#um. yeah. act five. ohhhhh gods

[extantformoflife]

do you think if I don't look at my computer for the whole time I play this bit act five will be easier to get through

[sokkas-honour]

Let’s say #10 of the Spotify wrapped writing for Korra :)

ANON HOW DID YOU KNOW

girls - korra x reader

pairing: korra x fem!reader

wc: 1.7k with lyrics

warning/notes: i can’t think of anything, but if there is fee free to message me!

taglist (message me/fill out form): @draqondance @biqherosix

i've been hiding for so long, these feelings, they're not gone, can i tell anyone?

you stared at her from across the room, god she was beautiful. the way she laughed and joked around with your brother made you heart soar, the sheer sound of her joy making your day.

you snapped out of your staring when your older brother came by, a stack of empty boxes in his arms as he dropped them on the ground, the thump getting your attention.

“oh thank god you found the boxes mako.” you sighed in relief at the fear of not finding the boxes to put back all the decorations used for varrick and zhu li’s wedding.

“they were in ikki’s room for some reason.” makos discovery caused a laugh to come out, your brother following your lead.

“how in the world did they end up there?” you wondered as you grabbed some of the decorations off the tables and placed them delicately into one of the boxes.

“no idea.” he answered, taking the decorations off of the other tables and copying you.

“you two need some help?” you felt your cheeks heat up and heart pick up as you heard the voice of the woman you loved dearly. you met her eyes and smiled.

“i wouldn’t say no to it.” you joked, smile growing bigger as you watched her laugh.

mako called bolin over for help as korra worked on the same tables as you did. working in unison, your hands accidentally landed on top of each other’s as you grabbed the same center piece, a blush erupting on both of your cheeks.

once you were done and your brothers went to bring the majority of the boxes to where varrick wanted them to, you were left alone with your girlfriend.

“i saw you staring before, you’re not very discreet.” korra teased once the both of you were alone which just made heat rush to your cheeks which just made her laugh at your flustered expression.

“yeah well youre insanely cute when you laugh.” you answered, arms wrapping around her waist and head being placed on her chest as you breathed in her comforting scent.

“i’m always cute.” she joked, earning a small chuckle from you as you looked up to her, loving smile adorning her face.

when you thought you heard someone coming, you quickly unwrapped yourself and jumped back, afraid of them seeing you two hug. you looked around frantically only to find that you were still alone. with a sigh of relief, you returned your attention to the avatar whos expression had changed to one of slight disappointment.

“y/n, we can’t keep sneaking around like this. one day or another, we should tell the others. you especially should come out to your brothers.” she sighed. you two had gotten together right after defeating kuvira but she had come out a while before leaving for the south pole after zaheer.

it hurt korra to see you living some sort of double life, lying to your brothers who tried to get you to bring someone to th wedding about you seeing someone, your brothers still fully thinking that you were only interested in men which would be the opposite of the truth.

“i know, i’ll tell them one day but i just, don’t know when.” you shrugged off your concerns and told a white lie to the girl in front of you.

afraid of what they'll say, so i push them away, i’m acting so strange

“y/n, you’re not telling the truth. i’m your girlfriend, we may have only been together for a little over two weeks but we’ve been friends for years, i can tell when you’re lying.” she informed, placing her hand over yours that was limp next to your hip. you grabbed onto it and sighed, you knew you were going to caught and have to voice your fears eventually but some part of you had hoped that your girlfriend wasn’t as smart as she said she was, she unfortunately wasn’t.

“sometimes i forgot how much of a genius you are.” you smiled half heartedly as she looked at you concerned, wanting to know the reason why you were still in the closet after supposed years of knowing your sexuality.

“babe come on, you can tell me.” she insisted, giving your hand a little squeeze from encouragement.

you took a deep breath in and let it out it, coming yourself in order to tell your girlfriend the reason why you hadn’t come out yet.

“i just. i don’t know how mako and bolin will react.” you finally admitted, feeling as though a huge weight was lifted from your shoulders when suddenly, the girl in front of you starting laughing. you quirked an eyebrow, wondering why the hell was she laughing.

“y/n! you saw how they reacted when i came out! they were completely and utterly fine with it! hell they were super supportive of me!” she reasoned once her laughter died down.

“i know but i’m their sister, it’s different.”

“no y/n it isn’t. why would it be any different.” she asked, confused at your stupid reasoning:

“i mean for one, they’re going to be mad i never told them anything, especially since i’ve already dated a girl or two. two, they might find it a tad bit weird when we tell them we’re dating.”

“well your first reason could’ve been avoided if you’d told them in the first place.” she pointed out, earning a small blush from you. “and second, they won’t, trust me. mako might be a bit stunned but he’ll be 100% supportive, don’t even get me started on bolin.”

“you’re right, i should probably tell them.” you sighed in defeat, head turning slightly to stare at the building on air temple island where your brothers probably were.

“if you want ill be there.” she proposed, her free hand placing itself on your cheek to which you gladly leaned into.

“yeah, i’d like that.”

they're so pretty, it hurts, im not talking 'bout boys, I'm talking 'bout girls, they're so pretty with their button-up shirts.

after dinner, mako, bolin, and you were on kitchen duty to clean the dishes, giving you the perfect opportunity to finally come out to your brothers and stop hiding.

as you finished drying a plate, you decided that it was time. especially since bolin was bringing up the idea of setting you up with someone.

“okay so y/n, i found this great guy that you’ll love. super sweet, super nice, super good looking, bolin approved guy.” your younger brother told you, scrubbing the food off one of the dishes.

“that’s nice bo but i’ve got something to tell you both.” in an almost perfect synchronised moment, both of them stopped what they were doing and turned to you. with both of their eyes on you, you froze a bit.

“sure y/n, what’s up?” mako encouraged, seeing your slightly stunned state and helping you snap out of it.

“i’m gay.” you blurted out. mentally smacking yourself for saying it so bluntly and straight to the point.

“knew it.” mako smirked as bolin let out a big ‘ohhhhh’.

“okay then, i think i know this one really nice, sweet, bolin approved girl that i believe also likes girls.” the earthbender quickly responded, correcting his previous date proposition to adjust it to the news.

“thanks bo but that’s not necessary.” you smiled gratefully at the youngest of you three before turning your attention to the eldest.

“what makes you say that mako?” you inquired, curious as to why your brother wasn’t very surprised at the news.

“well um, i.” mako stumbled over his words, slightly unsure of how to go about it but he recomposed himself. “i think you forget that as your older brother, i was able to see things that you didn’t.”

“go on, i’m intrigued.” it was now your turn to smirk.

“at first it was probably the constantly stealing mom’s kyoshi book, only to stare at the pictures of kyoshi warriors.” he joked.

“hey i still know a lot about kyoshi warriors!” you protested, half joking about the reason why you were addicted to the book.

“yeah but i literally walked into your room when you were about five only to see you open at the same page for a solid ten minutes. also, you couldn’t read!”

“i’m surprised mako caught any of it because it’s news to me. good news though!” bolin inserted himself back into the conversation, a cheery grin on his face.

“i think the longing stares between you and that waterbender from the red sands rabaroos could’ve also been an indication. and the constant cheering for them.” mako teased, resuming his dunking of plates in the water.

“yeah, umi and i didn’t last too long but it was fun while it lasted.” you reminisced over your first girlfriend, and followed your brothers lead to return to drying plates, leaving a dumbfounded brother to connect the dots.

“wait, you dated someone in an enemy team? y/n!” bolin gasped, accusing you in a joking manor.

“guilty as charged.” you smirked.

“okay well, let me set you up with someone! i’m sure i know another lesbian or bisexual!” bolin persisted with his idea so you thought that you might as well come out about korra and you.

“well bo, mako, i’m kinda seeing someone right now.” you started but were interrupted by someone barging in, the exact person you were about to mention.

“are you idiots done yet? we figured we’d all go see a probending match tonight but if you slowpokes aren’t done we might miss it!” korra informed the three of them. the two boys quickly returned to work but your gaze lingered on the avatar.

“so are you going to tell us or?” mako asked as korra left.

“i think you’ll figure it out.” your eyes stayed a little too long in the direction that your girlfriend left, a smirk on your lips at the idea of making your brothers wait.

when you all made your way to the probending arena, you caught up with korra and asami in the front, making sure to interlock your fingers with the watertribe girl.

“im guessing you told them?” asami asked, a knowing smile on her face at the romantic gesture.

“not exactly.” you guiltily admitted as you heard two gasps behind you. one was almost dramatically loud while the other was a bit more subtle.

“y/n!” you heard from the two boys behind you, and korra gave you a knowing smile, your idiot brothers had figured it out.

[cinnamonboleyn]

Favourite Six Dialogue

I’ve seen a few people do this and I wanted to give my take on it! I’m sorry if these are all outdated lines, lol.

or as we like to call it.... HERSTORY

*obnoxious laughter*

And killing it on the keys we’ve got Joan!

*very soft piano song*

*GUITAR HIT*

The winning contestant was the most Protestant!

and TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT WHAT YOU REALLY REALLY WANT!.... to know

Muyyyy bieeeennn

I just don’t think I’ll look that good in a wIMPLE! So I’m like NO. WAY.

The one with the Plan,

the Plan To Steal The Man,

ANNE!

YEAHIhadadaughterandhe l i t t e r a l y CHOPPED MY HEAD OFF

wow yeah, what a stressful situation that literally never happened

You know, like GIRL POWER WOOOO!

HANS *raspy voice* h o l b e i n

no need to zank us, ze pleasure has been ours iN ZE HAUS OF HOLBEIN

-UH! *snap* How about the loss of the SACRED BOND given to you by GOD that comprimis- ILOSTMYHEAD!

yeah, speaking of funny, good luck trying to compete with us, honey!

your lives sound terrible! and your songs

Just. The entirety of K Howard’s speech.

Um excuse me? Were you not listening to my song? There were 4 CHORUSES, THAT’S HOW MUCCHHH i had to deal with

Nice neck, by the way! *high five*

OHHHHH BOOOOOO HOOOOOO BABYMARYHADTHECHICKENPOCKS and YOU weren’ttheretoholdherhand you know, it’s funny because when I wanted to hold my NEWBORNSON, I! DIED!

lol, just kidding my life’s AMAZING

Hell yeah Anna’s killing it

and get down like it’s 1499

eveRYONE NOTICES JANE CAN’T DANCE

one of

*sung depressingly*

s i i i i x

Since the only thing we have in common is our husband, grouping us is an inherently comparative act and as such unnecessarily elevates a historical approach ingrained in patriarchal structures- yeah. I read.

this is a REMIX!!!!!!!

But why does anyone give a SHHHH who he is?!?

Or could it be his extraordinarily

*hit*

Strong

*hit*

Six W I I I I I V E S!

that freaking harmony. Kills me

we thought so.

[wintersnightdiary]

Bombshells - Chapter 1 of 2

AUTHOR: wintersnightdiary WHICH CHARACTER: Actor Seb GENRE: Angst, Friendship FIC SUMMARY: Tatiana, stylist and part-owner of Bombshells, a themed men's salon in New York City, is thrown off-guard when an old friend and former regular client decides to pop back in for a service.

WARNINGS/TRIGGERS: None. Tame for now, eventual smut.

FEEDBACK/COMMENTS: Feedback and comments are welcome! 

Chapter 1

Tying the black apron around my waist, I blew the bangs off my face with a huff. Salon still doesn’t open for another 2 hours. Ugh. Grabbing my Starbucks off the counter, I took a long, satisfying swig. It was way too early for this shit. But, we were down three girls during the crazy weekend rush and business had to go on regardless, especially for the owner, AKA, me. One of five owners to be exact, and as any proper entrepreneur would say that equals no days off and no rest for the weary.

I lugged all of the boxes of new inventory to the front and finished stocking the shelves just in time for my phone to ping with an incoming message.

CD: << pleeeeeeeeeease tell me you are working today >>

I rolled my eyes at the text. The question was completely random and out of the blue, but not surprising at all, coming from this particular person. I began to type a long irritated message to the tune of, ‘Fuck off! Do you have a tracking chip implanted on me or something?’ before forgoing that rash idea and deciding on something more vague and brief. 

<< Sort of. Not open yet. Putting away inventory >>

Before I could elaborate, I received a response.

CD: <<YES! Be there in 20>>

Growling, I muttered to myself, “Son of a bitch.” Once he made a decision, there was no arguing it. Might as well get ready for the insufferable pain in the ass. He had some nerve texting me out of nowhere like that, considering how we’d left things. But again, couldn’t say I was that surprised. Fucker.

Gathering up the rest of the supplies, I shoved the boxes along the walls behind the front counter. Guess I’ll have one of the girls unpack these in the stockroom for me later when they get in. I raced to the back room to change into my uniform.

The idea for this business venture revealed itself while we were still in our last year at NYU. A group of five friends, tremendously inebriated at the time, were rambling aimlessly about their plans for the future and what their dreams were post-graduation. It was when I had admitted, half-jokingly, about wanting to throw my shitty foreign language degree out the window and just cut hot men’s hair for a living that my friend Sasha chimed in with, “Or you can use your Business Admin Minor to open a salon.”

It was that simple comment that opened the floodgates of drug and alcohol fueled ideas to start flowing from the group. Shouts of, “Ohhhhh, it should be a themed salon!”

“We should do something that caters to men!”

“Maybe something with a sexy theme! Sex sells, especially for men.”

“OH! A Hooters for haircuts!” 

The ideas were shouted around in a giant circle of words until we had all concluded that opening up a salon called “Bombshells” was the greatest idea, ever. The employees would all have cute, military themed, skimpy uniforms, and cater to men all over NYC. We’d also make sure to employ some male stylists, as well. We had the best business plan in the world! Well, best plan until we all graduated and forgot about that faithful conversation on a typical, young and wild weekend.

It was a few years later that my friend Maya called out of the blue, and asked if I remembered that crazy idea we’d had all those years ago. After a lengthy discussion and agreeing to reach out to our old friends, we had all hands on deck and Maya’s dad’s money to help invest in the place. It was a lot of strenuous effort, elbow grease and collaboration from everyone to make it happen, but we did and never looked back. I was so glad Maya called me all of those years ago, because even though the salon was hard work, it was my ultimate dream and it was worth it.

I put on the barely-there, olive-green, army uniform. I knew he preferred this particular outfit most, which of course I teased him about in context. Just as I put the finishing touches on my make-up and smoothed my hair under the triangle cap I had bobby-pinned askew on the top of my head, the buzzer rang.

Crap. He’s here already. I started to hurry toward the door, but stopped mid-way to take a deep breath and calm myself. It had been so long since I had seen or even spoken to him, and the nerves were overwhelming me. The bastard.

Catching his dazzling smile and mischievous eyes peering underneath his baseball cap, I opened the glass door with a flourish.

“Come inside, you big dweeb!” I taunted while grabbing his arm and dragging him in. He let me pull him inside before snatching his arm back, laughing as I pushed and locked the door.

“So, that’s the greeting I get after all this time?” He mocked a pout garnished with an impish gleam in his eyes.

I huffed past him in irritation. “What were you expecting? An opened-mouthed frencher?”

“Mm. Maybe.” I heard him say from behind me, teasingly.

I grunted absently in response and busied myself by getting the station ready. “Aw, come on, Tati.” He said as he grabbed my arm and turned me around. “Don’t I at least get a hug?” Before I could react, he gathered me in his strong arms and squeezed tightly.

Frozen in shock, I stood near catatonic from surprise. I felt his head come around and he uttered lowly in my ear, “God, I’ve missed you so much. You look and smell incredible.” He took a deep breath, pressing his nose into my neck.

As he began to step-in closer, I finally came to my senses and pushed him firmly away. “You know what, Seb? That’s fucking bullshit and you know it.” My blood began to boil; I felt the hot rage starting to simmer inside. “I am really not in the mood today. So, why don’t you come with me to the sink and let’s get this over with.”

A look of complete disbelief took over Sebastian’s face, his mouth gaping open and his eyes wide with alarm. He just stared at me, like an insane looking bug-eyed statue. If I weren’t so filled with fury, I would actually find it quite comical. Unfortunately for him, I was teaming with ire.

Of course he would act completely innocent, like he did nothing wrong. Of course he would. If I was angry before, I was even more pissed off now. What was it with men and their selective memory? He had to know why I was so upset. I was absolutely sick of Sebastian Stan coming in and out of my life whenever he damned well pleased. Well, not entirely true. I would be happy with him coming into it, if it didn’t mean a swift and unpredictable exit immediately afterward.

After our blank-stare standoff, Seb was the first to move. He shook his head slightly and his face twisted into a look of contrite. I knew what was coming, and I had absolutely no desire to hear it. Turning around to walk toward the sinks, I felt a swift hand reach out to grab and stop me. “Tatiana, I’m really…”

I held up my hand. “Seb, no.” I tore my other hand out of his and stepped back. “Look. It is what it is. Let’s not get into this now. Just… follow me to the sinks and let’s get on with your cut,” I said firmly.

He looked down at the ground and fidgeted a bit. I immediately began to feel bad. Ugh! Why do I let him affect me like this? I couldn’t bear seeing him upset and I hated that he had this pull over me. I sighed dramatically. “I’m not trying to start an argument right now. You came here for a service, so let’s get it going. I don’t want us to have tension the whole time. It’s fine. Let’s just forget about it.” I grabbed his hand and he finally looked up and smiled at me.

“But, Tati, you’re right. I was an asshole and I should’ve never…”

I interrupted him again. “Stop. Let’s go have a wash.” I pulled his arm and began walking to the back with him trailing after. He trudged behind me and then plopped himself on the sink chair. He looked up at me from underneath his cap. “Now, are you going to take that thing off and let me survey the damage or what?” I quipped with my hand on my hip.

Sebastian gave a bashful smile before removing his hat and running his hand through, further disheveling his matted down hair. “Yeah, it’s been awhile.” He sighed while giving a self-deprecating look.

I ran my hands through his soft, silken strands and replied, “You ain’t kidding.” His hair was like heaven, shiny, smooth and emulated spun silk, not to mention one of the many attractive qualities about him. Stop it, Tati. You know there’s no place for those thoughts now. “So, what shall we do?” I asked while fingering his overgrown mane.

“Well, um. Nothing too crazy, I guess. Just… maybe a little bit of a cleanup and trim,” Sebastian responded tentatively.

Nodding a bit in response, I walked back over to the sink feeling Seb’s eyes trail behind me. “So, how’ve you been?” I attempted idle chatter not really anticipating the unwanted topic I was inadvertently opening up.

“You’re really not gonna let me apologize to you?” He turned his head to look at me, while I mostly pretended to search the cabinets for a towel and hair products.

“Apologize for what?” I said, distractedly.

“Aw, maaan. You really are upset with me, aren’t you? I really fucked up.” He cursed under his breath. “I know I did. But, Tati, I promise you, it’s not that I did it on purpose…”

Scoffing loudly, I slammed the shampoo and conditioner down on the counter. “You didn’t do ANYTHING, Seb! That’s the point.” I wrapped the towel around his neck and turned the water on to test the temperature.

“I know… and I-,” he began but was quickly cut off.

Leveling the sink faucet head and pointing it at his face, I began raging, “So help me, Sebastian if you try to half-ass apologize to me right now...”

“It’s not a half-ass apology!” He spun around and looked at me incredulously. Running his fingers nervously through his hair, he attempted to say more calmly, “If you could just-.”

“Listen. I really REALLY don’t want to do this right now, OK? I honestly and truly don’t.” I sighed in exasperation. Giving him the best pleading look I could muster, I said, “Please. Please, just let it go. I’m trying to. Let’s just say whatever happened… happened. And whatever didn’t… well, it just didn’t.” I shrugged trying to appear nonchalant, albeit reeling inside.

The face peering back at me was completely ashamed and I was having a hard time holding it together. Stop feeling sorry for HIM, you idiot. Hold your fucking ground for once! “Plus, you have a girlfriend now, so… how’s that going?” I blurted out menacingly.

“Tatiana-,” he whined, but the warning glare I gave him made him pause.

Nodding slowly in resigned acceptance, he responded. “Good. It’s going good, great… actually.” Wringing his hands and running his hand through his hair again, he turned around and stared at the floor. “We just came back from a trip.” He mumbled.

Before that could lead to a conversation I had entirely no interest in having, I quickly deflected. “Super. So do you want just a quick trim then? Shorter on the sides and longer on the top? The usual?” I inquired with a forced peppiness.

Sebastian let out a huge sigh and shook his head a bit. “Yeah. That would be perfect. Thanks,” he continued with his head down.

I went to stand in-between his outstretched legs and he slowly raised his head to scan me from bottom to top before biting his lip and leaning back in his chair. Gently, I nudged his shoulders and put my finger under his chin to tilt his head backwards into the sink. He gazed up at me while I leaned further to reach the faucet handle in the back. I applied the water down over his hair, getting it thoroughly wet.

Walking around to the side of his chair near the sink, I lathered up my hands with shampoo. “So, Mr. Hollywood, what’chu been up to?” I asked, attempting to start a benign conversation.

A slight smirk formed at the corner of his mouth before replying, “You know. This and that.”

Placing my soap-covered hands on his hair, I transferred the cleanser with my fingers, slowly massaging his scalp. “Oh, the old this, that and the other, eh?” I grinned as I continued my ministrations.

“Mm. Yeah,” was the only thing Seb said as his eyes closed. He wore a blissful look on his face as I massaged his head with my fingers. My hands moved slow and methodical, rubbing downward and into his scalp. Sebastian sighed and groaned whenever I hit a particular sweet spot. “Oh my god. You really haven’t lost your touch,” he groaned.

I smiled a little at the admission. Seb always did enjoy my shampoo sessions. It’s one of first compliments I ever received in the salon when we opened, and ironically Sebastian was my very first client. He happened upon my chair by pure chance. I wasn’t scheduled to work as a stylist, but we were very busy and with the growing line, I decided to step in and help out.

He became quite the regular customer after that. Of course, he wasn’t that well-known back then and could practically just walk-in during regular salon hours. I remember being so smitten over Sebastian, the adorable man with the sexy smile. Some things never change.

The wistful look I was sporting transformed to quiet shock when I felt fabric rubbing up against the side of my leg. Looking down, I noticed Seb’s leg passing over mine, whether purposefully or not, I didn’t know. But the suddenness of it all had caused me to pause my ministrations just long enough for Seb to notice. He opened his eyes curiously and stopped the movement in his leg. Realization suddenly dawning, his face transformed into a look of panic as his hand went to rub the spot his limb was previously touching. It was a reflexive reaction and I’m sure not purposefully done, but when Seb’s bare hand touched the skin on my thigh, I felt a thrill of excitement run through me. I haven’t felt those rough hands in so long, and they felt entirely too good.

Once he recognized what he did yet again, he quickly brought his hand away and began stammering. “Oh my god. Tati, I’m so sorry. I thought that was the side of the chair! I was practically half asleep the whole time. I-I… had no idea what I was doing.” He squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment.

I shook my head a bit to gather my senses and began to giggle at the ridiculousness of it all. “Oh come on, you big baby. It’s fine.” I admonished. “It’s not like we haven’t-,” I stopped myself before I could even utter the rest out loud.

Yes, Sebastian and I slept together. We shared a drunken night of passion after months of sexual tension. Yes, it was wonderful and lived up to every fantasy I’d ever had about him. It was all more than amazing. Except the part where he pretty much disappeared off the face of the earth the next day, and I never saw or heard from him again, that is… until today.

“Yeah. Well…” I trailed off as I turned the water back on. “Let’s get you all rinsed off so we can cut this rug of yours and get you out of here.” I bantered, hurriedly changing the subject. Can’t believe you were actually going to go there, Tati. What the fuck?

Seb squinted and stared at me with one eye open. “Aw, really? I was really enjoying that,” he sulked.

I laughed and continued to rinse his hair. “Well, mister. It’s going to be opening time soon. And I’m just trying to get you out of here before you are stuck in a massive hug line, taking endless selfies.” Seb grinned and gave a shrug in resigned agreement.

After drying his hair a bit with a towel, I gestured for him to follow me to my station. I twirled around quickly once I reached the chair making my skirt flare, and caught Seb staring down at my bare legs. Realizing he was just caught in the act, he coughed and cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment. “So. Um. How have you been, Tati? The place looks really nice. Did you renovate?” He asked sheepishly, trying very hard to change the subject.

I went over to my drawer and started pulling out the tools I needed for his cut, beaming internally. I knew putting on this outfit was a good choice. “Yeah. The rest of the gang thought it would be a good idea, so I went along with it.” I wrapped the smock around him and tied it. “It actually came out nice, I think.” And just like that, all of the awkward tension fell away and we were transported to ourselves before that drunken night so long ago.

We chitchatted pleasantly, yet superficially, as I finished Seb’s haircut. I took his smock off, handed him the mirror and turned his chair so he could see the back. “Thanks so much, doll. I love it as always.” He said as he touched and ran his fingers through the shorter strands on the back of his head.

He stood up and gave me a giant bear hug, lifting me in the air and leaning back. Seb placed me gently down on the floor still holding on tight. He brought his mouth to my cheek and pressed a lingering kiss to the side of my face. My insides warmed from the platonic yet intimate contact. God, I miss this so much. “We should get together sometime soon. I’m in town for a while. For coffee or something, maybe?” Seb mumbled into my hair.

I smiled into his shoulder. As much as that sounded like everything I wanted in that moment, I knew those days were gone. He moved on, he had a girlfriend. We couldn’t go back to being just friends, especially when I could acknowledge the obvious chemistry between us that time had certainly not quelled. His brief company just now alone made my insides thrum with excitement.  

“That sounds nice, Sebby,” I muttered as I disentangled myself from his arms.

“But…” he continued for me while giving me a grave look that told me he knew exactly what I was going to say.

I sighed and folded my arms across my chest defensively. “But, you KNOW what. You have a girlfriend now. We haven’t kept in touch. I think it’s best if we leave the past in the past at this point. Don’t you?”

Seb blew a puff of air out of the side of his mouth and smiled a dejected smile while rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah,” he sighed. “Yeah, you know what? You’re probably right,” he said while nodding his head. “You are right, Tati. I’m sorry.”

He turned around to leave, grabbing his hat and shoving it in his back pocket. “Hey listen, I didn’t bring my wallet. Can you send me a bill when you get a chance?”

“Sure, Seb. No problem,” I admonished with a wave of my hand.

Sebastian gave me one final glance as he opened the door to leave. “Thanks for everything, Tati. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?” He said with a hopeful crooked smile.

My throat began to dry up just then, and I felt my chest squeeze in protest. I really can’t believe I’m just going to let him leave like this. I cleared the roughness in my voice before speaking. “Ye-Yeah. Maybe.” I looked down suddenly, emotions beginning to get the best of me.

I heard the door shut as I hurried off to the bathroom, hot tears stinging my cheeks.

Next Chapter

[tzudism]

Crossroads

Chapter 4:

Today was our last day of freedom before we had to leave Korea. We’ve packed all our things so we could leave bright and early tomorrow morning. It was sad we had to leave Korea after all this fun we’ve been having especially with Twice, so we decided to just focus and be in the moment.

“So how are the girls gonna come get us?” Mark asks

“Well I gave them the name of our hotel, and then all they said was that we should wait in the lobby and they’ll find us.” I say

“Wouldn’t that be bad if they’re there waiting for us? Paparazzi would be swarming them right now wouldn’t they?” Mark continues

“Yeah we should head down now, and I doubt all of them came out to get us, so hopefully it shouldn’t be that bad.” Joshua replies

We head down to the lobby and thankfully there were no problems in sight. Although there was also nobody from Twice in sight as well. We decide to sit in the lobby and wait for them. As we sit down Joshua calls us out,

“Hey do you guys see that strange person in the hoodie on the left side of the lobby?”

We turn to our left and nobody is there.

“Dude there’s nothing, I don’t see anything.” Mark says confused

“Look that’s them right there! They’re coming this way! Right there by the couch!” Joshua exclaims

And sure enough there’s someone there in a hoodie creeping towards us. I was worried at first, but something seemed familiar about this scene. I told the guys to relax and act natural as if they didn't notice. The person comes closer and closer and I realize who it is.

“Joshua they’re probably gonna go to you, don’t freak out, just pretend you don’t notice her.” I chuckle

“Uh ok, wait…her?” Joshua asks curiously

Soon the person comes over and positions themselves next to Joshua, as I thought. They tugg on Joshua’s sleeve and whisper,

“Pssst…Joshua…PSSST”

Joshua turns and a big smile appears on his face.

“Oh Mina! Where’d you come from?” He asks

“You didn’t notice me huh? We were deciding who should come get you guys and I said I would because I’m the stealthiest one.” She says happily

“Oh yeah it totally worked, you’re sooo stealthy Mina.” Mark says sarcastically

Joshua then gives Mark a look as if to say don’t ruin Mina’s fun or he’ll kill you.

“Cmon guys I’ll bring you to the van, Jeongyeon parked outside near the hotel.” Mina says, “Remember! Be stealthy just like me.” She then crouches near the floor and crawls across the lobby.

“Oh my god she’s so extra I love her.” Joshua says, as he crouches down and joins her in stealth mode.

“Doesn’t that bring more attention to themselves instead of the other way around?” Mark says laughing

“Let them have their fun, um but let’s walk a few steps behind them though.” I say

As we go outside, Mina leads us to an alley by the hotel where Jeongyeon parked the van. Mina opens the door and the girls start laughing.

“Did you really crawl all the way from the hotel to here like that with your hood on?” Nayeon says as she laughs

“Of course I did, that’s how I activate my stealth mode.” She says proudly.

“Did you guys really not notice anything? That actually worked on you?” Dahyun asks

“Oh no, it totally-” Mark tries to speak but Joshua covers his mouth and gives him another death look, “-totally worked, yeah that stealth mode is no joke man.” Joshua finishes

Mina sees Joshua sticking up for her, and grabs his hand and brings him in the van and they sit next to each other.

“Mark come sit over here!” Sana yells out

Seeming as if it was planned the only seat left is next to Tzuyu and I take it trying not to smile too obviously.

“Everybody ready?” Jihyo asks

“We’re gonna head out now so get comfy!” Jeongyeon says

“How did you manage to get the van Jeongyeon? Aren’t your managers going to find out?” I ask

“Don’t worry about it we took care of it.” She says laughing and hi fives Chaeyoung and they start laughing together.

“Should we be worried about this?” I ask Tzuyu

“Nah, they told Jaljari manager if he didn’t let them borrow the van they’re going to tell Sadness manager that he has a crush on her.” She says laughing a little

“Oh ok…wait does he really!?” I ask surprised

“Well he handed them the keys so who knows?” She says with a smile

You would think after spending about two weeks with each other I would get used to Tzuyu’s smile, but nope.

“You’re still as stunning as the first time I saw you.”

“OHHHHH!” The whole van lights up with noise

“Oh my god I said that out loud. How could I be so stupid!” I yell at myself

I turn to Tzuyu and I see her trying to hide her smile as she turns away. After seeing that reaction, maybe totally embarrassing myself wasn’t so bad. As we drive to Bukhansan National Park I can see the change of scenery. It went from miles of city lights to beautiful mountains and forest. After a while, we arrive at the park.

“Ok guys, should I park here and we can go hike up the mountain?” Jeongyeon asks

“Yeah! Let’s get out of here we’ve been in this van for an hour!” Dahyun exclaims

Momo joins in, “Yeah let’s get out! I need fresh air! I need food!”

Jeongyeon parks the van and everyone is excited to start hiking. When we all get out I notice the girls start putting on glasses and put up their hoodies, and some of them even put on face masks. I start thinking about how hard it must be for them when they want to go out together or with their families. I start feeling bad, but then Dahyun and Chaeyoung start running up the mountain yelling out

“Cmon guys hurry up the mountain let’s race!”

I’m happy to see that they can have fun even if they have to hide their faces to go out. I run up the mountain to catch up. The fresh mountain air was so refreshing, especially when a small breeze would pass through. Then Joshua calls us out

“Guys… look ahead.”

We turn in front of us as the breeze blows, and we see the wind blow through the hair of all the girls, it was like something out of a drama. Suddenly…

*click..FLASH*

“Hey did you notice that!?” I yell out

“Notice what? I was too focused on Sana dude, you know she’s the only thing that matters to me.” Mark says

“Yeah dude, I didn’t see anything either, Mina was just too beautiful. How could I see anything else?” Joshua says

“Hmm…maybe it was just me, cuz the girls didn’t say anything either.” I say, but in the back of my mind I was still worried.

We reach a certain point and see a cliff where we see Momo sitting down on a bench with Jeongyeon out of breath.

“Hey guys, where’s everyone else?” I ask

“I…don’t…know..ahhhh I’m tired and we still never got food!.” Momo says with a big sigh

“I think…they went their…separate ways…you can go look for them on your own…we’re gonna take a break here.” Jeongyeon says

“I’m gonna look for Mina, see you guys.” Joshua runs off.

“Yeaaah I’m gonna go find Sana too, catch you later.” Marks runs off in the other direction.

I was on my own, I figured I’d go find Tzuyu. I walk for a while and notice Joshua found Mina and they’re holding hands. I walk past quickly to give them some space, but as I walk past them I see Sana holding Mark’s arm ahead of me and I hide.

“Wait…if Mark went in the other direction earlier how did he and Sana end up ahead of me?” I say aloud to myself

“There’s another path that goes all the way around to get here.”

Surprised I turn next to me and there’s Tzuyu.

“Oh Tzuyu! I was actually looking for you. How’d you end up here? Did you take the same path?”

“Well I was with Chaeyoung and Dahyun and they ran off to follow a squirrel Dahyun named Sana #2 but, they were too fast and I got lost and ended up here. I saw you and came over. So why were you looking for me?”

“Oh umm no reason, I…just like being with you.”

“Ahhh I see. You’re fun too.” She says with a smile

She grabs my hand with two fingers and I can feel my heart beating a million miles an hour.

“Oh there’s a leaf in your hair.” I say, “Let me get it for you.”

I reach for the leaf in Tzuyu’s hair and as I reach for it, suddenly..

*click..FLASH*

“Ok this time I definitely saw something! Show yourself!” I scream

I look to my right and see someone running away.

“I’m sorry Tzuyu I’ll be right back, but in case I don’t, walk down this path and you’ll find Momo and Jeongyeon resting on the bench.” I run as fast as I can to catch whoever it was that ran away. After a few minutes of running, I finally catch up and tackle the person down. They had a camera and I take it from him.

“David! What’s going on!?”

I turn around and see Mark and Joshua running to catch up.

“We heard you scream and run in this direction, what happened?” Joshua asks concerned

“Well you know those clicks and flashes we kept seeing and hearing every now and then? It’s been this guy the whole time!” I say catching my breath, “Who are you anyway!?” I pass the camera to Mark and turn the guy over so he can explain himself.

“I’m Jacob, I’m trying to start up a Jeongyeon fansite. I’ve noticed you guys hanging around Twice these past few weeks and been taking pictures. I wouldn't have been found out if my camera didn't reset itself and turn flash on whenever I activate it.”

“What!? Why can’t you just mind your own buisness!?” I yell out in anger.

“Well what about you!? Why can’t you just be regular fans like the rest of us!? What exactly made you so special that you get to hang out with Twice for weeks!?”

Before I can reply Mark calls me,

“Hey David, you should check this out.”

I grab the camera and I couldn’t believe my eyes, “You’ve really been here the whole time huh?” I ask in disbelief

The camera had pictures from the very beginning, from the convenience store till here in Bukhansan. I saw the most recent pictures and saw a picture of Mina resting her head on Joshua’s shoulder, a picture of Sana holding on to Mark’s arm and them looking in each other’s eyes, and I even found the picture of Tzuyu looking at me as I reached for the leaf in her hair. I was furious.

“You’re no Jeongyeon fansite, you’re a freaking saseng!” I scream

In anger I toss the camera across the forest, and Jacob pushes me off him

“MY CAMERA!”

He runs off to go retrieve it, and we chase after him. He sees his broken camera and yells

“How could you do that to my camera! You’ll pay for this!”

“Whatever, at least all your stalker pictures are gone!” I yell back

“Hah! I saved all the pictures on this sd card beforehand just in case while you were chasing me. I’m gonna post them all on the Internet!” He yells

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying!?” Joshua yells out

“Yeah! If you post those it’ll affect Twice too and not in a good way!” Mark says

“I don’t care! After what you guys have done to me? Hanging out with Twice like its no big deal, you chased me down, broke my camera! What makes you guys so special anyway!? I've been here longer than you, and suddenly you guys show up and get to hang out with Twice right away!? If this ruins you it’ll be worth it.” He scoffs

“You said you’re trying to start a Jeongyeon fansite right? Don’t you care what happens to Twice at all? Not even a little?” I plead with him, “I don’t care what happens to us, just leave Twice alone.”

Jacob calms down and thinks for a minute.

“Ok you’re right, I’ll delete the pictures.”

“Thank you so mu-”

“ON ONE CONDITION!” He screams

“Alright fine what is it?” I say irritated

“You’re leaving tomorrow morning right?” He asks

“Yeah so what?” Mark says frustrated

“Leave tonight, don’t say anything to Twice, don’t say goodbye, nothing, you leave now.” He says

“What? How are we even supposed to do that!?” Joshua yells

“I don’t care. Leave now.”

To be continued…