#making the fall so brutal
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fullscoreshenanigans · 1 month ago
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#Patron saint of people pleasers #and reckless perfectionism (via @emmaspolaroid)
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sweet child, devil child 🥀
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dukeofthomas · 1 year ago
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I will forever maintain that Jason would've been fine and Not a vigilante without Bruce making him Robin
#''bruce never recruited any kids for his mission/war'' falls apart immediately when u consider jason's backstory im ngl#jason todd#my dc posting#his whole character to me is breaking the conventions of the medium#batman#like i hate how ppl treat others like theyre ridiculous when they even dare to critique bruce in any way#i am capable of suspending my disbelief and accepting some things in fiction as okay even if they wouldnt be irl#its the viewers responsibility to meet stories whre theyre at#but its also the story's responsibility to upkeep that yknow?#''child/teen sidekicks are okay n not morally dubious'' okay :D yay :3#then one of them gets brutally murdered by a villain and im like. yeah uhh no. cant do that anymore 👍sorry#''they all became vigilantes on their own bruce couldnt have stopped them'' yall under the impression bruce hates kid heroes n wants them#properly safe n is just doing damage control/harm prevention#when hes more the lines of encouraging them#difference between ''i cant stop u from doing this so ill make it as safe as i can'' and#''im actively going to encourage you to do this dangerous thing''#i have many opinions n im ngl theyre constantly shifting n they depend on a lot#im not gonna hate on lego batman for robin thats a goddamn childrens movie who tf gives a shit#comics are fair game tho. have u seen what gows on in there.#bruce couldve stopped jason from being a vigilante n instead encouraged him is the hill i will fucking die on#the victim blaming of jason has Got to stoppp its the worst thing ever#also just to remind everyone. ''a good soldier''.#wow a character blames themselves for the death of their child and to torture themselves they put the words 'good soldier' on their memorial#anyway if you even dare to think abt the implications ure stupid n#like do u hear urself whattt
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ciphers-fragments-au · 10 months ago
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Third of four ref sheets for my main Gravity Falls AU, "Cipher's Fragments".
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Here's Dipper Cipher-Pines! With both his Mindscape self and the android self he possesses to be able to be in the physical world again. Forever 12, but he's forever got an adorably squishable face
Finally is Giffany Cipher-Pines
When all ref sheets are complete I will create a pinned message with all of them together to have easy access on info/refs.
-@sylveon-and-velveon
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itspileofgoodthings · 1 year ago
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Taylor returning over and over to the falling through the ice accident in the Bolter—everything to me
#like. just. the shock of it all#there’s something about Taylor where her experience of life is so ….. brutal#like I don’t know how else to say it but it just is. life is not easy on her it is always ready to CLOBBER her#and in a way she’s not easy on life. there’s some kind of magnets/opposite poles stuff where she’s just always drawn to the worst things#to feeling them and experiencing them and almost ??? creating them#like I don’t mean to overstate it. and I know she has a family who loves her (thank GOD)#and also she’s very practical and industrious about creating this very Instagram worthy life full of Fine Things and a Fun Time#and of course all the resources in the world at her disposal to create all the trappings of it#whether it’s a celebrity Fourth of July party or the eras tour#and she’ll do it and love it. but as all the best critics know and point out the most fascinating thing about Taylor is always the music#and it’s where all the weirdness and stubbornness and difficulties of her life. her a c t u a l longings her actual fears#her actual terrible awful experiences that she charges headlong down the paths of#is set free! and it’s breathtaking in the most shocking way#like falling through the ice! I always say the first thing that always hits me about a Taylor album is the bitterness#just this blast in the face. and her music is so gentle! in so many ways#and the packaging is so appealing and her voice is so soft and expressive and there is none of that weird experimentation#even musically (remember when she shut down imogen heap for putting a minor chord in clean she was like absolutely not. I’m obsessed)#(with that moment forever)#but like. so much of Taylor’s packaging and life and HER really does SEEM so basic or ordinary or just rich girl ordinary I guess#she likes basic things and wants basic things. but also she is so hungry so restless so angry so wounded the rich internal life is CHURNING#all the time. every second. and it’s spectacular to watch and also I will worry about her until the day I die#or just—-I don’t know. it’s going to be spectacular and it is sometimes going to be awful#but she will keep furiously writing her way through it!!#there IS such a woundedness to her. and it makes me love her so much because it’s packaged in such a way people think it must just be#whining or privilege. but it’s not! it’s just. the human condition and Taylor’s own flaws#okay I’ve lost the plot here a bit in my ramblings but yeah the ice metaphor. insanely perfect
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adustoflove · 9 months ago
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I need something disturbing to happen to me. But not like harmful disturbing. I just wanna be creeped out in a way that's life altering or makes me rethink the possibilities of the world. I wanna walk a dark trail at 3 am and come across something I won't forget
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tanjir0se · 2 months ago
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Everybody knows I love a cunty dark haired anime boy and I also love a fruity and mean white haired anime boy so everybody give it up to Dr. Stone for providing me with the two in one special everybody say thank you Asagiri Gen for being so Him
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dieverged · 3 months ago
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it's so interesting, to me. i can't figure out if nima is sadder in her DA verse comparatively to her ffxiv verse. granted, they are quite different in that within DA she's following from her own timeline & in ffxiv she was already a participant IN the world. but man.
main verse nima just keeps losing i tell you!
#she's. hmmm. is she happier in her ffxiv verse... i want to say yes#because she has jiyu. LOL.#and yes she has the students & scions so she has a groundwork there. a family#BUT OHHHHHHHH MY GOD dragon age nima...........#nima is kind of like a losing dog fr#like i don't know! because she meets varric and dorian and they are... the only family she's ever really known in... forever really#she meets solas! & he's the loneliest of lonely like her! an outsider like her. who understands. who she has genuinely interesting convos w#she remembers what it's like to actually HAVE something akin to a family#and yes it's all fucking terrible and sometimes she can't even breathe from it & she loses at the end of it all but JUST in that one moment#she remembers what it's like to be SO close to people#her flaw is both the dagger that trails wounds but also the very thing that saves her#she can't run and it is HORRIFYING. she's never felt more trapped!#but... but... she learns how to love. what it means to love. again. without turning her back. without fleeing#it's like my girl pixie lott put it#>''i might lose my mind for a while but i'll be fine / have you heard? there's thing that heals & it's called time / clock can tick away --#happy will fall in place / & though my heart will break / a new me will fill this space''#i am such a villain for this but OUHHHHHH it's so good. and then trespasser happens & the 10 years that follow#and yknow she's not okay. in fact it is BRUTAL for many different reasons but. it's a work in progress#post trespasser is crazy i have to think about the changes that follow#wouldn't it be kind of sick if nima had dropped returning home briefly. briefly. and then went back to it (making her self ill from it)#she's saved the world once she's done with it she's done she can no longer stay#& dorian.... lovely dorian... would snap her to her senses but god would it be talking to a wall for a while#i don't think she would stop helping the inq look for solas but it's more like... she gets frantic & clouded for a while & keeps that on th#downlow yknow?#nima vc: i am SO tired of saving worlds and i couldn't tell you why i couldn't begin to explain this dread within me#i am SO tired! of it all#nima catching herself saying worlds like hold on. 2. what was the first...#AUUUGH okay yeah smile im normal
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monards · 1 year ago
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i know hoyo is setting up rhine to have good intent and whatever in her trying to 'save' khaneri'ah or whatever; but i REALLY hope they stay with the cruel persona thats been built up for her. because it would be so wonderful to see a character who had good intent in the beginning just get absolutely corrupted; with the inability to ever go back to that prior state purely because of what had happened. also because there is NO way in her turning back after all that shit
#sorry. i dont think theres any good and plausible explanation for rhine to still be a kind or gentle person in general#she can (and SHOULD) have her moments. but it'd make so much more sense (and be much more impactful) for her to be inherently cruel#because look at all the stuff thats happened#i love the indomitable human spirit trope. dont get me wrong.#but rhine has that in the way she WONT stop her research till shes either dead or murdered. she is not gonna be gentle kind and optimistic#she watched all her kids (that she was SHOWN to care for) get very brutally murdered.#had to then go and kill her next creations that she didn't consider perfect (which most certainly fucks a women up. no matter what you say)#made the 'perfect creation' and the way she treated him was obviously a HUGE contrast to how she was before (being gentle and nuturing)#and left him (albeit with what we can guess was good intent) with NO goodbye just#a recommendation letter. a text. and his final mission#she could have good intent#and still care for others#dont get me wrong!!!!!!!#but shes. human???#humans can be (as much as i hate to say it) a tad selfish when it comes to survival#and being antagonized demonized AND shunned by teyvat and even her own people. having to survive multiple gods wrath#isn't. gonna be good for the human psych#and it isn't gonna be something fixable#look at how furina progressively faltered over a hundered years WHILE being adored#she already started waning in her ethics and morals (as someone immortalized as a human WOULD)#with exposing lyney and all of that when it was VERY clearly the morally wrong thing to do (which her as a human would know)#and being relatively pessimistic and clearly spiralling#(no hate. i love furina with all my heart.)#if thats how FURINA started going#imagine rhine who has nobody (save maybe alice. but i doubt she'd be constant given her spontaneous nature and refusal to sit still)#shit man. even I'D go crazy and be horrible.#its okay and natural to be bitter#and its not as if anybody was there to help#hexenzirkel has a ton of women who survived their own nations falling yes#but not ONE of them (from what we know) has had circumstances any where near rhine's
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helioptilie · 2 years ago
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I have very mixed feelings about The Fall of The House of Usher. As much as I loved Carla Gugino’s performance, I think connecting everything to Verna and The Deal lessened the impact of all other storylines. Edgar Allen Poe follows similar themes, but his works are short and distinct. The Black Cat, Murder in The Rue Morgue, and The Raven; all involve death, but have different approaches to the subject and a different end effect on the audience. Idk it worked well to make the show cohesive but I feel as though it might have been better to keep it as an anthology.
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gay-edwardian · 2 years ago
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Shine (1984) is a good album and I don't care that it didn't chart as well as Something's Going On (1982) I like them both. Not every song is perfect but enough of them are fun enough to make all of it thoroughly enjoyable.
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bluesidedown · 2 years ago
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so it turns out that when God says He's renewing me day by day that includes my emotions, not just my intellect and will/volition
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spinsterennui · 2 years ago
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Sigh . . .
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taeeflwrr · 2 days ago
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oh my god was this a rollercoaster of emotions #bringbackangst #imafeministdespiteallthethoughtsthatthisficmademeentertain #forgivemesinceitwashyuck
death by a thousand cuts | l.hc
“but if the story’s over, why am i still writing pages?”
💿now playing: death by a thousand cuts by taylor swift
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❯ summary: If you get more than one love in a lifetime, why does your heart still beat for the boy who wrecked you completely?
❯ pairings: haechan x fem!reader
❯ genre: angst, second chance, cheating trope, smut.
❯ words: 9.6k
❯ tags: 18+ minors dni!, smut, cheating (booo), exes, toxic relationship, a therapy joke, lots of angst, swearing, heartbreak, a whole lotta hurt, drinking, insecurities, jealousy, arguing, heavy petting, protected sex, nipple play, oral sex (fem receiving), i can’t lie this is just 9k words of heartache and sex lol.
an: this fic will not be for everyone!! i do not condone cheating in any way, you’re a loser if you cheat. i just felt like writing something heart achey, and this is my favourite taylor swift song that inspires cheating fics whenever i listen to it.
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“Give me that!”
Yeji snatches the phone out of your hand with the kind of urgency only a best friend possesses—the kind forged after too many years of watching you do the stupidest things when it comes to boys. Her eyes flare the moment she spots the familiar username. 
@ haechanahceah
“Oh my god. You’re kidding.” Her thumb hovers accusingly over the screen. “Y/N, it’s been a year. A whole year. Why haven’t you blocked Hyuck yet?”
You don’t answer immediately. Just tilt your head back with an exhausted exhale, reaching for the phone. Not because you want it back, but because it feels incriminating in her hands. Like a wound she’s now inspecting. And you don’t need her inspecting it.
“Because we’re okay,” you say, not entirely convincingly. “Mostly.”
It was just a like. On an Instagram post. Of him—with his friends.
(Some of them girls. Most of them girls. All of them tagged. And you definitely weren’t planning on clicking through their profiles in the middle of your best friend coffee date with your screen brightness criminally low. Definitely not.)
“And because we’re friends,” you add breezily. Then you pluck the phone from her hand and tap back into the app, your thumb moving faster than your brain, already leaving a comment beneath his photo.
Something flippant. Something funny. Something that screams: See? I’m a functioning, emotionally stable adult who can totally be friends with the boy who annihilated my heart while he gallivants around Europe on a boat with girls. 
Except probably subtler. 
Yeji stares at you like she’s witnessing a slow-motion car crash. “Oh, absolutely. And when that guy drove me home from the bar last weekend and told me I had pretty eyes, we were just friends too.”
You roll your eyes, swatting the air with your hand. “That’s different. Hyuck’s my childhood best friend. I can’t just cut him off now that we’re not…” you pause, the words catching in your throat like they always do, “you know?”
“No. I don’t know,” she says, arms crossed and chin lifted in that annoyingly perceptive way of hers. “Because you two are in a loop. An exhausting, toxic, ‘I-don’t-know-where-we-stand-with-each-other’ loop. And staying in touch with him is why you can’t move on.”
“We are not toxic.”
You are. 
But you’d already said it out loud like a reflex, before you even had time to make it sound believable. So, you try to fix it. 
“We’re just…”
You trail off, blinking hard like the answer might fall from the ceiling.
 “Co-dependent?” Lia offers helpfully. 
 You sigh. “Yes. That. Thank you, Lia.”
“It’s weird, is what it is,” Yeji says. 
You lean back in your chair, arms folded across your chest like armour. “Ugh. You wouldn’t get it.”
And they wouldn’t. They never have.
Because nobody gets you and Hyuck. Not Yeji, not Lia, not even the therapists you’ve paid a concerning amount of money to explain it all to you. No amount of therapy or psychoanalysis can remove the him-shaped hole inside of you. The way he exists like a second heartbeat.
How many times does a person truly get to fall in love? Not the practical kind. But the kind that rewires you completely. That makes you wonder how you ever existed before this person, and fear who you might become after. 
If love were fair—the answer would be simple. Once. Only ever once.
Because to love someone—truly love someone—is not just to hand over your heart. It’s to fold it delicately, wrap it in every part of your soul, and place it willingly in that person’s pocket. Trusting that they won’t ever give it back frayed or barely beating. 
And if they do (and he definitely did) well, what remains might resemble a heart, but it never beats the same again. You don’t think it ever will.
So yes. One love. One person. One boy—him.
Yeji calls it nostalgia. Says that since he was your first everything, it feels bigger than it was, and that’s why he’s taking up too much space inside your chest. She says you're scared of forgetting. But that’s not it.
You’d give anything to forget. It’s better than remembering everything. Of living in a world where he’s everywhere and nowhere all at once. Where songs feel like him. Where movies feel like him. Where your own body sometimes feels like him because he’s marked it so damn much.
But if you did move on, if you could—you’d still have to ask yourself: where does all that breathless, foolish, all-consuming love go? 
The common consensus is that love turns to hate when it stays too long without being fed. But you can’t imagine a universe cruel enough to make you hate the very boy who made you believe in soulmates.
So you don’t hate him. Even though you should.
“Fine,” Yeji slumps back in her chair, arms crossed, eyes sharp with that familiar fury she reserves exclusively for you—when you’re being like this. “You’re right. I don’t get it. I don’t get why you’re still in cahoots with the same boy who cheated on you and left you a complete mess.”
Lia gasps. “Yeji!”
But the thing is—Yeji has a point. And you know that. But knowing something and truly understanding it is two different things. 
You don’t understand how he put his hands on someone else. How his mouth touched a body that wasn’t yours. How he delivered that line—“I didn’t mean for it to happen”—with the kind of ease that made you wonder just how many times he’d practised it in the mirror before he had the balls to actually tell you. 
You didn’t understand, yet you knew all the same.
You were wearing his shirt when he told you. Still in his house. Still in the space you thought was yours too. And all you could think was: how many nights did he lie next to you like nothing was wrong? How many times did he touch you with hands that had already betrayed you?
He never told you when, or who. Just a sorry. A soft one. A useless one. And a vague promise that he’d do anything to fix it.
But there are some things sorry can’t fix.
You clear your throat, suddenly too aware of how loud your heartbeat feels in a room full of people who love you enough to hate him.
“Because we’re not in cahoots,” you correct. “We’re friends, Yej. Him and I have always been friends.”
It’s not a lie. Not exactly. 
You have been friends with Hyuck ever since he moved in next door to your family when you were six. And even then—when you climbed trees and shared crayons—you think your heart was already beating for him. So much you don’t know what life is without that pulse anymore. Without a hint of him running beneath your skin.
It’s why you plaster on a smile and say, “In fact, I even invited him to my birthday party next week.”
They look at you, eyes full of pity and sympathy. And that hurts way more than him breaking you ever did. Because now your friends are staring at you like you’re some sad, shattered, pathetic thing he left behind.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lia asks weakly. 
“You’re seriously a lunatic,” Yeji cuts in before you can respond. “You’re just dragging this out for yourself. Death by a thousand cuts and all that.”
“I am not a lunatic,” you say, shrugging her off. “It’s just... he’s still part of my life. It’s not like I’m inviting a stranger.”
“He fucked up your life,” she huffs, the words stinging. “He hurt you.”
“Yes,” you breathe. “But I love him anyway, don’t I?”
And you do. Because some loves don’t end—they just rearrange themselves. 
Yeji yanks her chair back so hard the legs screech against the floor.
“He’s gonna hurt you again,” she spits. “How many times are you gonna let him rip you apart before there’s nothing left? Before you’ve sacrificed yourself and everyone else around you and you’ve got nothing left to give?”
You want to say something, but the words get stuck, because she’s right.
Lia reaches out, “Yeji—”
“If he’s there next week, Y/N,” she says, eyes burning over her shoulder looking from you to Lia, “then I won’t be.”
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When Hyuck got a DM from the only girl he’s ever loved—two days ago, now—he sobered.
Which, if you asked Mark, was some kind of divine miracle. Because Mark had been watching his best friend drink himself into oblivion for the better part of a year. A slow, intentional kind of fucked up that was clearly a desperate, pathetic attempt to forget you.
But no shot, no spirit, no stranger’s skin pressed to his could ever do the trick. Not really. Because no matter how hard Hyuck tried, the hangover was always the same: he’d wake up, and you still weren’t his girl.
So when he saw your username light up his phone, he paused. 
Because the preview didn’t give anything away. It did that annoying thing that said “2 new messages.” No hint. No breadcrumb. Just a loaded gun of a notification staring up at him.
And, of course he clicked it. He had to. You knew he would. You’d sent two back-to-back messages on purpose—he’s certain of it. Because that’s exactly the kind of person you were. Always two steps ahead. Always orchestrating even your vulnerability. 
You wanted to see when he’d read it. 
And he did.
At 2:36 a.m. Because you’d definitely be asleep by then. And that meant he had enough time to draft the right response—measured, brisk, detached—like the past year hadn’t cracked him open.
He read it in the half-light of Mark’s living room, surrounded by people he didn’t really like and a bottle of something he couldn’t quite remember picking up.
hey. i’m having a thing next friday for my birthday—just a chill party. nothing major. 
you can come, if you want.
Hyuck stares at the two messages.
It’s not because of the party. He couldn’t care less about the cake or the candles. That’s not what has his heart in his throat. It’s the fact that—for the first time in a year—you actually reached out. None of that accidentally bumping into each other nonsense you two pull. No one buys that it’s an accident. 
At least, it’s not an accident on his behalf.
It’s not an accident when he keeps frequenting the same coffee shop you once claimed made the best lattes in the city—always at the same time. It’s not a coincidence when he drives through your favourite places on rainy days, just in case you need a ride and are too proud to just call him. And it’s definitely not a coincidence that makes him take the long way to your house. He does it deliberately. He selfishly takes more of your time than he deserves.
Because saying goodbye wasn’t an option for him. Not until it had to be. He’d take prolonged suffering. Death by a thousand cuts.
And it’s not his fault. Well. It is. All of the ruin, anyway. But in the twelve months since he blew it all up, you’ve still lingered. You always do. You always will. So he just keeps showing up in your life when he knows you need to move on. Because he doesn’t want you to. 
Because everything in his life is still half-yours. And he won’t board up the windows of that love—not even now. Not when some part of you still flickers inside it, and half of his heart is still in your chest.
Hyuck stares at your message again. He types something. Deletes it. Types something else. Deletes that too.
what kind of thing is it?
Too uninterested.
who’s gonna be there?
Too nosy.
sure, if you want me there.
Too honest. 
Everything felt like a trap—too much, too little, not enough to win you back, but equally too honest and would remind you of his actions that hurt you. 
How was he supposed to respond to the girl who once memorised every mole on his face? Who was the muse of every song he’s written? Who still makes his hands shake on the keyboard? Who he cheated on? Who he destroyed completely? 
Eventually he landed on:
might swing by, angel. happy early birthday, btw.
He hit send before he could change his mind.
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11:27PM
Thirty-three minutes left of your birthday, but you’re not celebrating.
Instead, you’re sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter with one leg dangling, the other tucked beneath you, whilst your dress wrinkles and bunches around your thighs because you stopped caring how ruined you looked an hour ago.  
You don’t care that your lipstick is all but gone or that your mascara is smudged under both eyes. You don’t care because he’s not here. 
You were supposed to be smiling by now. 
But he didn’t walk in. 
He still hasn’t.
And you don’t even know why you’re surprised. He’s not your boyfriend. He’s not your baby. He’s not your Hyuck anymore. He doesn’t owe you a goddamn thing—not a happy birthday, or his time. You gave that privilege up the night you stopped being his. Or maybe the night he stopped being yours. You still haven’t decided which one came first.
Still, you hoped he would come. 
It was the only thing keeping you remotely sane—delusional hope that he might still show up. That maybe he’d walk through the door like he hadn’t betrayed you and still want you. You still wanted him. 
You hated that he broke you and still got to keep the pieces. Hated that even now, on your birthday, all you could think about was him. Hated that you still wanted his birthdays, his weekends, his forever. 
You take another drink. Cheaper vodka this time, and let it burn your throat as it goes down. You want the sting. You deserve the sting. Your eyes drift (again) to the front door.
Still nothing.
“You need to stop doing that,” Lia pads barefoot into the kitchen, coming right behind you to smack both her hands on your shoulders. “Stop watching that door like a hawk. Yeji would kill you if she saw you pining after him on your birthday.”
You press your lips together and glance away like you’ve been caught red-handed. Because, well. You have.
“Yeah, well. Yeji isn’t here,” you mutter, taking another sip—longer this time. 
Lia raises an eyebrow. “And why’s that?”
You drain the last of your drink and look her straight in the eye. “Because I invited him.”
Lia looks at you expectantly. You know she hates being caught between you and Yeji, but it’s clear she thinks you were wrong to invite Hyuck tonight, knowing full well how Yeji would react.
And maybe she’s right.
That’s why you sigh.
“Look, he said he might come,” you say finally. “He didn’t promise anything. Yeji was overreacting.”
“He never promises,” Lia says gently. “And yet, you keep prioritising him like he’s still that sweet boy we both used to love, who used to buy your favourite cookies before class, or pick fights with the boys who made fun of you. But he’s not that boy anymore, Y/N. And he’s not yours anymore either.”
You flinch.
She notices. Regrets it. “Sorry.”
You shake your head. “It’s fine.”
But it isn’t, not really. Because this is the first birthday he’s missed since you were kids. Since you were eleven and he showed up with a homemade card. 
It’s not fine because his absence would say something that the cheating weirdly never quite did—that he’s not the boy you fell in love with. Maybe he hasn’t been for a long time.
Lia leans against the counter beside you. “It’s allowed, you know? Being hurt.”
“I don’t get to be,” you reply, glancing at her. “He doesn’t owe me anything anymore. I was the one who didn’t want to forgive him that night. I said I was done. I don’t expect him to grovel forever.”
“No,” she agrees. “But you deserved something. More than a half-assed apology at least.”
That lands in your chest harshly. You press your tongue to your cheek, the way you do when you’re trying not to cry. You’re not drunk enough to cry yet. Give it another hour.
“Come on,” Lia sighs and wraps an arm around your shoulders, tugging you into her side, “I’m not letting you stay in here staring at that door and giving him the power to ruin the rest of your birthday.” 
But even as she says it, your eyes flicker to that door again—still no him.
Lia doesn’t let go of your hand as she leads you out of the kitchen and into the living room, where people are scattered across the sofas and floors. They all feel like strangers at your own party because you’ve spent the whole night looking for one person who never came. 
“Y/N,” Lia says, squeezing your hand, “this is Hyunjae.”
You blink. The boy in front of you is pretty. Dark eyes, strong jaw softened by the curve of a perfect smile, black hair pushed back sexily. He’s holding a drink loosely in his hand as his eyes sweep over you. 
“Happy birthday,” he says. “You look—”
Please don’t say beautiful. Please don’t say gorgeous. Please don’t say anything he would’ve said.
“—pretty,” Hyunjae finishes. “Really fucking pretty.”
You smile. Or try to. “Thanks.”
And look, it’s not that Hyunjae isn’t nice—he is. You can already hear Yeji telling you to give him a chance. He’s the kind of boy who’d text back, who’s safe, who’d never leave you staring at a door wondering if he’ll show up on your birthday or not. Hyunjae is the kind of boy who wouldn’t cheat on you. 
But the truth is, you don’t know if you can be the girl who lets someone call her pretty and fawn anymore. Not without wondering if they’ll still mean it once they see someone better, shinier, hotter than you. 
Just like he did. 
You nod along when Hyunjae talks. You laugh where you’re supposed to. Play nice. Be sweet. But everything he says sounds like static. Everything he is feels like a placeholder. 
And then, you hear it. That deep, honey-smooth, familiar voice saying: “Happy birthday, angel.”
It slices through the room. Through you.
Because there’s only one person who ever called you that. One boy. Lee Donghyuck.
You didn’t even hear the front door open. Typical. But there he is, leaning in the doorway, all tan skin and messy hair. His hands are buried in his pockets, his jaw set tight—too tight, like he’s seconds from grinding his teeth into dust. 
But it’s not you he’s looking at. It’s Hyunjae. Sitting far too close. Arm tossed lazily behind you on the couch, thigh pointing into yours, almost grazing like he owns your space. 
And Hyuck notices. You know he notices.
His eyes narrow. Lips parting slightly as his tongue presses against the inside of his cheek. You know that look. You’ve seen it before. That blend of heat and hurt and possessiveness he has no right to anymore.
It hits your chest all at once—shame, hurt, lust—and you fumble. Your hand twitches with the red plastic cup still clutched tight. The drink tilts before you even realise it’s slipping. Cranberry vodka sloshes, causing sticky, cold liquid to spill down the front of your dress, dripping into the neckline. 
“Fuck—” you hiss, jerking upright as the cup lands onto the coffee table. You paw uselessly at the now soaked fabric, trying to blot it with the hem of your sleeve, but it’s only smearing it worse.
Hyunjae starts to reach for a napkin, concerned. But your eyes have already found Hyuck’s again. And the way he’s looking at you now…
Your throat goes dry. “I—I’m gonna go change.”
You don’t wait for a reply. You’re moving before anyone can stop you, heart hammering against your ribs because this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. 
You barely make it up the stairs, breath coming fast, fingers trembling as you reach for the door to your room. You close it. But you don’t get the chance to lock it. Because the door creaks again behind you. And then it clicks shut. You spin around. And there he is.
You don’t say anything at first. 
Just stalk over to your wardrobe like it’s perfectly sane to have your ex-boyfriend—your ex-best friend, the boy you used to see every single day, the only boy you’ve ever slept with, the only person who knows all the tells on your body, the boy you still love—in your bedroom for the first time in over a year.
You wrench the closet door open. A pair of heels fall out and land with a little thud. You don’t flinch. You pretend to rifle through hangers, but you’re not looking for anything specific. All of it is just something to do with your hands, because looking at him right now would be a sick kind of torture.
“What are you doing here!?”
Hyuck doesn’t respond immediately. Instead, you only hear the soft thud of his shoes on your floor, the creak of your floorboard by the dresser. He’s closer than you want him to be.
“You invited me,” he says, like it’s obvious.
You spin around. “I invited you to my birthday party. Which started five hours ago.”
He lifts his phone, the screen glowing in the dark. “As far as I’m aware,” he says, tapping it once, “you’ve still got thirteen minutes left. So again, happy birthday, angel.”
You stiffen. 
There it is. That.
That fucking word. The one that used to make you feel warm and wanted. Now it feels like an insult wrapped in silk.
“Don’t call me that.”
That stops him. Just for a second. Then, slowly, he lowers the phone. Shoves it back into his pocket.
“I thought you liked it when I called you that.”
“I used to like it,” you spit. “Back when it meant something. You know, before you fucked someone else behind my back.”
His jaw tightens. Good, you think. The truth hurts; you hope it hurts. And maybe that makes you cruel. But then again, he was cruel first.
He rubs his jaw, then exhales. “We’re really doing this now?”
You laugh dryly. “Oh, sorry. Would you prefer we pencil it in for next week instead? Talk about it over brunch sometime, yeah?”
You turn back to your wardrobe, suddenly too irritated. Your fingers find the old grey hoodie you always loved. It looks soft. Comfortable. Definitely not party appropriate. But you don’t care because you don’t want to go back out there. Not after this.
You peel your dress off in one motion, leaving you in the black lace set you picked out this morning—because it was your birthday. Not for anyone else. Not for a boy. Certainly not for him.
Him. 
You forget for a moment that he’s still behind you.
It’s like your brain short-circuits in his presence. Like it still confuses this boy for the lifeline he used to be. Like your heart can’t shout loud enough to warn you: this boy broke us, this boy hurt us, this boy is bad for us. All it says is: this boy is Hyuck. This boy is sweet. This boy—we love.
You only remember when you hear him inhale—sharply—and turn around. 
He’s looking at you like that again. Like he did back when he loved you, and you loved him, and he hadn’t ruined everything yet. He looks hungry, and like the only thing that might satisfy him is you. 
That thought makes you clutch the hoodie to your chest. “Turn around!”
He does. Obediently. But then: 
"So, did you wear that for me?"
His voice is so annoyingly smug it makes you roll your eyes as you reply. “No.”
But your cheeks betray you. Hot. Guilty. Flushed. Thank god his back is still to you, because if he turned around now and looked at you, he’d know. Because he knows all your tells. Always has.
And from just a simple flush, he’d know that yes, you wore this set for him. That yes, despite pretending you were over him in his Instagram comments, your traitorous heart had hoped that he might come tonight and rip the set off of you.
And just in case he caught your second tell (the tremor in your voice), you twist the knife a little more.
“I wore this set for Hyunjae, actually.”
A silence. Then the fucker starts laughing.
Not a little laugh. A full-bodied, head thrown back, belly laugh. You hate how much you’ve missed that sound, how it still makes your stomach flip. 
“Five minutes ago, I might’ve believed that, angel,” he says, turning slightly. Just enough for you to catch the outline of his grin. “And it would’ve driven me fucking crazy.”
Your heart stutters when he nods toward your chest.
“But I wasn’t talking about your underwear,” he says, eyes dipping lower. 
You follow his gaze down to the delicate gold chain resting just above the swell of your breasts. The one with the tiny heart pendant. The one with the H engraving. 
“I was talking about that necklace. The one I bought you for your sixteenth birthday,” He cocks his head. Smirking now. “Did you wear it for me?”
Your fingers fly to it instinctively. You hadn’t taken it off. Not even after finding out. You always wore it underneath your clothes, tucked away like a secret, because Yeji would have a field day if she knew you still wore his necklace.
But in the heat of the moment, stripping down to your underwear, your brain hadn’t realised that he’d see it again. 
“I thought I told you to turn around,” you snap, furious with yourself.
He lifts his hands defensively. “I am turned around.”
“I meant your head, not just your body, Hyuck.”
And so he does, again. Obediently.
You pull the hoodie on. It swallows you immediately. The sleeves dangle past your hands, the hem skims your thighs, and it smells like dust and weirdly like…the boy behind you.
“I’m decent,” you mutter.
He turns around, eyes flicking down before he smiles. Not smug, this time. Just soft and… a little sad?
“That’s mine.”
You roll your eyes, tugging at the sleeves. “No it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is. It’s massive on you. And unless you’ve got a secret stash of men’s hoodies in your closet, that one’s mine.”
You glare. “Oh yeah? And who says I don’t have a collection of men’s hoodies in my closet?”
“I do.”
 So fast. So sure.
You scoff, a single sharp laugh. “God, you think so highly of yourself.”
He crosses his arms—all tensed jaw and too-tight t-shirt—and it’s irritating, how stupidly good he looks whilst being smug.
“Yeah,” he says, deadpan. “I do. Because, despite us being broken up, you still wear my necklace.”  He nods toward your nightstand.  “You still have a photo of us beside your bed.” And then, one step closer. “And you fucking invited me here tonight.”
You lift your chin. “I invited everyone. It was a mass text.”
“Funny,” he says, a fake smile forming, “Mark didn’t get a text.”
“Aww,” you coo, mocking. “You still talk to your friends about me, Hyuck? Christ. Now I’m gonna start thinking highly of myself.”
“You should.”
For some reason, those two simple words hit you like a slap across the face. Because no.
“You don’t get to do that!” you snap at him. “You don’t get to tell me I should think highly of myself when you’re the exact reason I can’t even imagine the top anymore, Hyuck!” You laugh bitterly. “I don’t know my worth because you had me. But you wanted something else.”
And in that moment—maybe it’s your tone, or maybe it’s accountability—a flash of hurt crosses his face, that makes him wince. 
“Y/N, angel…” His voice cracks a little on your name, as he runs a hand through his hair. “Fuck! It was one mistake. You don’t understand—”
But you don’t want to hear it. You’ve already heard it.
You hold up a hand, stopping him from wasting his breath. “I don’t want to understand anything about the night you decided to fuck another girl, thank you very much, Hyuck.”
“Of course, I get that but—”
“But?”  you raise an eyebrow in disbelief. 
“Yes, but, Y/N,” he fires back. “Because I don’t know what you want from me. You say you don’t want to forgive me—and I get it. I don’t deserve your forgiveness.” He’s pacing now. “But you string me along. You comment on my posts, you let me drive you home, you still have my fucking hoodies—”
His eyes flick down to the one you’re wearing now, oversized and drooping around the neckline to show that gold chain. 
“—you wear my initials around your neck, and you asked me to come tonight—you. And now you’re mad that I’m here?”
His voice rises and you swallow—hard. Like maybe if you keep swallowing, you’ll stop the tears from climbing all the way up your throat. Because it’s all too raw. All of it. Him. You.This.
He’s unraveling in front of you. And even though you know—deep in your bones—that he doesn’t have the right to be this angry, a part of you gets it. Because this awful, splintered, aching love you have for him is confusing. It’s contradictory. It fucks with your brain so much that it doesn’t matter that you’re hurting because he’s hurting too. 
And that’s all you can focus on.
It’s like you said:  nobody gets you and Hyuck. 
“I don’t know what you want from me, angel,” he says again, quieter this time. He takes a slow step forward. Close enough to reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, like he used to.
His hand lingers.
“I don’t know what you want,” he breathes, “but if you tell me—I’ll give it to you.”
Your breath stutters. Your throat tightens.
And then, so quiet you almost miss it: “Because. I. Love. You.”
You close your eyes. You don’t want to. You don’t even mean to. But those three words wrap around you tight. 
“Don’t,” your voice cracks. “Don’t say that to me, Hyuck. Not after everything.”
When you open your eyes again, they’re full of tears. Angry ones. Bitter ones. Hopeful ones too—because you’re weak, and stupid, and still a little bit in love with a boy who shattered you.
“I mean it,” he says instantly. His hand twitches at his side—you see it. He wants to touch you. Wants to wipe your tears like he used to because he hates them. But he doesn’t know if he has permission anymore. (He does, but he doesn’t know he does.)
“I’ve always meant it.”
“Then why’d you throw it all away?” You spit the words out like poison. “Why did you ruin us for a quick fuck?”
“I don’t know,” he breathes, stepping back. “But I do know I hurt you. And I’ll hate myself for that forever. But I never stopped loving you. Not for a second.”
You laugh. But it sounds more like a sob. “You have a funny way of showing love.”
“I know.”
“You know everything,” you say, “except why you did it.”
A beat passes. Two. Three.
“You should go,” you whisper. “The party’s over. You’ve said what you needed to say. And I thought I could do this but I can’t.”
“No.”
Your eyes fly to his. He’s shaking his head, tongue in his cheek again as he sniffs.
“No,” he says again “I’m not leaving us like this.”
“I don’t want you here.”
“Liar.”
“Hyuck—”
“You want me to say it again?” he asks, voice rising just slightly. Not angry. Only desperate. “You want me to beg? Fine. I will. I’ll fucking get on my knees if that’s what it takes.”
And then, to your absolute horror, he does. 
“Hyuck, stop—”
“I’m sorry,” he chokes out. “I’m sorry for everything. For all of it. For her. For the lies. For shattering everything good we ever had. But I love you, Y/N. And I’m not sorry for that. I’ll never be sorry for that.”
You’re trying to stay angry. Trying to hold onto the rage but it’s slipping. Because you want him. You love him.
He’s still on his knees. Still looking up at you. Still pleading. You wish he’d just stand up. You wish he didn’t look so much like the boy you fell in love with instead of the man who broke you.
“Please,” he says again.“I know I don’t get to ask. But I’m asking anyway. I’m asking because I love you. I never stopped. I swear to God, I never—”
“Stop it,” you say, too fast.
It feels like your chest caves in. Because the thing about love is: it’s loud. Louder than hurt. Especially right now. You love him so much you could scream. But instead, you drop down to your knees. Right there in front of him. And before you know it, your hands are reaching for him. Stupid, traitorous things.
“Stop,” you whisper. “Please, stop.”
But he doesn’t.
Of course he doesn’t.
Because he’s Hyuck. And Hyuck never knows when to shut up.
“I know I ruined it,” he’s saying. “I know I don’t deserve a second chance. I wouldn’t forgive me either. I wouldn’t. But I can’t stop loving you. I’ve tried. God, I’ve tried so hard. I’ve kissed girls who weren’t you and I’ve gone home wanting to claw off my own skin.”
You suck in a breath.
“You don’t have to forgive me now. Or ever. Just let me prove it. Let me try. I’ll wait. I’ll wait for you for fucking ever, I swear—”
You’re kissing him. 
You have no idea why, but it just feels like you have to. Because you physically can’t not. Because the love of your life, him, is bleeding out in front of you and you’re the only one who knows how to stop it.
And when your mouth crahses into his, it tastes like heartbreak and history and every stupid, selfish thing he’s ever done. But you keep kissing him. Because just as much as it hurts—it feels like home. Like you’ve finally been returned to the place you belong. Like his lips have been waiting for yours all this time. 
He’s kissing you back just as fiercely. Like he might die if he doesn’t. And maybe he would. Maybe you would too.
You don’t know who moves first. You think it’s you, but maybe it’s him. You’re both equally desperate—lunging backward until his back knocks against the foot of your bedframe and you’re straddling his hips. 
His hands find your waist, landing heavy and possessive around you. But you don’t mind, because your fingers tangle in his hair, tugging just hard enough to make him groan into your mouth—and God, you missed that sound. Missed him like oxygen.
His mouth moves to your neck, lips skimming every slither of skin he can reach, greedily not wanting to miss a single piece of you since he’s trying to make up for all the parts he used to take for granted. And you tilt your head back, giving him that access, because you’ve never been able to deny him anything.
“Tell me you’re still mine,” he breathes against your skin, half-choked.
You should tell him no. Should tell him he doesn’t get to ask things like that—not when he gave himself away so easily. Not now when he’ll never solely be yours like you’re solely his. 
But your heart is so tired and so in love it’s ridiculous, so instead you whisper: “I never stopped being yours.”
And then he’s kissing you again—deeper, this time. Until he pulls away and his forehead presses to yours, and he pants against your lips. “Let me love you,” he begs. “Please. Let me love you right this time.”
He feels solid beneath you. It’s making your brain fuzzy. It’s making you whimper.
“Okay,” you pant, tugging harder at those soft brown strands, as your hips shift and grind down against him, making him groan lowly. 
His hands clamp tighter around your waist, dragging you down harder, closer, like he’s trying to fuse you to him. And suddenly your skin feels too tight. You’re too aware of the clothes between you—what little there is.
Because you didn’t put on pants. Just that hoodie of his over your pathetic pair of black panties—thin, useless fabric—and now your pussy is rubbing right up against the thick outline of him through his jeans, and it’s overwhelming. You can feel absolutely everything you’ve missed.
Heat blooms in your stomach and you roll your hips again. It’s so shameless. So needy. But you don’t care. Not when it’s been this long. Not when it’s his fault it’s been this long—because you never would’ve let it be anyone else.
And he meets you in it. Each grind matched with one of his own, more harsh than the last. Until his hips are moving on impulse, chasing you like a man starved. His head drops to your shoulder, and his breath stutters. 
“Fuck, angel, slow down,” he chokes, “You’re killing me.”
You press your lips to his temple, to his jaw, anywhere you can reach, and whisper, breathless, “You deserve it.”
He groans—louder this time—like he agrees.
His hands slide beneath your hoodie, fingers splayed wide, dragging up the warm skin of your back like he’s relearning it. 
“I can’t believe this is happening again,” he breathes into your neck. “You can’t be real.”
But you are. You’re right here. Straddling him. Shaking for him. Letting him touch you like he never stopped having the right to.
He kisses your collarbone. Then lower—your sternum, the tops of your breasts, the edge of lace peeking from beneath his hoodie. His hoodie. That fact alone seems to snap something inside him.
“Fuck,” he mutters, and then he’s pushing the fabric up and up and up, until it pools around your ribs and the cold air hits your bare stomach. You shiver. 
“Take it off,” he murmurs. “Please. Want to see you.”
You raise your arms, let him peel it over your head, and suddenly you’re half-naked in his lap—wearing nothing but that black set you wanted him to rip off, then didn’t, then did… and now, he is. Fingers working at the clasp, slipping the straps from your shoulders and tossing the bra aside in your room somewhere.
And then, he takes his time letting his eyes drag over you. Taking a sick pride in seeing his initial rest in the valley of your breast. 
“Jesus,” he whispers. “You’re still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
And something about that word—still—makes your stomach twist.
Your arms fold over your boobs on instinct, shielding yourself from the one person you’ve always felt safest with. Because still means there’s someone else now. Someone he’s looked at. Someone he’s touched. Someone you had to beat—and somehow did.
But you shouldn’t have had to.
He notices the shift immediately—how your arms cross, how your body goes stiff, how the room, warm just a second ago, chills.
“Hey. Hey,” he says, brows furrowing. He cups your face, thumbs brushing just beneath your eyes. “Talk to me, angel. What’s wrong? What happened?”
You’re still straddling him, half-naked, kissed raw and dizzy, and yet you feel like you’re a million miles away. You try to speak, to explain, but the words choke you. How do you tell him something he’s never known? How do you make him understand? You’ve never done this to him before—and just knowing how much it hurts—you don’t think you ever could.
“I just—” your voice cracks. “I can’t stop thinking about her.”
He flinches—just enough for you to know it landed. But he doesn’t pull away.
The thing is, he doesn’t say her name. Doesn’t even mention her. Never has. But she’s here. Right here. In this room. Your room. In the silence. In his presence.
He shakes his head like he’s trying to wipe the thought away. “No. No, don’t do that. Don’t think about her. This—” his hands cup your face tighter, gently desperate, “—this is you and me. Always you.”
Your jaw clenches, your eyes sting. “Then why wasn’t it only me?”
He swallows hard, his gaze dropping to your lips before flickering away. He doesn’t answer—of course he doesn’t. He never does. And that’s been half the war between you. He doesn’t want to tell you the why.
Instead, his hands drift from your face to your waist, pulling you in like proximity might somehow make up for his silence. Like touch could smother your insecurities. 
His breath ghosts over your skin as he leans in.“Forget her. Just for now. Right here, right now, it’s only you. Only us.”
You hate that you melt. Hate that the ache in your chest loosens its grip the second his hands coax your arms from where you’d folded them. Hate that even after everything, he still knows how to make you feel safe inside the wreckage he caused.
He’s infuriating.
“Let me show you,” he whispers. “That it’s always only been you for me.”
His hands skim up your sides, thumbs brushing delicately beneath your tits. His eyes never leave yours—not for a second—as he kneads and explores and feels your body in his palm. And then his mouth follows.
Lips warm, slightly chapped, close around your right nipple. Your breath punches out of you. You can’t help it because his tongue flicks once, then again, then again until your spine arches and pushes the bud further into his mouth.
“Hyuck,” you moan, helpless, feeling the curve of his smirk drag against your skin.
His free hand trails up your other side, rolling the neglected peak between calloused fingers so deliciously because he remembers exactly what used to make you fall apart, and now he’s hell-bent on proving he hasn’t forgotten.
“God, you’re fucking unreal,” he murmurs against your skin, then bites gently, just enough to make you gasp. 
His words make you ache. Everywhere. Especially between your legs, where you’re still pressed tight against the thick, unrelenting shape of him through his jeans. And he hasn’t even touched you there yet, but it’s coming—you know it is. 
His mouth keeps going, warm and wet whilst he stays sucking just hard enough to turn your bones to water. And whenever you whimper he groans. 
“Please, Hyuck,” you plead. “Need more.”
He lifts his head, murmuring, “Yeah? You want me to show you how much I missed you?”
You nod, dizzy. 
“Fuck,” he groans and wastes no time lifting you off the floor like it’s nothing, carrying you to your bed. He lays you down gently, spreads you out beneath him like something precious. And then he peels off his t-shirt.
That tan skin—scattered with moles you’ve memorised, counted, traced with your fingers and your mouth—is on full display, just for you.
“I’ll give you everything,” he says, voice low as he drops to his knees, crawling between your legs. “Absolutely everything. As long as you don’t regret this. Don’t regret me.”
Your fingers sink into his hair before you can think. “I won’t,” you whisper. “Couldn’t.”
And then he dips down.
His mouth finds the inside of your thigh, open-mouthed kisses dragging tantalisingly up your skin. He’s not rushing. He never does when he gives head. It’s his favourite thing to savour. You. On his tongue.
“You’ve no idea how long I’ve thought about this,” he murmurs, nipping at your skin, making you gasp. “How many times I’ve had to stop myself from texting. From begging you to take me back.”
“Who said anything about taking you back?” You say, hips shifting, dying for friction, but he pins them with strong hands, keeping you right where he wants you. 
“I did,” he says, a smirk ghosting over his lips. “Am I wrong, Y/N? Because if I am, we can stop right now?”
“No,” you whine on a trembling breath.
He smiles. “I didn’t think so.”
Then, finally, finally—his mouth finds the place you need him most.
He licks a slow stripe up your center, groaning from the taste of you in his mouth. He does it again, and then again, until your legs are trembling and one of your hands fists the sheets, the other tangled in his hair, pulling and tugging at it, just how he likes. Just how you like.
He flicks his tongue, circles it, moans when you cry out for more.
“God, you taste the same,” he says hoarsely. “Still fucking perfect.”
You try to respond, to say something, but then he sucks again, so hard, you almost shoot clean off the bed.
“Hyuck—please,” it’s half a sob, a half moan, one hundered percent completley ruined.
He growls, arms locking around your thighs to keep you still, mouth relentless as he licks and sucks and worships like this is his penance.
“Shit, Y/N,” he mutters between licks, “I missed how fucking responsive you are. Always so good for me.”
You whimper. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
“Not gonna,” he promises. “Not until you fall apart for me. Right here. Right now.”
He hums, the vibration making your stomach flutter, and you swear your heart forgets how to beat.
“Let me make you come,” he says, voice completely ruined now too. “Wanna feel you fall apart on my mouth. Please.”
And you do. You let him. Because you want this. Want him. Still. Always.
Your entire body coils, legs shaking, hands clawing at the sheets as your orgasm crashes through you. It’s shattering, making you cry out, his name falling from your lips repeatedly. 
Hyuck doesn’t stop. Not until your body finally slumps back to the mattress, boneless and trembling. Only then does he lift his head, lips wet and shiny. He crawls up your body, kissing your thigh, your stomach, the underside of your boobs, your jaw. Everywhere. Until he’s hovering over you, and you’re staring up at him, glassy-eyed and overwhelmed.
“You okay?” he whispers, brushing hair gently back from your face.
You nod, breath catching. “Yeah. I just... I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I never really left,” he says. “Even though I know I should have. I’m too damn selfish.”
Your throat tightens. You reach up, tracing his jaw with shaking fingers. “I want you to fuck me, Hyuck.”
He blinks, then his eyes darken. “You’re sure?”
You pull him down until your foreheads press again and then whisper a soft, “Yes.”
Then he kisses you. Slowly. Passionately in a way you know this about to be more than just fucking. It feels like the before. The soft. His hands coming up to your face, thumbs brushing your cheekbones. Everything so tender and full of love. 
And somewhere between the kiss and the forgetting, his pants are off. His boxers too. He’s about to fuck you completely raw—like he used to—and for a moment, your body almost lets him. Because it remembers. The blind trust. 
But this isn’t then. And that’s why you reach out, fingers curling gently around his forearm. Stopping him.
“Condom,” you whisper, cheeks flushing as you glance toward the nightstand.
Because it shouldn’t have to be like this. Back then, you were on the pill. You were his. He was yours. There was no one else. But now? Now you’ve had to share him—with her. Maybe with others too. 
He freezes. And for a second, you swear he looks gutted. But then he nods.
Wordlessly, he reaches into your nightstand, gets one open and rolls it on his cock. He doesn’t protest. He never would. Because it’s not the condom that guts him—it’s what it means. It’s that reminder that everything’s different now. And why. A barrier he put there himself because he was reckless, drunk, stupid and ungrateful. A consequence he crafted with his own hands.
But he doesn’t let that thought linger too long. The past is the past—he hates thinking about it. It’s what wrecked him. What wrecked this. What wrecked you.
Now, all he wants is the present. Not even the future. Just this. Just you. Because you’re here. Beneath him. Asking him to fuck you. You’re his—if only for now. And that’s enough.
He slides back over you. And for a second—just one—you both just… look.
You’re looking at him like maybe this could fix it. He’s looking at you like he knows it won’t. Sex doesn’t fix anything. It’s what broke you two in the first place if you really think about it . But he’s still doing it. And so are you.
He pushes inside of you slowly and your breath stutters, nails digging crescent moons into his biceps.
“Fucking hell,” he groans, voice tight and thick. “You feel like—”
“Home,” you whisper, beating him to it.
Because you do. And he does. And it’s pathetic. And perfect. And completely going to destroy you in the morning.
His forehead drops to yours and he lets out a shaky breath, like the kind that comes right before someone starts to cry. But he doesn’t cry—he moves. Gently. Tenderly. 
You cling to him, every nerve alight, oversensitive in that desperate, raw way that makes you breathless beneath him—letting him kiss you through it, through the pain, through the slow, aching stretch of him inside you. 
And in between those kisses and the thrusts and the way your fingers tangle in his hair again, he whispers:
“Missed you.”
“God, I missed you.”
“I’ll never stop being sorry.”
He fucks you like he’s trying to put you back together with every snap of his hips. And maybe he is.
So you let him.
You let him fuck you until you’re both a mess of moans and apologies and, fractured I love yous. Until you’re panting in time with each other. Until you’re cumming—together.
After, it’s quiet.
Not awkward or bitter or biting, but comfortable. You’re tangled in each other, limbs overlapping, as Hyuck brushes his nose against your temple. Eventually, he slips out of you, careful to not hurt you, but you flinch at the loss. He presses a kiss to your forehead, one to each cheek, and then he’s moving—disposing of the condom, finding his way back to your side. 
“Let’s shower,” he murmurs, thumb storoking your jaw. “Let me take care of you first. And after… we’ll talk, yeah?”
You don’t say anything—because you can’t. Your throat is raw from all the moaning and the whimpering. And also because you’re scared of the talking. Terrified, really. Of the hurting that’ll come with addressing it. 
So instead, you swallow and say softly, “I’ll be a minute. Just... need a sec before I move.”
He pauses, like he’s checking you over again, brows pinching. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Not in the way he means.
“No,” you whisper. “Just… been out of the game for a while.”
He pauses but doesn’t argue. Just leans in and presses the gentlest kiss to your cheek. 
“Okay,” he murmurs, brushing a damp strand of hair behind your ear. “I’ll start the shower.”
He slips out quietly, to the bathroom attached to your room. You hear the soft creak of the cabinets. He still remembers where everything is. 
And then—of course—his phone buzzes.
You glance over. You don’t mean to look. You really, really don’t. You know you shouldn’t if you wanna rebuild trust and whatever. It’s just…It’s on the floor, fallen from his jeans with the screen lighting up. 
It was taunting you. 
And anyway, he’s the one that broke your trust first. He’s the one that made you so paranoid. He’s the one who made you like this. 
Yeji
if i find out you went to that party tonight, hyuck, and didn’t tell her the truth, i will.
Your stomach drops straight through the mattress.
Another buzz.
Yeji
i’m serious. how long are you gonna keep it from her that it was lia you cheated on her with?
you’re ruining our friendship!
And suddenly you’re not warm anymore.
Suddenly you’re freezing. And hollow. And very, very awake and out of the afterglow sex haze. 
You can’t breathe.
You feel sick. 
Are you sick? Are you dying? Are you about to have a fucking panic attack?
Because it feels like something has clawed its way into your chest and is now eating you alive from the inside out.
Lia?
It all makes sense. It all echoes.
“That sweet boy we both used to love.”
“He’s not yours anymore.”
The door creaks again. Hyuck walks back in, towel slung low on his hips. Completely clueless. 
“You okay?” he asks, soft and smiling. “Shower’s warm.”
You don’t answer because your heart is hammering against your ribs and because you physically, viscerally, cannot breathe.
His smile falters, just a touch.
And then you say it.
One word. One name.
“Lia?”
You’re not even sure if you want to scream at him, or sob, or laugh—because how dare he. How dare he touch you like that, kiss you like that, look at you like that, when he knew—he fucking knew—he’d fucked your best friend and said nothing.
The same best friend who held you while you cried over him for a year. Who told you it wasn’t your fault. Who had her arms wrapped around you less than an hour ago trying to comfort you about him. 
You hold out his phone, pointing to the screen. “You fucked my best friend, Hyuck?”
He freezes. He lifts an arm reaching out towards you or towards his phone, you can’t tell. Probably the phone to see how much you know so he can spin it. Twist it. Try to manipulate this—manipulate you—again.
“Angel—”
“My name is Y/N.”
The words are a blade. His hand drops.
“Y/N,” he breathes, swallowing thickly, “it’s not what it looks like—”
But it is. You both know it. 
“Yeji seems to think it’s exactly what it sounds like.”
And then it hits you. All over again. Yeji knew. Your other best friend. She knew. 
Did everyone know? Everyone you loved? Everyone you trusted? Everyone you thought was safe? 
And suddenly your knees give out. You drop to the floor, spine hitting the edge of the bed on the way down, but you don’t even register the pain. You’re already somewhere else, hands trembling, vision blurry, gasping like there’s no oxygen. 
That fucking necklace around your neck—the one he gave you, the one you swore you'd never take off—isn’t fucking helping. So you rip it off. The chain snapping in your fist and you throw it. It lands at his feet. 
It’s the first time you’ve taken it off since you were sixteen.
“Y/N—”
Hyuck’s voice sounds panicked now. Hurting. He kneels in front of you, eyes wide, reaching for you—
“Don’t you dare touch me!”
You flinch so hard you nearly hit the nightstand. You can’t stand the idea of him touching you now, even though you know there isn’t a part of you he hasn’t touched.
He freezes. Arm stopping in the air. His face furrowed. And you know that face. The face from the night, the one carved from guilt and horror and regret—but it’s too late.
It’s so late.
You’re sobbing now. And it’s ugly—gasping and choking and curling up on the floor. 
“I—I didn’t mean for it to happen like that,” he whispers. “I never wanted to hurt you—”
You laugh. Actually laugh.
“You didn’t want to hurt me?” You shake your head, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand, spit and snot and mascara streaking your face.  “Hyuck, you fucked my best friend. And then you came here, tonight, and touched me like…like I was still yours.”
“You are—”
“No. No, I’m not!” You snap. “I don’t even know who I am right now. But I definitely am not—and never will be—yours again.”
“Please, Y/N,” he whispers. “Let me explain. It wasn’t—”
“You’ve had time to explain.” Your voice trembles, but the words are steel. “I gave you so much of myself. So much trust. So much love.” You swallow hard. “But it wasn’t enough, was it? You needed to fuck my best friend. And keep it from me. And somehow rope the other one into it too, so now—”
Your voice cracks.
“So now I can’t trust anyone.”
He opens his mouth, maybe to argue, maybe to lie, maybe to beg. But then he doesn’t. He doesn’t say a word. He just looks at you, regret written in every line of his stupid, beautiful face.
He doesn’t deny it. And that’s the last straw. You fold in on yourself. Arms wrapping tight around your knees as you bury your head and whisper: “I need you to leave.”
He doesn’t move.
You look up—eyes glassy, voice so quiet and weak.
“Get out, Hyuck. Now, please”
And this time, he listens. And you’re glad he listens. Because this time it feels different. This was it. The final fracture. Whatever you had with him? It’s dead now. You just wish you hadn’t kept it on life support for so long—wish you hadn’t clung so tightly to something already bleeding. 
That thousandth cut finally bled dry.
#it started of as girl you sound so desperate#and then i was like omg this was hyuck#so i was like omg all could be forgiven if its hyuck#seriously lost so much self respect there idk what happened i blacked out#i was just like if it was hyuck then i get it me too twin#but then i was having moments of conciousness where i was i hate men men are the worst they're evil to remind myself of the plot#literally if it was any other guy and irl i would never omg i would kms if i ever got into this#but lowkey i understand yn because they're childhood besties so she doesnt know herself without him which is why im scared of relationships#but it gets to a point#and then i was starting to feel some hope with hyuck i mean he's hyuck and he's hot asf so i was like its ok baby we can make this work#but then LIA???????? omg plot fucking twist literally threw my phone away because i couldn't believe it#poor yn#fuck hyuck fuck lia fuck yeji#lia is pure fucking evil fuck her omg that is so fucking twisted i thought she was so innocent and supportive#actually i did notice the “the boy we both knew and loved” and thought it was a lil sus but whatever I WAS RIGHT💔💔💔#i literally kept taking pinterest breaks and looking at hyuck to remind myself that this is the reason this is happening#and i was like it only makes sense me too#but then i had to lock in and think of what i actually believe in😭😭😭😭#“I’ll give you everything#“Absolutely everything. As long as you don’t regret this. Don’t regret me.”#this was genuinely insane i was shocked at the audacity but i was also like omg yes hyuck youre it for me bae#but this angst was so good havent read such angsty angst in so long the high i got from this was crazy#lowkey im really sad now because why was i ready to give myself up like that for a man💔💔💔 but its hyuckie🥹🐻🌻#the writing was so good idk why i expected it to be a happy ending so the twist was that much more brutal but im glad they didnt get back#at least not yet yn deserves better than all these friends especially lia fuck her#hope she moves to a new city and finds herself and happiness and hope hyuck is regretful and remorseful but fixes himself or something#hope lia suffers though and rots hope her pillow is always warm and her hair falls out or something idk but she's genuinely the evilest#like yes hyuck cheated and that's bad but on your bsf and she consoled you knowing that oh god id crash out#i could genuinely feel that out of body panic attack at the end poor yn idk how id function after that bc she's so dependent on hc#and now she's finding out all 3 of them betrayed her like that and ON HER BIRTHDAY OMG JUST REMEMEBERED
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craptainkirk · 2 months ago
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Taking a moment to say how pissed and stressed out i am that my dad has taken the day off
#Ive been wanting to make art but i went back to work after my vacation and im struggling with how little time i have#And i endured my dad being here the last 2 days and i just#Wasnt really able to make the art. I tried but i felt too scared and stressed out#I need to be able to feel the love and i just couldnt feel it because all the fear was there#So i get stuck in this dilemma where over10 hours or so go down the drain bc of work related things#But when im home i cant really relax either#Ive only been back at work for 3 days and my dad was home for 2 of them and im already at a point#Where i feel so stressed out that i feel like im losing my mind and havent slept (even though ive slept)#I regularly get to that point bc i have a lot of trauma and i just. Have a very very stressful life#I was off for 2 weeks finally relaxed and now i already feel like im losing my mind#Im really really really upset because#I felt all of this love and i wanted to make art. And having to wait the whole work day to be able to get home and do that is brutal#But at home i havent quite been able to either#And i feel powerless which has made my ocd worse. And when my ocd is worse i feel really really bad and my feelings are hard to bear#And i waited for my weekend to finally be able to maybe calm down and catch up with myself and do something i love to do#But my fucking dad is here. And i feel like a lunatic. And i feel so overwhelmed#It freaks me out when this happens bc when i feel love and when i wanna make art its a really really special thing#This phenomenon is why i pushed so hard to keep living for such a long time#And it finally comes and i feel like its slipping through my fingers like sand#For factors that feel like they are out of my control#I get really triggered around things i love leaving and not staying and having them fall apart because of some awful thing i cant control#This is a rerun of what happened when i was 4 years old. But Man. It doesnt get any fucking easier#I hate living with my parents. Theres never any certainty that anything can really be yours#Because one of them can just decide to do something that triggers you so so badly all day long and just wrench the joy from your hands#Now ive been trying to really sit with my feelings. I mean really sit with them. But it's like being on a mechanical bull#And sometimes i fly off!!!!!!
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rebloggingrexan · 5 months ago
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this scene was one the franchise creator had wanted to write all his career
Things that I SWEAR I'm not making up about the Star Trek franchise:
A shifty alien bartender, his brother, and his nephew were what happened at Roswell
There are three mutually contradictory canonical explanations for what exists at the centre of the Galaxy, none of which are "A fuck-off gigantic black hole"
Two of these things are, respectively, God and the Devil
(The crew got along well enough with the Devil, but Spock had to blow-up God with a torpedo)
One of the most compelling and sympathetic characters in the franchise is a hologram of Professor Moriarty who gained enough self-awareness to realise that he didn't need to be evil just because he was written that way
If you fly too fast, you turn into a salamander
(Said salamanders are actually the inevitable endpoint of human evolution)
The universe is balanced on the back of a giant koala (why is it smiling? What does it know!?)
There have been three separate groups of Space Nazis (not just aliens with a fascist government; literal Nazis with armbands and swastikas)
There are also: two (2) cowboy planets, two (2) planets that are just post-apocalyptic versions of Cold War-era Earth, one (1) planet ruled by Chicago mobsters from the 1920s, and one (1) version of Earth where the Roman Empire never fell
The Roman planet has its own Jesus
There is an anthropological law governing parallel planetary development that holds that planets are likely to recapitulate eras from Earth history
Because of the intervention of an ancient race of ur-humanoids, most sentient races in the galaxy look like human actors with rubber prostheses glued to their foreheads
There are so many planets centred around sex and hedonism that people in the fandom use the term "Roddenberry Sex Planet" to describe them
Jack the Ripper was an alien ghost
Amelia Earhart was abducted by aliens
If you have a high ESP score, you turn into a god when you try to fly outside of the Galaxy
The major antagonists are: Space Vikings/Samurai, Space Romans (not the Romans mentioned earlier), Space Fascists (not any of the nazi groups mentioned earlier), the Space British Empire (ruled by goo people), and Space Bees (except you'll turn into one if they sting you)
Klingons have two dicks
Borg assimilation can be catalyzed by eating car batteries
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umamaki · 5 months ago
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cw: lowk red flag caleb lol, virginity loss
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Caleb is pissed when you get asked out for the first time. He had deliberately warned everyone in both of your social circles to stay away from you. Not without threats of violence or death, either. So yeah, he’s pissed as fuck when you tell him. Did he have to burn the whole world down merely to keep you all to himself? To protect you from perverts and creeps?
But, unfortunate and naive, you were so damn excited for this date. He couldn’t spoil your mood. Not when you asked him which dress to wear—both of them too short for his liking—and certainly not when you asked him to zip up the back for you.
There was just something about how you looked, all dolled up and cute to see someone who wasn’t him. He can already barely control himself around you; even the thought of another man having access to you like this makes him utterly sick. “It’s just not a good idea. All guys want the same thing.”
“You’re a guy aren’t you, Caleb? So what, are you telling me you’re like that too? Hmm?” He wants to wipe the playful smile off your face. You just think everything’s some fucking game.
“He’s gonna want to kiss you. Touch you. Fuck you. Have you ever been fucked? Huh, pipsqueak?”
He thinks he went too far then, notes the way your eyes widen and lips slightly part. You shake your head, but he already knows. He knows everything about you. So when you ask if he can help you, give you some advice, he knows exactly how he will.
“So naive, let me just show you.” He smashes his lips against yours. The force would’ve sent you falling backwards had he not steadied you with his hand on the small of your back.
“This is how to kiss…” he mutters it into your mouth, not caring that your teeth are hitting each other.
“And this…” he lifts your skirt just enough so that he can pull your panties to the side and slide his fingers along your puffy folds. “This is how it feels to be fingered.”
“Ah—Caleb!” You squeal when he fully plunges his finger in deeper than your own fingers ever could. He adds another, and soon the room is filled with your moans and the lewd squelch of his fingers thrusting in and out of your soaked pussy.
His lips are back on yours, and this time his tongue is shoved inside your mouth, claiming it. He goes faster when he feels your walls clench around him, and lets you grip his biceps while you come around his fingers and leave behind crescent shaped indents on his arms.
He nearly throws you on the bed, eager to yank off your underwear and free himself from his own boxers, wasting no time in aligning his tip to your still sensitive cunt.
“This is how to take it like a good fucking girl.” You try your best to relax, to be so good for him as he buries himself into you. He lets you get used to his size, going slow. Not moving until you practically beg him to, then there’s no going back. He’s brutally snapping his hips against yours and watching your tits bounce through your dress.
“Already gonna come on my cock? You really are inexperienced. Can’t even control yourself. Go on then. Fucking. Come.” With two last jerks of his hips, your climax washes over you and he tries so fucking hard to delay his own orgasm. He begins to pull out but your legs lock him in place. He cums on the spot—still inside you.
“Don’t care that I ruined your dress? How you gonna go on your date now, baby?”
“Hm. Guess I have to cancel,” you say, faux disappointment coating your words.
He pauses. “There was no date.”
“There was no date.” You confirm, wearing that same stupid grin from before. Luckily your schedule is free, because he has a hell of a punishment waiting for you after that.
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