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[angioponder]

Maid Wars: Hott Butts, Cold Maids (2/9)

Fandom: VIXX & BTS (Multi-fandom with BTOB & B1A4 Ensemble)

Genre/Warnings: humor, crack, fluff Word count: 2492w

author’s note:  also on AO3 | follow the story #maid wars au finally posting the collab with @thinking_toes (twt) and i! so this has been two years in the making. we were just talking in the kitchen about this shit and it was so entertaining that we decided to take notes and… welp here we are. this was a JOURNEY. we hope you enjoy reading this multi-fandom kpop fic as much as we enjoyed building this world. happy reading~

Summary: Taehyung heard from his friend, Jimin, that they were hiring and he REALLY needed a job.

Walking down the small alleyway, folder clutched tightly in one hand, a waxy hand-drawn map from Jimin in the other, Taehyung made his way into the tiny shop with hopes of working soon. He hadn’t noticed it before, though he had walked through this area many times while visiting his favorite toy shop. It was sandwiched between the back of a laundromat and what looked to be an abandoned figurine store. Taehyung took a deep breath and choked slightly on the smell. Why was a coffee shop allowed to throw their trash out the front? He supposed it was part of the charm. The peeling paint, the claustrophobic tightness of the street, the sudden quietness from the bustling, well-populated streets. Like a river rock that looks boring and simple, but when you open it there are gems on the inside, colorful and shiny. He opened the door carefully and poked his head in. The inside did not reveal a hidden gem like you might find from a river rock. The walls were bare of any color, wallpaper having torn in some places. It felt slightly cold, with the somber buzzing of some overhead fans. It was different from what Jimin had described, but Taehyung thought the somber chic theme could work. He found it especially odd that customers walked right into the kitchen. He scanned the room quickly until his eyes landed on a tall, silver-haired man who was standing there with a stoic and serious expression on his side-profile.

“So hot,” Taehyung whispered to himself. The man turned sharply to look at him, his stony face melting away into utter confusion before returning to his previous appearance.

“Get in here,” hot guy said, voice rich like hot chocolate. “And use the front door next time, will you?”

“Front door? Wait, what? Me?” Blubbering mess he was, he did as he was told and did nothing else, frozen from intimidation. Hot guy raised his eyebrow at him.

“Well? What are you standing around for? You want something to eat or what?”

Taehyung, unable to speak, ungracefully shoved the sweaty folder towards the gorgeous man. He took the stained folder gingerly and didn’t make any indications that he was going to open it.

“Uh.” Hot guy’s shoulders turned rigid, eyebrows furrowing even deeper and ears growing redder by the second. Taehyung squeezed his eyes shut in fear and figured he needed to blurt out something, anything because he thought the man in front of him was going to explode in anger.

“I-um-wantoworkhere-ifthat’sok?”

There was no reply. Taehyung hesitantly opened one of his eyes to peek and see if he made things worse but on the contrary. He was met with widened eyes that looked, despite hard furrowed eyebrows, soft? And all the redness Taehyung saw from earlier was looking to be very concentrated on smooth cheeks. Was hot-serious guy…blushing?

“Oh! Oh, thank goodness you’re not a customer. Oh, that was close.” He gave a relieved sigh and cupped his own face with one of his hands. “Yeah, yeah sure. I’ll ask the boss. Why don’t you take a seat?” He motioned towards the front of the house, with tables for customers, and walked away with Taehyung’s hopes for the new PS4 pinched between his fingers.

Puzzled by the sudden change in behavior, Taehyung rapidly shook his head back and forth. He couldn’t ponder the subject for very long anyway since he was arrested by a great view of the ass attached to the man disappearing into another room.

“Working here would be my best idea yet,” Taehyung whispered to himself.

He almost immediately took it back when said boss came out of the kitchen with the most sour looking face he’d ever seen anyone wear. Except for his mom’s kitten when it was bath time. He was tall, brooding and extremely intimidating so when he first spoke, Taehyung was very surprised by the feathery sweetness in his voice when he said:

“I’m the owner, Taekwoon. When can you start?”

“U-um…Now?”

“Good. This is Ravi, our manager. He will train you. Taehyung, right?”

“Yessir”

“Go change. Ravi will take care of you.”

He looked over and saw hot-mentor-guy Ravi smiling gently at him. Yup, best decision ever. If all the guys looked like that here, summer would definitely be worth it. As Taehyung followed his new hot-ass mentor to the lockers, he vaguely wondered where Jimin was.

————-　❈　————-

Yoongi comes in a little late for his shift, with sleepy eyes and the signs of a pillow on his soft mint green hair. He stops short when he sees a new guy. He is dressed in the uniform, with crisp black slacks, a tucked white ruffle shirt and a black tie, but Yoongi is sure he has never seen someone this smiley in this shop before. Maybe only that time Wonshik smacked the cup of tea in front of his first actual customer so hard he actually spilled half of the drink and apologized profusely to the customer. She was quite gracious about it, and he gave her a charming smile, which immediately made her leave and never come back. She’d been a regular customer too. But then again, charm is not what their customers are looking for. In many ways, his job suited him perfectly, when he had no charms to speak of and he could get paid to be bitchy in customer service.

The Golden Boys are nowhere to be seen, so he assumes carpooling to work now means they stop for food at every single convenience store on the way there, nevermind that they work at a place that makes food. Yoongi does, however, go to the lockers to change into his work uniform and finds that the new guy is following him. Yoongi makes his taciturn introduction with a frown and a small nod before turning back to get ready.

“Hi, I’m Taehyung! You work here too?” Yoongi just stares, still too sleepy to attempt human interaction, but it doesn’t seem to matter, because Taehyung chatters happily away. “Anyway, I’m so excited, I only started working today. I’m so scared of messing up…the boss looks so scary.” Yoongi snorts and Taehyung finally stops to look at him. “What did you say your name was?”

“Yoongi. My maid name is Suga, though, so don’t call me by my real name while I’m on the clock.”

“OOOOH, do I get a maid name too? Ravi never told me about that.”

“Ravi is Wonshik’s maid name. We all have one, except for the boss. Jungkook, Kookie. Sanghyuk, Hyuk. They’re the Golden Boys. Don’t go near them.” It was great advice, except Taehyung was deep in thought, trying to come up with his maid name.

“I guess I can just be V, like the guy from that graphic novel…do you know it, Yoongi?”

“That’s lame.”

“You’re right. I should give it a cuter meaning. Oh! Maybe V because of how adorable I look when I do this.” Taehyung holds up his hands doing peace signs and puffs his cheeks like a squirrel.

Yoongi doesn’t react to him but manages a slow, sleepy blink.

“Let's go, V. We can snag something from the kitchen before we open if we sneak now that Taek is busy.”

“Kay!”

As the new kid skips happily away, Yoongi wonders how this guy even got hired. Just. How.

————-　❈　————-

“I don’t understand, Yoongi,” Taehyung pouted at him, fiddling with the ruffled ends of his dress shirt. “The customers didn’t seem to like my wiggly butt dances.”

Wonshik stopped typing up orders on the digital monitor to guardedly raise his hand in the air. “I kinda liked them.” At the same time, he wonders if he forgot to mention something to the kid…ah, it will come back.

“Ditto. And keep doing that nose thing,” Sanghyuk smirked at Jungkook. “I could sense Hongbin’s puny little hands scrunching in sync when you do. An impressive skill, that,” he chortled.

Taehyung leaned over to Yoongi and asked who Hongbin was. He answered by shaking his head, to which Taehyung mouthed he’s dead?! but it went unseen by the rest, so he left it at that, not wanting to disturb the peace of the deceased.

“We could use it for The Operation. Shit’s gold,” Jungkook said wagging his eyes in Sanghyuk’s direction as he passed carrying five trays of dishes effortlessly out of the kitchen.

“What nose thing?” Taehyung’s face wrinkled in confusion.

“That. Stop that.”

“Nonsense, Yoongi! It’s an asset we need!” Sanghyuk followed quickly after Jungkook with his own multiple trays of beverages.

Everyone was too loud. The sheer increase in volume in the kitchen from all the yelling back and forth was getting on Yoongi’s nerves. Before he could lose it, he went back to stuffing some warm bread into a basket for his table but then remembered being annoyed was actually a good state to be in as a server here.

“But, but Jimin told me the customers would love it. I even tried shooting hearts out of my armpits for comedic effect. See?” Yoongi looked at him, unimpressed, as Taehyung recreated his cute shenanigans.

“What a winner, this one,” he mumbled sarcastically under his breath pointing his thumb in Taehyung’s direction. “Did you train the new guy at all, Wonshik?”

“I am your manag —,”

“And who’s Jimin?” Yoongi interrupted Wonshik’s burst of fragile confidence and glanced pointedly at Taehyung.  

“Your baker?” Taehyung pulled out his phone to show Yoongi his screensaver. He glanced over casually to humor the new kid and did a double-take. “You know, pale skin, rose gold hair, he’s about yea high, got thighs that’ll crush the sides of your hea—”

At that, Yoongi slapped his hand first over Taehyung’s screen, then over Taehyung’s face, pursing his lips with wide eyes, before briskly walking off looking faintly alarmed. As he disappeared towards the front of house, Wonshik came over and looked to satiate his curiosity only to come across Taehyung’s semi-naked BFF on the screen, which only generated more confusion since it had always been Taekwoon handling the food for the most part.

“This Jimin guy definitely doesn’t work here,” Wonshik says nonchalantly, clearly unaffected. “If he’s at a maid cafe too, then he’s probably at Hakyeon’s Little Kawaii Service Cafe across the street.”

Taehyung’s eyes bulged out dramatically at the realization that he just might have applied for work at the wrong place. It made sense. The dull decor. The outfits. The blank faces. Jimin was going think he bailed out on their Summer Adventure Together. Oh, Jimin. No wonder he hadn’t seen him at all. He would have to tell him about it later over the phone and beg to be forgiven. Taehyung stared at Wonshik and thought of all the hot men that he currently worked with. Surely there was no harm in staying. He’d still get paid no matter where he was. Jimin would forgive him, especially if he could see what his co-workers looked like. With his phone still out, he snapped a quick picture of Wonshik. Wonshik opened his mouth to protest, but Taehyung blurted out it’s my life insurance, and quickly scurried away to the opposite, safe, end of the kitchen to send the picture to Jimin, along with his apology essay.

Amidst Taehyung’s confusing statement, Wonshik eyed him suspiciously with the intention to pursue and question him when someone entered the kitchen.

“Hey, Wonshik.” The greeting came from a deep-voiced beauty walking towards them. The subtle drift from the window blew his dark locks away from his perfectly structured face. His skin shone lightly, like a woman on those skin care commercials, and Taehyung could swear his warm gaze was melting the butter off the croissants he was supposed to be serving right now. He moved in slow motion, and Taehyung’s heart skipped a beat, time slowing down so he could take in every detail of this hunkofaman.

Wonshik was taken by surprise by the sudden entrance, so all he could manage was a raspy, "hey, Hongbin," before the gorgeous supermodel turned to him with a tilted head.

Taehyung looked back and forth between Wonshik and Hongbin, noting that his manager too looked absolutely dazed.

“Oh,” Taehyung said in awe. “You’re Hongbin. I get it now. You died and came back to save me. Like Gandalf.”

Before Hongbin could respond, there was another quick sound of a phone camera shutter.

————-　❈　————- 

“Taetae! I thought you were planning to come hand in your application today! I told you I’ve already put in a good word for you, so don’t fret so much about the interview. Our Summer Adventure Together awaits! The PS4 is going to be farther out of reach the more you wait, you know?”

“Jimin, listen, don’t be mad…but I got hired at the cafe right across the street from you instead.” There was a gasp. “J-Jimin? You there?” There was a beat of silence.

“You traitor! You left me!”

“No-no, it was an honest mistake!”

“Deserted and abandoned by my best friend!”

“Chim, please! I know we talked about working in the same place for summer, but I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear!”

“I’m playin’. Work is work. Broke college student life, yada-yada. It would have been nice to work together, but we can still get a PS4, right? How’d you manage to mess our locations up, huh?”

“Well…the map you drew for me was kinda unclear.”

“I worked hard on that map! Took me three days to make that for you!”

“It was smudged with unicorn glitter frosting.”

“I suppose you could say I worked hard on that map quite literally…But I used a good quality baking sheet!”

“Okay, I’m glad you’re not super mad, because I actually have something to show you. I sent you some pics. You see them yet?”

“Tae, all I saw was a five-minute scroll of what looked like a dissertation on our friendship. I didn’t get to the pics. You don’t have another weird mole, right? Don’t send it to my mom this time, please. There’s no need to scar her further.”

“No, Jimin! Wait…she didn’t like my elephant mole? Aw, but…No! Focus! It’s my coworkers. Chim, they are so hot. Like, all of them. But I guess I didn’t need to send the pictures if you forgave me so easily.”

“Who said you were forgive—WOW. Yeah, okay. They’re hot. You’re on paparazzi duty now, Tae.”

“Yes. Hot. But on the floor, they’re all kinda…serious. It’s weird. This place is nothing like how you described your coffee shop. No one reacts to my cuteness like you said, and the decor is drab. They need some serious reality TV show to help remodel.”

“Hmm. Remember Seokjin and Jaehwan? I bet I could get them over there before their shift and help out. They are unhealthily obsessed with those redecorating shows; they’d probably love to get their hands on a project.”

————-———————-—————————-———————-——————— 

THE FATE OF TAEKWOON’S CAFE RESTS IN SEOKJIN AND JAEHWAN’S HANDS. WILL ALL BE SAVED? IS THERE EVEN SOMETHING to SAVE? WHAT DID WONSHIK’S TRAINING EVEN CONSIST OF? WILL JIMIN’S NAKED TORSO BECOME A PERMANENT FIXTURE IN THE MIND OF A MIN YOONGI? WILL TAEHYUNG BE ABLE TO CONCENTR—DAT ASS THO! (Tae, pls let the authors finish their rhetoric narrative, thank you)

… TUNE IN AGAIN NEXT WEDNESDAY ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF… MAID WARS!

[angioponder]

Maid Wars: Prologue (1/9)

Fandom: VIXX & BTS (Multi-fandom with BTOB & B1A4 Ensemble) Genre/Warnings: humor, crack, fluff  Word count: 2173w

author’s note:  also on AO3 finally posting the collab with @thinking_toes (twt) and i! so this has been two years in the making. we were just talking in the kitchen about this shit and it was so entertaining that we decided to take notes and... welp here we are. this was a JOURNEY. we hope you enjoy reading this multi-fandom kpop fic as much as we enjoyed building this world. happy reading~ 

Summary:

In life, desperate times call for desperate measures. And that is exactly how Kim Taehyung, unemployed college student extraordinaire, meets Cha Hakyeon and Jung Taekwoon—proud owners of two very different kinds of coffee shops engaged in a friendly rivalry. Naturally, things go to shit as misunderstandings lead to glares, and cupcakes lead to scares. As the adorable staff members of the Little Kawaii Service Cafe come head to head with the tsundere boys of the What is Service Cafe, friendships will be strained. Wigs will be snatched. Frosting will be whipped (like the boys), and there is nothing Hakyeon or Taekwoon can do to stop them even if they wanted to (they don’t).

MAID WARS! What is it good for? Everybody say: fanfic content!

*alternatively: All we wanted was a tsundere maid cafe AU. Now we have this. rip.

There was a town not too far off that bustled with the busyness of a city, but not quite enough to overwhelm it. Its people went to work day in and day out for roughly eight hours, five or six days a week, but they had something unique in this little town that some suspect kept them happy and content. When people grew tired, some went to the comforts of their own home, some went to places where alcohol could untwist their nerves, and some, some went to two wonderful establishments in particular. Now, not everyone benefited from these gems. Not everyone believed these were gems, but for those who did, they would enter and leave with laughter in their lungs, satisfied stomachs, lighter shoulders, and fuller hearts.

It all began with two very good friends (only one of them openly expressed their friendship as such) who pursued their degrees in economics through a nearby university. The two of them aspired to have their own business, to fulfill their dreams of being the owners of the most well known, and well-respected establishments in their district. After toiling for their qualifications to be given to them on a piece of thicker paper, they graduated with flying colors, had diplomas their parents could be proud of, and lots and lots of money to return. They had to get to work fast.

Very good friends as they were (again, only one of them openly expressing so), they decided to rent spaces right across the street from each other. Both immediately knew what they wanted to pursue and tried to establish themselves in the way they dreamed of, but only Hakyeon became very successful. Taekwoon on the other hand wasn’t exactly failing, but he wasn’t making it either. For weeks he tried to keep it to himself and just push through, hoping that his hard work and his pride would pay off, but weeks turned into two months and, frankly, his ego couldn’t pay the bills.

Taekwoon looked at Hakyeon’s success across the street and tried to remember all the pros of asking for advice from this person he was alright with tolerating. For years, he tolerated all his blinding smiles and grabby limbs without sacrificing his own dignity too much. That should be a good sign. Also, his store was closed today and Hakyeon’s wasn’t. It all worked out like some huge coincidence. He made his decision with a long, heavy sigh, gathered up all the courage he could find in his body, and braced himself as he walked out of his place, onto the street, and into Hakyeon’s.

It was still fairly early in the day. Taekwoon couldn’t see many employees, but he surely saw Hakyeon from the outside of the store busy with the register, dressed immaculately in a floral suit over a white button down, pressed black slacks and black bow-tie. His purple hair was styled very prim and proper with a bit of forehead showing. A thought had Taekwoon hesitating, but he shook it away. He did walk all this way here after all. With one final shred of mental determination, he pushed open the obnoxiously decorated door, giving away his arrival to its occupants with the tinkling of a bell.

“Is that my Taekwoonie!? You finally paid me a visit!” Hakyeon exclaimed when he realized who entered. “I knew you had it in your grumpy self to miss me.”

“I don’t miss you,” Taekwoon grumbled lowly, receiving the already blinding smiles and the already grabby limbs.

“Still the same as ever, but I know you love me anyway.” Hakyeon wasn’t deterred at all, escorting him enthusiastically to a lime green colored table with fluffy stuffed animals on it. Taekwoon huffed, his neck getting warmer by the minute. “Here, have a seat and let me order something for you, on the house. I’m sure you’ll like it!”

With nothing else to do but wait, Taekwoon looked around and decided that he found the decor atrocious. Whose idea was it to display all these unnecessary accessories? It’s like some unicorn pranced it’s way in and puked all over the walls. Was that a cat clock with a swishy tail?

Hakyeon was back in no time bringing a mug with a ridiculous amount of froth bouncing up and down in time with his strides. As soon as it was set down in front of Taekwoon, it was spun around and he found himself being greeted by a smiling foamy kitty. Taekwoon looked mortified and didn’t look at all like he wanted to touch it. Hakyeon laughed heartily, clearly amused by his reaction.

“I didn’t know you would like it that much without even tasting it yet.” The feeling of knowing someone so well tasted so sweet. “Don’t worry. You can have this every time you visit. You’ll see the kitty again. Go ahead.”

Taekwoon couldn’t manage to glare at Hakyeon while staring at the softly wobbling mound of foam. He reached out slowly and brought it to his lips, taking a tentative sip. After a few beats, he widened his eyes and made a noise from the back of his throat. It tasted of lavender and vanilla. A latte. He liked it. He liked it a lot. He hastily threw the compliment in the air and took another sip. Hakyeon heard him but pretended not to for his sake.

“So, to what do I owe this rare and valuable visit of yours?” Hakyeon asked, trying not to focus too closely on Taekwoon’s cute foam mustache. They hadn’t talked very much since they were both busy starting up their businesses. And while Hakyeon still tried to wave a lot in Taekwoon’s direction when he saw him, it didn’t quite make up for talking. “How are you doing?”

“I—Hakyeon, I need some advice,” Taekwoon deflated, “some h-help about, about my cafe. It’s—I’m not…doing so well.”

Hakyeon let him continue talking, waiting for his cue.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. Our food is delicious. The desserts and beverages are delicately put together. We have good servers. They’re young, polite,” he rolled his eyes, ”somewhat good-looking.”

Hakyeon snickered.

“Really annoying and bratty, but polite. The point is,” Taekwoon waved his hand dismissively, “they do their job just fine. Everything else seems to be fine. So, what am I missing??”

Hakyeon’s place became known for a lot of Things, and he was sure it would help if Taekwoon incorporated it in his own cafe, too. Hakyeon agreed about the food and drinks at Taekwoon’s place being great. The recipes were fantastic. Taekwoon’s dishes were better than the ones they currently served. He’d had a taste of it back in their university days, and he knew that there was no way that Taekwoon would let anything be served without it being up to his standard of perfection. So really, there was nothing wrong with the menu. What Taekwoon needed, was a point of differentiation. Some way to showcase the attributes of his brand to his competitive advantage. Perhaps, one that sold a Unique Service to its customers. Maybe, the exact same as Hakyeon’s, which was completely alright with him. He was confident in his own skills, and after all, they are very good friends.

“Sandeul!” Hakyeon called out. Their store hadn’t opened yet but he was sure everyone was in their uniform by now. They had another thirty minutes before their shift really began. Taekwoon had his forehead glued to the table when he heard the assumed person click-clacking his way to them.

“Yes, sir?”

Taekwoon looked up to be polite and his jaw dropped.

“I know this is putting you on the spot right now,” Hakyeon inquired, “but how has it been since you’ve started working here?”

Hakyeon was puzzled when Sandeul didn’t answer straight away and noticed him fidgeting a little, slightly turning away from where Taekwoon was sitting. Hakyeon turned to Taekwoon, surprised to see him gawking.

“Taekwoon. What. What’s wrong?”

“I-I…Um, why is he wearing t-that?”

Hakyeon and Sandeul blinked at him.

“Well, how else am I supposed to run a maid cafe without our servers dressed as maids?”

“Y-your business is,” Taekwoon swallowed before speaking again, “a maid cafe?”

“Yes! Did you not figure that out from the store name?”

Taekwoon shook his head frantically, fighting so hard not to hide under the table from embarrassment.

“It’s called The Little Kawaii Service Cafe, for goodness sake,” Hakyeon covered his face with his hands.

“B-But,” Taekwoon argued weakly, “I thought those pictures of maids outside your shop was just for decoration because,” he shrunk further into his seat, “well, you know, to add to the cuteness theme thing you had going on,” he uncontrollably gestured to the everything in the cafe.

“A-and I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that you’re not cute,” Taekwoon said, arms flapping and rambling intensifying in hopes that Sandeul wasn’t offended. “I just—I-I mean…”

“Yes, sir! I am one of the maids in it,” Sandeul confessed happily knowing he was just called cute. Indirectly, but cute nonetheless. “And I can proudly say I love working here. The people we serve follow the rules and are kind to us, so I feel quite safe and appreciated, especially when they cheer for me when I sing. It’s nice.”

Hakyeon flashed a proud smile at Sandeul. “Yes, that’s right. Sandeul is a great singer and performer. You should see him when the guests order the Dragon Fruit Special. It’s his signature thing. They go crazy for it.”

Sandeul decided right then to show Taekwoon a sample of it. Before he could even finish, Taekwoon was showing him the crown of his head and making a lot of nervous noises while awkwardly seal-clapping.

“I was going to propose that you turn your cafe into a maid cafe as well, Taekwoon. I didn’t know that the people here would be interested, but apparently, they are. We don’t just sell food and drink, but the service as well. We’re the only maid cafe in the district so it’s a pretty niche market.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, Taekwoon had to admit, but he wasn’t cute, no matter what Hakyeon said. He couldn’t see how he, of all people, could own a cafe that catered cute things.

Hakyeon was persistent, and Taekwoon was stubborn.

“Taekwoon, listen to me. One, you are the most adorable person on the planet, and two, you don’t need to live, breathe, eat and shit cute to sell cute. You have a degree in economics and marketing for crying out loud.”

“No.”

“Taek, you came to me for advice and I’m giv—”

“No, I mean, I’ll try the maid cafe idea but,” Hakyeon tilted his head in question, “it’s not going to be cute-themed. I’ll find something more fitting that I could pull off. It’ll be much better if I have a different theme anyway. You’re right across the street from me.”

Hakyeon hummed. “Well then, what theme do you think you’ll be going for?”

“A…tsundere theme?”

“What?” It was a completely backwards thought.

“Well, I’ve uh,” Taekwoon fidgeted with one of his left earrings, “seen people fall for characters who were quiet or cold in animes.”

“Taek, no one wants to keep going back to a place where people ignore or treat them rudely. That’s the complete opposite of customer service,” Hakyeon gestured with air quotes.

“I think it’d be successful. I mean, I could-I could try to make it work. I’ll just have to market it well. It fits me better…and it worked on you. You still keep pestering me after all these years, if that says anything.” Taekwoon mumbled the last bit under his breath.

Hakyeon didn’t know why he was so attuned to the way Taekwoon spoke so softly but where it was beneficial for him on all those other times, this time gave him an immense surge of panic.

“No!” Hakyeon protested his distress while Sandeul’s eyes looked like they had fallen out of his head. “I just— it would never work!” Multiple question marks shoved themselves into his thoughts but it was too late to save anything so he just went with it.

“But Hakye—”

“Listen to me! Things work out better when you do.” Oh, he had so much regret for opening his mouth, but he too had too much pride and was nowhere near ready to face his fears head-on. “You can try and see where it goes, but don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

“Fine! We’ll see about that. I can thrive without being cute, just you watch.” Ever thick-headed and competitive Taekwoon stormed out of the cafe, not at all catching the way Hakyeon gulped, very obviously flustered.

And thus began the competition between the two maid cafes that shared the same street; but not to worry, without this competition, it would not be what it is today: a place for those who entered and left with laughter in their lungs, satisfied stomachs, lighter shoulders, and fuller hearts.

IS TAEKWOON TOO CUTE FOR HIS OWN CONCEPT? WAS HAKYEON RIGHT ALL ALONG? WAS THE COLLEGE DEBT REALLY WORTH IT? WILL THEIR FRIENDSHIP SURVIVE A FUNDAMENTAL MISUNDERSTANDING OF CUTENESS? WILL THE AUTHORS CONTINUE TO POST RHETORICAL QUESTIONS AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER? TUNE IN NEXT WEDNESDAY TO FIND OUT ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF…MAID WARS!

[angioponder]

ultimately walking

Fandom: VIXX OT6 (Platonic/Friendship) Genre/Warnings: humor, crack, fluff  Word count: 1556w

author’s note:  also on AO3 (@angioponder) hb to my cuppycake.<3 hope this brought a smile to your lovely face. being your best friend and roommate over the years made me so happy. thanks for letting me love you with gifts like this. i miss you lots!

list of the songs referenced are at the end. enjoy~

Hakyeon awoke due to someone beating harshly on the door of his brand new apartment. He feigned sleep in hopes that whoever was outside would leave, thinking the flat to be empty. But after a pause of silence, the banging only came back louder and harder. 

A barely open, one-eyed peek at the phone he dragged out from under his pillow told him it was ten in the morning—quite a bit later than he usually got up due to all the unpacking he had to do the night before.

Wondering who it could be, he begrudgingly left the comfort of his warm bed, lugging the sheets over and around his body as he tried very hard to send messages from his brain to his foot to move in front of the other, and vice versa. At some point, it didn't really matter how he got to the door, as long as he could keep himself upright and moving forward to open the damn thing and send whoever interrupted his sleep far, far away.

When Hakyeon reached his destination, he leaned—more like ungracefully banged his forehead due to sleep deprivation—against the door to peer through the peephole. As soon as his eyes adjusted to see past the lens properly, he threw his sheets off to the side and practically ripped open the door to reveal his bandmates standing out in the hallway. Now fully awake, he was about to hug them all happily for following through with visiting him in his new home, but that died when he saw how visibly apprehensive they were.

“What? What what is it? What?” Hakyeon did a sweep across all of them really quickly.

Taekwoon was sporting coffee stains on his white sweater, Jaehwan was holding Special K under one arm and a bowl of milk in the other, Hongbin was wearing that god-awful green scarf that made him look like your gossipy neighborhood auntie, Wonshik was sleep-standing until he woke himself up with a snore, and Sanghyuk was, well, he was big. So, really nothing out of the ordinary.

Hakyeon relaxed a smidgen, crossing off the possibility of them being physically harmed in some fashion. Something was still off, but he couldn’t figure it out at the moment. He pointedly looked at Taekwoon, who was chewing on his pale fingers.

“I take it you you're not here to visit your most favorite hyung just because you realized your undying love for him and miss him very, very much ever since he moved out.”

“Well…y-yeah?”

“Oh, honestly!” Hakyeon mocked a shocked gasp, “Humor me a little bit more than that. I'm hurt.”

“Yes! I mean yes! Definitely all that—yes, yes but also,” Taekwoon glanced to his side at the other four who have a mixed array of emotions on their faces, all their lips held tight in a line. “I don’t really know what happened but,” he seemed like he was trying to come up with an explanation but settled with, “something’s wrong with them.”

“O-kay?” Hakyeon tilted his head. “Something’s always wrong with them, but I have a really bad feeling that’s not it.”

Taekwoon clapped his palm over Jaehwan's general face without missing a beat. Unsurprisingly, Wonshik did the same to Hongbin and Sanghyuk, reducing whatever retort all of them were making into muffles. When it looked like their protests directed to Hakyeon were over, Taekwoon and Wonshik retracted their hands.

“It’s not the usual thing this time just—” Taekwoon shoved them all forward towards the doorway, “we might want to be indoors for this.”

Everyone shuffled inside towards the bare living room, past the stacks of empty boxes that have been tetris-arranged inside of each other. It was a good thing too, Hakyeon thought as he watched them try to fit themselves on his couch in vain, limbs spilling over the armrests and all over the carpet on the livingroom floor of his one bedroom apartment.

“So, what’s this about?”

Nobody replied. Taekwoon nudged Hongbin with his elbow and pointed his chin towards Hakyeon. Hongbin sighed deeply then opened his mouth.

“I'm singin' in the rain,” he sang with heavy dread, “Just singin' in the rain. What a glorious feeling,” he drawled in disdain, “I'm happy again.” The whole room watched Hongbin continue his song as he dragged his body listlessly around, with a few half-hearted heel clicks here and there. By the end of his… performance of sorts, Hongbin was clenching his whole body in what one could only describe as mortifying agony. Jaehwan and Sanghyuk was, laughing at him, as is expected.

“That was… a great rendition,” Hakyeon clapped slowly, hesitantly. “So… what I got from that was Hongbin’s been practicing for a musical he got casted in, and he wants my feedback? Well, I’d say you need to fix your face a little. You look incredibly sour for someone who’s supposed to be happy after a great date with your lover.”

“No, no, you don’t get it,” Taekwoon tried, “he’s—”

“—running for his life, from Shia LaBeouf!” Wonshik launched himself off the couch and burst into song. “He’s brandishing a knife, it's Shia LaBeouf! Lurking in the shadows,” he bellowed, “Hollywood superstar Shia LaBeouf!”

“ …What? Is going on?” Hakyeon shivered as Wonshik, wide eyed and distressed, climbed on top of the coffee table and proceeded to bust out some very dramatic, interpretive dance moves. “What’s happeni—Wonshik are you biting my thigh!?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out! Ever since you left, it comes out like this whenever they try and speak as if—”

“If you were gay,” Jaehwan chimed in harmoniously, “that'd be okay. I mean 'cause, hey!” he pranced on over to Taekwoon, “I'd like you a-ny-way. Because you see,” he locked arms with him, “If it were me! I would feel free to say that I was gay, but I'm not gay!”

Taekwoon pried himself out of Jaehwan’s tight grasp and tried to cling on to Hakyeon while confetti and glitter magically rained down on them—wait what?

“They won’t respond in anything but singing and dancing,” Taekwoon said, “I even looked up their symptoms on the interne—”

“The internet is for porn!” Sanghyuk sang enthusiastically. “The internet is for porn! Why do you think the net was born? Porn! Porn! Porn!”

“You're joking, right?” Hakyeon said as Sanghyuk continued screaming porn repeatedly while holding his hands in a recitation handclasp and bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet to the melody in his head. “Taekwoon, come on. This can't be serious.”

Then out of nowhere, Jaehwan, Wonshik and Hongbin—almost escalatory and frantically so—resumed singing and dancing their own respective songs on top of each other in a jumbled mess, all at the same time.

Hakyeon was starting to feel slightly delirious.

“I seriously think they're cursed or something, Hakyeon.” Taekwoon said as chaos ensued right before their eyes. “Wonshik wouldn’t be doing all of this out of his own volition, especially not Hongbin,” he commented as they watched all the self-loathing radiate from Hongbin’s body. “Though I'm not sure I can say the same for Jaehwan and Sanghyuk.”

While that seemed to be true, Hakyeon couldn't ignore the red tiredness under their swollen eyes. Maybe something actually happened, then.

“So, what now?”

“Come home,” Taekwoon said, trying not to make too much eye contact, “with us?”

With us. Hakyeon paused. Come home.

His eyes drifted next to Taekwoon, where a group photo from the night of their debut five years ago was hanging—the only decorative item on display in the whole apartment aside from his favorite family portrait.

“You think it might ‘break the curse’ they're under?”

Taekwoon looked at him with those eyes and shrugged. “Worth a try.”

Truth is, watching them take up what was once a large amount of space in his one bedroom flat made him feel almost suffocated, that is, if it he didn't adore them all so, so much. But it was a familiar, loving type of suffocating, where it was difficult to not feel loved when it surrounded him from corner to corner. Moving out was such a bittersweet thing. Hakyeon may not necessarily enjoy every single moment of living together, but he does miss them—all the time.

Real curse or not, he’d do anything for them at the end of the day. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t be able to leave them die in a ditch, even if he tried. And they’d do the same for him, probably.

“Fine,” Hakyeon groaned. “I'll pack enough for the weekend and go.” He stomped into his unmade bedroom, pretending to be irritated. “I must be cursed to be bonded with you all forever.”

On Sunday night, the main door of their dorm finally shut after saying goodbye for roughly an hour, leaving the living room a little colder and quieter than it was. Jaehwan, Wonshik, Hongbin and Sanghyuk turned to Taekwoon.

“Should we play pretend again so hyung will come back and stay over next weekend?”

“Or, or maybe play it up a little more so we can extend it to weekdays too?”

“No, no we might make it too obvious!”

“Hyung can be dense as a humidifier, what are you talking about?”

“Yeah, I miss him too.” Taekwoon shook his head and laughed to himself. “Now go research more musicals for next week.”

author’s note:

a wee bit late but we realized it was april fool's yesterday right before posting this ahahahaha so fitting!

Singing in the Rain by Gene Kelly Shia LaBeouf by Rob Cantor If You Were Gay by Avenue Q The Internet is for Porn by Avenue Q

[angioponder]

to: where you are

Fandom: BTS Namjoon, Yoongi, Hoseok (namseokgi) Genre/Warnings: fluff  Word count: 1049w

author’s note:  also on AO3 (@angioponder) i just wanted to write yoongi in hoseok's lap gdi. and sappy namseok. this is all courtesy of a lovely dream I had couple nights ago. so here, have at it.

special thanks to eri for being my beta :D

“Yoongi wait—”

Namjoon watched his normally lethargic mechanical engineer bolt through the sliding metallic doors, no doubt headed for the shuttle bay's non-civilian sector of the capital starship they had just landed in.

He honestly couldn’t find it in himself to blame him. After all, he was right on his tail, breaking into a squishy jog with his heart in his throat.

“Yoongi?” Hoseok paused in the act of unloading the cargo of his cruiser. “I thought you were still in—oof!”

There was a loud crash followed by muffled shrieks that had Namjoon worried enough to quicken his pace, leaving more puddles in his wake. But then he rounded the corner, and his shoulders sank with relief. He knew there was nothing to be worried about when he was greeted by the lovely sight of Hoseok with a lapful of Yoongi.

“Couldn't wait.” The sentiment barely left Yoongi's mouth as he rushed to wrap his arms behind Hoseok’s neck for a deep, long awaited kiss.

“I see that,” Hoseok said after finally pulling away to catch his breath, chuckling as he saw Yoongi's body leaning forward to chase him with his eyes still closed. He was about to indulge him with another kiss when he saw Namjoon resting his weight against the threshold, watching their little reunion fondly.

Yoongi started wriggling in his lap, clearly unhappy from their lips disconnecting, then very reluctantly opted to nuzzle his small button nose into his neck for the time being.

“Can you believe he barrelled straight into me? I didn't even know he had the energy!” Hoseok pouted petulantly at Namjoon. Contrary to his complaint, his grip on Yoongi's waist didn't loosen. “Knocked the air out of my lungs and now he's crushing me. Help me out here, doc.”

“Sorry, babe.” Namjoon crossed his arms, his dimples peeking out at Hoseok's over dramatic whining. “You’re too human for me. M'not that kind of doctor.”

“What the…” Hoseok took a proper look at what Namjoon was wearing. “Did you seriously run over here with all of that still on?” He gestured up and down his dripping wet rubber overalls. This told Hoseok that Namjoon had quite possibly been in the middle of feeding his endangered crustaceans before coming to meet him. Then he gasped, turning to Yoongi. “Did you guys abandon Betsy?”

“Couldn’t wait,” Namjoon shrugged his shoulders in reply. “And ‘sides, I trust Yoongi's meticulousness wouldn't jeopardize our marine sanctuary. He wouldn’t leave ol’ Betsy without double checking everything…I think.”

Yoongi glared at him in disbelief.

“What? I didn’t check to be honest. S’not my job.” Namjoon ducked his head, avoiding Hoseok’s gaze and stuffing his hands into pockets he thought were there, only to remember he didn't change into casual clothes. “And I had other priorities.”

Yoongi scoffed. “I am not the best at my job for nothing.” He pulled a contraption out of his utility belt and read out a quick summary update on the status of their sanctuary, including small details like how many times Betsy the Sea Cow chirped since they had left. After he was done, he looked up at both of them unfazed by the question marks on their faces. “Just because I'm a mechanic doesn't mean I can't do programming too. I designed this to make sure things run smoothly should an emergency arise.”

Hoseok looked incredulously between the two. “I mean, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. You really didn't have to rush,” he reassured, taken aback by all their urgency. “I won't be assigned on a mission for another solar turn.”

“That’s rich coming from you, Mr. I’m Still In Diplomatic Uniform,” Yoongi snorted. “You got your court dress shoes and special seamless underwear still on. You were just as pressed to see us.”

Hoseok’s ears reddened, swatting Yoongi’s hands away from where they were feeling up his thighs. “They’re the only pair I have that won’t show through those white pants.”

“Yeah well,” Namjoon pushed himself off to walk towards them, “ever since we got word that your expedition to Earth’s Jupiter was near completion, Yoongi and I ‘ve been preparing for your return so we could jump drive to the capital as soon as you arrived. Had your trip been any longer than it was, Yoongi here would have strangled me. He’s been grumpy ever since you left, you know.”

“Yes, but when has he not been?” Hoseok teased, poking softly at Yoongi's protruded lower lip before turning to Namjoon, eyes twinkling. “And what about you?”

“I missed you a little, of course.”

“That's bullshit,” Yoongi interjected. “He waxed poetic about you every second of the day and became practically super glued to me. A little, my ass.” He grabbed Namjoon's wrist and forcefully dragged him closer to the both of them. “Just moosh his face already. You look like you're about to implode.”

It took awhile, but Namjoon held Hoseok’s hand gently and slowly leaned over Yoongi to give him a couple of chaste pecks, lingering on the last one.

“Even with each other around, it was hard without me, huh?” Hoseok tried, joking.

“Namjoon’s too clumsy to be you. And I am too deadpan to be you,” Yoongi retorted. “In fact, I don’t know anyone else in this galaxy or the next that can speak half a hundred intergalactic languages like you do. And who knows where we would be now if you hadn't taken a monumental part in establishing interplanetary peace.”

“You know full well it’s different without you.” Namjoon's gaze on Hoseok was as steady as Yoongi's arms were around his neck. “Without any one of us.”

“Guess so, huh,” Hoseok gave a slow genuine smile. “What would I do without either one of you?”

“You won’t have to find out,” Yoongi said, carefully detaching himself from Hoseok’s lap and standing. “It’s not going to happen.”

“C’mon,” Namjoon grinned, tugging at Hoseok who winced a little. “We’re getting extremely rare fish-sharks the early civilization called stingrays at the sanctuary today.”

“I will,” Hoseok said, smiling with a grimace from his seated position, “once I regain the feeling in my legs.”

“Sorry, not sorry.” Yoongi started walking listlessly back to their vessel. “I missed my spot. Don't make me miss it again.”

“Wouldn't dream of it.” 

author’s note:  see namjoon and his love for crabs. also, yoongi could've totally ran their sanctuary with automatic functions from the beginning since he built it like that but he never activated it because he likes spending time caring for the animals himself uwu.

[angioponder]

futurebound

Fandom: VIXX Wonshik & Hongbin (Rabin) Genre/Warnings: fluff & crack Word count: 3808

author’s note: also on AO3 after like 6 months i can finally give this to you. accumulated with mothballs, dust and all, to bring the fluffiest of fluffs i could muster. this is for you. happy freakin' birthday. 

ps. here's the playlist for this if you're into that.

A prolonged squeak from a chip bag being stretched open followed by a series of loud crunching noises echoed throughout the vehicle.

“Wonshik, I swear to god if you leave one speck of trash in my car—”

“It’s a rental,” Wonshik replied mid-chew.

“I paid to have this vehicle for the next two weeks,” Hongbin retorted. "So technically, it's my car.”

“We split the cost,” Wonshik said around a mouthful of chips, “so technically,” he continued chewing, “it’s not.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” Hongbin muttered, his hands gripping the steering wheel a little as he cringed at the sound of another crunch.

“And I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love you too.” Wonshik made a kissy face at his boyfriend, who returned a scowl at the sight of grease all over his lips.

Summer had just begun, which meant Hongbin’s exchange program at his university in California had come to an end. After six long months of being apart, Wonshik ran into his arms as soon as he could in the busy LAX airport. To celebrate being physically reunited around the same time of their 2nd year anniversary, they planned a roadtrip across the country together before returning home to South Korea.

About four days ago, they left Hongbin's college town at dawn. The trees swayed with the wind when they loaded the car with two full duffle bags in the trunk, warm woolen blankets, fluffy pillows, and just enough money in their pockets. Wonshik got into the driver’s seat, still fully awake from jet lag and looked over at a sleeping Hongbin who curled himself into the passenger’s seat. His soft bed hair was poking out of the overly large hoodie he was wearing, and the dslr camera hanging from his neck was nestled in his lap. Just moments ago, before they got in the car, Hongbin was smacking himself in the face before he pointed his camera towards the beautiful hues of orange, purple and magenta as they met in the sky, only to fall asleep in an instant as soon as he was done.

“What?” Hongbin said self-consciously when he was more awake. “We’re in a different place every time we wake up.”

Wonshik only chuckled in endearment. Hongbin’s passions still seeped into every little thing he did and Wonshik’s heart still swelled with pride every time he got to witness it.

Some things never do change.

It was near dusk by the time they pulled into a place they could stay overnight and set up camp. Hongbin lifted the back door up, folded the back seats down, and hung a string of lights inside the car, while Wonshik arranged their blankets and pillows for them to sleep on. When they both changed into more comfortable clothing, they climbed into the back to get cozy.

“What a day, huh?” Wonshik said, putting on one of the many playlists he made for their road trip. One that went with the deep green growing darker before them, the lake water standing still, sparse amounts of fireflies twinkling as the evening fell.

“Yeah,” Hongbin replied. To his side, he pulled out his camera and flicked through them. There were photos of his friends high-fiving Wonshik for the first time, their sandy feet touching the LA beach, their meals from the local off-campus diner he dragged Wonshik to, the scenic view by the long roads they’ve been passing, many of Wonshik’s side profile while driving, and the most recent ones of the woods. “You like it so far?”

“It’s good,” Wonshik said, tucking himself under the blankets and rubbing his socked feet against Hongbin’s for warmth. “I can see why you had a good time here. Your friends Jaehwan and Sanghyuk were nice, too, if they’re not being dumb asses, which apparently—”

“—is 90% of the time, yes,” Hongbin finished with a laugh. “I knew you’d get along. I was excited you guys finally got to meet.” He smiled and put away his camera. “It’s a pity you didn’t get to know each other longer.”

“It’s okay,” Wonshik stretched his arms out and then pillowed one behind his head. “I mean, they promised to see us when their family decides to travel back.” 

Hongbin nodded then gingerly laced his fingers with Wonshik’s thinking to himself about how nice it is to have his boyfriend to himself anyway. As much as he tried to involve Wonshik in all his new experiences, nothing beats finally having him here to see and experience everything he’d talked about, everything he’d shared photos of, everyone he had befriended and just, everything he grew to love.

“I really did um, miss you, that is.”

At Hongbin’s barely choked out confession, Wonshik smiled and tucked him in close, wrapping his arms around him. Hongbin buried himself in his chest, and after a moment peeked upwards to see the little glow of lights dancing behind Wonshik’s head.

It was soft and sweet when their lips met. Hongbin hoped he relayed how glad he was with their shared memories of the past, and promises of more to come.

Wonshik found driving in the early mornings peaceful, with the world still waking up and the streets empty before him. No sense of expectations, no sense of time, just the road, his music, his own thoughts, and Hongbin, who shifted in his seat and let out a yawn.

“Morning, sunshine,” Wonshik greeted. Hongbin didn’t say anything in return, but stretched his arms and arched his back with a groan.

“Ew,” Hongbin replied later, smacking his lips languidly and slowly blinking himself awake, while Wonshik only laughed in that deep, hoarse way that he did. “Can we stop for a bit?”

They were driving through a desert this time round, with nothing but the impending heat, sand, some green, and a few of neither of those things. Hongbin though, saw something else. Saw all the different layers of color on the boulders they passed, saw all the cactus flowers storing away water from the previous time it rained, and all the other animals that were out, trying to ensure another tomorrow.

The driver’s door opened when the car engine shut off and Wonshik was about to get out when he was pulled back into his seat. Hongbin sputtered out a laugh and reached over to unbuckle the seatbelt holding his embarrassed boyfriend down and got out of the car.

They went about separately, but not too far that they couldn’t see each other. About thirty minutes later, they traced their steps back. Hongbin with more photos to add, of an abandoned building and the near blue sky contrasting with the orange-ish terracotta landscape, and Wonshik with a few rocks in his pocket as well as photos he snuck of his boyfriend. Both of which he thought were pretty.

Just as they were about to get back into the car, Hongbin quickened his pace suddenly, tugging Wonshik past it, and dragging him towards the middle of the road.

“Wha—” Wonshik started, faintly alarmed, “there could be cars, Binnie!”

“There’s no one here, just—” he made him stand roughly on the double yellow line, and when he was sure Wonshik wasn’t going to move away, he walked backwards. “Maybe a little to the left.” Wonshik, still puzzled and alarmed, tipped his toes to check behind Hongbin and then behind himself before mechanically shuffling a little to his right. “Yeah, right there. Now, don’t move.”

After taking a couple of shots, Hongbin straightened back up with a furrow on his brow.

“Can you look—I don’t know—less worried? You’re too stiff and twitchy looking.”

“Really?” Wonshik squawked, “I’m in the middle of the fucking road and I—” Hongbin went back to snapping away, “—could get run over any minute!”

“Perfect,” Hongbin said walking away, already looking through the shots he took.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“You can move now. Let’s go.” Wonshik looked like he really wanted to, but stayed put for some reason. Hongbin looked at him questioningly. “C’mon, I got the shot already.”

“No, w-wait—”

It confused Hongbin how his usually worrisome and fearful boyfriend was enduring said fearful situation.

“I-I’m already here so…take one with me?”

“Oh.”

He didn’t normally like being in photos himself; would rather be taking them instead, but with the way Wonshik was looking at him nervously for more than one reason (the obvious one being in the middle of the road), Hongbin ran back to the car and came back with his tripod without another word.

“Let’s switch at the next gas station,” Hongbin suggested, setting his guitar on his lap to rest his hand on Wonshik’s thigh. It was late afternoon and they were getting close to the next major city, built on the edge of the desert they were driving through.

“Could we check out that fossil museum first?”

“Of course,” Hongbin’s lips quirked up. Throughout the entire trip, Wonshik had been reading a lot of the signs out loud, said he was practicing his pronunciation so that when he made his songs with English lyrics, it would flow and sound better. In the process, they passed multiple billboards with the same advertisement that caught his attention, not that he really needed it to be shown more than once for him to want to visit the place.

Animal bones greeted them upon walking in, and numerous types of rocks were on display. It wasn’t like the museum on Wonshik’s bucketlist (the one in Washington, D.C.), but it didn’t quell his excitement either way. He looked like how he would when December came around and the tree was put up in the living room, covered in all it’s tinsel glory.

They didn’t stay long, going on to tour the small place by themselves, with Wonshik roaming ahead and Hongbin following close behind, listening to him explain animatedly what the formations were, and how the fossilized animals might have looked like had they still existed. The highlight of their visit was when they reached the end of the exhibit. For a small fee, they could dig in a large sandbox for fossils and keep three of the ones they found. To say Wonshik was ecstatic was an understatement. Hongbin didn't even have the heart to throw sand at him for fear of ruining his experience.

With a few souvenirs in tow, they were ready to get back on the road. Hongbin picked his guitar back up and plucked on a couple of strings. Wonshik by his side mimicked the sounds of instrumental beats, blending with the melodies being strummed. Eventually Hongbin started making up lyrics to go with the song. Something silly and light hearted. Little inside jokes, both old and recent ones that were made on the trip, then Wonshik added sappy love confessions which earned him a light shove for “crashing” the mood. Hongbin didn’t fool anyone though, if the smile he failed to hide was of any indication.

“How do I look?” Wonshik was standing in the middle of a store selling souvenirs like common names engraved on sheriff star keychains, shot glasses decorated with longhorn cattle, and t-shirts that said someone who really loves me went to Texas and bought me this shirt. Hongbin stopped fiddling with one of the wooden slingshots to spare him a glance.

“You look like you,” Hongbin replied plainly, “but with a cowboy hat on.”

“Wow, yeah thanks,” his shoulders deflated as Hongbin burst out into laughter. “Great info.”

“Anytime, babe.” Hongbin sent him a cheeky wink.

Wonshik turned around to put the hat away and was checking out some postcards when he felt something graze his head.

“This one,” Hongbin said grinning wide, “looks better on you. Matches your handsome face.”  

Not a moment later, Wonshik disappeared under the hat to hide the pretty redness blooming on his face, but Hongbin pulled it off his head, kissed him on the cheek then left, hat in tow. A still blushing Wonshik was rooted to the spot, watching Hongbin giggle away as he walked over to the cashier to pay for it.

Live jazz music was playing throughout the low-lit restaurant. The food they ordered for dinner was sitting on the table untouched until Wonshik came back from the bathroom. Hongbin was taking a quick, sweeping video of some local band performing and the small crowd of people swaying their bodies to it when someone behind him cleared their throat.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” drawled a voice in English. “You come here often?”  

“I’m sor— Oh my fucking god, Wonshik.”

Wonshik stood there with his hands in his pockets, beads of yellow, purple and green around his neck, smugly grinning at Hongbin. The interaction earned him a playful smack on the arm and he snickered, breaking character, but he managed to continue his act.

“That the name of your boyfriend?” Another smack on the arm. “He’s a lucky guy.”

“I’m ignoring you,” Hongbin said turning in his seat so he could no longer see him in his peripheral vision.

“Aw, come on. I couldn’t resist.” Wonshik reached out to tuck a tuft of Hongbin’s hair behind his ear. “My boyfriend is so pretty.”

“Shut up,” he swatted at him, red in the face from the way Wonshik’s voice softened at the end of his last sentence. “You’re making a scene.”  

“You’re a great scene.” He dodged another incoming smack with a rambunctious laugh.

“Stop.”

“So uh,” Wonshik cleared his throat again then raised his eyebrows twice, “can I have your number?”

“Sit down and eat your goddamn crawfish, you goof!”

And sit down he did. He also made constant eye contact with Hongbin while he sucked on the crawfish head more than necessary.

They left the restaurant with remnants of corn in Wonshik’s hair that Hongbin threw at him.

“Never seen so much land in my life,” Hongbin remarked. “I mean we get parks, and patches of real grass if we’re lucky but, man, never this much.”  

“Hashtag city life,” Wonshik agreed, looking out through the passenger window. Driving through the southeastern part of the country surrounded them with miles and miles of corn, and a myriad of animals grazing the wide, green pastures littered with hay bales.

“The next restaurant I see is gonna be where we stop to get lunch,” Hongbin said around the steering wheel, “because I’m hungry, and we might not see another one for another hour at this rate.”

It took them more than an hour to find a place to eat that was still open for business. Mostly because Hongbin forgot his hunger upon wanting to take photos of all the abandoned restaurants, which he did, pulling over for each one, ignoring the rumbling of his stomach and Wonshik’s exasperated cries of ‘I’m hungry, my ass!’  

Eventually, they found a slightly run-down looking restaurant in the next town over. It must have been around for a while because there looked to be quite a few regulars getting their usuals. A lot of the red vinyl bar stools were torn in places and some of the neon signs didn’t work anymore, but it was nice. They even had a huge old jukebox in the corner. It made them think of old American movie sets where the main characters would go on a date to share a strawberry milkshake with lots of whipped cream and a bright red cherry on top.

“Can I get you boys somethin’ to drink?” A waitress of about middle age came to greet and hand them each a menu. They got coffee, which she poured into cups over saucers when she got back. Hongbin then ordered a simple eggs, bacon and toast with a side of hashbrowns for himself and a stack of pancakes for Wonshik, who was too flustered to reply when she called him honey.  

As they were eating their last few bites, she placed a small plate of apple pie on their chrome edged table with a smile. “I reckon you boys ain’t from ‘round here. So here’s a lil’ somethin’ for visitin’ us, on the house.” They happily gave her a generous tip and waved goodbye as they headed out to check out the rest of town.

Past the junkyard nearby, they saw a little store with all sorts of houseware items crowding the entire space out front. A bell rang when they opened the door to what looked like an antique shop. There was barely enough space for them to walk through, with a plethora of items covering every shelf, wall and path. Dusty as it was, there was a rustic charm to it. A simplicity that one would have difficulty finding in the heart of a city, unless purposely looked for, given that there’s no rush to be somewhere which was usually the case. Two weeks for a road trip might have been a bit of a stretch, but the couple intended to stop frequently and often, specifically for this reason.

Wonshik was looking through a small bucket of zip-locked buttons when Hongbin put a hand on his shoulder and hauled him over towards a large contraption of a sort. He plucked a quarter from his pocket of loose change and stuck it in the coin slot.

“Love Tester?” Wonshik read the words engraved on the wood. “How does it work?”

“I dunno~” Hongbin sang, inspecting the machine. He wrapped one hand on the metal handle and grabbed Wonshik’s to join his before squeezing it. It started to play some kind of song and the lights moved up and down the column of red-painted words. After a couple of minutes, the lights began to slow down, coming to a full stop.

“Clammy?” Wonshik raised his eyebrows at Hongbin.

“I’m sure we should’ve gotten ‘uncontrollable’ no problem, but the test probably picked up on how nervous you were instead of how hot we are together,” Hongbin poked him in the cheek and walked away to play with other little trinkets, some of which Wonshik bought. He hugged them close to his chest and dubbed them as his ‘lost treasures’ when Hongbin looked at him with playful judgment.

“It’s not possible for me to get lost,” Hongbin muttered, passing through the bookshelves on their way out.

“I mean yeah? Your sense of direction is pretty great,” Wonshik replied. By the time he realized what Hongbin meant (which was a while later), he grabbed him in the tightest hug he could muster. “I know you won’t, but I’d still keep you.”

“It’s almost over.” Hongbin was tracing the veins protruding from Wonshik’s wrists and forearms. They were laying together in their blankets while the rain was pouring, making little pitta-patta noises on the roof of their car. “I think I’m gonna be sad about it a little.” Wonshik hummed and rubbed Hongbin’s shoulder, prompting him to continue. “Is that weird? I mean like—” Hongbin lowered his hands, tucking them under the blankets before licking his lips. “It’s only been a few months.”

There was a long pause as Wonshik thought. “Time isn’t everything, I guess,” he said eventually. He stopped rubbing Hongbin’s shoulder in favor of grazing his fingers through Hongbin's fringe. “Do you remember how we were about three years ago?” Hongbin listened to the rumbling timbre of his voice, despite the overwhelming urge to hide in embarrassment. “Because I do. The first time I saw you , I didn’t think much, but then you opened your gigantic mouth—” Wonshik smiled at the smack he got from Hongbin who was now hiding, “— and I realized how much of a dweeb you actually were. It was pretty much over for me by the third month of knowing you. And you took how long?”

“Sometime… later?” Hongbin said peeking from under the blanket, knowing where this was going.

Wonshik snorted at his reply, pulling the blanket down so he could look at him. “A long time later. A year, in fact, which is totally fine because,” he leant over, kissing his temple, “now we’re here: two years of happiness later.” He smiled a little dopily at Hongbin, his eyes turning into half moons, pulling his nose into an adorable crinkle.

“My point is,” Wonshik continued, “that time doesn’t measure the acceptable amount of love you can have for something. Not necessarily. You just… love. And when you realize it, it would still feel like magic. No matter how much earlier or later you felt it.” Wonshik kissed his temple again for good measure then pulled away to face the ceiling so he could lie more comfortably.

“Magic, huh?” Hongbin echoed as he snuggled closer, chasing him. “I’m glad I got to love you when I did.”

“Oh wow.” Wonshik parked the car and took in the view.

Hongbin shifted in his seat, only one eye opened, already awake but still groggy. When he sat up to look, his other eye couldn’t stay closed if it wanted to and he smacked himself in the face before getting out, camera already pointing towards blue waves stretched wide across the horizon.

“Is this—Are we here?”

Hongbin lowered his camera to stare at him. He shook his head fondly before not-so-subtly pointing to the sign at the back of Wonshik’s head that read Welcome to Miami Beach.

“I can't believe it,” Wonshik whispered in awe. “I’m standing where Drake hyung-nim filmed God’s Plan.”

Hongbin snorted loudly as Wonshik tried to reconcile this fact in his head. He looked about 5 seconds away from kissing the ground they were standing on.

There were plenty of exciting activities they could do in a tourist city like this one, sure, but they really only planned to spend most of it by the water. Checking out the beachside bars along the boardwalk, trying some Cuban cuisine and seeing walls covered by the miles in graffiti murals were definitely on the list as well, but for them, the beach was it.

Despite it being eight in the morning, the summer sun was already high, making the idea of a dip in the water extremely appealing.

“C’mon Wonshik, let’s go! The water looks great!”

It only took them a short walk to get their feet on the warm sand. A glance around told them they had the place to themselves with barely any people around. The smell of saltwater filled their lungs as they took in the breeze. With there still a considerable distance from shore, he looked at Wonshik mischievously.

“I’ll race you!” Hongbin yelled, shoving him before booking it towards the water.

“Hey!” Wonshik regained his balance quickly and tried to grab Hongbin’s arm back to get even but missed. It didn’t matter anyway.

Whether it be back then, here and now, or in the future. Wherever they were in their lives. Wonshik was bound to catch up, and Hongbin would let him.

author’s note:

thanks everyone for reading! it's been forever since i've posted something and it's not perfect but IT FEELS GREAT. IT GETS TO LIVE AND BREATHE NOW AFTER BEING STRANDED IN MY DRAFT BASEMENT PRISON. i hope you enjoyed it! please do leave comments and likes and whatnots! i'd like to get to know you all sometime~

[angioponder]

tentative vixx giveaway?

i’m thinking about hosting a vixx giveaway of albums, photocards, posters and some merch. i’m moving and i’m thinking of just buying their music digitally for the sake of space. would any of you be interested? 

[angioponder]

not in favour

Fandom: BTS Jimin, Taehyung, Jungkook (Maknae Line) Genre/Warnings: crack, humor, genderswap? Word count: 433

author’s note: also on AO3 so as i said, i'm in a creative writing class this semester so sometimes i lowkey write fanfic without the prof knowing, so the maknae line are called the English names they gave themselves. incredibly short but its just part of practice. enjoy!

Summary: maknae line wants to go see a movie. how hard could that be?

“I’m sorry, but The LEGO Ninjago Movie is completely sold out and full,” the movie teller sadly told Justine, Jack and Christian.

“I told you we should’ve arrived an hour before the showing!” Jack flailed his hands towards the direction of his two friends, still in the front of the somewhat lengthy ticketing line. “Now I’ll never learn Spinjitzu from Master Wu!”

Christian was busy trying to contain the spectacle that is Jack, who is now letting everyone know of his deep despair by plastering himself to the ticketing booth’s glass and reaching out dramatically towards the LEGO Movie banner. Justine on the other hand continued to casually drape herself over the counter, completely indifferent as she was unfortunately familiar of Jack’s antics.

“I mean, we could just watch IT,” Justine muttered tiredly. “Looks fun.” The blonde hair on Christian’s head ruffled at that.

“Um, what about My Little Pony, Justine?” Christian squeaked as he was still trying to prevent Jack from escaping by pulling on the collar of his hoodie. “A movie about friendship is surely something you’d be interested in, yes?”

“All three of us are in our twenties, Christian, at least physically anyway,” she said tilting her chin over at Jack.

“Christian, just let me just go inside and bribe some of the people who already bought a ticket. Please, please, please!”

”And with no little toddlers to force us to watch what they want,” Justine continued pointedly, “we’re watching a proper adult movie. So, no.” She was already taking out her wallet, intent on paying the teller for the horror movie involving clowns and red balloons.

“Um!” Christian was torn between suggesting a different movie and just going along with it because of the many strangers throwing them looks behind them, but he really can’t stand scary movies. He really, really can’t.

“What about,” Christian’s eye wandered frantically through the rest of the list on the board and landed on one that looked promising for both Jack and Justine. “Blade Runner 2049! Action and Sci-Fi genre. It’s not a child’s movie. A dystopian alternate universe about an ex-cop who assassinates robots who look too human and-”

Justine waved her hand infront of Christian’s face to cut off his regurgitation of all the information he probably read and heard about in the past month about the movie in passing. “Alright, alright that one then. Three for Blade Runner 2049, please.”

Adding to Christian’s relief, even Jack stopped struggling against him and started bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet in excitement.

“I’m terribly sorry. It’s sold ou-”

[angioponder]

heya pondersprouts, 

so i’ve got some news. still working on a couple of things. i was super busy this summer on a personal project in both writing and illustrating a book. now that it’s over, i’m back in university. i’m taking a creative writing class and i kinda plan to write some fic as hw and posting them on here hehehe ^^;

there’s also a feminist poetry slam that i’m entering “never again” into. i’m excited about it, but i’m also a wee bit nervous as it has to be read out loud, and it really isn’t a light topic to be saying out loud. so we’ll see how it goes :3

there’ll be content on here soon i promise! they’re just all stuck in the draft graveyard right now. they’ll be out in a bit as i should just focus on writing as much as possible for practice rather than for perfection >.>

thanks for reading till here if you have! and for following me. 

till next time~! <3

[angioponder]

sea-going: 

-- (adjective) suitable or designed for voyages on the sea. 

for @disarmingly​. i absolutely enjoyed imagining the world you built. it doesn’t look quite much like how i pictured it, as there were a lot more details originally BUT nonetheless i had so much fun with this. thank you very veeery big for writing it! everyone, go give the story and the author some love :D

[angioponder]

home is a presence

Fandom: BTS Seokjin/Namjoon (other members are mentioned) Genre/Warnings: tad domestic/fluff & tiiiiny angst Word count: 1309 *prompt from @latoya-park-jimin: I haven’t a namjin for a while. Joonie is an undercover cutie. Secret agents lovebird couple namjin? That’s what came to my mind 😂

author’s note: also on AO3 welp, i tried my best. thanks for heeding my need for a prompt, Toya~ a special thanks to rapmonnie for all the cuteness on vlive! here we go.

The front door slams shut and Namjoon barely makes it inside before he slides down to the floor and crumbles. The jobs he’s hired to do can be dangerous. Sometimes he regrets starting at all but it was a choice he made, and he has to take responsibility for everything it comes with. That entails being ever thorough with all of his plans and never leaving without preparing for every possible case scenario.

The team who hired him for a job last night were a bunch of reckless idiots. Jack-Jack was convinced that the main objective wasn’t as important as trying to feed all the experimental animals in the company they were breaking into. J-D screeched to the heavens out of fear when Namjoon gave him directions through an earpiece, claiming he spoke too suddenly and that it was too dark outside. Chris Chim got the wire attached to his headgear caught everywhere, abruptly yanking him backwards every other step he took. It finally came off after getting stuck on yet another doorknob and Despacito played on repeat all over the soon-to-not-be-empty hallway.

In the six years Namjoon has done his work, he’s never thought to consider running into such meagre problems. If it wasn’t for the money and his reputation on the line, he would’ve just left them there. He had half a mind to tie up the three of them in the back of his van and go in there himself so the operation could be done without any more ridiculous setbacks. They were the oddest bunch he’s been placed with so far. His encounter with an innocent and childlike looking duo who called themselves ‘SugaKookie’ were a close second. Those two were eerie and terrifying.

He sits on the floor for a moment longer to collect himself. It was rough, but he makes it back home, and that’s all that matters. When he turns to the shoe rack on the right, he is surprised (but not really surprised) to see a post-it-note. Namjoon guesses Seokjin was here wearing that pink apron of his cooking a feast for him to eat before he arrived. He smiles at the thought. Seokjin probably left notes all over the place.

“Might as well take your shoes off while you’re there,” the note says. “Also you need to have something other than ramen in your cupboard. I may call you a ‘noodle’ endearingly, but you don’t need to eat so much of it to maintain that nickname.”

“Alright, Jinnie,” Namjoon chuckles to no one but himself while putting his boots in their place. “I have high expectations with what you substituted my ramen stash with.”

In the kitchen he doesn’t see another note like he thought, but he does check the fridge. He has a hunch about what’s going to be in there, but he tries to think that maybe this time it’ll be different. It’s not. Namjoon lowers his head and shakes it fondly. The fridge is stocked with a bunch of Seokjin’s own favorite food.

“That’s just like him,” his dimples appear as he reaches in for the tupperware with naengmyun in it. He foregoes grabbing the salt shaker and walks past the microwave to sit at the dining table.

Namjoon laughs around his first bite. As expected, the naengmyun is lacking in salt but the flavor could do well without it. Seokjin did tell him to take better care of his kidney.

With his stomach full, he goes into his room. The sight of a regular civilian looking bedroom is still jarring to him sometimes, strikingly so after finishing up a heist. Namjoon prefers to keep his place in a similar environment as his work to help his mind stay sharp incase he gets hired for another job in the near future, but Seokjin thinks otherwise.

“It’ll help you compartmentalize your work better,” he says when Namjoon whines about his furniture getting rearranged. His computer equipment disappearing behind or under furniture to be replaced with books and other stationery materials.

With both of them working undercover jobs, it was hard to fall into anything akin to love, but they somehow have anyway. It didn’t even take a single night of roaming each other’s skin to realize they deeply care about one another’s safety. 

Since then, their first priority has always been to come home. They can’t live together, but home doesn’t have to be a place. They do what they can (post-it-notes in Seokjin’s case for example). Despite the couple of scares and incidents in the past, they’ve done their best to make it back to each other no matter what. Their second priority, however, is more difficult to achieve. They can only hope for a relationship that’s as close to healthy as possible, but they try— try to be mentally present. Namjoon is especially prone to drift. There was a time he scared Seokjin terribly:

“I can’t lose you, Joon. I need you. I need you here with me.”

Namjoon has since very secretly taken a liking to collecting small trinkets to help him feel close to normal. He figures it’s good to have a hobby to keep him grounded, and it helps. It’s not a lot but, it's a little something. No one has to know anyway.

His eyes widen when they lock onto his desk. All his figurines are sitting out, and two new but very familiar figurines are on display with another note next to them.

“I noticed you’ve been wanting these. I bet you’re happy and smiling now. You’re welcome, babe!”

It was the Sailor Moon doll he failed to get at a claw machine the other day, and the Jingu Bearbrick he’s been looking for.

“But how did he..?”

They can’t read each other’s minds, no, not really, and doing so won’t prove they’re in real love either. Though they are very calculative and detailed because of their work, to this day they still make sure they are both clear with their thoughts and feelings. They’ve been wrong plenty before and ended up with damaging results; crossing hard lines when they thought the other person would appreciate it. It took years of consistent communication and misunderstandings and apologies after apologies before they were even able to reach this point. They can still be wrong now, and they’re aware of that.

Namjoon peels the note off the flat surface and notices a second layer underneath.

“You’re a techie, Joon. couldn’t hack your phone or computer even if I tried. I’m just attentive, especially when it comes to you.

..Also because I found your box of stuff hiding in the closet. You should put them on display. They’re cute.<3”

Namjoon blushes in embarrassment but his features light up. The night goes on as he gets ready to sleep and he spots more remnants of Seokjin’s presence all over the house. There’s a giant cut out heart taped to the entire bathroom mirror, a lavender onesie shoved to the front of his wardrobe, and a full glass of water by the bed.

Before closing his eyes, he quickly goes over tomorrow’s already made plans.

--

Late in the afternoon the next day, Seokjin turns his key in the ignition after grocery shopping and becomes suddenly aware that his car is cleaner and filled with gas. He eagerly drives home and carries the large paper bag of produce up to his apartment that now smells of warm cotton and floral soap. Seokjin is already giddy when he pads on over to the kitchen and empties his hands on the wooden table. 

“Welcome home.” 

He doesn’t need to see who it is. Namjoon wraps his arms around his waist and kisses his cheek. A fit of squeaky, high-pitched giggles leave Seokjin when he opens up the cupboard. 

The shelf is filled with Namjoon’s favorite brand of ramen.

[angioponder]

pink hazelnut

Fandom: BTS Hoseok, Taehyung & Yoongi (nams gets mentioned) Genre/Warnings: none. crack? & slight angst, a tad fluffy? Word count: 983 *prompt from @bangtannies-fics:  coffee shop au?? where hoseok orders something and the barista(Taehyung or Yoongi) gets his name wrong. "hoe suck." hoseok goes back and the barista gets all flustered and embarrassed, stuttering apologies and hoseokie cant help but find it precious

author’s note: also on AO3 thanks for the prompt emimi! this is for you bb. changed it slightly to fit better but it follows the main thing. hope you like it.<3

“I’d like a latte, the largest one you got with three extra shots of espresso please,” Hoseok really should have slept last night. That way he wouldn’t be finding himself at their local coffee shop at five in the freaking morning asking for a disgustingly heavily caffeinated drink to stay conscious for the rest of the day.

The place was practically empty save for the employees working there, who were similarly, barely awake; except for the guy currently taking his order who had been vibrating with bouts of energy.

“Actually, could you add a shot of hazelnut in there too?” Hoseok figured it would make the experience less painful, adding an apology in there too since his order had already been yelled out to the barista who had sluggishly lifted his head flat off the counter just moments ago to make it.

“Of course!” The guy at the register nodded enthusiastically at him and offered a boxy smile that didn’t look like it would falter anytime soon. 

”Can totally do that for you, sir.” A few keys were being punched in before he turned to the direction of his co-worker, “Yoongi! Add hazelnut to that please! Thank you!”

Hoseok couldn’t help but cringe a little at the volume. The shop was fairly small and, again, it was barely even sunrise. His head hurt so bad and it made the espresso machine steaming milk sound like a dentist drilling teeth. If it actually felt like it, well, that’s when he began to seriously regret last night’s choices.

“Anything else we could get for you this lovely morning, sir?”

And like the perfect time for untimely things, Hoseok’s stomach grumbled sadly.

“Um,” slightly flustered, he took a quick look at the food behind the glass case and pointed at the most filling looking one. “And that too, I guess.”

“Sure! Can I get a name for the order?”

“Hoseok,” he said rubbing the back of his neck, then stuffing the change back into his wallet so he could receive the sandwich-looking pastry. 

“Thanks by the way, for your patience, uh,” he peeked at his name tag, “Taehyung. It’s just been one of those mornings.”

“No worries! We all have them, so I get you.” Taehyung seemed to beam even more with the mention of his name. “Anyway, I believe your order’s done so I’ll just have the barista bring it over. I hope your day gets better!”

“Thanks,” and with that Hoseok went over to the farther end of the counter to set his stuff down on a nearby table before planting his face on the cool surface with a heavy thud.

There would be no more staying up late to mull over the people that left him after this, echoing the advice of Namjoon from last night. They didn’t leave him because he wasn’t worth it. Nothing he would change about himself would bring them back. People can work things out if they wanted to, and unfortunately in this case, they just.. didn’t want to. Hoseok wasn’t perfect. No one was. And that meant even his past love interests couldn’t be either. That last thought was a difficult one to reconcile.

“Idiots,” Hoseok concluded.

"Hazelnut latte of death?” 

Hoseok looked up and the first thing he saw was a scribbled mess of words that said ‘hoesuck’ on the sleeve of a tall steaming cup. It was so unexpected and ridiculous that he burst into a fit of giggles.

“Oh, that can’t possibly be mine.” 

The zombie barista from earlier looked at him puzzled as he was the only customer in the place. 

“I, for one,” Hoseok tried to catch his breath, “am not a hoe, not exactly, and I don't think I suck as a human being, so.”

Hoseok twisted the cup towards him, and with some time, the barista looked more visibly awake after realizing what he had written. 

“U-uh, I’m-” Hoseok watched him fumble with words for a good minute or so till he gave up and went silent, blinking rapidly at him instead.

“It’s alright, Yoongi.” 

If Hoseok wasn’t sure he remembered the name Taehyung yelled out earlier correctly, the audible gulp he heard was a sure sign that it was.

“S-sorry. Not really awake right now I guess.” 

“It’s fine,” Hoseok chuckled as he tugged the cup closer to himself to let him know there didn’t need to be any changes, not noticing the heat coloring Yoongi’s cheeks. “I agree with that statement anyway. Hoes do suck.”

Hoseok lifted the lid to stir it and let some of the steam out so he could drink it soon. There wasn’t anywhere immediate he needed to be anyway. He looked up and Yoongi was there, still looking a touch embarrassed and worried about his mistake. 

“Seriously it’s okay. I had a good laugh. My day has been made, thank you.” Hoseok didn’t mean to tease him too much so he tried his best to be honest.

“Well,” he said looking convinced, “don’t die from a caffeine overdose.” 

“I won’t.” Hoseok smiled at him reassuringly in response and Yoongi’s eyes went wide slightly for a very brief moment. 

“I... also added an extra shot of hazelnut so it would taste better. So yeah, enjoy and have a nice day,” Yoongi very hastily threw the statement over his shoulder and left before Hoseok could even say ‘you too.’

Hoseok was a bit puzzled at how abrupt he went but then focused back on his drink, deeming the coffee temperature warm enough to have a sip of. As he was bracing himself for the nasty bitter flavor of the concoction in front of him, he heard someone say:

“Yoongi, my dude. What are you running away for?” 

Before a series of whacking noises,

“OW WHY ARE YOU HITTING ME sTOP”

-

It also turns out that the coffee wasn’t half bad. 10/10 would visit again.

[angioponder]

i’m in the middle of writing 3 fics atm but this would be a nice break~

this looks fun

butteredonions:

ladysansalannister:

1.) Give me a pairing. 2.) Give me a prompt. 3.) I will write you a three-sentence fic.

[angioponder]

HIS CHEEKS thank you eri for reading my stuffs and for making this DDDD:

I was reading @angioponder ‘s Every Little thing Helps and I couldn’t help but sketch/draw cute Lele stuffing his face with coffee beans <3 

Here’s the fic for reference ^^ http://angioponder.tumblr.com/post/157585483875/every-little-bit-helps-2

[angioponder]

so i was checking out suicide squad the movie sometime and leo graced us with a video of him and minyoolie. then i thought, what if i put them together and thus, i present to you, vixx!suicide squad. 

deadshot and his strong tie with his daughter pretty much made it easy to match up with ever stoic and initially scary leo who turns into mush with his nephew around, so here is leo!deadshot haha. this was fun. might continue the series. enjoyyy~

[angioponder]

teehee. i think one more day should do it.

[angioponder]

made this wontaek fanart for a friend of mine. hbd, Sini ( :

[angioponder]

every little bit helps (3/?)

Fandom: VIXX OT6 (Platonic Relationships) Genre/Warnings: fluffy and some crack in there. slight angst in the future. Word count: 1396 Author’s Note: also on AO3 Hongbin finally shows up haha. this one took longer than the first two to write, but hey, it’s longer. now that all the characters have been introduced i can finally dig in to the meat of the story. enjoy! :D

Summary: Hongbin knows Hakyeon doesn’t just like books. 

Hongbin was in the middle of meticulously dusting an array of boat figurines when a bell rang twice to indicate he was needed. He strolled towards the counter and pulled his face mask down in preparation to receive a customer.

There was an older lady waiting for him there. He greeted her and she asked him where she could find some bookends. The antique shop he worked in was quite vast. It was a wide three story establishment with a high ceiling, and almost every space possible was occupied with all sorts of nostalgic items to choose from.

“If you stay on this floor and you go towards the right side of the very back, there’s a section for decorative items like bookends,” he pointed specifically in that direction, naming a landmark for her to look out for.

“Would you like me to walk you over?” he inquired. She declined politely with a shake of her head and thanked him for his help.

“It’s no problem, miss,” his dimples showed. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.”

His eyes followed her past a few shelves and when he saw that she was going the way he suggested, he put his face mask back on and went back to where he was to finish dusting where he left off. After this, he was going to need to alphabetize the semi-rusted plate numbers, and move the fishing rods over to make space for a jukebox that came in the other day, among other things. Right when he lifted his duster, the bell dinged again. He sighed a little defeated before going back out with a smile only for it to disappear.

“We don’t sell vintage constrictive interlocking devices for the male ge-” Hakyeon squawked and lunged at him before more words could come out of his mouth. Wonshik was standing somewhat far from them but heard it nonetheless and doubled over in laughter. Hongbin knowing whose laugh that belonged to, straightened up immediately in search for his close friend of four years.

“Wonshik,” he recalled their last conversation and wondered how it’s progressed since. “Fancy you seeing daylight.”

“Hey Binnie,” Wonshik gave a small wave, eyes crinkled, still recovering from the public announcement of Hakyeon’s implied possible guilty pleasure. “Yeah, hyung thought it was good for me to come out today, so here I am.”

“That’s exactly right, because I know how to be a great friend.” Hakyeon sneered at Hongbin before continuing. “Actually, I brought him to see Taekwoon and Sanghyuk at the cafe after bumping into Jaehwan and his army of dogs.” Wonshik’s face crumpled when he remembered, looking at his attire, and Hongbin laughed at him, piecing two-and-two together. “Now we’re here to see you, and to have a look around,” Hakyeon finished.

Wonshik was still moping a little at Hongbin for making fun of him when Jaehwan barged in.

“My favorite people!” Jaehwan made a beeline for them to give tackle-hugs, but when he tried to reach Hongbin behind the counter he was swatted away with the duster. He pouted and stomped his way back to Hakyeon, nuzzling his face into his shoulder instead.

“Are the dogs tied and waiting outside like they did when we were at the coffee shop?” Hakyeon asked while petting his hair to soothe him.

“Nah, I finished walking the dogs and returned them to their owners so I’m free the rest of the day to hang out!” Jaehwan jumped up excitedly and Hakyeon let him go to cuddle with Wonshik to be given the same treatment, which he automatically received.

“Well, seeing as I can only help Wonshik in finding something within his interests,” Hongbin baited. “I suggest the library upstairs to the left. I believe you’ll find something you like in the bottom-half of the red shelf,” he said, satisfied with Hakyeon’s reaction.

“I like books too, you brat!” Hakyeon tried to throw numerous mock-slaps but Hongbin dodged them all with ease while taunting him.

Wonshik was thoroughly bewildered and entertained until Jaehwan shook his arm rapidly, asking him what the item was so he could find it so he could find it and make Hakyeon happy and not be sad anymore. Wonshik tried to explain that it’s really not something for him to look for but he kept insisting. Instead of indulging him, he could do nothing more than helplessly refuse and cover his face in embarrassment at the same time that Hakyeon was in full pursuit, attempting to climb over the counter but ending up running after Hongbin in circles while trying to look civil for the sake of the customers in the store.

Eventually Hongbin let Hakyeon have his fun and sacrificed his body a little, predominantly because he was worried about some items getting knocked over. Then, Hakyeon and Wonshik went upstairs to check out the books, and Jaehwan stayed to follow Hongbin around.

“How’s your garden going, Binnie?” Jaehwan asked while playing with some miniature replicas of this sort of reindeer-looking character from an anime.

“I’m looking to get some lavender and rosemary added. I read a few articles that said they were supposed to help with sleep, so I thought I’d try and sample some,” he said, busying himself with a hanging rack of pans and pots. “How’s your online store going? And your website?”

“I don’t-” Jaehwan made a disgruntled noise and rolled his eyes. “I haven’t gotten started. I hate it. No one told me that being an artist meant that I had to be an accountant, and a manager, and a website coder, and a social media updater, and a marketer,” he counted each one on his fingers. “I just want to draw stuff and make money out of it.” There was a beat in his sulking, then he looked up at Hongbin with an idea and a glint in his eye.

“No I’m not doing it for you, hyung,“ Hongbin interjected without even glancing at him. Jaehwan opened his mouth again, but Hongbin continued. “You need to learn how to figure it out. You can’t just do what you like and skip all the harder bits. That’s not how it works.”

Jaehwan’s mouth clamped shut in frustration. He was going to graduate from university soon, and if he wanted to get settled like Hongbin and Taekwoon, he would need to learn how to be an entrepreneur, aside from just doing the art making.

“But I don’t wanna~” he groaned. His ears looked like they had drooped a little. “It’s too stressful, and too much work.”

Hongbin, in the middle of sifting through the plate numbers, tried his best not to scoff, but he couldn’t hide the etch between his brows. Jaehwan was still whining, too busy in his own head to notice Hongbin turning to face him, slightly miffed at his last statement

There was a piercing noise from upstairs that sounded like terror followed by a rather loud thud. Jaehwan’s attention snapped to the direction of it worryingly and was about to seek out what happened when Hongbin clutched his wrist to stop him. "Jaehwan wait it's-"

“Hongbin, that sounded like our Wonshikkie. I’m going to check if he’s okay.” Jaehwan pried his hand off firmly but gently and sprinted up the stairs. Hongbin tried to control his giddy emotions by taking deep breaths and schooling his face into a neutral expression before slowly following. When he reached the library though, he cracked, bellowing in laughter. As soon as he could breathe again, he crouched down to pat a whimpering Wonshik on the back.

“I see that you found the stash under the red shelf and in the process, reminded us how truly fragile Hakyeon hyung’s heart is,” Hongbin tried to suppress his giggles behind his hand while Wonshik looked up at him, mortification and betrayal very clearly emitting from his features.

Normally Hongbin would be exasperated seeing everything he'd organized sprawled all over the place, but the scene before him was well-worth the extra cleaning up and rearranging.  

Hakyeon was by the wall clutching at his chest and shouting out a string of profanities for the sudden outburst scaring him, Wonshik was on the floor in a fetal position, completely red in the face, and Jaehwan, well―his previous concern was now replaced with extreme enthusiasm as he waved a handful of adult magazines in the air.