#two of them are really funny ill have to post them later

[eddie-rifff]

the mid 60s were so unkind to anyone with beautiful curly hair

[britneyshakespeare]

throughout the series of drake and josh it pretty consistently implies that josh nichols is a christian (josh peck is jewish) and in the finale of the series helen (played by yvette nicole brown, not jewish[?]) is portrayed as a practicing jew

[coconutdays]

seat taker

s. you have a crush on the smartest and sexiest guy in your lit class who happens to ride a motorcycle with spooky season around the corner. what ever might happen?

w.c. 10.6k

w. fem! reader, biker!geto! x reader , fluff!, smut! (its more so toward the end so u can read until it cuts off to that lol if u want)

a/n: based on this idea I posted about biker!geto from uni lol, I didn't really proofread so ill get to that sometime later after I shower and eat lol just wanted to get this out

"go sit next to him then."

you take a nervous gulp from your water bottle as you walk to your lit class. the effort was a bit clumsy considering you were using one hand to open and close it while the other held your phone, your friend on the other line.

"never, would I ever have the balls to do that. i may be confident but I am not as delusional as the caveman gym bro that took your seat so he could sit next to me in anthropology."

she laughs on the other end, a hysterical giggle at your backtalk.

"well then he's just gonna keep thinking you're creepy cause you stare."

you let out a haughty scoff, "as if I acknowledge his existence." a finger of yours goes up in the air, as if she could see you being a smartass about your discretion, "I never look at him. I only get in a glance or two when he asks the professor a question or when he raises his hand to answer a question."

"you're insane."

"unfixable." you sigh prettily and proudly before giving a more serious response to her first suggestion, "and it would be really awkward if I sat next to him either way. the class is packed and everyone has their assigned unassigned seats, the white haired guy that always sits next to him would probably push me off his seat if he ever saw me there."

"that is true. some girl did that to me in stats and I was like ??? have you not been sitting somewhere else this entire semester? pissed me off that I had to sit somewhere else and take someone's seat."

you're about five seconds away from your lecture hall door when you add to her complaint.

"right. and then that person looks at you funny cause you took their seat and then argh–its just a fucking domino effect." you turn around and take a step into the class, the sight before you bringing emphasis to the last words that you meant to finish off with, "fuck seat takers..."

"huh. what was that last part?"

your classroom is full. every one of the 200 seats are seemingly just taken. it's a sight you're not used to when you walk into class. normally, when you decide to go in, about half of the class is there, and you were starting to curse the fact that you gave yourself the luxury to finish the last of your reading for next week ahead of time. those ten minutes didn't seem like they'd make a difference, they sure do now...

with white haired guy sitting in YOUR seat.

its across the lecture hall from where he normally sits, next to Geto, who just so conveniently has an empty seat next to him, the only empty seat.

poker face, poker face, poker face.

it's all you repeat to yourself as you walk up the carpet steps to the row where Geto is sitting and try to continue the conversation with your friend.

there's no white noise, some people are typing away at their computers and others are chatting with the person next to them or near them, so it gives you room to explain yourself a little without being heard.

"everybody's already in class, and white haired guy is in my seat dude, and guess which seat isn't fucking taken." there's an edge to your voice, however it lays undetectable with your calm face.

"WAITTTTTTTT. AHAHA–"

you can feel your body heating up in nerves when you start walking between Geto's row, to the seat next to him.

"stop f/n. I am on the verge of committing a serious crime. I'm going to actually end up in handcuffs by the end of today. the–"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA." She keeps laughing at you as you force yourself to not care that you're pulling out and sinking into the chair next to Geto. If he acknowledged you, you wouldn't have known, his mere presence something you deleted from your mind in order to process the current events before you right now.

a high pitched and drawn out HA is the last of her laughs you hear before she speaks again, "I basically manifested this for you. you should be thanking me."

"fuck your manifesting. I'm not excited for this." you don't care to filter your voice into a whisper, it stays at its normal tone even though you're next to Geto because he didn't even know what the conversation was about anyway.

you balance your phone between your shoulder and cheek while you begin to take out your iPad and journal for class.

"ask him for a ride on his motorcycle after heh." she pokes at you and you feel like you can hear her poking out her tongue in malevolence.

even though you're slightly grumpy at your predicament, you manage to make a comment accompanied by a sigh, "with the way midterms are looking, id need a different kind of ride."

"you can ask him for that too~"

"shut up, you menace."

"hehe," she strikes evilly, "well, I'll leave you to your class with your boyfriend."

"no, stop, the class doesn't even–"

"bye!"

and she hung up on you, leaving you to flip mindlessly through your notebook while you try to ignore the presence of the hot hot hot piece of sexiness next to you.

suguru geto has been at the forefront of your mind for weeks now. you had always slightly admired him from afar, considering your actual seat in the lecture hall was across the room from him. he was undeniably attractive, with his long black always tied up in a bun and clean outfits. and his intelligence, he was always one to garner thoughtful debates in class in response to the professors teachings. his calmness towards everything was enough to make you swoon at the thought go him being that patient with you too.

and his stupid motorcycle, the thing that made it all click for you.

you had been walking to the library after class to meet with your classmate to work on an anthropology presentation when you caught a glimpse–stare–of him getting onto a motorcycle and pulling a helmet over his head before he quickly rode off to wherever he was going. for some reason, it really got your gears grinding and wishing you could just jump this man and do some truly desperate things.

he was all you thought about after. none of the other cute guys in your classes could hold a candle to the being that is suguru geto, renouncing you into a pining mess that looked forward to every lit class–even though you pretended you didn't care for him.

god, what even was the point in all of this if you weren't ever going to make a move? if he just SPOKE to you first maybe you could get some rizz in–

"you have pretty handwriting."

"I–what?"

you perk up like a deer in headlights at the sudden voice of Geto, wondering if you're the one he's speaking to.

and he is, he's spinning a pen between his fingers while he looks at you, slightly gesturing towards the journal in your hands, your cursive covering the pages of it.

"oh!" you're still caught off guard, doe eyes in the face of his sudden and scary, to you, comment, "thank you. can't even read it sometimes though, it's like trying to understand another language when I have to study what I write after."

he smiles slightly at your comment, a whisp of his dark hair swaying near his right eye, "I think it'd be cool to try and translate."

you resist the urge to curl into a ball and wish he would just look away from you, but you persevere, holding out your journal to him.

"be my guest." you say without hesitance

he sets his pen aside when he grabs it, immediately flipping through the pages and starting to skim through your notes, his eyes moving side to side as he does. you get a good view of him while he goes about trying to decipher your writings. he's wearing a black shirt today, it's not exactly tight, but not loose either. it gives you the perfect view of his arms bulging a bit, his biceps' size is an eye sore for you.

he's wearing these black stud earrings too, only visible because of the bun that he keeps his long hair. you wish you could see how long his hair actually was sometimes, he had never worn it down to class.

"looks like I'm more versed in your cursive than you are." he glances at you, a faint smile on his lips

your eyebrows raise a little and your eyes widen, "what? you can read it?"

he closes the journal and slides it to your spot on the very long lecture table. geto then leans over to your side a bit, close to your ear, and starts to point across the room to his white haired friend.

"see that idiot with the pitch black glasses?"

the question sends chills down your spine, the proximity making your heart race.

"y-yeah."

"silver spoon baby. learned cursive when he was four and it's basically incomprehensible unless you've been sharing notes with him since high school."

a laugh flows out of your lips, etching a smile on your face. your shoulder slightly bumps into his chest from it before you turn your head to directly face his.

"and I'm taking it that you're well versed in his cursive then too?"

he looks at you with a slight dreaminess in his eyes, his height still domineering over you even if you were both seated next to each other.

"have to be, would have failed lots of class projects if I didn't"

you take the opportunity to poke about the whereabouts of his friend in your seat now that he's been mentioned.

"and why's he sitting over there then?" you blink up at him for a response

at this, geto sinks back to his original position on his chair, face a million miles away from yours now as he goes back to fiddling with his pen.

"he's...trying to flirt with the girl he's talking to right now." he shakes his head a little, although there isn't much of a disappointed look in his face, it's more entertained. he was probably used to his friend's antics by now.

"ah. at least it looks like she's into it." you dispense the weight of your head onto the palm of your hand as you look at his friend with him, "could not have been me."

"what?"

you don't turn to look at him as you respond, "this Andrew Tate gym bro took my friend's seat to sit next to me in my anthropology class the other day. tried speaking to me like those guys who swear all you need is a computer to become a millionaire. worst ninety minutes of my life."

you hear a puff of a laugh from geto

"I can guarantee you Gojo has better skills than that. he's probably talking about his Halloween party for this weekend."

you flip your head to look at him suddenly, "he's that guy?"

every big party that everyone talked about on campus was always held by Gojo. they had numerous amounts of beers and liquor bottles. always the best music, the best hookup stories, the best snacks, everything. you hadn't put a face to the name until now, although it should've clicked when you found out Geto's name. his was always being paired with Gojo, as some would put it, two pretty best friends.

geto could see the gears turning in your head and his eyes creased a little at your realization in a smile, "yea, that's the guy."

you're a bit taken aback by his confirmation and turn to take another look at gojo before looking back at geto.

amused, geto speaks again, "by all means, go for it, he's–"

you quickly shake your head and stretch out both your hands to frantically do the same, "no, god, no. i'm not into him. it's just I didn't know that was him. I always hear good things about his parties."

geto nods, "he has an affinity for making sure everyone has a good time. you ever been to one?"

you shake your head, "never, haven't had the chance to or been invited."

"you should go to the Halloween one." geto suggests, gesturing his pen in your direction before going back to spinning it around his fingers, "you know where it is?"

you shake your head again, now completely facing his direction, the attention you were giving to his friend gone and now placed on him.

geto gestures towards your journal and reaches for it, "may I?"

you nod, curious at what he was going to do.

he flips the journal and opens the very last page, guaranteed to be blank and begins writing something on it.

when he pushes it back to your side of the table, you can see what he's written now, an address.

"that's where the frat house is."

you wiggle your eyebrows a little at him, "you in the frat too?"

geto laughs fully this time and shakes his head, "no. I have my own apartment. that's just gojo's thing."

you acknowledge him and look over the address written on your journal, "I'll think about it. have to wear my costume somewhere right?"

"what is it?" he tilts his head curiously, genuine interest in what you would choose to dress up as.

you try to bite back the smile at the knowledge you have of your costume and choose to leave it up in the air for him, tapping your journal on his shoulder.

"now that is something for you to find out if you see me at the party."

just how it's entailed in mean girls, you dress up slutty for gojo's halloween party. you wore a playboy bunny costume, close to one of the sluttier things you can wear, but it's rare recently for girls to wear as opposed to the trendy fairy and angel costumes lately.

although it isn't exactly halloween yet, its the first out of the two parties gojo was holding in honor of the holiday. next weekend there would be another one on the actual day, but you didn't know if you'd go that one yet, you were going to see what this one was all about though.

you brought your friend with you, hooking her up with the address geto provided you because she had been aching to go to one of gojo's parties too.

your eyes light up when you see geto's sleek black motorcycle parked near the garage as the both of you walk to the door.

"god, there's so many people inside." your friend all but screeches in excitement and you would too if it weren't for the nerves of impending doom that geto, your everything crush and classmate, was going to see you wearing this.

the chills that come from the thought make you rub your shoulders for heat as you walk inside and the blaring of the music becomes even more booming now that it isn't being shielded by the walls of the house.

"where do you think the drinks are?" you try to speak up, a trace of small worry at bumping into geto laced in your voice.

she raises her head up and looks around to see where she could spot the alcohol until she starts dragging you by the hand, "the kitchen is over here I think!"

she pushes the both of you past clusters of people, paving the way for her desire for vodka and it makes you bump into someone a bit roughly.

you try to voice out your apology quickly as she keeps dragging you along, looking back at who you just bumped into.

it's geto.

his eyes show mild surprise, not one for entirely showing his emotions, they're widened a bit and he looks a bit taken aback while his eyes rake up and down your body–still being dragged away. he's not wearing a costume, sporting a white t-shirt and jeans instead.

the words of apology you were going to utter fall off as you make eye contact and realize it was him you bumped into, he who just got an obvious look at your costume.

you're glad the speed of your friend makes the interaction short lived due to her lightning speed in suddenly bringing you to the kitchen, which is lined with beer and liquor of all kinds, every space of the spacious kitchen taken up by alcohol.

you hurriedly reach to serve yourself a cup of strawberry vodka, hoping that the first sip and those after might make your nerves dilute. when you turn around to talk to your friend, who's probably already served herself straight flavorless vodka, she's being flirted with by her anthropology club crush. she gives you a quick glance, a combination of 'oh my god oh my god' and 'sorry' being communicated to you.

you smile at her knowingly and point towards where everyone was dancing and talking, marking that that's where you would be while you left her to go as far as she wanted with the boy in front of her.

you're halfway through the crowd to make it to the patio when a voice is suddenly in your ear from behind.

"is it as cool as people say?"

you jump at the intrusion and cradle the cup of vodka to your chest and look at who just spoke to you.

it's geto, exactly behind you, his large frame towering over your body and leaned over so you could hear him.

you're stopped in your tracks and turn around to face him now, trying hard not to feel intimated by your basically half naked right in front of him.

"yeah!" you nod

geto turns his head a little from his spot at least a foot above you and leans down again, at level heads with you

"sorry, say that again." he looks at you earnestly, wanting to be able to properly hear your answer with the loud music echoing into your ears and his.

"I said yeah! I didn't know parties could be this packed!" you say, taking a nervous sip from your cup as you look at him

"what happened to your friend?" geto keeps his posture the way it is to keep talking to you

"the guy she likes started talking to her!" you exclaim past the loud blare of music.

"ah." he nods, taking a quick glance to the kitchen and spotting your friend smiling eagerly at the guy in a jason costume in front of her. "what are you going to do then?"

you blink cluelessly, haven't actually thought about until he asked you.

"dance!" you look around the room so he could look with you. bodies pressed against each other and bodies dancing by themselves all across the room.

geto smiles and straightens himself before reaching a hand out to you and gives you a look of 'wanna take it?'

you can't help the bashful smile that makes its way to your face as you hesitantly take his hand. he softly brings you closer to him, not as close as the other horny bodies in the room, but it's a little intimate and makes you feel intoxicated. he puts his other hand high on your waist, making sure to avoid the sluttiness beneath that line of your torso considering your outfit, and he starts to sway the both of you to the music. he holds you to himself with you hook an arm over his shoulder and use the other hand to hold your drink, singing along to the music with a toothy smile.

it was playful, the interaction with him, a fun setting between the both of you. the combination of that and the large heap of strawberry vodka you served yourself and managed to finish by the second song with him were the reason for your increasing comfortable nature with him. you were laughing and laying your head on his chest frequently through your endless bursts of energy and gasping breaths for relief.

he was smiling throughout the entirety of it, never getting too comfortable though, and keeping his hands where they had originally been.

"I just wanna be one of your girls tonight!" you sing at the top of your lungs.

geto lets go of one of the hands encircling you and instead reaches for one of the hands splayed across his shoulder and chest, caressing it with a thumb.

you tug at him a little with your other hand and he leans down to hear what you're about to say.

"wanna get drinks?" you ask, craving a sweet hard seltzer instead of another pour of vodka.

"you want something?" geto asks you back

"are there any strawberry drinks?" you blink up at him

geto looks like he's thinking for a second, trying to remember the usual drinks his best friend caters, before he nods, "yeah there are. want me to get you one?"

you nod eagerly at him and follow him to kitchen. he had taken a hold of your hand when he noticed you were going to accompany him, he didn't want you to struggle getting through all those people.

he had been bent over to look through a cooler on the floor before he stood up and held out a strawberry daiquiri to you, "here."

"thank you." you nod before you jump and sit on the countertop so you could rest and drink

you notice geto doesn't have a drink in his hand when he leans against the kitchen island in front of you.

"you didn't want a drink?"

geto shakes his head calmly, "gotta drive back."

"oh." you remember his motorcycle from earlier near the garage and strike another question so he doesn't know that you know he has a motorcycle. incredible logic.

"what kinda car do you have?"

"ah, not a car, a motorcycle." he smiles slightly, the answer was humble

"oh~"you drag out–as if it was new information to you–and continue drinking from your bottle.

"you have a ride back home though?" geto asks, crossing his arms over his chest so he could be more comfortable while listening to you.

"uhh," you reach for your phone and see a message from your friend asking if it was okay for her to go to McDonalds with her crush, "well I was going to uber with my friend, but she just had a change of plans."

"I can take you home." he offers genuinely, tilting his head in await for your answer.

"In your motorcycle?!" you blurt out

he starts laughing heartily at your answer and smirks at you when he speaks again, "never been on one?"

"no." you shake your head, a bit intimidated, "what if I fall. im literally naked im gonna get cut up by the road."

geto smiles at you, "that's a fair concern, but I'll give you my helmet and let you borrow my jacket, it's big, it should cover you up a bit no?"

although the alcohol leaves your brain empty, you think it over which involved nothing but staring at him in supposed 'thought' before you nod, "okay."

"can I give you my number? so you can send me your address?" geto asks, shuffling a little bit closer to you

"mhm." you hand your phone to him and watch as he types away into your phone before he hands it back to you. when you stare back at his contact name, suguru geto, it makes a dawn of realization wash over you.

"you don't know my name, rig–"

"y/n."

you do a double take at how fast he says it and his eyes crease at your reaction.

"what?"

"you get involved in the lectures a lot." he takes note for you

"oh." you sink back into yourself

"do you know mine?"

you shyly respond with a, "yea, you get involved a lot too..."

"good to know." he grins a little, watching as you take the last sip of your drink and gesturing back towards the dancing scene, "wanna go back?"

"yeah." you confirm softly, taking the hand he gives you so you can get off the countertop smoothly. and when your feet touch the ground, you yelp, "ow ow ow ow!"

the hour of pure dancing and jumping around had not been a good rival for your new and tall heels. they were a height you had walked before, but the shoes themselves were new and not worn in, causing a great deal of pain across your entire foot.

geto held you by just below your armpits, the worry he had seeping through in his widened eyes and his leaning over to see if he find out what was wrong with you.

"what's wrong?" he asks quickly

"the heels," you scrunch up your nose in pain and sigh, "they hurt like a bitch now that I got a bit of rest."

you can tell geto feels bad about your pain by the way he grimaces for you and plants you on the countertop again. he suddenly kneels down and begins to work at the clasps of your heels.

"you can borrow my shoes. that sound alright?" he looks up at you from where he's at, already sliding one of the heels from your feet.

you're quick to deny, "but what about you?"

"satoru and I are the same size, I can just ask him for a pair, he has a million."

you give in at his response, embarrassed, "okay."

"you want me to take you home now?" he lightheartedly smiles as he works on the other heel, "I think you can walk in my shoes, but dancing doesn't seem doable."

"well yea." you say dejectedly, a little frown etching itself on your face when he finally comes back up, his lips quirk up a little when he sees it

"wait for me here then." he says, putting your shoes next to you on the countertop before he walks off a little hurriedly to you assume gojo's room.

when geto walks you to his motorcycle, he takes your heels and puts them in the compartment box of it for you, then takes his helmet and immediately puts it on your head.

an 'oomf' leaves your mouth at the sudden weight of it and he looks a little amused as he starts working at the straps of it.

"there you go."

he smirks a little as he looks at the, very large in comparison to you, helmet, and picks up his jacket that he brought back from gojo's room to put on you.

"there we go" he sighs, almost like he's proud of himself and gets on the motorcycle, turning his torso a little to pat behind him for you to get on too.

when you get on and take in the feeling of sitting on a motorcycle for the first time, he's turned around and looking at his phone, pinching and zooming in on the route to your apartment.

"you actually live pretty close to me." he murmurs, noting what roads to take.

"yeah?" you yawn, laying your head on his back

"alright," geto says, starting up his motorcycle, revving it up a bit, "hug me tight okay?"

you nod sleepily and wrap your arms around him, brain so eased by the alcohol in your system that you don't overthink it, as if your sober self wouldn't be screaming and crying on the inside during this exact situation.

geto drives off at a decent pace, some part of you thinking that this might not be the speed he normally drives off and that he was taking it a bit slower just for you. you could feel him breathe in and out all throughout the ride, his chest and stomach were rising and falling underneath your touch. you fell half asleep on him halfway through it, managing to grasp onto him like a child with their stuffed animal, and unable to resist the heaviness of your eyelids.

you blink back to reality at the sudden stop of movement, the stilling air was no longer brushing past your skin and the noise of wheels screeching against the road was gone.

after geto helps you get his helmet off, he hangs it on one of the handles and takes your heels out of the compartment box.

"this is your place right?"

another yawn flutters past your mouth again and you hold out your pointer finger to say yes.

"alright." geto says, watching as you lead the way into and through your apartment and to your place. he had placed a ghost of his hand near your back in case you started to trip up from his shoes considering their size in comparison to your feet. the walk was quiet considering your focus on making it to your door and the overwhelming sleepiness dawning on you.

when you get to your door you slip off geto's shoes and them to him, taking your heels from him in return.

"thank you, geto." you hold try not to yawn again, doe eyes sleepily fluttering at him

"you can call me by my first name." he comments comfortingly, "and no problem. see you in class?"

"yeah." and this time you do yawn, again, before you open your door and walk inside, looking at him while you hold onto the frame.

"alright then." he looks down at you from across the doorway, one hand in his pocket, the other holding onto his shoes, "get some rest okay?"

"okay." you almost murmur, your bed calling out to you.

you get to class at the time you usually do the following class meeting. the weather forecast had been a little chilly, so you opted for a cozy, off the shoulder sweater. it was fashionable and you had been dying to use it the moment you saw the weather forecast the night before.

you're scribbling notes onto your iPad this time, going over lecture notes from your earlier class that day. there were some things you forgot to add and that's what you always used this time for before class started. you see the class start filling in minute by minute out of your peripheral vision as you do this.

your habit of pretending to not care about suguru's presence is still existent, so all you can see for a fleeting second when you look into your backpack for a mint is that he is indeed sitting at his normal spot with gojo.

there was no chance to look at him that day in class, he hadn't spoken, which wasn't really rare, sometimes you wouldn't speak in class either. you, however, did speak in class that day, the module that the professor was teaching that day had piqued your interest a great amount and thus called for a great amount of your interaction with the lesson.

by the end of class, you were setting quick reminders on the notes you had taken of what was the most important before you started packing your bag to leave. the sound of feet and shuffling to leave the class a bit noisy, but it could let you make out the distant loud voice of gojo, probably talking to suguru.

"I have been on my best behavior. I do not know what you mean by that Suguru." "No no no that was a favor, look where it got you." "Oh you are such a wuss."

It was only a little appealing considering the fact that you couldn't hear what suguru was saying and the things that gojo was saying didn't let you get any clues as to what they were talking about. oh well.

you wanted to go home and start studying for a test tomorrow, so you started walking out of class, past suguru and gojo's line of view.

you heard a smack, like one of them had hit the other.

and gojo's voice, "idiot."

you were sitting at your desk, going over the last of your test review when you felt your phone buzz across the desk and picked it up

suguru

hey

y/n

hi

suguru

you wanna take satoru's seat next class?

y/n

he wants to flirt with mika again?

suguru

not rlly lol.

y/n

?????

suguru

I think it'd be cool to switch desk buddies every once in a while ;)

y/n

lmaooo. I won't tell mika if that's what you're scared of

suguru

haha, that's not rlly the case, but just take his seat

y/n

okay?

when you go to class again that same week, you hesitantly take gojo's seat. there was no follow up text from suguru after you said your okay and it was a little off putting. of course it had only been that night and the day after that he hadn't texted again, but it was a little weird, especially for it being the very first text conversation he strikes with you. the only thing that had been exchanged between either of you in your messages had been your address to him from gojo's party.

there were no notes for you to go over, there was no test or important knowledge that you had to use soon in any upcoming classes, so you were left to wait for the class to begin while you aimlessly scrolled through your phone and watched people come into class.

three minutes had passed before suguru and gojo were walking into class together. gojo was rubbing his friend's shoulder rather roughly, a fang filled smile on his face as he said something to him. suguru didn't seem to mind it, like many things, his eyes still had that warmth they always had, but it looked like he had said something back.

gojo playfully shoved suguru forward by the back before he laughed evilly and walked to your original seat, if you were right, you could see his bright blue eyes flick to you for a second behind his glasses before he smiled at the girl he flirted with last week.

you look up at suguru as he finally gets to the seat next to you.

"hey." he sighs with a smile as he plops into the seat.

"hey." you smile only halfway, a little tired from staying up to finish a homework the night before.

"sorry about the cryptic texts." he starts to apologize, moving his chair a little closer to yours, "satoru took my phone."

ah. that's why it seemed so out of character

"it's fine." you reassure, "they were a little off putting to read."

suguru scratches at the back of his neck, "I'm sorry about that. I meant to text after but I felt awkward."

"really? about?"

for the first time, you see him stumble on what to say, hesitance obvious when he opens and closes his mouth for a painfully slow second before he manages to respond, "to see if you were coming to the party on actual Halloween night this weekend."

"oh." your mouth opens in a little oh, oblivious to what he really wanted to say, "I'm not too sure. my friend that I went to the party with is spending it with that same guy she left with. so I don't have anyone to go with. plus I already used my costume."

"what's wrong with using the playboy bunny costume again?"

you eye him, disappointed, and lean over to flick his forehead, "i...am not an outfit repeater, suguru. the people who saw me at last week's party are going to remember me and say 'she's using the same costume again, what a loser'"

he gazes back at you as if you pat his head instead of just flicking it, warmth and a hint of mischief seeping into his stare, "you're right, you did catch a lot of attention."

"what?"

suguru leans back in his seat and answers, "you looked beautiful. it was hard to ignore."

"for who?"

"for me and every guy with eyes at the party."

he seems calm and confident when he says it, but his cheeks and ears start to get a slight pinkish hue as he awaits your response.

you try to keep looking at him, fighting the need to look away and wait for the professor to start class, your flustered face saying all too well what you're feeling, "what am I supposed to say to that?"

"you don't have to." suguru moves forward, positions his feet to face you as well as his face, and puts his elbow on the table, slanting his body onto it a little, "The president of gojo's frat asked for your name. He really liked you."

"Zenin?!"

"You like him?" he asks, with the tone of a guy who would try to set you up with the president if you said yes.

you shake your head, gaze looking down in embarrassment, "no no. it just caught me off guard..."

"if you like Toji it's fine," he tries to lower his head so he could catch your eye again, speaking earnestly yet something about it sounds like it's fake, it's weird, "he's like a dog, treat him well and he's loyal. although he can be brutally possessive, probably the type to leave hickeys on your legs if you're going to be with him and wear a costume like the one from the party."

"no, I don't like him. he's not my type." you answer meekly, having felt a bit of pressure from his boasts of the frat president.

"no?"

"no."

and before he can continue with his intense conversation again, you're saved by your professor, dramatically entering the class and bellowing for all of you to pay attention to him.

when your class ends, you try and succeed at scampering away from suguru before he can get a word out. as if she possessed magical powers, your friend called you the moment your professor ended the lesson. within the millisecond her name popped up on your phone, you grabbed at your phone at put it to your ear.

"hello?"

"hey hey! I have a question!"

you pay no mind to suguru as you haul your backpack over your shoulders and begin to walk out of class.

"what's up?"

"do you want the extra halloween costume I bought? levi is taking me to dinner on halloween for our date and I won't get to use it."

"the fembot costume?!"

you can almost makeout the banter between suguru and gojo a way's away behind you as you walk down the concrete steps of the building.

"yeah! you can go to gojo's party in it!" she beams, before her voice gains a bit of malice, "you can dance with motorcycle guy again~"

"go there by myself?" you groan, almost wanting to stomp your feet on the pavement beneath you

"lots of girls go by themselves to parties!"

"well I've never done that." you grumble

"aw come on. use the costume and go for me. pretty pleaseeeee."

"I'm going to give you a reason to be scared on halloween if this goes south for me. got it?"

it's cold when you get to gojo's party and you're beyond psyched out of your mind. from the unbelievably slutty costume that let everyone see your naked body in panties due to sheer babydoll material and the fear of coming across a very handsome suguru or toji zenin, who as handsome as he was might be able to seduce you, but you didn't want him like you did suguru.

you're more conscious of the stares now, due to suguru's previous comment and the fact that this costume was way more revealing.

on instinct you rush to the kitchen and get a strawberry daiquiri like the one suguru got for you exactly a week ago. you didn't want to get drunk tonight considering you came by yourself, so reaching for the strawberry vodka again was not within your list of options.

your eyes were on high alert as you pushed yourself through the countless bodies dancing, trying to remain unseen.

it doesn't give you cause to hide for some reason, considering he's suguru's friend, but you see satoru strut to the kitchen in a slutty firefighter costume. he was wearing the pants and boots, and nothing on top but a set of suspenders. classic.

however, you do a double take when you suguru geto wearing that same exact costume. you swear you feel your eye twitch in frustration when your eyes see his hair finally down, splayed across his back and chest, and get a peek of a tattoo tracing his spinal structure, bone for bone, going all the way up his back until it gets interrupted by his hair. his arms are practically calling to you when he fist bumps a toji zenin wearing a prisoner costume, they flex and bulge at the action. his abs are all perfectly prominent and–

he just made eye contact with you.

you hadn't gojo walk up to him and whisper something into his ear, probably that you were here.

fuck you satoru gojo.

suguru smiles immediately and turns to walk to you, leaving you to stay in place and not run away from him.

"you bought another costume?"

"no," you feel your chest heave at the sight of him, breath getting caught in your throat with his very shirtless self right in front of you. it makes you look off to a girl dancing behind him when you continue, "my friend gave me hers because she didn't end up dressing up."

"you want me to bring zenin?" he points a thumb behind him, towards the kitchen, face the definition of calm and suave.

you glare at him this time and take a sip of your daiquiri

"what? feeling shy?" he smiles down at you, if he weren't such a peaceful seeming person, you would have said it was condescending

"I'm not into zenin." a tinge of irritation already seeping into your voice.

"you sure?" he moves closer to you, your face right smack in front of his chest.

"yes." you jut your chin at him, done with his shenanigans

his lips twitch a little when he tugs your strawberry daiquiri out of your hands, grabs you by the neck, thumb close to your chin, and says, "open your mouth." he immediately starts to chug from your daiquiri and the thought of realization dawns on you of what he was about to do.

you open your mouth and he pushes his body closer to yours as he spits the drink into your mouth, his eyes solely on yours as he does it besides for when he briefly looks at something or someone behind you rather haughtily. he's still holding you and intently watching when you swallow it down immediately. that familiar happy crease of his eyes sketched itself across his face after.

you're heaving a little, star struck by the action the both of you just committed, "what was that suguru?"

"scaring off zenin. you don't want him right?"

his eyelids flutter a bit, something yours did whenever they were sleepy and it makes you search into his eyes more. your curiosity dying when you see the sudden red veins clouding the whites of his eyes. and you push him off.

"are you kidding me? you're high?"

"and drunk." he smiles, not minding your pushing him off and still inserting himself into your personal space again.

you try to speak and can't, solely out of irritation at the fact that he did that because of his intoxicated state. you bite your lip to stop yourself from overreacting and settle for shaking your head.

"you don't like guys who smoke?" he asks, genuine concern laced with his stupid crossed persona at the moment, "I tend to never smoke, but satoru passed me his joint when I was already at the 'whatever happens' point of a tequila bottle ."

"I really don't care about that in a guy, as long as he's not a musty constant weed user that can never cope with his life." you roll your eyes at him slightly, "but you just spit alcohol into my mouth because you're crossed as fuck."

"no." he scoffs, now entirely entranced in his conversation with you.

"yes."

"I spit alcohol into your mouth so zenin wouldn't come up to you."

the response makes you cross your arms over each other, "a simple 'hey she's not into you like that' would have sufficed."

"where's the fun in that?" its a serious question for him, you can tell by the way he patiently waits for your answer

irked, you look up at the ceiling while biting your cheek, trying to gather yourself again before you say, "sober up geto." and turning to walk away.

you made it your mission to stay hidden the entire party, having entered the deal with your best friend that if the night turned sour for you, she would come with her boy whatever to pick you up in his car

after their date.

which wasn't going to end until an hour or two.

the garage had stayed open to the enormous frat house, although there weren't any people in it. people had respected the space, leaving the miscellaneous in it untouched such as the two cars and...suguru's bike.

you eyed it from the rather comfy bean bag in the darkest corner of the garage, feeling a fight or flight instinct at the mere glimpse of it whenever you looked up from your phone.

it had been almost two hours since you last suguru and you were striving to keep the streak going on longer.

"told you I'm going home satoru." a wary and very sobered up voice says when they open the door to the garage, "I drank enough water, I'm sober."

it's suguru.

there is no stagger in his step and his posture is refined as he walks to lean again the trunk of the car furthest from you and closest to his bike. you remain hidden due to the cars covering you from his line of sight as well as the sheer darkness of the corner.

he's wearing a shirt now, another black one, and he rakes his hands across face when he gives a defeated sigh. you hoped he wouldn't notice you.

this was your Friday the 13th movie for sure.

suguru pulls outs his phone from one of the spacious pockets of his fireman pants and he starts to type away immediately. there's a slight buzz from your phone seconds within the action.

suguru

are you still here?

I'm sobered up now.

he shoves his phone back in his pocket after. and you watch as he stays where he is, crossing his arms across his chest while he waits a good five minutes for you to respond, which you don't do. he gets his phone out again after and taps something randomly before he puts his phone up to his ear.

buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz

the strong buzzing of your phone on your thigh make a ricochet that gets's fine tuned ears pick up quickly.

"y/n?" he's shining his phone's flashlight on you, squinting his eyes just a little to try and make you out.

nervous, you mutter, "what."

suguru turns the light off and sighs, walking to your corner, his eyes already getting adjusted to the darkness.

"why didn't you answer me?"

"do you really not know the answer?"

"you're right." he sinks down in front of you, sitting down on the floor and brushing a stressed hand through his hair. his legs are stretched out and basically manspread even though he's not on a chair.

"satoru didn't text you to switch seats with him because he wanted to flirt with mika" he comes forth, both of his hands laying across his knees.

you're confused, "but–"

"it was a wild attempt of his to help me talk to you again." and he laughs, a burst of energy randomly gracing the intense air. suguru raises a hand to rub at the back of his neck while his chest and stomach ricochet and his teeth peek out from his mouth.

"truth is, I really like you." he's still smiling.

the declaration makes you stare blankly at him and a million goosebumps rise across your entire body.

"if you don't feel the same in that regard it's fine of course." he reassures, back to his normal calm self, "I just thought it would help explain my behavior."

"since when?" you peep

"our first class meeting," suguru seems a little bashful at the confession

"I have for a couple of weeks now too." you meekly profess

suguru seems genuinely surprised, his eyes widening, "you have?"

"why do you sound so surprised?" your brows knit.

"it felt like you didn't know I existed until last week." he grins followed by a small huff of humor

"oh...that," you trail off, embarrassed, "I thought pretending you didn't exist was the best way for you to not know I had a thing for you..."

"satoru is far smarter than me in that aspect." he says, "he insisted that you were doing that when I told him."

you giggle a little, "he read me like a book."

suguru hangs his head for a second and groans, still joyful, before he whips his head up and gazes at you, "I apologize for having never gathered the courage to approach you before. I have Satoru to thank for even getting me here with you in the first place."

"it's fine." you shrug, pulling at your own fingers, "we're here now aren't we?"

"we are." he agrees before leaning over. suguru grabs one of your hands and brings it to his lips, placing a soft kiss onto it while his eyes never leave your own.

"want to go back to the party?" you muster past your nerves, focus solely on the warmth of his hand still holding onto yours.

suguru shakes his head lightly, "I'm enjoying it being just the two of us right now. do you want to?"

"no, I like it here too."

theres a moment of silence, where both of you stare at the hands that the both of you have connected until a strong breeze passes and flutters the thin material of your babydoll up and makes you shiver strongly.

"let me." suguru says as he hastily gets up and gets his leather jacket that's hanging from his motorcycle, then brings it back to you, helping you tuck your arms into the sleeves and get comfortable in it.

he's above you when he does it and you can see the small glances he tries to avoid giving your body, especially at the sparkly pink thong peeking through the see through material of your costume. suguru is making sure his jacket is on your properly when you call out to him suddenly.

"suguru."

he doesn't get the chance to respond when he looks back up at you and you pull him in by the material of his shirt to kiss him.

he reciprocates within seconds, after the surprise wears off and places a hand on your thigh, the other next to your head and grabbing at the beanbag. his lips are soft and have no remnants of alcohol on them, a smooth flavor of his skin and flesh meeting your tastebuds when he dips his tongue into your mouth. it elicits a groan from him when you whimper at the contact.

he pushes as much as he can into your space without falling and you follow suit, trying to lift yourself as much as possible off the beanbag to meet him.

a particular whimper has suguru pulling away from you and pulling you up by the arm so he can maneuver you to sit on the trunk of the car next to you. when he plops you down onto it, he slots his torso between your thighs and pulls you for an even deeper kiss. his hands have a strong grip on your thighs as he keeps you against him and you can feel the distinctly large throbbing of something against your panties through his pants.

"are–mmmm–you hard?" you ask through kisses

suguru can't help the grind of his bulge against your core when he answers and keeps kissing you, giving small nips to your lips, "yes."

your eyes are closed into the kiss when your hands navigate to the waistband of his pants, about to reach for–

"not here." suguru mutters and keeps both of your wrists clamped under one of his large hands.

you pull yourself away from his lips and heave, a pout of sexual frustration illustrated on your eyes and lips. "okay."

he raises a hand to caress your cheek as he smiles fondly, "what?"

"nothing."you look away for a quick second, leaning in to kiss him again after.

suguru stops you before you do though, clamping one of his hands against your mouth while the other holds the back of your head.

he's smiling even wider this time, "now what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you touch me before I get to touch you?"

you slouch in his hold, too upset by the fact that you couldn't touch him or go back to kissing him to care about his words.

"you know, even satoru couldn't keep his eyes off of you in this little costume of yours." he looks down for a second so you could too, "god knows what toji was thinking. I saw the tent in his pants when you took my spit and booze like a good girl."

suguru sees the way you shift your hips for a smidge of relief at his words. "are you my good girl?" he leans his forehead across yours, hand still on your mouth. you try your best to let out a muffled 'mhm' and incessantly nod your head, eyes pleading and hands gripping onto his shirt.

"are you going to answer the phone when I text you next time?"

you give him the same answer again.

"god." he warily eyes you, gaze wandering towards the outline of your breasts and the rest that wasn't covered by your thong, "you're so beautiful."

the hand at the back of your neck trails down and moves some hair away from your shoulder, then ends up holding you by your lower back as suguru leans down and starts to mouth at your neck. he starts off small with his intentions, simply placing soft and subtle kisses, eliciting a ticklish response from you until his lips become searing and he goes in with the intent of leaving hickeys on you, it makes you squirm and suguru lets you, it's not like you can break away from his touch anyway. you use your legs to keep him caged in and closer to you eventually after the third 'pop' you heard coming from his mouth on your skin, it makes him audibly laugh for a second too.

you tug at the hand on your mouth, expecting for the task to be hard considering his build, but suguru lets his hand fall away easily and hold onto your thigh.

"what are you thinking pretty?" he asks mindlessly before going for the opposite side of your neck

"mmmm–about how good–mm–this feels."

"yeah?"

"mhm"

"tell me what you want to do. do you want me to drop you off at your place after this?" he blows on your most recent hickey and smirks when he sees you jump a little, "do you want me to get you food?"

"I want–ah!" suguru bites into your neck fairly hard, enough to make you moan and yelp at the same time, "I want to spend the rest of the night with you at my place. can we watch a scary movie?" the suggestion is simple and it isn't to hook up with him, although that's what you want more than ever now, but you don't want him to think you're that desperate so its what you settle for.

"couldn't imagine a better halloween than that." he smiles

you're under suguru, on your bed later that night, the movie you had been watching was long forgotten and the t.v. was turned off the second things started to get out of hand. it wasn't his fault no, suguru's a gentleman and when you said you just wanted to watch a movie, he was just going to watch the movie with you. you were the instigator. after you had been cuddled into his arms, near his neck, you decided to place a few loving kisses...that eventually turned into what this was with suguru getting up to take off and throw away his shirt while you hastily yanked off the long gloves of your costume.

he was needy, grinding his hips into yours the moment he came back down to kiss you.

"you have no idea how fucking bad I've been wanting you." he mutters, hissing when a particular rub pleases him the right way

it makes your back arch, "I think I do suguru."

"really?" he groans into your mouth, "you touch yourself to me like I do for you?"

"yeah." you sigh, clinging onto him even more, splaying your hand across the soft skin of his back.

"move your panties to the side."

when he feels your hand move down and follow his directions, suguru moves his down too and slides a finger across your soaked folds.

"fuck, this pussy is so wet for me. were you even trying to pay attention to the movie?"

"yes, I was." you complain, and whimper when he starts rubbing circles across your lower lips, gathering your slick for added stimulation after every rub.

he separates himself from kissing you to look down at his ministrations, mouth opening in a soundless moan at the sight.

"listen to this sloppy fucking pussy." he rubs faster and you start to jerk your hips up by natural defiance at the stimulation, but he holds you down "no, let me touch you baby." he says sternly

your breathing starts to pick up and you feel that familiar knot that only you can give yourself starting to build up in your stomach and suguru notices, looking up to smile at you.

"are you close angel?"

concentrated on the feeling, all you can do is nod your head and he speeds up his pace at it, garnering close to wanton moans from you and screech like whines.

"come on come on, cum for me pretty girl, cum cum cum cum–fuck, atta girl." suguru talks you through it, mouth opening in awe at the sight of your body going limp and your breathing slowing down, his cock even twitches at how cute it is that your legs kick a little when you cum too, he thinks he'll be able to keep them still when he gets make you cum on his cock.

you start to hiss at the overstimulation when he keeps rubbing your clit after your high, "'s too much suguru."

he doesn't stop, "you want to stop now then?"

the shake of your head makes his eyes light up and bite his lip with a grin, "then just let me keep going."

it takes all of your strength to lean up with one of your elbows and grab his wrist with the other, obvious strain written across your features when you huff, "I want you inside me."

like he knew that was what you wanted, suguru's grin grows wider, "are you sure?"

you nod your head in confirmation, followed by suguru saying, "so cute." before he gets up and pushes his pants and boxers down in one swift motion and climbs on top of you, manhandling your legs by pinning them to either side of your head into a mating press.

he lets his cock teasingly rub up and down your folds while he leans down to nip at your ears, "let's leave your little costume on yeah?"

you nod and make a face when his tip catches on your entrance

suguru lifts his hips at your confirmation and pushes his tip in, savoring the way you're beginning to invite him inside you.

" 's so big sugu." you whimper in shock at the larger than expected intrusion

"never taken a cock this big?" he pulls out and pushes in again a little deeper

"no." you rake your hands down his arms

suguru laughs, "good thing I'm here to provide then right? see, look at you creaming around me already."

the words make you look down at where you both meet and when he pulls out again, you can see the ring and slick on his dick, it makes you shiver.

"I'll–make–this–little-fucking–pussy-take–me." he punctuates each and every one of his words with a thrust that pushes himself deeper and deeper inside you until you can fully feel his tip grazing your cervix and every vein on his dick ridging against your walls from how girthy he is.

every sound that comes out of your mouth after is incoherent when suguru starts to punishingly pummel into you and god does he keep talking to you.

"you look so pretty taking this dick baby. god, you sound even cuter than I imagined. you like getting stretched out like this? fuck, take it take it take it. wish I could make you sit on it, you'd look so cute trying to ride me."

it's all so much, especially when every thrust is accompanied by a moan or groan of his or with a sentence.

"couldn't fucking wait to get home after the party last week too. wanted to rip off that costume and fuck you till you couldn't even scream. and when you wear those skirts with pantyhose to class?" suguru groans, "all–I–can–think–about–is–bending–you–over–and–stuffing–this–pussy–with–my–cum."

"suguru!" you squeal, "im–I'm gonna cum!"

suguru tightens his hold on your thighs at the admission and starts jackhammering into you, "cum around me baby. let me fuck you through it." it almost sounds like he's starting to beg, "just cum for me, cum for me, cum–"

a silent scream leaves your mouth and you trash in suguru's hold while he keeps his furious pace.

"so pretty, angel." his eyebrows knit as he watches you orgasm and feels you clamp down on him. it has his peak lurching across his body and his thrusts grow erratic as he starts spurting his cum into you.

he leans down to kiss you as his cock twitches inside of you, leaking his cum into you each time.

at the end of the kiss, the both of you are heaving against each other, smiles on both of your faces until you erupt into laughter and giggles.

suguru is still inside you and places a loving kiss on your forehead, swiping away your sweaty baby hair, "you're cute when you cum. you kick your legs a little, I like it."

the confession has you trying to shy away and suguru laughs again, caressing your head, "why are you shying away? you wore this costume for everyone to see just a couple hours ago."

"well this is you telling me you think the way I cum is cute, its quite different than guys looking at my thong." you shakily grab onto his shoulders

"I suppose so." suguru nuzzles into your neck, "do you have a bath?"

"yeah."

"let me start one for us then." he pulls out and both of you look down at your lonely entrance until his cum starts to leak out. suguru seems entranced and you can see his cheeks start to gain a red hue accompanied by the blood starting to rush to his cock too.

suguru looks back at you the moment you do too. you reach a hand out to him and he crawls back on top of you.

"we can do that later right?"

"right."

[maewphoria]

⠀

⌗⠀양정원⠀⠀CAT⠀DISTRIBUTION⠀SYSTEM⠀꒰⠀PT.6⠀꒱

⠀

SYNOPSIS⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀starting college in a new city, you’re settling into your apartment and trying to make it feel like home. on your first day, a fluffy calico cat appears on your neighbor's balcony, jumping towards yours as if to greet you, stealing your heart instantly. but when a voice calls out for the cat from the next balcony, panic sets in—you rush back inside, too shy to meet your new neighbor. that neighbor turns out to be yang jungwon, a fellow student in the same university who’s also new in town. thanks to his mischievous and adventurous cat, the two of you keep running into each other in the most unexpected ways. a friendship blossoms, slowly turning into something deeper—though jungwon keeps insisting it’s nothing more than friendship. as feelings grow stronger, the question remains: will their bond turn into something more—or remain just a college memory?

pairing⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀college student!yang jungwon x college student!f.reader. featuring⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀all enhypen members, le sserafim yunjin, kazuha, and chaewon, aespa winter. word count⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀14.352k genre⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀sfw, fluff, angst if you squint, kinda slow burn, college life, university life, slice of life, comedy (although i don't find myself funny), friendships, relationships, and the cat distribution system. (it has chosen you and gave you two lovely cats.) warnings⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀drinking alcohol, parties, getting drunk (obviously), misunderstandings, jealousy, denial (jungwon is in denial), lots of flirting and tension, cat keeps breaking into your apartment, cat gets really sick, mentions of cat sickness, mentions of surgery, mentions of depression, friends panicking and being dramatic, kissing and skinship (soon), reader (aka us) is very delusional and does a lot of overthinking, and might contain suggestive content in the later parts that are yet to be posted. lowercase letters intended. proofread. tell me if i'm missing anything. mæw's notes⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀hi guys, part six is finally up! i hope you enjoy it—we’re getting close to the end of tcds! i also hope this fic is a little helpful for anyone planning to adopt a cat, especially a female one. i did my best to research this illness/disease, and i really hope it helps raise some awareness. thank you so much! likes, reblogs, and comments are highly appreciated.

library⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀part one. part two. part three. part four. part five.

#⠀OO7⠀:⠀IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH.

after the confrontation on the balcony, as the glass door closed behind you, you stepped into the stillness of your room—quiet, dim, and far too heavy for comfort. you moved on autopilot, your feet taking you to the bed where you sat slowly, almost as if sinking into the weight of your own thoughts.

you reached for your phone, cradling it in your hands as you stared at the screen. your thumb hovered over your contacts. the idea flickered in your mind—maybe you could call your friends. maybe you could ask to crash at their place. not because you didn’t want to be alone, but because being alone tonight felt a little too much like punishment.

but then guilt tiptoed in, soft and unwelcome. you remembered every time they had helped you—helping you carry your own burdens like they were weightless, never once complaining. they had been nothing but kind, offering their comfort even when you hadn’t asked for it.

and suddenly, the thought of bothering them again felt… unfair.

“they have their own lives. their own worries. you can’t keep showing up and burdening them every time something goes wrong.”

so, with a sigh, you locked your screen and placed your phone on the bedside table. you told yourself you'd be strong. just for tonight. you could handle it. you didn’t need to offload every heartache the second it showed up at your door.

but then, as if the universe had been eavesdropping, your phone began to ring.

you jumped slightly, startled by the sudden noise in the silence. your heart skipped a beat—and you hated that the first name that came to mind was jungwon.

for a brief, reckless second, you hoped it was him. calling to apologize. calling to say he didn’t mean it.

and then, in the same breath, another part of you hoped it was him just so you could decline the call and let him sit in it.

but when you looked at the screen, it wasn’t him.

it was your friends.

you let out a soft breath—half disappointment, half relief—but mostly warmth. because as much as part of you wanted it to be jungwon, a bigger part of you was grateful it wasn’t. you weren’t sure how you’d even speak to him after what he said.

you answered the call, trying to sound normal.but before you could even greet them, yunjin’s voice rushed through the speaker, laced with concern, “are you okay?”

it wasn’t even a question, not really. more like an instinct. and it caught you off guard.

you smiled faintly, that fragile kind of smile people make when they’re holding back everything. “yeah, i’m fine,” you replied.

you weren’t. and they knew it for some reason. they can feel it.

there was a short pause. and then, as if she’d read your mind through the phone, yunjin asked, “do you wanna have a sleepover at our place tonight?”

you blinked. bestie telepathy. it had to be. that uncanny ability they had to know when something was wrong—even when you tried your best to pretend otherwise.

a laugh escaped you. soft and surprised.you nodded, even though they couldn’t see you. “yeah,” you said quietly, “i’ll pack my things and be there in a bit.”

you ended the call with a soft sigh, already feeling lighter knowing that someone—no, someones—were waiting for you with open arms. with the faintest hint of urgency, you stood and began to pack a small overnight bag, not really thinking too hard about what to bring. just the essentials. maybe a little comfort.

and for some reason, you threw on a cap and pulled a mask over your face. maybe it was to hide, maybe it was to feel invisible—or maybe it was just easier not to be seen. you slipped into an oversized shirt and a pair of loose, faded jorts, comfortable, and safely unremarkable.

you stepped out of your apartment and made your way to the elevator. your mind was a little numb as you rode the elevator down to the lobby, like it hadn’t caught up to your body yet. and then the elevator doors opened with a soft ding.

voices.

chatter and familiar tones—and then you looked up.

all six of jungwon’s friends were standing there, sunoo, riki, jake, sunghoon, jay, and heeseung, they were talking animatedly, unaware of your presence as you stepped out quietly, head bowed as to not be seen by them as they enter the elevator.

you kept your gaze low, focused on the lobby tiles, pretending to check something on your phone, hoping they wouldn’t notice you.but then—just before the elevator doors began to slide shut—you heard sunoo’s voice drift out.

“you know how jungwon can be… he takes everything too seriously. if something goes wrong, he’ll find a way to blame himself—even when it’s not his fault. he’s always been like that, ever since his parents—”

click.

the elevator swallowed the rest of the sentence, the soft whoosh of the doors cutting off the words like a curtain falling.

you stood frozen in place, staring at the closed doors as if they might reopen and finish the sentence for you. you weren’t trying to eavesdrop—well, maybe you were—but you hadn’t expected to catch something so personal.

a knot twisted in your chest. you didn’t know the full story, and now you weren’t sure if you wanted to know. not like this. not overheard in a lobby with your heart still tender from the weight of what happened earlier.

you shook your head slightly, as if to clear it, then pulled out your phone and called for an uber. no more lingering. you had somewhere warmer to be.

twenty minutes later, you stood in front of your friends’ dorm, and as soon as the door opened, a wave of warmth rushed over you—not just from the actual temperature, but from the way their faces lit up.

“you’re here!” yunjin beamed, pulling you into a hug that smelled faintly of vanilla lotion and shampoo.

“about time,” chaewon teased, nudging you playfully before tugging you further inside.

arms wrapped around you, voices overlapped in a chorus of “are you okay?” and “you hungry?” and “we saved the comfiest blanket for you,” and you couldn’t help but smile through the sudden tenderness building in your throat.

kazuha appeared from the kitchen with a bag of chips in one hand and a bottle of soda in the other. “go change into pajamas, we’ll set everything up.”

you nodded gratefully and slipped into yunjin’s room, trading your oversized shirt and jorts for soft cotton pajamas and a pair of fuzzy socks that didn’t match—but felt like home anyway.

when you walked back out, the living room had transformed. the couch was already claimed by a pile of blankets and pillows, a nest of comfort. the television was on, netflix already open, and your friends were scrolling through a seemingly endless sea of thumbnails.

“we’re debating between trashy romance or murder documentary,” chaewon said, holding up the remote.you smiled—genuinely, this time—and settled in beside them, letting yourself exhale.

for the first time that day, you weren’t thinking about jungwon.

you were just here.

you were safe.

meanwhile, just a wall away from your apartment—jungwon lay stretched across his couch, motionless, save for the slow rise and fall of his chest. his gaze was fixed on the ceiling above, as if it might hold the answers he didn’t have the strength to ask for. nestled on top of him, yami, purred softly, her tiny chest rising in tandem with his. she was the only thing grounding him at the moment.

his friends sat scattered around the living room, their usual energy dulled into quiet concern. it wasn’t often that jungwon looked this defeated. yes, jungwon has been feeling down lately but not like this and it made the air feel heavier than it should.

sunoo, who had been chewing on the inside of his cheek for the past five minutes, finally couldn’t take the silence anymore. he shifted in his seat, then threw a look toward jay and heeseung—an expression that practically screamed, ‘say something, you idiots. tell him he got it all wrong at the library.’

heeseung caught the glance and sighed, straightening up from his spot. he cleared his throat awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “uh, jungwon… about what happened earlier.” he began slowly, cautiously, like someone trying not to set off an emotional landmine. “i had no idea there was a plan, alright? because someone—” he paused, turning to shoot a pointed look at jay, who was already shrinking under the weight of his own guilt, “—forgot to tell me.”

jay gave a sheepish little wave, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like an apology.

heeseung went on, “i swear, i only see y/n as, like… a little sister. and maybe our club’s future secretary if she ever stops pretending she’s not qualified. that’s all. i promise.”

they all waited for jungwon’s response, half-expecting an explosion, or at least a grumble. instead, he just let out a breath and murmured, “it’s all good, man. that’s not even the problem anymore.”

the room paused—time itself almost felt like it held its breath. even yami blinked slowly.

jay leaned forward, his voice suddenly full of that naive, eager hope only jay could pull off. “wait, but we could totally fix this, right? like, plan something new again? dramatic surprise? maybe balloons? a flash mob?” he was clearly trying to lighten the mood, maybe even pull a smile from jungwon.

but jungwon just sat up, gently lifting yami off his chest and setting her down beside him. he looked around at all six of his friends, then shook his head.

“unless any of you know how to go back in time and tell past me to shut up, then no. there’s no fixing this.”

they all blinked.

“won,” riki finally spoke, voice soft but steady, “what… what do you mean?”

jungwon exhaled again—long, slow, and bone-deep. then he began to recount everything that happened on the balcony. every word, every silence, every painful truth that had slipped past his lips too quickly. how your eyes had dimmed, not with anger, but something worse—disappointment. and how the door had closed behind you like a final page turning.

by the time he finished, the room was completely still. and then, like a wave breaking, a collective groan escaped from the group.

sunghoon threw his head back on the couch dramatically. “dude, why did you say that?”

“it just came out,” jungwon muttered, his voice small, almost boyish. “i didn’t mean any of it. but she was being honest and i—i couldn’t. i didn’t know how.”

his friends didn’t say much. they didn’t need to. they were disappointed, yes—but not at him. not really. they knew this was coming.

jungwon had been bottling up everything for so long—feelings he didn’t understand, guilt he couldn’t name, a fear of being vulnerable that had grown roots in the quiet corners of his mind. they had all seen it brewing like a storm. they just hadn’t expected him to break right there, right in front of you.

and the worst part? he knew he had no one to blame but himself.

once both friend groups were updated on what had gone down between you and jungwon, an unspoken tension settled over campus like a thin layer of frost. no one addressed it directly, but it was there—lingering in the air, cold and undeniable.

even brief glimpses in the corridor turned into emotionally charged encounters. whenever you or your friends crossed paths with jungwon’s group, the mood would shift immediately. smiles disappeared, footsteps quickened, and side-eyes became the norm.

your friends were the type to protect their own with quiet loyalty and sharp glares. the mere sight of jungwon was enough to make yunjin’s jaw tighten, and kazuha’s eyebrows would pull together in silent disapproval. they didn’t need to speak for you to know—they were mad on your behalf.

but it wasn’t just awkward glances and distant stares.

sunoo and riki were struggling the most.

they had close ties with chaewon and kazuha through their shared courses—bonds that had once been easy, playful, and filled with casual banter. now? those friendships were strained at the seams, caught in the crossfire of someone else’s mistake.

sunoo, who once was part of the same friend group as chaewon in their course, now tiptoed around her presence. sometimes, he’d catch himself lingering a little too long near her desk, only to retreat the moment she turned her head—like a guilty puppy caught chewing on something he shouldn’t.

riki wasn’t much better. he used to be kazuha’s go-to dance partner, their synchronicity well-known among their classmates. but now, he’d sit two seats away during practice, pretending the distance didn’t feel strange. he missed the shared laughs, the impromptu freestyle battles—but pride and guilt tangled around his feet like invisible chains.

jungwon, on the other hand, had always maintained a polite distance from yunjin, even though they shared the same course. but lately, he could feel her eyes burning holes into the back of his head during lectures. her anger was subtle, controlled, but sharp enough to cut. and he didn’t resent her for it—not even a little. if anything, he agreed with her. he was the one who screwed up. he was the reason for all of this.

almost two months had passed since that night on the balcony. two months, and the wound was still raw.

then, one afternoon, the tension cracked—just a little.

sunoo had gathered enough courage to approach chaewon after class. he looked nervous, fingers fidgeting with the strap of his bag as he trailed behind her down the hallway.

“hey, chaewon…” he called softly, tentative, like her name might shatter if he said it too loud.she didn’t slow down, didn’t look back.

“look, i—i just wanted to say sorry about jungwon, okay? not for him. i mean—i know i can’t speak for him but—i just feel bad about everything.”

chaewon finally stopped.

she didn’t turn around. didn’t soften. she simply adjusted the strap on her shoulder, her voice calm but firm.

“if you’re here just to apologize for your friend’s behavior,” she said, “then don’t bother.”

sunoo froze. he felt his chest tighten, like her words had hit him square in the sternum.

she glanced over her shoulder at last, her expression unreadable. “he should be the one apologizing to our friend. not you. and he can’t keep hiding forever.”

and with that, she walked off, her head held high. not a single backward glance.

sunoo stood there for a while, staring down at the floor, the weight of her words pressing into him like gravity.

because deep down… he knew she was absolutely right.

while your friends stayed busy holding grudges on your behalf—wearing their loyalty like armor—you simply kept living.

you called your parents often, keeping them updated on the ordinary parts of your life: school, projects, the occasional grocery mishap. but you never mentioned jungwon. you tucked that chapter of your heart away, sealed under the phrase: it’s not important anymore.

you went out more. dinners with friends, lazy movie nights in their dorm, laughter that bubbled louder when the drinks came out. life, though tender and bruised, went on.

still, not everything had changed.

yami, jungwon’s fluffball of a calico cat, never stopped visiting you. if anything, she seemed to come more often—as if she sensed something fractured and chose to continue visiting you anyway. and you welcomed her with open arms every time.

eventually, you even installed a little cat door beside your balcony slider, just for her. a tiny passage so she can go in and out anytime. you stocked up on food and water dispensers, bought her a cushy bed that looked way too expensive for a cat, and threw in a few plush toys shaped like fish for good measure.

she was family now.

her owner, however, remained firmly uninvited.

but then one day, the rhythm of your soft domestic peace broke.

yami padded in as usual, her tail flicking lazily behind her. she made herself at home in her bed by the window, curling into a delicate swirl of fur and quiet purrs. you were in the kitchen, humming to yourself, stirring something warm on the stove, before settling onto one of your kitchen stools.

you turned slightly, just to check on her—as you always did. and she was there, small and still, nestled in her bed you bought for her.

you smiled. she looked impossibly precious.

“yami,” you called softly, expecting her usual chirp in return.

but nothing.

your smile faltered. yami was normally reactive, especially to your voice—chatty and bright-eyed, with a meow for everything. but today… silence.

your chest tightened. you slid off the stool and walked over, kneeling beside her bed, gently brushing your fingers over her fur. “hey, baby… you okay?”

she blinked slowly. her meow came, but it was weak—thready and too soft. she pushed herself up to lick your hand, and then, without warning, she began to vomit.

your heart jumped straight into your throat.

“oh my god,” you whispered, panic clawing at the edges of your thoughts as you cradled her trembling frame. her body slumped almost immediately after, her breath shallow, her paws twitching faintly.

you didn’t think. you moved.

grabbing your small blanket from your couch, you carefully wrapped her fragile body in it, whispering reassurances you didn’t even register as you said them.

then you ran—barefoot and breathless—out of your apartment, down the familiar hallway, across the invisible line you’d drawn between yourself and the one person you swore you wouldn’t go back to.

your fist pounded against jungwon’s door, rapid and unrelenting.

it only took seconds before you heard movement behind it, hurried footsteps on tile. the door flung open, and there he was—hair tousled, eyes wide, utterly unprepared for the sight of you.

his name caught in your throat, tangled in panic and desperation.

his gaze dropped to the bundle in your arms, and his entire expression changed—fear replacing surprise.

“y/n?” he said, voice uneven, but you couldn’t speak yet. your arms shifted to reveal yami, nestled and trembling, her meows barely audible.

tears finally spilled, hot and uninvited, as you choked out the only words that mattered:

“please… she’s not okay.”

and just like that, the silence between you shattered. not with apologies. not with explanations.

but with the shared heartbeat of two people who loved the same little creature—enough to forget the walls they’d built around themselves.

jungwon didn’t hesitate.

the moment he saw you—your tear-filled eyes, your trembling hands clutching yami wrapped in that soft blanket—he turned on his heel and sprinted back inside his apartment. the door remained flung open behind him as he grabbed the first hoodie he could reach, tossing it over his shoulders with frantic hands before hurrying back out and pulling the door shut.

“let’s go to the vet,” he said, voice tense but calm, like he was clinging to control for your sake. his eyes were locked on yami, and though his chest rose and fell quickly, he was doing everything not to spiral.

you nodded mutely, your heart thundering so loudly it drowned out your own thoughts.

he reached for yami, and you let her go, your hands lingering for a second longer on the blanket. jungwon cradled her gently, then took off toward the elevator, glancing back only once to make sure you were right behind him.

your fingers were trembling as you pulled out your phone and booked an uber, breath shaky as you tried to think straight.

the ride to the veterinary hospital was a blur—city lights rushing past the windows, your reflection staring back at you, pale and worried. jungwon was silent beside you, holding yami as if she might shatter at the slightest movement.

once you arrived, the moment you stepped through the clinic doors, both of you spoke at once.

your voices overlapped in pure chaos—words rushing out, half sentences, pleads for help, concern thick in every syllable. the poor receptionist blinked at you like you were speaking in tongues, eyebrows raised in mild alarm. she held up her hand, the universal sign for calm down, and calmly said, “you need to slow down. i can’t understand either of you if you both panic.”

you both fell silent, gulping back anxiety as she picked up the phone to call a doctor. everything moved fast after that—hands reaching, nurses in scrubs, yami whisked away through a swinging door before you could even whisper a goodbye.

you and jungwon collapsed onto the stiff plastic chairs, side by side but not speaking. there was nothing left to say. your thoughts were consumed by one small, fragile thing—would she be okay?

minutes passed like hours.

then a nurse appeared, clipboard in hand, and called out jungwon’s name. he shot to his feet before his name fully left her lips, and you followed closely behind, unsure if your legs would carry you all the way.

he reached the door to the consultation room but paused—finally turning to you, eyes softer now.

“come with me,” he said, gently. “she’s basically your cat, too.”

you blinked, surprised by the way your chest tightened at that. but you followed, no hesitation.

inside, the room was stark white, the only warmth coming from the woman sitting across from you—mid-thirties, calm-eyed, with a soft but serious voice that felt like both a warning and a balm.she didn’t waste time.

“your cat is currently suffering from pyometra,” she said, looking between you and jungwon. her tone was matter-of-fact, but not unkind. “it’s a serious, life-threatening infection of the uterus. it happens in unspayed female cats, especially as they get older. if not treated quickly, it can become very dangerous.”

jungwon’s head dropped at her words, his guilt practically radiating from him. his grip tightened on the fabric of his hoodie as he stared at the floor.

you looked at him—his eyes glassy, hands slightly trembling—and reached out, gently slipping your fingers into his. your touch was soft, deliberate. this time, it was your turn to be the calm one.

the room was quiet except for the hum of fluorescent lights and the rhythmic ticking of the wall clock. the doctor’s expression remained composed, but kind.

“what causes it to happen?” you asked, voice steady though your chest felt tight.

the veterinarian nodded, welcoming the question. “pyometra typically occurs when a female cat goes into heat repeatedly without mating or pregnancy,” she began. “each cycle increases the production of progesterone, which thickens the lining of the uterus. over time, that lining can form cysts. and once that happens, it becomes the perfect environment for bacterial growth.”

both you and jungwon listened intently, absorbing every word. he gripped your hand tighter with each sentence, as if your shared touch was the only thing anchoring him in the moment.

“there are two kinds of pyometra,” she continued. “the first is open pyometra, which presents with noticeable symptoms—pus or discharge leaking from the vulva. it’s alarming, but easier to catch. the second is closed pyometra—far more dangerous. there’s no visible discharge. all the infection is trapped inside the body, which can lead to sepsis or organ failure if untreated.”

she paused for a breath, her gaze turning somber.

“because of yami’s long fur, her symptoms were hidden. it’s a textbook case of closed pyometra.”

jungwon let out a low sigh, barely audible, but you felt it through the way his shoulders dropped and his fingers pressed harder into yours. you instinctively started stroking the back of his hand, slow and comforting, trying to ease the panic rising in him.

“the only way to save her life is immediate surgery,” the vet added, her voice gentle but unflinchingly honest. “we don’t have the luxury of time. i need your permission to proceed.”

she glanced between you both, empathy written across her features.

“i want to be transparent—there are risks,” she said. “especially considering she’s already weak. but doing nothing would be far more dangerous.”

for a moment, the silence was so thick it nearly suffocated you.

then the veterinarian posed her final question, calm but expectant. “do i have your permission to perform emergency surgery on yami?”

you turned your head toward jungwon. his eyes met yours—feeling guilty, desperate, and shimmering with hope. there was no hesitation between you. you both looked at the vet at the same time, hearts aligned.

“please save her,” you said in unison, voices soft but resolute.

the vet smiled gently, touched by your unity. “thank you for trusting us,” she said with a nod. “we’ll take good care of her. i’ll have you sign the consent form with my secretary. and we’ll update you throughout the surgery.”

she stood and extended her hand. you both rose and shook it, one after the other, feeling like you were handing over a piece of your hearts along with it.

then she exited the room, leaving you and jungwon standing side by side, hands still clasped—unspoken worry and fragile hope binding you together.

you both sat back down, the silence settling once more between you like a familiar fog. it wasn't until the soft creak of the office door opening that either of you realized—your hands were still intertwined.

the secretary stepped inside, making both of you release each other's hands, her heels clicking softly against the tile floor. she offered a warm smile, the kind that held a trace of amusement. she had clearly noticed the subtle way your fingers immediately slipped apart, almost guiltily, as if touch itself was forbidden.

“good evening,” she greeted, her tone professional yet light. “i’m doctor kim’s secretary. i have the consent form here—one of you will need to sign.”

she placed the paper gently on the table, her eyes flickering between the two of you. there was a slight quirk at the corner of her lips, almost playful.

“so,” she asked, “who’s signing? the boyfriend or the girlfriend?”

that one question seemed to short-circuit both of your systems.

your faces flushed almost simultaneously, heat blooming from your cheeks to your ears. you shook your head quickly and pointed toward jungwon, who at the exact same time shook his own head and pointed to himself.

“i’m the owner,” jungwon said quickly, trying to steady his voice, “but she helps a lot with taking care of my cat.”

you nodded, eyes lowering slightly.

“he’s not my boyfriend,” you added in a murmur, your tone a whisper of disappointment laced with something unspoken. regret, perhaps.

the secretary smiled knowingly but didn’t press further. she slid the form gently toward jungwon, who signed it without hesitation, murmuring a quiet “thank you” before she exited the room and left the two of you alone once again.

after a few more minutes of staying inside doctor kim's office, you and jungwon finally decided to step out of the office together. the air in the hallway felt colder now, like the gravity of the situation had truly settled into your bones.

without speaking, the two of you moved through the softly lit corridor, your footsteps echoing faintly against the linoleum floor. you walked side by side, close enough that your shoulders nearly brushed, but not quite.

you found a small row of chairs positioned just outside the emergency room—sterile, uncomfortable things that looked like they had weathered years of worried visitors. but you didn’t care.

you both sat but this time, you didn’t sit as closely. a single empty chair separated you—a quiet, awkward little space that neither of you had the courage to cross. you sat in silence, both of your minds full of worry for yami, who was now being prepped for emergency surgery. all you could do was wait, and hope.

jungwon’s eyes shifted subtly in your direction. he took in the curve of your shoulder, the gentle rise and fall of your breath… and then his eyes dropped to your bare feet.

he blinked, surprised.

without a word, he stood up and approached the receptionist’s desk with gentle urgency, asking quietly if they had spare slippers. she pointed him toward a cabinet near the hallway. he nodded, thanked her, and returned with a small pair in hand.

you looked up, confused. and then you stilled.

he was kneeling in front of you.

“jungwon—”

but he didn’t let you finish. he gently took your foot into his hand, his touch tender and reverent. he dabbed at your skin with a tissue, wiping away the dust and dirt that had clung on your feet, more worried about yami than your own feet. you watched him—watched the quiet concentration on his face, the soft furrow of his brow as though this small act held the weight of the world.

he slipped the slippers onto your feet carefully, like it was second nature.

you could’ve stopped him. you probably should’ve. but being this close to him again made your heart ache in ways you didn’t expect. it felt right—dangerously right.

like he was meant to be there. kneeling before you, caring for you. as if his hands were carved to fit yours, his presence molded to exist beside yours.even earlier, when you held hands in the doctor’s office—it had felt so effortless, so natural. like your fingers were never meant to let go.

and for a moment, in the middle of a cold veterinary hospital with antiseptic in the air and worry in your chest, you just wanted time to stop for the both of you.

“thank you,” you whispered, voice fragile as glass, barely making it past your lips.

jungwon looked up, startled, as if your words had pulled him from some invisible fog. for a second, he forgot how to breathe. you were so close—closer than you’d been in months—and in the gentle lighting of the waiting room, with the worry still clinging to your lashes and your voice soft from the weight of fear, you looked devastatingly beautiful. it hit him all at once, like a memory he hadn’t been ready to remember: how much he missed you.

“you’re welcome,” he murmured, voice low, almost careful. he pulled himself back, settling into his chair again, a single chair between the two of you—as if that distance might protect the both of you from the things you still hadn’t said.

but the silence didn’t last long.

you looked down at your hands and suddenly, without warning, the dam broke. tears welled up and spilled over, soft and trembling, like a storm finally surrendering to the sky. it caught you off guard—how your panic, fear, and helplessness all swelled at once and poured out like a flood.

jungwon froze for a heartbeat, eyes wide with concern. and then instinct took over.

he scooted closer, occupying the only space that was keeping both of you apart. there was hesitation in his fingertips as he tried to decide whether to reach for your hand, your back—anywhere that might tell you you weren’t alone. but in the end, he simply wrapped his arms around you, pulling you gently into his chest.

“i was so scared,” you breathed against the fabric of his hoodie, your voice trembling with each word. “i thought… i thought she might actually die. i thought it was my fault…”

your fingers clenched the soft cotton of his hoodie, and his arms tightened around you in return. he rested his chin lightly against the top of your head, his other hand smoothing through your hair with soft, comforting strokes.

“no,” he said quietly, firmly. “it’s not your fault. you did everything right. you saved her. if anything, it's my fault for not noticing.”

you shook your head against him, tears still falling. “i didn’t mean to sound like i'm blaming you… i wasn’t trying to say it like that,” you whispered through shaky sobs.

that surprised him more than anything. he pulled back slightly, just enough to see your face, cupping your cheeks delicately with both hands. his thumbs gently wiped away the trails of your tears, and his brows furrowed with something achingly tender.

“hey, no, no. i know,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “i didn’t take it that way. i promise. i just… i feel responsible, too. since i'm her owner.”

he leaned forward and wrapped you in his arms again, holding you tighter this time. no hesitation. no distance. just two hearts, bruised but still beating, finally leaning on each other after carrying too much for too long.

for a while, neither of you spoke. there was only the sound of soft breathing, the occasional sniffle, and the quiet hum of fluorescent lights above you. outside the room, the world continued on—but in that moment, it felt like everything had paused to give you both space to feel, to heal, and to simply be.

as the storm of panic finally began to subside, the two of you remained entwined in silence, neither rushing to break the fragile calm that had settled between your bodies. jungwon still had one arm gently wrapped around your shoulder, his free hand absentmindedly playing with your fingers—tracing the lines on your palm like he was trying to memorize them. his cheek rested against the crown of your head, as if anchoring himself to you, steadying the both of you in this unfamiliar stillness.

you, in turn, had your head nestled into the curve of his shoulder, your cheek pressed against the soft fabric of his hoodie. the scent of him was oddly comforting. you toyed with his hand, letting your fingertips dance over his knuckles, occasionally brushing against his wrist.

neither of you spoke, content in the silence, until jungwon’s voice broke through—soft and careful, like he was afraid even his words might cause the moment to vanish.

“are you okay now?” he asked quietly.

you didn’t answer with words—just shook your head, slowly, before inching closer into his warmth. jungwon exhaled through his nose, shutting his eyes for a moment, biting down gently on his lower lip in an attempt to stop the smile that tugged at his mouth. he didn’t move. he just let you curl into him, closer than ever.

you tilted your head, voice muffled slightly by his shoulder. “how long do you think the surgery will last?”

he glanced at the sterile wall clock before replying. “maybe an hour? give or take?”

you fumbled for your phone and lit up the screen. “we’ve only been here for, like, forty… fifty minutes tops,” you murmured before locking the screen again and slipping it back into your pocket. “feels like forever.”

jungwon chuckled softly, the sound rumbling through his chest. “hospital time doesn’t follow normal rules. every minute here is at least ten emotionally.”

he looked down at you then, his gaze soft, his voice laced with gentle concern. “are you hungry?”

you met his eyes, and suddenly the space between you two felt smaller than before. you both noticed, both blushed, but neither moved away.

“i’m okay. not really hungry,” you murmured. “let’s wait until we know yami’s surgery went well. i wouldn’t be able to eat anyway.”

you returned to your position against his shoulder, and he, without thinking, rested his cheek once again on top of your head, his fingers now absentmindedly drawing slow circles on your arm.

“y/n,” he began, a tentative breath in his voice, “i know this might be a really bad time but—”

“can we just… stay like this a little longer?” you interrupted, so softly it almost dissolved into the silence.

your voice trembled just slightly—not enough for him to call it out, but enough for him to notice. you weren’t ready. not yet. not for that conversation. not for the words you were scared he might say.

because part of you feared the apology that might come, feared the reopening of a wound just barely scabbing over. but another part of you—small and stubborn—still wanted to hear it, to believe him, to accept the possibility that maybe things could still mend.

so you stayed in his arms, pretending you were only waiting for news about a cat, when in truth, you were waiting for courage.

after several more minutes wrapped in the warmth of each other’s embrace, the sterile, metallic sound of a door swinging open cut through the quiet. doctor kim emerged from the surgery room, peeling off her gloves and removing her mask, and the sound startled both of you back into reality.

instinctively, you pulled away from one another—hands slipping apart as you both stood up in unison. without needing to speak, you both hurried toward her.

“doctor kim?” jungwon’s voice came out softer than he probably intended, laced with a kind of quiet desperation.

she looked up, met both your eyes, and offered a reassuring smile—the kind that lifted the weight off your chest before she even said anything.

“the surgery went well,” she said gently, her voice calm and clear. “she’s stable, but we’ll need to keep her here for observation over the next few days. you’ll be able to see her shortly, just give us a few minutes to settle her in.”

a collective breath you didn’t realize you were holding left your lungs. jungwon, too, visibly relaxed, his shoulders finally lowering from where they’d been tensed up to his ears.

“thank you—really, thank you so much,” you both said, voices overlapping, gratitude spilling out from the both of you like it couldn’t be contained.

as doctor kim walked away, a grin bloomed across jungwon’s face, mirrored perfectly by your own. your hearts were light again, like someone had flipped the world right-side up.

without thinking, you raised both hands, fingers spread in celebration. “high five?” you grinned.

jungwon mirrored you, and the moment your palms met with a satisfying slap, he let out a breathless laugh—and then, very dramatically, slumped forward against you, nearly falling into your arms.

you let out a startled chuckle as you caught him. “whoa! hey—are you okay?”

he nodded, still laughing as he clung to you like he hadn’t realized just how much tension had been holding him up. “i’m fine. just… adrenaline crash, i think.”

he buried his face into your shoulder, still chuckling softly.

you tilted your head toward him, an amused smile playing on your lips. “did you just get weak in the knees? seriously?”

his voice came muffled through your hoodie. “excuse me, but my daughter was just in surgery.”

you burst out laughing at that, the weight of the last hour finally melting into something warm and light and full of life. “your daughter?”

he lifted his head just enough to give you a mock-offended look. “yes. my fluffy, dramatic, calico daughter.” he said, which only made you laugh harder.

and there you stayed—arms wrapped around each other, hearts still racing, breaths still syncing. at some point, it stopped being about holding him up and became something else entirely. something unspoken, something neither of you wanted to end.

you weren’t just holding each other anymore. you were holding peace, holding relief, holding the quiet joy that came after surviving something scary—together.

the silence between you had settled into something almost comfortable—soft, fragile, like a delicate thread neither of you wanted to break. but then, jungwon’s voice came, barely more than a breath against the air between you.

“i want to be friends again,” he whispered.

your fingers, resting lightly on the fabric of his hoodie, instinctively gripped a little tighter. the words caught you off guard—not because they were unexpected, but because of how quietly and vulnerably he’d said them.

you stayed still, giving him space to speak, to unravel the rest of what was clearly weighing on him.

“i know i probably don’t deserve a place in your life anymore,” he continued, his voice tinged with guilt, “not after the things i said. but i…”

he paused, and you tilted your head, curiosity pulling at your thoughts.

“you what?” you asked, your voice soft, patient, but laced with something inquisitive—like you were leaning into the edge of a door that had been closed for too long.

“i missed you.”

three simple words. soft, sincere, and completely disarming. they slipped past his lips with a kind of quiet desperation, and the moment they reached you, you felt your cheeks burn in response, a warm blush rising like dawn beneath your skin.

he glanced at you, and his next words came almost as a plea. “i missed you… and i’m really sorry for what i did. i mean it. i won’t do it again. i promise. please forgive me y/n.”

you let out a small sigh—not one of frustration, but of release. your hand gently moved across his back in slow, soothing circles as you finally spoke.

“i missed you too,” you said softly, and this time, it was his turn to be surprised. you felt the tension in his shoulders shift as your words sunk in, followed almost immediately by the warmth of his arms tightening around you.

he clung to you a little closer, his heart probably pounding just like yours.

“you won’t avoid me again?” you asked, your tone gentle but teasing, eyes glancing at him, his chin resting against your shoulder.

he nodded instantly, eager. “never again.”

“and you won’t say any more mean things to me?”

another quick nod. “i won’t. promise.”

you let the silence stretch just a bit longer before smiling. “okay,” you whispered. “i forgive you. we can be friends again.”

you felt him melt against you, his voice muffled as he murmured a series of grateful little thank-you’s and i'm-sorry’s against your shoulder, like he was afraid you’d take it back if he let go.

a grin tugged at your lips. “so… are you buying me dinner later?”

he pulled back just enough to look at you, a chuckle escaping him—relieved, amused, and affectionate all at once. “of course. anything you want.”

you raised a brow. “anything?”

“well… maybe not anything today,” he murmured, scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish grin creeping onto his face. “i mean, i still have to survive paying for yami’s hospital bills. emotional damage and financial ruin—i’m really hitting the jackpot today.”

he let out a soft laugh, embarrassed but trying to play it cool, his eyes flickering toward yours with a quiet hope that you’d find it a little funny too.

you laughed, the sound light and real. and for the first time in a long time, it didn’t feel like you were tiptoeing around what had been broken. instead, it felt like maybe, just maybe, something was starting to mend.

“okay, fine. we’ll save the luxurious cravings for another time,” you said, your voice soft with a playful hum. he smiled gently, still holding you in a loose embrace, tilting his head as if waiting patiently for you to announce your dinner wish like your lives depended on it.

“i’m kinda craving jjapaghetti and jjapaguri,” you admitted, eyes narrowing slightly as you imagined the taste. he nodded slowly, like a fellow soldier understanding your hunger on a spiritual level.

“now that you mention it… i kinda miss jjapaghetti and jjapaguri too,” he replied thoughtfully. “which one should i buy? or should i buy both?”

you blinked, suddenly shifting into serious mode, like you were about to defend your thesis on instant noodles. “okay, so—jjapaghetti is really good, but it does have this subtle bitterness at the end. jjapaguri, on the other hand, skips the bitterness altogether, but it’s a bit pricier.”

he listened as if the fate of his dinner truly depended on your wisdom.

“so should we just buy jjapaghetti instead?” he asked, genuinely weighing his options.

“yep. it’s less expensive,” you said with a cheeky grin, “and let’s be honest—you’re already broke.”

he pulled back from the hug slightly, eyebrows raised, placing a hand over his heart like you just wounded him. “hey, i’m not broke.”

“not yet,” you quipped, grinning wider.

he shook his head, laughing quietly, the kind of laughter that spills out when you’re genuinely happy and maybe a little smitten. the banter wrapped around the two of you like a bubble, light and warm, until a quiet voice gently popped it.

“um… i hope i’m not interrupting,” said a familiar tone. both of you turned just in time to see doctor kim’s secretary standing nearby, clearly trying her best not to look like she’d walked in on something intimate for the second time.

you both quickly pulled away from each other, faces heating up as she continued, “but you can now visit yami.”

“thank you,” you both blurted in unison, hurriedly bowing your heads in gratitude.and without another word, the two of you practically bolted—racing down the corridor, not just to see yami, but also to escape the undeniable embarrassment of being caught once again, now mid-hug… by the same person.

you both heard it—the soft, unmistakable giggle of the secretary trailing behind you like a teasing breeze. it was subtle, but enough to turn both your cheeks redder. your reactions had clearly entertained her, and the realization only made your embarrassment bloom deeper.

but there wasn’t time to dwell on that. the moment you reached the room where yami was being kept, your footsteps slowed and your voices hushed into reverence. you both instinctively moved to her side, your eyes falling on her small, unconscious figure lying peacefully on the hospital bed.

and just like that, the laughter from moments ago vanished.

neither of you dared to touch her. it wasn’t fear exactly—more a deep and aching respect. she had just survived surgery, her tiny body still recovering. one wrong move felt like it could shatter the fragile peace of her sleep. so instead, you both stood there in silence, watching the gentle rise and fall of her breathing as if it were the most sacred thing in the world.

jungwon was the first to speak, his voice no louder than a whisper. he leaned in slightly and murmured soft, sweet words into the space between him and yami.

“you did so well, my brave little girl…” he said, eyes glistening with both pride and guilt. “i’m so sorry i didn’t realize something was wrong sooner.”

his words weren’t just for her—they were an apology etched with quiet regret, offered to a friend, a companion, a daughter in fur.

you watched him, heart aching and full, before sitting down beside him. the two of you began to softly talk, your voices wrapped in the stillness of the hospital room. you discussed logistics, trying to build a schedule around your mismatched university lives—two different majors, different class times, different days of availability. yet somehow, in this moment, it felt like you were a perfect team.

you negotiated who would visit in the mornings and who would cover the evenings. jungwon insisted on taking the weekends. you agreed on everything with surprising ease.

eventually, it was time to let yami rest in peace and healing. you whispered one last goodbye, gently promising to return soon, before slipping out of the hospital and into the comforting hum of the night.

a few blocks away, the soft yellow glow of a convenience store pulled you in like a familiar friend. the fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as you wandered through the aisles, finally remembering that jungwon had promised to buy you dinner. you were actually just joking about making him buy you dinner.

he noticed when you instinctively pulled out your phone to pay, and with a chuckle, reached over to stop you.

“ah-ah, no cheating. this one’s on me, remember?” he said, grinning as he took your items from your hands and placed them on the counter.

you pouted in protest but let him win this round.

the cashier looked at the two of you—your teasing, your easy laughter, the way you hovered near each other like planets in orbit—and let out a sigh so deep it might’ve reached the freezer section. clearly, he’d witnessed one too many lovebirds tonight.

jungwon thanked him anyway and led you to a small table just outside, where the evening air was cool but gentle. he took your jjapaghetti and his, insisting on cooking them himself at the store’s instant noodle station.

“sit. i’ll take care of it,” he said, rolling up his sleeves like a man on a mission.

you watched him from the table, arms resting on the surface, chin in your hand, amusement dancing in your eyes. the way he moved—slightly awkward but determined—made your chest feel oddly warm. it was like he was trying to patch up every crack between you two, one act of care at a time.

when he returned, he had two perfectly cooked bowls in his hands, the noodles expertly mixed and steaming. he even bought both of you boiled eggs.

you took yours with a small smile.

and just like that, the conversation began to flow—light, effortless, and full of the kind of laughter that only comes after tears.

you both talked for what felt like hours—conversation flowing as naturally as breath, like no time had passed at all since you last truly talked to each other.

you traded stories about university life, swapping updates on the chaos of lectures, grumbling about professors who seemed to enjoy assigning misery disguised as coursework, and laughing over just how many assignments you'd both had to juggle. midterms were creeping in like an unwelcome guest, and naturally, the mutual panic came with it.

“i swear my brain physically rejects information after 10 p.m.,” you sighed dramatically, and jungwon snorted in agreement, nodding as though you'd just spoken a universal truth.

after that night, things didn’t just go back to normal—they evolved. the late-night meetups continued, and the hospital visits turned into a shared routine. together, you took turns watching over yami, your fluffy little patient, as she slowly recovered under your care.

when she was finally discharged, you both made a quiet, unspoken agreement—this bond you had rekindled wasn’t going to fade again.

somewhere along the way, you found yourselves exchanging apartment passcodes. it started with practicality.

“since yami will be recovering in your place, it just makes sense if i can get in when you're not home,” you told him, casually typing his code into your notes app.

but for some reason, something tugged at you, something inexplicable. before you could second guess it, you found yourself grabbing jungwon's phone and typing in your own code for him.

“just in case of emergencies,” you mumbled with an awkward chuckle, barely meeting his eyes.

jungwon blinked at you, surprised. there was a beat of silence before he sighed—half amused, half endeared—and nodded.

“got it. emergencies,” he said with a knowing smirk, and just like that, you had each other’s doors.

of course, neither of you abused the privilege. jungwon would never just barge in unannounced, and neither would you. whenever you needed to come by, you made sure to check in first—typically over chat.

you: hey, are you out already? jungwon (yami's dad): yep, left 20 mins ago. yami’s being a diva, btw. you: as always. omw.

you took turns tending to her. when jungwon had lectures and you didn’t, you'd head over to his place, and vice versa. it was a rhythm. comforting. like the soft ticking of a clock that no longer reminded you of time lost, but of time shared.

and, of course, with all the apartment visits came unexpected moments.

like that one day—early into the routine—when you slipped into jungwon’s apartment thinking he had already left for class.

you were halfway into the kitchen when you turned and froze. there he was. not fully dressed. not even halfway there. just a towel. wrapped low on his waist. beads of water still trailing down his chest like tiny betrayals of modesty.

you screamed.

a full, honest-to-goodness, high-pitched yelp as you covered your face with both hands like you’d seen the sun itself.

“i am so sorry!” you cried, spinning on your heel, eyes sealed shut like that would somehow erase what you had just witnessed.

jungwon, the absolute menace, just laughed.

like, really laughed.

“this reminds me of our first meeting,” he said between fits of laughter, his voice bouncing off the walls. “back then, you screamed and used yami as your cover.”

“oh my god, don’t remind me,” you groaned behind your hands, your face burning hotter than a stove top.

“okay, okay—i’ll go change. just, please… sit down before you pass out,” he added, still chuckling as he disappeared into his room.

you slumped onto the couch, muttering to yourself about how life really had a sense of humor.

after that day, jungwon had handed you his class schedule—organized and color-coded, of course, like any responsible student who’s secretly on the edge. in return, you gave him yours, and he blinked in surprise.

“why... do i need yours?” he asked, brows raised in curiosity.

you shrugged nonchalantly, like the answer was obvious. “it’s only fair. i’m learning things about your schedule—you deserve to know mine too.”

he looked at you like you had just spoken in riddles, but accepted it anyway. after all, who was he to turn down something you were willing to offer?

and so began the strange little rhythm of your new-old friendship.

some days, jungwon would return home from a long day of classes and find you fast asleep in his apartment. sometimes curled up on the couch with yami tucked against your chest like a soft, living plush toy; other times, shockingly, on his bed as if it were your own.

the first time it happened, he stood frozen in the doorway of his bedroom for a moment, silently debating whether to wake you. eventually, he leaned down and gently nudged your shoulder.

you stirred. groaned. then furrowed your brows and muttered a very grumpy, “what?”

“uh… you’re in my apartment,” he reminded you softly, trying not to laugh.

and then it hit you.

your eyes flew open as realization smacked you across the face. you sat up abruptly, hair a wild mess, and gawked at him. “i—oh my god, i’m so sorry—i didn’t mean to fall asleep! i'm so sorry!”

before he could say anything else, you practically sprinted back to your own apartment, still mortified.

but the pattern continued. again and again, he'd come home to find you asleep—clearly drained from classes, yami-care, or both. so one day, he simply... stopped waking you.

instead, he slipped off his shoes quietly, crouched beside you, and carried you out of the apartment—arms tucked under your knees and back like some ridiculous scene from a romantic drama. you stirred once, but mumbled something incoherent and immediately dozed off again. jungwon had memorized your apartment passcode by then, and with careful, almost reverent movements, he’d unlock your door.

he tucked you in like it was second nature, smoothing the blanket over you, taking off your shoes and socks before slipping out quietly, the door clicking shut behind him.

soon, the changes in both your lives didn’t go unnoticed.

your friends, and jungwon’s too, began to raise eyebrows. yunjin, kazuha, and chaewon, on your side, noticed you were constantly busy or vanishing early. meanwhile, jungwon’s group noticed how he always seemed to be in a rush after class, brushing off plans with a vague “i’ve got something to do.”

at first, no one minded much. people get busy. life happens. jungwon's friends also knew what happened to yami.but then came the smiling.

the random giggles during lunch. the way both of you would suddenly light up as if remembering an inside joke—or maybe, a memory only the two of you shared.

“what’s so funny?” yunjin would ask, brow arched.

“nothing,” you’d reply smoothly, lips twitching into a grin. “just remembered something stupid.”

jungwon gave similar answers to his friends. just a shrug. “something funny popped in my head.”

and yet, neither group knew what was really happening—that the two of you had found your way back to each other. that you had forgiven jungwon, and he had done everything short of building a bridge out of guilt to prove he deserved that forgiveness.

the truth was quiet. private. fragile like a secret flower just beginning to bloom again.

you both agreed—no grand announcements, not yet.

especially not to your girls—yunjin, kazuha, and charwon—who, to this day, still carried a heavy grudge on your behalf. they hadn’t forgotten what jungwon had said to you. and sure, he’d apologized, more than once, but as far as they were concerned, no apology could patch a wound they didn’t see heal.

“if they find out…” you had said one night, sprawled on the floor beside yami’s bed while jungwon fed her bits of tuna.

“they’d freak out,” he finished, sighing.

you nodded. “like, full-blown drama. group chat explosion. maybe even a powerpoint presentation on why you don’t deserve redemption.”

he winced. “honestly? wouldn’t put it past yunjin.”

and yet, beneath the secrecy, the late-night visits, and the quiet laughter, something warm was rebuilding. something delicate but real.

and neither of you wanted to rush it.

until the day your friends finally snapped, you had naively believed you were in the clear. but deep down, you always knew they were too attuned to you—like they shared some mystical thread of best-friend telepathy. they had a way of knowing when something shifted, when the air around you carried a different weight, or in this case, a different lightness.

you had tried—really, really tried—to hide the fact that you and jungwon were friends again. but apparently, happiness has a scent, and your friends could smell it from miles away. they didn’t know the cause, but they knew it was something. and for a while, they let it be. after all, you looked so radiant lately, so effortlessly content, and they didn’t want to be the ones to dim your smile with questions.

what they didn’t know was that the reason behind your glow, your random giggles, and your oddly planned schedule wasn’t some secret hobby or newfound passion—it was jungwon.

and then there was yunjin.

being in the same course as jungwon had its advantages—and disadvantages, especially if you were trying to keep secrets. she noticed the changes in him, too. the way he practically floated down the halls, always in a rush to head home. how he'd cancel plans with his friends without explanation. and worst of all, the sudden, dreamy smiles he’d give the floor mid-lecture, as if he were remembering some inside joke with a ghost.

it was suspicious. too suspicious.

so yunjin, being the sharp, unrelenting investigator she was, told kazuha and chaewon. and that was it—the final straw. the three of them decided that they’d had enough of guessing and speculating. it was time to confront the mystery head-on.

they staged an intervention. well, more like an ambush.

the plan was simple: show up unannounced at your apartment and demand answers. the execution, however, didn’t go as smoothly.

they rang your doorbell, fully expecting you to swing the door open with your usual cheer, maybe holding a snack, ready to welcome them in like always. they had even messaged you earlier, letting you know they were coming. typically, you’d have already unlocked the door before they even knocked.

but today... silence.

minutes passed.

long, unsettling minutes.

the hallway suddenly felt too quiet, the air too heavy. unease began to crawl up their spines, unwelcome and ice-cold.

“why isn’t she answering?” kazuha muttered, her voice a little shaky.

“maybe she fell asleep?” chaewon offered, but she didn’t sound convinced.

but then—like dominoes—they each started to spiral. what if something had happened? what if all the happiness you showed them was just a mask? what if, behind closed doors, you were suffering? what if—

“no,” yunjin muttered, eyes wide with dread. “we’re going in.”

and just like that, all rules of privacy went out the window.

they didn’t even hesitate. kazuha quickly typed in the passcode to your apartment—yes, the very one you’d given them for emergency purposes—and swung the door open, fully prepared for the worst.

“hello?!” yunjin called out, her voice trembling slightly as the three of them stormed inside.

panic gripped them as they split up like a search-and-rescue team on a mission. chaewon rushed into your room, kazuha flung open the bathroom door, and yunjin—god bless her—checked behind the shower curtain like she was in a horror movie. the kitchen cabinets were flung open, the walk-in closet ransacked, and at one point, kazuha even opened a cabinet barely big enough to store a rice cooker.

“she wouldn’t fit in there,” chaewon pointed out the very obvious.

“you never know!” kazuha snapped, clearly not thinking logically anymore.

if only you could’ve seen them—running around your apartment, shouting your name, opening drawers, yanking back curtains, checking behind doors as if you might have evaporated into your own walls. they were full-on spiraling, their fear turning dramatic in the most chaotic way possible.

in their eyes, this was a rescue mission not knowing you just weren't home.

you were, at that very moment, next door—in jungwon’s apartment—nestled into the familiar rhythm of helping him take care of yami. the three of you had just started debating what movie to watch, scrolling through options with so much seriousness.your phone, however, had other plans.

it rang—sharp and sudden—and when you glanced down at the screen, your breath caught in your throat.

the caller ID sent a wave of panic through you.

without hesitation, you pressed a finger to your lips and gave jungwon a wide-eyed look of warning. he immediately froze, catching on in record time. with a comically exaggerated movement, he nodded solemnly and even went as far as to gently cover yami’s tiny mouth, just in case she decided now was the perfect time to meow for attention. traitor tendencies and all.

you stood up, nerves tingling, and answered the call with a quiet, “hello?” already tiptoeing toward the balcony as if whispering might somehow protect you from what was coming.

on the other end of the line: chaos.

a barrage of voices erupted all at once—yunjin, kazuha, and chaewon—your personal trio of interrogation. they sounded like they'd just run a marathon and immediately signed up for a second one. you had to bite your lip to keep from laughing.

“guys, calm down,” you said with a chuckle, trying to sound casual despite your heartbeat pounding like an alarm inside your chest.

you slipped out onto the balcony to hear them better, your phone pressed tightly against your ear. but just as you turned slightly—casually glancing toward your own apartment—your blood turned cold.

they were there.

your friends. inside your apartment.

you froze in place, eyes wide, barely managing to duck out of sight before they turned toward the window. with all the grace of a panicked raccoon, you dropped down and crawled back into jungwon’s living room, abandoning all dignity in the process.

jungwon blinked at you from the couch, startled. his mouth opened to ask what was happening, but you shot him another frantic look and pressed the phone tighter to your ear, whispering, “shh—they’re in my apartment like right now.”

his eyes widened as he nodded, then mouthed, ‘oh no’, dramatically clutching yami closer like they were watching a thriller unfold in real time.

on the phone, your friends had clearly heard your shocked reaction. “wait—what was that? where ‘are’ you?” yunjin asked, suspicion leaking into every syllable.

you scrambled for a lie. any lie.

“uh… i’m at the convenient store near my place,” you said, forcing a nonchalant tone that sounded just a little too bright. “i was craving snacks. y'know, those late-night snacks that i love so much.”

dead silence.

“but they don’t have the ones i want,” you added quickly, layering your story with unnecessary details the way all bad liars do.

“then what was that noise earlier?” yunjin pressed, clearly not buying it. “you sounded startled. did something happen?”

you closed your eyes briefly, praying for divine intervention.

“oh, that?” you laughed awkwardly, nerves rattling in your chest like loose change. “i bumped into something. y'know, walking in public while using my phone—bad combination.”

jungwon, still watching you like you were the most entertaining show he’d ever seen, bit down on a smile and shook his head, mouthing, ‘you're so bad at this.’

and you were. spectacularly so.but for now, you had bought yourself a few more seconds—and in a war against the nosiest trio you knew, that was nothing short of a miracle.

fortunately, they bought it. or at least, they bought just enough of it.

they were still shaken, their thoughts clouded by the fog of panic they'd conjured only moments ago. nothing you said was fully registering, but the sound of your voice—alive, casual, unmistakably you—was enough to soothe their frayed nerves. for now, that was all they needed. you were safe. breathing. talking. and that was more than enough.

as they continued to chatter on, still slightly breathless from their overactive imagination, you looked over at jungwon and silently mouthed, ‘i need to go, now.’

he didn’t need any further explanation. he immediately and quietly placed yami down onto the couch, giving her a gentle pat, then grabbed your school bag and your hoodie in one swift motion, already moving to help you get out the door undetected.

he caught up to you by the door, carefully sliding your bag over your arms, adjusting the straps against your back with quiet focus. the gesture was gentle, familiar—like he'd done it a hundred times before. all the while, you nodded and hummed into the phone, pretending to listen as your friends continued to recount their horror scenario.

“we thought something happened to you! you weren’t answering our chats as well as your door and we panicked!” yunjin’s voice cracked through the speaker with frantic sincerity. “so we just—barged in. we’re sorry! but also not sorry!”

you gave a soft laugh, mostly to hide your guilt. “it’s okay, really. i appreciate you guys being worried. it’s... sweet,” you said, hoping your tone masked the full-blown adrenaline still coursing through your body.

as you slipped on your shoes in a quiet hurry, jungwon crouched beside you, holding the heel steady so you could slide your foot in faster. you looked up at him with a grateful smile, mouthing a quick ‘thank you’. he nodded, lips twitching upward in amusement, clearly entertained by your spy-level escape mission.

with everything in place, you waved at him quickly before darting out the door and sprinting—quietly but with urgency—toward the elevator.

you pressed the down button and glanced back once to make sure the coast was clear. the doors opened with a ding, and you stepped inside, straightening your hoodie, fixing your expression, and pressing the button to your floor once more to sell the illusion.

you were now playing the role of a perfectly unaware girl who just returned from a snack run.

“alright guys,” you said smoothly into the phone, as the elevator began to ascend, “let’s continue this at home. i’m already exiting the elevator.”

you ended the call just in time, your heart thudding with each step as you walked down the hallway toward your apartment.

and then—right on cue—the door flew open.

your friends stood there, their expressions a mixture of relief, guilt, and overwhelming love. they didn’t hesitate. the moment they saw you, they ran to you like you were a long-lost puppy finally coming home.

you barely had time to react before you were wrapped in their arms—tight and trembling, warm and chaotic. you could feel their relief in the way they held you, as if trying to squeeze the fear out of their systems.

you laughed, a bit breathless, and hugged them back.

deep down, you couldn’t help but silently thank your past self for the brilliant idea of pretending to come from the elevator.

because from the way they were reacting now—tears in their eyes, hearts on their sleeves—had they known the truth, you would’ve never heard the end of it.

it took nearly the entire afternoon—well into the dusky stretch of early evening—before your friends finally calmed down.

they had clung to you, refusing to let go, trailing behind you as though you might suddenly vanish if left unsupervised for even a second. their eyes watched your every move, their expressions a mix of relief, suspicion, and dramatic devastation. you'd never felt so… babysat.

and now here you were: slumped on your couch, rendered immobile by the weight of your very persistent, very affectionate friends.

kazuha had her head nestled against your shoulder, arms looped tightly around yours like a stubborn koala. chaewon mirrored her on the other side, equally glued to you in her own pouty embrace. and as if that weren’t enough, yunjin had claimed your lap entirely—head resting across your thighs, her legs curled comfortably and half draped over chaewon, as if your body had suddenly become their favorite therapy blanket.

they were venting in turns, occasionally overlapping in a trio of chaotic voices. they told you every absurd theory they’d imagined during those few minutes of silence. how they had watched one too many videos on tiktok and youtube shorts—those ominous signs to look out for clips—feeding their paranoia like gasoline to a bonfire.

“it’s the algorithm’s fault!” yunjin declared dramatically, waving her hand in the air like a defense lawyer. “i saw one video about hidden depression and then ten more just popped up! how was i not supposed to panic?!”

you couldn’t help but laugh, the sound bubbling out despite yourself. they all pouted in response, clearly wounded by your amusement.

“we were worried,” chaewon added, her voice muffled against your hoodie. “like, seriously worried. and you didn’t respond to our messages.”

“you scared us,” kazuha whispered, her grip on your arm tightening.

the laughter faded gently from your lips. you softened. they weren’t being dramatic just for the sake of it. they were scared because they cared—so deeply and unconditionally that they were willing to break into your home just to be sure you were okay.

and it took everything in you not to crack right there. not to spill the truth about jungwon. because lying to them—especially them—felt like swallowing glass.

you’d never lied to them before. not once. and now here you were, sitting in a fortress of limbs and love, withholding something that would surely make them storm into jungwon’s apartment if they ever found out.

they had been nothing but good to you. unwavering. supportive. champions of your battles, even the silent ones. and yet, you were keeping this secret because you knew how they’d react—not out of hatred, but out of fierce loyalty to you. they still held onto that wound, the one jungwon had left behind, even though he’d already apologized. even though things had changed.

but still… somewhere inside you, buried beneath the guilt and caution, you believed—maybe hoped—they would eventually support you, whatever your heart chose. they always had.

the hours slipped by easily after that. laughter returned in waves, and conversation flowed effortlessly. snacks were passed around, silly stories were exchanged, and you just felt happy to spend this time with them.

eventually, the evening dimmed into night, and your friends finally decided it was time to leave—but not before fussing over you one last time. they hovered at your door, double-checking that you're truly fine. they repeated their reassurances, that you could always talk to them, anytime, no matter what.

you smiled at their concern, brushing off their worries with gentle humor.

“i’m really okay,” you promised for what felt like the fiftieth time. “i’m happy. like, genuinely happy. no thoughts of doom, no secret sadness. besides, you all know i’m not that kind of person.”

yunjin narrowed her eyes. “that’s what people say before—”

“—before they text cryptic messages and disappear? i get it.” you chuckled. “but trust me, if anything ever happens—if i get sad or something goes wrong—you’ll know immediately. because, duh. bestie telepathy.”

they hesitated… then smiled.

“fine. we’ll trust the telepathy,” kazuha muttered, nudging your shoulder.

“but if it fails even once,” chaewon added, raising a brow, “we’re installing surveillance cameras.”

you laughed, nodding solemnly. “deal.”

you walked them to the elevator, watching as they entered and gave you a series of suspicious parting glares and half-serious i'm watching you finger gestures. the elevator doors slid shut, cutting off their laughter—and just like that, the hall was quiet again.

but your heart wasn’t.

the moment the metal doors closed, you turned on your heel and sprinted down the corridor like your life depended on it.

straight to jungwon’s apartment.

you pulled out your phone and quickly tapped out a message to jungwon.

you: they’ve left. i’m coming over again.

a soft chime confirmed it was sent. no reply came, but that wasn’t surprising—you knew he wasn’t the most phone-attached person, and besides, you figured he was probably cuddled up on the couch with yami by now, maybe already half-asleep with a cartoon humming softly in the background.

you stood in front of his door before opening the door gently, careful not to let the hinges creak too much. a little peek inside told you the living room was empty. the couch sat unbothered, the television off, the air still and warm.

your brows furrowed in mild confusion. where could they be?

your steps softened instinctively, light as a whisper, as you stepped farther inside. just as you were about to call out their names, you heard it—his voice. jungwon’s voice, low and unguarded, drifting faintly from his room.

you turned toward the hallway. the door to his bedroom stood slightly ajar, just enough for his voice to reach you, but not enough for him to see you standing there.

you paused, mid-step. you hadn’t planned to eavesdrop—honestly, you hadn’t—but something in his tone made you freeze. he wasn’t just chatting. he was... confessing. to someone.

no, not someone.

yami.

you inched a bit closer, your back pressed lightly to the wall beside the door, breath caught in your throat. every part of you screamed that this was private, that you were crossing into territory you weren’t meant to enter—but curiosity took over your whole being.

“yami,” jungwon said gently, “i don’t know when it started…”

his voice was soft—barely above a murmur—but every syllable reached you like a heartbeat.

“i don’t know when i started realizing that these feelings i’ve been having for y/n are… something more serious than i thought.”

your eyes widened slightly. your pulse skipped.

he paused, as if searching through memories in real time.

“maybe it was when she ran into our apartment with you in her arms,” he continued, his tone touched with awe, “looking all panicked and out of breath. i’ve never seen her like that. she looked so shaken, but so determined. she just wanted to make sure you were okay. that moment—i don’t know—it showed me how… pure she is.”

there was a little silence, like even yami was respectfully letting him speak.

“and i remember thinking,” he added, a quiet laugh escaping him, “i want to protect that. protect her. from anything and everything.”

you bit your lip. your hands were frozen at your sides, heart dancing wildly beneath your ribs.

“or maybe,” he continued, “maybe it was after the hospital. when we got home and she sat next to you, humming lullabies like she was made for that moment. or when she started bringing over those lunch boxes, like clockwork.”

you could picture every moment he was describing, the memories rushing back to you in vivid color.

“the post-its she leaves on the fridge,” he said, his voice growing fonder, “reminding me to give you your meds, reminding me i have a quiz and that i should try not to fail.”

he let out a breathy chuckle, the kind you only hear when someone’s smiling to themselves.

“maybe it’s the way she plays with you like you’re her own. maybe it’s the way she’s always here… like this tiny, chaotic force of care and sunshine. maybe it was when she called you our child! or maybe—”

he stopped. you imagined him inhaling deeply, as though he'd just realized he’d said all of that in one breath.

you stood there, still invisible, your cheeks warm, your heart heavier than you’d ever expected it to be in this hallway.and yet… it felt light, too.

like hearing something you didn’t know you needed.

“or maybe,” jungwon murmured, eyes still fixed on yami, “maybe it was during those months we weren’t speaking... when we were ignoring each other like strangers in the same orbit. maybe that’s when it hit me—too late, of course—that she isn’t just someone. she’s the one i can’t lose. she means more to me than i wanted to admit—not just as a friend.”

yami, ever the attentive feline therapist, offered a small, understanding meow as her tail flicked lazily over the bed.

he gave her a fond smile, almost as if she truly understood him.

“or maybe it all began the day i met her... on our balcony,” he continued, his voice warm with nostalgia. “it felt like a scene out of some indie romance movie. time slowed, and there she was—standing in this accidental spotlight, like the universe had decided to highlight her existence just for me.”

he lifted his hands, gesturing as if trying to recreate the way your silhouette had looked that day—light tangled in your hair, expression unreadable, presence unforgettable.

“whenever i saw her after that—even if she was far away, just sitting quietly in a café or walking down the street—she shone. like, actually shone. it scared me. i’ve never been that aware of someone before.”

he paused, letting out a breath that sounded like he’d been holding it for a while.

“i’ve never felt this way,” he admitted quietly, “but i do know this: i really, really like y/n. i want her in my life. the first time she came into our apartment... it didn’t feel new or strange. it felt natural. like she was always supposed to be here—with us.”

his voice softened as he looked down at his hands.

“and the first time she fell asleep on my bed... i just stood there, staring. i didn’t want to move her. she looked so peaceful—so right—like she belonged there, like she belonged with me.”

a flush crept across his cheeks at the memory, and he reached up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly.

“ugh,” he groaned suddenly, throwing himself back against his pillows. “i can’t take this anymore. i like her. no—scratch that. maybe i already love her? i want her. i need her. i think about her all the time. but what if... what if i’m too late?”

his eyes flicked toward yami, now stretching lazily beside him, as if wholly unbothered by the human-level emotional crisis unraveling in front of her.

“what we end up like my parents?” he whispered but you couldn't quite hear and only heard what he said next.

“what if she doesn’t like me back? what if she still hates me after everything i did? what if i tell her and she—yami? hey, where are you going?”

his voice stopped abruptly as yami leapt from the bed with purpose and began making her way toward the door, her little paws padding silently across the hardwood floor.

what jungwon didn’t know was that you were right outside that door—still frozen in place, still very much reeling from everything you'd just heard.

you peeked through the crack of his door and saw yami approaching, a jolt of panic seizing your chest.

oh no.

you scrambled into action.

just as yami neared the door, you turned on your heel and darted towards the door, your socked feet barely making a sound. you slipped out of the apartment with the stealth of someone escaping from a heist, closing the door behind you as gently and carefully as if it were made of glass.

once outside, you leaned back against it, chest heaving, heart positively thrashing against your ribs.

your hands flew up to your cheeks, which felt like they were on fire.

your entire face was burning with a heat that reached the tips of your ears. you didn’t even try to cool down—you just stood there, stunned and blushing, the echoes of his confession still tangled in your thoughts like music you didn’t want to stop playing.

you pressed a trembling hand to your chest, trying to steady the wild rhythm of your heart. it felt like it was trying to escape—like it was knocking against your ribs, desperate to tell the world what you'd just heard. with your eyes shut tight, you took slow, deep breaths, trying to collect yourself, to gather the storm of butterflies flurrying in your stomach.

but in your desperate attempt to ground yourself, you failed to notice the very thing that would knock the wind out of you all over again.

“what… the actual hell?”

your eyes snapped open.

and there they were—three familiar faces frozen in the corridor like statues caught mid-gasp. wide eyes. parted lips. looks of sheer disbelief. yunjin, kazuha, and chaewon stared at you like they’d just witnessed a crime scene. or worse—a plot twist.

you followed their line of sight and realized, with dawning horror, that they’d just watched you bolt out of jungwon’s apartment like a sitcom character caught sneaking around.

“what were you doing… in his apartment?” yunjin asked, her tone somewhere between confused and full-on interrogator mode.

you shot up from your leaning position as if spring-loaded, your mind racing to form a coherent sentence. but before a single word could escape your lips, your phone buzzed in your hand.

you looked down. a message from jungwon.

jungwon (yami’s dad): hey, are you still coming?

your breath caught.

your eyes darted toward his door just in time to hear the unmistakable sound of soft footsteps approaching—getting closer by the second.

oh no.

panic surged through you like a tidal wave.

without thinking, you grabbed all three of your stunned friends by their wrists and dragged them—utterly bewildered—into your apartment. the door clicked shut behind you just as jungwon’s doorknob gently rattled.

before any of them could so much as squeak out another question, you whipped out your phone like it was a grenade and your only chance at survival was disarming the situation.

you: nvm. i think i’ll come by tomorrow instead. kinda got tired chatting with my friends earlier. see you tomorrow!

you pressed send with the swiftness of someone sending a last message before a spaceship launches, then stuffed your phone deep into your pocket like it had become radioactive.

you turned around slowly.

your friends were now standing in the middle of your apartment, each of them fully in character as annoyed best friends waiting for answers. kazuha had her arms crossed and one perfectly sculpted brow raised. chaewon had both hands on her hips, a deadly combination. and yunjin—yunjin was tapping her foot against the floor like a teacher whose patience had long expired.

none of them said anything. not yet.

they didn’t have to.

their expressions screamed ‘start talking’.

“i can explain!” you blurted out, your hands shooting up in front of you like a peace offering, or more accurately, like that iconic scene from jurassic world—you, the humble trainer, and your three friends, very much the emotional equivalent of untamed velociraptors, ready to pounce.

yunjin narrowed her eyes and took a single, menacing step forward. “can you?” she asked, her voice calm, which only made her more terrifying.

“yes! yes, i can! but only if everyone agrees to not breathe fire at me while i speak,” you said quickly, then pointed toward the couch like a flight attendant gesturing toward the nearest emergency exit. “please. let’s all sit down like civilized humans. no growling. no biting.”

the three of them exchanged glances, sighed in unison, and—thankfully—complied. there was some dramatic eye-rolling and aggressive seat-choosing involved, but you counted it as a small victory.

as they sank into the couch, arms crossed and expressions guarded, you followed with a hand still pressed to your chest, finally letting out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. your nerves were fraying at the edges. your heartbeat was doing the equivalent of parkour against your ribs.

this could go one of two ways.

option one: they hear you out. they understand. maybe they don’t love the choices you made, but they forgive you. maybe, just maybe, they’ll even offer their support—help you execute the chaotic plans already forming in your lovesick mind.

option two: they shut you down before the words can fully leave your lips. they get angry. they walk out. they tell you it’s unforgivable. and maybe… maybe you lose jungwon in the fallout too.

you sat down, trying to summon courage from whatever was left inside you. the truth weighed heavily on your chest—awkward, warm, and impossible to ignore now that jungwon’s feelings had been revealed like a secret written across the sky.

you didn’t just want your friends’ approval. you needed it. their love, their laughter, their irrational loyalty in the middle of your love-struck chaos. because this wasn’t just about a boy. this was about something more fragile and terrifying: hope.

and if you were going to navigate the emotional maze ahead, with jungwon’s confession echoing in your ears, you were going to need their help.

all of it.

taglist⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀ @morganaawriterr @wondoras @mypolka @meowwwon @dolliehue @in-somnias-world @yjwonsgf @kirijuns @iifrui @momisanalien @vieniee @drunkjazed @hhyvsstuff @readinmidnight @noona-neomu-yeppeo @cutehoons02 @robotinvenus @starfallia @nijisanjigenshin @kkamismom12 @kinamurariki @soobundle1009 @supershy3 @nodoubtily @vrikisn @jayjw16enxp @skzfangirl143 @0leelina0 @noriiluv @o2whre @nocturnebite @userprdx @fangirl125reader @slvrnm @wonnieswife @joonsflwr @yunmislove @raavenarmy-blog (taglist is still open, comment to be added.) final notes⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀i hope you guys enjoyed! part seven will be posted on wednesday. see you guys then!

©⠀mæwphoria⠀|⠀all works belong to me. strictly do not plagiarize, copy, translate, paraphrase, rewrite or repost my works on any other platforms. if it's inspiration gained from my work then it's appreciated and i wish you good luck with your own stories. thank you.

⠀

[timeslipcamp]

thoughts on episode 15

this post will contain spoilers and rambles about how much i love rui read at your own risk

he's only at the beginning i know LET ME LIVE

loved the lil walk with rui. i love that dude i wish we could have seen him before he was cursed. the bittersweet "i used to do that all the time" when he was talking about researching his curse 😭 can we cure him too please

this was funny as hell no way does haku have dad energy, he has jealous energy

these two lines honestly just feed into my theory that it's a very understated staff vs ghouls atmosphere (not so understated i guess) and that haku is working for them. traitor 😔

RUI IS ONTO HIM. haku always just knows when to appear, huh? and this isn't the first time, we run into haku everywhere. why is he always out walking? what is he looking for? rui might know, he's in the shadows after all.

i am genuinely curious about the wisteria taking people though. why would they mention that? what does that have to do with anything? is it only certain people?

would love to know why subaru interrupted zenji like that, even mc noticed that was out of character for him. i get the feeling there's more to this place and subaru's past then he let on, but it could also have just been a throwaway red herring line to get us to be more suspicious of the subaru stuff that was going to be revealed later. but honestly my main concern is that zenji and jiro have not only never been to a museum, but they've never been to an amusement park 😭 let them have fun!!! let me take them out!!

haku being insistent on the folk tale channel is interesting, though i'm not sure if it was just to show character traits or if it's actually for the plot. sometimes dialogue is just dialogue, ya know? weird that haku had him record a folk tale so insistently and then never tell us which tale. sus 🤨

this chapter also seems to spend a lot more time on the interaction between the ghouls, which im not mad about. it's always fun to see how the writers balance the mission and also character development. love a good monster of the week show.

i fucking laughed out loud when subaru popped up that was genuinely the funniest thing this whole episode

also not to be such a haku stan when i'm very clearly team traitor!haku but

how come every time he looks at us it's so soft like man cmon please make it easier to hate you. stop being so nice

honestly the more this whole subaru thing goes on i really don't think he's suspicious so much as he's just so terrified of losing control that it's become an obsession.

my whole take on the subaru thing centers around anxiety and poor coping mechanisms. i'm hesitant to say it's ocd because of how mental illness is usually portrayed in horror media, but it definitely feels like the anxious spirals that kind of cycle on obsession. especially once it comes out about the scandal he was supposedly involved in. if you already have anxiety about how you're perceived and something like that happens on such a major scale that you have to step away from the public eye, (and especially after doing something like losing control) it's not a huge leap to think it'd almost become a trigger response. especially the cabbage on the burger part on the table--you see reactions like that all the time. i won't go into a full psychoanalysis, as i'm not a psychology expert, but that's how it reads to me. so far. he's still on my list lmao

also this campus interaction pointed out by @sane-tkdbblog is a lot more interesting now

regardless haku needs to shut up, there's way better ways to get people to stop with the self deprecation 😭 haku pls. still though it was interesting that haku thought it was serious enough that he asked us if we wanted to keep working with them. was it because the violence was that serious? was it a test to see our loyalties and where they lie? was it him being selfish? who knows with haku at this point

more fuel for my traitor!haku is being blackmailed theory. easiest way out is going along with it to save himself.

what i REALLY want to know more about is what zenji's referring to!! whose sos did he miss? is that what led to him dying?? zenji TELL ME

super dark story in this one as well, had my phone screen covered for the last few parts lmao. also INSANE ending, love a cliffhanger, but again i think subaru's probably just going ro try and do something else to gain control of a situation again. post incoming about the tree of severance

🌟10/10 for spooky ghosts

🌟10/10 for zenji's outfits (and everyone's really)

theory posts to make still: subaru's demon, further traitor theories, the defunct houses, tree of severance, and why i hate the teachers. also another one about taiga lmao

asks and dms are always open!

[charles-smith-pillow-princess]

For your zoomies: Charthur (pre/post) coitus interuptus? These two are so funny in embarrassing situations, especially if they try to insist something innocent was occurring.

Sadie huffed, dismounting to lead her horses over to the hitching post outside the barn. She looped Bob’s reigns through the sturdy iron ring before approaching her newest charge. 

The stallion looked at her in utter contempt as she untied his reigns from Bob’s. She glared him down as she fixed him to the same ring. It’d been a long journey—she wasn’t up for any of his usual ill-tempered nonsense. 

“You behave while I find your new best friend,” she muttered to him, fixing him with a firm look before stepping away towards the cabin. 

The curtains were drawn, though that didn’t mean much. Sadie stepped up onto the small porch and knocked on the door. “Mr. Callahan?” 

There was a beat of silence, then low cursing as something thumped to the floor inside. 

“Sadie?” Arthur’s voice rang out, just a tad strangled.

Sadie shook her head. Damn fool must have lost his head for time, livin’ out in the sticks like this. “Sure is.”

“That really you out there?”

Sadie put her hands on her hips. “You expectin’ Santa Claus?” 

The door cracked open a moment later. Arthur stuck his torso half through the door. He was clearly bare at least down to the waist, and his hair was mussed.

Sadie cocked a brow, giving the man a slow once over just to see him blush. It seemed she’d interrupted them.

Arthur gathered himself, managing to look annoyed despite the crimson of his ears framing his weathered, drawn down brow. “You’re a day early,” he complained.

Sadie felt her grin widen. Oh, she’d definitely interrupted. 

“No I ain’t,” she shot back.

Arthur scratched at the back of his neck, bicep bulging. “What day is it?”

Sadie held back a laugh. “What—its Friday, you fool. The same day I told you man in there I was gonna be here!” 

“Shit. Sorry, hard to keep track out here sometimes.”

“Yes,” she said, remembering the feeling. She and jake had wiled away plenty of their own work days in bed. “I see you and Mr. Smith have finally accomplished your dream of escapin’ civilization.” 

Arthur shrugged, looking pleased despite himself. “It's sure peaceful,” he drawled, looking over his shoulder at where Charles must have still been scrambling to get himself presentable.

“It’s very nice, Arthur,” Sadie said, genuine. Then she cocked her head, letting a little of her annoyance at being kept on the porch like a traveling salesman shine through. “Now, you gonna let me in?”

“Gimme a minute,” Arthur said, making to shut the door.

Sadie stuck her boot in, grinning. “Gotta get decent, huh?”

Arthur snorted. “Ain’t never been decent. Gotta get pants on, though. We’ll be right out.”

Sadie grinned, wicked. “Charles is bein’ awful quiet,” she sang through the doorway. 

Arthur’s flush came back in full force. “Give us a minute I said!”

Sadie crossed her arms, but moved her boot to allow Arthur to shut the door in her face. 

She wondered if he’d even realized that he’d forgotten to take off the dog collar that hung around his neck. 

[thurio-edau]

SBG GANG MENTAL ANALYSIS

yup, him for part two. funny thing despite Aiden being my favourite character I'm most excited for the other three posts I'll make, especially the last one. there's a lot to unpack here so

also im writing this with a migraine pls read it-

Part 2: Aiden Clark

ah, yes. the obviously-mentally-ill from the start fan favourite Aiden Clark. let's go.

first, I want to start with something I find really important about his character, what makes him heavily mischaracterized in the fandom. the 'psychopath' cliche.

the terms 'psychopath', 'insane' and 'unstable' are often confused with each other due to media stereotypes, such as Aiden here. one, he is not a psychopath. psychopath literally means a self-centered person who lacks sympathy, affection and care; making them far from most other characters in their franchise. their lack of sympathy/empathy often makes them criminalized, here

disturbing content warning, for an example of a psychopath.

let's take Gressil from Homesick for example since a lot of SBG readers also read Homesick. so, here, Gressil is a perfect example of an actual psychopath. his lack of empathy makes him torment others, he's very self-centered. and when asked why he's doing this? he says he was bored. let's look at Aiden here. what does Aiden do when bored? probably dumb ideas or annoy Tyler. not torturing people for fun. Aiden is just a boy who likes thrills, but he has a sense of empathy, care and justice.

you wanna see a psychopathic Aiden?? the canvas is it

(our local Logan hater is publishing the canvas eps go checc beachy out)

but that's him, not our Aiden. canvas does not equal originals y'all

alright, now since we got that cleared out!! firstly, ADHD.

I think everyone in the fandom is already aware that Aiden is ADHD but I'm still going to talk about it just like Ashlyn's autism. Red has also said that she wrote Aiden with ADHD in mind but hadn't canonically confirmed anyone as neurodivergent. let's start with the main symptoms of ADHD, also known as Attention Decifit and Hyperactivity Disorder.

I know about 5 different ADHD people myself and did some research, it probably won't be extremely accurate since I'm not ADHD myself, but I'll try to do whatever I can. first with the AD part, Attention Decifit.

now as seen, he doesn't exactly have any problems with theorizing itself. but the problem is that his attention just goes away easily.

i mean cmon bro was making memes on the job

he tries to do work, but can't. he has a low attention span which makes him not able to concentrate. he can't keep it up for long, he'll get distracted or bored too easily about things that doesn't interest in specially.

it's just distracting. what his attention is on constantly changes, there's more to that after the ADHD part but we're here for now.

the hyperactivity... it's a lot more apparent. but I should explain the insane-unstable thing before that.

insane means that someone's mental health is not in an okay situation, where it prevents the person from thinking normally, acting rationally, very often found together with delusions. the person is seriously mentally ill where it might count as a disability.

unstable, however, where someone is prone to psychiatric problems, has moodswings etc. they're not exactly the most sane person, but they aren't insane either. Aiden here, obviously falls on the unstable side. maybe just a little bit insane if you squint. this will be brought up later too, but it mixed well with his hyperactivity too.

and as we all know, our boy isn't exactly the most stable person. (sorry for the collages, but since there is a tumblr picture limit i have to keep on collaging. yes i learnt from the last time) his hyperactivity mixes with his unstable mindset which makes him incresingly vulnerable to danger- which he likes. from when the first shift happened, he's been really careless about stuff but it's been all about his love for thrill.

and it irritates Tyler, too.

the main subplot about his character is that he's a person of excitement. guess what? ADHD people like the excitement, they like new things, they like the adrenaline and thrill. now, Aiden's main characteristic of being unstable mixed with ADHD makes him an even more reckless person. another thing mixing with the hyperactivity, is boundaries.

this part will mostly be about Ashlyn since the boundary issue only happens with her.

I talked about this on Ashlyn's side on my Ashlyn analysis, now it's time for Aiden's side.

he's really annoying to her at first. Ashlyn is someone with lots of boundaries, like high walls. and who tries to climb them with his dumbass? Aiden of course.

she kept rejecting his efforts to befriend her for some time, until the night they stole the jeep. then she managed to actually bring the walls down, and accept them all into her life. but damn was she blunt.

felt that honestly

and Aiden understands her that night, too.

Ashlyn was hesistant to hug him, yes, he was aware. but she still did which made him realize she was also trying. i have to tell you, people with ADHD and people with autism either have trouble getting along, or go perfectly well. my ADHD sibling for example, I have to push them away for a lot and tell them to lower their voice. but once they remember my boundaries it actually becomes a normal, even pleasant hangout. which, Aiden realizes and tries to get along with. he tries.

seeing his efforts on her boundaries makes something click in her mind. and she starts to be a lot nicer when they hang out in the arcade.

Aiden eventually learns and remembers what she's like and what she loves to do. he already tried to watch her ballet sessions once -got slammed-, he's been to her room where he remembered the mat from and her fighting makes it obvious. I'm sure he knew he'd get cooked by betting that. but he still did,

because he knew it'd interest her. which he succeeded, he saw her smile again. the arcade day went great until Barron and his gang pulled up, but if we ignore that part it all went well. Aiden started to understand and respect her boundaries.

anyways then Tyler fucking dies

he knows that Ashlyn feels guilty. Aiden wants to comfort her through it, but also do it correctly. without going over any boundaries. which makes him really,

really,

really surprised when she responds.

also including this pannel cause its hilarious

here we see that he's still trying. hell, I'm sure he spent minutes thinking if he should come close physically to help her. that's probably why he just nudged her softly before anything else. he's not used to it, he has to conciously make an effort to not cross said boundaries. keeping his voice lower, try to not be so reckless, not doing anything physically close unless she reciprocates. wow how i wish another someone i knew irl tried that hard instead of blaming it on me cOUGH COUGH COUGH

also other small things to include

he's yapping a lot

he has a comically large amount of puzzles in his backpack for one single trip

and sticks his head into lamps for some reason

but that's just Aiden and his little neurodivergent brain for ya.

now the part I wanted to get to the most.

Borderline Personality Disorder.

first, what is Borderline Personality Disorder?

shortened as BPD, borderline is when someone's mood is inconsistent and swinging. think of it's name; the person's mental state is in the border, in the border line, switching up fastly. the most easily understood and common type is when the person goes from a depression to a happy state. but no matter which state they are in and/or go to, one thing stays the same: it is unstable.

one thing about borderline is that it is frequently mixed with bipolar. however bipolar is a neurodivengercy which means it is what someone is born with and cannot be changed. but borderline is obtained later in life. it usually happens with depression. bipolar is much more random and the episodes last longer in comparison. it may last up to hours, and the person's memory might have trouble remembering their episodes. borderline, on the other hand, is a short-lived mood swing.

now here. here's the catch; people with BPD during mood swings can have reckless behaviour, suicidal thoughts -in his case as far as we know, lowered sense of protecting himself- or a loss of understanding danger. sounds familiar?

borderline's recklessness and dangerousness, sometimes self-destructive acts combines with ADHD's love for thrill and excitement, combined with Aiden's own personality all make up for a great condition of instability.

Aiden's behaviour constantly goes crazy, I think his most frequent mood swing might be his normal self (at least, as normal as he could be) to this more maniac way of acting. I noticed it from his eyes, when he's in a more calm-ish normal state his pupils are a bit more dilated. in the pictures above, you can clearly see that he's still in the episode; filled with the adrenaline, the unstable way of thinking.

but, what causes that? surely a mental illness such as borderline doesn't happen on it's own.

right?

cause it didn't.

it never works that way.

but it can get better.

eventually.

but what happened to him?

personally, as much as a large amounnt of people seems to believe it's something like family abuse I don't think so. maybe neglect, maybe withdrawal, maybe maybe. but we've seen his parents. I don't think they would hurt him like that. I can't put any more pictures, but this is the last part anyway. his parents seem to be kind and gentle, despite that picture in his house. I'm thinking the picture was only for the dramatic effect. his parents said that he used to be really calm and quiet during Lily's birthday, and both Aiden and Ben seem comfortable around them. they were happy taking Ben in too, any kind of abusive parent wouldn't do that at least that's what I believe. also there is that Aiden got serious and concerned when he learnt that their parents were also in the facility, most likely worried for his own as you would have thought.

there was a post that I've been trying to find for like half an hour, I commented on it but I can't find the post now. the person talked about their own theory. if I remember correctly it was that when Aiden was depressive as a child, his parents took him to a thrilling activity like the ones he's been talking about (bungee-jumping, skydiving etc.) and the thrill made him actually get excited. which is why his parents allowed him to go even more reckless, because they are aware of how prone their son could be to the depression.

what happened? let's ignore the parents factor. someone can have a loving family and still be traumatized, someone can be taken care of and still feel abandoned, someone can never have confronted a situation they are terrified of.

one of my theories is that, the loneliness. it must get to a child heavily considering children need to not be left alone, but Aiden was. he didn't have any actual friends since they always moved from one place to another from his parents' business, and they might have not had enough time to make for him (which I believe is bullshitting, every child deserves to be taken some time out for. some people quit their jobs entirely for their child.) and be unaware, and that doesn't change that he was still depressed and alone. his depressive state was seemingly before Ben was taken in. now here one thing with borderline, at least from my experience, is faking actions. smiles, laughs, friendships, conversations... almost as if there's two different lives; one fake, and one real. you keep on switching, you keep on swinging between the sides where you're yourself and where you're just mimicking 'normal human behaviour'.

it starts from faking a happy state during their depression, and by time you're faking it it becomes an automatic adition to your personality. to your mind. once it furthers, it becomes the disorder. Aiden we see is always smiling. it becomes a habit that only breaks sometimes. now, I'm not saying his smile is fake- I think his face is literally just stuck like that. it breaks ever so slightly sometimes. fake it till ya make it yanno? that kind of thing. and when he swings from his calm mood to his borderline-d mood, his pupils get small and his smile gets worse. noticably worse. I'll be rereading the series (AGAIN) and this time look at all the small details since Red loves putting them and I love theorizing so

which, wraps up the Aiden thing! im actually really proud of how i could put my thoughts into text which i never could. i'd love any additions because i love other opinions as well.

and you know what? im glad Ash and Ai are out of the place because the rest are what I'm actually looking forward to >:)

...and i should sleep. really.

(wow sorry yall i finished this hours ago and said 'alright reread to make sure its good before sleep' and fell asleep through it lol sorry for 4 hour delay ig)

(leaving for school rn see yall 8 hours later 🫡)

[bigskydreaming]

Okay, replacing my pinned post with latest update to our status quo....it might seem like things are never moving forward with us (certainly feels that way) but we're in a much better place than a year ago! We have secure, stable housing for the foreseeable longterm future, my ID situation is finished and dealt with, I have a steady, regular paycheck again, and basic health insurance FTW.

My current focus is paying off medical debt/rebuilding credit tanked when I spent every cent and bit of credit I had dealing with my jaw surgery and being unhoused for several years. I still have, well, no teeth, lmao, which is something I'd really like to fix because optimally I've still got a good chance at another forty years left in me and I would like to not spend all that time with ill-fitting dentures. I've never been able to not be aware of the taste of any of the different denture gums/sealants I've tried and its not super fun walking around tasting a constant awareness of that time you were gay-bashed and it blew up your life and led to longterm health complications fifteen years later that blew up your life a second time, even more thoroughly loooool. Why do I add lol there? Its not funny. Whimsy I guess. Idk I dont really get me.

POINT IS. Even if I eventually secure some better dental insurance down the road, there's no way I'm affording teeth implants without decent credit cards or loans in the future. And since jaw bone deteriorates when a tooth is absent and I have quite literally no teeth, the years since my jaw surgery mean I need mega bone grafts in my jaw before I can even think about implants, and the longer it takes to get there, the worse (and more expensive, and thus more unlikely to actually happen) it becomes.

So, as anyone who's lived below the poverty line knows, the only way to make goals like that happen is to prioritize them with every paycheck. So things like food, medication, etc, all come AFTER putting money towards "the big things," with whatever's left over. Which leaves basically zero buffer for anything else, especially the unexpected. I haven't bought a new item of clothing in over four years, etc. A few days ago we wasted a whole day just trying to find an extra freelance job online so we could get five bucks for a box of band-aids. Stuff like that.

Which is to say, five bucks here and there from people who enjoy my content when I actually AM around and would like me to be more often is hugely appreciated and makes a BIG difference, because it helps with all that "extra." For example, even just an extra $40 in a month can keep us fed for a week without having to dip into a paycheck and take money away from The Big Goals. $30 is enough to pay for my most important medication for the month. It takes me two train transfers and a bus to get to work and then the same back, but public transpo caps daily fares at $5.25, so even just an extra $21 takes care of getting me to and from work for a whole week.

A single $3 ko-fi or $5 donation might not sound like a lot to most ppl but for us it adds up quickly and just a handful of those can mean the difference between getting to apply a whole paycheck to where we NEED it to go vs it quickly getting whittled down to nothing and we end up right where we started.....or usually worse off, bc those unexpected expenses like boxes of band-aids or some Advil or little things like that add up quick too and we often start off the next month knowing we have to devote a whole paycheck to everything we couldn't get last month and we're a week in before we're even back at zero and able to start putting money back towards the Big Goals.

So if you ever see this post and think eh, what difference could $2 or $3 bucks make, please just know its VERY appreciated and makes a very big difference indeed. Sometimes an extra $3 means being able to spend a whole day off work ACTUALLY off of work instead of spending ten hours hustling to try and find and secure an extra freelance gig when literally the only thing we needed that day was an extra $3 for a box of pasta and some sauce.

My ko-fi link is here and paypal is here, and as always, anything and everything is really appreciated, even just reading this through and considering it, lol. Thanks guys!!

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY - Journal #1: Route 0 Days 1-18. [MASSIVE SPOILERS]

//So as I said before, even though it's not really Dangan-related, I'm going to be slowly dropping my summary of the events I experience in Hundred Line as I play through it. I don't know if I'm going to do a full 100 days for each of the 100 routes because that would be fucking crazy tbh, but...I figured I could at leats indulge you guys on my experience this way, since I'm unable to stream it.

//In case I didn't make it clear before, this game is straight fire. It's got a really awesome story on top of what is actually surprisingly fun and fascinating gameplay. As I said above, this part of the journal goes up to Day 18, and the battles that happen during that period became way more anime than they probably should have.

//This isn't just a cut and dry tactics game. There's this uniqueness to it that makes the gameplay loop great. That's not to say the game and story isn't without flaws, but we'll cover that.

//All of this will obviously be under the cut, because in case it wasn't obvious, let me make one big warning here.

DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED/SEEN THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY. I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT VERY SPECIFIC PLOT POINTS AND MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE GAME.

//Without further ado...let's get into it.

DAY 1-7:

//Okay, so to be fair, I actually kind of lied about starting on Day 1. I livestreamed myself playing the free demo that covers the first 7 days of the game. If you want to see my reaction to that, you can check out the streams, or just play it yourself.

//I did go back through the demo segment in the full game though just so I was refreshed on the story. To make a few quick points about it though, the kinky group sex line is still hilarious, and the transformation sequences are still raw and as of today, I haven't skipped a single one.

//Also, I started watching NicoB play

//The only major difference this time is that I didn't struggle as much in the invader boss fight because I had a better idea of what I was doing.

DAY 8:

//Okay, so this is where the demo ends and the full game begins, but it doesn't start off full swing or anything. Essentially, it's become clear to me now that Sirei isn't coming back, at least not any time soon. Which is honestly kind of a bummer, because I did really start liking his mojo and the character himself has great dialogue. It kind of peeves me that he's around for only two days, and then vanishes without a trace, presumably dead.

//Still, I can't be too pissed about it because chances are there's an alternate route where he gets to survive for a bit longer. We'll have to see.

//Anyway, in Sire's absense, Hiruko became the leader, which I pretty much expected, but it also planted some ill feelings in me that ended up coming true later down the line, but more on that in a bit.

//Other than that, I spent my time hanging out with Eito, who spent hours telling me the history of scythe's.

DAY 9

//Day 9 starts off with you going down to the cafeteria to find that only the fighting group (Takumi, Takemaru, Hiruko, Darumi, and Eito) are in the cafeteria, because apparently Hiruko put the non-fighters under house arrest, and banned them from certain places in the school if they continue to not fight.

//I know that Hiruko said she'd make them regret it, but this wasn't really what I was expecting. Though to be honest, I don't know what I was expecting.

//Hung out with Darumi some more.

DAY 10

//One little gag that I came to like is that sometimes, even though the messages are mostly the same, when Sirei appears on the screen with his prerecorded messages, on certain days he'll be doing something different than sitting there. Like this time around, he has a suit on. And it's funny because you get a kick out of him seeing doing something a little different from the normal message.

//Also, as a milestone celebration, we gained access to two more rooms in the school; the Rec Room and the Leisure Lounge.

//There was a bit of a funny moment where Takemaru said something like "Hiruko's kinda hot, shame she's so evil," which made me laugh.

//Also, Takumi when he first sees the Rec Room says "I can imagine a high-class school having a rec room like this!"

//This is what the rec room looks like. Motherfucker, this is a whole ass arcade. There is not a school in the world that has something like this.

//Also, with the rec room open, we now have access to gifts which we can give to our classmates, which I was really hoping they wouldn't do, because giving gifts to people in Danganronpa is already enough of a drag, and in this game, it's worse, because not only does it cost money, but you have to actively go out and get the materials for the items in order to make them.

//Fortunately, there's no gacha system to it, and they're not NECESSARY, just that if you give them to your classmates, the stat buffs that you ordinarily get with them get increased.

//But still, if you want to get stronger quickly, there's a lot of grinding here. Kinda makes it harder to decide what to do with your time, and suddenly 100 days doesn't feel like enough.

//The Rec Room is where most of the gameplay happens though, whilst the Leisure Lounge is...kind of just for that. Leisure. There's effectively no reason to go there, so I can only assume we have story-related scenes that happen there later on. Maybe a pool party? That would be fun.

//But like I said, you need materials to get the machine, so spent my day scouting. It also gave me a chance to learn how Eito works in combat. From what I can tell, his attacks work a little similarly to Takumi's, but while Takumi hits 5 squares in front of him, Eito only hits 3. Eito does seem to have more damage potential though, not just because he has a higher default damage, but because his ability gives him random buffs every time he takes an action.

//Speaking of random, I fucking hate some of the exploration segments.

//I get that there's probably a guide, especially since there seems to be a very limited number of events, but I swear to god, some of the outcomes that should seem like the right call end in the absolute dumbest ways, like I'm pursuing Wonder of U and got hit with a calamity.

//The good news is the new spaces that are designed to help create gifts at least gives me more of an incentive to go out on explanations for reasons other than just aimlessly wandering around hoping I get some cool gear while random flying objects keep hitting me or I cut myself on a blade of grass.

DAY 11

//Today started with Darumi asking me if I wanted to die.

//Great start.

//One thing I discovered leading up to this game is that apparently, Darumi's English Voice Actor, Sarah Pritard, hasn't had a single credited role before this game, which is shocking, because she's REALLY good.

//Also, I didn't quite realize this until someone pointed it out to me, but one cool thing I didn't know is that Minh Ton, Hiruko's Voice Actor, is apparently a voice actor, or at least WAS one, in Danganronpa F: Shattered Hope, as Scarlet.

//This gal vvv

//Speaking of voice lines, I don't know if I'm the first person to point it out, but there's one voice line of Takumi's where he just screams "HEY!" and they OVERUSE the FUCK out of this line. Even in really calm situations, they're just randomly broken up by really calm curious dialogue and sound bytes, and then Takumi just goes "HEY!"

//Anyway, despite the silly beginning, there's immediately a lot of tension even before you get down to the cafeteria with everyone, because everyone who hasn't been fighting looks really depressed and defeated, and it gets worse because Hiruko promptly announces that if the people who have abstained don't get their act together, she's going to kick them out of the school and leave them in the wild to die.

//Hiruko is such an interesting character, because this is the first time in one of these games that we've seen one of the students be more outwardly sadistic than the actual Mastermind mascot character (besides the Masterminds themselves obviously, but even then, we only see Junko for two trials). While there were definitely some monsters among DR's cast, Sirei himself, while a douchebag and a pervert, was actually pretty nice and lenient and willing to compromise for the students if it meant giving them an incentive to get onto the battlefield.

//Not Hiruko. And the crazy part is that her methods, which are easily on the same level as Monokuma's motives, are far more effective. Or at least, they would be, but even the prospect of being kicked out and left to die out in the wild isn't enough to get the others to step up.

//I might as well say it now, but the part of the story that I cover in this post revolves largely around Tsubasa and Gaku, so a lot of this is talking about them as characters. And the good news is that it definitely succeeded in getting me to feel for both of them.

//Gaku especially is in the same vein of character as the likes of Yasuhiro and Kazuichi. And if you know me, Yasuhiro is my least favourite character in the main DR series, and to be honest, as time has gone on, I've grown to like Kazuichi less and less. Like, he's fine in Survivor, but writing ReCaptured has really made me realize that he's kind of a piece of shit.

//Unlike them, I actually feel for Gaku, and I think his spite and self-centeredness is actually kind of righteous, but we'll get to that. Either way, he complains about his life, but this time, it actually made me feel for him.

//But Tsubasa on top of that, and the way she reacted to Hiruko's ultimatum, makes me realize that there's a level of suicidal depression in this girl, because she knows that she'll probably die out there, but is willing to resign herself to that cruel fate if it means she doesn't have to fight the invaders.

//Which is really deep and sad...until you find out immediately after that her reason for not wanting to fight is because she's embarrassed that she'll throw up.

//Feels like a really unserious reason behind such a serious drive to not want to fight. Granted, there is more to it than that, but still, starting with that makes it a little...eh...

//Whatever, I've seen worse.

//That's pretty much the end of this day, but one last thing I want to mention is this is where I started to really realize that Takumi is a dork on the same level that Hajime was. While I was in the entry hall, I casually interacted with the fire extinguishers used to exit the academy, and one of Takumi's lines when he interacts with it is "Not even these fire extinguishers can put out the flames in my heart!" or some bullshit.

//Which got a laugh out of me.

DAY 12

//So for the rest of this review, the mission at hand largely involves trying to convince the abstainers to actually get on the battlefield, because Hiruko gives the fighters 5 days to convince the others before she makes her move. To begin with, Takumi works with Eito to find a workaround to Tsubasa's puke problem.

//The plan is to make her this cute reusable sick bag, but we had to go out of the academy to get the pouch we needed, and I was kind of expecting more to happen when we went out, but not much did. We kind of just grabbed it and got back.

//You know, AFTER Eito and Takumi took 10 points of damage from the rain >:(

//Unfortunately, while they gave me it for free this time, I returned to make the sick bag using the item machine, only to find out that making items costs the same time that you normally spend each day hanging out with people, or going on missions, which I think is bullshit. That's kind of like your entire day of Free Time in Danganronpa being spent because you went to get gifts from the MonoMono Machine. It's crap.

//This is also where we got a new minigame where you have to listen to the characters and interject at the right time with the right response, and I'll give it credit, it's weird and cringey at times, but it's also hard. Fortunately, there's no massive penalties for failing it, just that it's kind of time consuming.

//And also, while Gaku's upcoming one was fine, if I had a pence for every time the word puke was said, I'd be able to buy a whole candy bar. Kind of made me think I myself might hurl.

//There was one standout moment during it where the correct response to Tsubasa saying "people will make fun of me if I puke," is for Takumi to say "Don't worry! I'll puke too! So we both get made fun of."

//And then he like, gives her this absolute dead serious stare while she herself is wondering "what the fuck is wrong with this guy?" But it makes her laugh, and the interaction after is pretty wholesome.

//And what's even more difficult is I can't figure out who's idea this was between Kodaka or Uchikoshi.

//But yeah, as much as I do love the writing so far, this situation was a little cringe, and I wish the game didn't make it so corny.

DAY 13

//Not much to say here except we get a little bit more info about Gaku, and like I said before, I think his righteous anger towards society is very righteous indeed. But this day was kind of just setting up how we convince him to get on the frontlines, just as we did Tsubasa.

//I'd also like to add that while they do make it clear that the Invaders attack indiscriminately, they sure are letting us get all the plot out of the way, huh?

DAY 14

//So we went out again, like we did before with Eito, to get shit for Gaku in order to convince him to join the vanguiard.

//Darumi almost died, and we didn't even fight anyone. She just kept getting beaten to shit by random events. Smh.

//Like I hinted at before, I liked Gaku's version of the Persuasion Minigame way more than I liked Tsubasa's. Not only was it more engaging what was talked about, but it was also a lot more challenging, which works because the whole point of Gaku so far is how he's a very difficult person to work with.

//Without getting into the specifics of the conversation, I have to admit that this really got me to see what Gaku was conceptually, and I'm actually super into it.

//The big incentive for everyone to fight, Takumi especially, is that if the Invaders infiltrate the school, then the Tokyo Residential Complex is going to be destroyed, and everyone they love will perish. But unlike Takumi, Gaku feels like he owes nothing to the TRC, because he's had such a rough life full of people who treat him and those around him like shit.

//Again, Gaku has a very legitimate reason for being self-centered and greedy, which makes him way more sympathetic, and way less unbearable than previous Kodaka characters like him. At least for me.

//Also, while I did make some familiarities with Tsubasa's version, Gaku's version of the minigame feels way more like a Non-Stop Debate. Like I said, you normally have to pick the right dialogue option, but there's one point of Gaku's where in order to get past it, you have to just say nothing. You just let him get his emotions out without saying anything, and eventually the pain catches up to him, when he realizes he doesn't mean what he's saying.

//It's very clever. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

DAY 15

//So this day was the point where things really started to get interesting, and not really in a good way. And I can break it down into three notable things.

//One: Darumi and Hiruko's relationship suddenly became Toko and Byakuya again.

//I have no idea why or how, and it's never really explained, but it happened. Darumi just became a massive simp for Hiruko, which...I mean aren't we all? But even so, I have no clue what happened, so maybe I missed a scene?

//Two: I didn't mention it, but before this point, Ima has been concocting a plan of how to stop Hiruko from kicking him and Kako out without the need for them to get onto the battlefield. And it's through this that I'm starting to see more of what I noticed early on in the game.

//Despite the fact that Ima's life seems to revolve around Kako, Kako herself has absolutely no agency of her own. Despite how much of a genius and an angel Ima plays her up to be, Ima himself is always the one in control of the situation. He's the one who makes plans, the one who asks questions, and the one basically doing all the work for them.

//And as interesting as it is to see this, and for what it hints at in the future, it also sucks because it means Kako herself doesn't get much of a chance to be her own character.

//Takumi even says that she can do things without Ima, but Kako herself isn't sure, so I'm really really wondering just how genuine the love between these siblings are.

//Fortunately, Ima's affection to Kako hasn't really descended into LUST so far. The closest its gotten is for sure the "sweet sweet nectar" line from his introduction, but other than that, it doesn't appear to be any kind of incestuous relationship. They are still very clearly Kodaka's characters though, so who knows.

//My point is that if Ima and Kako turn out to be the next Kanada and Hibiki...Well, it won't stop me from enjoying the game, but I'm for sure not gonna like it.

//And three...

//hhAAHh...

//NOOOT gonna say too much about this CG in the event that I get in trouble with coomers on the internet, but it is absolutely the hottest piece of art that Komatsuzaki has made so far.

//Minh Ton's voice acting doesn't help, because if Shattered Hope taught me anything, that guy does eroticism WAY too well.

//The scene that happens here is basically Takumi and Eito confronting Hiruko because she apparently knows more of what's going on than she lets on. Other than having fought the invaders before, she seems more personally connected to the plot of this game.

//And while I did like the insinuation near the end that Hiruko IS a nice person; she just has a funny way of showing it; this was the point where I REALLY started to get bad vibes.

DAY 16

//And it turns out they were very well founded.

//And I am PISSED OFF!

//GENUINELY!

//So, as we saw in the demo, the minute it seemed like Sirei was going to give us the answers, he up and disappears, and then later, we find him seemingly dead.

//And now the same has most likely happened to Hiruko. Which sucks ass because that's now TWO of my favourite characters that have been removed from the game early.

//Again, I already KNOW that there are endings to this game where she actually makes it to the end, because I saw scenes in the previews and trailers that have her in them that straight up havent happened yet. And if she really is dead, then those scenes can't happen.

//So they have to happen somewhere else. I sincerely doubt that there was a whole leaked scene by the devs fully voice acted.

//But considering that Hiruko is my favourite so far, who in my opinion is both the most well-written, and the most powerful member of the team, I'm still mad.

//Even though there were so many red flags leading up to this.

//Largely, the fact that Hiruko is already maxed out in her regular stats and is easily the strongest member of the team from the get go, being like, the Disc-1 Nuke essentially, meant that she probably wasn't going to stick around for very long. Because having her around for the first playthrough at least would make it way too easy.

//Plus, like I said, it's the EXACT same situation as Sirei where she was about to reveal some information, and then went missing before she could reveal it.

//So it's not like I don't GET it, it's just annoying. Because that's my favourite character just GONE now.

//I suppose there had to be SOME reason to stop Shoma and the twins from being kicked out, but this is still so irritating to me. She had BETTER come back, or at the very least, get significant screentime in the other routes, because my enjoyment of this game is going to be seriously affected if she doesn't.

//I know Kodaka and Uchikoshi will pull through for me though.

DAY 17

//This is my favourite day of the story so far.

//So Hiruko is still missing, and now everyone is panicked looking for her, and coming up with ideas of what might have happened. I knew the minute Kako suggested that we might have a killer on our hands that Darumi was going to get excited. Because her Killing Game fantasy is started to get very real.

//This also bumped Kako a little bit up on my list, because again, it's nice to see she has a genuine passion for mystery that exists outside of her brother's influence. I feel like maybe if we had a route where we actually did a killing game, she'd be great in it.

//Also, Ima's plan was that he was apparently going to seduce Hiruko? I-I don't know what I was expecting. Like, I don't HATE Ima yet, he's just kind of weird...

//But while I was still seething over Hiruko's disappearance, the strange ghost boy surrounded by the flames showed up again. Just the same way he did on the night that Sirei was supposedly killed. So I'm starting to think he shows up as some kind of omen whenever we find a body, or when someone goes missing.

//But we don't have much time to think about that, because the Invaders attack again, this time during the night.

//And largely the reason why this is my favourite moment in the story so far is because HOLY SHIT THIS BATTLE WAS BALLER!

//This fight it split into three phases. Phase 1 starts off normally, except the twist is that this time around, there are actually TWO Commanders. And we're now defending the school from all sides, with Takumi and Takemaru on one side of the school, and Darumi and Eito on the other.

//The first phase is standard, but it does suck not having Hiruko around. However, I can't complain too much for this fight, because if she had been on the field, she would have taken out the commander in one hit, since they each only have 6 HP. Very low for a commander. In fact, there are regular enemies you can encounter in exploration that have more, and require multiple hits.

//But the first phase ends when you kill one of them, because the other one instantly revives it. So as you might guess, the way to work around this is you need to take out both at the same time.

//Simple enough, but the moment you realize that, a THIRD one shows up to attack a sudden third outpost. And with only four people on the field, taking out three of them at the same time is basically impossible.

//But to no one's surprise, THIS is when both Tsubasa and Gaku jump into the fray.

//Eito entering the fray was awesome, but the amount of bonding and getting to know these two that you had to do before this point, while it did make it more obvious, still made the moment more impactful. Because yeah, I love Gaku and Tsubasa, and seeing them finally step up gave me butterflies.

//Gaku is my son now. I am proud of him.

//And yeah, I used a string of ults to take down the monster in Phase 2, and then they fused together in Phase 3, where I kind of did the same to take it out.

//I can't really describe how this fight went perfectly, but in the moment, just experiencing the rush of chaining the attacks that each of these guys can do was AWESOME.

//But by far, and this is gonna sound crazy, the most exciting part of the gameplay in the fights is sacrificing your allies.

//In case you somehow missed it, there's a gimmick in this game where a character, provided they are low enough HP, can unleash their Ultimate Technique without expending any meter. However, doing so comes at the cost of their lives, and they're removed from the rest of the fight.

//But during the defense battles, there is basically no downside to doing this, because the characters dying means that the meter gets charged by 100%, and another character, maybe on the other side of the field, can unleash their Ult right after and take out a huge swarm of enemies.

//Anyone can look at this and say that the top-down gameplay is really simple, and it's fine to think that, but considering this is something that Kodaka and Uchikoshi haven't tried before, this is PHENOMENAL. Most Fire Emblem fights don't give me this kind of adrenaline rush. Hell, most turn-based fights don't give me that rush.

//This game is FANTASTIC, and I realized that more than anything in that moment.

//Anyway, the battle ended with Eito going on another friendship rant, which he needs to shut up with, and then I actually had to pick someone to absorb the enemy commander with. Last time, you HAD to pick Hiruko, but this time, I get to choose between the characters.

//It was basic, but I picked Takumi because he's the one I'll be using the most in the fights. And I like that his reaction to killing the commander was far more pained and struggled than Hiruko's.

//Can't wait to see a compilation of these scenes.

DAY 18

//I have basically nothing to say about this day. Nothing really happens, but the scene where Takumi wakes up in the afternoon in pain, walks into the cafeteria, and Takemaru, Darumi, Eito, Tsubasa, and Gaku are all completely knackered made me laugh more than it probably should have.

CONCLUSION:

//But yeah, that's basically all I have, and my takeaways from this game so far are as follows:

Hiruko remains my favourite character in this game so far, even though it seems like her screentime in this route has come to an end, which is something I'm still plenty pissed about. However, she will most likely be fine in the other endings, so I'm just gonna wait for those to learn more about her. Also, that swimsuit scene is gonna stick with me for all the wrong reasons.

Like I ranted about on Day 17, the fight where Gaku and Tsubasa join was absolute thrills, and the combat in this game actually gets me pumped up. I was expecting it to be serviceable, but no, it's actually super exciting.

My opinion of Tsubasa has improved a little bit, but my opinion of Gaku has increased MASSIVELY. While he's not my favourite, I am thoroughly invested in his story, and the fact that there are genuine layers to him despite being a self-centered dork and a coward.

//I have pros and cons of this game, and they're very clearly divided. But overall, I've only played about 6-10 hours of this 330 hour game, and I'm already INCREDIBLY invested.

//Once again, if you haven't played this game (which I sincerely hope you have because I've basically just spoiled the first part of the story for you if you haven't) please get it. It is absolutely worth the money, and worth the price.

-Mod

[falsemilkbun]

I did all 20 of @taylortut 's

20 BLORBO/OC WHUMP/ H/C ASKS

for both Mithrun and Kabru from Dungeon Meshi, because I have low-key lurked the community for a while and long to reveal my madness, and also I want to spread the 'ganda about my perfect boys before season 2 of the anime drops. Evidence of my illness is below the cut.

Also parts of this are NWS and there's violence including passing mention of sexual violence so like please. There's also visual depictions of stuff like self harm. I've warned you.

BILL, STAY OUT.

What appeals to you about this character?

Mithrun: Without spoiling too much, I'd say the draw for me is that he's a character who's at once very capable and very vulnerable. He's a powerful magic user with a lot of (terrible) life experiences, but he's also afflicted with a condition that makes it necessary for him to have what amounts to a caretaker whenever he's not doing rote daily routine stuff. Also, he's a tiny little elf, which is always a plus.

Also, he looks like D&D Gilbert, which is Funny To Me.

Kabru: The son-boy! The one through whom I recognize the self through the other! I love that he's a chronic manager of others' emotions, and a doting caretaker to Mithrun, and also sometimes a ruthless killer.

I've observed this isn't a super beloved character trait of his, but I maintain that it whips ass. He's a character of contrasts like Mithrun is, being very much invested in humans and also willing to rip someone apart.

Also, he looks like D&D Serge, which is Funny To Me.

What's your least favorite aspect of this character?

Both: None! I like that Kabru will stab a fucker, I like that Mithrun is very capable of being a bitch, I like that they both have worldviews informed by their upbringings and think/say things about others that aren't charitable or fair, I love my boys.

What's your favorite canon moment with this character?

God. They have many good moments individually and together, but like. The #1 one, as well as the one most relevant to this questionairre, is this. I goof about it a lot, but it's so tender and the implications are so striking. Kabru is actually treating him like a person. I consider this scene a companion to an earlier one, when they first meet and Mithrun actually treats Kabru like an adult and a peer, which elves generally don't.

Do you have a favorite fic for this character?

GOD. So many of them are so good, we really do monopolize the biggest crinkliest brains, but the one I'm FERAL about right now is The Chameleon by threesmallcrows. Fuck. Me. Up. It's an AU, too, a gothis horror/romance one, so one could if one wanted just eat it right up even if you've only seen these two on screen for two minutes.

What's your favorite whump trope to use for this character and why?

Individually: Mithrun: Exhaustion or illness or anything that requires him to be toted around like a stupid little baby and handled delicately. I just like him being spoiled, which is a hideous contrast to what I'm gonna type in a minute wwww

Kabru: Persevering through injury, I think. He's a very purpose-driven person, and I think him toughing it out because he absolutely has to is very appealing. He can collapse and be coddled later, it's fine.

Jointly: *throws up my fucking hands* (Threats of) noncon against Mithrun while Kabru is incapacitated. Sorry. It just has juice. Nothing even has to Happen, it can be as inoffensive as someone manhandling him wrong or threatening him. My brain is simple and I like more reasons for Kabru to stab people and for Mithrun to be miserable. SOZ.

Whose relationship with this character is your favorite, shipping or otherwise?

*gestures at entire post* WHAT DO YOU THINK.

Whose relationship with this character is your least favorite?

Mithrun: Milsiril, she very much was ready to murder him when he was at his most vulnerable because she decided his life wouldn't be worth living.

Kabru: ...Nay, I shan't say it.

Describe your ideal whump scenario for this character.

The main antagonist possessing Another Chara's body and threatening Mithrun while Kabru is temporarily restrained. I. Listen.

No, there's no adequate defense. It's just exciting! It's got juice, to me! I like peril, I like Literalizing, I like protective fury. Rage is a kind of distress!

Do you have headcanons for this character, if they're not an OC?

Mithrun: I write him as something that readers would describe as intersex if they saw it IRL, but it's not treated that way and doesn't work in a way that would be realistic if that's what I was trying to do. I'm not doing realism, I'm doing an artistic expression of sex and gender variety in a fantasy race that's explicitly very androgynous already. Also it's fun.

Kabru: That he's legally adopted. Way less interesting.

What would devastate them the most, emotionally speaking?

BESIDES THE ABOVE?

Mithrun: Rejection or perceived rejection, canonically. If he were to perceive someone as being tired of him or sick of him and discarding him, he'd be Very Upset.

Kabru: He's majorly motivated by loss and a sense of responsibility, so losing someone he loves to violence when he feels he could have prevented it would break him pretty bad.

If it's not a spoiler, what's the worst thing that's ever happened to them?

It is a spoiler, so: Plenty.

How do they act when sick/injured? Is it obvious or do they hide it well?

Honestly they both kind of keep on keeping on until they Drop or someone stops them.

What are their coping mechanisms, good and bad?

Mithrun: Relies on memories of how he was before he was so severely traumatized in order to make what are usually constructive decisions about what to do. I get the impression he becomes less able to do this in fraught situations, though.

Kabru: Mentally recites rote facts to himself to persevere through unpleasant situations.

How is their mental health, generally speaking?

Could be better. They're doing their best though.

Who do you like to see hurting them, if anyone?

DESPITE WHAT I'VE WRITTEN ABOVE I'm not super crazy about them being hurt. I guess 'baddies, generally' because while I like them in peril I'm not super specific about it.

Who do you like to see caring for them, if anyone?

Both: Each other, and also the stupid poultry AKA the gaggle of freaks who follow Mithrun around. I just love their various dynamics. Pattadol is very appealing platonically, for reasons.

What do they do to self-soothe when they're not feeling well?

They don't, it's an established problem. Kabru is literally so terrible at taking care of himself (but not others, he's very attentive to other people) that his landlord cleans his room for him out of either pity or necessity.

Are they good at taking care of themselves or do they need help?

Buddy they do it worse than anyone's ever done it.

Do they have old scars, physical or otherwise?

fffff

Mithrun is missing his right eye and half the outer structure of both ears after the incident that traumatized him. He's extensively scarred from having compulsively harmed himself during his recovery, as well as from having been restrained so that he wouldn't do that.

Kabru seems fine physically, but they're both PTSD disasters that present it differently.

Anything else you'd like to share about them I haven't asked?

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.....................

[pucktoxicity]

i had a whole message ready to go and dropped my phone, so this might end up being shorter. first, as context, i went to a massive hockey school and was with my boyfriend who was on the team throughout our time there and after. still talk with him, but i’ll be honest and say that all the sh*t that comes with having a relationship with someone that’s high profile was just too much.

1. the reading stuff is hilarious. obviously they can read—they just don’t HAVE to read. even in college. was at a party at one of his teammate’s places and opened the fridge to grab something and there were textbooks, still in the plastic, sitting on the top shelf. it was a class i was also taking. when I confronted the guy about it as I held said textbooks in hand laughing (it was near midterms) he said “it doesn’t matter. i’ll pass.” he passed and it definitely wasn’t because he understood a damn thing in that course.

2. cliques exist on teams. ill break that down further. my boyfriend hung with like five of his teammates and a handful of athletes from another big sport at my school. those were who we were around on any given day. on weekends after games, or if there was a stretch with a break from some games, the entire team would go out. your ass better be at those team events or if not you better have a good reason why you’re not there. there was an issue off the ice involving the team and there was definitely a rift afterwards because a few of the guys were not there. it made for a really bad season with a team that should have done well.

3. they’re not tagging pics in real-time. they’ll post stuff a few days later with the tags on the locations so people think they know where they are if they post anything at all. that’s equally true for public and private accounts where tracking can be controlled. im sure most people recognize this, but i’ve never seen it stated outright. i was even asked to hold off on posting things until we were somewhere else even though my accounts are private. if they want you to know where they are, you’ll know where they are.

4. for the love of god do not send them nudes. not unless you want that entire team and possibly more to have them. getting nudes was a game to them.

5. which brings me to—they are ALWAYS involved in some sort of game or challenge with one another. the nudes was one, i can’t give anything more specific because i’d likely dox myself. not really feeling up for that blowback. just—they’re always betting each other over something and keeping tabs/score with something likely unrelated to hockey. sometimes it’s funny and sometimes “ew.” but there’s always something.

6. the sh*t they do off ice is hilarious and often unexpected. one of my best friends is the biggest a-hole on the ice, led the team in penalties, etc. off ice he’s the nicest human you will ever meet. he doesn’t read for fun, but he’s a nerd over a specific genre of movies that you wouldn’t expect. video games are pretty constant. they’re psychotically competitive even with those. watching giant man children rage quit video games is hilarious. oh and some of them have the weirdest habits. can’t really elaborate on that one. if anything i’d send it another time.

7. as someone that had a whole school watching my every move and then a whole city watching my every move, i can tell you it gets old fast—for everyone involved. i had people (guys and girls) show up where i lived. 95% of the sh*t i read online that was supposedly about me, him, me and him, etc was not even close to true. take what you see about any of the players or the people involved with them with a grain of salt.

8. sadly some of the worst guys are the ones in the longest relationships, or had families, etc. that was really horrifying to me. strictly anecdotal to my experience with two teams and their circles, but yeah. it was bad.

9. because the question comes up a lot—where? i met my boyfriend at mandatory study hall freshman year because im also an athlete. we never talk hockey. i talk hockey with my other friends and family, never with him or his teammates. he’s in it all day everyday, it’s his job, just like when im done with work i know i don’t want to talk about it, they’re the same way. if he brings it up, sure, but i’m sure as hell not gonna be the one to do that.

and for those keeping score: tall and natural blonde. many of his teammates over the years dated brunettes but they almost always ended up dying their hair blonde. so I don’t know if it’s blondes initially all the time. if anything i would just add that WAGs are their own beast with all the peer pressure and competitiveness of a team. the going blonde thing might be due to the pressures within that group.

way longer message than i intended but hopefully some valuable insight for those who have asked. as you’ve said, they’re humans like anyone else, their job is just different. oh, and summers were mostly working with skills coaches and rehabbing injuries/getting surgeries that are overdue that weren’t publicized. the public doesn’t know half the sh*t these guys are playing through.

everyone thank this anon for her service because this is absolutely perfect, no notes.

the ones i can most agree with / corroborate from my own experiences: she is 100% correct. do not send these guys nudes (i never have & never will, but know that they get them spread around quickly!!), and the same goes for competing over things. good lord, it’ll be the stupidest shit sometimes too but somehow it becomes a competition 😭 it’s crazy! and the same goes for schoolwork. it’s not just hockey. i have a friend who went to an SEC school with a historic football team (and sorority rush, cough cough), and she said the same thing about football players. they’ll pass. no matter what. doesn’t mean they’ll have a 4.0, but they’ll pass enough. i’m sure it’s the same with big hockey schools up here and the midwest as it is in the south with football. that doesn’t surprise me at all, unfortunately.

also, that last line. the public doesn’t know half the shit these guys are playing through. YUP. the things their bodies go through in not just a season, but in one game, are absolutely insane. and she’s very correct about privately-handled, unannounced offseason surgeries. 🙂‍↕️

i think the most interesting thing for you guys to see is her insight that most brunette WAGs end up going blonde & that whole explanation of the blonde WAG stereotype in every level of hockey.

whoever you are, i adore you, this was an amazing read, and if you ever want to talk privately in dms and stuff, i’d love to! if not, no worries, and thank you for stopping by & talking to me 🥰💋❤️

[exhosionn]

i’ve been here for a while and i still don’t know how to use this app anyways i need somewhere to post all my really random sampard headcannons so here we are honestly it’s really just random bullet points i’ve compiled and also most of this was written at 2am so there might be some spelling mistakes.. probably one other thing to mention, im not a lore reader,, i’ve been trying to recently because i find it really interesting but any details i’ve missed is bc i haven’t read it all yet 💔💔

gepard although hes not too great at taking plants (hes def trying tho) id like to think in his spare time he has like a book on floriography and goes to flower shops to buy sampo flowers with specific meanings?(like he goes to a flower shop and requests very specific types of flower arrangements)

sampo knows a LOT of things about belebog that no one else does some kind of like historical knowledge however i think the reason why sampo wont actually KNOw any floropgraphy is because with all his vast knowledge from across the universe as a masked fool, why would he bother to know something as ‘mundane’ as the meaning behind flowers.

to link to that, i think with sampos big world he sorrta gets dragged down to belebog in like a nice way and through gepard learns that the small things in life ACTUALLY matter or they noow matter. so for example these flowers he gets he never knows the meaning of them, def gets flustered by gepard initiating anything at all lmao.

i think sampo would ask around the underworld such as natasha, seele, even hook tbh about the meaning behind these flowers usually getting information from natasha. BUT he doesnt just outright ask he would like slip it into conversation because hes sly like that. Natasha very obviously catches on quite early on and although shes not as knowledgeable with the meanings she still retains enough information for sampo to start relying on her to help decode gepards bouquet.

one way or another serval catches wind of this (through natasha) and i think thats how she connects the dots

sampo most definitely leaves back notes with kisses on them on gepards windowsill (gep leaves his windows unlocked always.)

i can also imagine sampo to ‘retaliate’ somehow finding some extinct belobog flower and gifting it to geppie being all like ‘i bet ya can’t find the meaning behind this one’ lolll

gepard is a gay in denial in the sense that hes never had a crush on a woman but he sees madam poisson and he has a MASSIVE crush on her. everytime serval asks him if hes gay he brings up his ‘past’ crush on madam poisson.

gepard the 'nuh-uh' vs serval the 'yuh-huh’

serval has gepard as "gay man sighted in belobog" in her phone - sampard nation gave me these last two

serval and natasha they totally hang out at natasha’s clinic occasionally idk why i just see it

sampo kisses the scars on geps body

gep is taller w shoes one but actually shorter than sampo usually but no one believes sampo when he says thisn bc no one sees gep without his boots off.

sampo could be having the most absolute worst day and see gepard and feel beter same works for gepard except he doesnt realise it as much because gepard is more like ‘huh my headache clears from seeing sampo yeah he just uh annoys me so much that i think my heacache is clearing hahahaha’

soarkle and sampo sibling dynamic seems really funny but at times i also dont see it if we apply the whole sampo might be an emanator theory idk i think its silly at times but sometime it doesnt make sense….

on the other hand although it doesnt logically work sampo and seele sibling dynamic i actually really like it like a lot

i feel like gepard wears grampa pajamas?

although gepard def gets flustered by sampos flirting all the time, the one who actually initiated anything i believe would be gepard (ill go more into why i think so at a later date)

both of them are really light sleepers and have trouble sleeping all the time

also gep likes to hold onto sampo a lot when they fall asleep cuz he get scared that sampo might just leave randomly

i love these two sosososo much im going insane i need more headcannons to fill the brainrot

[theautotrophic]

my girl Violette!!!!

Dumping all the lore I have about my stupid little girlfailure bisexual radiostatic fankid <<<3333

So basically, she's a loser, a fossil, and I don't mean to sound hostile - but the demon is a coward >>:D

She's an absolute LOSER GIRLFAILURE just like her dad <3

Idk know how to explain it honestly, like, just think of the biggest, most dumbest of ass, girl loser you can think of and that's her

Just an absolutely deranged loser idiot

She runs a company with her brother Veer (maybe streaming or smth 🤔🤔 I haven't figured it out yet). She's the "creative mind" (kills people) and he's the brains behind the operation

A company name I thought of might be Viedio Enterprises?

For her powers they're a bit of a mixture between Vox and Alastor

She can travel via shadows the same as Alastor

She can use other people's shadows to puppeteer them

She's got a connection to the Internet and television the same as Vox because of her head and antenna

Can play things through her radio and on her screen and manipulate devices around her

Connection to radiowaves

She can probably traverse the Internet

Can corrupt technology

Basically, she would be an extremely powerful overlord if she wasn't such an idiot

I think I'm gonna have like two different timelines for this AU since I couldn't decide if I wanted them to be adults or kids when the hotel opens and Alastor returns after 7 years

Cause I think it would be really funny if Vox accidentally created her (and her brother Veer who I'll probably post for later once I actually make a good drawing of him) while Alastor was away for seven years and Alastor comes back and learns he has kids and is like "how the fuck-"

But also their adult personalties are so fun and I'd love to think about how they would react to Alastor going missing for 7 years (cause if they were adults he def would have raised them with Vox) and I just think the potential in that AU is more fun, while them being kids I can just think of a lot of art and funny moments to draw

So, in the case where they're younger Vox would accidentally create them a few months after Alastor has left when he's super desperate to find him. He would be like doing some type of demonic magic summoning circle type shit to try and summon Alastor or find out where he is but he has actually no idea what he's doing. So he's got like this whole setup sort of thing with like his blood and Alastor's hair in this wholeass satanic circle. And so he does the spell. And instead of summoning Alastor it like combines their DNA and BOOM, congrats ur a single father now. And now Vox just has two kids to raise. (Yes I thought of all this just because mpr3g makes me uncomfy (but also this scenario is both very funny and kind of sad to me and I will be drawing it at some point. probably)).

OR

if they were older, like in their twenties by the time Alastor comes back idk Vox would probably still accidentally create them somehow I'd have to think about it

So yeah ill probably just do both versions and do what I want

Anyways! Send me asks about her if you'd like I'd love to talk about her :]

[zeivira]

Also I know you said that Wilhelm probably wouldn’t be as close with Subaru due to Heinkel’s presence, but I’d like to think that he still thinks very fondly of Subaru as the one who made the fight against the Whale possible. Perhaps he decides to work to save his life as a form of repaying the debt? (Even while Subaru insists that he’s fine, please—)

I still personally really adore the idea of Subaru falling asleep right after the fight against he Whale because it was exhausting and scaring the crap out of Wilhelm and also the entire army. I know that technically doesn’t fit with the idea of Heinkel having sought him out due to rumors of his condition, but it’s such a funny alternative scene— or maybe Heinkel only found out because he’s like a bloodhound for information on Sleeping Diseases idk—

Absolutely!! Subaru and him interact less but he still 100% cares about Subaru and would try to save him!! The only thing all three Astrea have in common is that they all want to save Subaru lmao.

…yes, all three, because although Heinkel is only onboard to save Louanna, I imagine he would end up working with the Emilia Camp instead of the Priscilla Camp here (Emilia can also help him get the Dragon’s Blood after all?) and Subaru is a bit like fungus, grows on you after a while. 

In canon, he kinda sees Schult as the “son he never had” so in this case, he sees Subaru as that L M A O. Or maybe his pet rat. That’s also accurate. Poor Rein either way.

As Subaru is “ill” I imagine most people (including Wilhelm!) would insist Subaru shouldn't be present during the whale fight. OFC Subaru is not skipping that, so he would go either way. And Subaru also doesn’t like looking weak, so i 100% imagine he would try to sleep a little *before* the whale hunt so as to not give them any other reason to call him that. 

Of course, this would be the exact moment in which Wilhelm and Crusch go fetch him to talk about some Classified Information… Wilhelm would be uncomfortable af at seeing him sleeping peacefully, Crusch would be having war trauma (Fourier!) and Heinkel would be scoffing and muttering something like: “You dipshits, he is sleeping, not dead.” while sitting next to Subaru’s bed.

(About your other Ask i havent replied to yet— You do raise a good point OP. Reinhard's scene WAS a good scene...OKAY... won't write it rn because I have an important deadline soon and I really can't write when stressed, not even short scenes, but I shall try writing it later (in two weeks or so?) when I have more free time (I'm starting a new job :D). If i do manage to write something interesting I shall post it as a reply to your other ask instead of in Ao3 though! Will be tagging all No Rest for The Wicked stuff under that tag now so you can find the ask easily when i post. No idea how anon asks work lmao)

[the-pea-and-the-sun]

Ummm two of your favorite sitcoms I should check out

& what’s a card game that would be fun to get into. Or how do you play blackjack/count cards

MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE its genuinely so good an super foundational to post 2000s sitcoms it kinda shook up the established sitcom format w some unconventional directing and also by portraying a low-class family where most sitcoms up to that point portrayed upper-middle class families. its also um. funny. one of the few shows where i feel like im really fond of every main character

THE NANNY childhood favorite of mine very classic comforting sitcom I LOVE FRAN DRESCHERR shes amazing.

UM HONESTLY. I KINDA ONLY KNOW ABT BLACKJACK but i hear baccarat is fun for ppl who like skill based card games.. also u can do tarot readings w regular card decks which i think is very cool 👍

ILL TELL U HOW TO COUNT CARDS im so glad ppl r reading my abt me page AND I LOVE TALKING ABT IT ITS ACTUALLY VERY COOL OK SO

BASICALLY rules 4 black jack are easy. ur ignoring colors and shapes on ur cards (this isnt easy i know..) those are all numbers now. the ones that have numbers on them r the number they are and the ace is either 1 or 11 depending on which is better for u (or the dealer) and all the other cards without numbers (king queen jack) are 10. ur goal is to get a higher number than the dealer without going over 21. u and the dealer both start with two cards and u can only see one of the dealers cards and u make ur decisions based on that. dealer has the advantage (except when they dont. ill explain this later) because since the dealer doesnt do anything until u bust or stand it makes it so that ur at risk of busting first (since u cant bust with just two cards). u can hit (ask for another card) or stand (no more cards im all done) or u can double (ask for another card AND double ur bet bcz ur so sure this next card is gonna be a good one) AND u can also split if both ur cards are the same. then u have two hands, which means u can bust on one and keep playing on the other. also sometimes u can get a natural blackjack. this is awesome and important but u dont do anything to make it happen exactly it just happens when u get an ace and a 10 as ur first two cards and then u get a 3:2 payout 👍

OK SO THATS JUST REGULAR BLACKJACK most ppl when playing regular blackjack are just following their heart when they make choices so their odds are dogshit but for every hand u have and card the dealer has there's actually a right answer. heres a link to a chart with all the right answers. memorizing this is called basic strategy 👍 and its actually a lot harder than actually counting cards but counting cards is useless without it. there are some cool little lines and phrases that make memorizing it easier. it isnt terribly hard though i think, they still make some middle schoolers memorize the periodic table and this is basically just like. three of those. ppl who play blackjack for funzies regularly are looking at absolutely trash odds like a lot of the time only slightly better than a slot machine but if ur playing with perfect basic strategy ur odds go up to abt 49.5 percent. but ur STILL losing more than ur winning so thats where actual card counting comes in. so theres more than one card counting method but the one i know is hi-lo where u just keep a "running count" of ur current odds for winning by looking at the cards that are coming out of the deck (its actually a shoe, bcz its more than one deck) and using that to determine what kind of cards are left. 10 and ace decrease the count by 1, 6 and below increase the count by one, and 7 8 and 9 dont change the count. a high number means theres more good cards in the deck (because more bad cards have already been dealt) and a low number means theres more bad cards in the deck bcz the good cards have already been dealt. there are some variants to basic strategy based on the current count (and also based on a few rule variants and shoe size) but basically. higher count = bet more. lower count = get outta there. if ur playing w more ppl at ur table ur seeing more cards per turn an ur count will be more accurate 👍whats pretty interesting is that the thing thats giving u the advantage over the dealer despite the dealer not being able to bust before you is that you get 3:2 on natural blackjacks. so ur basically relying on the fact that youll just win automatically sometimes to have ur advantage over the dealer and are just mitigating loses the rest of the time when this doesnt happen.

SO THATS IT its actually not super hard u could probably get pretty good at it in just a few months or even weeks. the only thing is that when ur using basic strategy perfectly and counting cards perfectly ur odds only go up to 50.5 percent which. GREAT ur beating the house and playing for long enough should eventually mean more money over time but ur still only averaging more money over time. and just like how ppl working with dogshit odds occasionally win big, u working with slightly better than 50/50 odds can occasionally lose big and a lot. also if ur betting small, ur winning small. so in order to really make a worthwhile profit playing blackjack u kinda already have to have a lotta money. like if ur making $100 worth of bets an hour ur only averaging abt a dollar profit per hour. to be averaging (not making. AVERAGING) california minimum wage you'd have to be betting like $1600 an hour. so it isnt quite the get rich quick scheme that a lotta people think it is but it IS pretty fun and is kind of the only part of gambling i enjoy. probability is cool 👍

[darkfictionjude]

Etymology nonnie here!

Although I'm sure many of my questions may be answered in the patreon demo, I do have some things to ask about the Mafia IF (it's initials would be EC, right?).

1. One of the RO's is considered the heir of our family. Which means that Luce, for whatever reason, is not. Now, why is Luce not the heir?

Well, maybe this is customizable, but I see the following possibilities:

a) Luce is not part of the Mafia business. Either because their father does not want them to and Luce accepts this (that is, Luce would be allowed to be a part of it, but neither their parent nor them want them to be), or because Luce is allowed not to be a part of it. Maybe the plan is something similar to Michael Corleone, so Luce is meant to have legit career like Law, so eventually they can become a politician who helps the business that way. There are plenty of possibilities. I think this one is very likely because of the fiancé(e), but I don't know if they are a marriage out of convenience, love, or both.

b) Luce is a part of the Mafia business, but is less capable than the chosen heir. Or Luce is considered less trustworthy, for whatever reason.

c) Luce is not part of the Mafia business by not fault of their own. But they have an issue, like an illness or disability, that does not allow them to be a member. Something similar to WWC MC, if you will. I doubt this is the case, since normally such a thing is included in the original post. Although I do admit it would be interesting and angsty.

d) Luce is part of the Mafia business, but has been made to work from the bottom to the top. So, they are not considered the heir thanks to this. They have to still reach a higher position in the hierarchy.

There may be another explanations that are not dependant on Luce. Like the heir being a secret child of Luce's father (which I doubt because although this blog has debated about including incest in IFs, I would expect this to be announced in the introductory post). Or maybe the relationship between Luce and their family is very strained, or at least enough that no one expects to have Luce inherit everything.

But what really makes me curious is why the heir is younger than Luce. I think I would have less of a need to ask about the situation if the heir was older. Since in that circumstance I would just assume they came first into the position, and Luce's father later refused to remove his favor. But even then, the age gap is very small (just one year, if I recall correctly), so therefore the father would be aware of both at the same time for the most part.

I'm really curious about that dynamic.

In a similar vein, I'm also curious about the other RO's, but so far I don't know what to say or ask, since I know way too little about them to make any sort of idea in my head. It probably doesn't help that we don't have the appearance description of either of them (as far as I remember, I apologize if I'm wrong).

I understand if you cannot, or don't want to, say why Luce is not the heir if they belong to the family and their father is in charge (this is what I understood, maybe I'm wrong and all of this ask is nonsense). But I wanted to give my two cents. It'll be very funny if every theory of mine is wrong.

Also, while I wanted the Hollywood IF first, I prefer for you to write the one you want to first instead. And the Mafia is interesting too, so I wouldn't complain either way.

Yes it’s EC

So there is a reason why Luce was passed over and all I can say is that it’s not because Antonio (Luce’s dad) and Maria (Luce’s mom) hate their child. Actually, they really love Luce. Luce could’ve been heir, they were considered after a ~certain~ event happened but then they weren’t which proved to be a controversial choice as Lazlo isn’t Italian it went against a sacred rule.

Also consider if Luce is a girl or/and trans that’s also a strike against them as the Italian mafia is very patriarchal (Carmen was passed over for her younger brother), homophobic, transphobic and racist (there will never be slurs against minorities in the game because that’s not needed to show the prejudice and it makes me uncomfortable to write it). So yeah Luce as a cis boy had better chances but due to an incident they were also set aside,

I’ll make separate posts for the ROs descriptions. A quickie though: Dante has wavy black shaggy hair, light brown skin. Carmen has fair skin, black fabulously voluminous hair. Lazlo has red hair, freckles on pale skin. Charley has dark brown skin, keeps her hair in a braid she wraps into a bun.

Also I wrote for EC and the Hollywood IF at the same time, that one has a demo too ☺️