and he glanced back at her before giving a huff and landing gently on the ground, back still to her.

She let her hands rest gently on his back. “Don't be embarrassed-” “I'm not embarrassed!” He cut her off, looked back at her over his shoulder with  a glare. Still, he had a light pink shade on his face, and Kenmei couldn't take him seriously. She kept her smile and nodded. “Sure, okay. Anyway, that was really amazing. Thank you for showing me.”

Judar seemed to calm a bit and he turned back around. “I didn't show it to you, you came out while I was still practicing it.” He scratched his cheek, seeming to refuse to look down at her, like he was embarrassed over how he had acted. “Screw that stuff, though, it's cold.”

Kenmei took his hand gently. “Well yeah, it's ice. But that's okay. Just don't do it again and you wont have to deal with it.” He blinked, looking down at her. “You liked it, didn't you?”

She nodded, smile growing. “It was neat. I loved it.” Judar nodded, avoiding her gaze again. “Right.”

There was silence for a moment, only the sound of the rain falling around them. It seemed to grow harder and a loud clap of thunder made Judar seem to be able to speak again. “Anyway, I'm leaving.” He turned and started to walk off, putting his wand away in its hiding spot.

Kenmei quickly followed after him, keeping hold of his hand gently. “Where to?”

Judar shrugged. “My place, I guess. Gotta dry off.”

Kenmei nodded. “I guess I'll head to mine, then.” She felt him return the grip on her hand and she looked up, a bit confused. “What?”

“Nah, come on.” He gave a sly smirk down towards her. “Besides, if you go, who will be around to warm me up?”

[josephdreamer]

An OPFOR Story (pretty long)

setting: Australian outback, massive shipping containers (with rectangular cutouts to simulate doorways and windows) stacked atop one another as makeshift buildings and spread out across a wide open field, with a tall 3-story tower right smack in the middle.

3 Platoons have been deployed inside this base to protect a Leopard battle tank, which sits right beside the tower. This Leopard is the Red Force’s only means of destroying the enemy Anti-Air batteries, and if it is destroyed, they fail their mission.

Residing in the tower is Platoon 2, the most senior batch of soldiers. They’re rowdy, unrefined, and unpleasant to even cooperate with. But the Captain overlooked all that because they are effective. They make up for their lack of conduct with sheer brutality in combat, and it is scary. They prove to the rest of the SAF why our company deserves our title of ‘Aggressors’.

The newest and greenest of the Red Force company, Platoon 1, were deployed facing the west, looking towards the dry and prickly forest. They’re the most inexperienced, but very eager to prove themselves. The Captain acknowledges that and appreciates the enthusiasm, but he will not accept that as an excuse for failing a mission. That being said, they have been assigned to face towards the most-likely direction of attack. After all, the best way to get used to the heat is to jump straight out of the frying pan.

And then there’s us. The middle child of OPFOR Company. Platoon 3. We’re the Captain’s favourite, and he knows we know it. Not quite as enthusiastic as Platoon 1, nor as fearsome as Platoon 2, but when shit hits the fan he knows that we can be relied upon to fight till the last man drops. We were deployed facing the east, giving us a brilliant view of every rising Sun. We overlook a sort of football field, with rusty goalposts on both ends. On the opposite side of the field is a clone of Platoon 1′s ‘dry and prickly’ forest. There’s a dirt road just before the forest, where we occasionally see our jeeps driving by doing patrols. Its a pleasant deployment site, and we like it here.

By now, three nights have passed since the enemy began moving. They’re expected to reach us by now. Dusk would be the best time to attack.

The time is 0421. We are watching the darkness. We are waiting.

I stand on the roof of my squad’s assigned building, two-stories high. I’m leaning on the handrail and looking up at the beautiful australian night sky that is littered with stars. My SAR 21 GL (which stands for Grenade Launcher) is slung across my shoulder on my back, no magazine loaded. Yet. Standing on the roof with me is Vinald, the squad’s designated marksman, with his M110 sniper rifle on the floor beside him. He is smoking an australian brand of cigarettes, bought from our camp back in Rockhampton.  The other guy is rifleman Edmund, who’s stargazing just like me.

Edmund: eh eh, shooting star!

Vinald and I look up in unison just in time to see it.

Vinald: siala. Make a wish lah, hahaha

Edmund goes quiet for a while.

Vin: wow he’s really doing it.

Ed: Of course i would, you never know.

Vin: I never thought you were superstitious.

Ed: Just do it for the sake of it, its fun y’know.

me: what you wish for?

Ed: cannot say eh, later it wont come true.

Vin: Ha! Yeah that’ll be why it didnt come true.

Silence falls between us for a while. I’m just trying to cement this whole experience into my head permanently. The cool chill night breeze, the amazing starry sky, my brothers waiting to fight beside me. Its a poetic moment.

A voice comes in from inside the container. It’s gunner Syarish.

Syarish: Jo! The walkie calling!

I turn around and enter the container, picking up the walkie-talkie from beside Syarish who’s sitting on the floor. Usually the walkie would be kept by the squad sergeant. But our Sergeant, Sgt Samuel, is asleep in his sleeping bag on the first floor. And he is infamous for being a heavy sleeper and not waking up to his walkie-talkie. Therefore as the 2nd-in-command of the squad, i issued a non-official role of ‘walkie watch’ to hold onto the walkie everytime our Sergeant goes to sleep, and to alert me if he is called upon on the walkie. Syarish was on duty this time.

I hold the walkie to my ear and wait for a sound. A few seconds later it comes. I recognise the voice belonging to one of the Platoon 1 Sergeants. I narrow my eyes as i try to make out what he was saying. Uo-oh. I look down at Syarish.

me: Sya, go wake the others up. No more sleeping.

Syarish nods, gets up, and walks over to the other side of the container to rouse the rest of the squad, while i climb the stairs down to level 1. Sgt Samuel is sleeping just behind the staircase. I poke him a few times in the shoulder, and he just sort of shakes himself awake.

me: Sgt, walkie got activity. I think Platoon 1 has seen something.

Sgt Sam: mmmmmmm, ok thanks jo.

I hand him the walkie and head upstairs first. A quick survey of the 2nd floor tells me that everyone is now awake and keeping their weapon close. A good sign. I then climb the ladder up to the third floor, which isn’t very big. Just a sort of roof top. Gunner Chiong sits alone, on overwatch duty, with his SAW (Section Automatic Weapon) beside him. I walk over to stand on his left, and we conversed without turning to face each other.

me: see anything?

Chiong: Platoon 1 has been shining their flashlights around. Not very smart.

I silently agreed with him. I can see their small light signatures as well, erratically flashing around. Platoon 1 was energetic, but sometime they forgot things like basic light discipline. They were potentially giving away their position. But then again the enemy already knew we were here. From the balcony below me, I hear rifleman Davis call out.

Davis: Josiah!!

I look down at him, expecting a vulgarity. Davis points towards Platoon 1 and their flashlights.

Dav: look at those **cking idiots.

I chuckle. Expectation met. Davis had always been the most vulgar of our squad. But he is right. Platoon 1 wasn’t being very tactical. And i was sure it was going to cost them soon enough. I could feel it in my bones; something was going to happen soon. After over 30 combat engagements, you start to develop a sort of 6th sense for that sort of thing. As if to weigh in on my intuitional feelings, Chiong turns to me and asks:

Chi: Is the fight gonna start soon?

I turn to look down at him, and shrug noncommittally.

me: probably. lol

From behind me i hear someone coming up the ladder. Chiong and i turn to see Sgt Sam. He walks over to us, addressing me.

Sgt: Platoon 1 says they can see people coming. Get the squad into position, i’m going to find Sir.

me: alright. Dont take too long k

Together we head down the ladder. I go to the westward balcony and call for Vinald and Edmund.

me: Vin, get to the roof. Chiong will be your caller. Edmund, other balcony, now.

They nod and set off immediately. I loved that about my squad. Despite being the least-talkative detachment in the platoon, i personally felt we had the best and most fluid teamwork. I let the two of them pass me by first before i head down the stairs. I maneuver through the container’s curvy passageway to the entrance, where my buddy Yan is sitting and playing his phone game. He doesn’t look up as i approach, but he spoke out as though he was expecting me.

Yan: semo? they coming already ah?

me: i think so. Platoon 1 says they see people already. When youre done come up to the 2nd floor.

Yan: orh.

I leave Yan there and go back up to the 2nd floor balcony, where Davis, Edmund, Syarish and rifleman Faizul stand. All of them are watching the Platoon 1 building across the road. We can hear voices coming from there by now. They sound excited.

Dav: Those **ckers are gonna be the first to die. So noisy, whats the point of even hiding whe-

Ed: Wait! Quiet!

We fall silent. The raised voices from Platoon 1 become louder, more excited. I slowly move my weapon sling off my right shoulder and onto my left, folding my right hand fingers around the rifle grip. I can almost hear the tension in the air now.

And then the first shot is fired.

[pleathethorry]

Young, Wild, and Free

Namjoon x Reader

Words: 3120

Genre: Fluff????

Warnings: Swearing. Like a lot lol.

Summary: Living in the country was the worst part of your life. You were such an adventurous person, yet what was there to explore when there was nothing but wheat fields and roads that stretched for miles but no scenery. Namjoon was the highlight of all your days but you just wanted to explore. Together, you became the definition of reckless.

"Hey," you said as you sat on top of the counter Namjoon was standing behind. He looked tired, fatigued even.

"You're late again," he sighed and grabbed the white and red cashier shirt that was hanging behind him. You despised it. It's ugly. It's basically the ones in those cheesy movies. You aren't in a cheesy movie. This is real life. No need for dumbass shirts, boss man.

"It's not like the big man cares. I'm always late and he doesn't say a damn thing," you shrugged and hopped down.

"Yeah but I do. I've been standing here for three hours. My fucking legs hurt," He growled. His jaw clenched but you knew he wasn't mad. He could never be mad at you.

You snatched the shirt from him and slipped it on. You didn't bother to take off your tanktop. It was cold outside. It was dumb to wear a tank when it's 20 degrees. Oh well.

You continued the conversation even though the scowl on his face showed he was done with talking and just wanted to rest.

"This is a gas station in the middle of nowhere. It's not like we get any customers," you said and grabbed a pack of cigarettes that were displayed on the beige table. You ripped the annoying plastic that was covering the white and red box. You didn't care for the brand.

You lifted the little tab and pulled a cigarette out.

"Nothing like good old lung cancer to start the work day huh?" You smirked and waited for him to light it. He rolled his eyes deeply as he grabbed the lighter that was also on the counter. He delicately cupped a hand around the vibrant orange flame. There was no wind. You inhaled the smoke when he lit it.

"You're impossible," he rolled his eyes. He had a hint of a tired smile on his face. Even if it were little, you were glad he smiled. You sorta, just a little bit, felt bad that you had him standing here.

"It's in the word Joonie. I'm possible," you said and took another drag of the cigarette.

"Just stand here and look pretty. I'm taking a nap. And stop calling me that, " he walked around the table and went into the room that said employees only. In reality, it was a storage with a bathroom inside. You just put that because too many people were interrupting Namjoon's nap. You cared that the dude has his sleep. He works too hard.

"Fine," you said and hopped back on the counter. It'd been 30 minutes and you finished your cigarette. You threw it on the ground and burned the embers out with your foot. No one will notice.

You grabbed a Hershey bar and looked around the plain store. Dull and ordinary. No one comes through this place because it's miles from anywhere. You and Namjoon just so happen to be desperate enough to drive the miles.

You were both desperate for the money. You had to admit, this place has pretty good pay to not have any customers. Plus, no cameras, so you can do whatever you want. You stole so much snacks and cigarettes. Still, you spend your days in this place for nothing. The only people to come here were people traveling out of town.

It kills you that you can't stay in town. That you can't walk around your campus and etch peoples' faces in your brain and draw them later on. You can't hang with your friends because you have work. Well, you have no friends because all of them went against you because they thought you abandoned them but really you were working. You can't think because you have work. Your sleep schedule was all fucked up because of school and work. You barely get 30 minutes everyday and because of that sometimes you fall asleep in class and fuck up your grades. You bring them up by staying over night to do extra credit. And what does over night school get you? You guessed it! Exhausted. It physically and mentally drains you. The only person to cheer you up: Namjoon.

"Fucking college and it's stupid tuition. I would be able to breathe if I didn't have to be in this bum ass place. Money, money, money. It's all about money. Fuck money!" you screamed.

"Shut the fuck up!" Namjoon yelled from the closet.

"Suck my dick Joonie! We're fucking leaving!" you stormed from behind the counter and to the 'employee room'.

He was laying on a pile of paper towels. That's his usual spot. You grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out the room until he stood up himself.

Before you wanted to leave, you push down every single rack. Stole a bunch snacks, cigarettes, lighters, and other necessities.

Namjoon joined in. The both of you cursed and yelled with all your might. Letting all your anger out on the poor store.

"I want my fucking friends back an for the love of god give me five fucking hours of sleep!" you yelled as you threw every box of candy off the racks.

"I'm so tired of having no life because of this dumbass place. I want my life back," unlike you Namjoon said that with a reasonable tone. He poured every drink from the fridge onto the floor.

You both continued to express your wrath against the store. You threw everything you could get your hands on. Stomped on bags of chips, the left over from what you didn't steal, anyway. You kept all the stuff you stole in a neat stack.

You took the money from the cash register too. After that you threw every creamed filled thing in the store on the walls and windows. In spray-canned cheese, you wrote 'fuck this place' on each of the fridges that lined the wall. You were done. Namjoon had done the rest of the damage. You had one thing left to say though.

"I'M SO DRAINED. I'M LITERALLY A FUCKING SHELL. I CAN'T FIND MYSELF BECAUSE I'M TOO BUSY STUDYING, SMOKING, AND GREETING UGLY ASS, RUDE ASS PEOPLE WITH FAKE ASS SMILES. I DON'T WANT TO BE FAKE ANYMORE. LET ME BREATHE," You just yelled into the air. There was no more that had to be done. The place was completely wrecked. Your throat was raw.

"I'll just tell him we went to unload the milk truck or something when these kids came in and wrecked the place. And then we quit," you said. Your voice cracking with every few words. You should've talked normally like Joonie.

Namjoon just nodded while leaning on a spot on the wall that didn't have cream, dents, or anything on it. His chest was rapidly up and down as he heaved. His hair was all messy, strands going in all different directions. He had his arm crossed which showed off his muscle in his short-sleeve uniform shirt. He looked amazing.

You shook your head and focused on what you were about to do. You called your boss and tried to be as fake as possible.

"Mr. Yung! I'm so sorry! They were so quick," you panted. You wanted to sound like you struggled with the dudes.

"They tore the place up while we were unloading the milk truck. If you get the police involved and they get our fingerprints it's because when we caught them, we tried to stop them. This place is destroyed and I'm pretty sure they stole a lot of stuff. Sorry Mr. Hughes but we quit. We can't stay here after this happened," you hung up before he could say anything.

"Let's go," you picked up all of the snacks and things from the stack you kept neat among the mess that was the store.

Namjoon opened the door to the passenger seat for you. You felt like taking the bus today, so your car wasn't in it's usual space beside his.

As soon as Namjoon drove off, you opened the windows. The cold breeze felt good on your heated skin. You felt so alive.

"Can I smoke?" You asked looking at a tired Namjoon.

"Hell no. Absolutely not. I don't want my car smelling like that shit," he scoffed as if you called his mom out her name.

"Well shit. My bad," you continued to look out the window of the plain fields of tall grass.

"Where are we going?" Namjoon asked.

"Let's go to the dorms first. Get all of our stuff"

"Why? Shouldn't we be like searching for a new job?" he asked.

You chuckled. He's so simple minded.

"Don't you know me Joonie?" you looked to him and ruffled his faded pink hair. He scrunched his face but still looked at the road.

He sighed and removed your hand from his hair. You kept holding onto his hand though. God, you were too excited. You could barely contain yourself. From the way he didn't snatch away from your hold, you knew that he knew you were bubbling with excitement.

"There's a way of getting money without really working," you smirked.

You stood outside the biggest party of the year, Namjoon beside you, with the both of you having maybe about 2,000 each in your hands.

It was the day before testing began and to relieve stress a boy named Jung Hoseok threw the biggest party each year. Well, two years. He's only a Jr. Almost all of the students on campus came. A handful of people stayed home to study. You and Namjoon weren't in that handful.

The both of you stood outside the doors and charged each person 10 dollars. The party was just starting and your pockets were full.

Your heart was pounding so hard. You smiled. You felt so free. You couldn't wait to get all of the money you needed before Hoseok found out.

Namjoon called your name. You looked across the empty hall of the dorm to him. He was leaning against the wall of the other side of the door. You could see his pockets full. You couldn't wait to escape reality with him.

"Don't you think we have enough. I'm tired of looking at these plain ass white walls, dumbass posters talking about what we should do for our living, this plain ass door with 68 cracks in it. Yes, I counted because I'm that fucking bored," he looked at you with annoyance. You smiled. You were so use to him giving you that face.

"We've only just started Joonie. This isn't enough to last us for what I want to do"

"What do you want to do? You know we still have to go to school right?"

"Well after testing we get three weeks off right? Well in that time, I want to travel the world. How much do you have in your savings?"

"Nope, I'm not wasting my savings on that. I'd rather not."

"Fine. I have about 1,500 in mine. That'll get us about 5,500."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" he cursed and looked at you bewildered, "I hope you know this is not a forever thing. We're only going to be gone for break and we're coming back. Don't go too over board on this."

That dimmed your mood a bit.

"Can I be excited? Shit. I just want to shop and drive. Money dude. Money," you said raising the few bills you had in your hand.

He only shook his head at you. A hint of a smile at his lips.

More and more people came but your legs were getting tired. Both you and Namjoon were standing at the door for hours with more than enough money covering whatever part of your bodies you could fit.

"I'm going home," Namjoon said walking away, stopping to stretch, then walking off again.

You stifled a yawn and followed after him.

"Where are we going?" Namjoon groaned for the 16th time since you've headed out out town.

Which was just an hour ago.

"Shut the fuck up! I told you. We're going everywhere and anywhere. We have bank Joonie. How does 10,000 fucking lagoons sound to you. I don't know how the fuck Hoseok had 1,000 people there but I don't give a shit. We can go anywhere!" You laughed.

You were going crazy for sure.

"You're insane. I swear," he shook his head and looked out the window.

"I know right? You know Joonie, with you being the smart one and I'm the 'insane' one we make a good couple. You should marry me," you winked.

"Maybe I would. Who knows?" He pulled your hand from the steering wheel and held onto it.

You snorted. You heard Namjoon snort too. The both of you couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Give me my hand back. That was so cheesy. What the hell was that?" You said feeling to exact opposite. Hearing him say that gave you chills that you did not welcome.

"It felt reasonable at the time," he shrugged and once again looked out the window.

"What's so interesting out there? It's only cornfield. What? Are you looking for the children of the corn?"

He chuckled.

"No. Just thinking of where this is taking us," he pursed his lips and screwed his eyebrows.

"Me too."

You were exhausted and miles from anywhere. You've been driving for hours and there was only a slight change in scenery. You fucking hate the country.

"Fuck this," you said to no one since Joonie was sleep beside you.

You pulled over at the side of the road which was really just grass. It kind of creeped you out. What if some animal comes and eat you? Oh well.

"They'll be eating good," you said aloud. This woke Namjoon up.

"Where are we? Why'd you stop," he said still disoriented.

"I don't know and I'm tired. C'mon," you said and opened the car door. It was pretty warm outside considering it was night time.

You sat on the hood of the car and gazed at the stars. They are so addicting.

"Here you go with the stars," Namjoon said sitting beside you.

"You know me so well," you pinched his cheeks.

"Why'd we do this again?" he grabbed your hand. You knew he was serious when he grabbed your hand.

"To escape our shitty lives for just three weeks. Just escape reality really. I wanna make it to Paris," you said still looking in awe at the stars.

"That'll require a plane dumbass."

"Oh yeah," you paused, sort of disappointed, "but still, we have to get out of this place for as long as we can. It's slowing taking all the cells out my body. I fucking hate that place."

You looked ahead while Joonie was silent beside you. Your exhaustion was tugging your eyes but you fought it.

Ahead of you was nothing but grass and fences with sleeping cows behind them. That's what living in the country gets you. Greasy food and outdoors that smell like cow shit.

"What do you hate about that place again?"

"Basically everything. The toxic air. The judgemental people. Everything. But what most bothers me about it is that it reminds me of home. Well, what use to be home," you sighed but shook your head, "what do you hate about that place?"

"Just the fact that it's literally no where. There's one library where we live and all of the books are shitty. I'm pretty sure I've read all of them because the damn place is so small. I have no friends besides you. And having you as my only friend is batshit crazy," you chuckled as he did, "as a kid, I thought that I'd be able to go see the big things that was in the city. As I grew older I started to realize there are no big things there. Just Churches Chicken," you smirked as he that.

"Why does it remind you of home?" He asked after looking at the stars in your eyes for what felt like ages. He was glad you didn't feel his stare piercing your skin.

"You know what my 'home' was. I lived with my parents and grandparents on a farm far from where I live now but still rural as shit. I never want to go back there again. Never," you cringed at the memories that were made at that farm.

You looked at Namjoon who was already staring at you.

"You're ugly," you laughed as he punched your arm. You meant the opposite once again but you couldn't tell him that.

"Ass. I know I'm pretty. They say it's the people who feel ugly that call other people ugly, my friend," he pushed your shoulder and you grabbed his hand.

"I know I'm pretty," you repeated in his low voice. You squeezed his hand and let go of it.

"What are we gonna do when we get back? We have no job," he said after awhile of studying how your eyes darted back and forth and you looked at each star and how you chewed your lip which indicates you want to smoke.

"We'll find one. Trust me."

"Trusting you is a dangerous thing to do," he said in a shaky voice but you only smiled.

You looked over at him and saw him quickly look at the stars.

What was he staring at?

You pushed the thought aside and continued looking at him. He's such a beautiful guy who deserves way more then the world gives him. Deserves someone better then you.

You looked away from him at that thought. You felt like you were ruining him just by staring. Why'd he even agree on coming with you?

The urge to smoke came crashing on you and you looked at Namjoon once again. His eyes slowly started to close but he immediately snapped back awake when he realized it. How was he tired again after sleeping for half the car ride?

"Well, I'm gonna smoke and then sleep so..." you said after watching him doze off. He hates the smell of burning nicotine so you knew he'd leave.

He kissed your cheek long and hard like usual and you tried to contain your chills like usual.

"Don't stay out here too long and stop smoking that shit. You'll die," he said hopping off the hood.

"What if I want to die hmm?"

"Then your gonna have to try harder then just smoking. Goodnight, my little insane one," he nudged your arm before hopping back in the car

"Night" you replied a little after he shut the car door and pulled the cigarettes from your back pocket.

[lalorrunningclub]

Melbourne Marathon Recap by Jackki & Bill Papadimitriou

Bill: I come from a land down under, so I started my day off with a Vegemite sandwich.

We had a 7am race start, but we wanted to arrive early to secure a parking spot, and relax a little beforehand. We picked up Ashish where he was eagerly awaiting our arrival, and off we went on our wonderful adventure.

At the MCG we located Milissa, Julie Dib, Shona, Sharn and Paula Colarusso for our group photo. Everyone was quite excited. The morning was mild, but the weather forecast was predicting quite a warm and windy day ahead.

Jackki: Before this point, we were directed to all sorts of areas to drop off our bags (talk about stress!) and when we finally figured it out, we somehow lost Vincent and Brian but picked up Andy Hewison lol.

Bill: After our group photo, I thought I’d duck out for one last pitstop before the big race. As expected, the toilet queues were chockers, so I figured I’d be smart about it and find another lavatory. That was a big mistake, as it seemed everyone had the same in mind. I almost felt like I would miss the starting gun, the lines were huge!! After my pre-race routine, I bumped into Vincent and we walked to our starting line.

BANG AND WE’RE OFF!! The first couple of kilometres were very packed, with people everywhere trying to cut in front of each other, so I ventured off to the side and continued along. My aim was to run a good race, but the atmosphere got the better of me. I warmed up my legs with a steady 6 min pace for the first km, mainly due to the crowd, but then quickened my pace as I was feeling pretty good.

Jackki: haha yes as we were walking toward the start line, I realised I don’t see any of the LRC team with me! Like what, where’d they go? Not even the husband. And before I know it, my legs danced as the gun went off. I’m cruising towards Flinders Station when suddenly The Flash was next to me. I asked “shouldn’t you be finished by now?” to which he replied he needs to warm up first, and off he went. Show off.

The first half of the marathon went by so quickly because I was feeling really good, travelling along comfortably at 6:10-6:20min pace, stopping by at every drink station because I’m a good girl :D

Bill: Heading into Albert Park I spotted a lady wearing nothing but a bra. Now I must’ve been very out of it, but this lady also appeared to have a beard, and to top it off, she knew my name!! I know we were approaching St Kilda, but we still had a while to go yet. Thank God, it was only Matty Liggitt!!! Running with a bra for a cause, or at least that’s what he tells us.

Jackki: At around 14km, along Fitzroy St, I saw the first leading man on his last 10-11km back to the MCG, ALREADY?! WOW AMAZING! After a few more kilometres, I spotted Ciaran, Bill and Vincent and we gave each other’s hi-fives. And not far behind them were Shona and Paula looking mighty strong and fresh. I even saw some dude in a pink bra, followed by Andy and his mate.

It’s getting really sunny now along Beaconsfield Parade, there’s a gentle breeze and I’m reminiscing my first half marathon at Carmen’s last year. First 20km down and I’m thinking to myself, ‘this is nice, I might even finish 30mins earlier than goal time (of 5hrs)’. Yeah, why did I even entertain that idea because my lower back, glutes, calf and foot decided to give me grief throughout the next half marathon. I was fighting so hard not to cry.. and seriously as I struggled, the weather got warmer and more dusty and windy… story of my life.

Bill: I spotted Ciaran twice on both ends of Beach Road and gave him a wave. So much for going slow Ciaran!?!? He appeared in good form and was at around the 3:30hour pacer from memory. Well, Beach Road heading toward Elwood was where it started to go downhill for me. There was certainly something in the air which seemed to cause a persistent cough. I couldn't shake it off. The coughing continued through the tan, and down St Kilda Road. By that stage, my thighs were beginning to cramp a little. I tried stretching them but at that point my hamstrings also twinged. I decided to have a short stop for some well needed stretches and then continued walking. My aim for a 4hr marathon was slowly ticking away, but I still continued walking.

Another runner from behind shouted out: “KEEP RUNNING JON'S DAD!” This caused me to have a little guilt trip, and I remembered both my little ones and wanted them to be proud of their Dad.  I continued along with the aim of running a couple of light poles followed by some brief walking. 

Down St Kilda Road, at around the 32km marker, I saw Judith who offered me a number of supplies. All I had to do was pick from the plethora of items she had, but to my stupidity I graciously decline her offer... What a stupid move on my behalf (Just take the damn stash Bill, you really need it!).

Jackki: Judith was a Godsend at this point for me; her words of encouragement and jelly beans gave me the energy I needed to push on. I was feeling so alone as I struggled with various body issues and pain. I still haven’t found a toilet at this point and seriously wanted Judith to take me home but her embrace boosted me further. And when I finally found a portaloo, and waited forever (around 34km) along St Kilda Road, THERE WAS NO PAPER IN ANY OF THE 4 LOO’S!!!!! The rest of the run home was just painful and uncomfortable and I was forced to walk more than run. 

Bill: A little further down the same stretch on St Kilda Road I heard Shona and Paula coming up from behind. Not saying they're loud or anything, but Paula seemed to have a full tank of energy in her. Great going Paula, I was envious of you at that point. They both asked how I was travelling and I told them both about my leg issues. I figured if I could just try and keep up with them then maybe I could just "keep on running". The pain was there but so was my motivation to continue. That was until I heard Paula saying to Shona, "Picture Bradley Cooper at the finish line"…at which point I thought WHY THE FK AM I RUNNING TOWARD HIM?? My pace slowed down once again to a walk/jog.

Approaching Brunton Ave, I was exhausted beyond belief. The temperature was really starting to increase, and it seemed no amount of water would do the trick at cooling me down. Coming down the final stretch of road, I heard loud cheers and looked to my left. They were all absolutely amazing!! The LRC crew were all cheering for me and giving me strength. I held back the tears, put on my brave face, and quickened my pace once again. Thank you, guys.

In the MCG I ran, the view was magnificent, the atmosphere was grand. With the finish line in sight, I was determined not to stop on the hallowed turf. I must keep running, the end was so close. With only 50 metres to the line, the other runners started to speed up around me which in turn encouraged me to do the same. I felt like I sprinted across that finish line (but looking at the video replay, I was only jogging). WOOHOO, I did it!! My time was 4:38 hours, which was slower than the time I was aiming for, but considering the conditions presented to me on the day, I was happy with the outcome. Ashish was there to take a photo of me at the finish line, and gave him a big high five. I continued down to the gallows and saw Rose, Neville and Vincent cheering me from above. It was a special day, filled with so much comradery, and it will never be forgotten. MY FIRST FULL MARATHON!!

Now where was Jackki? I walked back up to where Rose and the others were and awaited the arrival of my lovely lady.

Jackki: After going through The Tan, Judith jumped in front of me again and sprinkled more energy for my last 2km, or so I thought. My Garmin was telling me that I have 1.2km left and 8 mins before the 5hrs mark. Determined, I sprinted, running faster and harder than the last 2hrs. I’m pushing and pushing against the pain, ‘come on you got this!’ (seriously it’s like giving birth) and la la laa I made it JUST under 5hrs! BUT I’M NOWHERE NEAR THE MCG?!!!?!?!?!?!?!? *insert crazy screaming lady* My mind is fked, I’m fighting back tears and when I felt like I had nothing left in the tank, the most amazing thing happened: Stef! You legend! Running beside me on Brunton Ave. I heard the LRC crew screaming my name and I mustered some energy to do a chicken dance for them, well half of it anyway lol

THANK YOU GUYS FOR BRINGING ME BACK TO LIFE!

My finished distance was 43.3km at 5:08hrs. As I crossed that finish line, I was thinking, 'Where is that husband o’mine? Why isn’t he waiting right there for me? Prick!...' Oh there he is, up in the stadium with the team cheering for me *big grin*.

So, will we do it again?

Hell no. But who are we kidding? We’ve got a score to settle after all Melbourne Marathon!