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prythianpages · 7 months ago

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Out of My Head | Azriel x Reader

Azriel x Reader x Eris | Your father, the Night Court’s astrologer, is called to Velaris and you tag along with the hopes of catching a glimpse of Azriel, the one you’re madly in love with. The opportunity for Azriel to show you around comes up and you take it, unaware that things are about to become messy…

warning: this was meant to be cute & short to show your relationship with Az but it ended up being 5,685 words oops lol, some angst, rhys kinda being an asshole again

a/n: Eris does make an appearance in this if you look closely 🤭 I tried to write this fic off as a stand alone so it's still easy to follow but if you need more context, here is the masterlist.

Meeting Azriel had felt like fate, as if the stars and his shadows themselves had conspired to cross your paths. Becoming his friend had been a choice. But falling in love with him? That was out of your control, like being swept away by a tide you hadn’t noticed rising.

Now, you were drowning and happy to drown. To let the flood of him consume you entirely. Every time you’d see him, even from afar, it’d fill your chest with a feeling you couldn’t explain, your heart leaping at the mere thought of catching his gaze.

You welcomed the flood of emotions, let it carry you to depths you’d never dared to explore. Your heart was so irrevocably his, you had no desire to find the surface.

So when Rhysand had invited your father to Velaris to discuss his first born’s birth chart, you insisted on coming along. It had taken days of pleading to wear down his resolve, but you had done it. Manifested it, rather, with the help of the moonwater you kept hidden beneath your bed.

Seeing Azriel was not guaranteed, as you were unsure if he’d even be in Velaris. But that wasn’t the only reason you wanted to go. Leaving behind the harshness of the Court of Nightmares, even for a short while, was reward enough. And if fortune smiled upon you, perhaps your father would let you assist with the reading, just this once.

Your father had never quite embraced your desire to follow in his footsteps. The way he’d look at both you and your brother with that disappointed gleam in his eyes stung. He had always hoped you would stay at home and learn the ways of a “perfect,” traditional Night Court wife, much like your mother. His dreams of a successor rested squarely on your brother’s shoulders, not yours. But much to his dismay and your relief, your brother had chosen to become a warrior in Keir’s army.

Everything you knew of astrology, you’d learned by sneaking into his sessions, stealing glances at his star charts, or losing yourself in the dusty books of the Night Court’s observatory. That cold, stone-walled tower had become your sanctuary—your only glimpse of the night sky.

Though still in the Night Court, the air in Velaris was different. It felt cleaner, lighter. Freer. A wonderful contrast to the oppressive weight of the Court of Nightmares. You took a deep breath, savoring the rare glimpse of the day sky from the High Lord’s impressive townhouse, your father having just winnowed you both.

The sun felt so warm and soothing against your skin. Too caught up in the beauty of the daytime sky, you didn’t notice when your father abruptly stopped. You walked straight into him, sending the heavy box and stack of books in your arms tumbling to the ground.

A hiss of disapproval escaped your father as he turned to scowl at you.

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, quickly dropping to your knees to gather the scattered items.

“I should’ve left you at home,” he said with an exhausted sigh.

"But who then would assist you in bearing the weight of all these books, given the state of your back? Rest assured, my arms are more than capable,” you said with a huff as you slowly rose back to your feet, arms overwhelmed with the weight of your father’s things. “I shall gladly bear the burden for you, father."

“Clearly.” Your father said dryly, his gaze pointedly lingering on the dented corner of one of the boxes.

You winced at his tone, grateful his back was turned to you again. The door to the High Lord’s and High Lady’s house opened, the former being the one to greet you. Even Rhysand was different here. His violet eyes gleamed warmly, free of the cruelty he wore like armor in the Court of Nightmares. The smile he sent you both softened some of the tension knotting your chest.

“Damus, Y/n,” he greeted. “I appreciate you both coming all this way.”

Rhysand gestured for you to follow him. This was not your first time in Velaris but it was your first time meeting Rhysand in a private residence of his here. You couldn’t hold back the small gasp that escaped you as you marveled at the beauty around. Paintings, no doubt crafted by the hands of your High Lady, adorned the wall and there was light. So much light and warmth in this house. It truly felt like a home. No stone walls, no darkness, no cold.

There was a flutter in your chest when you felt something cool and velvet-like brush against your legs. You instinctively glanced down, though the books obstructed your view. And when you looked back up, there it was–that giddy leap in your heart.

Azriel immediately rose from the couch he had been seated on, his hazel eyes meeting yours before they dropped to the weight in your arms. With a few swift steps, he was in front of you, plucking the boxes and books from your grip as though they weighed nothing. You exhaled softly, your thanks barely audible over the rush of blood in your ears.

Azriel smiled, shadows curling gently around him as he shifted closer. “I wasn’t sure you’d be coming along today,” he murmured.

“Neither was I,” you admitted, turning your head toward him as you continued to walk. “But I’m glad I did.”

“So am I,” Azriel said.

Your cheeks burned at his words, and you quickly averted your gaze. Azriel was glad you were here. Perhaps, even waiting for you, hoping for you to show up. That had to mean something, didn’t it? Perhaps it was proof of what you’d always suspected—that the bond you felt pulling you toward him wasn’t one-sided. A spark of vindication flared as you imagined Eris sneering at you from some dark corner of your mind. If only he were here to witness this moment. To see just how wrong he’d been.

Azriel did like you and it was only a matter of time before it evolved into something more.

You frowned, shaking the thought away. Why were you even thinking about Eris? And since when did proving anything to him matter?

“Y/n.” Your father’s sharp tone dragged you back to reality. “The books.”

“Oh,” you breathed, glancing at Azriel, who still held them. Before you could speak, your father’s gaze darkened as he realized the task you were supposed to handle had been passed off.

Azriel’s jaw tightened but he said nothing as he handed the books and boxes over.

You moved to follow your father into the study, but he blocked your path, his glare cutting through you. “Stay here and don’t cause trouble,” he said before the door shut with a resounding thud.

You flinched, staring at the closed door. “Sweet Cauldron,” you muttered under your breath, “did Mercury retrograde move into his mood?”

A shadow curled around your wrist, the soft caress of it soothing the sting of your father’s dismissal. The corner of your lips lifted slightly. Azriel had told you once how the shadows came to him during a time of unbearable darkness, offering comfort when nothing else could. They showed him that darkness wasn’t inherently wicked, that it could hold its own kind of solace and strength.

Azriel had also told you that his shadows didn’t approach others. At least not like this, so openly and friendly. To them, you were one of the few exceptions, having met them before you properly acquainted yourself with their master.

You often wondered why. Did they sense the sorrow you tried to bury beneath and conceal? The longing that seeped into your soul–longing not just for their master but for freedom, for a life beyond the suffocating confines of the Court of Nightmares?

Your gaze lifted, finding Azriel’s attention focused on the tendril wrapped around your wrist. His hazel eyes darkened slightly, thoughtful, as if trying to decipher a mystery.

“Well, what am I supposed to do now?”

Azriel blinked, his attention falling back to you, gaze softening. The siphons on his leathers caught the light and your eye. You followed the movement of his arms as he slid his hands into the pocket of his leathers and wondered what they’d look like in casual clothing. And how far did those tattoos stretch, the ones that peeked above his collar and disappeared into those leathers?

“We could go for a walk?”

Your brows lifted in surprise. “A walk?”

Azriel sauntered closer to you and a tingly sensation bubbled up in your stomach. “It’s a beautiful day outside and I would hate for you to waste it in here.”

“But my father…”

“He doesn’t have to know,” Azriel replied with a small, sly grin that felt almost boyish, his shadows dancing around him. He then gestured toward the door to Rhysand’s study, where some of his shadows had already slithered beneath the gap, lying in wait. “Your father will be in there for a while. And besides, I did promise you I’d show you around, didn’t I?”

You bit your lip in contemplation, gaze flickering between the door and Azriel. This was what you’d wanted, been hoping for, wasn’t it? A chance to see Azriel, and now here he was, offering you his time. Your heart leaped at the opportunity, already screaming yes.

But your mind wasn’t so easily swayed. What if your father needed you? Wouldn’t this be your perfect chance to prove your worth, to show him how capable you were? Then again, the way he had dismissed you earlier, slamming the door in your face, made it clear he wasn’t expecting or even wanting your help…

“Only if you’d like, of course,” Azriel added, his tone soft. He must’ve sensed your troubled thoughts. “I can always keep you company here instead.”

The flutter in your chest returned with full force. Azriel seemed to really want to spend time with you. Alone. And as much as you admired the beauty of the High Lord’s house, the promise of fresh air, open skies, and Azriel’s company was too tempting to resist.

You found yourself nodding, your heart overriding your head. “I think I’d like to go for a walk.”

Velaris continued to take your breath away.

Children darted between market stalls, their faces alight with pure delight as they chased one another without fear. So incredibly and unbelievably different to the cold silence and rigid rules of propriety in Hewn City. Here, no one glanced over their shoulder with suspicion or hurried along with their head bowed.

The people of Velaris moved freely. Kindness radiated from strangers who greeted one another warmly, who paused to chat in the bustling markets or helped an elder carry their bags. Artists lined the streets, painting the city’s beauty on canvas while musicians filled the air with beautiful melodies.

Azriel led you through the city, showing you as many places he could. He took you to a small bakery first, where he swore the best chocolate croissants were made. Then, to a cafe that sold a variety of appetizing teas. You drank it all in, committing the wonders of Velaris to memory.

As you walked along a bridge, the river’s gentle current caught your eye. It was broad daylight yet, the water glimmered like liquid starlight. You paused, resting against the bridge’s railings. Azriel moved to stand beside you, tucking in his wings so they wouldn’t bump against you.

You couldn’t help but think how unfair life could be. For a place such as Hewn City to exist at the same time as this one. Both of the same court, yet so divided. And why had you been born in the wrong one?

Azriel picked up on the way your expression had fallen. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you said and at the way Azriel’s eyes watched you closely, you knew he was not convinced. You let out a soft sigh, relenting.

“It’s just…I thought places like this only existed in my dreams,” you glanced down at your hands. “And now, I just can’t help but dread my attendance at the next Court of Nightmare’s ball even more…when I could be here instead, watching the stars from the City of Starlight itself..free of any worry, any burdens.”

Azriel frowned at the hidden implication of your words.

A dark tendril fluttered toward you, brushing the hair that had fallen back behind your ear. Another softly brushed against your face and wiped a stray tear away. More went to you, wrapping around your hands, seeking to give you comfort and you honestly weren’t sure if it was of their own will or Azriel’s.

Their comfort brought you back to the fateful night you first met them. You’d known of them–of the Night Court’s shadowsinger, at least–long before you actually knew them. The same way you had known Cassian was the Night Court’s leading general and Morrigan, the court overseer.

Things had changed after the events under the mountain. High Lord Rhysand had gathered the Court of Nightmares council, a tense meeting filled with bitter accusations thrown across the room. Keir and a few other noble lords, including your father, sat around the table, each one arguing fiercely over who did what under Amarantha’s rule.

As the heated exchange unfolded, your father’s loyalty was questioned, and the words left you unsettled. You had nearly spilled wine over one of the lords in your discomfort, hands trembling as you failed to properly grip the chalice.

But then, a dark shape emerged from the shadows, winding its way around your wrist like a silent guardian. The shadow stayed there, curling around you in such a way that was strangely comforting.

You had snuck glances at the shadowsinger then.

Azriel stood just behind Rhysand, his face a stoic mask. His attention was elsewhere, either unaware or pretending to be, of the shadow that had strayed from him and wrapped around you.

A break was called. And then, Keir, always the one to provoke, threw an insult at your father. You had no control over your tongue, the words slipping from you without thought. It was in defense of your family but speaking out of turn was a dangerous thing for a female to do. Especially in this court.

And though you had done it in your father’s defense, he did not return the favor. His face twisted in a mixture of disgust and disapproval, making you feel smaller than you ever had.

Keir’s face reddened with rage and as he glared at you, the shadow around your wrist tightened. Azriel’s eyes flashed, a cold, sharp stare locking onto Keir. It was the closest thing to protection anyone had offered you in this ruthless court. It left you stunned and wide-eyed.

You had been quickly dismissed by your father then. The weight of your court’s cruelty pressed down on you, suffocating. You fled, finding an empty room, locking yourself away in a cold, lonely corner of the building.

And then the tears came. You didn’t even notice the darkness that had formed around you, so accustomed to the shadows yourself. But this wasn’t the same darkness. This one was… different. Comforting. Protective.

You could only stare at them in awe, one hand reaching upwards to touch the shadows.

But when the door creaked open, your hand fell back to your side. Fear had risen in your throat as your gaze shot to the tall figure in the doorway. You shifted backwards, your back hitting the stone wall behind you, fearing the worst. It was the shadowsinger. And he had come to punish you on behalf of your father.

But he did no such thing.

His eyes swept over the shadows surrounding you—his shadows. The mask of indifference he always wore slipped for just a moment. A faint furrow appeared between his brows, shock flashing in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured, sending the shadows a look that had them slithering back to him, albeit reluctantly. “If they’ve scared you. They don’t normally do this…are you alright?”

You blinked the tears from your eyes. “You’re not going to punish me?”

His brow furrowed deeper, confusion crossing his face. “Punish you? For what?”

There was a flicker of recognition in his gaze, followed by a soft exhale. He studied you for a moment, his expression unreadable. His shadows swirled around him, some curling around his ear, whispering to him. Whatever they whispered to him had his expression softening.

“If anyone needs punishment, it’s Keir. For having the nerve to talk to you like that.”

Azriel took your silence as an invitation. He lowered himself, slowly, attentive to the way your breath hitched. Finding no resistance from you, he flared his wings slightly to allow him to settle on the floor across from you. His boots brushed against your shoes, and he gave a quiet apology. Others had done much worse and yet, no one had ever apologized to you.

“I’m Azriel,” he told you with a small smile, quickly adjusting himself to the cramped space. “You’ve met my shadows. Though I control them, they don’t always listen. Sometimes, they follow their own will. I really hope they didn’t frighten you.”

You were still frozen in disbelief, but in that moment, something inside you shifted. A spark of hope—a spark you hadn’t known existed in the Court of Nightmares, didn’t know could exist.

“They didn’t. They’re nice,” you admitted quietly, gaze following the movement of his shadows. Your eyes then met Azriel’s, surprised at the warmth you saw in them.

And then slowly, you felt your body relax. “I’m y/n…”

A shadow wrapped itself around your wrist, squeezing you gently, pulling you from your thoughts. You couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same one from that night.

“Sorry,” Azriel murmured sheepishly, the same way he always did when his shadows caught him off guard. “They really like you.”

The shadow unraveled from your wrist, slowly and reluctantly. It returned to Azriel, the others that had begun to surround you doing the same.

“S’okay,” you shrugged, though a small wave of disappointment settled over you at the thought of his shadows acting on their own will and not his. “I like them too. My little friends, they keep me company during those dreaded court events. Them and Eris, though the latter isn’t exactly one I welcome…”

Azriel’s body tensed at the mention of the Autumn male.

“But it’s strange,” you continued, not sure why you were telling Azriel this. “Despite all the insults he throws my way, he’s somehow kinder than all the other males at court. Maybe Autumn males are–”

“Please, don’t ever pair Eris and the word ‘kind’ in the same sentence,” Azriel interjected, his tone filled with disbelief. “You have to be careful around him, Y/n. I don’t know why he gravitates toward you…” Your heart stuttered in your chest and Azriel's gaze hardened. “But he’s not to be trusted. If he continues to bother you…”

Was that… jealousy? The thought made your pulse quicken, but you kept your expression steady.

“He’s fine,” you said, your voice a little too casual. Azriel went still, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. You felt the heat rise in your neck, and you hastily added, “I mean—it's fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to,” Azriel insisted. He turned to face you fully, and your stomach fluttered at the intensity in his gaze. “I can handle him for you.”

Azriel’s presence alone was enough to make anyone think twice before crossing you. It sure kept Keir from lashing back at you all those years ago and the handsy, sickening males away from you during court events. You knew he would handle Eris without hesitation. So you should’ve said yes, and accepted his offer.

But, as the words settled on your tongue, you hesitated. You weren’t sure you wanted him to.

However strange and uncomfortable your encounters with Eris often were, there was something intriguing about him. Something that pulled at you despite his sharp words and caustic demeanor. It was almost like a game, a dance of sorts, and you found yourself drawn to it. To him, more than you cared to admit.

A small part of you wanted to continue this twisted back-and-forth with him. He was not a welcome companion but one whose absence would, much to your denial or disbelief, go noticed. The way he challenged you, made your pulse quicken, even when you didn’t want it to. The way his eyes lingered just a little too long, and how he always seemed to know exactly how to get under your skin…

No. You didn’t want Azriel to step in. Not yet. Not while this strange curiosity about Eris still simmered beneath your skin.

“I can handle it,” you murmured, though the words felt more like a reassurance to yourself than to him. Your gaze trailed after the fae strolling along the river’s edge. Before Azriel could protest, you turned to him with a smile, changing the conversation. “Can we walk along the shore?”

The Sidra river was even lovelier up-close. With the sun beginning to set, the sky blushed in hues of pinks and oranges and you felt as if you were walking through a dream. A dream you didn’t want to wake up from. Azriel walked quietly beside you, the tension from earlier gone.

You breathed in deeply, reveling in the sweet mixture of fresh air and Azriel’s scent. The sound of water rippling against the shore was just as soothing as the early evening breeze. Your gaze fell on a rock ahead, its smooth surface glimmering in the fading light, and you quickly bent down to pick it up.

“It’s beautiful,” you murmured, watching as the stone sparkled like starlight cupped in your hand.

“It’s a rock,” Azriel said drily.

You couldn’t help but grin, lifting the rock to show him. “It’s not just any rock,” you corrected him. “It’s a rock from Velaris. It’ll make a perfect addition to my growing collection of–”

“Rocks,” Azriel finished for you, amusement dancing in his eyes.

He knew about your rock collection. Of course, he knew. How could he not? Azriel had been the one to enable it. It had started as a joke, a silly request from you when he had mentioned visiting Spring. You had asked for a souvenir, half expecting him to politely decline.

"What could you possibly want from Spring?" he had asked. “A rock?”

And out of all the things you could’ve chosen, you had simply nodded your head. “Sure.”

The way he had returned from his mission, slipping a smooth rock from his leathers and placing it in your hand, had been so unexpected, so sweet. You’d gasped, unsure whether to laugh or cry. He had remembered.

And when he mentioned going to Winter Court next, you had shyly grinned at him, asking for another “souvenir.” What had started as an innocent collection had become something far more significant to you. Azriel didn’t know but that rock from Spring was the first gift you had ever received in years–decades, almost.

You treasured those silly rocks, keeping them lined up neatly on your dresser. You even painted them with little designs—daisies on the rock from Spring, a tiny shell on the one from Summer, and snowflakes on the one from Winter.

“This may actually finish my collection,” you mused, slipping the rock into the pocket of your skirts, your smile soft.

“I thought I had brought you one already?”

“Must’ve slipped your mind,” you replied with a playful shrug of your shoulders.

Azriel’s expression shifts into one of mock seriousness. “Forgive me, my lady,” he said, bowing his head before his voice turned teasing. “What will I bring you now, then? I’ll be flying out to Dawn next week. You sure you don’t want another rock from there? Or perhaps, this time, a jar of dirt?”

You rolled your eyes, the motion automatic but immediately followed by a sharp pang in your chest as your heart seemed to freeze. A lady, especially one from your court, rolling her eyes at a male? No matter how familiar you could be with a male, a gesture such as this was dangerous and unforgiving.

But Azriel only chuckled, his gaze warm and unbothered. Relief rushed through you, leaving you momentarily breathless, though you tried to play it off with a dry tone. “Ha,” you said, your thoughts already drifting to other possibilities. “But, if you are going to Dawn…”

He tilted his head, eyebrows raising slightly as his lips curved. “Go on.”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to a feather…”

His dark brows furrowed in confusion, and you felt your heart beat louder in your chest. “A feather?” he repeated.

You shrugged again, trying to look casual about it. “A feather from a swan from Dawn. They’re native to the court and mate for life, you know. Some see them as a symbol for love and fidelity. I’d like a feather so that I can add it to my Aphrodite altar.”

“I see.” Azriel’s gaze had turned thoughtful, clearly processing the information. There was a brief pause, and you held your breath, suddenly aware of how ridiculous your request might sound…

“Y/n, are you… practicing witchcraft?”

You react almost too quickly, it’s suspicious.

“No,” you said, shaking your head with a small laugh. Even though you had sought out the help of a witch not too long ago, something you’d probably take to the grave with you, given the failed results. Or the fact that this feather would be an offering given with intent to Aphrodite for luck and blessings in love…

”Well, not exactly, I just–it’s a…”

“I don’t think I want to know,” Azriel mused with a chuckle, saving you from whatever disaster of an excuse you could come up with. The sound of his laughter was like a release, the tension in your shoulders easing. “If it’s a Swan’s feather you want, then I’ll make sure I bring one to you.”

There was something in his tone, the certainty in which he said the words, that had warmth pooling in your stomach. It was the kind of warmth that spread quickly, making your whole body feel lighter and creeping up into your chest.

You turned to look at him. “Really?”

“Really.”

Your feet faltered as the rush of emotions made you dizzy. You barely noticed the uneven ground beneath you, and before you could regain your balance, you felt yourself tipping forward. Azriel’s hand shot out, gripping your arm and pulling you steady against him.

Your breath hitched at the feeling of his touch, gaze falling to where his hand rested on your arm. Slowly, your gaze trailed upwards. Azriel’s gaze was soft, his eyes searching yours in that way that made your heart race.

“Thank you,” you breathed.

“Of course.”

You were both so close now, you could feel the heat of his breath. The world seemed to narrow to just the two of you. The sound of the river faded, replaced by the pounding of your heart. His free hand brushed against yours, a touch that sent a spark skittering across your skin.

And then, it happened.

A sharp, sudden tightening in your chest.

It wasn’t the pleasant flutter you’d grown accustomed to in Azriel’s presence. No, this was something else entirely. A pull, intense and demanding, like an unseen thread yanking you backward. You gasped, flinching out of Azriel’s grip, who immediately let you go when he felt your resistance.

Your hand flew to your chest. Azriel’s brows furrowed in concern and his shadows stirred anxiously, circling you as if they could shield you from whatever had caused your distress. “Are you alright?”

“I… I don’t know,” you murmured, your fingers pressing against the spot where the ache had settled, desperate to soothe the inexplicable burning. “But I think I’m fine now. ”

You weren’t sure if you were reassuring him or yourself. But you pushed the feeling aside, turning back to Azriel with an uncertain smile.

He took a hesitant step closer, hand hovering over your shoulder. “Are you sure? I can take you to a healer–”

“No,” you immediately shook your head, eyes widening. Calling for a healer meant risking your father finding out you had not heeded to his order of staying put, of you not causing trouble. You’d rather suffer the consequences of whatever sickness had suddenly struck you than be left to deal with your father’s reproach.

“I’m okay. Could we–could we head back now?”

Azriel's pov

Worry continued to brew in Azriel’s mind as he watched you settle onto an armchair, hand still rubbing at your chest. His shadows twitched restlessly, curling tighter around him. You had always been easy to read but he found himself struggling to decipher the distant look in your eyes. You hadn’t even looked his way once since he winnowed you both back to the townhouse.

He parted his lips, ready to urge you to see a healer, despite your earlier protest. But a shadow curled itself around his ear and he made himself busy with the book in his hand instead.

The door to Rhysand’s study opened. Azriel’s shadows whispered to him as they noted the way you had stiffened the moment your father stepped out and forced a smile onto your face. He was always unsettled by your father’s indifference to you, his grip on the book he held tightening.

"Let’s go home."

Lord Damus’s voice was detached as he dumped the books in his arm into yours. Azriel noticed immediately that it was a smaller load than what you had arrived with, but that did little to ease him as you winced under the weight.

He moved instinctively to help you, but the harsh stare Rhysand shot at him from across the room made him pause. Azriel blinked, momentarily stunned by the anger that flashed in Rhysand’s eyes.

"Thank you for your time, Lord Damus. I wish you both a safe trip back," Rhysand said, his voice smooth and composed, contrasting the look he had sent Azriel.

Lord Damus bowed in respect and you did the same. Albeit, with a struggle, given all the weight in your arms. Some of Azriel’s shadows darted toward you, hiding within the shadows of the sitting room. They settled underneath the books you carried, helping you silently. And at the way your arms eased, so did Azriel’s.

It was short lived because as soon as you and your father disappeared, Rhysand turned back to him.

“My office. Now.”

Rhysand’s tone left no room for questioning or contemplating. Azriel’s shadows hissed at the sharpness but the shadowsinger yielded to his High Lord’s command. As he entered the office, the faint traces of Feyre and Nyx’s scent lingered in the air, but neither was there now.

“Did something happen?” Azriel asked, senses on high alert.

Rhysand leaned against the front of his desk, his gaze locking onto Azriel. "I didn’t think I’d have to ask this twice, but... are you out of your mind?"

Azriel’s shadows swirled around him, speaking in tongues. He let out a sound, a mix of disbelief, defensiveness, and the all-too-familiar hint of rage that had been waiting just beneath the surface. Not again.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered.

Rhysand’s humorless chuckle cut through the air. “Oh, trust me, I wish I was.”

Azriel’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

“I can’t believe you would be so careless as to sneak her out of here when…”

“Her father has no clue,” Azriel shot back, trying to defend the choice, though even he knew it wasn’t enough.

“I bet your scent still lingers on her,” Rhysand snapped. “Do you know how dangerous that could be? For an unwed lady of her status to be caught alone with another male, to smell like another male? It could ruin her. I don’t know what you’re intentions are with her but Y/n is in love with you—”

“I know.” Azriel cut in sharply.

Rhysand’s expression darkened further, his voice hardening into ice. “So you do know. What’s your game here, Az? Because all I can think and worry about is how it will end for her.”

Before Azriel could respond, Rhysand’s voice rang out again, cutting through the growing tension like a blade.

“You will stay away from her.”

The words hit Azriel like a slap, his body going rigid as the words seemed to echo in his mind. Because this was not his brother talking to him. It was his High Lord. His shadows were seething, reflecting the storm brewing inside. How had it come to this…again? The same damn warning, as though Azriel couldn’t be trusted to make his own decisions.

First, it was Mor. Then, it was Elain. And now you.

Unbelievable. His lips twisted into a humorless, bitter smile then. “Should I just ask you for a roster of females I’m allowed to be with? It would save us both a lot of time and trouble.”

“I said it before and I’ll say it again.” Rhysand breathed in sharply, barely able to restrain his vexation. “And I pray to the Mother I won’t have to say it for a third time...”

Azriel’s shadows froze mid-whisper. The room grew quiet and unnervingly still. His wings twitched, as if they too, braced themselves. Because he already knew what was coming.

But knowing didn’t make it any easier.

“If you need to fuck someone, go to a pleasure hall. Heck, I’ll offer to pay for it this time.”

And the words stung just as sharply as they had the first time.

“Just stay away from y/n.”

[series masterlist]

A/n: I had fun writing this <3 and I hope you can understand a bit more of why reader is madly in love with Az. I mean, who isn't? lol But does he like her back or simply like the idea of someone being in love with him for a change…😈

series tag list: @kaitttttttt , @nebarious , @daughterofthemoons-stuff , @justyouraveragekleemain , @tothestarsandwhateverend ,

@ratgirl2020 , @myromanempiree , @vanserrasimp , @itsswritten, @acourtofbatboydreams

@imjustagirl713, @paleidiot, @scarsandallaz, @marina468

@utterlyhopeful-fics, @bia-wayne-west

if you asked to be put on the tag-list and don't see your username, please remind me!

General tag list: @scooobies, @kennedy-brooke, @sillysillygoose444 @lilah-asteria @the-sweet-psycho

@daycourtofficial, @milswrites, @stormhearty, @pit-and-the-pen, @mybestfriendmademe

@loving-and-dreaming @azriels-human @mrsjna, @adventure-awaits15, @lorosette

@alwayshave-faith

#azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel x y/n #azriel fanfiction #eris x reader #eris x you #acotar x reader #acotar x you #acotar fanfiction #hopelessly devoted to eris #hopelessly devoted to azriel

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imliterallyf7ckin9crazy · 5 months ago

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꧁⋆°𝓢𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓭 𝓖𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓒𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓷𝓼°⋆꧂

Squid game Season 2 men saving you when you almost die in the game

Characters: player 001, 230, 124

Warnings: canon violence, near death experience, toxic relationships, drug use, mention of suicide, romantic tension, f! Reader

A/N: this is no diss to anyone bc I respect the grind, I truly do, but everything I see of squid game is nsfw. I have to HUNT for sfw shit. I just gave up and just read everything anyways. So I’m trying to balance the scales a bit for rn. Again no diss bc yall nsfw writers COOK.

________

ᏢᏝᎯᎽᎬᏒ 001

(Weird ppl attacking you in game)

- ok so for this one I’ll say that you are just a average player in the games he happened upon. You two met because you were on the ‘X’ team, and more specifically in gi- Huns group.

- he normally is pretty resistant to the ‘worthless sob stories of the poor’ as he puts it. But for some odd reason, yours got to him

- thrown out of home, forced to survive and fend for yourself out in the streets, hopping from job to job because you can’t pay rent on time 8/10 and you get evicted. Pulling loan after loan to keep yourself afloat, and even that is starting to fail you. You are at the very end of the road and if you can’t manage to leave here without some money you are 100% fucked. You genuinely think the only way out of the hole you’ve dug is either a miracle in here or checking out of life manually.

- in-ho LOVES sad wet cat type people, he can’t help it. And even though he’s heard basically the same stories from hundreds of people yet somehow you stuck with him

- life was unfair to you, you were cast out. If that didn’t happen, you wouldn’t have to be living “like garbage”. Almost everyone else put themselves in their financial hole, you started in one. Not fair, see? He’s doing so much mental gymnastics and logistical jumping to validate himself. You’re different, you don’t count.

- you really weren’t a extremely strong individual , you didn’t draw attention to yourself like many of the others, you didn’t argue much or ask many questions. You came with a goal. And he respected that.

- after game two though, the marathon, you and many others decided it was time to call it quits. So you voted ‘X’ with gi-hun and everyone else. And surprisingly in-ho, or young-il as he named himself, also picked ‘X’

- you both didn’t really talk much besides maybe a few sentences to each other about how your group was meant to survive. But after the second vote, having a X on your shirt also meant having a target on your back. And being the “minding my own business” type it doubled that factor.

- a group of three people, two guys and one girl approached you. Sorrounding you and pestering you on your vote. It turned to raised voices and getting in your face, to shoving from all three people as you just stood there and took it, unwilling to change votes. Though you might not fight like some others that doesn’t mean you aren’t brave.

- though as soon as young-il (for simplicity) saw those men put hands on you he was already trudging his way cross room, leaving gi-hun mid conversation to aid you.

- you were backed against the bed frame of the stacked sleeping quarters, these three lunatics yelling and shoving you, telling you that you have to vote ‘O’ “or else”. You assumed it implied you leaving this place in a box.

- that’s when young-il made it to you. “That’s quite enough” he says, eyes cold as ice and facial expression locked in stone. His posture was straight and his head was held high. Very intimidating, it’s almost like he had a military commander type vide (hahaha- odd right??)

- the girl was quick to scamper off, giving you a glare as she informs the boys she’ll be waiting by their group. The men however puff their chests out and square up a bit, and you get second hand embarrassment because young-il doesn’t even flinch or break the deadly eye contact. “Are you sure.” Is all he said. It didn’t sound like an actual question, more of a “are you sure you wanna get your ass beat in front of all these people” threat.

- they got the memo from his venomous words and slowly creeped off back to wherever they came from, looking like puppies with their tails tucked as they walked away.

- “thank you so much” you say, bowing slightly in gratitude for his kindness. He gives you a nice chuckle before lifting your shoulders back up.

- “oh no no, it’s nothing. Those boys should know better, I bet their mothers would chew their ears off if they saw their lack of manners” he jokes, earning a giggle from you.

- it makes him feel kinda fuzzy, but he compartmentalizes that feeling for when he’s alone and can process it. In the mean time he just places his hand on your lower back, guiding you back to the group where you will be safe (and in arms reach)

- this just opened a Pandora’s box of possessiveness and lies, and he doesn’t even know how it will end

ᏢᏝᎯᎽᎬᏒ 230

(Mingle)

- for this let’s just say that you met up with thanos for the second game, the marathon one, and yall clicked a bit, leading him to tell you that “you should stay with me and my crew, for safety”

- and so you do. What could be the harm? He’s clearly deranged and a loose cannon, wouldn’t it be better to just go along before he kills you?

- is what you originally thought. Turns out after that conversation and you joined, he really isn’t that bad to be around. When he’s high he always makes you laugh, constantly cracking jokes and making fun of people at their expense to make you smack his shoulder a bit, saying “be nice!”

- you noticed he thrives on attention, and you give it to him freely. It’s hard not to when he’s got bright purple hair, hand tattoos WITH rainbow painted nails, and he’s rapping and dancing like he was in the comfort of his own home. Plus nam gyu, the guy who lowkey bullied the shit out of you the first few days was now told to “chill out man”

- now, you were all standing on a spinning circular floor, a cute little cheery jingle being played from over the speakers. Thanos and nam gyu danced together to the music, high in ways you didn’t even know you could get. It was pretty silly though, acting like kids.

- then the music dropped, and a number was said. You had to run with that number of people into a room to live. Those left behind will die

- the first few rounds were easy, the numbers were quite high and you held onto thanos’ jacket to stay with the group. The sounds of people begging to be let in followed by being punctured with bullets rang in your mind and the number for people in groups got lower and lower, until the number was two.

- you, thanos, nam gyu and min-su all stared at each other for a moment, frozen on who to pick before thanos started throwing his head from side to side before turning and gripping your arm and nam gyus, running full speed and pulling you along, forcing you to leave min-su. Though you felt horrible once you saw his shocked little face, you just kept going. Choosing to save your life instead of feeling bad and dying there.

- thanos shoved nam gyu towards the door next to the one you were about to be tossed in, luckily he saw someone was waiting by themselves in the room, so he was safe with two. Nam gyu gave him a small nod to let him know he was safe and set to survive.

- thanos rushed you in, slamming the door behind him and peering out. This was the last round, you made it. The door beeped behind you and locked, ensuring your victory of the game.

- adrenaline was still pumping through your veins as you gazed up at him from your spot cowering against the wall as gun shots rang. You didn’t even hear the people screaming or the poor souls who were locked from the room right behind you and thanos, damming you to hell for getting to the room first as they die. “Holy shit” you say as you look at him as he smiled back. “We did it.”

- “yup” he says confidently “now let’s see how much money we earned” thanos says as he pulled open the door for the final time. Before he can step out you grab his sleeve “hey- uh thank you” you mumbled

- he could have just left you like min-su and went with nam gyu, but he chose to save you.

- “what? Nah it’s nothing. Don’t worry” he says, patting you on the head and steering you out of the room

ᏢᏝᎯᎽᎬᏒ 124

(Lights out fight)

- there was a obvious tension in the air, one that nearly suffocated you as you sat with nam gyu on a bed… thanos’ bed.

- the vote ended in a tie, meaning the vote was to be redone the following day. After that was announced, your friends thanos and nam gyu went to the bathroom to ‘help even out the votes’. Specifically to talk to that poor min-su they’ve been harassing non stop. Only just nam gyu came back out. Eyes blown wide and covered head to toe in thick splashes of blood. Your heart nearly died when you saw him stumbling dazed out of the bathroom. You knew SOMETHING had happened when no thanos returned safely to you.

- after that, he tried convincing you they didn’t start the fight, which you saw right through. Eventually he dropped that act and told you straight up what went down. How your friend was murdered. Nam gyu tried covering his pain up by insulting thanos and taking two of his pills from the cross he stole from him. Calling him an asshole and an idiot. Again, you saw right through.

- you brought your hand up to his face to wife some blood off with your sleeve. And he leaned right into it, sighing very very deeply as he crushed the drugs between his teeth. He held your hand to his face, which you thought was just him being cute until he started talking about how there needed to be a total blood bath that night. To ensure team ‘O’ wins and you both could keep going. You tried to pull away but his grip kept you like in your spot next to him.

- “no nam gyu, we can’t just kill these people. They are just like us they just need money-“

- “yes! That’s the fucking point. We need that danm money, can’t you see? We won’t fucking win with all those stupid fucking cockroaches leeching our money” he hisses, harsh words contrasting with his hands tracing patterns gently on yours. “We won’t win this vote with them alive, we won’t get more money with them all alive. This is the only way”

- he just kept going and going until you agreed, saying you’d at least let him go out and kill and you’d be his little look out. Only nothing can go smoothly for anyone ever here.

- while there’s lights flashing and people screaming, blood and gore being sprayed from the alive and leaking from the dead, you are trying to make out what is going on around you. You can (faintly) see nam gyu out in the room, grabbing people and ripping them to shreds with his fork, the very fork that killed thanos to be exact.

- while you were looking around for nam gyu, someone had come up behind you, grabbing you by the neck and trying to choke you out. You screamed out nam gyus name as loud as you could as the attackers grip tightened and tightened to the point where you thought your neck was bound to snap. Your vision going out slowly as all you can recognize becomes the sound of the chaos. Until suddenly you were freed, and your assaulter was ripped off you and pinned to the ground by nam gyu.

- he started repeatingly stabbing the person, blood flying onto you and him as he slit the person open. When he stopped you basically flung yourself at him, crying “thank you! Thank you!”. He just saved your life, though You could barely recognize him, he was lost completely in drug fueled blood lust and rage.

- maybe not completely you figured, as he rushed to you and scooped you up. He returned you to a bunk, telling you to hide there and wait for him. Promising you he’ll come back, that he will keep you safe. And he did, as the lights came on and the gun shots rung out, he was alive and on his way back to you

______

Bet yall can’t guess who my favorite is >:3

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clottedscream · 1 month ago

Note

you mentioned in the chat of a jello stream that you disliked how much fantasy magic crystals were shaped like Quartz. are there any specific crystal shapes you think are underutilized in fantasy?

I always like it when i see a nice beryl-or-andalusite-esque columnar crystal, or something botryoidal or acicular in a way that it makes little pom-pom shapes. And dogtooth (scalenohedral) crystals are a nice way to have that classic spiky shape without going quartz about it. But there's a whole entire world of weird and unique crystal shapes out there to base your fantasy crystals on, and I can't show off every possible shape that a crystal can come in with just one post. Pretty much every shape that a crystal can be is underutilized in comparison to the quartz shape.

the big thing that gets me about the "oops, all giant quartz clusters" method of designing fantasy crystals for your fictional world is that the shape a quartz crystal comes in, even though it's seen as like, the ubiquitous crystal shape that we think of all crystals as being, is actually very specific to quartzes!!!!

This is a figure from the mindat.org page on quartz. the top three shapes (a, b, and c) should be very familiar images to you! These are the most common shapes that crystals will be in fictional media. They're also three idealized crystal habits of QTZ - normal (prismatic), trigonal (prismatic), and pseudo-hexagonal (prismatic).

That's a lot of long words, but it all boils down to the describing geometry of a quartz crystal, and the geometry of its atomic structure.

QTZ is made of polymerized silicate, which, again, sounds fancy, but a polymer is just a long chain of many smaller molecules, and silicate is just the common term for the molecule SiO4. Silicate is a tetrahedron shaped molecule, meaning it's a pyramid with a square shaped base. A QTZ unit cell is made of a chain (a polymer) of silicate molecules linked together.

Here, we use unit cell to mean the simplest repeating building block in a larger pattern. like, say, if you build a giant lego cube out of all identical cube shaped legos, each cube shaped lego represents a unit cell of that giant cube. But QTZ unit cells aren't cube shaped. They're rhombohedrons- ie, 3d shapes where each face is a rhombus.

and if you stack a lot of rhombuses next to each other, they form a hexagon.

So when all the little unit cells of QTZ fit together, their ultimate shape is going to be hexagonal.

Quartz are not the only hexagonal mineral. Calcite famously also has a rhombus shaped unit cell. In mineralogy terms, this is called having trigonal symmetry- tri for three, as in the three rhombuses it takes to make a hexagon, or the three planes of symmetry a rhombus has.

But calcite doesn't form in in those tall prisms that terminate in pointy pyramid shapes made up of isosceles triangles or pentagons. It sometimes forms in dogtooth crystals, but dogtooth crystal faces are scalene, and they don't have that long prism body with a pyramid at the top like an endcap- they're spikes all the way to the base. Why is that? Why is quartz different from other trigonal minerals? why are its crystals weird like that?

Well, theres a lot of reasons, but one major one is that on top of being made of rhombohedrons, Quartz is ALSO made of helixes!

Thats right. Quartz has TWO fundamental patterns happening in its lattice. At the same time!

You can see by the overlayed yellow rhombohedrons in the figure above that each rhombus-y building block of QTZ fits together into a helix-shaped chain. QTZ forms in helixes because each of the basic silicate (SiO4) molecules in QTZ is sharing two of its oxygens with the other silicates its connected to. Because each block of the helix chain is made of a rhombus, when you stack those helix chains all next to each other to get a big quartz lattice, those chains make a hexagonal net. But helixes are also chiral, meaning they have a handedness to them- they can mirror each other and still be non-superimposable, like human hands.

To get the scope on why this chirality makes a difference to the structure of quartz, lets compare it to another mineral with trigonal symmetry, the aforementioned Calcite. If you could see atoms, this is what a chunk of calcite mineral would look like to you:

nice and simple, right? That's a very normal looking rhombus. everything slots together in a very straightforwardly rhombus-y way.

Now let's look at quartz.

ough.

When you combine these two features of QTZ geometry, the rhombus/trigonal symmetry and the helix shaped network of interlocking molecules, you get a pretty unique structure, which leads it to grow in very unique shapes when it gets bigger- hexagonal prisms with many interlocking chiral faces, terminating in those striking pyramid points composed of isosceles triangles.

That all sounds pretty cool right? it sounds like quartz is a really striking and unique and beautiful phenomenon of geometry, right? so why would I be annoyed? why would I be annoyed that a fantasy crystal has that unique shape? BECAUSE THAT SHAPE MEANS THE MINERAL IS QUARTZ.

Do you understand now? Out of all the possible permutations of different shapes a crystal can grow into, QUARTZ IS KIND OF THE ONLY FUCKING GUY THAT DOES THAT PARTICULAR SHAPE! nobody is out there doing it the way my guy quartz is doing it! So much so, in fact, THAT THIS IS THE ENTRY ON MINDAT FOR IDENTIFYING QUARTZ:

BY EYE.

QUARTZ IS ONE OF THE ONLY MINERALS YOU CAN ID BY EYE.

So, when you designed your mystical blue glowing crystal that has the power to harness a wizard's mana or whatever the fuck? And you picked that shape for it to be?

That means it's not enchantenite, or lunarite, or or whatever the fuck you want to call it. It's quartz. it's just quartz. your lack of creativity and unwillingness to do anything other than the most basic, recognizable shape for your fantasy crystal has all but guaranteed it. Maybe start worldbuilding what trace elements in that otherwise extremely fucking normal quartz you have there cause it to glow.

Because you picked the one shape that basically only quartz can be!

Congratulations!

enjoy your magical silicon dioxide, you piece of shit.

#theres like an entire doctoral thesis of nuance that im leaving out here #other minerals can be pseudomorphs of quartz #and yadda yadda yadda #but this is a tumblr rant post im writing at 1 in the morning #so. its not very accurate or nuanced or whatever #not art #ask #demifly #jelloapocalypse

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stinkysam · 4 months ago

Text

Choi Subong “Thanos” - Together.

Warning : blood, sexual talk, death, suicide

Genre : angst

Synopsis : Thanos tries to get you to forgive him while you try to spend time away from him. Keyword : try.

Reader : male (you/yours)

A/N : bold is in English // pt.2 Fuck 388 // pt.1 420 // im not sure i like it but im still posting it because i spent time on it so here you go. // 7k6 words

Still sitting next to Daeho, you listened as the group talked about the games they just played, congratulating each other for their skills. You slowly relaxed as you all presented yourselves to 222.

You continued chatting together, your mind clearing up bit by bit, no longer focused on Thanos and the deadly games.

Pink men entered the lobby, and the square congratulated you all for making it through as armed triangles stood behind him. He clicked on a remote and money fell by stacks into the piggy. Everyone stood up to have a better look, mesmerized by the sight.

Behind him, the screen with the amount of players updated itself while showing the total sum of money accumulated.

78 million won per player alive.

People complained about the amount, saying the men in pink didn’t correctly count the dead.

But the square ignored their remarks, announcing the start of the second vote.

Everyone waited as they placed the machine, thinking about their next move. Was the money enough for them ?

Although you felt confident in your choice, you couldn’t help but wonder about if you voted O. What if the next game was easy ? 78 million wasn’t enough for you, but maybe with the next game you’d have enough to get debts free and have a second chance at life.

If a lot of people chose O instead of X, it’s not because they’re all delusional or suicidal, right ? It might be because they know they can make it. What if they were right ?

Still, you couldn’t stop thinking about what Gihun said during the first vote. Everyone who played the games died except for him. Was it a one time thing ? Could there be more winners ?

You listened as Youngil told Gihun he was dropping the O patch for the X one, talking about returning to his wife at the hospital. You saw Daeho look at his chest.

“I’m telling you. We’ll get out this time.” He said to the two older men before shaking Jungbae’s shoulder. “A marine should think strategically and know when to retreat. Isn’t that right brother ?”

The older man turned around, looking at him slightly… out of it. Was he hesitating ?

“Yeah, you’re right. Marines aren’t invincible. We should get out.” He finally said.

“We have to end the games here. I’ll help you guys when we get out. Please trust me and support this vote.” Gihun said and you all nodded.

“Guys, all huddle up again.” Daeho quickly placed his hand in the middle of the group, waiting for everyone to join him. You put your hand on his as the rest followed, determined. “In one, two, theee. Victory at all costs !”

“Victory at all costs !” You all said at the same time before pulling your hands away. Daeho patted your back before rubbing Jungbae’s shoulders. It seemed to hurt him more than to relax him.

The vote finally began and this time it’s Youngil who started it. He nodded at the group before walking to the buttons, picking X and changing his patch.

Everyone watched in silence as the vote slowly kept going. Until suddenly Youngil interrupted it when the Os were starting to be the majority vote.

100 argued back, saying 70 million won wasn’t enough for them. It wasn’t enough for you as well, but having debts felt better than dying. You still wanted to live. To see the sun, experience the rain again, walk in the snow, see your family and friends, to eat and laugh with them. Shitty life full of debts seemed better than no life at all.

“After one more game, the amount more than tripled ! If we play one more game, the prize will be at least 240 million !”

“But I can’t do this anymore.” A young girl cried. “Please. Please let me out of here. I really… I really want to go home. I don’t want to die.”

But then a man began crying as well, going on about how she’s young and still has a chance at life thanks to her age, while he doesn’t.

“What if you die ?” Youngil argued back. “If you die here, your family won’t even get your body. Then it’d be the end for you and your family !”

“Don’t get fucking scared !” 226 interrupted. “Ddakji, red light, green light, spinning top ! It’s not like the games are that difficult. There are still 255 players. Way more than half of us survived ! We’ve made it this far, so let’s do it one more time !”

“You make such a good point, young man. We’ve all played the games well and survived until now ! Now let’s play one more game ! Just one more, and that’s it. Let’s play just one more game !” 100 yelled, raising a fist in the air.

“Yeah, let’s play one more !” 226 screamed.

And soon, every O followed them, yelling “one more game” over and over, fist raised. You sighed as you saw Thanos do the same, bouncing on his feet excitedly.

There were definitely more Os than Xs… You felt like it was a lost cause. Will your vote really matter ?

Gihun and Youngil looked at each other, feeling defeated.

It was with no surprises that the O won.

As people went back to their beds, some stood still, eyes empty, like you. Wondering when you could go back home. You looked around, seeing Thanos and Namgyu high-five each other happily, laughing. How could they not be scared ? Was there really a chance to win these games ?

You finally turned around and saw Daeho look at Jungbae, who had voted O this time. You patted his shoulder as you passed next to him, sitting where the group usually is. Youngil sat next to you, then Junhee and Daeho, Gihun staying at the front, looking completely helpless at the results.

You all stayed silent for a moment, processing what happened.

“We can still leave.” Daeho began quietly, trying to be optimistic. “After the next game there will be a new vote.”

“Yeah but maybe we’ll be dead.” You replied with a blank stare.

“Ah, don’t say that ! You don’t know what will happen, we can all make it !” He grabbed your shoulders, rubbing them reassuringly.

“Why didn’t you vote O if you’re so optimistic about surviving ?” You asked after a moment of silence.

“Because I don’t want anyone else to die, and I’m not that optimistic. I’m just hoping.” He replied, rubbing your back. “Come on, we can make it. As they said, it’s children’s games, we should be able to do it.”

You hummed, unaware that on his bed Thanos was glaring at you two, fuming.

388’s hands were on you and he didn’t like that. Maybe that’s why you truly broke up with him ? So you could be with that guy you just met ?

Quickly the men in pink came back to give you food, soboro bread and some milk.

You stared at it.

“Is that all ?” You asked. But the circle in front of you didn’t respond, staying silent. It felt more like a breakfast than a dinner. Were they serious ? You sighed, annoyed, as he handed you your food. You took it, exasperated.

But as you walked away, you heard footsteps approaching you from behind. You looked over your shoulder and turned around when you saw Thanos.

“Is that why you left me ?” He asked, looking at Daeho who was sitting down.

“No.”

“He’s all over you. I’m not blind ! I saw it.”

“He’s not the reason why I broke up with you.” You said tiredly, not wanting to argue with him any longer.

“Then why were his hands on you ?” He said, feeling like he had cornered you.

“Because y’all won.” You deadpanned, frowning. “I’m feeling so fucking defeated and tired. He’s just trying to comfort me.”

“Right. Be careful. I’m watching you.”

You rolled your eyes.

“I’m going now.” You said, turning around and walking away.

As you sat down, Daeho stood up, going after Jungbae and bringing back into the group. The older man looked awkwardly at Gihun and Youngil before apologizing and explaining his vote.

“If I play one more game, I think I’ll be able to settle my debt. So-”

“Jungbae, you of all people shouldn’t have done it. It’s not twice as righteous.” Youngil said before sighing. “But, looking at the results, even if you had voted against, we would still have been outvoted.”

“Right ? It’s not entirely my fault.”

“All right. To be honest, I understand why you did it. The money isn’t enough for me either, so when I went up to vote, I did think about playing one more game.” Daeho said and Jungbae grabbed him.

“You did ?”

“I said I get it.” Daeho pushed him away, sighing.

“Thank you for understanding.” Jungbae sat down before continuing. “But I voted in favor partly because I feel confident. We did so well as a team, didn’t we ?” He looked around for approval. “If we stick together one more time, I’m sure we’ll be fine. Junhee, I’ll make sure we survive next game-”

“The next game ?” Gihun interrupted. “In the next game we might have to kill each other.”

“Gihun, that’s a bit much.” Youngil said. “There’s nothing we can do now, so let’s try to stay positive. We should eat, pull ourselves together, and try our best again.”

Then he grabbed his milk, handing it to Junhee.

“You can have mine too. Hang in there until the next game.”

“No, it’s okay.” She replied, surprised.

“Take it. I don’t drink plain milk.”

“Thank you.”

As she slowly took the milk, Jungbae gave her his soboro bread.

“Have my bread too. I don’t deserve to eat.”

“Can I have your milk then ?” Daeho asked as Jungbae looked at him.

You snorted at the way they stared at each other before giving your milk to Daeho.

“No, keep it.” He said, giving it back to you.

“I don’t like plain milk. I prefer the chocolate one. Plus it’s room temperature and I hate that.”

“Are you sure ?”

You nodded as he took your milk. Bowing his head to thank you. You opened your bread, taking a bite of it.

“I saw uh, your…hum. Should I say ex ? Talk to you earlier. You okay ?”

“Yeah, he was just being paranoid because he saw you rub my shoulders earlier.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t romantic.” You quickly said.

“…Yeah, but still, I feel bad.”

“Don’t. It’s not your fault.”

“I’ll be more careful so he doesn’t annoy you again because of me.”

You nodded, taking another bite of your bread.

“He probably saw me give you my milk.” You said looking over Thanos who was indeed staring you way, making a “watching you” gesture with his hand.

“You two should talk. More calmly. You don’t know what could happen, one of you could…”

“I know. I know. Eat your food before I decide to give my milk to someone else.” You said with a light chuckle.

Then came the bathroom break. You stayed where you were, not feeling the need to go, waiting for your group to come back.

As they did, Daeho told you what they saw ; Thanos threatening 333.

You sighed, feeling sorry for the man.

“I don’t know how much Myunggi made him lose, but I suppose it’s a big amount seeing how he’s acting.”

“He didn’t tell you ?” Daeho asked, surprised.

“No. I didn’t tell him I was in debt either. Neither did he. All I know is that he lost some money because of him. But not how much.”

He looked at you, surprised. You knew what he was thinking about. How could you lie to one another about money ?

“Why didn’t you…” He started, unsure if he should ask or not.

“Told him I was in debt ? I don’t know, I feared he would try to help me. I knew he didn’t have a lot of money so I didn't want him to become indebted because of me. Turns out he was already full of debts. If I had known, I could’ve told him without fearing he would help.”

“Why… do you think he didn’t tell you ?”

“Because I have debt, I became really careful with what I buy, I constantly use discount vouchers. He calls me a rat because of it. So he probably thought that I’d break up with him if I learned about his situation.”

He said nothing, thinking.

“We do communicate with each other.” You quickly added to reassure him, laughing awkwardly. “But not about money.”

Daeho nodded.

Then Gihun told you all to prepare for the night, to move the mattresses to hide under the beds.

It looked serious.

“Is this really necessary ?” Jungbae asked with a grunt as he grabbed a mattress. “I don’t like sleeping under there.”

“Once the lights go out, somebody might attack us.” Gihun replied, focused on pushing the mattresses under the beds.

“What ? Who ?” Daeho asked.

“The prize money still goes up if we kill each other. It’s part of the game they designed.”

You looked at him with raised eyebrows. Fuck.

“I think you’re overreacting here.” Youngil said. “Even if that were true, people wouldn’t do that.”

“In the previous game, dozens of people killed each other at night, right here. You have no idea how people can change… in this place.”

You thought about Thanos. He has always been a bit too much, over the top and impulsive but it’s true this place has made it worse. And it’s the same for you. You feel so much anger and fear you don't feel like yourself anymore. You sighed, rubbing your hair exasperated.

That night you kept watch with everyone, turn by turn. That gave you time to think about you and Thanos.

You had broken up with him, but did you really want to ? You still loved him, and if you both survived, you didn’t see yourself part ways with him, especially not after these murderous games.

You really needed to have a talk with him.

You discreetly woke up Gihun and told him Junhee went to the bathroom and that you had to do something as well. You waited till he was awake enough to leave.

You walked toward Thanos’ bed. He was quietly snoring, sprawled out on the mattress, the sheet wrapped around him messily. Despite the strange situation you were in, some things never changed.

“Subong.” You whispered, shaking him slightly. As he stirred, trying to stay asleep, your hands went to his face, gently caressing him.

He whined, asking to sleep longer as he turned his back to you.

“Ah, come on.” You whispered, cursing under your breath. “Subong, it’s me.” You shook his shoulder, forcing him to turn around once more.

His eyes slowly opened, letting out a sigh.

You rubbed his arm, gaining his attention.

“Can we talk ?”

He said nothing for a moment, still probably trying to wake his brain up and then he hummed as he sat up.

“What is it ? You’re here to say how mad you still are ?” His voice was quiet and hoarse from the sleep. What time is it ?

“I am still mad.” You replied calmly, sitting next to him. “But I also still love you.”

He raised an eyebrow, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark.

“Then why did you want to break up ?”

“Because I nearly died because of you ? And I’m fucking mad about it ?”

“Come on, I told you I didn’t mean-” He said a bit loudly and you planted a hand in his mouth to shut him up.

“I know, I know. And you were high off your ass so I guess it didn’t really help your case. But I can’t forgive you just because you weren’t in your right mind.”

He sighed, gently pushing your hand away from his mouth, holding it.

“I told you I was sorry.”

“I know, but that doesn’t erase what happened. I’m allowed to be mad about nearly dying by the hands of the person I love the most.”

Thanos looked at you, upset you refused to forgive him.

“I love you, and I’m sorry for saying we should break up.” You finally said, looking down. “I was just so… mad. And you were really annoying me. I truly thought I hated you at that moment. I’m mad you pushed me, but when I think about outside, I don’t see myself living without you. It’s just… here. Gihun said this place changes people and I think I believe him. We’re in a special situation.”

He seemed to think for a moment, trying to understand what you were telling him.

“Gihun ?”

“456.”

He nodded slowly.

“I love you. But I need time away from you.” You added.

“Huh ?”

You sighed.

“I may not look like it at the moment, but I’m still upset.”

“How long do you plan to stay away from me ? What do I have to do for you to forgive me ? Huh ?”

“I don’t know. Just give me time.”

“You want to do like in FRIENDS with Ross and Rachel, huh ?”

You stared at him before snorting.

“We’re not on a break. You better not flirt with anyone, okay ? I’m not flirting with Daeho. I’m watching you.”

“Are you sure ?”

“Yeah. He’s cute and nice but-”

“Ah ! You see ! I fuckin-”

You slapped your hand back on his mouth.

“Let me finish for fuck’s sake.”

He waited, letting you say what you wanted.

“Fuck.” You whispered. “He’s cute and nice but uh… I only have-” You grimaced, embarrassed. “But I only have eyes for you. So…”

Thanos stared at you silently, before starting to cackle, making you grimace even more, hiding your face by his shoulder.

“So shut up with your jealousy.” You quickly added.

“Why are you being so soft ?” He chuckled, patting your back.

“Because I love you and I want you to trust me and I don’t want you to die because you got too high to play the games correctly.”

“It’s not gonna happen. And I trust you. But not him.”

“Hum, I don’t think he swings that way.” You said looking toward where your group was then back at Thanos.

“You didn’t think I was bi.” He pointed out and you rolled your eyes.

“Sorry for not having a gaydar for bisexuals.” You replied and you both chuckled.

“So we’re good ?” He asked after a moment of silence.

You sighed, thinking.

“I… don’t know ? We’re not… hum… we’re not good good but we’re okay, I suppose.” You said, caressing his hair. “I told you I still love you.”

“Then we’re still boyfriends ?”

“Yeah.” You nodded.

“Good.”

You said nothing, not knowing what to say anymore.

“Well, I better get back.” You stood up, smiling awkwardly.

“Huh ? Where are you going ?”

“We’re keeping watch and-”

“You’re not sleeping with me ?”

You blinked at him.

“I told you I needed time.”

“Come on, it’s just sleeping. Do I piss you off even when I sleep ?”

“When you fall asleep before me while I struggle, yeah.” You replied with a slight chuckle and he sighed.

“I can’t do anything about it, come on, sleep with me.”

“Don’t snore in my ears, then.”

He grinned as he scooted to the side, giving you more space to lay next to him.

With a sigh you laid down, letting him wrap his arms around you, caging you against him, his head resting on your shoulder as he closed his eyes, happy.

You slowly rubbed his back, thinking.

“You know I’m still gonna vote X tomorrow, right ?” You whispered.

“It’s okay. As long as we play the games together.”

“Subong. I’m not gonna play the games with you. You’re gonna be high again and find a way to piss me off because I’ll be stressed and you, too relaxed.”

“Then eat with us ? Team Thanos welcomes you.”

“I said I need time. Do you want me to leave ?” As you asked that, his hold on you tightened, not wanting you to get up and walk away.

“Okay…” He replied. “The offer still stands though.”

You hummed, moving a little to make yourself more comfortable before closing your eyes.

You barely managed to sleep, hand rubbing Thanos’ back as he snored peacefully, drooling on your shoulder. Occasionally talking gibberish in his sleep.

You felt afraid one of you would die and leave the other alone. You hoped that Gihun being the only survivor was a one time thing, and that you’d either manage to leave this place or win all the games with your boyfriend.

78 million won was not enough for either of you, but it was a start. And if you survived tomorrow's game, you’d have even more.

You sighed, your cheek resting against Thanos’ head as you tried to reassure yourself.

Time passed slowly as you woke up several times until finally morning came. You stood up, leaving Thanos as you went back to Gihun’s group.

They were slowly emerging as the voice through the speakers announced the imminent start of the third game.

“I’m sorry. I needed to talk to my boyfriend. I promise I’ll keep watch tonight.” You said, bowing your head.

Gihun stared at you before answering.

“Don’t worry, nothing happened anyway.”

“I can keep watch for you tonight, so you can catch up on sleep.”

“It’s fine. Spend time with your boyfriend while you still can.” He simply said and you nodded, unsure of what to reply. He was always kind of intense. Did the games make him like that ?

As you walked out of the lobby and into the corridors, Daeho joined you.

“You didn’t keep watch tonight, you talked to him, right ?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Are you two good ?”

You couldn’t help but snort, slightly amused.

“He asked me the same thing. I said that we were okay-ish.”

“Good. I don’t know how you two are but it’s always sad when a couple breaks up.”

You looked at him.

“I mean… I guess ?” You smiled. “He still doesn’t trust you around me.” You added after a while.

“Ah…” He sighed. “Should I clear things up with him ?”

You chuckled.

“No. He’ll try to fight you. Stay with Youngil. He beat him up so he’s not gonna try to fight you if Youngil is near. But thank you for wanting to help, though.”

“Are you sure ?”

“Yeah.” You patted his back. “Focus on staying alive.”

You entered a colorful room, a big platform in the center, making you think of an empty carousel, and many doors by the walls.

Then the voice announced the game you’d be playing ; Mingle.

You heard Thanos excitedly talk to his team as you looked around, quickly understanding what the rules were going to be.

Instead of hugging the right amount of people you’d have to run to these doors. But the platform ? You weren’t sure of its use.

You stepped on it as the rules were announced.

“If the number is bigger than six, we’ll get the additional people we need.” Said Gihun, as you all thought about strategies.

“But what if it’s smaller than six ?” Daeho asked, like five or four ?”

“We’ll find a way.” You replied.

“No matter what happens, don’t panic. Let’s stay calm. We’ll all make it out together. Here.” Youngil said, reassuring everyone as he placed his hand in the center.

You all joined, placing your hands on top of one another.

“One, two, three, victory at all costs !”

Then, the platform began moving, Round and Round playing at the same time. You all gasped, startled by the sudden movement.

Then after a few seconds it stopped.

11.

Quickly Gihun turned toward 120, asking her how many they were.

“Four !” She replied.

“That makes us ten.” Pointed Jungbae.

Then suddenly a group caught your attention.

“Are you a group of six ? We’re five ! Come with us !” A player said before being grabbed and pulled away by yet another group.

You all looked around, beginning to panic.

“We need one more !” Yelled 120 before rushing to a woman, 044. “We’re eleven now !”

“Then let’s go !” Youngil said as the two groups followed one another to a door, closing once everyone was in. The door locked as the timer reached zero.

“Fuck. That was lucky.” You said with a sigh.

“This is no luck ! You’re alive thanks to me !” Yelled suddenly 044.

“God she scared me.” Said Jungbae quietly.

“Fuck, me too.” You said, hand on your heart. Everyone was staring at her.

She looked at Junhee and her belly before turning toward Gihun.

“So there’s a reason you’ve lived longer than you were destined to. There’s a reason you were brought here.” 044 said quietly before looking back at Junhee.

You went back to the platform when the doors unlocked themselves, blood splattered everywhere. You felt your stomach drop. You quickly looked around, spotting Thanos dancing.

At least he was alive.

“You five, go !” Said Gihun.

“No, you go !” Youngil replied as he quickly left. “Go ahead, guys !”

“We have no choice, let’s go !” Jungbae said, running away, Junhee and Daeho following him.

You grabbed Gihun, forcing him to come along.

He stopped by the door, looking for Youngil, before closing it right in time as it locked itself.

More blood decorated the floor and walls, you were careful to not walk on it as you saw a person before you slip because of it.

“Youngil ?” Jungbae called as everyone looked around for him, except you, looking for Thanos. When you spotted him you searched for Youngil.

“Gihun !” You heard coming from your left.

Daeho and Jungbae sighed, happy to see him alive. As Youngil arrived at your level, Jungbae hugged him.

“I knew you were going to be okay ! I knew it. You’re not just anybody !” Jungbae laughed while you all smiled.

“I was worried. I’m glad you made it.” Said Gihun.

“I’m a likeable guy, so I’m good at games like this.” Youngil chuckled while Jungbae patted his shoulder. “Are you feeling alright ?” He asked Junhee.

“Yes, I’m all right.” She replied. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Wait a minute. If the next number is seven, we won’t need anyone else, will we ?”

Everyone stared at him, confused.

“Why not ?” Daeho asked.

“Oh, in her tummy ?” Jungbae asked and Youngil laughed.

“Right that makes seven !” Said Daeho. “What if it’s twins ?”

“Why not triplets while you’re at it.” You said, chuckling.

Then you were back on the platform as you waited for it to stop and announce a number.

Perfect. You could make two teams.

“The three of you, go !” Gihun yelled, pushing Junhee, Daeho and Jungbae together. You followed Youngil and Gihun until you saw an old woman, alone. The woman who came here with her son.

Shit. You couldn’t leave her to die.

You quickly told your group to take her, that you’d find two more people.

Reluctantly they agreed, watching you leave as they rushed to a door with her.

You found yourself teaming up with Myunggi again and 024.

When the doors unlocked themselves you walked out, trying to find your team.

You spotted Thanos and quickly after your group. You ran to them before walking back to the platform with them, the old woman, her son and the group you teamed up with earlier.

It was a large number. You knew you’d have to make teams once more.

“Four women and two men, go !” Said Gihun.

“Which two men !” Jungbae quickly asked.

“I’m going with my mom !” Said 007, holding the old woman.

“I- I’ll go !” Quickly said Daeho. And just like this, him, Junhee, 095, 210, the old woman and her son went into a room, leaving you, Gihun, Jungbae, 246 and Youngil looking for someone else.

“All right, we need one person !” Yelled Gihun, looking for someone.

“Over here !” Pointed Youngil before rushing to the person, pulling him with the team into a room.

After a while the doors unlocked themselves, letting you out.

“Now the final round will begin.” The voice said as the platform began moving again.

“What do you think it’ll be this time ?” Jungbae asked Gihun.

“Two.” Replied Youngil.

“Why ?”

“There are 126 people left and there are 50 rooms. So there won’t be enough rooms for everyone. Only for 100 people. The rest will be killed.”

Your heart was beating fast, shaking anxiously. You would have prefered to not hear that.

Shit.

You all looked at one another, and quickly teams of two formed itself. You stood there as Youngil grabbed Jungbae, the old woman took her son, 120 went with 246 and Daeho and Gihun teamed up. You turned to Junhee but Myunggi grabbed her, pulling her with him into a room.

Shit, shit, shit. You should’ve been faster.

You began running around to find someone before slipping on a blood puddle. Breath caught in your throat as you fell back.

You shakily got up, feeling too shaken up and anxious to run again as you suddenly felt hands on you, pulling you into a room.

The door locked behind you as you looked at who had saved you.

Thanos.

He was smiling at you as you breathed loudly, trying to wrap your mind about what just happened. You were bending down, hands on your knees.

“Come on, don’t look so surprised.” He said, patting your shoulder.

“I- I’m- what ? Where do you come from ?”

“I was running with Namgyu, or Minsu I think, and then I saw you on the floor. Couldn’t just let you die for real, could I ? I knew you’d haunt me if I did.” He ruffled your hair.

“Thank you.” You replied, not knowing what to think or say. “I really thought I was done for.”

“So, do you forgive me ?”

“Huh ?”

“About me pushing you.”

“I’m- I-” You stared at him, unsure of what to reply. You were too scared to be mad at him. “And- And the others ? Namgyu, Gyeongsu, the girl and uh, Minsu ?”

“Don’t know. I’m sure Namgyu went with Minsu. They’re fine.” He replied, not really caring.

You sat down, trying to catch your breath. Your heart was pounding. Another near death experience. You closed your eyes, rubbing your face as Thanos sat next to you.

“Come on, I saved you, it should cancel me nearly killing you, right ?”

You didn’t reply, focusing on calming yourself down. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, shaking you gently, waiting for the doors to unlock again.

“Are you still mad ?” He asked as you walked out.

“I don’t know.”

“Ah, come on !”

“Please, not now. I’m- thank you, really. But I don't know what to think.” You replied as you heard him groan, following you out of the room and into the corridors.

Your mind was racing. Should you forgive him ? He saved you so you couldn’t stay mad at him, right ? Were you still mad ? Why did you feel so lost ? You just wanted to go home.

You were lost in your thoughts until your group found you.

“So you found someone, I’m glad.” Said Gihun.

“We were afraid you wouldn’t. Not much time was left.” Youngil nodded.

“Yeah… My uh, boyfriend saved me. I fell down and he pulled me into a room.”

“You slipped ?” Gihun asked.

“Not surprising with all the blood on the floor.” Youngil replied.

You felt hands on your shoulders, squeezing them gently. Daeho.

“You’re okay ?” He asked as Junhee and Jungbae looked at you.

“I’m… alive.” You replied, giving them a small smile.

You all entered the lobby and you didn’t know where to go. Should you sit with your boyfriend or with your group ?

You saw Thanos jump on Minsu, telling him he was happy he survived.

“It’s okay, you can stay with him.” Daeho said and you just looked at him. “We understand.”

“Uh… Are you sure ? I don’t know. I don’t know what to think.”

“You still love him ?”

You stared at him, confused, not knowing where this was going.

“Yeah.”

“Are you scared he’ll die or you ?”

“Fuck, yeah.”

“Then spend your time with him. If either of you die, at least you’d have spent your last moments together. Even if you’re mad. Otherwise you’d probably regret it.”

“…Okay.”

“No one else will die though. Because we’re leaving. The Xs will win this vote.” Daeho said, smiling as he gave you a confident wink.

You smiled back, before thanking him.

“Thank you for being so nice and understanding. If we survive it… I’d love to stay in touch with you outside. And become your friend.”

Daeho smiled brightly, playfully hitting your shoulder.

“Ah, come on, of course, there’s no way I’m letting our team disappear back into the wild !”

You walked toward Thanos, lightly bowing to Daeho one last time to thank him.

When Thanos saw you approach, he raised his fists in the air, standing up to place his hands on your shoulders, pulling you with the rest of his team.

“Finally you’re doing the right thing.” He said, squeezing your shoulders, making you sit next to him. You rolled your eyes.

You stayed silent, mind still busy thinking till the square guy and his armed triangles entered the lobby, congratulating you all for making it through.

Once again he clicked on a remote, money falling into the piggy.

Thanos stayed next to you, arm wrapped around your shoulders as his eyes looked at the piggy. You looked at him, thinking. Will it be enough for him this time ?

“Are you sure you’re not gonna pick O ?” He quietly asked, looking back at you.

“I wanna go home.” You replied, tired, resting your head against him. You felt him shrug.

And soon, another vote began.

456 went first. Picking X. Then you and Jungbae, quickly followed by Daeho, all picking X as well.

Then came Thanos’ turn, kissing the O button.

“Circle, let’s go !” He yelled.

Like the first two votes, no clear winner was showing itself. But this time, it lasted till the last minute.

The air was tense, both sides cheering each time a vote was made in their favor.

You began to stress again. You were so close from leaving. Or maybe you’d get a tie and have to vote again tomorrow. You hoped you could leave, wanting to live more than anything.

Then came Youngil’s turn. He stood before the two buttons for a few seconds before picking X.

50 to 50.

A tie.

You sighed, relieved. You won’t leave tonight, but you could try again with the next vote.

“So when are we going to vote again ?” A man asked.

“To give you some time to think, the vote will be conducted tomorrow. Until then, please think carefully about your future.” Replied the square guy before leaving, the triangles taking back the machine.

Maybe you could make Thanos change his mind and vote X ?

You weren’t sure you could. You were both stubborn and him probably more than you.

Ah…

You went and stood in front of him.

“What do you need to change your mind ?” You asked, not wasting any time. He looked at you, slightly surprised.

“Money.” He finally replied with a smile.

“If I give you my 356 million, making you have… 712 million. Would it be enough ? You’d still have debts, 1.19 billion you have ? So like… 478 million won remaining ?”

He seemed to think for a moment.

“But there’s still yours.” He finally said.

“I don’t care. As long as I’m alive.”

He shook his head.

“Not enough. I don’t know how much debt you have but it’s not enough to cover both of us.”

Shit.

It was your only argument.

You sat next to him, defeated. Your face against your folded knees.

“You gave up so fast.” He laughed.

“I have nothing else to offer.”

“You could threaten me to break up ?”

“I know you, that wouldn’t work.”

“True !” He replied, ruffling your hair. You swatted his hand away. “You know what you could offer me ?”

“What ?”

He leaned closer, whispering in your ear.

“The best head of a lifetime.”

You snorted.

“Fuck off.” You replied, tired. “I know it won’t change your mind. And I’m more in the mood to bite your dick off than to suck it. I still haven’t forgotten what happened during Green light, red light.”

“Ah…” He sighed. “But you’re right, that wouldn’t change my mind.”

“Oh yeah, very surprising.”

Then the doors opened again as the circles and triangles bought dinner. A roll of gimbap sliced up and a bottle of coke.

“Woah, they have the money to give us hundreds of millions of won but can’t afford a decent meal ? And what’s up with only one meal a day ?” You sighed, sitting down.

“Here.” Thanos sat next to you, giving you a slice of his gimbap. “It’s for the egg yolk I ate the other day.”

You looked at him, slightly surprised.

“I will give you another one if you vote O.” He said and you laughed.

“You can buy me with food but not with gimbap. Especially not in this setting.”

“And the best head of a lifetime ?” He winked at you and rolled your eyes.

“You’d actually have more chances making me change my mind with gimbap.”

He sighed and you patted his shoulder.

“Relationships are tough. I know.”

Everything was calm and peaceful as the bathroom break came.

You had done what you wanted and walked out of the bathroom, waiting for Thanos to stop bothering Minsu.

The two armed triangles stood still as you looked at them awkwardly. The silence felt so heavy.

Until you heard yelling.

It was Myunggi telling the other Xs that some Os were threatening one of them.

Quickly you heard Thanos’ voice, yelling that the Xs were about to attack.

You sighed and rolled your eyes until you heard more noise coming from inside. As if people were fighting.

You opened the door slightly to check and you were right, everyone was at one another’s throat. As you got in, you tripped on someone trying to crawl out. Stunned, it took you a few seconds to shake out of it to get up again, trying to not get punched or kicked.

You tried to go to Thanos but an O began attacking you. Avoiding a couple punches, he still managed to kick you and send you back on the floor. But as you fell down an X jumped on the man, defending you. You rolled on your stomach, searching for Thanos.

As you approached you saw Myunggi take a fork out of his pocket, planting it in Thanos’ throat, right under the tongue.

He pulled the fork out, Thanos’ blood gushed all over Myunggi’s face who stabbed him another time, on the side this time.

You quickly made your way toward them, Myunggi hiding in the stall as you grabbed Thanos.

He was bleeding a lot. Blood squirting everywhere, staining his and your clothes. You pushed the hand by his throat to replace it by yours, trying to stop the bleeding as much as you could.

He was gasping for air, coughing up more blood, eyes wide, begging you to fucking do something, anything to help him.

Fuck, what the fuck were you supposed to do ?

Suddenly you saw a hand approach, quickly taking the cross around Thanos’ neck before ripping the fork away from his throat. You looked at who it was, Namgyu, jumping on another X to stab them multiple times.

You better hide.

And so you grabbed Thanos, crawling into the next stall, smearing blood everywhere as you locked it, holding him against you.

His bloody hand was weakly holding your wrist as you stared at him, scared. What the fuck was going on ? Is he really gonna die ?

“I’m sorry !?” You quickly said. What were you even supposed to say ? “I love you. Please don’t die.”

He squeezed your wrist weakly as you planted a kiss on his forehead, shaking.

“I’m so scared. Please don’t leave me alone. I forgive you so you better live.”

Thanos tried to reply, opening his mouth only to cough up more blood.

You continued holding him, caressing his face with your free hand, until suddenly you heard a warning shot. The triangles were probably inside, aiming at anyone that would keep moving.

“Out. Everyone.” A voice said.

Then you heard slow footsteps, people leaving. You continued waiting until someone tried to open your stall.

You refused to move. Too scared to do anything. They were going to kill him. You didn’t want him to die.

“Unlock the door.” The voice said.

After a few seconds, your shaky hand moved to the door, unlocking it.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

The triangle pushed it open, watching you hold Thanos tightly. Blood seeping from in between your fingers.

He aimed his gun at you, signaling you to move away. You saw behind him two circles putting bodies inside coffins.

“He’s not- he’s not dead.” You said quietly, looking at Thanos as he continued gasping, struggling to breathe, eyes losing their light. You could feel his pulse weaken, barely perceptible.

The triangle approached, planting the gun on your forehead. You slowly moved, leaving Thanos on the floor as you watched, the two circles grabbing him and placing him inside a coffin. Weren’t they going to finish him ?

“Please, don’t-” You began only for the triangle to point his gun back at you, pushing you away. “He’s not- He’s not dead !”

Why were they putting him in the coffin if he wasn’t dead yet ? It was only a matter of time but during the second game they finished someone who was still alive in the coffin. Why weren’t they doing it as well now ?

You tried to beg for them to end his suffering, but the triangle continued to push you outside, forcing you back into the corridors. Another triangle came, making sure you went with the group as you walked back to the lobby.

You felt numb as you sat on Thanos’ bed, not listening as Namgyu yelled what probably were lies, barely hearing both sides arguing back and forth about who started it.

Suddenly an O yelled at you, telling you to go away and sit with the other Xs.

“Unless you wanna vote O tomorrow ?” The man asked, waiting for you to reply.

You stared at him for a moment and then someone rushed to you two. Daeho.

“Come. Come with us.” He said, patting your back as he pulled you up, making you walk with him. “I’m sorry.” He said more quietly, looking apologetically at you.

You didn’t reply as you sat next to him, 047 counting all of you.

You stayed like this even after they were done counting, everyone turning into smaller groups. You had a thousand-mile look on your face, not bothering to listen as Gihun was creating some sort of plan to get out.

“Will there be a fight again ?” You quietly asked, cutting him off. He looked at you before answering.

“Seeing the tension, most likely, yes.”

You curled up on yourself, not wanting to hear more.

Then you felt a hand on your head, gently patting you. You knew it was Daeho trying to comfort you.

“You don’t have to follow us. Just hide under the bed until the fight is finished. Okay ?”

You didn’t reply.

You waited until the lights were off to move, following your groups under the beds.

Soon after you heard footsteps, quietly rushing to your side and then someone yelling before letting out a strangled noise, quickly followed by more people yelling.

The lights kept blinking, making it harder to see.

Then suddenly you crawled out from under the beds. Daeho wanted to call your name so you’d hide back but Youngil placed a hand on his mouth.

“We can’t be found.” He whispered.

You walked around, aimlessly. Until suddenly someone pushed you, sending you to the floor as they continued to run away. You slowly stood up before feeling your legs get kicked, landing back on your ass. The person standing above you quickly bent down, stabbing you in the throat multiple times.

You gasped, strong and sharp pain invading your body as they began kicking you. You could feel your blood glide down your skin, wetting your clothes. You struggled to breathe, coughing and gasping constantly. They ran away to probably attack someone else as you stayed on the floor, thinking about Subong.

You slowly stopped shaking, your body no longer jerking. Your muscles relaxed, mouth open as you continued to gasp quietly, eyes barely open.

You remained here, slowly dying, feeling yourself lose control over your body, but Subong was still plaguing your mind.

You didn’t realize the lights were back on as pink men entered, armed, stopping the fight. You started drowning in your own blood as it continued spilling, pooling in your mouth and on the floor.

But you didn’t mind. At least you would be reunited with him.

#male reader #m!reader #thanos squid game #squid game x m!reader #squid game x male reader #squid game 2 #squid game #choi su bong x m!reader #choi su bong x male reader #choi subong #choi subong x male reader #choi subong x m!reader #choi su bong

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himbocoups · 2 years ago

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˗ˋˏ CRAWL ˎˊ˗ | 18+ Only

SYNOPSIS: If there is anything about the Devil, it’s that he always keeps his promises. The problem is, he’s mad that you seemed to have forgotten his promise. Crawling for the Devil is the least of your problems.

PAIRING: devil!yjh x reader (afab)

GENRE: fantasy | smut, pwp

TAGS: featuring: sub!ksy, artist!xmh, housemate!jww | auditory voyeurism, pegging (m receiving), fingering, hickies, face sitting, oral + face fucking (m receiving), tail play, degradation, crawling, spanking, swallowing, toys, manhandling, pnv

WC: 5.2k

A/N: hello! currently working on my thesis so writing this was a way to blow off steam. I also wasn't going to write another devil!jeonghan fic so thank you to @whenyourenothere for convincing me! this can be read as a standalone fic or a part two of red horn. special s/o to @junkissed for helping me figure out the tags for this fic bc there's a lot <33 - nu ♡ | tagging: @jjeongddol

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It is a rusty metallic foldable chair that you sit on that squeaks and creaks even with the slightest movement. You try to readjust your posture — definitely not sure if you should sit up straight with your back against the dusty chair or with your hands folded neatly on the edge of the devil’s table in front of you. In fact, you’re not sure whether or not you are supposed to touch the devil’s office desk, so you choose to lead with the prior option. And the metal chair reacts, drawing out a long and uncomfortable creeeeak as you shift your weight backward.

Maybe you were just lucky last time, led by the Devil to believe that maybe you were worthy of being somebody special in this vast world. In this underworld where the universe’s menagerie of creatures visit with last hopes of finding a solution, you are finally coming to a conclusion that you’re only but a speck of dust in a world that knows no bounds.

The small office room feels humid and stuffy; its previously supposedly beige wallpapers are now a darker shade of brown that peels in large patches to reveal dirty and white painted-over bricks. Splotches of mold line the edges of the patches, and you find yourself wishing that mold spores aren’t a thing that exists in Hell. But it’s Hell, and anybody who dealt with mold before knows that the process of treating mold is basically hell. The navy colored carpet looks old and worn out. Several flat and black pieces of gum stick to it, already dried and surprisingly shiny in color.

On the desk and pushed to the corner is an old and vintage PC, the kind with the square monitors and the back that protrudes outwards. You can feel the heat from the computer console blow against your skin and leave a faint burnt metallic scent in its wake. Not sure what to do or if you’re supposed to do anything, you sit in silence as the devil behind the computer screen slowly types and moves his mouse on top of his mousepad to fill out the information he has in the giant manilla folder spread out in front of him.

You retract your lips inwards and bite the gummy and smooth underside of your lips while you stare at the stack of business cards pointed toward you. Craig. His name is Craig with no last name. Demon. So you’re wrong. He’s neither a devil nor is he the Devil with a capital “D” whom you were previously introduced to. He’s just office worker Craig, the demon you were assigned today.

“Do you think it’s too stuffy in here?” He asks you while lifting his mouse from the mousepad before setting it back down to readjust the roller ball underneath. Not once does he turn to look at you or make eye contact with you.

“A little,” you reply feeling awkward and a bit burdened by the question for almost no reason at all.

He nods his head while tracing his long and crooked finger against a line on the stack of papers in front of him before typing in the data in his computer. He sniffs and snorts his phlegm while clearing his throat. It was just small talk; there is no way an office worker in Hell would care about your wellbeing. You find yourself wondering if central cooling is a thing in Hell while trying to peek at the contents of your surprisingly large folder with no avail.

This room, this office worker, this situation…none of this is the same as the beautiful and luxurious office space you imagined stepping in for the second time. Long gone is the plush gray Persian rug and the mahogany desk that belongs to the owner himself. And your large file that is spread out before the demon you’re assigned, you cannot help but think about the event or even events that could have possibly added to the flimsy pieces of paper the Devil flipped through when he first met you. And the thought of Craig reading your file only causes your face to heat up in embarrassment.

“Um.” You force yourself to break the awkward silence. “May I use the restroom before we start? You still haven’t asked me what I’m here for, and I think I accidentally came under the assumption that I would be assigned to the same person. I’ll be quick in case you need me immediately.”

“Down the hall,” the demon mumbles while hunching his back to allow himself to squint closely at the screen in front of him.

Picking yourself up from your seat, you basically fling yourself out of the office while thinking about the fresh air that awaits you in the hallway. No thoughts about the demon nor suspicions regarding the fact that the demon didn’t really point you towards a particular route to the restroom floated in your mind. Coming here was a mistake, and you are willing to face any repercussions for walking out of a meeting with a demon if it means having to save yourself from the embarrassment of having that demon read your file regarding your previous request with the Devil.

However, what awaits you on the other side of the door isn’t the hallway from which you entered the office you were in. Instead, you find yourself in an oddly familiar bedroom. Light navy blue floor-length curtains cover the window with their original pleats from when it was first purchased about a year ago still intact. Pushed against the window is the full-sized bed with the orange-stained wooden headboard and the mess of frost blue blankets haphazardly strewn on the mattress. The soft and rotund tiger plush lays threateningly close to the edge of the bed, able to be toppled over even with the slightest movement on the mattress.

The owner of this bedroom is in the middle of it all. Kwon Soonyoung kneels on his bed with his legs spread and his ass up. He already looks so fucked out. His left cheek is pressed against his mattress while he looks back at you with his hands tied behind his back. The position he’s in doesn’t seem comfortable at all, but his expressions, demeanor, and soft whimpers coming out of his mouth digress.

“Please,” he practically begs you from his pitiful position. You can see how his lean thighs tremble while he struggles against his restraints. He wails with such desperation, “I want it. I want it so badly,” so much that it almost sounds as if he is going to cry from your lack of action.

You don’t realize it until now, but an object manifests itself in your hands. A thick and ribbed silicone dildo, one that you’re too familiar with, is being stroked by you unconsciously. You feel the girth of it and how the lube it’s coated with prepares the toy for insertion.

Then comes the teasing. You find the words naturally flowing out of your mouth: “Conciseness in your language, Soonie. What is it that you want?”

But the thing is, you know what comes next. You know what his response is as you slowly make your way over to him.

“Peg me. I’m ready,” he gasps while a tiny translucent pearl gathers at the tip of his dangling cock. “Blow my back out.”

You already know exactly how many times you will yourself to slap his ass to prep him before his legs give in. You already know how lewdly he would gasp as you insert the tip of the toy, how he would bury his face in his blankets as he moans out loud. You find yourself repeating actions as if being controlled by a machine, yet you don’t hate it. You’re magically stuck in a limbo between reality and déjà vu, presently recreating the past.

You feel his walls sucking in the toy, taking it in so well. Like a special switch in an escape room, once you grab onto his aching cock to stroke him while you peg him, the scene immediately switches.

Naked and in the middle of a studio apartment that reeks of paint fumes and essential oils, you look at yourself through the standing mirror in front of you. Despite the fan blowing in the background and the apartment windows propped open, you don’t feel cold at all. Instead, your skin pricks with heat as the sensation of arousal gathers itself at your core and spreads to the tips of your fingers. Beneath you is a mop of platinum blonde hair of the artist who sits by your feet.

Xu Minghao gently grabs you by the waist so that he can angle you so that you can get a better view of his artwork on your body. You remember that with him, you always felt safe and appreciated. He traces his slender finger along the length of your thigh, bringing it up to your ass. He makes you feel valuable through your soreness, the entirety of your right ass cheek covered in his carefully placed hickies. Your pussy throbs with eagerness, waiting to be filled before all of the juices run dry.

“My work of art,” he mumbles before he brings his lips to your ass cheek. In the open space where the bruises connect, he bites it with his teeth and swirls the flesh in between his teeth with his tongue. His left hand makes its way to your opening, thumbing the smooth nub that immediately makes your knees buckle. So he positions himself behind you, strongly wrapping his long right arm around your legs to keep you steady as he nips and sucks while he takes your time to circle your clit before he finally slips his finger in your core as if the action is like second nature to him.

Pleasure builds in your soul and makes your body scream with pleasure as Minghao meticulously massages your inner walls, stroking and tapping your spongy insides as you writhe in his arm. He adds another finger, filling you up and building your high, scissoring you while you moan his name as your liquid drips down his fingers and collects in his palm.

“Done,” he breathes as he shifts his body so that he sits between your open legs. You can feel how his warm breath hits your skin as he speaks with his lips nearly on your cunt, “Flower on your ass. Sweet and puffy rose sitting on my face.”

Before you can re-experience all of what it felt like to sit on Minghao’s face like a chair, you find yourself in another room. This time, you’re in your own place in the room next to yours. From the placement of the desk to how the bed is pushed against the corner of the room, flush against the wall, the layout of this room directly mirrors your own. There are a lot more notecard art prints taped to the wall than you last remembered. The LED lights built into his mechanical keyboard softly pulses as it switches colors. And there is the all too familiar smell of his laundry detergent and dryer sheets that fills his room — he had just unloaded his laundry from the dryer, but didn’t have time to fold his clothes as they still sit in the laundry basket placed in front of his closet.

You’re not sure if you’re allowed to be here at all. It’s not often that you find yourself in Jeon Wonwoo’s bedroom, but when you do, you’re usually near the threshold of his door. And to be sitting on his plush gray sheets, you think it feels too intrusive. Still, you’re not sure if you should move from your comfortable position despite the fact that you’re not close enough to him to enter his bedroom just to chill without him present. And the worst of all, you’re pretty sure you’re still soaked from your previous encounter with Minghao. And that you’re still definitely in hell because there is no way you would ever allow yourself to feel this close to coming on Wonwoo’s bedsheets without his permission.

Two soft knocks on the door diverts your attention to the closed door.

“Yn,” Wonwoo's deep and tender voice calls your name from the other side of the door. “Is everything okay? I’m coming in.”

The thing is, this occurrence with Wonwoo had never happened before. You’re stuck in a scenario far different from the other two. So, you shouldn’t be as surprised as you are when you saw him walk through his bedroom door. Instead of the tall and built housemate that you sometimes find yourself secretly fawning over, is the sinister yet charming man you haven’t seen in ages.

Yoon Jeonghan steps into your housemate’s bedroom with the irresistible charm of his while flaunting an oversized black t-shirt whose sleeves almost touch his elbows. The Devil is here, and he knows everything that you’ve been hiding from him.

He slams the door behind him and takes long and fast paced strides toward the bed until his figure towers over you. And the Devil himself smirks as he purposely leans down until his bangs dangle in front of his forehead and your entire upper body is pressed against Wonwoo’s sheets. His right hand presses into the space next to your left shoulder as he looks down at you with a pitiful look on his face.

“What?” He almost scoffs at you in his beautiful light and airy voice. “You didn’t once stop to think that maybe all of this was my doing? That you would relive your memories with who was it? Kwon Soonyoung and Xu Minghao? You’re more fucking stupid than I remembered. Were you fucked too hard by Seungcheol that you lost a few braincells? Or was it with Joshua when you accidentally hit your head too many times against the inside of his car door?”

He cocks his head to the side as he grabs your chin with his left hand. Cold to the touch, this miniscule action has you struggling to catch your breath. He tilts your head left and right as if to carefully inspect what is his.

“My pet,” he coos while letting go of your chin. Where his cool fingertips touched your skin now pricks with burning heat. And he takes his time to kneel on the bed while still hovering over your body. “This is the bedroom of the guy you get off to? You don’t think I know about how often you touch yourself while he fucks the people he brings over to this bedroom? And now you’re horny again? You want to fuck on the bed of the guy you want so deep in your gut?”

As stupid as you are, you find yourself shell shocked and in awe at the Devil on top of you so much that you unconsciously nod in agreement to every single humiliatingly detailed sentence that comes out of his mouth. The topic isn’t about Jeonghan and you, but the sexual tension established between the two of you knocks on your pussy and makes your mouth go dry. Fuck, maybe he is right. Fucking other men over the span of time since you last saw Jeonghan could never amount to what you felt when you were fucked by the Devil. Lost in your delusions, you could only get off to what you couldn’t have. And when the world’s most untouchable creature is currently so close to you that the collar of his black tee hangs so low that you can peek through the hole to see the expanse of his lean body, the warning signals your brain is desperately trying to send you are unfortunately dispelled by the eagerness of wanting to take a second dip.

“How much do you want me?”

“Enough,” you reply while staring straight into his eyes.

He wastes no time by pulling out his cock from his sweats as you sit up from your previous position. Cold and hard are the two adjectives you can use to describe the feeling of him tracing his cock along your open lips. But he won’t let you touch him. He won’t let you kiss him. He lets you starve as your eyes flitter between his cock on your mouth and his deceivingly beautiful face as he pumps his cock. And he taps his member on your lips, telling you to open your mouth wider. And you can feel him slip himself through the hole you made, how the veins on the underside feel against the smooth and warm inner part of your lips. You’re hungry. Starving. Basically wishing that he’ll let you close your mouth around him and suck him to the point you’re reminded that he had no soul to begin with.

So when he commands you to suck, you do as he says. You lick the tip, wetting and coating it with your saliva. Swirling your tongue around the length, you warm up the member in your mouth as more of his salty taste coats your tongue. Then you close your lips around him in a perfect “O” while shifting yourself on your knees so you can take him better.

You suck, hollowing your cheeks while gliding your mouth along his length. God, how you bend so easily for him. Your eyelids flutter as you continue to take him along his curved length. And moan while your mouth is plugged, a muffled moan of ecstasy when you feel him twitch while sandwiched between your lips. To make matters worse, whenever you look up at him as you edge yourself to take him in further, you see that he looks perfectly composed.

“Wider, slut,” he tells you while pumping what you can’t take. His hand is on your jaw again, and he squeezes your jaw between his long fingers so that it stays open. Your pool of saliva escapes the corners of your lips and trails along your chin before it drops on Wonwoo’s sheets. And he fucks himself in your mouth by manually moving your head along his length, barely giving you enough time to flatten your tongue against the whole of his length. He pushes his length into your mouth and groans when you gag.

He fucks your mouth to find satisfaction and get off on your uncomfortableness, watching you moan while struggling to keep up with his pace. His hand leaves your jaw and attaches itself to the back of your head, grabbing a fistful of hair as he uses it to swing your head back and forth like the ping pong ball attached to a paddle toy. The two of you know that the rate in which he fucks your mouth is too much for you, yet you find pleasure in being used by the higher being while he fucks your mouth to the sounds of you struggling against his cock and the wet smack of your lips when you spit him out after he comes. You swallow what you have and hurriedly wipe the liquid white off your chin and lips. You watch him tearfully as he finishes with his cock in his hand and his seed on the bedsheets and your thighs.

“I- I’m sorry,” you stutter as his angry red length bounces in front of your teary eyes. You want to lean in again to put him between your lips before he can punish you. You want him to call you names and make you feel bad about yourself. You want him to pump himself while he looks at you attacking the slit on his tip like how you want him to eat you out. You want to swirl your tongue around the spongy smooth surface before using the tip of your tongue to dig into the area in which his precum emits.

Your thighs rub together to ease the unsatisfied throb of your core. You need stimulation from him in any way. Just a kiss. A touch. Anything from Jeonghan would probably edge you to completion, but he doesn’t want to help you. And you don’t want to give up this opportunity with him.

“I’m s-sorry Jeonghan. Jeonghan, I’m sorry. Please…,” you plead as you watch him look down on you with a face of disappointment. You want to physically reach out to him to tell him you’ll do better, to tell him to give you another chance. But you see him take a few steps backwards and you’re sent into a state of frenzied lust and panic. You’ve never been so desperate to please, to complete a request from a man. You’re so deluded by the Devil that it feels as if your entire world will end if you don't please him or hold yourself up to his standards.

Gone is the man who called you his Angel the first time he met you. In front of you is the Devil who willfully draws you in, who has you stumbling off of your housemate’s bed just so that you can crawl your way over to him in your blissful haze. The more Yoon Jeonghan steps backwards, the more your vision tunnels on his body as you crawl across the bedroom floor, not caring about how uncomfortable the hardwood floor is underneath your palms and your knees.

When you come to your senses, you realize that it’s a different kind of hardwood underneath your body. Your naked body is displayed on all fours on Jeonghan’s large mahogany office desk like an object on display. You don’t even remember if you had your clothes on in the first place. But it feels as if the Devil suddenly wanted to bring one of the several trinkets he has displayed along his office wall to play with at his desk. You were confident that you could show him how much you’ve changed since you last saw him. Yet he has a way of proving how wrong you are. You’re no match for the Devil, and he intends to keep it that way. And in a way, to be displayed in front of him, it makes you feel as if you’re one of his prized possessions.

Your eyes watch him as he circles around his desk while he looks you up and down. He’s no longer in his t-shirt and sweats, but in a classic white button-down with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a pair of black tailored slacks. Golden and thin-wired circular glasses sit on the bridge of his nose. Protruding from the top of his head are his red horns. And this time, the long and forked tail that he previously kept hidden swishes behind his back. He brings the length of his long tail up to his left hand before tightly coiling it around the palm of his right hand like a long red rope. And one look from him through his glasses, a satisfying smirk and an arched brow, you know that you’re done for.

He takes the tip of his tail and traces it along your naked body, causing your body to jolt and shudder in response. He uses it like a teacher’s pointing stick, the tip running smoothly along the curvature of your body. He’s purposely toying with you, watching you try not to squirm every time he traces his tail anywhere near your glistening cunt.

“Do you think it’s too stuffy in here?” He jests while planting himself at the edge of his desk behind your ass. It hits you that you heard this question before, and only now do you realize that the Devil has been playing with you all along. You feel him trace his tail along your cunt, letting a prong trace along your folds as if it were his finger.

“Fuck!” you gasp out loud. “That was you?”

You feel the stinging pain on your ass after you hear the crisp slap ring into the air. Your stomach tightens as your pussy clenches in response.

“Shut the fuck up Yn,” he grunts. “Cumsluts can’t talk.”

You moan when you feel his tail go underneath a fold, causing your thighs to go weak. But he pulls his tail away from your core to tap it against your outer thigh. Hold yourself up, the action seems to say. So you gather your strength to maintain your position, ignoring the soreness in your knees and the fact that he’s been with you ever since you stepped into “Craig’s” office. When you spread your thighs, your sensitive cunt opens up like a flower in bloom, warm and wet against the stale office air. Jeonghan doesn’t ravish its beauty like how Minghao often does. He doesn’t want to.

Although your forearms are tired and your thighs burn from exhaustion, your pussy pulsates like it’s its own living entity — full of life and eager to be filled. Right now, only Jeonghan can grant these conditions. And you’re willing to wait even if your horniness drives you mad.

He firmly grabs your ass, angling it so that your glistening pussy is in full view.

“From this point on, I’m going to make you scream my name like a requiem made for angels.” He forcefully pulls your ass back so that it’s pressed against his stomach while he leans over your figure so that his mouth is near your left ear. “I’ll ruin you if you try to crawl away. But I’d like to see you try.”

You’re pretty sure you already soaked his shirt in the place where your core was pressed against the fabric. It amazes you how he easily flips your body so that you’re laying flat on his desk with your legs propped up against the wood. Any further back, you would be in a mating press.

You wonder if he can read your mind, how much you want to ride him up and down his length and for him to coat you so much that you’re left with soft and silken skin. Even if he tied your hands behind your back, you would still go on your knees to unbuckle his belt with your teeth.

He’s been sensing your urgency since you summoned him. Looking at your sopping cunt and dragging the tip of his tail along your clit, he decides to ease the heat in your stomach by slowly pushing his tail into your core. You moan in response as you slowly adjust to its size, feeling everything from the way it fills your walls to the way it is as smooth as a glass dildo. You shudder at the way he pulls it out of you for a mere second before pushing it back into you, causing your stomach to twitch and your thighs to close around his hand.

He leaves his tail in you while he pries your thigh apart.

“What’s the use in thinking about mounting my cock if you can’t even keep your legs open? What’s an ego if you can’t even embody it correctly?” he mocks you before bringing down the hand that once held his tail against your heat. The impact feels as hot as the way your arousal burns. You cry out in elated pleasure; one convulsion is enough to push the tail halfway out of you. “Useless excuse of a human,” he laughs at you before grunting as he pushes his tail back inside, twisting it as he plunges it in and out of you. “You’re all talk, yet you bend at the thought of me.”

Cock-deprived, you clench around his tail as you gasp for air. Your pussy sucks the tail in and refuses to let go, making you mewl for Jeonghan to fuck you hard while he thrusts his tail in and out of you. “Nn-nh. Jeonghan! Ah- Yes. Yes. Fuck me. Use me.” You squeal and moan out loud as your high builds at an incredible speed. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as your back arches off the desk and you feel as if you’re levitating. “I’m gonna come.”

“Come.”

You cream at his command, coating his instrument in a thick and white sheen. Your stomach folds inwards as you whimper from the pleasure. He pulls his tail out of you while coaxing more out of you by lightly tapping your nub as you convulse. Overstimulated, you come another time, babbling his name and telling him how good you feel as you squirt against his slender fingers.

“Look at you,” he coos. “You made a mess on my table only from my tail. What’s going to happen when you take my cock? You’ve already folded yourself into a fucking fetal positon, Yn.”

You can feel your liquid drip from your pussy to your ass before it pools on the table underneath you. You feel so relieved and relaxed from your high, but there is still this insatiable need for the Devil to fuck you.

When he does, his cock fills you and squeezes you dry. His head rubs against the top of your walls while his veins work like a ribbed toy — adding more pleasure than you have ever experienced. Fingers digging into your thighs, he pulls out and slams back into you, his balls slapping against your ass with every thrust. You want to scream out his name as you clench around his length, sucking him in and never wanting to let go. But the image in front of you is a sight to behold, leaving you breathless as you watch it unfold.

You watch him through your half-lidded eyes, the scene of him as he throws his head back. You can see the way he swallows your cum that coats the tail he sucks in his mouth, how his Adam’s apple bobs when the liquid travels down his throat. You’re nothing but an instrument for his pleasure, and he sure knows how to show it.

He bucks his length into you so that it kisses the deepest parts of you, causing you to gasp and quake in your stomach. And he keeps it there with his legs pressed against your ass and the underside of your thighs. Slowly grinding against you, he revels in how you choke from the size of him and how you clench and unclench as if you’re struggling to hold on.

He pops the tail out of his mouth, a long string of saliva like a web between the tip of his prong and his tongue. He looks like a character from a lewd illustration, so beautiful yet so deadly. And you find yourself into another dimension as he thrusts further into you, grunting as he watches you scream for him.

“Fuck!,” you scream as you squeeze your eyes shut. “You’re going to tear me apart.”

“Gonna,” he grunts between every thrust, increasing his pace with every word. “Make. You. Feel. Everything.”

Your entire body trembles with pleasure, your breathing erratic. He continues to thrust into you, talking with his sweet tongue about how your slick and puffy pussy drives him insane.

“There’s nobody in this world who can fuck like I do,” he reminds you. “Now squeeze me hard as I cum in you. We’re going to be making a new type of liquid.”

#svthub #seventeen imagines #svt imagines #seventeen smut #svt smut #jeonghan smut #yoon jeonghan smut #jeonghan x reader #seventeen x reader #seventeen fic #seventeen scenarios #✏️ ━ himbocoups

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jarenka · 7 months ago

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I didn't want to start sunshine AU (yes, it has a name now!) without finishing a current fic, but I wrote down the first scene, since I've already came up with it. Ans then I translated it into English (well, google translated it, and I've made some changes, and @heretolurkandnothingmore kindly edited it). Here it is with a quick sketch of Anakin and Obi-Wan from this AU.

Since Laer laid between two mountain ranges, it didn't have its own spaceport. The nearest one was an hour and a half away, on an elongated coastal strip. Obi-Wan decided that they would land there and then ride a local airbus the rest of the way. The group him and Anakin were supervising only had seven older younglings, already past the age of needing constant supervision.

As they made their way down to their designated spot, Anakin kept muttering that they should have picked a planet with a landing spot right next to the temple. He fit their ship neatly into a marked square on a concrete field between two other passenger ships of about the same size.

“There's a transit port in Laer,” Obi-Wan said. ”We could have landed there, but then you'd have to bring the ship back here and make the way back on your own. And on planets with landing spots near a temple there aren’t any hotels, theaters, or craft shops.”

“And I don’t think you're used to tents and dry rations anymore.” The words hang between them, unspoken.

”Don't be such a bore,” Anakin said. “Let me grumble a bit.”

“You're only thirty-five, it's a little early for you to become a grumpy old man.”

Their spot was not far from the passenger port building, so they got there on foot without waiting for a transportation platform. Obi-Wan walked ahead, and Anakin trailed the procession.

Following the blue holographic arrows, Obi-Wan found the station - a large glass-walled building with three platforms, which airbuses approached one by one. The traffic was brisk, but Obi-Wan knew there weren't many flights to Laer. He went to the terminal to buy tickets only to find out that the next airbus wouldn't arrive for another hour. Obi-Wan sighed heavily. Jedi had been taught restraint and patience from an early age, but his wards still were just regular teenagers who had already spent thirteen hours in hyperspace, in the cramped quarters of a ship.

“All right, children,” Anakin said cheerfully as they stacked their suitcases by the row of chairs. “Who wants to come to the sea with me?”

“Can you make it there and back in an hour?” Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin silently pointed his finger at one of the glass walls. Just beyond it was a small square with benches and solitary, scattered palm trees, and behind the square laid a pink sandy beach.

“Yes, you can,” Obi-Wan decided.

Five of the seven younglings dropped their cloaks onto their chairs and followed Anakin toward the exit.

“Why aren't you coming?” Obi-Wan asked the remaining two. He knew the answer to that, though. Lina Karras and Alvias Sa had been studying for the advanced math exam the whole trip, and now continued to sit engrossed in the flickering pages of formulas and math problems their teacher gave them. Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if he could solve those himself.

“We’ve got a test in three days,” Alvias Sa replied.

Obi-Wan knew that, too. Master Lokuta, who taught higher math, asked him to leave Alvias and Lina in the hotel on their test day. “Maybe they can take the test later,” proposed Obi-Wan. “I suggested it to them myself,” Master Lokuta replied. “But they're stubborn. Don't want to fall behind the rest of the group.” They both shook their heads, having reached an understanding that some don’t want to take it easy even when they should.

Leaving Lina and Alvias to keep an eye on their luggage, Obi-Wan bought himself and them each a glass of kaf. When he returned, his chair was already in a patch of light from the setting sun.

The airbus station stood at the very edge of the spaceport, and its glass walls provided an amazing view of the picturesque landscapes of Celestia VI. On one side was the sea converging with the pale blue sky on the horizon, and on the other two sides were the speeder parking lot, the highway, and the mountain range that stretched along the seashore as far as the eye could see. On the green mountainside were sparsely arranged small villages.

Obi-Wan looked at the weather forecast, found out that sunset would be in forty minutes local time, and opened the book. After the long hours he'd spent in the archives preparing for the trip, the only novels he'd read during the flight were the ones about a young woman from Coruscant who inherited a vineyard on Naboo (or an antique store on Alderaan, or a pottery workshop on Chandrila) from a childless distant relative and quit her annoying office job to find happiness in a new place.

The protagonist just met a beautiful muscular neighbour* from the farm next door when the sunlight around Obi-Wan took on a warm orange hue. He tore his eyes away from the datapad.

The haze in the air made the distant mountains lose all color and volume. They looked like flat silhouettes carved out of the yellowed sky. The sun hung above them in a large, blinding ball. Obi-Wan touched Lina and Alvias on the shoulder.

“Stop studying and look at the sunset,” he said. They raised their heads reluctantly.

“And don't make such faces,” Obi-Wan continued. ”Your math isn't going anywhere, and you won't see such a beautiful sunset again for a long time”.

“Won't it be the same in Laer?” Alvias asked. “There are mountains there, too.”

“Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But there are definitely no mountains on Coruscant.”

Lina didn't say anything. She had exchanged only a few lines with Alvias since they had left Coruscant, and the rest of the time she had either been studying or sleeping. Obi-Wan hoped she would brighten up in Laer.

The sun had already slipped toward the mountains. It turned the peaks orange, the sparse wispy clouds around them looked like dark blotches in a glowing yellow halo. Human figures moved rapidly by the glass, all taking pictures of the sunset. Obi-Wan didn't take out his camera; the moment itself was enough for him.

Soon the sun was gone from sight, but it still cut the sky over the mountains in yellow and orange rays. After a while, they too faded, and the entire landscape outside the glass wall turned a bluish hue.

Obi-Wan glanced at the chrono - the sunset didn’t last long here. He threw a glance at Lina and Alvias and noticed that they were already looking at their datapads.

“I wonder if they watched the sunset or not…”

Obi-Wan remembered that he himself, unlike Anakin, had paid no attention to the beauty of nature at the age of fourteen. It even seemed to him that admiration for sunsets, seas, forests and fields was an old man's trait. Maybe they thought so too.

He picked up the book again to find out what the heroine was up to with her vineyard on Naboo and the attractive neighbor.

Next time he was distracted by a figure that appeared nearby seemingly out of nowhere. Only when Obi-Wan looked up did he realize that Anakin hadn’t actually appeared out of nowhere, but was hidden by a line of people reaching for their airbus with the Travel Agency logo on it.

“The sea is great,” Anakin said, turning to Lina and Alvias. “You should’ve gone with us.”

“I doubt it's any different from other seas,” Lina said, taking a few moments to look away from her datapad.

”Of course it's different. In some seas, you can't even touch the water without getting chemical burns.”

Anakin's hair, which he neatly braided in the morning, was disheveled and frizzing more than usual because of the humidity. The cloak in his hands was covered in wet stains and sand. The younglings were talking excitedly, but the station was too noisy to discern the words.

“Did you let them run barefoot on the beach?” Obi-Wan asked.

“How did you know that?”

“Judging by the state of your cloak, you wiped someone’s feet with it.”

Anakin laughed.

“It’s hard to hide anything from you.”

Obi-Wan pulled a light synthetic bag from his suitcase’s pocket and held it out to Anakin.

“Put it in. We'll wash it at the hotel.”

The airbus was still ten minutes away.

*originally it was wlw space chick lit, but English doesn't have grammatical gender so it turned out to be ambiguous space chick lit.

#star wars #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #my art #sunshine au

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saturnicos · 1 year ago

Text

— paper rings

summary: making origami with Kalim.

[tw/cw]: none.

[a/n]: a silly idea I had, just wanted to write something fluffy for Kalim /o\ I'm also a little sleepy, has not been proofread and may have some grammar errors

You found yourself on the floor of Scarabia's dorm leader's exquisite room, surrounded by stacks of decorated paper, crayons, teapots, and an assortment of homemade sweets — you should remember to thank Jamil later — in addition, of course, from Kalim's warm smile, who watched you teach him with excitement like an eagle.

A few days ago, by coincidence, you and Kalim had a History of Magic class with Professor Trein when he decided to combine two classes for a project, and, as expected, the class was tedious and the minutes pass more and more slowly. As a way to occupy your mind, you detached a sheet of paper from the notebook and divided it into several small squares, each of which was folded and created different origami objects/animals.

Kalim's gaze didn't go unnoticed because of this, even more so because he was your partner during the class — since Jamil wouldn't have this subject in his grade for the day due to an inconsistency in the bimonthly class union, and you knew it wouldn't be mentally healthy to leave Kalim with a possibly chaotic partner — he looked with sparkle in his eyes at each new figure made, praising your skill and begging you to teach him this tradition from your world.

And Kalim isn't someone who gives up easily when he is curious, which is what led you to where you are.

He, despite not being the best student you ever had, clearly tried to put his best into every fold he did, however, most of the time, he got lost during the process, turning what was supposed to be a swan into a right-angled triangle.

Kalim's determination didn't seem to end even with the series of mistakes, which made your heart warm with the persistence and enthusiasm that the boy exuded.

You then decided to choose the simplest origami you could remember for Kalim to replicate, hoping he would get the hang of the fold directions. To do this, you remembered the simple folding of a ring which, even though there were several ways to fold it and decorate it with heart/cat/frog shapes, it was quite simple to memorize the few steps.

— How about trying for a ring? — you offered as you reached out to take Kalim's latest work, which looked better than expected, even if it had some overlapping corners. He gave a proud smile.

— A ring? Looks cool! — Kalim smiled as he watched you carefully, crossing his legs to get into a more comfortable position and resting his elbows on his knees, resting his face in the palms of his hands.

— There's even a song in my world about it. The singer says something like this to symbolize the non-need for something luxurious for a commitment to be genuine. — You laughed at the memory of the ridiculously famous pop song in your world, remembering how it was often used for dedications between couples in love, becoming a bubblegum and viral song for a long time.

— Here, let me teach you. — you quickly cut a simple sheet of paper to the exact size with great precision (much to your own amazement) and slowly showed the step by step to Kalim, even though it was a very simple origami to learn.

As soon as you finished it — even though it wasn't perfectly folded, but you gave yourself a discount because it was just a demonstration — Kalim's eyes lit up when he saw the finished piece. Taking the reins after feeling that he could replicate the origami accurately — which he said in the last pieces that ended with some wrong fold —, Kalim picked up a paper particularly decorated in gold from the pile scattered on the floor, turning it to the side with an amused smile.

You chuckled to yourself as you shook your head, patiently waiting for the fruits that Kalim's determination would bring as you began tidying up the bedroom floor. It had become a mess of glue and scrap paper; you could even imagine Jamil's expression if he walked through the door and saw this.

As you sorted the leftovers into a pile to later throw away, Kalim turned around as fast as lightning making his way through the skies, having a triumphant smile on his face as he leaned in to hold one of your hands with incredible enthusiasm.

Giving in to the dorm leader's warm and energetic smile, you allowed him to grab your hand. At the same step, Kalim quickly took the paper ring he had made and placed it on one of your fingers, crumpling it slightly during the process due to his excitement, however, he didn't seem to mind, paying more attention to your reaction and in the way your face were a mix between softening and startled.

Widening his smile even more — if that were even possible —, Kalim grabbed both of your hands without remembering the fragility of the paper, but without applying any kind of pressure, while he spoke in a sweet and strident tone and with his eyes shining like the crystal clear water of a river:

— I like shiny things, but I would marry you even with paper rings!

#twst #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland #kalim al asim x reader #kalim x reader #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #kalim al asim

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honeydixonn · 6 months ago

Text

Back to Friends, Myung Gi

four, x’s and o’s

6200 words

The mother and son stepped forward, trembling. The dim fluorescent lights cast long shadows over the cold concrete floor. Her knees hit the hard surface with a hollow thud, her body quivering as she clasped her son close, shielding him with what little she could muster.

"Sir! Please, don't kill us! I beg you!" Her voice cracked, desperation twisting every syllable. She clutched at the boy's threadbare clothes, pulling him down alongside her as tears streamed down her dirt-streaked face. "For my son's debt, I'll do anything! Please, forgive us!" Her head bowed repeatedly, almost striking the floor, her sobs echoing through the vast, sterile space.

The son, too stunned to resist, clung to her arm, his face pale and drenched with tears. She shook his hand, anchoring him to the floor as though their lives depended on the gesture alone.

"Don't just stand there!" she pleaded, her voice rising with panic. "Beg for his forgiveness!"

Around them, others began breaking, their fear spilling over into action. More bodies threw themselves to the floor, knees scraping against the unforgiving surface as pleas rose like a chorus, raw and unfiltered.

Nari stayed frozen, watching from the upper bunk, her chest heaving in quiet, controlled breaths. Her body wanted to move, to join the desperate mass, but her legs locked stiffly beneath her. Fear held her still, her mind racing.

From the shadows, the masked man's voice pierced through the chaos like the sharp edge of a blade. "There seems to be a misunderstanding." His tone was calm, measured, but devoid of any warmth.

The people groveling on the floor hesitated for a moment, their cries faltering as they glanced up.

"We are not here to harm you," he continued, his gloved hands clasped behind his back.

A bitter laugh rose in Nari's throat, but she swallowed it, her gaze narrowing as her fingers gripped the edge of the bunk. If she weren't so afraid of dying, she might have shouted at the absurdity of his claim.

"We are presenting you with an opportunity." His words echoed eerily in the sterile room, his calm demeanor contrasting with the raw panic in the players' faces.

An opportunity? Nari's stomach churned. This wasn't an opportunity. It was a sadistic spectacle, a game designed to turn them into pawns for someone else's twisted entertainment.

Then, a voice broke through the tension—a voice filled with conviction.

"Clause three of the consent form!"

The players turned, heads swiveling toward the man who had spoken. Player 456 stepped forward, his face taut with fury. "The games may be terminated upon majority vote, correct?" His question was sharp, cutting through the room like a knife.

The square-masked figure paused, the silence stretching as he responded. "That is correct."

The room stirred with murmurs, hope flickering faintly in the eyes of those who'd been begging moments before.

"Then let us take a vote right now," 456 demanded, his voice unwavering as he stared down the masked man.

The square mask tilted slightly, as if weighing the request. "Of course," he finally replied. "We respect your right to freedom of choice. But first, let me announce the prize amount that has been accumulated."

The masked man raised a remote, pressing a button. The lights dimmed as a mechanical hum filled the air. The ceiling opened, revealing a massive golden piggy bank that descended slowly, glowing under spotlights.

Gasps rippled through the crowd as a series of metallic clinks echoed above. Stacks of bills slid down a transparent tube, funneling into the piggy bank. The players, who had been pleading for their lives moments earlier, now stared in mesmerized silence, the allure of money drowning out their fear.

Nari's breath hitched as she found herself standing with the others, drawn toward the light reflecting off the pile of cash. The sight was hypnotic, the promises it held almost tangible.

"The number of players eliminated in the first game is 91," the masked man announced. "Therefore, a total of 9.1 billion won has been accumulated. If you quit the games now, the 365 of you can equally divide the 9.1 billion won and leave with your share."

A murmur spread through the crowd, confusion and greed mingling in their expressions.

"How much is that?" someone asked, the question pulling everyone from their trance.

The masked man didn't hesitate. "Each person's share would be 24,931,500 won."

The response landed like a punch to the gut. Anger replaced hope on many faces.

"Fuck!" Nam-gyu spat, his voice dripping with frustration. "We almost died, and they're giving us 24 million?"

"Twenty million?" Thanos echoed, his outrage evident. "You said 45.6 billion!"

The masked man remained calm, his voice unwavering. "The rule is that 100 million won will be accumulated for each eliminated player. If you choose to play the next game and more players get eliminated, the prize amount will increase accordingly."

Nari's hands trembled as she clutched the hem of her shirt. The money was so close, yet so far. It whispered promises of a new life, of debts erased and burdens lifted. But at what cost?

Her stomach churned as the masked man continued, his words cold and calculated.

"If you survive all six games, the total prize pool of 45.6 billion won will be yours to divide among the survivors. Or, if you're the last one standing, you'll claim the full amount."

The room was silent for a moment, the weight of his words settling over them like a shroud.

"All right, let's vote," the masked man said, snapping them back to the present.

The circle-masked men slide away the floor panels, revealing glowing X and O symbols embedded in the ground. One for life, the other for freedom.

Nari's heart pounded in her chest as she stared at the glowing symbols, the light reflecting in her wide, fearful eyes. The choice seemed simple, yet impossibly heavy. The stakes were higher than ever, and the next decision would define everything.

Sticking a red and blue line down the center to separate the sides, a table was placed at the front with two buttons. "If you wish to continue the games, press the O button. If you wish to end them, press the X button. The vote will be held in reverse order of your player numbers."

"Player 456." The players murmured among themselves as he stepped out from the crowd and approached the center column.

"It's all pointless," a woman called out from the top of the bunk beds, her voice grating on Nari's nerves. "You didn't choose to come into this world, and you can't choose when to leave it either. The gods decided your fate the moment you were born."

Player 456 ignored her rambling, walking past her and stepping up to vote as her voice dissolved into the background. He pressed the X button with a firm hand, the sound of confirmation echoing through the room as the screen updated: one vote for X, none for O.

"Once you finish voting, take the patch you are given and place it on the right side of your chest," the mechanical voice instructed.

A drawer opened, revealing a thick velcro patch, red with a white X emblazoned on it. The head figure motioned toward it, and 456 pulled the patch out, affixing it to his chest with quiet determination.

"Stand on the side you have chosen," the voice continued.

He stepped to the red side, his gaze hard and steady on the screen above.

"Player 454."

A woman bolted forward, her urgency palpable as if she were on a mission. Without hesitation, she tapped the blue O button, barely taking a moment to deliberate.

Nari felt conflicted, her heart twisting as she watched. The gravity of the choice weighed on her—there was no undoing a decision once it was made.

456 cast a glance at the woman, his expression darkening with disgust as she confidently walked to the blue side of the room.

"Player 388."

Nari's thoughts snapped back to reality as the familiar number was called. She watched him step forward, his steps hesitant, before finally pressing the blue button. Even he wanted to stay? Was blue the right choice?

"Player 333."

Myung-Gi walked slowly to the buttons, his gaze lingering on the red button for a moment before being irresistibly drawn to the blue. They both needed the money—why wouldn't he choose to stay?

With uncertainty written all over his face, Myung-Gi pressed the blue button. The patch was handed to him, and he reluctantly placed the blue marker on his chest. His hands trembled slightly as he stepped to the blue side, his mind clearly wracked with doubt. Had he made the right decision? Was Nari going to make the same choice?

Nari's brows knitted as she eyed the numbers on the screen. The tally for "yes" was climbing. He wanted to stay—should she follow his lead?

More players moved forward to vote, each one shifting the balance of the decision. The screen's count flickered with each choice, the outcome swinging toward staying.

Then, player 456 stood up, cutting through the tension and halting the votes.

"Wait a minute, everyone! You can't do this," he shouted, turning to face the remaining players who hadn't yet voted. His voice was desperate, his eyes pleading.

Nari froze as his gaze swept over her, sincere and broken.

"Come to your senses! Don't you see? These aren't just games. We will all die if we keep playing!"

Her breath caught in her chest. She had trusted him this far. He had known about the first game, and he had done what he could to protect them. If he was saying they needed to leave, maybe he was right.

"We have to get out of here now," he continued, his voice rising with urgency. "With a majority vote, we can! We must stop here!"

An older man, player 100, stood up, his voice sharp as he barked back. "Who do you think you are? Why do you keep egging people on like that?"

The old man stalked toward 456, his expression twisting into disdain as he looked him up and down. Now standing face-to-face in front of the other players, the tension between them was palpable.

"This is our only chance to change our lives," player 100 snapped. "What gives you the right to decide for the rest of us?"

"You scared us by saying they'd shoot us before the games even began!" Player 254 shouted, her voice ringing out as she stepped forward from the circle side. "You were going on about how we'd die, and I almost did because I got so nervous!"

"How did you know they were going to shoot us?" Player 226 pointed an accusatory finger at 456, his face twisted with suspicion. He moved to the center of the room, his voice rising above the murmurs. "Are you one of them?"

He stepped next to player 100, who glared at 456 with seething hatred, feeding the tension in the room.

"Are you conning us all by pretending to be a player? Who is this guy?" Player 100 snapped, his tone venomous as he turned toward the men in pink. His scowl deepened as he marched past 456, his eyes burning with anger. "Did you plant him to mess with our heads?"

Nari watched helplessly, her heart pounding as the confrontation unfolded. Each word being hurled back and forth only made her decision loom larger, its weight crushing her.

The room was a chaos of clashing sides—some pleading for the games to continue, others begging for their lives to be spared. Nari felt paralyzed, her mind spinning. She couldn't focus on anything except the glowing numbers on the screen, their movement blurring in her vision.

"I have played these games before!"

The roar cut through the pandemonium, silencing every voice in the room. Nari blinked, her breath catching in her throat. Had she heard him correctly?

"I have done this before!" 456's voice was raw with emotion as his hands clenched at his sides, his frustration palpable.

The players froze, their focus now locked on him.

"I knew about the first game because I've played it before!" he continued, his voice trembling but resolute. "I played these games here three years ago. And everyone who was with me..."

He paused, his lips quivering as the memories crashed over him like a storm. His gaze dropped, the flashes of the past playing vividly in his mind.

"Died here."

The room stood in stunned silence, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air.

Player 226 still refused to believe him, his agitation growing with each word. "If they all died, how did you survive alone? Wait... are you saying you were the sole winner?"

Nari watched as 456 gulped, his silence confirming the accusation. A wave of horror ran through her as his answer sank in.

"Only one...?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her eyes darted to Myung-Gi, standing on the blue side of the room. Despite everything, she still cared for him. Yet, it dawned on her that he hadn't bothered to look for her—not in this game, not when it mattered most.

People were dying around them, and he still acted as though she didn't exist. Did he care about her at all? Did he even know she was here? But he had to know—just as she had known about him.

Her breath quickened, anxiety tightening her chest. A single question burned in her mind: Was she doing all this just to go home to a life where nothing had changed?

Before she could process the thought, a roar erupted from the crowd. Cheers and cries of triumph filled the room as the majority made their decision—they wanted the games to continue.

As the celebration grew louder, 456 moved toward the remaining players who hadn't yet voted, desperation etched into his face. He begged, pleaded with them to choose to leave, his voice cracking under the weight of his words.

Nari's gaze softened as she watched him, his eyes darting from face to face until they locked with hers. His voice broke through the noise, calm yet piercing.

"If we keep playing, more people will die," he said, his tone urgent. "That could be you."

He opened his mouth to say more, but the cold, unmistakable click of a gun interrupted him. A guard with a triangle mask stepped forward, pressing the barrel roughly against 456's back.

"From here on, we will not tolerate actions that disrupt the voting process," the guard declared, his voice sharp and mechanical. "Now, let's resume the vote. Player 228."

Nari's throat tightened as tears began to well in her eyes. It felt as though the warning wasn't just meant for everyone—it was meant for her.

A warning of her fate if they kept playing. What could she do?

The gun stayed fixed on 456 as the guard shoved him aside.

"Player 114."

Nari froze for a moment as her number was called. The line of players had thinned, leaving little room to hide. Myung-Gi, standing on the blue side, could see her clearly now as she emerged from the shadows of the bunk area.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her face dotted with dried blood, yet to him, she was still the most captivating woman he'd ever seen. His gaze followed her as she walked forward, head lowered, her steps hesitant. Unconsciously, his feet moved closer to the edge of the line, desperate to see her better.

"Nari..."

Her head tilted slightly at the sound of his voice. Her sniffles broke the silence as she glanced up, catching him staring at her in shock.

She looked at him differently now—wounded, guarded. Gone was the warmth she once held for him. He missed that look, the way her eyes used to light up for him before he ruined everything.

"Nari, I..." His voice faltered, the words stuck in his throat.

His mouth hung open, as if trying to summon the courage to explain everything, but no words came. He watched helplessly as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She took a step forward, her anguish written across her face, until the masked leader's voice rang out.

"Please continue the vote. If you wish to stay, press the O button. If you wish to leave, press the X button."

Her head snapped back toward the stand, her body stiffening. Her gaze flickered between the voting station and Myung-Gi—the man who had once been her closest friend.

Taking a deep breath, Nari turned away from him, refusing to meet his eyes again. Her tears didn't fall as she swallowed her emotions, her face hardening.

She remembered.

She remembered the night he left her sitting alone in that crowded restaurant. How she'd worn her best dress, her heart swelling with anticipation, only for each passing minute to chip away at her excitement.

She remembered the ticking clock, every second amplifying her heartbreak, until her sorrow was buried beneath a carefully crafted facade.

And she remembered how he never reached out—never called, never explained, never told her the truth. She had waited for something, anything, to prove he cared. But all she had been left with was silence.

As Nari approached the voting station, she pressed her lips together, bracing herself for the choice she had to make.

She cared for him—she truly did—but the hurt he caused wasn't something she could forget so easily, even if she had forgiven him in her heart months ago.

Nari stepped up to the podium, her hand hovering uncertainly between the two buttons. Her fingers trembled as her gaze flicked to the top of the screen. The votes were razor-thin, separated by only four points.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying herself before pressing down on the button. A light ding echoed through the room, cutting through the tension like a knife. A quiet groan rippled through one side of the room.

"Ha Nari," Myung-Gi whispered, his voice tinged with disbelief. His eyes widened as she turned to face the group, a blue patch now displayed on her chest.

Her gaze didn't rise to meet his. She stared at the ground, her steps slow and deliberate as she made her way to the circle side, distancing herself from the others.

Myung-Gi swallowed hard, his throat dry, his feet shifting restlessly. He couldn't lose her again—not like this. They needed to talk.

As Player 007 stepped up and voted to leave, the tally shifted, tying the vote at 181 each. The tension in the room grew suffocating, the weight of the decision crushing everyone present.

Player 006 approached next, quickly pressing the X button and giving the red side a narrow lead. Nari groaned quietly, her stomach twisting in knots. She hoped all of this wouldn't be for nothing.

When Player 004 cast their vote to stay, a wave of cheers erupted from the blue side. Excitement surged through the group, but Nari remained still, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

She wanted to go home—desperately. But deep down, she couldn't shake the truth that lingered in her mind. The life she'd left behind was no life at all. It wasn't worth returning to. It wasn't living.

That was the only reason she chose to stay.

"Lastly, Player 001."

The room fell silent as the final player stepped forward. The votes were tied at 182, and both sides erupted into cheers, pleading for their cause, hoping he would choose their letter.

Nari's eyes followed him as he made his way to the podium. He was a mature, distinguished-looking man, his hand hovering between the two buttons. The seconds stretched, each one dragging out painfully as everyone held their breath.

Finally, a light beep sounded. The circles had won by a single vote.

The O side exploded into cheers, some players jumping and shouting in celebration, oblivious to the grim reality of what they had secured—a death sentence for most.

Nari's chest tightened. Regret clawed at her, though not completely. Everyone here had their own selfish reasons for choosing to stay. She had hers too.

Across the room, Myung-Gi threw his head back, his face etched with regret. He silently cursed his decision, wishing he'd voted to leave. Staying here felt like willingly walking into a death trap. How could any of them know if they'd be next?

Nari avoided his searching eyes, retreating into the shadows by the corner of the room. She could see his number, 333, flashing between the gaps in the bunk beds as he wandered through the crowd. His head eventually fell in defeat, realizing he wouldn't find her.

The sound of metal screeching cut through the air as a large door opened. The masked circles pushed in carts loaded with water bottles and lunch boxes, arranging them into four neat lines.

"Please gather in line to receive your meal," the square-masked overseer instructed, his voice echoing from the platform above. He stood rigid, watching the players shuffle into lines like restless cattle.

Myung-Gi spotted her at the far end of the room. The number "114" stretched across the back of her jacket, a familiar figure he couldn't mistake. He hurried toward her, tapping her shoulder as he slid into the line behind her.

"Nari, please," he said, his voice low and urgent. "Can we talk?"

A sigh escaped her lips as she turned to face him, her expression weary. His pleading face, his slightly quivering lip—it was a sight she once found endearing.

"Myung-Gi," she said, her voice carrying both exhaustion and restraint.

His heart ached at the sound of her voice. He hadn't heard it in months, and now that he did, it hit him harder than he expected. But she looked so tired—tired of him, tired of everything. It was the most broken he'd ever seen her.

"Would you even answer what I ask?" Nari's voice was soft but firm, her eyes dim as she turned fully toward him. He stood in front of her, his broad frame blocking the light. Myung-Gi bit his lip, hesitating for a moment before tentatively reaching for her hand.

"I will," he said, his voice low and earnest. "I promise. We can talk while we eat, okay?"

Nari nodded slowly, her movements cautious as the line shuffled forward. When the masked man handed her a lunchbox, she offered him a quiet "thank you," her voice barely above a whisper. Myung-Gi gave the guard a tight smile before following her to the bed she'd chosen—a bottom bunk tucked in the corner.

"Don't get crumbs on my sheets again," she said, attempting a small joke to lighten the mood. But her voice wavered, and her eyes betrayed the weight of her emotions.

A faint chuckle escaped Myung-Gi's lips as he settled beside her on the bed. "I'll try my best," he replied lightly before his tone softened. "So, what did you want to ask, Jagi?"

Her heart stuttered at the nickname. It had been so long since she'd heard it, and now it felt foreign, almost unreal.

"I—why?" she began, her hands trembling slightly as she set the unopened box aside. Just the thought of the conversation made her lose her appetite.

"Why?" he echoed, his brows furrowing in confusion as he twisted open his water bottle. He poured a little onto the edge of his shirt and began dabbing gently at her face, trying to clean the dried blood smudged across her skin.

"Why did you leave me?" Her voice cracked as she forced the words out. "Why didn't you tell me goodbye? Why didn't you give me a simple explanation? Why was it just... nothing?"

Myung-Gi froze, his hand pausing mid-motion as he blinked rapidly, struggling to find the right words. He glanced away briefly, his gaze darting toward the ground before returning to hers.

"It all happened so fast," he finally said, his voice trembling slightly. "People were hacking my phone, following me in the streets, Nari. I had to change my number, disappear... I thought if I stayed, it would only put you in danger. I just wanted to protect you."

Nari's eyes searched his face, her sharp gaze trained on him, watching for the telltale signs of deceit she had learned to read so well. His lips twitched slightly, but his brown eyes held steady, locked on hers, desperate and pleading.

"None of that protected me," she said, her voice quieter now but filled with an edge of bitterness. She took a shaky breath before continuing, "And I know you didn't know... but three of the people who fell apart because of Dalmatian found me."

Myung-Gi's hand stilled against her cheek, his expression crumbling into one of shock and guilt. He stared at her, his lips parting as though to speak, but no words came.

His eyes widened in shock, his grip on her hand tightening instinctively. "What happened, Nari?" he asked urgently, his voice trembling with concern. His pupils dilated, betraying the worst fears swirling in his mind.

She hesitated, her throat tightening as the memories came rushing back. "A few weeks after you left," she began, her voice shaking, "I was walking home from work, and they stopped me at the bus stop. One of them grabbed me... started shouting about how I owed them money."

Myung-Gi winced, his shoulders slumping under the weight of her words. The image of her in danger burned in his mind, and guilt consumed him. This was all his fault. If only he'd stayed and faced his mistakes, she wouldn't have been dragged into his mess.

"They said... if you couldn't get them the money, then I'd have to," she continued, her voice breaking slightly. "So I had to pay them my entire paycheck every week—for the last five months."

Tears pooled in her eyes as she spoke, her voice thick with emotion. "I couldn't afford my rent anymore. I had to sell my house. My phone bill, my bus pass—they all sent my bank account two million won into the negative." She swallowed hard, her gaze falling to her lap. "I've just been bouncing from house to house, staying with coworkers or relatives who'd take me in. It's been... it's been hard."

Knots twisted in Myung-Gi's gut, each word cutting deeper into him. Regret and self-loathing filled his chest, suffocating him. He couldn't even look at her anymore; his shame was too heavy to bear.

"I know it won't be enough," he said softly, his voice trembling as he reached for her other hand. He held both of her hands gently in his, lifting them to his lips and peppering them with light kisses. His head bowed low, as though the gesture might somehow convey the depth of his remorse. "But I have to say it. I'm sorry, Jagi. I am so, so sorry."

Nari's eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she looked at him, her expression torn between pain and lingering affection. "Gi," she said quietly, "I forgave you a long time ago. But... I'm still hurt." She pulled one hand away to wipe at her eyes, trying to steady herself.

"You left without a word," she continued, her tone firm but tinged with sadness. "No explanation, no goodbye. You just... ghosted me. I had to find out what happened from the news."

Myung-Gi flinched at her words, the guilt visibly crushing him. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. Nari hated the way her words seemed to pierce his soul, but he needed to hear it. He needed to understand.

The pain he had unknowingly inflicted on her didn't deserve to be dismissed so easily. Myung-Gi's voice trembled as he finally spoke, "I don't know what to say. Now you're here in this game, and... I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

Nari tilted her head, studying him, her own anxiety rising at his words. "It's okay. We can protect each other. We're still friends, you know?"

Friends. The word hit him like a blow to the chest. Myung-Gi forced himself to smile, but inside, the title churned his stomach. Friends? That wasn't what he wanted. It never had been.

His feelings for her had grown quietly but steadily since the day they first met on the college bus. He never dared to act on them, always afraid of pushing too far and ruining what they had. So, he followed her pace, matching her steps and burying his deeper emotions.

Until that night—just days before her birthday dinner. It had changed everything for him. He thought it had changed things for her, too. How could they go back to being just friends after sharing something so intimate? But she seemed to want to, so he had no choice but to suppress it.

"Yeah... friends," he finally replied, forcing the words out. His lips pressed into a thin line as he busied himself with opening his lunch box.

The display of food inside gave him a convenient distraction. Nari quietly went to take a bite of rice when, suddenly, another egg was placed in her container.

"You love eggs," Myung-Gi said gently, a small smile breaking through his inner turmoil.

Her cheeks flushed pink as she glanced at him. "Thank you," she murmured, bowing her head slightly before taking a delicate bite of the egg.

For a moment, things felt almost normal. Almost.

"Enjoying your food?" A sarcastic voice cut through their fragile peace.

Nari froze mid-bite as Nam-gyu appeared, glaring at them with undisguised irritation. Myung-Gi's body tensed immediately, his posture stiffening at the unwelcome presence.

"I couldn't eat," Nam-gyu continued, his tone dripping with venom. "After seeing everyone get shot dead, you two still have a damn appetite?"

He slammed his spoon into his tray with a loud clatter, his agitation radiating off him. His glare fixated on Myung-Gi, as if daring him to respond.

"That crypto ruined my life too. That's why I'm here—to make money," Thanos announced, suddenly appearing in front of them. His presence felt like an intrusion, his sly wink at Nari quickly replaced by a scowl aimed at Myung-Gi. "That's right. You'd better make a lot of money. Because of that damn coin, I lost over 500 million won—the money I earned busting my ass rapping."

Nari's eyes widened in shock. 500 million? Her whisper barely escaped her lips, but Thanos caught it and smirked. "Yes, beautiful. 500 million. You'll help pay it, won't you?"

Myung-Gi's jaw tightened, his fist gripping the edge of his lunch container, jealousy and anger simmering beneath the surface. "I'll pay it. Now leave. Let us eat." His glare locked onto Thanos, just as Nam-gyu snatched the tray of food from Myung-Gi's bed.

"You little shit, eating like a damn pig," Nam-gyu sneered, waving the stolen tray mockingly.

Nari immediately intervened, leaning forward. "Give it back," she demanded, her tone firm despite her nerves.

Nam-gyu merely laughed, shaking his head. "No."

Thanos grabbed the tray next, scooping a spoonful of rice and toying with it. "You want it, señorita?" he teased, holding the rice inches from her lips. "Take a bite, baby."

Before she could respond, Myung-Gi slapped the spoon from Thanos's hand with enough force to send rice scattering to the floor. His voice was sharp, low with barely contained rage. "Leave her alone."

Thanos's smirk twisted into a sneer. Grabbing a handful of rice from the tray, he squeezed it into a sticky ball. "How about you?" he said mockingly, shoving the rice into Myung-Gi's face with a cruel laugh. Myung-Gi stumbled back, wiping the mess from his face, while Nari gasped.

"What's wrong with you?!" she yelled, her voice trembling between anger and disbelief.

Thanos laughed darkly, leaning closer to Nari and patting her cheek like she was a child. "Nothing, baby."

That was the last straw. Myung-Gi lunged at him, tackling Thanos to the ground in one swift motion. "Don't touch her!" he roared, his fist poised to strike.

Before Myung-Gi could land the punch, Nam-gyu yanked him off Thanos, twisting him around and landing a solid blow to Myung-Gi's face. Myung-Gi staggered, only to receive a swift kick to his side that sent him sprawling to the floor.

"Stop! Get off!" Nari shouted, rushing toward the chaos. Before she could intervene, Nam-gyu grabbed her arm, holding her back. "Let me go!" she yelled, stomping on his foot with enough force to make him yelp. Freed, she ran forward just as Thanos continued kicking Myung-Gi, who had curled into himself, shielding his face with trembling hands.

Without hesitation, Nari grabbed Thanos by the collar and yanked him away. Her fist swung instinctively, knuckles connecting with his chin in a sharp crack. "What the fuck?" Thanos growled, stumbling back in shock.

Before he could retaliate, a calm yet commanding voice cut through the chaos. "Enough!"

Player 001 stepped into the scene, his authoritative presence halting everyone in their tracks. His eyes scanned the group, sharp and disapproving. "Boys, what are you doing? No fights during meal time. There are elders present. Mind your manners—and leave the girl alone."

The distraction gave Nari just enough time to kneel beside Myung-Gi, pressing a cold water bottle to his swollen face. Her hands trembled as she whispered, "Are you okay?"

Meanwhile, Thanos scoffed, stepping up to Player 001 with defiance. "You're lecturing me? You're in this shithole too, old man. Stop running your mouth and take care of your own damn kids." His mocking hand waved dismissively in 001's face, daring him.

001's expression darkened, his calm demeanor replaced by a chilling intensity. "What did you just say?" he asked, his voice low and menacing.

Thanos repeated himself smugly, but before he could finish, 001's hand shot out, gripping his neck in a vice-like hold. Nam-gyu rushed to help, only to be stopped mid-charge with a swift kick to his shin that sent him crashing to the floor near Nari and Myung-Gi.

"Son of a bitch!" Nam-gyu hissed, clutching his leg.

001 didn't even glance his way as he shoved Thanos back, glaring at him with black, unwavering eyes. When Thanos tried to swing at him, 001 ducked smoothly, delivering two precise blows to Thanos's abdomen and solar plexus.

"Wait—" Thanos gasped, staggering forward and clutching at 001 for balance. But 001 grabbed his arm and twisted it sharply behind his back. The sickening crunch of bone echoed through the room, followed by Thanos's pained scream.

With two brutal kicks to Thanos's chest, 001 sent him sprawling to the ground, wheezing in agony. He bent down, his hand locking tightly around Thanos's throat as his fist hovered menacingly in the air.

"I'm sorry," Thanos choked out, his voice strained as he struggled against the hand constricting his windpipe.

"Apologize to the girl and her friend," 001 commanded, his grip tightening slightly, sending Thanos into a panic.

Thanos's purple-haired head turned just enough to catch sight of Nari and Myung-Gi on the floor. Myung-Gi's head rested in her lap as she gently dabbed at his wounds, her expression tense but calm.

"Now," 001 pressed, his voice sharper, his fist still raised and his eyes burning with warning.

"I'm sorry," Thanos gasped, his voice barely audible. He winced, struggling to get the words out as his remaining air slipped away.

001's eyes remained locked on him, his grip unyielding. "Say it like you mean it."

"Please..." Thanos croaked, his voice desperate.

Finally, 001 released him, shoving him backward with a force that sent him sprawling onto the ground. Thanos gasped for air, clutching his throat as he crawled away. The room erupted into scattered applause and cheers, a mix of relief and awe.

001 took a slow step back, his expression calm yet unyielding, before turning his attention to Nari and Myung-Gi. He walked over to them, his presence commanding the room into silence once more.

"Are you two alright?" he asked, his voice softer now, though the darkness in his eyes hadn't faded.

Myung-Gi pushed himself upright with some effort, his hand instinctively reaching to touch the tender spot on his cheek. He glanced up at 001, gratitude shining in his swollen eyes. "Yes, thank you."

001 offered a hand to help him to his feet, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I'm Young Il," he said simply, his voice steady and composed. "And you?"

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