#Demand for smart homes

[skunkes]

[omshinde5145]

Smart Home Market to Develop Rapidly by 2030 | Intent Market Research

The Smart Home Market was valued at USD 117.6 billion in 2023 and will surpass USD 253.4 billion by 2030; growing at a CAGR of 10.4% during 2024 - 2030. Advancements in Internet of Things (IoT) technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and connectivity, the smart home market is growing rapidly. In this blog, we'll explore the trends shaping this market, the key technologies driving its adoption, and what the future holds for the industry.

Market Overview: A Rapidly Expanding Industry

What was once limited to luxury homes is now being embraced by mainstream consumers, with smart devices ranging from thermostats and lighting systems to advanced home security solutions.

Major tech giants such as Google, Amazon, and Apple have entered the smart home space, each offering unique ecosystems. These companies are heavily investing in voice-activated technologies, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple's Siri, making it easier than ever to control devices hands-free.

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Key Trends Shaping the Smart Home Market

Several factors are contributing to the rise of smart homes:

Increased Focus on Energy Efficiency: Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, seeking energy-saving solutions. Smart thermostats like Nest or Ecobee allow users to optimize their energy usage, reducing their carbon footprint and saving on energy bills.

Security and Surveillance: Smart cameras, doorbells, and locks are becoming essential components of modern homes. The ability to monitor your home remotely and receive real-time alerts offers peace of mind to homeowners.

Health and Wellness Integration: The pandemic has highlighted the importance of home health monitoring systems. Devices like smart air purifiers, sleep monitors, and even fitness trackers are becoming integral parts of the smart home ecosystem.

Interconnectivity and Automation: Smart homes are becoming more seamless with the integration of IoT devices. From turning off the lights with a voice command to setting schedules for appliances, automation is making daily life more efficient.

Technologies Driving the Smart Home Market

The smart home industry is built on several core technologies that allow devices to communicate and operate harmoniously:

IoT (Internet of Things): IoT is the backbone of the smart home ecosystem. By connecting devices through the internet, it enables real-time data exchange and device interoperability.

Voice Assistants: Voice control has become a cornerstone of smart homes, with systems like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri leading the charge. These AI-powered assistants allow users to control devices through natural language, making interaction more intuitive.

AI and Machine Learning: AI enhances the capabilities of smart devices, enabling them to learn user habits and preferences. For example, smart thermostats can predict when you’re home and adjust the temperature accordingly, improving both comfort and energy efficiency.

5G Connectivity: The roll-out of 5G networks will further accelerate the adoption of smart homes by providing faster, more reliable connections. This will support a larger number of devices and enable real-time interactions, even in densely populated areas.

Challenges in the Smart Home Market

While the smart home market is growing rapidly, it still faces some challenges:

Privacy and Security Concerns: With an increasing number of connected devices, the risk of cyber-attacks grows. Smart home companies are investing in cybersecurity measures, but consumers remain wary of data privacy and potential breaches.

Interoperability Issues: Many smart devices operate within proprietary ecosystems. Ensuring that devices from different manufacturers can communicate seamlessly remains a challenge.

High Initial Costs: Despite falling prices, some smart home systems still carry a high upfront cost. While these investments often pay off in terms of convenience and energy savings, they may deter budget-conscious consumers.

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The Future of Smart Homes

The smart home market shows no signs of slowing down, and the future promises even more exciting developments. As AI, IoT, and 5G continue to advance, we can expect:

More Personalized Experiences: AI-driven insights will allow smart homes to become more personalized, predicting needs based on behavioral patterns.

Increased Focus on Sustainability: Smart homes will play a crucial role in creating energy-efficient, eco-friendly living environments, with innovations like smart grids and solar power integrations.

Smart Communities: In the future, smart homes could evolve into smart neighborhoods, where homes share resources like power and data, creating more sustainable and interconnected communities.

Conclusion

The smart home market is transforming the way we live, offering unprecedented convenience, security, and sustainability. As technologies evolve and become more affordable, we can expect smart homes to become a standard feature in households worldwide. For consumers, embracing this shift will not only enhance their lifestyle but also contribute to a more efficient and sustainable future.

[lynxgirlpaws]

I spent quite literally one [1] hour with my father and now feel like absolute shit. Unironically how does he do this [i am impressed]

[electronalytics]

Digital Power Meter Market Trends, Key Factors, Opportunity, In-depth Insights Strategies and Huge Demand by 2032

Market Overview: The Digital Power Meter Market refers to the market for electronic devices used for measuring and monitoring electrical power consumption in various applications. Digital power meters provide accurate and real-time data on power usage, enabling efficient energy management and facilitating cost savings. These meters are widely used in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors to monitor electricity consumption and optimize energy usage.

Global Digital Power Meters Market Report Predicts Industry to Grow at 4.1% CAGR to forecast period (2023-2030).

Demand:

Energy Efficiency and Monitoring: Growing emphasis on energy conservation and cost reduction is driving the demand for digital power meters. These meters provide accurate real-time data on energy consumption, allowing businesses and individuals to monitor and manage their energy usage effectively.

Utility Modernization: Utilities are upgrading their infrastructure to smarter grids. Digital power meters enable utilities to remotely monitor energy consumption, detect outages, and manage energy distribution efficiently.

Smart Buildings: The trend toward smart buildings and home automation is fueling the demand for digital power meters. These meters are integral to building management systems, enabling remote energy monitoring, load optimization, and demand response strategies.

Renewable Energy Integration: As renewable energy sources become more prevalent, digital power meters play a critical role in tracking the energy produced and consumed. They enable effective integration of solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable sources into the grid.

Data-Driven Insights: Businesses are seeking data-driven insights to optimize operations and reduce costs. Digital power meters provide granular data that can be used for energy audits, load profiling, and predictive maintenance.

Scope:

Industrial Applications: Digital power meters find extensive use in industries to monitor and manage energy consumption in manufacturing processes, helping industries identify energy-saving opportunities and enhance operational efficiency.

Residential Sector: As smart home technology gains popularity, digital power meters are becoming a central component of home energy management systems, allowing homeowners to monitor and control their energy usage remotely.

Commercial Buildings: Office complexes, retail spaces, and other commercial buildings are adopting digital power meters to comply with energy efficiency regulations and improve sustainability.

Utility Companies: Utility companies are deploying digital power meters for their customers to provide accurate billing based on actual consumption and enable demand-side management programs.

Opportunity:

Data Analytics and IoT Integration: The opportunity lies in enhancing digital power meters with advanced data analytics and integration with the Internet of Things (IoT). This can enable predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, and real-time energy optimization.

Demand Response Programs: Digital power meters open up opportunities for demand response programs where energy consumption can be adjusted in response to grid conditions. This creates potential revenue streams for consumers and businesses.

Energy Auditing Services: The accurate and detailed data provided by digital power meters can lead to the growth of energy auditing services. Energy consultants can analyze the data and recommend energy-saving measures to clients.

Renewable Energy Tracking Services: Businesses and homeowners with renewable energy systems may require tracking services to monitor the energy generated, consumed, and fed back into the grid. Digital power meters can offer such tracking capabilities.

Energy Management Solutions: Companies can develop comprehensive energy management solutions that integrate digital power meters with software platforms for holistic energy monitoring, analysis, and optimization.

Market Expansion: As digital power meter technology advances, there is an opportunity for market expansion into regions where energy efficiency initiatives are gaining traction.

The digital power meter market is evolving in response to increasing energy awareness, technology advancements, and changing energy landscapes. This creates opportunities for innovation and growth across various sectors and applications.

 Challenges: The digital power meter market also faces certain challenges, including:

• Cost Constraints: The price of digital power metres may prevent their adoption, particularly in markets where prices are sensitive. To meet this issue, manufacturers must concentrate on cost reduction and provide competitive pricing.

• Compatibility and Interoperability: When integrating digital power metres with current energy management systems or smart grid infrastructure, interoperability problems may occur. For seamless integration and functionality, compatibility and standardisation are crucial.

• Data Security and Privacy: As sensitive energy consumption data is collected and transmitted by digital power metres, guaranteeing data security and preserving customer privacy are significant issues that need to be resolved by putting in place effective cybersecurity measures.

Overall, the digital power meter market offers significant opportunities driven by energy efficiency initiatives, smart grid deployment, and growing awareness of energy management. Addressing challenges related to cost, compatibility, and data security will be crucial for sustained market growth.

 By visiting our website or contacting us directly, you can explore the availability of specific reports related to this market. These reports often require a purchase or subscription, but we provide comprehensive and in-depth information that can be valuable for businesses, investors, and individuals interested in this market.

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Market Segmentations:

Global Digital Power Meter Market: By Company

• General Electric

• Toshiba

• Wasison Group Holdings

• ABB

• Eaton

• Holley Metering

• Siemens

• Itron

• Landis+Gyr

• Schneider Electric

• Honeywell

• Jiaxing Eastron Electronic Instruments

• Kamstrup

• LINYANG Energy

• Murata

• Simpson Electric

Global Digital Power Meter Market: By Type

• Single Phase

• Three Phase

Global Digital Power Meter Market: By Application

• Residential

• Commercial

• Industrial

Global Digital Power Meter Market: Regional Analysis

The global Digital Power Metre market's regional analysis sheds light on how the market has performed in various parts of the world. The research contains a market prognosis for the predicted period and is based on current and upcoming trends. The following nations are included in the regional analysis of the digital power metre market report:

North America: The North America region includes the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The U.S. is the largest market for Digital Power Meter in this region, followed by Canada and Mexico. The market growth in this region is primarily driven by the presence of key market players and the increasing demand for the product.

Europe: The Europe region includes Germany, France, U.K., Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Rest of Europe. Germany is the largest market for Digital Power Meter in this region, followed by the U.K. and France. The market growth in this region is driven by the increasing demand for the product in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

Asia-Pacific: The Asia-Pacific region includes Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Japan, India, South Korea, and Rest of Asia-Pacific. China is the largest market for Digital Power Meter in this region, followed by Japan and India. The market growth in this region is driven by the increasing adoption of the product in various end-use industries, such as automotive, aerospace, and construction.

Middle East and Africa: The Middle East and Africa region includes Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, and Rest of Middle East and Africa. The market growth in this region is driven by the increasing demand for the product in the aerospace and defense sectors.

South America: The South America region includes Argentina, Brazil, and Rest of South America. Brazil is the largest market for Digital Power Meter in this region, followed by Argentina. The market growth in this region is primarily driven by the increasing demand for the product in the automotive sector.

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[bluerosefox]

Assassin Heir? Crime Fighting Furry? NOPE NO THANK YOU!

"Danyal, its time to end this game and return with me."

Danny should had known Clockwork had something in mind when he sent him on this mission. He knew he should had been suspicious of the time keeper when he noticed the little 'this is going to be fun' smile on his face when he sent Danny off into the portal.

"Get back here you demon spawn 2.0!"

But how was he supposed to know that he'd wake up in this world version of himself in a pit full of corrupted (AND NASTY) ectoplasim at the tender age of five or that when he swam up to the surface he'd be meeting face to face with what was apparently a cult.

"-O just spotted him a block away! I'll try to cut itty bitty bridie off!"

An Assassins Cult his, new to him, loving yet a little insane mother was in charge of (though during the few months he stayed in the compound he heard rumors and gossip from maids and others alike that if his grandfather returned from the dead he'll take over once again, no doubt punish Talia for creating another heir after the failure of the last one, most likely was going to kill Danny and that... that was can of worms Danny didn't wanna deal with yet)

"Ten bucks says they try to stab RR when we get the feral thing home"

"...Losers bet...."

Danny had lived with his mother for a while after being brought back from the 'dead' for apparently the first time, it turned out training a five year old with an actual sword and a dumbass hidden revenge seeking teacher was a terrible idea.

"I swear if this one tries to murder me like the others I'm asking Zatanna if there is a curse on me."

He dealt with her high demands of perfection, the endless training, and the constant comparisons to his apparent older brother Damain... Who didn't know Danny, or rather Danyal existed.

Nor did his father (when Danny, using his powers he's kept hidden since 'waking' up in this Realm, he sneaked his way around the base and discovered how he came into the world. And tbh he couldn't blame his mom how she made him, she was an assassin first and foremost, being naturally pregnant would had painted a target on her for to long... but he also felt it was unfair and an asshole move on his unsuspecting father as well)

"As your elder brother I demand you to stop running!"

Now don't get him wrong, he did like his new mother (total badass assassin lady and all that) and he knew she loved him in her own... deadly way. But yeah, she really shouldn't be taking care of kids. He could tell she struggled with wanting to be a normal mother but her first instinct after so many years was to be an assassin first.

Something she was trying to engrave into Danny with as well.

"Ah, hello Beloved. I see you've learned of our Danyal."

"Talia. Back away from him and leave Gotham now."

"I can not do that. The League needs an heir and since Damian refuses to return... I have decided to create a new one and I shall not be leaving until he returns with me."

"Talia."

Hence why when Danny, or rather Danyal al Ghul had gotten decent control over his powers he decided to leave the League. Again nothing wrong with the life his mom leads, to each their own, but he... really, really didnt want to be an assassin. Or an assassin heir.

So here he was, after almost a year on the run, using his powers and training to out smart and out maneuver his mother and her many band of Assassins, in Gotham. One of the last places he ever wanted to run to cause he knew his father and brother lived here.

It was just his luck that his mother had managed to intercept his train ride that passed into Gotham for a few hours and forced him to run into the city...

Add her assassins into the mix and running into Robin, who heard from Oracle his mother had been spotted chasing a young boy across the city, that same night.

After that it became a full on "catch me if you can" chase for not only his mother but for the batclan as well.

And after two whole days of chase, it seemed like the final showdown was about to begin because everyone was on top of this rooftop, his mother and her assassins on one side, his father and the batclan on the other and Danny well... he was right in the middle of all of it.

He just had to hope no one would notice him once the fighting started...

[hamsternamedmarinette]

Realcat!plagg AU idea except I don't have the energy to draw a comic of it so you have to read a wall of text instead.

There is still magic and there are still kwamis. Kwamis can take a variety of forms. Tikki prefers to stay in the regular little sprite form we're familiar with on the show. Marinette gets her miraculous the same way she does in canon. Nothing on Marinette or Tikki's end deviates from canon, actually.

Adrien, on the other hand, gets his miraculous after a ratchet stray black cat wanders into his room carrying a strange jewelry box. He's mainly concerned with trying to get this cat out of his room without his father noticing, but after a while of trying and failing to capture it, he resigns himself to fiddling with the jewelry box and the ring inside of it. He discovers by accident that it's a magic ring that gives him superpowers. He forgets about the cat in his room (which is no longer in his room but in his ring) and goes off galavanting as a superhero the way he does in canon.

He's smart enough to deduce that the ring and his new fugly little cat are connected (since the ring gives him a black cat persona), but he has no reason not to think that the cat, now named Plagg (after the sound of him throwing up a hairball as per @buggachat 's comic, but also happening to be Plagg's actual real name, which Plagg finds hilarious but is also a little offended by) is anything other than a normal but very shady cat. Yeah, he's somehow connected to this magic ring, but he's just a normal, lazy cat who does normal, destructive cat things and shows no signs of higher intelligence. Adrien's conclusion is that as a counterbalance to becoming a superhero, he also now has to take care of this weird fleabag as a way to keep him humble. But he doesn't mind after a while.

Ladybug and Cat Noir don't talk about their kwamis that much at first. They're still getting the hang of the superhero thing and figuring out what's safe for them to talk about. But slowly they get more comfortable talking about different things, and that's when Cat Noir brings up the origins of their powers.

"So what happened when you got your miraculous? Was it just one ladybug bringing you your earrings, or like a whole swarm?"

"...What? It was my kwami."

"Your what?"

Adrien goes home that night and immediately demands answers from his cat. Plagg gaslights him for a while by remaining a normal, oblivious cat. Adrien eventually falters, thinking he's losing his mind, and ceases throwing accusations at his cat. And it is at this point that Plagg finishes the bit, finally transforms into his canon kwami form, and laughs at Adrien, who is screaming

[peachesofteal]

Through Me (The Flood) - secret baby fic Simon Riley / female reader - 18+ request(s): sick fics (1/2) and mama's body image

He pulls you under the covers in the marigold shadow of your bedroom as soon as Orion goes down.

You’re not as bold as you have been over the phone, reverting back to his shy, sweet kitten, bashful in his arms as he sucks marks into your neck, hands drifting down your spine and over your hips to fill his palms with plush curve of your ass.

“Missed you, mama.” You smile softly, hiding your face in his chest.

“Missed you too.” He tries to map you with his fingers, stroking them over your thighs, your shoulders, pulling your fingers to his mouth and dotting his lips across each knuckle. Maybe, if he does it enough, he'll never forget what you feel like.

You're wearing another one of your sleep shirts, oversized, stretched, frayed, a thin veil shielding you from him, and when he slips underneath the hem tracing up towards your navel, you stiffen in his arms, muscles tense like a deer in headlights. "What is it?" You don't answer, gaze holding steadfast and forward, directly at his chest. Fear bristles, worming its way into his gut instincts. He sits up. "What's wrong? Are you dizzy?"

"N-no, I'm fine. I feel... fine." Your body tells a different story, curled forward, still tense, like you're trying to protect your ribs.

"What's going on?" You shake your head, wet track of a tear shining in your cheek in the dark. His anxiety, his fear, won't let him tread carefully any longer, steel backed demand slipping free like he's speaking to one of the sergeants. "Talk to me."

"I don't look the same!" You blurt, and then try to roll out of the bed, away from him. "I don't feel the same, either. I'm kind of... squishy, stretched out because your kid is a giant. And I gave birth to him, you know... he wasn't easy." His grip loosens momentarily, and you seize the opportunity, feet landing on the carpet and trying to stand.

He snatches you around the waist so fast and yanks, tugs you back to the bed and shifts your weight so you're pinned underneath him. "Simon!"

"Look at me." He rubs his nose against yours, keeping your wrists pinned above your head, his thighs bracketing yours. "You did give birth to our baby, honey. You, and this body, grew him, took care of him, kept him safe. I love this body, mama. I loved your body the first night I met you, and-"

"Exactly." You snap, nose tipped up. "You loved the way I used to look and I definitely don't-" His brows lower, and he cuts you off with his mouth, stealing a long kiss before pulling away.

"Don't interrupt me. I did love your body then, but I love how you look now, even more," to drive his point home, he presses the length of his hard cock against where it's nestled between your legs, and your eyes go wide, "this body had my baby, mama," He dips low, closing his mouth over your t shirt and nipple, teasing with his teeth before releasing, "this body feeds my baby," he releases your hands, trailing his down your ribs and over your belly, where he holds you still, "this body is proof you belong to me, that you're mine, and I'd worship every inch of it, if you'd let me. It's okay if you don't love yourself or how you look right now, because I'll do it for you until that changes." Your eyes are half lidded, smart mouth parted on words stolen.

"I-" Orions cries, echoing from his room, and Simon kisses your shoulder.

"I'll get him."

"What if it's RSV?" He keeps his voice low, hand still covering the back of Orion's head, pacing a small pattern across the kitchen. He's been holding him all morning, too unnerved to be separated from him or put him down for even a second, and now he's sleeping on Simon's chest, tiny fingers and fist curled up in the neck of his shirt.

"I don't think it's RSV. We haven't really gone out much, and he doesn't have a high fever."

"But his snot is green." There's a monster curled up in the farthest reaches of Simon's heart. A cold, black thing that's pulling the strings in his head and making his blood pressure skyrocket. His baby is sick. What if it's serious? What if he doesn't get help in time?

You tuck your fingers inside the corner of his arm, and lay your head on his bicep. "Green snot is also a symptom of a common cold, which babies get a lot." You rub Ry's back and press the back of your hand to his cheek. "His fever isn't very high, and he doesn't have much of a cough. I think we're okay for now."

"Maybe we should take him in, or call the pediatrician again and-"

"Simon, hey." Your hand drifts to his back now, rubbing up and down his spine, like he needs soothing. Well, that's not right. He should be comforting you. You and the baby, he should be taking care of you, making sure you're both- "Dr. Marsh said as long as his fever doesn't spike, he's not sleeping too much, and he doesn't start wheezing, then we're okay to keep him here at home. He's okay, okay? Babies get sick. But we're here with him, and we're going to make sure he's okay. Right?" He closes his eyes, rolling your words around in his mind, your reasoning gaining ground and hooking into him, holding him steady. You're levelheaded right now, steadfast, and he loves you for it, allows himself to lean on it, just a little bit.

"Right."

"Why don't you let me take him? You've been holding him for six hours. Go... take a shower, or something. Or eat. I want you to clear your head, relax a little bit." He lifts Orion into your arms, but shakes his head at your suggestions.

"I don't need-"

"Please. For me?" Refusals die on his lips just like that, and he nods.

The shower does Simon a world of good. His head does feel clear, and he's more focused, more rational, as he dries off and pulls a pair of sweats out of his bag.

Everything is fine. Babies get sick. You're right. His fever isn't even that high.

The lights are dim in your room, where you're on your side, half propped up, Orion on his back in front of you. You smile at Simon as he crosses the distance, leaning over to press a kiss to your head. "Feel better?"

"Yeah, thank you. Sorry I uh, lost it a bit."

"You were worried." You pat the opposite side, next to the baby, and he lays down, big hand on Ry's stomach. "It's the first you've seen him get sick, of course you're going to lose it a little bit." Your choice of words make him wonder, and he cocks his head.

"Has he been sick before?"

"He had a cold around four, five weeks. I was a mess." Your lips split into a shaky smile. "He was miserable, wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep. Couldn't breathe through his nose. I took him in right away, cried the entire time, but he didn't even have a fever. Just a cold." You shrug. "They told me if he does develop a fever, then it could be bad, and to bring him back in immediately. I spent the next two days watching him every single second, even when he was asleep in his crib, making sure he was still breathing. Checking his temperature every hour." You sigh. "Here, let's do this." You encourage him to roll onto his back, pulling the sheet up over his chest to his shoulders. "You run too hot." You tease, before carefully scooping Orion up and placing him on Simon's chest, still asleep. "This way, you can keep an eye on his breathing and his temperature and I," the words are cut off by a yawn, "can get some sleep right here. Okay?" He stares at you for a long minute, love and obsession and appreciation twisting him up until he's reaching over and cupping your cheek.

"Thank you mama."

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

I have a request for Jacaerys Velaryon x reader. They have been married for some time, but Jace still had feelings for Baela. He has never cheated and was always respectful towards reader, though. Jacaerys and her performed their duties and eventually she got pregnant. The fact that reader is now carrying his child makes them grow closer and Jace starts to fall in love with his wife.

For this one, the legitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children was called into question and there was no betrothals between Rhaenyra’s boys and Daemon’s twins.

Warnings: pregnancy (I don't like pregnancies when I read/write, but this one was okay and mostly a small part of the story)

my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time

—

When King Viserys fell, a prince showed up to your home and asked your mother, Jeyne Arryn, for her support to Princess — now Queen — Rhaenyra’s claim. In her message, Rhaenyra didn’t fail to mention her mother, Aemma of House Arryn, and remind Lady Jeyne that she shared Arryn blood through her. Your mother was hesitant, knowing her support would make Daemon Targaryen king consort, but she couldn’t give her support to the Greens. So, she agreed but demanded to get something in exchange: a husband for her only daughter.

You didn’t like the idea of being sold for politics, but according to your mother it was part of being a woman. 

Married life wasn’t bad like you thought. Jacaerys was a respectful and kind man, but there was one problem: he had feelings for another. 

You didn’t take long to notice that his heart was elsewhere. It was written in the silence. The way he looked at Baela, the way he smiled at her — a special smile he kept just for her. He had undeniable feelings for her. You begged for attention, time, acknowledgment, but Jacaerys was never fully with you. Him and Baela spent a lot of time together riding their dragons together or practicing High Valyrian in the great hall, which left you hurt and jealous. Other than the red gem on your finger that matched the one of his cloak-pin, you had nothing in common. 

Sitting in your chamber, you held a necklace of your house’s sigil. The gold was cool against your skin, a stark contrast to the warmth of the fire crackling in the hearth. You hadn't seen your mother since the beginning of the war and you missed her dearly. You exchanged messages by raven, but it wasn’t the same as seeing her in person. 

A tear slipped down your cheek, wishing for this war to be over soon. 

The door of your chambers creaked open, snapping you out of your sorrowful reverie. You glanced over your shoulder and saw Jacaerys in his armor after a day spent teaching the dragonseeds. It was a smart idea to get more dragons and riders on their side, but also a lot of work. 

‘’What are you doing?’’ he asked, his voice a mix of concern and curiosity.  

‘’Missing home, that’s all,’’ you replied, quickly wiping the tear away and forcing a smile. The weight of the necklace seemed heavier than ever as you clutched it in your hand.

Jacaerys stepped further into the room, running a hand through his tousled hair. He crossed the space between you in a few strides, his expression softening. ‘’Don’t cry. I hate it when you cry.’’ He wiped your tear and sat next to you. ‘’I’ll take you to the Vale when it’s safe,’’ Jacaerys promised, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder. ‘’I would take you now if it wasn’t so dangerous to fly over Kingsroad. The Greens have taken Harrenhal and—’’ 

‘’Is my mother okay? You promised you would send a dragon to watch over my home.’’  

He nodded. ‘’Rhaena left this morning with Joffrey and three dragon eggs. They should hatch soon and assure more protection to the Vale.’’ 

You let out a shaky breath, the news offering a small measure of relief. 

A few moons later, you announced to Jacaerys that you were pregnant. It was a surprise as you only had the occasion to lay together two times, but it’s been two moons since you last bled and the maester confirmed your suspicions. You were with child. 

The timing was not ideal, but the Queen was beyond happy for you and Jacaerys. She hosted a small feast in your honor, and made everyone keep your pregnancy a secret. Jacaerys was her heir, making your baby his heir. If the news got to their ears, she feared you would become a target for the Greens.

At the table, Baela congratulated you with a smile. You thought she would be bitter, but she was genuinely happy for you. 

As the weeks went by, the walls that once stood between you began to crumble and you and Jacaerys started getting closer. He would spend more time in the evening in your chambers, talking by the hearth while eating lemon tarts. And ask how the baby was although your stomach was barely round every time he returned from teaching the dragonseeds. 

You’ll never forget the look on his face when felt the baby move for the first time. The stars of complete amazement. He kissed you that night — a real kiss. 

On the seventh moon, as you were getting ready for your bath, you felt blood dripping down your leg.  Terrified, you asked one of the servants to fetch the maester and the Queen. She had other — more pressing — business to take care of, but you needed the reassurance of a mother by your side.

The news ran through the castle and made it way to Jacaerys, who dropped everything he was doing and ran through the corridors of Dragonstone to get to you. 

His face pale with worry when he bursted in your chamber, thinking you were going to lose the baby like his mother did. An early bleeding was how it started. 

‘’I’m fine, Jace. Maester Gerardys said bleeding can happen,’’ you said, taking his hand and pressing it over your belly. ‘’Our baby is fine.’’

—

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[vanteguccir]

── ୨୧ !　SLEEPLESS NIGHT

spencer reid x reader

SUMMARY: Where Spencer finally has a night to sleep at his apartment with his girlfriend, but the current case doesn't even let him close his eyes, leading him to study the files until ungodly hours. But who said that Y/N can sleep away from him?

WARNING: Slightly mention of age gap (reader is still in college), tooth rotting fluff.

REQUESTED?: No.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That is my work, I DON'T authorize any plagiarism, copy, or "inspiration"! | English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar error.

　　　༻✦༺ 　༻✧༺　༻✦༺

Spencer hated bringing work home, and he had two very specific reasons for it. First, he loathed the idea of mixing his work life with his personal life. The BAU was a constant source of darkness; gruesome crimes, twisted minds, and the unrelenting pressure to solve the unsolvable.

His home was the opposite: a place of light and warmth, a refuge from the horrors that haunted him on a daily basis. But more importantly, home was where Y/N was. She was the one person who could pull him from the depths of his thoughts, her mere presence offering a calm that he couldn't find anywhere else. She was his life, his anchor, and his sanctuary.

Their time together was sacred, especially with the demands of his job taking him away so often. Whether he was chasing unsubs across the country or spending endless hours poring over case files at the BAU, being away from Y/N was the hardest part of his job. When he was home, he wanted to be fully present, to make up for the time he lost while he was away.

He cherished the quiet moments, the lazy evenings where they could simply exist together without the weight of the world bearing down on him. He wanted to give her every ounce of his attention, to make her feel just how much she meant to him.

But then, there were nights like tonight, when the case followed him home despite his best intentions, forcing him to divide his focus in a way that always left him feeling guilty.

The bedroom was bathed in the soft glow of moonlight, filtered through the sheer curtains that hung over the windows. The clock on the nightstand read 2:37 AM, its gentle green glow a quiet reminder of how late it had become.

Spencer lay on his back, his eyes trained on the ceiling, though his mind was far from still. It raced, chasing the loose ends of the case, replaying details, searching for the missing link that could unravel everything. The unsub was smart, meticulous in his planning, calculating in his movements. It was unnerving, the way this case was so close to home, right here in Quantico.

Hotch had granted the team a rare night to return home and rest, knowing the work would pick up again with relentless intensity in the morning. Spencer knew he should be grateful for the chance to sleep in his own bed, to hold Y/N close, and let her warmth lull him into rest. But sleep felt impossible.

Beside him, Y/N slept soundly, her body curled against his. One arm rested across his chest, her hand fisting tightly the fabric of his white shirt and her hand tucked beneath his shoulder, as if even in sleep, she sought him out. Her breathing was soft and even, the slow rise and fall of her chest a soothing rhythm against his side.

Spencer turned his head slightly, watching her. She looked peaceful, her face relaxed in sleep, the faintest hint of a smile still lingering on her lips, probably remains of a dream. His heart clenched with love, a wave of warmth and tenderness washing over him.

With a soft sigh, Spencer slid his right arm beneath her, his hand resting gently on her back, the warmth of her skin seeping through the fabric of the sweater she wore - his sweater. He brought his other hand down to her bare leg, carefully shifting her until her right one draped across his thighs, her body instinctively curling closer to him, almost laying fully above him.

His fingers trailed softly along her thigh, the smooth skin warm beneath his touch. The gesture was soothing, grounding him in the present moment, in the feel of her against him. His thumb stroked lazy circles on her flesh, his touch light and reverent, as if he was trying to memorize the feel of her - as if he already didn't had each part of her craved inside his head.

He leaned down, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead, lingering there for a moment as he breathed in the familiar, comforting scent of her hair. It was a mixture of her shampoo and something uniquely hers, a scent that had always brought him comfort. His lips brushed against the delicate skin of her closed eyelids, another kiss pressed to her temple. She stirred slightly but didn’t wake, her hand tightening its grip on his shirt.

His right hand traveled across the fabric of his sweater, slipping below it, his fingertips sliding higher, brushing against the bare skin of her back. She was so warm, her skin so soft, and the feel of her made something inside him settle, if only for a moment. He continued to stroke her thigh with one hand, his other one gently massaging the muscles of her back, feeling the way her body relaxed further into him.

He stared at her for a long moment, his mind flickering between her and work. He didn’t want to leave her alone in bed, didn’t want to let it drag him away from her. Spencer knew Y/N deserved a good night's sleep more than anyone. She had been tirelessly studying for her college finals, always the most academically involved and dedicated in her class, which caused her to staying up late, buried in textbooks and research papers - just as he spent sleepless nights away on cases.

But even as he held her close, the details of the case gnawed at the edges of his thoughts, refusing to be ignored.

With a reluctant sigh, he carefully began to shift, his movements slow and deliberate, not wanting to disturb her. His hand on her thigh slid away, and he gently eased her leg off his hips, tucking it back beneath the blankets. She mumbled softly in her sleep, her body instinctively moving toward his warmth even as he slipped out from under her.

Spencer sat up, pausing for a moment as he watched her stir. Her hand reached for him in her sleep, her face burrowing further into his pillow as if searching for his scent. The sight made his chest tighten with both affection and guilty.

With one last glance at Y/N, Spencer stood, moving with the quiet precision of someone who was used to slipping away in the dead of night. He padded silently out of the bedroom, the soft sound of his footsteps muffled by the thick carpet beneath his feet.

The apartment was shrouded in a heavy, comfortable darkness, the only sound breaking the quiet being the distant hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Spencer moved with practiced silence, stepping lightly through the familiar space until he reached the small room they’d turned into a makeshift office. It was cluttered with his books, scattered papers, and, more recently, case files.

He flicked on the desk lamp, casting a soft, amber glow across the cluttered desk. His movements were slow, careful not to disturb the serene quiet that enveloped the apartment as he sank into his chair, rescuing his folded glasses from between all those papers.

In front of him lay the case file, the photographs of the victims staring back at him as if mocking his inability to piece it all together. He scanned the reports for what felt like the hundredth time, his brow creased in thought, eyes darting over the details.

Minutes bled into an hour, maybe more. His glasses had slipped halfway down his nose as he leaned in closer to the desk, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the outline of the crime scene photos. His other hand tugged at the cuff of his pajama sleeve, lost in the rhythm of his restless thoughts.

Just then, the sound of soft footsteps padding across the wooden floor reached his ears, the faint shuffling of bare feet snapping him out of his thoughts. He barely turned in his chair before he saw her; a sleepy, disheveled Y/N standing in the doorway, her figure backlit by the faint glow of the hallway light. The sleeves of his sweater were falling over her hands, causing her shoulders to become exposed, and her eyes were heavy with the remnants of sleep.

"Spence..." She mumbled, her voice raspy and thick with drowsiness. The sight of her tugged at his heart in the most tender way.

Spencer’s face softened instantly, guilt creeping in at the edges of his thoughts. He’d woken her.

"Hey, sweetheart." He murmured, pushing the file aside and giving her his full attention. His voice was quiet, filled with concern. "What are you doing awake? You should be asleep."

Y/N blinked at him, the bleariness in her eyes making her seem even smaller and more vulnerable. She swayed slightly on her feet, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand.

"I woke up... and you weren’t there." She slurred softly, taking a small step toward him, her expression confused and sleepy.

His heart clenched at her words, a wave of guilt washing over him. He hated that he’d caused her to wake up, especially on a week that she spent too much time studying and having little to no rest. He adjusted his posture above the chair, motioning her closer with gentle hands, but Y/N was already moving on her own, shuffling across the room with slow, sleepy steps, her gaze never leaving him.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, dove." He whispered as she reached him. He reached out with his hands as she practically fell into his arms.

She pushed his arms open with little effort and maneuvered herself onto his lap, pressing against him as if seeking out the warmth she’d missed. Her legs straddled his thighs, her knees resting above the sides of the chair, her body curling around his like a koala hugging a tree. The weight of her felt perfect, grounding him as she nestled closer, her chest rising and falling softly against him.

"Spence, don’t apologize." She murmured, her breath tickling the skin of his neck as she shifted, her nose nuzzling into the curve of it, seeking his scent. She pressed her face against him, her lips brushing feather-light against the sensitive skin just below his ear as she planted a sleepy kiss. "You know I just can’t sleep well without you."

Spencer let out a shaky breath, the soft, familiar feeling of her lips against his neck sending warmth coursing through him. His left hand instinctively found her back, his fingers running to the hem of his sweater and lifting it slightly, making room for hand to enter under the fabric and meet her skin, spreading his fingers as he began tracing lazy circles along her spine, soothing her.

Y/N sighed in pleasure, her left hand gently crawling up to his face. Her fingers softly traced the rough stubble along his cheek before instinctively pushing his glasses back up to their proper place, her fingertips grazing the bridge of his nose in a familiar, soothing motion.

He smiled softly, his guilt still lingering but melting slightly under the comfort of her touch. She was so close, so vulnerable in her half-asleep state, and it made him feel even more protective of her.

"You should be in bed." He whispered, his voice low and affectionate, his hand continuing its gentle caress. "You have finals tomorrow... and this position’s going to make your back hurt in the morning." He tried to sound stern, but the amusement in his tone betrayed him. He couldn’t help but laugh quietly as Y/N shifted again, her hand leaving his face and meeting the other side of his neck, her right arm tightening around his torso in silent protest.

"I don’t care." She mumbled into his neck, her lips brushing against his skin as she spoke. "I love you. I want to be here."

His heart swelled at her words, an overwhelming wave of love flooding him. He turned his head slightly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the comforting scent of her.

"I love you more." He whispered back, his voice barely audible as he nuzzled his cheek against her hair. His hand never stopped its rhythmic movement along her back, his touch gentle and tender.

Y/N hummed in response, her breathing already slowing as the warmth of his embrace lulled her back toward sleep. Spencer could feel the way her body relaxed against his, her weight becoming heavier as she melted further into him. She was so peaceful, her soft breaths brushing against his skin in a steady rhythm.

Spencer's eyes drifted to the case file still resting on the desk, his mind unwilling to let go of the details he was trying to piece together. His hand continued to trail soothing patterns on her back, and he tilted his head down, pressing another kiss to her temple, noticing how her body was giving way to sleep again.

"Let me tuck you back into bed, sweetheart." He whispered against her skin, insisting. "You need the proper rest."

But Y/N shifted in his lap, shaking her head, clearly unwilling to move.

"No." She mumbled, her voice soft but convincing. "What I need is to be with you." She burrowed her face deeper into his neck, pressing her nose against his skin and nuzzling him like she was trying to become a part of him. "Let me stay here. Please."

Spencer sighed softly, feeling torn between the the case and the warmth of Y/N in his arms. He glanced back at Y/N, her soft breathing and her peaceful face pressed against his neck, shaking his head with how stubborn she could be.

Wrapping his arms fully around her, he held her close, one hand still caressing her back while the other pulled the case file closer to him again, reopening it and going back to the first page.

[chunghasweetie]

𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 | J.JK

— pairing | fem!oc x gangsta!jjk

— summary | gangsta jk wants to crash at her place but she got a lil some up her sleeve

— warning | bad writing (i’m doing my best)

cussing, angst, smut, unprotected sex, illegal activities, gun play, mention of head, oc gets fucked with a gun, whining, cum eating, dirty talk.

— word count | 3.9k words

— song suggestion | gangsta (orchestra ver) —kehlani

It was the same thing everyday.

Work, go home, sleep.

Nothing ever changed and it had been like that for way too long.

She needed to switch things up somehow but she didn’t even have the energy to think of what could solve her issues.

Until he came along.

The two met at the liquor store randomly at around 2am. They reached for the same bottle, chuckling at the similar intention.

She immediately caught his eye. Which was surprising to her since she was in her pajamas with messy hair and no makeup.

He asked for her number and they had little meetups here and there.

He was so secretive and mysterious about what he was doing. Not in a gross, womanizer way. In a way that made her want to learn more about him.

He was ‘Jeon’ in her phone. She didn’t even have his full name.

He was inked up in tattoos. Tall and definitely bulky with muscle all over him. He was crafted beautifully.

He had a nice car. She noticed the extremely dark tint and possibly illegal modifications applied to the vehicle.

She had no clue what kind of job he worked or what he did in his day to day life.

Until one day he finally told her. He was the Jeon Jungkook that had been on the run for multiple crimes and ran a large gang in the city.

And she’d been fucking him the entire time.

He knew from the start she wouldn’t turn him in. He had her wrapped around her finger.

He knew all about her dilemma. How she needed that change in her life.

He was more than willing to provide that escape.

She craved something new, and he was just the man to give it to her.

“Let me come over baby.” He spoke on the other line. “Miss you.”

She was on her couch, biting her lip.

She knew he was not a good man at all. She knew that from the beginning. For years she promised herself she’d never be associated with any one of the sort.

Always following the rules got so boring.

“Don’t be like that.” Jungkook hummed. “I just wanna see you. You don’t want to see me Y/n?”

His voice was so dominant and demanding. He was strict and for right to it.

He somehow was able to have his own phone number that was untraceable by the police.

He was crazy good at avoiding getting caught.

“Okay.” Y/n gave in.

“Mm knew you’d be smart about this.” Jungkook chuckled to her, hanging up and getting in his car to head to her apartment.

She tilted her head back on her couch, sighing.

She didn’t think it would come to this. She thought things like this only happened in stories or in the movies.

This was the last thing she was thinking about. She couldn’t help herself though.

How could she? Jungkook may have been a criminal but he was so hot.

His voice was like a pied piper.

She was so drawn to him. His looks, his charisma, his body, everything.

She wouldn’t call it love. She couldn’t call it love. It was mere attraction and that’s all she labeled it as.

She always thought he looked like he was straight out of a TV show. Although he was rough around the edges, he was super sweet and caring considering what his lifestyle was like.

“Open up mama! Cold as fuck out here!” He yelled out, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Jungkook was at her apartment door, dressed in his white tank and tan cargo pants. His tank emphasized his muscular, tattooed arms so well.

He had a bouquet of roses in his hand, waiting for his girl to answer the door.

He was always doing such romantic gestures for her. There would be nights he wouldn’t want to do anything sexual. Simply coming over to spend time with her.

Once Y/n opened the door, he couldn’t help but curve his lips into a smile.

“Well look at you.” His eyes moved from the bottom to the top of her body. “Gorgeous.” He stepped in, immediately wrapping his arms around her once she shut the door.

She took a silent inhale. He smelt so damn good.

Maybe it was something in the cologne he was wearing that made her so attached to him. His scent instantly sent her into a trance.

“Hey.” Y/n replied. “Was just about to make dinner.”

“You were?” He mumbled against her neck. “Make me something baby.”

She nodded, agreeing. “You’re gonna have to let go of me.”

“Ugh fine.” He groaned. “Spending the night again. Cops looking for me alllll over.”

He knew they’d never find him, but the excuse always worked.

“That’s fine.” She nodded.

She did get anxious when he’d say things like that.

He was a fugitive and she was keeping him in her home.

Jungkook went up to her room, getting comfy in the clothes he already had over there.

She had started cooking for the both of them, making some chicken and rice dish she seen online.

As Y/n focused on her cooking, Jungkook was leaning back on the counter, simply staring at her.

“I like this.”

“You like what?” She blinked.

“Seeing you all domestic and shit.” He chuckled.

“I’m just cooking dinner.” She smiled.

“Mm it’s more than that.” He chuckled. “Making me a nice meal, having clean clothes for me, gonna tuck me into bed later. Love when we play house like this Y/n.”

She blushed. “I guess it is nice.”

“Food smells good.” Jungkook inhaled. “You smell better.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I’m wearing that perfume you bought me last week.” She told him as she was making his plate.

“Oh really? It smells even better than it did in the store.” He hummed against her neck. “You’re wearing the jewelry I bought you too.”

“Of course. Never taking it off.” She chuckled.

“Good. If I’m iced out my girl gotta be too.” He planted a kiss on her neck.

“Well it’s very nice to be spoiled like this.” She giggled, handing him his plate. “Now go eat while it’s hot.”

He removed his body from hers, taking a seat at the table.

“Taste test it baby.” She told him, “I’ll start eating in a minute.”

He nodded, trying the food.

“How is it? Good?”

"Good's an understatement. Shit's fucking amazing, baby." He takes another bite and watches her.

“Yay! Happy you like it.” Y/n replied from the kitchen, trying to clean up some of her mess.

"You ain't made yourself a plate yet? Come here and sit." He looked over at her.

“Okay okay.” She nodded, getting a beer from the fridge for him. She made herself a plate finally and sat down at the table.

He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest after she set the beer down in front of him. "Ain't no one else gonna take care of me like this. I’m lucky to have you.”

“You are.” She laughed. “Doubt any of those other girls know how to care of you.”

“What other girls?” He rose his eyebrow. “Jealous of the girls I’m around?”

“How could I not be?” She questioned. “I just don’t understand.”

He smirks as he picks up the beer and takes a long swig, his throat moving as he swallows.

“Don’t understand what?”

“Why you stick around me.” She spoke. “There’s girls who do the same shit you do. You and your boys go out and there’s strippers and bottle girls. I’m a regular ass person.”

He frowned at her, looking honestly confused. "What the fuck you talking about mama?" He asked as he leaned back in his chair and shook his head.

"I chose you because of you. Fuck all these other bitches. You're the only one who can handle my shit." He said honestly.

“That can’t just be it.” She shook her head.

“So what? You think I’m just in it for a good fuck?”

“That’s not— exactly it.” She sighed.

She could tell he’s growing a bit irritated but it was bugging her.

She knew guys hated that sappy shit. But she couldn’t help that she was getting her emotions get in the way.

He leaned back again, crossing his arms over his chest. He stared at her from across the table before speaking.

"Then fucking tell me, Y/n. What is it?" He asked, his voice growing softer but still holding onto that edge of annoyance.

“Forget it. Nevermind.” She sighed, finishing her food and taking her plate to the sink to wash it.

He watched her finish her food and take the plate to the sink. "You can't start a conversation like that and then drop it, babe." He said.

He began walking up behind her as she washed the plate. "You wanna know why I'm with you?

“I just want to know what we’re doing here. You’ve been coming over for months now and you’re doing all these romantic things for me and I just want to know what’s up.” She spoke honestly.

He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist gently, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I like you here, like this. I like showing you a good time, you know?" He turned her around in his arms and gazed down at her.

“What does that even mean” She mumbled as she washed plates.

He lifted a hand to her cheek, thumb brushing against it gently. "It means I like being with you, mama. It feels...right.”

He leaned in closer to her, eyes searching hers. "I like spoiling you, taking care of you. Feels different than anyone before..."

As much as she wanted to pester him more about the subject, she didn’t say anything else.

He seemed to notice the hesitance and smiled softly, ducking his head to press a soft kiss against her lips. "You don't gotta overthink it, Y/n. It's just...good, okay? You know I love you.”

She finished up the dishes, putting them away to dry.

He watched her for a moment, before moving to her side and starting to help her with cleaning.

His hand brushed against yours, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Y/n, it's okay. I promise you." He whispered, leaning in to press another kiss against her temple. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” She thanked him. Her lips curved into a smile. “I mean it is cute to see this buff tattooed bad guy get all sappy and shit for me for me.”

He chuckled and shook his head, his eyes crinkling up with amusement. "You better not tell anyone" He threatened, his voice dropping lower as he spoke. "You love it though...”

“I guess I do.”

He laughed softly and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I know you do." He whispered, his arms tightening around her as he let out a content sigh. "You're the only one who gets to see this side of me.”

“I’ll consider myself lucky then.” She laughed. “I was successfully able to tame the beast.”

He chuckled lightly and pressed a kiss to her neck, holding his arms tighter around her.

"You did more than tame the beast, baby...you own me completely. Shit, you could put a leash and collar on my ass anytime." He whispered hotly against her neck, his lips ghosting over her skin as he spoke.

She couldn’t help but laugh at his joke.

“I could keep you laughing and satisfied all day, if you'll just let me." He mumbled.

“Oh I’d let you anyyyy day of the week.” She laughed. “See what you’ve done to me?”

“I haven’t done shit baby that was all you.” He chuckled.

“Whatever.”

"Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever you say, baby." He picked her up effortlessly, “Let’s go upstairs hm?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” She agreed, allowing him to take her.

He chuckled, lifting her over his shoulder and carrying her upstairs as he kissed her thighs and gave your ass a playful squeeze. "Look at you...so fucking fine. You know I can't resist."

“Oh my gosh Jungkook.” She blushed as they got inside her room.

"That's right, babe. I got you...right where I want you." He tossed her onto the bed before crawling up to her body, kissing and nibbling at her neck. "If only these walls could talk..."

“Jungkook!” She hid her face in embarrassment, getting flashbacks of all the different things they had done in her room.

"Oh come on, don't hide from me now, Y/n." He kissed her cheek as he caressed her face.

"Do you remember the first time we fucked in this room?" Jungkook smirked and laughed. "You were begging for my cock, mama.”

“That’s not what happened!” She instantly denied.

Jungkook laughed harder, his eyes shining mischievously.

"Oh yes, you were mama don’t play! And when you finally got it you were screaming your lungs out. Kept going on and on about how it was the best sex you’ve ever had…” He continued, not giving her the chance to speak.

“This is so humiliating.” She groaned, hiding her face in embarrassment by flipping the blanket over her face.

Jungkook tugged the blanket down a little, showing her face again. "Don't be shy, Y/n. I fucking loved it when I made you scream my name. And made you cum on the first try?" He crawled on top of her again, his knees on either side of her hips.

“You’re so annoying.”

Jungkook chuckled. "That's not what you were saying when I had my cock in your mouth, babe."

His eyes glinted with amusement as he leaned down to kiss her. "I can make you forget all about your embarrassment again, if you want?"

“How’re you going to do that?” She asked, playing dumb.

Jungkook kissed her slowly, running his tongue along the edge of her lips.

He reached down between her legs and began rubbing, his touch firm and confident. "Do I need to give you a reminder right now?"

He immediately earned a soft moan from her, making him to smirk to himself.

Jungkook smiled mischievously, his fingers never leaving that soft spot between her thighs.

"That's a good girl. Just like that." He began driving his fingers in rhythm with his tongue, letting out a moan of his own. "Is this better, Y/n?”

“Mhm!” She moaned, nodding her head quickly.

Jungkook chuckled against her lips, picking up the pace at her small moan.

"You're fucking soaked, you know that, right mama?" His voice was low, amused. "Looks like I can still make you wet."

She could feel his gun pressed against her from his waistband. It drove her fucking insane with lust.

Jungkook felt her press closer, rubbing against his gun. He smirked at her before moving his hand, placing the gun in plain sight for her.

"See something you like, babe?" He said with a chuckle, twirling it around his finger.

“I-I feel it.” She croaked. She had always been curious about his gun in ways she never thought she was the type to fantasize about.

Jungkook grinned, setting it down gently. "Wanna touch it, babe?" His voice was low and inviting.

He took a step back, giving her room to move. "Just be careful, though. It's loaded." He teased.

She nodded quietly, “I do.”

Jungkook watched her grab the gun, letting you get a feel for its weight. He didn't interrupt, just watch her curiously.

"You like?" He asked with a smirk. "Don't tell me you have some kind of fetish for guns."

“I- um.” She swallowed, “Something like that? Well I’ve never done anything but— I’ve been curious.” She handed his gun back to him.

Jungkook took the gun carefully, his smirk growing into a full-on grin. "I knew it."

He whispered seductively. "Why don't we test out that curiosity of yours?" He suggested with a raise of his eyebrow.

“How?”

Jungkook pulled her a little bit closer, his free hand wandering up her side before resting on the edge of her waist.

"Do you want me to fuck you with it? How does that sound?" He smirked, unloading the gun in front of her. He places the gullets on her nightstand.

She nodded, letting a quiet ‘please’ slip from her lips.

Jungkook let out a low growl at her response, his grip on the gun tightening.

"You like that idea, Y/n?" He asked. His free hand wandered to the hem of her shirt, slowly lifting it upwards. "Lay back."

She didn’t hesitate to do so, laying back.

Jungkook bit his lip seductively as he looked down at her, the gun clicking gently in his fingers. "Fuck, yes." He said admiringly.

He bit his lip, placing the gun down in a position of reach before trailing his fingers lower and low on her stomach.

Her pussy was sopping wet with need. Her core aching as she watched the now unloaded gun in his hand.

Jungkook watched her with a lustful gaze as he heard her words, biting his lip again before placing the gun on her lip.

"You're so fucking wet for me already, huh? Mama so ready to get fucked with my gun huh baby?" He asked.

“So pretty Y/n.” His hand sliding lower still until he could feel her wetness. “Get the gun all nice and wet for me baby.”

She kept her gaze on him, spitting and sucking on the muzzle the gun like she was told to.

Jungkook groaned at the sight, glancing down at her almost hungrily. "Fucking hell you're such a hungry little girl, y'know that?"

Jungkook couldn't resist her whiny plea any longer, as he pulled the gun out of her mouth.

He lined the gun muzzle up with her entrance. He slowly slid the gun inside of her, gasping at the sight.

A gasp and an ‘oh fuck’ left her lips. Once adjusted, she instantly melted into the feeling, a moan leaving her lips.

It felt better than how she ever could’ve imagined it to be.

Jungkook groaned at her reaction, watching as he slowly slid the gun in and out of her.

"Fuck Y/n you're loving this aren't you? You're such a slut for my gun and I just now put it in you.” He chuckled.

“J-Jungkook” She moaned out his name, biting her lip. “Fuck that feels good.”

With her voice echoing his name, Jungkook lost control of his actions.

He began thrusting the gun in and out of her faster, even pulling her legs over his shoulders.

"Shit you like watching me fuck your pussy with my gun huh?” He spoke to her. “Been practically humping me for weeks. All that to get to my gun huh baby?”

It was so true.

Whenever they made out she would get super close and grind herself on the imprint of his gun. She almost could cum off just rubbing against it.

“Oh fuck yes!” She whined, “Jungkook I fucking love this.”

Jungkook loved her weak voice. Watching her squirm only made him plunge the gun faster.

"Looking so good taking it in. I wanna fuck you all day like this." He whispered seductively in her ear, sucking on her bottom lip.

Her wetness coated the gun, “F-Fuck oh my gosh” She whimpered. “A-All this time I— Fuck” She could hardly talk.

With the gun still inside of her, Jungkook grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

"All this time you wanted my gun? Every day I'd bend you over and plow you right... fucking... here..." He grunted. “But this gun was all you really wanted hm?”

“Mmm I— just wanted it so bad jungkook you don’t understand.” She quivered her lip.

A smirk appeared on his face as he began to thrust the gun harder and deeper inside her.

"I understand now baby. I know how badly you wanted it." He growled, grabbing her hips with both hands.

Jungkook smirked, thrusting the gun even harder, making her whimper. "You're such a dirty little slut for me. That's right baby, tell me how much you need my gun to get off.”

“Jungkook please— Feels so fucking good. Never had anything like this. Mm— such a slut.” She was rambling.

The way the gun was penetrating her made her whine with pleasure as it stretched her in the best way possible.

“Came so— so many times. Just from the thought.” She kept going. “Fuck— I was changing the sheets every damn hour”

His cocky grin widened as he pressed the gun deeper, his other hand traveling down to her soaked pussy.

He teased her clit with his fingers, "That's my girl. I want you soaked for me every damn hour.”

“Fuck— You’re killing me.” The double stimulation overwhelmed her.

"Is that too much for you baby? Can't handle it?" He chuckled, thrusting the gun harder, before pressing his fingers deeper, curling them to hit her g-spot.

She gasped again, gripping onto the sheets. “I-I can just— Shit it’s too fucking good” She cursed, grabbing onto her breast with her other hand.

"You love it, don't you baby? When I take control like this." He leaned down, pressing his lips against her ear. "I own every inch of you, and you fucking know it. Whether it’s my cock or my gun.”

She was milking his gun with her juices, whimpering and whining. The gun was fucking her absolutely stupid.

“D-Don’t think I can take any more.” She managed to get out, “W-Wanna cum on the gun”

Jungkook laughed, shaking his head as he continued to thrust the gun into her, pulling the trigger back twice.

The empty clicks filling the room, while he got to touch her throbbing pussy. "You want to cum, huh mama?”

“Jungkook please” She begged him to cum. The sounds of the empty clicks driving her insane.

“You're crazy mama. Absolutely insane." He groaned.

He pulled the trigger back one last time, hearing the empty click after he was spent.

“Jungkook please! I want to cum so bad!” tears of pleasure ran down her cheeks.

"You're more desperate than I thought." Jungkook grabbed her hair, pulling hard as his other hand began rubbing your needy little clit hard.

"Cum on the gun Y/n."

She didn’t waste a second, letting her juices flow and drop down the gun barrel.

He felt his cock twitch at her screams as she came, splashing hot cum all over his hand and the gun.

"Good fucking girl. Now clean this shit up.” He aimed the muzzle of the gun facing her mouth.

“W-What? You want me to clean it?”

“That's what I said." He replied with a snarl as he began stroking his cock again, dripping wet cum from the tip of it.

She obeyed him, sucking and licking her cum off of the gun. She dragged her tongue all over the barrel, looking into his eyes as she did so.

His hands gripped the gun tightly as he watched her sucking and licking her cum off. It was perverted as hell, but his cock was twitching again.

His eyes darkened, and he felt his cock twitch at her words, the sight of her on her knees with his cum mixing with hers.

"I know.." He purred as he pulled the gun away from your her. "Now come here. I got something else for you to suck.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

An end to the climate emergency is in our grasp

On June 20, I'm keynoting the LOCUS AWARDS in OAKLAND.

The problem with good news in the real world is that it's messy. Neat happy endings are for novels, not the real world, and that goes double for the climate emergency. But even though good climate news is complicated and nuanced, that doesn't mean it shouldn't buoy our spirits and fill our hearts with hope.

The big climate news this past week is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's clarion call about surging CO2 levels – the highest ever – amid a year that is on track to have the largest and most extreme series of weather events in human history:

https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/during-year-of-extremes-carbon-dioxide-levels-surge-faster-than-ever

This is genuinely alarming and you – like me – have probably experienced it as a kind of increase in your background radiation of climate anxiety. Perhaps you – like me – even experienced some acute, sit-bolt-upright-in-bed-at-2AM anxiety as a result. That's totally justifiable. This is very real, very bad news.

And yet…

The news isn't all bad, and even this terrible dispatch from the NOAA is best understood in context, which Bill McKibben provides in his latest newsletter post, "What You Want is an S Curve":

https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/what-you-want-is-an-s-curve

Financier and their critics should all be familiar with Stein's Law: "anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop." This is true outside of finance as well. One of the reasons that we're seeing such autophagic panic from the tech companies is that their period of explosive growth is at an end.

For years, they told themselves that they were experiencing double-digit annual growth because they were "creating value" and "innovating" but the majority of their growth was just a side-effect of the growth of the internet itself. When hundreds of millions of people get online every year, the dominant online services will, on average, gain hundreds of millions of new users.

But when you run out of people who don't have internet access, your growth is going to slow. How can it not? Indeed, at that point, the only ways to grow are to either poach users from your rivals (through the very expensive tactics of massive advertising and sales-support investments, on top of discounts and freebies as switching enticements), or to squeeze your own users for more.

That's why the number of laptops sold in America slowed down. It's why the number of cellphones sold in America slowed down. It's why the number of "smart home" gizmos slowed down.

Even the steepest hockey-stick-shaped exponential growth curve eventually levels off and becomes an S-curve, because anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop.

One way or another, the world's carbon emissions will eventually level off. Even if we drive ourselves to (or over) the brink of extinction and set up the conditions for wildfires that release all the carbon stored in all the Earth's plants, the amount of carbon we pump into the atmosphere has to level off.

Rendering the Earth incapable of sustaining human civilization (or life) is the ultimate carbon reduction method – but it's not my first choice.

That's where McKibben's latest newsletter comes in. He cites a new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute, which shows a major reversal in our energy sources, a shift that will see our energy primarily provided by renewables, with minimal dependence on fossil fuels:

https://rmi.org/insight/the-cleantech-revolution/

The RMI team says that in this year or next, we'll have hit peak demand for fossil fuels (a fact that is consistent with NOAA's finding that we're emitting more CO2 than ever). The reason for this is that so much renewable energy is about to come online, and it is so goddamned cheap, that we are about to undergo a huge shift in our energy consumption patterns.

This past decade saw a 12-fold increase in solar capacity, a 180-fold increase in battery storage, and a 100-fold increase in EV sales. China is leading the world in a cleantech transition, with the EU in close second. Cleantech is surging in places where energy demand is also still growing, like India and Vietnam. Fossil fuel use has already peaked in Thailand, South Africa and every country in Latin America.

We're on the verge of solar constituting an absolute majority of all the world's energy generation. This year, batteries will overtake pumped hydro for energy storage. Every cleantech metric is growing the way that fossil fuels did in previous centuries: investment, patents, energy density, wind turbine rotor size. The price of solar is on track to halve (again) in the next decade.

In short, cleantech growth looks like the growth of other technologies that were once rarities and then became ubiquitous overnight: TV, cellphones, etc. That growth isn't merely being driven by the urgency of the climate emergency: it's primarily a factor of how fucking great cleantech is:

https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the_incredible_inefficiency_of_fossils.pdf

Fossil fuels suck. It's not just that they wreck the planet, or that their extraction is both politically and environmentally disastrous. They just aren't a good way to make energy. About a third of fossil fuel energy is wasted in production and transportation. A third! Another third is wasted turning fossil fuels into energy. Two thirds! The net energy efficiency of fossil fuels is about 37%.

Compare that with cleantech. EVs convert electricity to movement with 80-90% efficiency. Heat pumps are 300% efficient (the main fuel for your heat pump is the heat in the atmosphere, not the electricity it draws).

Cleantech is just getting started – it's still in the hockey-stick phase. That means those efficiency numbers are only going up. Rivian just figured out how to remove 1.6 miles of copper wire from each vehicle. That's just one rev – there's doubtless lots of room for more redesigns that will further dematerialize EVs:

https://insideevs.com/news/722265/rivian-r1s-r1t-wiring/

As McKibben points out, there's been a lot of justifiable concern that electrification will eventually use up all our available copper, but copper demand has remained flat even as electrification has soared – and this is why. We keep figuring out new ways to electrify with fewer materials:

https://www.chemanalyst.com/NewsAndDeals/NewsDetails/copper-wire-price-remains-stable-amidst-surplus-supply-and-expanding-mining-25416#:~:text=Global%20Copper%20wire%20Price%20Remains%20Stable%20Amidst%20Surplus%20Supply%20and%20Expanding%20Mining%20Activities

This is exactly what happened with previous iterations of tech. The material, energy and labor budgets of cars, buildings, furniture, etc all fell precipitously every time there was a new technique for manufacturing them. Renewables are at the start of that process. There's going to be a lot of this dematerialization in cleantech. Calculating the bill of materials for a planetary energy transition isn't a matter of multiplying the materials in current tech by the amount of new systems we'll need – as we create those new systems, we will constantly whittle down their materials.

What's more, global instability drives cleantech uptake. The Russian invasion of Ukraine caused a surge in European renewables. The story that energy prices are rising due to renewables (or carbon taxes) is a total lie. Fossil fuels are getting much more expensive, thanks to both war and rampant, illegal price-fixing:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/an-oil-price-fixing-conspiracy-caused

If not for renewables, the incredible energy shocks of the recent years would be far more severe.

The renewables story is very good and it should bring you some comfort. But as McKibben points out, it's still not enough – yet. The examples of rapid tech uptake had big business on their side. America's living rooms filled with TV because America's largest businesses pulled out all the stops to convince everyone to buy a TV. By contrast, today's largest businesses – banks, oil companies and car companies – are working around the clock to stop cleantech adoption.

We're on track to double our use of renewables before the decade is over. But to hold to the (already recklessly high) targets from the Paris Accord, we need to triple our renewables usage. As McKibben says, the difference between doubling and tripling our renewables by 2030 is the difference between "survivable trouble" and something much scarier.

The US is experiencing a welcome surge in utility scale solar, but residential solar is stalling out as governments withdraw subsidies or even begin policies that actively restrict rooftop solar:

https://twitter.com/curious_founder/status/1798049929082097842?s=51

McKibben says the difference between where we are now and bringing back the push for home solar generation is the difference between "fast" and "faster" – that is the difference between tripling renewables by 2030 (survivable) and doubling (eek).

Capitalism stans who argue that we can survive the climate emergency with market tools will point to the good news on renewable and say that the market is the only way to transition to renewables. It's true that market forces are partly responsible for this fast transition. But the market is also the barrier to a faster (and thus survivable) transition. The oil companies, the banks who are so invested in fossil fuels, the petrostates who distort the world's politics – they're why we're not much farther along.

The climate emergency was never going to be neatly solved. We weren't going to get a neat novelistic climax that saw our problems sorted out in a single fell swoop. We're going to be fighting all the way to net zero, and after that, we'll still have decades of climate debt to pay down: fires, floods, habitat loss, zoonotic plagues, refugee crises.

But we should take our wins. Even if we're far from where we need to be on renewables, we're much farther along on renewables than we had any business hoping for, just a few years ago. The momentum is on our side. It's up to us to use that momentum and grow it. We're riding the hockey-stick, they're on that long, flat, static top of the S-curve. Their curve is leveling off and will start falling, ours will grow like crazy for the rest of our lives.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/12/s-curve/#anything-that-cant-go-on-forever-eventually-stops

[seospicybin]

THE BABYSITTER.

PART II

Felix x reader x Hyunjin. (s,f)

Chapters: Part I

Synopsis: Working as the family's babysitter, you learn a lot from Hyunjin and Felix's happy marriage, including their sex life. (20,2k words)

Author's note: Fair warning! Contain wholesome dad!hyunlix content and saucy threesome. Don't forget to share what you think of this one x

Do you know that Aster means star in Greek but is also the name of a flower? It also happens that stars and flowers are Felix and Hyunjin's favorite things, respectively.

You often think that it's fated there's a word for their combined favorite things and it only makes sense that they made it as a name of their child.

Aster is as beautiful as his name and you couldn't find a toddler smarter and sweeter than him, and even though he wasn't born from his parent's womb, he inherited his parent's features.

Aster has Hyunjin's dark, silky hair and full lips, and Felix's eyes and small button nose, and in all honesty, he also takes after his parent's charms, the sweet smile, and the warm gaze. Other than t, Aster has other exceptional attributes, he is smart, inquisitive, and very well-spoken too.

To put it simply, you get a feeling that Aster will break a lot of hearts in the future.

The afternoon sun casts a warm glow on Aster's milky skin, you're sitting on the grass watching him chasing after a dragonfly with Mandu trailing behind him.

Aster is one happy kid and it makes sense because he's growing up in a family happy, and watching him play secretly heals your inner child.

Exhausted from running, he's waddling his way to you and as he gets closer to you, you catch him in your arms, then sit him on your lap.

"Do you catch the dragonfly?"

"No," he sadly answers, reclining on your chest as he catches his breath from all the running.

As you look up at the sky, you see an airplane looking so small as it flies between the clouds, "Do you see that, Aster?"

He follows to where your finger is pointing and sees it right away, "Airplane!"

"That's right. Airplane!" You proudly say along with a quick kiss on the top of his head.

Aster raises his small hand in the air as if he's trying to catch the airplane in his hand, "Come down here airplane!" He cutely shouts.

"I don't think they can hear you, bubba," you say while brushing his dark locks with your fingers.

"So far away," he mumbles with his head tilted up and his eyes tirelessly following the airplane, "in the sky."

All of a sudden, he gets up from your lap with his hand still raised in the air, "Airplane so far away," he mumbles.

You wrap your hands around him, "Do you love airplanes, Aster."

He stifles a nod then looks over his shoulder at you, "I love airplanes."

"Aster loves airplanes," you repeat and hold him tighter.

He outstretches his arm as far as he can and jumps on his little feet, "Caught it!"

You pretend to be surprised, "You caught the airplane in your hand?"

He fists his hand into a ball and shows it to you, "I caught it."

You hold his little fist with both hands and tell him, "Want to take it home?"

"Take it home. Yes," he answers while scratching his nose.

Aster gets on his toy car and you're pushing it from the back while also holding Mandu's leash, together you're walking back to the house.

"Let's check the mailbox," you say, stopping by the front of the house to check it.

"Want to see," Aster demands, offering his arms at you.

"Okay," you take him by the arms and carry him so he can see inside the mailbox.

"Mails!" He exclaims.

"Would you please take them out for me?"

"Okay," he replies, raking the mails from inside the mailbox and clutching them in his arms.

"You got them all?"

"Yes," he answers, hugging all the mails close to his chest.

The beeping sounds coming from a truck take Aster's attention away and send a couple of mails slipping down his arms. You turn on your feet, looking at the house across the street, and notice that someone is moving in there hence the moving truck.

You pick up the mails and make Aster hold them as you steer the toy car into the house. You take Mandu off his leash and he starts running inside, then helps Aster to take his sandals off after.

"Cookies," Aster suddenly asks.

"You can have cookies later after dinner, okay?" You softly tell him, remembering that one of the house rules is no snacks before dinner.

Aster seems hungry so you go to the kitchen to start making dinner for him. Since there's no one else in the house, Aster keeps following you everywhere and he's playing with his toy on the kitchen floor.

"One, two, three, five," he incorrectly counts.

You lowly chuckle while keep flattening the pizza dough on the kitchen counter, "One, two, three, four, five," you correct him.

"Four, five, six," he counts again, standing up and wriggling his body as he continues, "Seven, eight, ten."

"Seven, eight, nine, ten," you correct him again.

Aster starts jumping and dancing, throwing his plushie in the air, and having a party on his own. You drop whatever you're doing to watch him being a little happy bean he is.

"Old Macdonald had a farm E I E I O," he sings, picking up his plushie and dancing with it.

"And on that farm, he had a horse, E-I-E-I-O," you both sing in unison and Aster continues the rest of the song in cute gibberish.

You put your focus back on plating dinner, putting the fleshly baked pizza onto the plate and some broccoli on the side. For the dessert, you crack open a can of rice pudding and put it in a separate bowl or Aster will mix the food.

"Come on! Time for dinner!" You help Aster get onto his chair.

Before you can eat dinner as well, you refill Mandu's bowl with food and water and the three of you have dinner together with the sky gradually turns dark outside.

Amid dinner, your phone rings, and as expected, it's a video call from Felix. You scoot closer to him and put the phone against the box of tissue to get Aster in the frame, then hit the accept call button.

A second later, Felix's face appears on the screen, "Hello, my beautiful boy!" He greets his son with a wide smile.

Aster is busy chewing his food but he recognizes his dad's deep voice and looks up from his plate of food. A smile blooms on his chubby face, he glances at you and says, "Dada!"

"That's right. That's dada!" You say, encouraging him to talk.

"Did you miss, Dada?" Felix asks with a sad smile.

Aster only giggles with his mouth slobbering wet with drool and food, but after a while, he stifles a nod.

"Are you having dinner, sweet boy?" He sweetly asks.

"Yes," he hastily answers, lifting one side of the plate to show what he's having to his dad and almost sending the food sliding down onto the table.

With almost a year of experience in babysitting, your reflex is well-trained for such situations. You hurriedly put it down before he spills everything.

"What are you having, Aster?" Felix asks again.

You whisper it to him so he can say it to his dad himself, "Homemade pizza."

"Home and pizza," he incorrectly repeats your words.

Felix chuckles at that and calls for, you guess, his husband, Hyunjin to come so he can talk to his other dad. It takes him a while to finally get him on the phone.

"Mmm... yum, yum, yum," Hyunjin says with his baby voice like he usually does whenever he talks to his little one.

"Daddy!" Aster shrieks in excitement. For a long time, Aster has been closer to Felix than Hyunjin but lately, the dynamic has changed, Aster has been clingy to Hyunjin more.

"Hi, baby. Did you eat well?" He asks as Felix puts his arm around him so they're staying close to each other.

Instead of answering, Aster takes a big bite of his pizza and munches on it with exaggeration, making his cheeks round, full of food

"Ooh... Aster is eating so well. Good boy!" Hyunjin praises with a smile and applause.

The video call continues with his parents watching him eat his dinner and ends with a bittersweet bye as Felix just wants to keep it going.

"For now, be good with bubba, okay?"

Aster slumps on his seat and tugs his finger between his bunny teeth, nodding to whatever his parents are saying.

"Don't worry. We're not going to set the house on fire... not yet" you interject with a joke and give Aster's hair a quick ruffle.

"We'll be back soon, baby Aster," Hyunjin tells his son but it seems like he's indirectly saying it to his husband as well.

"Please come back safely!" You say with a smile, lifting Aster's hands and waving them at his parents.

"Bye-bye, sweet baby," Felix says, making small paws with his hand at him, "Dada loves you."

"Love you," Aster says back.

"Aww..." Felix coos, melting at hearing his son saying the affectionate words back to him.

"Daddy loves you too," Hyunjin adds.

"Love you," Aster also says back to his dad rather aggressively.

The video call ends with yet another bittersweet goodbye from Felix and that tells how much they treasure each other. Aster is growing up in a loving, kind family and he'll grow to be the person who spreads that love and kindness to other people.

Before Aster gets drowsy, you hurriedly clean up after dinner and take him upstairs to wash up, putting him in his pajamas.

The doorbell rings and since you're upstairs in Aster's room, you think you misheard it at first so you wait if the doorbell is going to ring again.

Aster glances at you when the doorbell finally rings again, you decide to carry Aster in your arm to get downstairs faster. You can't be too careful these days so you peek through the window to see who is it.

It's someone you haven't seen before, a guy with foxy eyes and a dimpled smile, well, his dimples appear when he smiles and he's smiling at you right now. You hesitantly open the door, keeping it slightly ajar, and pop your head out.

"Yes, can I help you?" You talk while running out of breath.

It seems you get him out of a trance from the way he's standing up straight as he starts talking.

"Hi, I'm Jeongin, I'm new..." he introduces himself, and suddenly his words trail off.

"New...?" You ask in confusion.

"I'm new in the neighborhood," he finally finishes his sentence with a sheepish smile, "I've just moved into the house across the street."

That explains the moving truck earlier and you can see from the door that he's still having some of his stuff outside.

"Ah, yes, welcome to the neighborhood," you say with a polite smile.

He notices Aster as he nuzzles his head into your neck and sucking on his thumb. He waves his fingers at Aster along with his dimpled smile, "Hi, hello!" He softly says.

Aster nuzzles his head further into your neck, he always gets shy when meeting new people and according to Felix, he gets it from Hyunjin.

"What's his name?"

"Aster," you reply.

"You have a really cute son," he compliments.

If only you get a dollar for every person who thinks that Aster is your child, you would be getting a new car by now. You smile at him while rubbing Aster's back.

"Oh, no, I'm just the babysitter," you inform.

"In fact, I don't live here. The real owners are out of town so that means, I'm also house-sitting for them," you stop talking before you start rambling.

"Oh..." he says with a nod and a smile that is bigger than the previous one.

A moment passes in awkward silence and Aster is getting heavier for you to carry him in your arms, but you can't just tell your new neighbor to scram.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" You courteously ask.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was supposed to..." he scratches his head as he's just remembered something. He hands you the small paper bag he's been holding in one hand.

You take it from his hand and immediately mutter your gratitude to him, "Thank you!"

"See you around, I guess?" He says, shoving his hands deep into his jeans pockets.

"See you," you say back, quietly struggling to keep Aster holding Aster in one arm.

The second the door is closed, you let out a big sigh and put the paper bag on the nearest table, hurriedly taking Aster back upstairs to send him to sleep.

You sit on the small sofa in his room and sit him on your lap, gently patting his back as he rests his head on your chest with his eyes drooping. You think he's sleeping but all of a sudden, he sleepily mutters, "Night, bubba."

"Night night, sweet Aster," you say again with a soft kiss on his head.

"Night Dada."

"Night Daddy."

"Night Nana," he mutters for the last one, mentioning his grandma since Felix's mom sometimes comes to help babysit him.

"What about Poppo?" You remind him of his favorite plushie he's hugging close to his chest.

"Night Poppo," he sleepily mumbles along with a kiss on it.

Aster is fast asleep not long after that, you put him in his crib and that doesn't mean your day ends there. You quietly tidy up his room and check on Aster for the last time.

Something about watching him sleep makes you feel at peace, you tenderly rub his round cheek and brush his hair that's getting too long away from his face.

"Night night, sweet Aster," you whisper before leaving his room.

-

The next day, the fun starts all over again.

With yogurt smeared all over his mouth from his lunch, Aster insists on coming with you after breakfast to pick up the blackberries from the bushes in the backyard. You only noticed them earlier when you were hosing the plants.

"Blueberries!" Aster exclaims.

"They're blackberries," you say, holding a bowl to put the picked fruits, "Want to pick them up?"

He seems hesitant but takes a step forward, he yanks at the leaves and is unsure of how to do it. He refrains and takes a step back, "Bubba do it."

You squat down and show him how to do it, taking the blackberry off the bush, then put it into the bowl, "Like that, bub."

The next minute, Aster is excitedly looking through the blackberry bushes to pick the fruits while you're holding the bowl for him.

"Wow! You picked a lot, bub!" You gasp in surprise seeing the blackberries he has gathered in the bowl.

Aster counts them in his cute mumbling voice, "four, five, six, seven, eight..." he joyfully claps as he successfully counts them all.

The two of you wash them together under the running water and you use the chance to also clean Aster's mouth, wiping it clean with a napkin after.

"Want to try it, bub?" You ask as you kneel on the floor, showing him the blackberries you picked and washed in the bowl.

He looks at it for a second then takes one, he doesn't hesitate to shove it into his mouth. He seems to like it as he keeps taking one after another.

"Is it good?"

He scrunches his nose, you guess the last one he takes into his mouth is sour but despite all that, he keeps chewing and says, "Nice."

The sound of Mandu's footsteps startling both of you as he sprints toward the door and starts barking. Curious as to why he gets so excited all of a sudden, you take Aster with you to check if someone is at the door.

Turns out, Mandu sees the family's car pulling up in front of the house and that's why his tail is wagging behind him, knowing that his daddies are coming home soon.

They don't even bother getting their stuff out of the car, they're going into the house and impatient to see their son. Mandu jumps the second Hyunjin pushes the door open, barking and licking at his face as he scoops him into his arms.

"Hi, baby..." Felix coos at his son as he's clinging to your side.

Unlike Mandu, Aster is looking a little confused at his parent's return.

Seeing his son's reaction, Felix kneels on the floor and looks at him, "It's dada," he tells him.

Aster only clings harder at you and then he starts running inside, you can see Felix's smile fade a little after getting an unexpected reaction from his son.

You follow Aster inside to take him back to his dad and find him walking towards Felix with the bowl of blackberries, he's handing it to him as if to show him that he did it.

"You picked blackberries with bubba?" Felix asks him with a smile.

"Yes," he eagerly nods.

Felix tries again, opening his arms at him, and with a quivering voice, he asks, "Can dada have a hug?"

Aster nods again and dashes toward him hard, almost sending Felix to fall to the back. Felix looks like he's about to burst into tears when he finally gets to hold his son.

From your side, Hyunjin gently grabs your elbow and you both exchange a quick hug.

"Welcome home," you mutter to him, "How was the flight?"

"The best sleep I've ever had," Hyunjin playfully answers with his hand lingers on your arm.

"Glad you're finally home!"

"Why? Was he a handful?"

"Other than he's always out partying and came home late, he's alright," You jokingly answer.

After kissing Aster non-stop, Felix turns to the side to see his husband there and makes Aster come to Hyunjin next, "Don't you miss daddy, hun?"

Hyunjin bends down to take him from Felix's arms, he nuzzles his head in his stomach to place tickling kisses there and makes Aster giggle and drool at the same time.

"We were only away for four days but his hair is already this long," Felix says as he stands next to you.

You only notice it now that Aster and Hyunjin have a similar hair length, they also share the same dark, silky hair.

"Aster looks like daddy now," you point out.

"That's right!" Felix exclaims in agreement as he puts his arm around your shoulder.

The day continues with Hyunjin and Felix taking their luggage out of the car, unpacking one of them to take a few things. Aster is sure a spoiled baby with the amount of things they bought for him from their short vacation.

"This is for bubba," Felix says, handing you a bag of things.

You grin as you take it from him, "You bought me something too?"

"Of course!" Felix hastily replies.

"Thank you!" You say with a gratuitous smile and decide to check the content later at home.

Even though his parents are already home, you're staying to continue your job to babysit Aster and also to help around the house, you figure that either Hyunjin or Felix are still tired from their flight home.

Aster is having fun with Hyunjin though as they're playing together in the backyard with Mandu, sporting the same hairstyle by tying their hair in ponytails.

"He looks more like Hyunjin now," Felix says as he shows you the picture he took of them in matching hairstyles.

Aster used to look a lot more like Felix but now, he and Hyunjin indeed look so much alike. The hair, the lips, and the soft features he has give off that distinct charms.

"Oh, yeah, he looks like mini Hyunjin now," you agree with a smile.

Felix lets out a delightful sigh as he continues scrolling through Aster's pictures and shows you the ones he took when he was still a baby.

"He was so small when he came to the world," Felix says along with a picture of newborn Aster curling into a little ball.

"And look at him now, he's so big and full of energy," he adds while looking at his son playing with the garden hose with fondness in his eyes.

Then he turns to look at you and smiles, "He's almost two now."

"Yeah, time flies so fast," you say, suddenly reminiscing the time when you started babysitting Aster and he was only 13 months back then.

"Which reminds me that we should start planning his birthday soon," he says, shifting the conversation before it gets too sentimental.

You immediately stand up straight and put your hand across your chest, "I'm at your service," you jokingly say.

Felix lowly chuckles and looks at his phone again, "We can do that tomorrow but now, we have to order dinner."

-

The short vacation was everything he didn't know he needed but Felix couldn't be happier that he is now at home.

He's looking at his little family, his husband Hyunjin and his son who heartily eat their dinner next to each other and then there's you, the additional member whom he loves as much as his own family.

Felix feels grateful that he surrounded himself with people who cherished him and vice versa, and that allows him to find happiness in a simple thing like this.

"Anyway, guys, I have something to tell you," you suddenly announce in the middle of dinner.

From the way you keep clearing your throat and your hand tightly wrapped around your chopsticks, it seems like it's something serious and Felix can only hope it is good news.

"Yes, bub?" Felix asks, stopping whatever he's doing to hear what you have to say.

"I just got the announcement yesterday but I passed. I'm graduating this summer," you reveal the news with a bright smile on your face.

Felix lets out a sigh of relief knowing that it's good news and not something he's afraid to hear.

"Oh, my God! That's amazing!" He exclaims, not taking another second to think but coming at you to hug you. He knows you need it, especially after knowing how much you've been worrying about it for these past couple of weeks.

"Thank you!" You mutter as you return the hug.

"This occasion calls for champagne," Hyunjin says, getting up from his seat to get it along with the glasses.

"Aster, bubba is graduating!" Felix says to his little one while squeezing his hand in excitement.

Aster is certainly too young to understand, he remains busy with his dinner as he bites into his spaghetti meatball with the tomato sauce slobbering all over his mouth.

Hyunjin meticulously pours wine into the three glasses without spilling a drop and to make his son feel included, he pours apple juice into a plastic cup.

"Congratulations on graduating!" Hyunjin says as he initiates the toast.

The three of you clinging your glasses together in the middle of the table to finally have that delightful sip of bubbly wine.

"Cheers, bubba!" You say as you bring your glass close to Aster and he immediately picks up his glass of apple juice and clinking it with yours.

And the day couldn't have ended more beautifully.

-

The decision to have Aster wasn't an easy one, Hyunjin and Felix talked about it more than a dozen times until they came to the final decision that they did want a child.

The decision is only a part of the process, getting Aster into the world is a whole other thing. There were a lot of doctor appointments and legal consultations, and of course, there was the search for a suitable surrogate mother, it was one of the most draining parts of it all.

Looking back at it, Felix realizes that he's done a lot to bring Aster into the world and it reminds him to cherish every moment he has with him.

"Again, again!" Aster says to Hyunjin who's been flying him like an airplane.

Hyunjin takes a moment to catch his breath before lifting him again in his arms as Aster puts his arms to the front.

"Poppo too," he mutters after one lap.

"You want to take Poppo flying?"

"Uh-huh."

"Babe, can you give me Poppo!" Hyunjin asks for Felix's help as the plushie is perching on the armrest of the sofa.

Felix hurriedly snaps him out of his daze and hands Hyunjin the blue jellyfish-shaped plushie and then watches his husband swing his son around the bedroom.

Aster is having so much fun that he's constantly laughing and drooling at the same time, it makes Felix happy that his cheeks are hurt from smiling non-stop.

Seeing that Hyunjin is getting tired from carrying him around, Felix thinks it's time for his bedtime.

"Aster, come on, get in your jammies!"

Hyunjin carries him to the sofa and sighs as he takes a seat next to him, holding Aster as Felix puts him into his sleepsuit. Then Felix sits him down on his lap as Hyunjin starts reading him a bedtime story.

"Goodnight dada," he mumbles while rubbing his eyes.

"Goodnight, sweet baby," Felix replies with a fond kiss on the top of his head.

"Goodnight Daddy."

Hyunjin places a long kiss on his forehead in response, "Night, angel."

"Goodnight bubba. Goodnight Nana," Aster continues with his night greetings then brings his plushie close to his mouth to kiss it, "Goodnight Poppo."

It takes quite some time until Aster drifts into sleep but Felix continuously rubs his back and showers him with gentle kisses.

"Can you believe he's almost two now?" Felix lowers his voice to talk to Hyunjin.

"Our baby has grown a lot," Hyunjin says, brushing Aster's hair away from his face.

The realization makes him sad and it's coming from the fact that they're growing older with him too. Felix rests his head on Hyunjin's shoulder, trying to imprint this tender moment in the back of his head along with this bittersweet feeling for him to treasure in the future.

"Better put him in his crib," Hyunjin says to him with a gentle ruffle on the back of Felix's head, "Cause you have another baby to tuck to bed."

Felix raises his eyebrow in question and it registers to him when Hyunjin points at himself, confirming that the other baby is him.

"I'm sure you're tired as well," Hyunjin adds.

"Yeah, okay," he answers with a smile.

Hyunjin kisses Felix's forehead and places another kiss on Aster's head before leaving the bedroom.

Realizing that he can't stop time and Aster will only get bigger, Felix remains there for another moment just holding his son in his arms to his heart's content to finally lay him in his crib.

Felix dims the light on the way out and goes to his room, finding Hyunjin already lying on the bed. Instead of getting on his side of the bed, Felix fits himself in Hyunjin's side, forcing him to scoot away. He then puts Hyunjin's arm around him.

"You should be the one tucking me in," Hyunjin says with a sweet kiss on Hyunjin's neck.

Felix lowly chuckles and gets comfortable in Hyunjin's hold, "But I'm your baby too," he says.

"That's fair," Hyunjin responds, drawing him closer and holding him tight.

He then turns his head his way and presses another kiss on his lips, "Goodnight, baby."

Felix gives him a long peck in return, "Goodnight, love."

-

At 5 am, Hyunjin's alarm rings and he hurriedly turns it off before it wakes the person sleeping next to him. Well, Felix usually wakes up around the same time but he looks like he needs some more sleep so he lets him.

However, Felix stirs in his sleep sensing the bed shift as Hyunjin gets up and forces his eyes open.

"What time is it?" He asks with his gruff morning voice.

Hyunjin crawls over to his side of the bed and places a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"I'll cook breakfast. Just go back to sleep," he murmurs.

"Thank you, honey," Felix mumbles with a smile and then closes his eyes to sleep some more.

On the top of the stairs, Mandu's ears perk up hearing Hyunjin's footsteps and he jumps out of his bed the second he comes out of his bedroom.

"Morning, Mandu," Hyunjin greets his beloved pet, squatting down to pick him up and carrying it with him as he goes downstairs.

The coffee machine is set, Mandu's bowl is filled with food and a water tumbler is ready for him to take to the basement. Hyunjin is on a diet plan that requires him to do twenty minutes of workout in the morning and that's what he's going to do there.

Once he finishes his workout, he continues his morning routine by washing up, and preparing breakfast in the kitchen and when the clock shows it's almost seven, he comes upstairs to wake his little one with Mandu trailing behind him as usual.

Aster is already awake when he pushes the door open, rubbing his eyes off his sleep and kicking his feet up in the air inside his crib.

"Hi, angel baby, you're awake already?" He walks up to his son and kisses the top of his head, his hand tangled in his son's soft locks, sniffing at it before giving him another kiss.

"Want to get down?"

Aster doesn't say anything but lifts his arms at Hyunjin, wanting to get carried in his arms. He puts him down and sits on the carpeted floor with him, still sleepy Aster clings to his dad for cuddles. Mandu suddenly jumps onto Hyunjin's lap and joins in on the cuddles.

"What do you want for breakfast, honey?" Hyunjin softly asks as Aster plays with Mandu's white coat of fur.

"Milk," he replies a while later.

"Milk?"

"Milk and toast," he answers again while resting his head on Mandu's back.

"And yogurt and blueberries?"

"Yogurt and blueberries," Aster repeats.

Hyunjin is smiling at how affectionate Aster is toward Mandu, petting his head and holding him close like he would do to his favorite plushie.

Unbeknownst to him, Felix is watching the whole heartwarming scene from the doorway and his heart is about to burst as this is the first thing he sees in the morning.

Felix loves his little family so much.

-

This should be his nap time but Aster is all hyper and you've been chasing him around the house that you can feel sweat forming on your back.

Needing a break, you kneel on the carpeted floor and catch your breath. Aster stops on his track as well, resting half of his body on the sofa and wickedly grinning at you.

"Want to drink your milk?" you persuade by showing him the bottle of milk you're holding in your hand.

"No," he refuses, tugging his fingers between his bunny teeth.

You quietly make your way closer to him, hoping to catch him before he gets to run and makes you chase him around again. Sadly, he's too clever for a toddler and runs before you get to grab him and he's heading to the study room where Hyunjin is working.

Worse is the door is not completely shut and Aster can easily push his way inside, squealing as he runs away from you.

Hyunjin is there, sitting behind the desk and looking like he's in a virtual meeting. You stand by the doorway and gesture for Aster to come back.

"Daddy is working," you whisper at him.

Instead of obeying you, Aster climbs onto Hyunjin's lap and he takes him without looking away from the computer screen.

"Aster, no..." you mutter while shaking your head at him.

But he clings to his dad and hides in his chest, making Hyunjin pause on the meeting to handle his son.

"Why aren't you napping, mmh?" He asks.

As if he tries to win him, Aster presses a kiss on Hyunjin's cheek and almost bites him again, but Hyunjin is quick to dodge away.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him in," you say as you step inside his study room, "I'll take him."

"That's okay," Hyunjin says as he holds Aster close, "Just give me the bottle."

"Okay," you come up to him to give him the bottle and leave the room, making sure you fully close the door.

In the kitchen, Felix is still busy baking his famous brownies, and the sweet smell of it wafting throughout the room as he takes it out of the oven.

"Oh, my Gosh! That smells so good!" You gasp as you walk up to him.

Felix smiles as he puts the brownies on the kitchen counter and lets it cool down. He takes his oven mitts off and pours himself a glass of water.

"Monster Aster is finally off to nap?" He asks, then takes a big gulp of water.

"He ran to the study room and insisted on napping with his daddy," you answer, snacking on the bowl of chocolate chips in front of you.

"Of course!" Felix sighs, he takes another gulp of water and gasp.

"Aster is in his Hyunjin's phase," you joke, tossing a piece of chocolate chip into your mouth.

"There was never a Felix's phase in the first place," Felix grumbles with a pout.

"Well, you can adopt me and I promise I'll always be on your team," you joke while shoving another piece of chocolate chip into your mouth.

"I'll consult it with my lawyer first," he shortly responds with a smile.

After helping Felix slice the brownies into small squares, you go back to the study room to check on Aster and whether Hyunjin has successfully made him nap. You cautiously turn the knob and push the door open, popping your head inside to check.

To your surprise, Hyunjin's done it. Aster is peacefully sleeping in his arms and Hyunjin endearingly brushes his head before placing kisses on the top of his head. He's doing that while also working on something on his computer, he has his headphones on so he doesn't notice you until you come and stand close enough to his desk.

"Let me take him," you mouth your words at him.

Hyunjin takes his headphones off and fixes Aster's head to snuggle it on the crook of his neck, "I'll do it. I'm done working anyway," he says.

As Hyunjin walks across the living room carrying Aster in his arms, you and Felix stop talking to not accidentally wake Aster as Hyunjin is about to put him down for his nap. He comes back downstairs carrying his other child, the furry one who is always on his team.

"I smell brownies," He says, putting Mandu down and jogging his way to the kitchen to check, following the sweet smell of Felix's brownies.

Felix slides the plate of brownies in his direction and continues to write down things he needs to buy while discussing it with you but you're distracted by his beautiful cursive handwriting.

"Oh, this is nice!" Hyunjin gasps in joy and his eyes sparkle at the sight of it. He even rubs his hands together before taking a piece of brownies from the plate.

"Honey, can you take care of Aster for a bit?" Felix asks as he puts his pen down.

"Mmh-hmm," he answers without a beat and takes another piece of brownie.

"The fridge is empty so we're going to do some grocery shopping," Felix explains but Hyunjin is too busy stuffing his mouth with brownies to pay attention.

Looking at Hyunjin certainly reminds you of how much he looks like Aster when he's eating with his cheeks inflated and lips slightly jutting out.

When he realizes that you and Felix are watching him heartily eating brownies, he stops chewing and puts on a foolish grin.

"This is so good, babe!" He says with an exaggerated tone and hastily kisses Felix on the lips.

Felix is so taken aback that he freezes for a second and blankly blinks his eyes at him, and you, as usual, being the third wheel in this marriage.

"This is why I married you," Hyunjin adds with a sweet smile that makes his eyes form two crescents.

"Because of my brownies?" Felix asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Because you're the best husband ever!" Hyunjin remarks with a sweet smile plastered on his face, "But also yeah, because of the brownies."

Felix can't help but smile as his fingers fiddled with the pen, flustered by his husband.

"Stop being so cute!" He says to Hyunjin.

You prop a hand under your chin and also look at Hyunjin, "Yeah, stop being so cute!" You say, just to remind them that you're there.

Hyunjin ignores both of you, continues chewing his food while making funny noises, and even does some dancing while holding a piece of brownie in his hand.

Felix takes his wallet and notes with him, "We're going, babe," he says.

"Wait, you forget something," Hyunjin says, stopping Felix from walking away.

Felix gropes every pocket on his jeans, checking if he is forgetting something, "I don't think—"

Hyunjin grabs him by his elbow and pulls him close, "You're forgetting this," he says, pressing a kiss on his lips.

It's better to exclude yourself from this scene, so you turn on your feet and grab the car keys from the bowl.

"I'll get the car ready," you say.

"Bubba, you're also forgetting something," Hyunjin jokingly says.

"No, thank you," you refuse right away without even looking.

-

While Felix is busy picking fruits for both consumption and baking ingredients with utmost focus, you wander through the herb and spices aisle to take some things off the shopping list.

You're scanning through the list then at the shelves next, taking the ones you need and putting them into the trolley. You stand next to the shelf to check if you missed anything.

"Oregano!" You mutter, turning to the other shelf and scanning it to find between various types of herbs there is.

"Oregano, oregano, oregano," you continuously mutter as your hand trails every jar while carefully reading the labels to find it.

"Here!" A voice says along with a hand that offers you the herb you're looking for.

"Thank you!" You mutter as you take it and look up to see a familiar face, "Oh?"

He smiles when you see him and clutching his shopping basket in front of him, "I hope you still remember me," he says.

"Yeah, sure, you're the uh..." Oh shit, you forgot his name but you know he's the guy who came to the house a couple of days ago, "You're the new neighbor."

"Nice to see you again," He replies with his dimpled smile that only confirms it's him.

"Nice to see you," you say back with a polite smile.

"Are you here by yourself?" He asks.

"No, I'm here with someone but he's... somewhere," you pause to look around to see if Felix has returned and look back at him, "How about you?"

"It's just me," he replies.

Your eyes wander to his shopping basket and take a quick scan at what he bought.

"Making curry for dinner?" You wildly guess based on your observation.

He shyly chuckles and shifts his basket to the other arm, "That's the idea," he says.

"Well, you're going the right way," you playfully respond with a soft chuckle.

His hand flies to his ear and rubs on it, "oh, that's a relief!"

"Oop! There you are!" Felix says with his deep voice startling you.

Why does it feel like you just got caught doing something you shouldn't do when you're just talking to a guy? You turn on your feet and take a step back so he can put the bags of fruits into the trolley.

A moment after that, Felix notices that you've been talking with someone. He looks at him and at you, then looks back at him.

"Hello, hi," Felix says to him, then turns at you, "Who is it, bubba?"

"Oh! This is your new neighbor," you introduce him, forgetting to mention anything about it until now.

"My new neighbor, huh?" Felix says with a smile and quietly gives you the side eyes.

"This is the actual owner of the house and Aster's dad, Felix," you introduce Felix to him.

"Nice to meet you," Felix says, offering his hand to him.

"I'm Jeongin. Nice to meet you," he introduces himself back and takes Felix's hand to shake it.

Oh, yeah, Jeongin! That's his name, oh, why are you so bad at memorizing names? You try not to show how you've been avoiding calling him by his name until this second.

"Nice to meet my new neighbor," Felix says with another side-eye shot at you.

Another moment passes with Felix glancing at you and Jeongin in turns, you need to find something to say to disperse the awkwardness that slowly builds, better if you remove yourself from the scene.

"I guess we'd bett—"

"You know, we're celebrating Aster's birthday next Saturday," Felix suddenly shares, "We would love for you to come!"

The invitation must have come as a surprise to Jeongin but you're not one with the rights to it, Felix is free to invite anyone.

"I'd love to," Jeongin answers with a polite smile.

"Great!" Felix exclaims in joy, "Just a fair warning though, it's a kid's birthday party so there'll be no alcohol."

"That's more than fine," he responds.

Jeongin scratches his ear again and you start to think he does it whenever he gets nervous or flustered. You don't want to make him uncomfortable for long and you have a lot of grocery shopping left to do.

"We'd better let you get back to your shopping," you say, secretly taking Felix's arm to take him out of his way.

"I guess we'll see each other around a lot," Felix says with a foolish grin on his face.

"Eh?" Jeongin responds in confusion.

"Cause we're neighbors," Felix says.

"Ah... yes."

You drag Felix along with the trolley to not make it even more awkward, "See you!"

"See you!" Jeongin says as he waves his hand at you.

The shopping isn't the worst part of it but putting all the bags into the trunk is. Felix bought a lot it's enough to feed a whole village but you're aware that half of it is for his baking needs.

"How come you never mentioned anything about the new neighbor?" Felix asks.

"I simply forgot to tell you," You answer while keeping your eyes on the road.

"How come you forgot a cute face like that?"

"Mr. Lee, you're married," You remind him while shaking your head in disbelief.

"What? Just because I'm married I suddenly can't see cute guys anymore?"

"You know that's not what I mean."

"He's tall, he has nice shoulders and dimples..."

"No comment!" You refuse to respond to his words.

"Oh, come on! Just admit it! He's cute," Felix says, aggressively hitting your shoulder and forcing you to respond.

"Okay, okay, yeah, he's cute," you finally admit with a low sigh.

"I can tell that he fancies you too," Felix adds as he leans back on his seat.

"Mr. Lee, please stick to what you do best," you briefly glance at him as you continue talking, "Baking, not matchmaking."

Felix raises both hands in defeat and says, "I'm just saying."

And of course, getting everything off the trunk means more handwork. You and Felix carry as much as you can in both arms and push your way into the house.

"We're home!" Felix announces the second he steps into the house.

There's music playing in the living room so you guess Aster has woken up from his nap and there he is, jumping on his little feet and singing to his favorite cartoon song.

"Babe, come here!" Hyunjin orders, taking the grocery bags from his arms and putting them on top of the dining table.

"What? Why?" He asks in confusion but relents as Hyunjin drags him to the living room while you keep walking toward the kitchen.

Hyunjin sits Felix down on the sofa and then he grabs the remote to replay the song playing on the TV. Together, he and Aster start dancing and singing to the song, creating a special show for his dear dad and husband, Felix.

Felix is so wrong to think that he has no one on his team when, in fact, both Aster and Hyunjin will always be on his team.

-

Today will be Hyunjin's first day back to work after his vacation and Aster somehow senses that.

He's been spending the whole afternoon playing with his dad until Hyunjin has to go and get dressed for work, he's taking over the late-night news tonight and that's when Aster feels alarmed. You try to keep him distracted by taking him to the back porch to play with his new toys.

As Hyunjin comes to kiss him, Aster gets fussy, he runs after his dad to the front door. He even takes his shoes with him as he gets to his father.

"Go with daddy," he says, holding his shoes at him.

That only makes Hyunjin reluctant to go, he pulls Aster for a hug and holds him for a moment. He kisses his cheek and also the top of his head.

"Daddy has to go to work," he says to him with a gentle caress on his cheek.

Aster doesn't say anything but opens the strap on his shoes then hands it to Hyunjin, asking him to put them on for him.

"Oh, baby," Hyunjin sadly says and lifts him into his arms.

As heartbreaking as it is, Felix comes to take Aster so Hyunjin can go to work. He rubs Aster's back and then slowly, he takes him from Hyunjin's arms.

"Daddy will be back soon, okay, angel?" Hyunjin continuously consoles Aster with kisses and caresses.

Aster holds his hands out at Hyunjin, desperately wanting to get back into Hyunjin's arms but Felix firmly holds him down.

"You'll play together again when daddy gets back, mmh?" Felix calmly tells him as Aster is whining and fighting to get out of his arms.

Hyunjin checks the time on his wristwatch and looks at Felix, "I really have to go," he says.

"It's okay. He'll quiet down soon," Felix assures him not to worry about Aster.

Hyunjin puts on a sad smile and hugs both Aster and Felix, he then presses a kiss on Aster's head and mutters, "Daddy loves you."

He then turns at Felix for a quick peck on the lips, "I'm going, yeah?"

"Be careful, okay?" Felix says with a smile while bouncing Aster in his arms to stop him from crying.

With a heavy heart, Hyunjin picks up his briefcase and waves his bye at Aster before getting out of the door.

You feel helpless as you can't do anything to help calm down crying Aster, he tends to only cling to you when his dads aren't around and he only wants his dad when he's fussy like this.

Felix keeps bouncing him in his arms, rubbing his back and wiping the tears on his cheeks while muttering words in the softest tone.

"Dada is here."

"Dada will play with you, mmh?"

"How about a cookie, mmh? Do you want a cookie?"

Felix knows that Aster can't say no to his cookies and it indeed works to make him stop crying, he rubs his eyes with the back of his hands and then nods.

"With milk," He mumbles.

"Cookie with milk?" Felix asks as he tenderly wipes the tears from his eyes with this thumb.

"Yes, please," he mumbles while doing the sign language.

"Can you smile for dada first?"

Aster nods and then puts on a smile for his dad, he looks cute even though his face is puffy and red from crying. Felix lights up the second he sees a smile bloom on Aster's sweet little face.

"That's Dada's beautiful boy!" Felix exclaims with an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

You prepare the seat for Aster and help to get him in it as Felix is off to get the cookie jar from the cabinet and then the milk from the fridge.

"One for sweet Aster," He says, putting one cookie on your Aster's plate.

"Thank you, dada," Aster cutely mutters as he wastes no time to take a bite at it.

"You're very welcome, my darling," he replies with a smile and a gentle pat on the head.

He turns to you with the cookie jar in hand, "Do you want one too, bubba?"

"You know I can't say no to your cookie," you answer.

Felix places one on your plate and another one for himself, he then fills Aster's cup with milk, before pouring milk into two glasses which you guess is for you and him.

"Choccie sauce!" He chimes, asking for some chocolate sauce in his milk.

"You want some choccie sauce with your milk?" Felix asks, taking it from the top cabinet.

Aster nods while breaking a piece of cookie with his hand.

Felix squeezes the bottle and puts some chocolate sauce in his milk, he lets him stir it with the straw before taking a sip.

"Isn't that nice, Aster?

"Nice," he answers, emphasizing the word that sounds like a hiss.

"Do you want some choccie sauce in your milk too, bub?"

"No, thank you," you kindly refuse.

Felix joins in on the dining table, eating the cookies he made and never failed to make, ever since you tasted his cookies, all the other cookies taste just alright for you.

Once he sits down, Felix takes a rewarding bite after all that hard work on calming Aster and lets out a delightful sigh.

"The adoption paper seems very tempting for a moment," he jokingly says.

"You've done well, dada," you assure him, making him feel acknowledged for his effort.

Aster looks a lot better after having a cookie and it seems like he's already forgotten about Hyunjin leaving for work. He drinks his milk through a straw and lets out a cute gasp after.

"One more, please?" He politely asks.

"You can have one more but you can't have another one until after dinner, okay?" Felix makes a compromise before giving it to him right away.

"Okay, dada," he answers with a nod.

"Here goes another cookie for my sweet tooth," Felix says as he places another cookie on Aster's plate.

"Thank you," he mutters with a grin.

"You're very welcome, bub!" Felix says back, then notices that you're finished with your cookie, "Do you want to have another one too, bub?"

This is why you don't feel like working because oftentimes, you find Felix treating you like his child and you don't mind any of it.

"No, I'm good, thanks," you kindly refuse with a smile.

"You're staying for dinner, right?"

"I don't know if you remember but I told you that I need to leave early today," you meekly say, then check for the time on your phone.

Felix gasps in surprise when he finally remembers it, "Oh, yeah, you're going to visit a family member in the hospital," he says.

"Yep and I'm afraid I have to leave now," you say while replying to a text from your mum.

"You can go, bub. Don't let your mum wait for you," Felix assures you as he puts the cookie jar back into the cabinet.

"Are you sure it's fine?" You hesitantly ask as you gather your things from around the room.

Felix comes up to Aster and holds the back of his seat, "of course, we'll be okay," he assures you with a smile.

You don't know why you think he won't be capable of taking care of his own son but you guess you feel bad for couldn't help him especially with Hyunjin working late tonight.

"Buh-bye, Aster," you say bye to Aster with a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Bye-bye, bubba," he replies as he keeps munching on his cookie.

"Drive safely, bub!" Felix comes up to you for a quick hug before letting you go.

The phone chimes as you get out of the house, your mum is rushing you even though you still have enough time to make it to your house to pick her up and drive to the hospital before the visiting hours end. You compose a quick reply to tell her you're already on the way to calm her down.

As you're about to climb into your car, you see Jeongin waving his hand at you from his house which is right across Felix's. You raise your hand to let him know that you see him and put on a smile even though you're not sure he can see it, and you think he's just wanting to say hi to you, he jogs his way to you.

"Hey," Jeongin greets you with his engaging foxy eyes and dimpled smile.

"Hey," you say back, returning the smile to him.

"You're getting off early," he says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Yeah. My mum and I have to go to this family thing," you vaguely explain.

"I'm not going to keep you long then," Jeongin says, slowly taking a step back.

"No, I mean, I have some time if you want to say something," you blurt out, feeling bad for indirectly turning him down.

"I need ideas for Aster's birthday present," he pauses to shift his weight to one side, "I think no one knows what he likes more than you."

It seems like it'll be taking a lot more time to decide

"Oh? Well, Aster likes—"

"I was hoping that we could go gift hunting together," He says while shyly scratching his ear.

"You want me to help you look for Aster's birthday present?"

"Yes, but not now, of course. You have somewhere to go right now," he hastily answers with an awkward smile.

"Well, I can't right now but I'm not babysitting tomorrow," you have no plans tomorrow, and helping someone out is never a bad idea.

"Tomorrow?" He stammers.

"If that's too soon we can do—"

"No, that's better," he hastily responds.

"The sooner, the better," he says with another shy smile and looks away when your eyes meet in a gaze.

"Okay, then should I give you my number or...?" you ask, hesitating whether you should take out your phone or wait for him to give you his phone.

Jeongin fumbles to get his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans, unlocking it first before handing it to you. You type your numbers in and give the phone back to him, at the same time, your phone pings with a new text which you guess is from your mum.

"I'm sorry but I really have to go right now," you tell him with an apologetic smile.

"Yes, sorry for keeping you for so long," he apologizes back and hurriedly steps away from your car.

"See you tomorrow," you say before getting into the car.

"See you!" Jeongin says with his dimpled smile.

-

The next day, you help Jeongin look for Aster's birthday present as promised. You texted him beforehand, telling him to meet you at the toy store and he came just a few minutes late from the appointed time.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"No, not at all," you shortly reply.

The search for the birthday present doesn't take much time, Jeongin has it wrapped in store and by the time you get out of the store, the daylight still lingers on the sky.

"Do you want to get an early dinner?" Jeongin suddenly asks as he holds the door open for you and lets you out first.

It's the first time you meet a guy who's this forward and instead of discomfort, you find this refreshing, and it makes it easier for you to get along with him.

"I have nowhere to go this time so why not?" You answer with a smile.

Since Jeongin is new in town, you take the duty to recommend any good restaurants to him and settle on one that is located only two blocks away from the toy store.

The two of you taking your time to enjoy dinner, chatting in between bites of food, and getting to know him better. Jeongin newly moved into this town for a job, he lives with his dog and he is one year younger than you which is no surprise.

"How long have you been babysitting Aster?" He curiously asks.

"Almost a year now," you shortly answer.

"Did you happen to find this job or you always wanted to be a babysitter?" He playfully asks, then takes a sip of his soda.

"It's obviously the latter," you joke back.

"I mean, I don't see what's wrong with that," he says while lowly laughing.

"The job initially came for my mum but her social calendar is packed for the rest of the year so I took it," you wipe your fingers onto the napkin, "I needed the money for college and a new car."

"So you're still in uni?"

"I'm actually graduating this summer," you inform with a proud smile.

"Oh, congratulations!" He beams a bright smile at you, genuinely ecstatic with the news.

"Thank you so much!"

"And so, what's the plan after graduation?" He asks, completely all ears about it as he stacks his hands together on the table.

"I haven't told this to anyone but I... I got this job offer," you openly share.

"Oh, I'm the first to know this?" Jeongin asks with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes," you shyly nod.

You can't believe that you easily share it with someone that is not your mom and you don't know why you feel comfortable talking about it with him, maybe because he's someone you've just met that makes it easier.

"Where does this job offer come from?" He asks in utmost curiosity.

"From an architecture firm in the city," you answer.

"But that's..." he seems to change his mind and decides not to finish the sentence.

"That's amazing!" He says, having a drastic change in his cadence.

All of a sudden, someone places their hand on your shoulder and you're ready to swat him away when you look over your shoulder and find Hyunjin there.

"Oh, my God! You scared me!" You gasp in surprise as your hand clutches your chest.

"I know my bubba so well to know that it's you just from the back of your head," Hyunjin says with his hand starts gently massaging your shoulder.

"What are you doing here?"

"Was having a quick dinner with a colleague and saw you on the way out," he answers, then his eyes shift to the guy sitting across from you, "May I know who is this, bubba?"

"Oh, yeah, this is Jeongin, he is your new neighbor actually," you introduce Jeongin to him.

"Nice to meet you!" Hyunjin courteously says as he holds his hand out to Jeongin.

"Nice to meet you!" Jeongin says back as he shakes his hand.

"This is Hyunjin, he is Felix's husband, also Aster's dad," you introduce him back to Jeongin.

You can see in Jeongin's eyes that he's putting two and two together and eventually comes to a conclusion.

"Oh?" He keeps his expression in check and quickly recovered, "Aren't you the uh... the anchorman?"

"Yes, I am," Hyunjin replies with a smile.

"Honored to make your acquaintance," Jeongin says with a blushed smile.

"Well, I'm sorry for interrupting your dinner, just wanted to say hi," Hyunjin says with his hand still firmly resting on your shoulder.

"No, that's okay, we're just chatting," You tell him because it seems like he's getting mixed signals from this.

Hyunjin checks the time on his wristwatch, "And I'm late for movie night."

"Oh, please send my love for Aster," you say.

"Will do," Hyunjin says, he then looks at Jeongin, "Have a great night!"

"You too!" You say, placing your hand on his before he takes it away.

The two of you decided to call it a night not long after Hyunjin left and since your car is in the shop, Jeongin insists on giving you a lift home, you cave in almost immediately because you don't feel like taking a bus home.

"Thank you for the help by the way," Jeongin says as he keeps one hand on the steering wheel and the other rests on the center panel.

"No worries," you say while holding your purse on your lap, "I'm sure Aster will love it."

"I trust you on that," he briefly glances at you to flash you a soft smile, "bubba? Isn't it?"

"What?"

"That's what they called you," He shortly answers.

"Yes, I think it's Aster who started it and everyone in the house decided to call me that ever since," you explain.

"I think that's cute," Jeongin comments, seamlessly making a right turn to where your house is and stopping the car.

You unbuckle your safety belt first and then sling the strap of your bag to your shoulder, you turn your head to the side to be greeted by his foxy eyes, shining even under the dim light of the car.

"Thank you for the ride home," you mutter your gratitude.

"I should be the one thanking you for the help," he says back, turning his body to look at you.

"Well, then, you're very welcome," you reply.

The silence only builds tension in the car and you know you should get out of the car soon if you don't want the tension to keep on rising. You pull the handle to unlock the car door and push it open.

"Goodnight, Jeongin!" You mutter a second before you get out of the car.

"Goodnight!" He says back with a scintillating smile.

-

The best part of Hyunjin's day will always be coming home to his family and seeing their faces light up when they see him.

Tonight, Hyunjin comes home to find Felix and Aster lying on the sofa bed, watching a movie with a big bowl of popcorn on Felix's lap. None of them notice him coming until he stands next to the TV.

"You said you were on the way like an hour ago," Felix says with slightly unamused face.

"I'm sorry," Hyunjin says with his hands raised in defeat.

"It's not our fault that you missed the first 20 minutes of Cars," Felix says.

Hyunjin puts his briefcase down and takes his suit jacket off before joining them on the sofa bed. He shares a kiss with his husband first then a kiss on the head for the little one.

"Oh, no, I missed a lot of it," he says with a pout as he pays attention to the movie playing on the TV.

Aster remains unbothered by Hyunjin's ferocious little kisses on his head and cheek, he's so focused on watching his favorite movie and shoving popcorn into his small mouth.

"Can daddy have some of that, bubba?" Hyunjin softly asks, opening his mouth for him.

Aster picks up a piece and feeds it to Hyunjin but before it gets into his mouth, he brings it toward him and eats it.

"Oh?" Hyunjin exclaims in confusion, "That's not very nice, Aster."

Felix laughs witnessing it and gently pats the little one's head, "Aster, that's not very nice."

As a way to get back to him, Hyunjin wraps his arms around Aster to keep him still as he places ticklish kisses on his stomach, sending him into a series of laughter.

"Daddy, I think we need some refreshments," Felix says.

Hyunjin takes a handful of popcorn and eats it from his hand, "You guys started the movie night without me and now I have to make drinks?"

Felix nonchalantly shrugs, "Well, you were late. This is your punishment."

"Why am I punished?" Hyunjin argues, squinting his eyes at Felix.

Felix shrugs again and puts his hand in Aster's hair, "What do you think about hot chocolate, Aster?"

"Hot choccie," he mumbles instead of answering Felix's question.

"With marshmallows, yeah?"

"Marshmallows," Aster repeats.

Hyunjin sighs and relents, "Okay then, how many marshmallows do you want?"

"Three," Aster eagerly answers.

"Use your fingers," Hyunjin orders.

"Three," he says again but he holds up his five fingers at him.

"Hot choccie with marshmallow, okay but daddy wants a kiss first," Hyunjin demands, pursing his lips at him and asking for a kiss.

Aster slowly leans in and gives him a slobbering peck on the lips. Hyunjin scrunches his nose as he tastes the grease from the popcorn butter from the kiss.

"That's a very salty kiss but okay..." Hyunjin gets up from the sofa bed and loosened the tie around his collar, "Two hot choccies with marshmallows coming right up!"

Aster doesn't make it to the end of the movie, he falls asleep on Hyunjin's lap and he holds him close as he continues watching the movie with the volume turned low.

"I met bubba at the restaurant today," Hyunjin shares with his hand tirelessly brushing Aster's hair.

Felix glances away from the TV to look at him, "Yeah?"

"Mmh," Hyunjin answers, "She was with the new neighbor."

"Ooh..." Felix coos and picks up his mug, "Did they seem like they're on a date?"

"I think so," Hyunjin doubtfully answers.

"I think they'll make a cute couple," Felix remarks after taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

Hyunjin hesitates to share another thing about the encounter but if there's someone he can share everything with, it's Felix.

"And I accidentally eavesdropping on their conversation," he admits.

Felix looks at him in disbelief, "You nosy!" He playfully remarks and touches the tip of his nose with his finger.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Hyunjin defends himself.

"Okay, I believe you and now you don't have any other options but to tell me what you eavesdrop," Felix says, putting away his mug to put all of his focus on the conversation.

"She was telling him about her plan, saying that she got a job offer in the city," Hyunjin shares.

The glints in Felix's eyes dim almost immediately and his voice drops, "Oh?"

Knowing that he needs comfort, Hyunjin puts his arm around Felix's shoulder and pulls him close to his side, "We can get a new sitter if you want or I could—"

"You know we don't need a new sitter. I hired her because I like her," Felix says with a sour expression.

"I like her too," Hyunjin keeps his tone low and soft, his hand gently massaging Felix's shoulder.

Felix rests his head on Hyunjin's shoulder, "and we'll never find someone like her again," he sadly says.

"I know, baby," Hyunjin says, pressing a sweet kiss on his forehead and turning his head for a chaste kiss on his lips, "But you know we can't keep her here."

Something has just registered into Felix and he gets hit by a wave of sadness. As much as he wants to keep you here, he can't and shouldn't. You have a whole life ahead of you and he can't keep you from living your life to the fullest.

"It's going to be okay, love," Hyunjin murmurs with another kiss on his forehead.

-

It's a habit for Felix to roll into Hyunjin's side and cuddle him when he first comes to his wake. When he's ready to start the day, he plants a close kiss on Hyunjin's neck and gets up from the bed.

It's an exciting day and Felix can't wait to wake his little one. He quietly pushes the door to his bedroom and turns up the brightness of the lights in his room.

"Good morning, birthday boy!" Felix cheerily says as he peers down into his crib.

Aster is half awake from how he keeps tossing around in his crib, disoriented and disheveled.

"Still sleepy, mmh?" Felix softly asks with a tender caress on his cheek.

Aster rubs his eyes as he looks up at his dad with his big, innocent eyes and a simple thing like this is enough to melt his heart.

"You want to take a few more minutes of sleep, mmh?"

Aster may not say anything but he slowly gets up, standing up in his crib, and holds his arms out at Felix, asking him to lift him.

His best mate, Mandu, barks at the sight of Aster coming out of the crib and starts to circle Felix's feet with his tail wagging behind him.

"Calm down, there, Mandu!" Felix orders as he carries Aster in his arms then slowly sits down on the carpeted floor.

Mandu wastes no time but jumps onto Felix's lap, joining Aster and wanting to play with him.

"You're two years old now," Felix says, slightly in disbelief that his son is already two now and no longer a baby.

"Two," he mumbles.

"Are you excited for your birthday party, bub?" Felix asks as he brushes his matted hair.

Aster doesn't fully understand what birthday means and only hums his answer as he pets Mandu and nuzzles their heads together.

"There'll be balloons, presents. There'll be a birthday cake," Felix speaks while rocking him on his lap from side to side.

"Cake?"

"Yes, your birthday cake with sprinkles and candles on it."

"Choccie sauce?"

Felix raises his eyebrow at that, "You want choccie sauce on your birthday cake?"

"Choccie sauce in milk," he says, talking off-topic.

"Oh, you want choccie sauce in your milk for breakfast?" Felix guesses he's talking about what he wants for breakfast.

"Uh-huh," he nods.

"With pancakes?"

"Toast with jam," he says as he looks up at him, wide-eyed.

"Okay, but first, we have to brush your teeth and then wake Daddy up," he says.

Hyunjin is still peacefully sleeping, lying on his stomach with his face planted onto the pillow, only the side of his face is visible. Felix puts Aster down next to him and lets him wake his daddy up his way.

Aster crawls over to him, placing slobbering kisses on Hyunjin's cheek and then using his fingers to play with his plush lips.

"Daddy!" Aster calls with a slap on his shoulder.

Hyunjin peeks through the corner of his eyes and then pretends to sleep again, he puts his hand on his stomach and tickles him. As a way to get back to him, Aster climbs onto Hyunjin's back and bounces on it with his hands tugging at his hair. Getting no reaction from him, Aster licks his cheek.

"Aster, that's not very nice," Hyunjin groans with his voice muffled by the pillow.

In a swift move, Hyunjin turns over on the bed and sends Aster falling to the side, he is having a laughing fit as Hyunjin tickles his stomach.

Hyunjin eventually lets go to let him breathe and pulls him to his side, holding him close as he places an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

"Happy birthday, beautiful boy!" Hyunjin sweetly mutters. He gets cuteness aggression from how oblivious he is about his birthday and presses another kiss on his squishy cheek. Noticing that Felix just watching on the edge of the bed, Hyunjin outstretches his hand at him and says, "Come here, my baby."

Felix softly smiles and joins them on the bed with Aster lying in between him and Hyunjin. Hyunjin puts his hand over Aster to reach for Felix's hand and then laces them together.

"What should we do, baby?" Hyunjin asks him.

"What?" Felix asks in utter confusion.

"Our Aster is a big boy now," Hyunjin says with a faint, sad smile.

"And he'll keep on getting bigger," Felix says with a wistful sigh.

Birthday makes them realize how much time has flown and how time keeps slipping away from their fingers, and that's the thing about birthdays: realizing that everyone around you is getting older too.

-

It feels weird to come dressed so nicely, not that you didn't dress properly before but you wear this nice dress and you got your hair styled, you even put some make-up on.

You ring the bell even though you can just let yourself in like usual but you're a guest and this is how you come as a guest.

Through the window, you can see that Felix is coming to open the door and you hurriedly put on a smile.

"Oh, you're here!" He says with a delighted gasp, looking rather a little surprised to see you outside the door.

Felix doesn't hesitate to pull you into a hug. He pulls away the next moment and then takes a step back.

"And looking so gorgeous!" He takes your hand, lifting it in the air to give you a spin.

You can feel the genuineness in his compliment as his eyes shine in the same warmth as his words and your cheeks are heating, flustered from his words.

"Thank you, Felix," you say with a shy smile.

Another moment passes as he can't stop staring at you and he somehow snaps himself out of it, turning his head toward the house.

"Aster, bubba is here and she looks so pretty!" He announces to everyone inside the house.

You're getting even more embarrassed that he shouts it into the house and not long after, you can hear the sound of Aster's footsteps along with his squeals. He looks at you with eyes wide and gleaming like two clear marbles.

"Doesn't bubba look pretty?" Felix asks.

"Bubba pretty," Aster mumbles with a nod of agreement.

Even though he doesn't really understand what he's saying and only repeating his dad's words to you, his compliment tugs at your heartstrings.

"Thank you, cutie," you coo, squatting down to hug him.

You notice that Aster is already dressed as well and even has his shoes on, "What are you wearing Aster?"

He looks at his dad for help and you catch Felix mouthing the word to him, "Overalls," he mumbles.

"I think you look nice," you say, fixing his hair by combing it with your fingers.

"I'm cute," he says with a nod and a grin that shows his two bunny teeth, making you and Felix burst into laughter.

"You are cute," you compliment again and press a quick kiss on his fluffy, bouncy cheek, "Aster, the cutest."

You scoop him into your arms as you follow Felix walk further inside and see through the glass doors that the backyard is already decorated with colorful balloons, there's a tent and a bouncy castle with the theme of Aster's favorite cartoon characters.

"Oh, Aster, it really is your birthday," you coo as you give him a gentle pat on the head, slightly jealous that he is one lucky kid and not aware of it.

"Bubba is here!" Hyunjin beams from the second floor.

"Hi, Mr. Hwang," you playfully greet him, knowing he doesn't like to be addressed by that.

Hyunjin ignores it this time and descends the stairs with his loyal follower, Mandu, leading the way, "And looking stunning too!"

"You clean up pretty good as well, sir!" You compliment back with a grin.

"Stop flirting!" Felix jokingly says with his hands planted on each side of his waist, "Honey, I need you to take Aster because I need bubba in the kitchen."

"Alright," Hyunjin rushes to you and then takes Aster from you.

The birthday party has come to a peak in the afternoon, you don't even have to watch for Aster, he's having fun with the other kids playing inside the tent. The adults are having a blast as well, eating the food Felix has prepared and thoroughly enjoying it.

"I think I came at the right time," Jeongin says, catching you getting out of the house with a tray of food.

"Oh, hi!" You greet, keeping the tray steady in your hands, "Mini burgers?"

"Maybe later?" he kindly refuses.

Felix rushes to you and grabs you by the elbow, "Come on bub! Help me with the cake!"

He drags you into the house, not giving you a chance to say something to Jeongin before leaving.

As you and Felix bringing the cake out of the house with utmost care and cautiousness. Felix has outdone himself, he puts everything in him to make the best birthday cake for his dear son. You feel a little nervous with the fear of your foot stumbling at something haunting the back of your head.

Thankfully, Hyunjin has already gathered everyone and no child is running around that would cause the worst of your nightmare.

Aster gets excited the second the candles are lit and everyone is singing for him, he can't stay still Hyunjin has to hold him close to his chest.

"Happy birthday dear Aster!" Everyone shouts in unison right before he blows the candles along with his parents. "Yay!" Aster joyfully cheers and claps his hands together from successfully doing it in one try.

Everyone bursts into laughter seeing his reaction to it and you can see how loved and cherished he is by everyone around him. You're beyond happy for him but inside, you feel a little sentimental seeing how much he's grown and you took part in raising him, even if it's just a small part of it.

"Happy birthday, my little man," you wish him with a kiss on each of his cheeks and a tight, warm hug.

The kids take turns to get a piece of the birthday cake and run away once they get it. You secure a piece for Jeongin as an apology for not properly welcoming him to the party earlier.

"I saved you a piece," you playfully say as you hand him the plate.

"Thank you very much!" Jeongin beams a smile at you as he takes it.

"Unfortunately, we only serve apple juice but I'll try to get us something stronger," you offer, leaving him for a minute to get cans of soda from the fridge and rejoin him on the table.

"I appreciate it," he says, popping it open with one hand. "Cheers!" You both exclaim at the same time and then sip it.

The kids are nowhere close to tired from running and playing around the backyard which is the opposite of what the adults are feeling, you can see that their energies are slowly drained out just from watching the kids running and playing around.

"How do these kids have so much energy?" Jeongin asks in bewilderment, "Are you sure it's just apple juice?"

"I think one of those kids spiked it with Red Bull," you joke.

"Which one of them?"

"Mmh... let's see," you say, propping a hand under your chin as you watch the kids jumping into the bouncy castle, "I'm pretty sure it's that blonde kid with the bowl-cut hair."

"No," Jeongin disagrees, he points at the girl playing in the sandbox, "I think it's the girl with the space buns."

You burst into laughter and almost spill your drink holding it in.

"What?" He looks at you in confusion.

"How do you know they're called space buns?"

"Why? It's a piece of general knowledge," he defends himself then sips his drink again.

"Okay, yeah, sure," you nonchalantly say with a sly grin.

"Anyway, with the job offer..." Jeongin says as he puts his can on the table, "Does it mean that you'll quit babysitting Aster?"

The soda gets caught in your throat as you hear his question and you quickly clear your throat to answer him, "Yes."

Jeongin nods and looks at you, "Would you say yes if I asked you on a date? You know, hypothetically," he says with a quivering laugh.

"Oh..." you don't mean to drag your word and give him the impression that you're likely to reject him. It's not rejection when he knows the possibility of it continuing from one date to another is low.

"I would love to but it's just... it's not you, I swear, it's just..." you nervously say while fiddling with the lint on the hem of your dress.

"Bad timing?" Jeongin precisely guesses.

You stifle a nod, "I'm sorry," you mutter.

"Hey, no worries. I'll just meet you here under the thinly veiled that I'm the neighbor across the street," Jeongin playfully says with his dimpled smile, making you feel the slightest bit guilty about rejecting him.

It's a kid's birthday party so it ends before the day gets dark. Other than that, the birthday boy himself is tired from skipping his nap and falls asleep on Hyunjin's lap. Seeing that either Hyunjin or Felix has to send the guests off their way, you offer to take Aster inside and tuck him in for bed.

Aster must be so tired that he doesn't stir a bit as you wipe him clean with a damp towel and put him into his sleeping suit all while he's soundly sleeping.

"Sweet dreams, birthday boy," you softly mutter with a tender caress on his cheek.

You put Poppo next to him before quietly leaving the room, making your way back downstairs with a contented feeling from a day that ended well.

Unbeknownst to you, the day is not over yet.

"There she is!" Hyunjin beams from the base of the stairs.

"What? What's wrong?" You ask in confusion as you carefully walk down the stairs.

It's when you finally arrive downstairs and turn toward the kitchen you see Felix carrying another cake for you.

"I made another cake for you," Felix says with a smile.

The cake size is identical to Aster's birthday cake but it has a different color of icing, it's lilac with sugar pearls around it and there are candles on it too.

"Come here!" Felix says, putting the cake down on the dining table.

"Come on!" Hyunjin appears behind you and steers you by the shoulders to the dining table.

"Is it really for me?" You ask in disbelief.

"Yes, bub," Felix shortly answers as he's lighting the candles, "to celebrate you graduating soon!"

It's endearing that they're planning all this just to celebrate graduating and you're not even officially graduated yet. You feel so appreciated and cherished, more importantly, these people make you feel like you're a member of the family.

"This is so sweet," you coo, feeling so touched by the gesture.

"Shh... blow the candles," Felix says with a hand resting on the small of your back.

You treat it as a it's your own birthday, closing your eyes and making a wish, wishing it from deep within your heart, and as you blow the candles, you manifest it into the universe.

"Congratulations on graduating, bub!" Felix mutters with a smile and pulls you into a warm hug, then places a kiss on your cheek before letting go.

"Congratulations, bubba!" Hyunjin takes his turn to hug you, also placing a sweet kiss on your cheek.

"We actually have a gift for you to go with this but this man right here," Felix points at Hyunjin with a side eye, "forgot to pick it up."

"Oh, no, please, this is more than enough," you say with a grateful smile.

"Let's have a slice!" Felix hands you the knife but you can't bring yourself to cut it. Not only because it's too beautiful to eat, it means a lot more than just a cake.

You look at Felix and wince, "Can I at least take a few pictures first?"

Felix cracks a laugh, "Sure. It's your cake."

"I'll get us drinks," Hyunjin says, excusing himself to leave to get it, "Real drinks!"

The cake is sliced, the champagne is poured and well distributed, and the three of you kick off the after-party with a toast. After a sip of bubbly wine, you take a bite of the cake and gosh, it's just as delicious as it looks.

"Now, this feels like my birthday!" You jokingly say with a grin.

"So... what's the plan?" Felix hesitantly asks as he puts away his plate of cake.

"Pardon?"

"Your plan after graduating?"

You've been meaning to tell them but keep refraining yourself, you're afraid that you'll make them feel like you're betraying them but it has come the time to come clean.

"Not too long ago, I got this job offer from a firm in the city," you share.

"Oh?" Felix's voice drops as if he's hearing something that he doesn't want to hear.

This is why you hate to bear this news and as much as you hate to continue, you have to tell them the rest of it, "I'll move away to the city soon."

"We're so happy to hear that, bub," Hyunjin says with a big, exaggerated smile and pulls Felix close to his side.

"I'm sorry if this sounded so sudden. With Aster's birthday and everything, I just haven't had the chance to tell you until now," you explain, feeling the weight pressing on your chest.

After a while, Felix looks at you and smiles at you, "No need to worry bub. We're happy for you and we fully support you," he assures you but you can hear the sheer sadness lingering in his voice.

"I'm sorry," you say once again with utmost sincerity.

"Stop apologizing!" Felix scolds you and pulls you for another hug, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," you earnestly say as you hug him back.

"I mean, we still have two months before I leave," you add in an effort to cheer him up.

"For now, more champagne, please daddy?" Felix says, ordering Hyunjin to refill everyone's glasses with more wine.

As everyone moved on past the sentimental part of it, the private party continues and you've been secretly mustering up the courage to ask them something.

"Do you guys perhaps have a date night next week?" You shyly ask.

Felix looks at Hyunjin and sighs, "It depends on this guy right here," he says with yet another side eye.

"Why do you ask?" Hyunjin asks, elegantly cutting the cake with a fork.

"I want to join your date night," you bravely answer.

On a few occurrences, they asked if you wanted to join their date night and either they were joking or being serious, you felt bad for rejecting them. However this time, you dare to ask them because this is what you want.

"Well... we can arrange something for that," Felix says as he exchanges glances with Hyunjin.

Hyunjin repeatedly nods and holds his wine glass by its stem, "It'll be fun."

You pick up your wine glass and smile at both of them, then say, "Can't wait."

-

The last time you had a proper date was nearly two years ago and you forgot how intense it could be, you can't decide on which dress to wear or the make-up you put on is too much, or do you apply too much perfume? Every decision you have to make feels like life or death.

You can move past it by reminding yourself that both Hyunjin and Felix have seen you, they know what you look like on both good and bad days, and you're sure they will like you no matter what.

By the time you're ready, you take a look at yourself in the mirror and you're not going to lie, you like what you see and it gives you a boost of confidence.

"That's right. I look good, I have nothing to worry about," you say to the reflection in the mirror that looks back at you.

However, when your mum informs you that Hyunjin is outside to pick you up, the nerves come back and are stronger than before.

"I hope you don't mind we're borrowing her for the night," Hyunjin playfully says to your mum as he helps you get into the car.

"You can take her and not return it, I'll be fine with it," your mum says to him.

Your mum knows Hyunjin and Felix well because the babysitting job initially came to her before it got to you. For tonight, you told her that they're taking you on a dinner out to celebrate your graduation, and no other questions asked after that.

"Bye, Mum!" You say with a wave of hand.

Hyunjin gets into the car afterward and he immediately turns to look at you, "I obviously waited until I got in the car to say this but you look lovely tonight, bub," he sweetly compliments.

"Thank you," you say as you put on your safety belt.

It doesn't take long to get to their house and you feel nervous again, mostly because you came for a different reason. Not for work, but purely for pleasure.

One weekend every month, Aster stays with his grandparents per their requests which explains why he is very fond of them. It seems like they chose this weekend to send Aster to his grandparents.

"Felix has been keeping himself busy in the kitchen," Hyunjin mutters before opening the front door for you.

"Not less than I expected," you say.

It's no surprise that Felix is going over the top for tonight. It was supposed to be a simple dinner but he outdone himself by adding flowers and candles, shiny cutlery, and fancy wine glasses.

"Just in time!" Felix beams as soon as he sees you enter the house.

"Hi," you greet, unbuttoning your coat with one hand, and then Hyunjin helps take it off your shoulders.

"Is that really you, bub?" Felix exclaims, his eyes shine as he lays his eyes on you as if he's seeing something wondrous.

Flustered, you put your hands close to your side and avoid his eyes, "It's just a dress," you sheepishly say.

"Well, dinner is ready so please take a seat!" Felix says while coming around and getting behind the kitchen island.

Hyunjin does more actions than talking, he goes to the dining table and pulls a chair for you, "Please!" He says with an elegant wave of hand.

Not that they never treated you this nicely but still, it feels a little weird to be treated this way as if you're... special. Deep down, you know you like it, you're just not used to it.

Felix takes care of the food and Hyunjin takes care of the drinks, both of them insist you do not do anything except sit and enjoy the dinner.

The dinner is beyond anything you ever had, it's even better than the one you had at the finest restaurant. Maybe it feels that way before they're made by Felix and your palate is used to his cooking.

"Compliments to the chef!" You praise as you finish the last course of the dinner.

"I'm glad you liked it," Felix says with a smile.

"Liked it?" You ask in disbelief, "I loved it!"

As expected, Felix refuses your help to collect the dirty dishes and take them to the kitchen. He makes you wait on the sofa as Hyunjin goes to take a new bottle of wine.

"Now it's time for more wine!" Hyunjin announces when he returns, refilling everyone's glasses with white wine this time.

You often wonder what they do at a date night but it's far simpler than what you imagined, just talking in between sips of wine or bites of food, the only difference is the depth and the quality of the talk. The most interesting thing is getting to know them from a whole new perspective.

"Oh, we almost forgot!" Felix gasps as he's just remembered something.

He then glances at Hyunjin and says, "The gift!"

"Yep. Don't worry. I got it," Hyunjin assures him, sprinting to his suit jacket draped on the headrest of the sofa and taking something from the inner pocket, a small, velvety box.

Felix seems to be more excited than you, perhaps he's been anticipating to see your reaction to it. Hyunjin sits on the other side and pulls the lid open.

"We hope you like it," Felix softly says as he places his hand on your knee.

It's a bracelet and you assume it's white gold from how it glimmers under the light, it's dainty and has a small pendant that hangs like a little lucky charm.

"I love it!" You truthfully say with a suppressed squeal.

"Give me your wrist," Hyunjin gently orders and you obey him without questions, holding out your hand at him. You watch as he puts the bracelet around your wrist and clasps it together.

"There!" He says with a soft smile that makes his eyes form two crescents.

You take a moment to admire how it looks around your waist and how the shiny gold reflects the lights to your eyes, "It's beautiful. Thank you!" You sincerely say to both of them.

"You're very welcome, my love!" Felix says, putting his arm around your shoulder to pull you close.

Using the proximity to your advantage, you lean in and press a kiss on his lips. It catches him off guard that he's stiffened for a second and when it finally registered to him, he returns the kiss.

"Hey, what about me? I'm the one who picked up the gift," Hyunjin says, suddenly feeling left out.

"Thank you, Hyunjin," You say with a chuckle, purposely addressing him by his name to amuse him.

He doesn't wait for you to lean in, he puts his hand on your chin and turns your head his way, and then slowly, he leans in to kiss you.

The moment his lips melt on yours, all of your senses are going out of the window but one thing that your brain demands is more of that kiss and so Felix fulfills that for you, planting kisses on your neck.

A low moan escapes your mouth as you feel the softness of their lips leaving searing kisses on your exposed skin and their hands exploring your clothed body with utmost gentleness.

As you take a moment to breathe, Felix drags his lips to your neck while Hyunjin playfully nibbles on your ear with his teeth faintly tugging at it, it feels ticklish yet inexplicably arouses you.

"You smell really good, babe," Felix murmurs with his lips grazing the sensitive skin on the column of your throat.

Hyunjin captures your lips in a hungry kiss, not giving you a chance to respond to Felix's words. His hand trails the curve of your body and continues its way down south. Your legs reflexively pressed together as his hand inches closer to where the heat is but Felix halts it, catching his hand just before it gets to its destination.

"Let's take it to the bedroom first," Felix says to Hyunjin with his lips red, swollen, and wet.

It could be the wine or simply those kisses are so dizzying that you're staggering as you get on your feet. Fortunately, Hyunjin is quick to hold you and keeps you steady by putting his arm around your waist.

"Want to take a sobriety test first?" He jokingly asks.

"Oh, my God! It was just a bottle of wine," you answer with a sassy eye roll.

They choose the guest bedroom for two reasons, it's closer and it's where you usually sleep when you need to stay over. The lights are low, there are rose petals on the bed and on the other part of the room, Hyunjin lighting some candles to create an even more intimate ambiance in the room.

As you take it in, Felix hugs you from the back and then presses a soft kiss on your neck before resting his head on your shoulder.

"You know that you're our special girl, right?" He lowly speaks but with his deep voice, it feels as if he's speaking right through your soul.

"Our very own special girl," Hyunjin says as he gives you a rose.

You bring the flower close to your nose to inhale its sweet, distinct aroma and smile.

"I know," you answer.

A smile blooms on Hyunjin's angular face as he comes up to you and you think he's about to kiss you until he misses your lips to kiss Felix.

"You may be our special girl but my husband is the most special," Hyunjin says without the slightest bit of doubt.

You don't feel offended at all by that, if anything, you feel special just from being allowed to be a part of their relationship.

"That's fair," you say with a chuckle.

As he kisses Felix more, Hyunjin comes closer to hug his husband with you in between until there is no an inch left between your bodies. Instead of feeling jealous like you used to, you feel warm all over as if the love they have for each other seeps into you.

They can't seem to ignore you for long though, they put their attention on you again. Behind you, Felix swiftly pulls down the zipper of your dress and impatiently parts it open so he can place kisses on it while Hyunjin keeps your lips busy with his deep, hungry kisses.

It's all happening so fast that the next thing you know, the dress is off of your body and pooling around your ankle, and you're standing with just your underwear in between them.

Using his knuckles, Felix whimpers as he drags them down your spine, feeling how soft it feels under his touch, and gets the urge to explore more by unclasping your bra next.

"Ah..." you softly sigh as the bra is snapped open.

Felix pulls the straps down your shoulders and Hyunjin's eyes grow darker as the bra is finally off of you, exposing your soft mounds to him.

Felix's hands are the first to indulge in them, cupping them until the flesh molds into his hands. His fingers occasionally circling on your hardening buds and then he holds them up for Hyunjin to feast on.

"Take them in your mouth, love," Felix orders him.

Without words, Hyunjin obeys him, taking your breasts into his mouth in turns.

"Oh—" you suppress your moan as Felix pushes both of your breasts to the center so Hyunjin can take them both at once.

The sight of his plush lips wrapped around your nipples is arousing as it is but oh, it's seeing his slick, hot tongue twirling your nipples that make your eyes roll to the back, all the while Felix placing hot kisses all over your neck and shoulder.

Felix eventually let go of your breasts, he's gliding his hands down your sides and makes a trail of kisses down your spine, he doesn't stop until he's kneeling on the floor and starts kissing and sucking on the flesh on your ass cheeks.

"Oh, my God..." you heavily sigh, feeling overwhelmed with how many stimulations going on at once.

Hyunjin with his greedy mouth on your breasts and Felix with his ferocious bites on your ass, these two attractive people are feasting on your body and it's just the beginning.

A moment later, Hyunjin follows suit and goes down on you. You look down and watch as they're eating you from the front and back with their hands intertwined on the side of your thighs, it's romantic yet kinky as fuck.

Your underwear is drenched from both your essence and Hyunjin's saliva. Your eyes are fluttering open and shut. Your legs are trembling from the pleasure building up inside you.

Felix notices that you're getting unsteady and quickly puts his hands on your back

"Shall we take it to bed, mmh?" He doesn't wait for your answer but steers you to the bed, letting you sit on the edge of the bed.

Giving you a moment to gather your senses, Hyunjin and Felix are taking each other's clothes off with eyes locked in an intense gaze until there's nothing left but their heavenly bodies on show.

Your brain can't comprehend their beauty and their sculpted Greek God body. You can only watch in awe as their lips meet in a rapturous kiss and if you have to be honest, you can keep watching them making out in front of you for eternity.

After a moment though, you change your mind. You don't want to be a mere watcher, you want to get yourself in there and take part in it. You take the initiative to kneel in between them and take their hardening members in your hands. You begin by slowly stroking them at a steady pace and when you're ready, you take them into your mouth in turns.

At times, you bring their tips together and lick them together, taking as much as you can into your mouth.

"Such a good girl," Hyunjin murmurs with a pat on your head, seeing your mouth full of his cock and at the same time, pumping Felix's cock with your hand.

Felix looks down and puts his hand in your hair, "I told you. She's a fast learner," he says.

They decide that it's your turn next, they make you get back on the bed and lay on your back. With a sly smile on his face, Felix parted your legs open, making you feel more exposed than you already are.

"Just lay back, okay bub?" Felix says with a smile.

With his hand holding your leg by the ankle, he dives into your wetness and skillfully pleases you with his hot mouth. Doesn't want to feel left out, Hyunjin patiently waits for his turn to plant his mouth on you next. You glance down and see their heads hanging between your legs, their mouth glistening wet and their lips flushing red.

The pleasure keeps building up and you lose track of whose turn it is because they are as skillful and offering you the same amount of pleasure. They only stop when they deem you're already on the edge and then give you a moment to recollect your senses to get you ready for next.

Hyunjin and Felix lay on each side of you on the bed, lips locked, hands all over and skin brushes against the skin. They may have tuned it down a little but the tension keeps on rising.

"How are you so soft, mmh?" Hyunjin asks with his mouth only inches away from your ear and his hand gently pinching the squishy flesh on your stomach.

"Can't stop touching you, bub," he murmurs with his hand going down south to touch you on your delicate flesh, gently rubbing on your bundle of nerves until it blossoms under his touch.

Felix turns your head his way so he can kiss you, kisses you so deep that your body eventually molds against him and your back meets Hyunjin's chest.

"Oh, yes, baby," Hyunjin mutters, not sure if he's saying that to you or Felix, or both. One thing for sure is he's enjoying the view.

Hyunjin lays on his side and then lifts your back, drapes your upper leg the back, and over his hips, that way he can rub his cock in your wetness.

"Mmh... so wet," Hyunjin's voice is muffled as he speaks with his mouth pressed on your shoulder.

As he rubs his cock between your wet folds, you can feel every inch of his length, swollen and hot, so ready for you and at the same time, making you feel impatient to have it inside you.

You turn your head and bravely ask for what you want from him, "Want you inside," you say to his face.

Instead of looking surprised, Hyunjin shows a satisfied expression as if he's been waiting for you to say that. He hastily kisses your lips and keeps his face close to yours.

"Want it inside, huh?"

"Uh-huh," you answer with an eager nod.

"You heard the girl, babe," Felix says, leisurely laying on your side with a hand propped under his head.

Hyunjin softly laughs and presses you another haste kiss while his hand aims his cock into your entrance, teasing it for a little bit while lubing his length with your arousal.

"Ready to take me?" He asks with a wicked grin plastered on his face.

But that is just a rhetorical question, he doesn't need your answer to push his cock inside you to fulfill your wish.

"Oh..." you grip his forearm as he pushes more of him into you.

Next to you, Felix's eyes are centered on Hyunjin's cock, and watches it going into you little by little while slowly stroking his cock.

"You're always tight for me, bub," he murmurs.

Hyunjin abruptly stops pushing and places his hand on the dip of your waist. It seems like he's taking this moment for himself to calm himself down and take a breather.

After a while, he asks you, "More, yeah?"

"Yes, please," you say but it comes out more like a whine at how small and needy you sounded.

Hyunjin has no other intention but to give you what you want, putting the rest of his length into you in one quick push, making you jolt against his body and tightly grip his forearm your nails dug into the flesh.

"You feel so good I need a moment just to compose myself," Hyunjin mutters as he rests his hand across your chest.

However, a moment only lasts for a moment and Hyunjin begins thrusting into you from behind, setting a slow pace to give you more time to adjust to being inside each other.

Felix refuses to be a mere spectator, he turns and lays upside down next to you. He uses your thigh as a pillow as he lays on his back and puts his mouth on your clit, unbothered by the fact that Hyunjin's cock is deep inside you.

You also refuse to remain idle when Felix's cock is within kissing distance from yours, you prop your elbows against the mattress and lean in to put it into your mouth, you compensate the rest you can't take with your hand.

The three of you eventually move in sync and soon, the room is filled with all sorts of lewd noises, it's either the skin-slapping sounds of Hyunjin's thrusts, the slurping sounds of Felix licking on your clit or your mouth sloppily sucking on Felix's cock.

"Bub, I won't be able to stop if you keep clenching around me like that," Hyunjin warns through his gritted teeth.

The exceptional dynamic only lasts that long as you abruptly pull Felix's cock out of your mouth but keep your hand wrapped around his length, struggling between gasping for air or moaning out of pleasure.

Hyunjin slows his thrusts but he adds depth and intensity to it, launching his cock deeper into you and continuously hitting you right on the spot thus bringing you closer to your high.

"I'm so close, oh—" your moan gets cut off as Hyunjin thrusts slower but harder. Your hand flies to the back and gets caught in his silky locks.

"Why do you feel so good, oh fuck, I can't—" Hyunjin's voice breaks, also can't hold himself back anymore.

You feel faint the closer you get to your climax and completely lose it as you reach your high, your eyes screwed shut and your body stiffens and softens in the next second.

"Oh!" Hyunjin grunts with his open mouth planted on the nape of your neck, his breath feels hot on your skin. With eyes closed, he manages to find your lips and kisses them.

"I didn't mean to cum inside you, bub," he says against your lips, "I'm sorry."

If he didn't tell you, you wouldn't have noticed that his cock is still planted deep inside you, engorging and pulsating as it releases his seed, which explains the different kind of high you experienced just now.

You take a breath to be able to speak and nod, "That's okay."

"You just feel so good. I can't control myself," He openly admits.

"It's okay," you assure him.

He wraps his arms around you and holds you close, he buries his head in the crook of your neck, enveloping you both in a warm embrace.

When he's ready, he slowly pulls out of you and looks down to see his cum dripping out of you. So is Felix, his eyes widen at the sight of it that he takes a big gulp of air.

"Oh, I cum a lot," Hyunjin says, his hand tenderly rubbing your inner thigh.

"I got it, love," Felix says with an easy smile.

You're clueless as to what he meant by that until Felix leans in and licks Hyunjin's essence off of you, he then plants his mouth on your cunt and sucks deeper as if he tries to take as much Hyunjin's remnants out of you. You're already overstimulated as it is but that doesn't mean you stop receiving pleasure from it.

When he lifts his face, Felix's mouth and chin are glistening wet with mixed fluids, of your and Hyunjin's essence, and also his saliva.

"That's better," Felix says with a satisfied smile.

Hyunjin smiles before pressing a haste kiss on his lips and cleaning his mouth and chin in kitten licks.

"More wine?" Hyunjin offers out of the blue.

After all of that, you think it's the right time to take a break and have some wine to quench your thirst from the cardio and constant moaning.

"Yes, please," you breathlessly respond as you lay on your back, exhausted.

Hyunjin has no problems walking out of the room fully naked to get a bottle of wine. You and Felix wait on the bed, lying next to each other, also naked.

"You know what? We should have asked the cute neighbor to join us," Felix shares all of a sudden.

"What's with this random thought?" You ask in disbelief, hugging a pillow close to your chest.

"I don't know. It just crossed my head," Felix innocently says.

"Don't tell me you've been thinking of another guy as we were doing it?" You say with a look of disbelief.

"Uhm... maybe," He jokingly answers.

You gently slap his chest and you don't expect his chest muscles to be that firm.

"Get it together!" You scold him.

"What did I miss?" Hyunjin returns with a bottle of wine in hand and glasses in the other.

"Bubba is surprisingly into BDSM," Felix jokingly responds.

"No!" You hastily deny and land another slap on his chest.

"See?" Felix rants with a low laugh.

Hyunjin carefully pours wine into each glass, not wanting to spill a drop on the bed and as usual, everyone has a toast to finally take a sip of it.

"Bub, I must say, you improved a lot," Hyunjin compliments.

"What is that supposed to mean?" You say, slightly embarrassed by it.

"That's true. You're more confident and more responsive, also intuitive," Felix comments.

"I get the impression that you guys are evaluating my performance..." your words trail off as you look at them in the eyes, first at Felix then at Hyunjin.

"Because we are," Hyunjin jokes then sips his wine.

"Don't worry, bub. You did so well!" Felix says with a thumbs-up.

Not going to lie, you feel a boost of confidence hearing that you feel like you accomplished something that you didn't know you were trying to achieve in the first place. Maybe it's because you care about them so much that their opinions matter to you, no matter what they are about.

However, there's one more thing you try to accomplish tonight.

First, you finish your second round of wine and put the glass away. The alcohol helps you to loosen up and gives you the courage to ask.

"Can I be on top next?"

The question seems to shock Hyunjin more than it does to Felix, he forces swallow his drink and gasps for air.

"Are you saying you want to do it again? Right away?" Hyunjin asks in disbelief while Felix is slyly smiling at you.

"Why? Are you tired?" You say in a mocking tone.

Felix bursts out laughing and rolls over to lay on his stomach, "Ooh... who is this girl?"

"I don't know but, love..." Hyunjin pauses to turn his head toward Felix, "I think we found our match."

-

It's not easy as you thought but you asked for it.

Fortunately, both Felix and Hyunjin have been nothing but letting you do anything as you please. They don't mind being ordered around by you.

"Ooh... I really like the view," Felix says as you get on top of him.

He's seen you naked a couple of times but it only takes Felix one compliment to make you flustered.

"Come. Bring it in!" He says, holding up his arms at you and asking for a kiss.

You give it to him, lowering yourself until your lips meet in a kiss that somehow feels a lot more intimate than the previous ones you shared.

It's your first time being on top which also makes you the one with more control. You feel nervous because what if you're doing it wrong? What if he doesn't enjoy it? What if, what if, what if...

As if he heard it, Felix tenderly caresses your cheek and brushes your hair away from your face, "Just enjoy yourself and know that I'll be enjoying it no matter what," he comforts you.

"Yes," you say with a smile.

Felix's makes its way down to tease you, making you drenched once more to get you ready for him. He doesn't need to do much for that, you're already aroused from how he kisses you so hard but gentle at the same time.

When it comes to the time, you take a deep breath and lift off of him. You give his cock a few slow pumps before aligning it with your entrance.

"Need help with that?" Hyunjin appears from behind you, he checks whether you're aiming it right then places his hands on each side of your waist.

"Now, slowly lower yourself down," he further instructed.

You nod and follow his instruction, lowering yourself down and feeling the tip of Felix's cock enters you. You sigh as you need to take the rest to continue.

"Yes, bub, keep going," Felix encourages, enjoying both the view and the tightness that wrapped around him.

Hyunjin watches from over your shoulder and at times, mutters sweet nothings into your ear.

"Keep going, bub."

"You feel that? Feel how hard he is inside you?"

"Oh, if only you know how good you feel."

Hyunjin shifts his attention to his husband who's lying underneath you, "She feels fucking good, mmh?"

"Oh... so good!" Felix answers without a beat.

Here's the tricky part, you can't decide whether you should bouncing on his cock or rocking your hips back and forth. Again, this is your first time being on top, everything is new to you and you don't know which Felix prefers.

However, you remember what Felix said and remind yourself that all you need to do is enjoy yourself. You let go of inhibitions and insecurities, stop thinking altogether, and start doing.

You move by instinct whichever you feel would bring you the most pleasure and put your mind into it, relax and breathe, and enjoy yourself.

"You're getting too good at it," Felix says with an overwhelmed sigh. He takes your hands and laces them together, letting them be your support as you roll your hips back and forth at a steady pace.

Hyunjin's hands are all over you, kneading your breasts and touching your soft skin. His lips find solace in the crook of your neck, kissing, muttering sweet nothings, or simply just planting his luscious lips there.

You're doing whatever it is that makes you feel good, you change the pace and alternate between rocking or pulsating your hips. You're so into it that you're not noticing how Felix keeps himself quiet anymore, he lets them spill out of his mouth, filling the room with his deep, raw groans.

"You're close, mmh?" Hyunjin asks, squeezing on your breasts and then gently pinches your nipple.

Not sure if he needs your answer or not, but you know he knows.

"No need to hold yourself back, my darling," Hyunjin whispers in the softest tone that feels like a quick gust of wind.

No one tells you that it's going to be this exhausting but damn, you want to keep going and you won't stop until you reach your high.

Hyunjin comes to your aid, guiding your movement, and firmly grips your waist to regain your rhythm as it begins to turn sloppy.

Deep down, you feel selfish for getting yourself closer to your high instead of your partner but you can't help yourself. Your body wants what it wants.

"I'm close, I'm close," you repeatedly say in a mix of a moan and a cry your brain is too foggy to tell the difference.

"Keep going, bub, keep going!" Hyunjin says, giving up on guiding you as you suddenly pick up the pace and go impossibly fast.

"Oh!" You cry out loud, reaching your high that feels more intense than the previous.

You collapse onto Felix and he immediately holds you close while keeping his hips bucking into you to finish it. He doesn't even say anything but turns into a moaning mess as he cum inside you.

The second your head hits the pillow, you mean to rest your eyes for a moment only to fall asleep, blacked out for the rest of the night.

-

The next morning, you find yourself snuggling close to Hyunjin.

It doesn't hit you yet that you're sleeping over at their place and sharing the bed with the owners, oh wait, you turn your head to the side to find Felix's space is empty. He's always been an early bird and is probably busy making breakfast in the kitchen.

You turn your head back at Hyunjin and you realize this is the first time you see him up close, you can see the faint mole under his eyes and the shade of red his lips are. There's only one conclusion: Hyunjin is inarguably beautiful.

As if he senses your observant eyes, Hyunjin steers in his sleep, and knowing how horrible you look right now, you don't want to be the first thing he sees in the morning so you pull the duvet higher, covering half of your face with it.

He forces his eyes open and smiles when he sees you, "Morning," he says with his voice deeper than usual.

"Morning," you meekly say back.

"Where's Felix?"

"I'm pretty sure he's in the kitchen," you answer.

"As expected," he says with a sleepy smile.

Unconsciously, you find yourself staring at him again as he brushes his soft locks to the back and then puts his arm above his head, showcasing his bulging biceps. Unintentionally or not, you enjoy the morning view.

"Stop staring, creep!" He playfully says with a sly smile.

"I'm just curious," you say, still covering your face with the duvet, "Are you always waking up looking this good?"

The question remains unanswered, Hyunjin refuses to answer until he has his first sip of morning coffee and you feel inexplicably hungry, famished even.

"Don't forget your morning after," Felix reminds you, putting the pill and a glass of water in front of you.

"Thank you," you waste no time to take it.

The breakfast is quiet, maybe because everyone is just as famished as you or maybe the caffeine is not kicking in yet, either way, you're enjoying this kind of silence, it's nice and comfortable, the kind that doesn't conjure any questions.

"What time are we going to pick up Aster?" Felix asks as he spreads butter on his toast.

"I don't know. Eleven?" Hyunjin doubtfully answers while holding his mug of coffee with both hands.

"The weather is nice. We should have lunch out," Felix suggests as he puts the buttered toast on your plate, "Do you have any plans for today, lovely?"

"Me?" You ask for confirmation as your brain hasn't fully functioning yet, "I have to drive my mum to her dentist appointment."

"Oh, I was hoping you could join us today," Felix says with sheer disappointment.

You may have spent the night with them and had a date night with them, but you're not ready to cross certain boundaries yet. After all, they're married and at times, you have to remember your place, because you promised yourself not to ruin this precious thing they have. You love this family so much as your own that you get the urge to protect it, including from yourself.

"Maybe next time," you kindly refuse.

"How about next week?" Felix asks, tilting your head and slyly smiling at you.

"What about next week?" You ask in confusion.

Felix loops his fingers around the handle of his coffee mug, "Want to go on another date night with us?"

Okay but for this one? You have to take a moment to consider it but if you have to be honest, it's just too good of an opportunity to pass.

Hyunjin flashes a smile your way and lifts his coffee mug close to his lips, "Same time, next week?"

Last night was fun, last night was thrilling and exciting, and damn it, you crave the rush of it already. Surely, you want to do it all over again so you smile back at him and say, "Same time, next week."

-

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[ellecdc]

DONT TEASE ME WITH PLATONIC BARTY AND BIG BRITHER SIRIUS STOP IM ON MY KNEES PLEASEE 🪩

okay so this accidentally ended up being almost 5.5k words??? whoopsie daisy.

this concept was a collaboration with @unstablereader and also intertwined a few requests for best friend Barty, big brother Sirius, and poly!moonwater hurt comfort!!

poly!moonwater x fem!reader who was bitten over the winter hols

p1 // p2

CW: Best Friend Barty (i.e., swearing, chaos, slight insanity), Big Brother Sirius (i.e., coddling, bad cop, certified dumbass), swearing swearing swearing, slight muggle blasphemy, description of wounds/blood/injury, discussion of Sacred 28 Pureblood Families, etc etc etc - hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending

Barty Crouch Junior was a plethora of dichotomies and contradictions. 

He was a good friend and a bad son. He was a smart boy who made horrible ideas. He was a rational person with unreasonable reactions. He was a menace and very reliable. He was a good lay and a bad boy. 

Barty liked that about himself though; he liked that no one ever knew what to expect when it came to Bartemus Crouch Junior. 

Though, he supposed to those who knew him, it would have been completely predictable for him to have stayed at Hogwarts over the winter holidays. Maybe he should have gone home – really surprised everyone then.

His nightly routine of trying to incendio Daily Prophet articles of his father with nonverbal and wandless magic was interrupted by an awkward thump on his dorm room door. 

“Come in?” Barty called awkwardly, unsure who might be at his door seeing as his friends were all home for the holidays and the staff here tended to avoid him like Dragon Pox.

The doorknob began to rattle but it sounded as if the person on the other side of the door was struggling to turn it.

“Salazar’s saggy balls. WHAT!?” He seethed as he ripped the door open, determined to teach whoever was stupid enough to bother him a lesson when he came face to face with you.

Except...except you were crying, and bloody, and so pale.

“Treasure!?” Barty squawked, awkwardly catching you as you began to slide down the door frame which you were leaning the entirety of your weight on. 

“Barty...I-” you started before a pained sob tore through your teeth. “I need help.”

“What happened?” Barty asked breathlessly, moving you from the door to his bed without your help after your left leg gave out on you.

“Barty...”

“What. Happened. Y/N?” He demanded.

“Barty, you cannot- cannot tell Reg and Remus. Pl- hnggh - please promise me you won’t tell them.”

“Tell them what, Treasure? What’s wrong!?” Barty pressed, beginning to panic when his bedding quickly became saturated with your blood. 

“Promise me!” You shrieked, your voice carrying the most clarity since you had arrived.

“Okay! I promise!” Barty agreed readily. You didn’t seem convinced, however.

You shakily held your pinky out to him and stared intensely at him. “Promise me that y-, that you will not tell Remus or, or Regulus.”

Barty looked between your eyes and your pinky before finally interlocking your pinky with his. “I promise I will not tell Remus or Regulus.”

More tears fell as you began pulling your long winter robes off. You were wearing a long sleeved shirt and long trousers, but Barty could tell most of the bleeding was coming from your leg. Your fingers were shaking too much as you unsuccessfully tried unbuttoning your trousers, so Barty silently asked for your permission before undoing the button and zip for you.

You pulled the pants to your knee to expose a large...werewolf bite on your left thigh.

“Treasure.” Barty breathed out horrified, looking back up at you with tears in his eyes. “What...what happened? No, I ... I can see what happened. How did this happen?”

“I...I just-”

And you passed out.

“No! No no no. Nononononono.” Barty chanted as he tried to rouse you awake.

“Okay Barty, come on, think. You didn’t achieve all twelve O.W.L’s for naught.” He berated himself, lying you down on his bed and pulling your trousers the rest of the way off.

He turned you onto your right side and tried elevating your leg to stop the blood flow after he realized a simple episkey was not going to close the wound.

He realized that the reason you’d been struggling to open the door was that your wrist appeared to be broken, and you’d been leaning onto the doorframe to keep your weight off of your injured leg. That he could fix with an episkey, so at least he wasn’t completely useless. 

His sweet, sweet Treasure. Bitten. By a werewolf!? Your parents...

Oh gods, your parents.

That’s why you were here.

You couldn’t go back home, not as a werewolf; your parents would kill you. The only thing worse to a Sacred 28 Family than a dead daughter would be a werewolf one.

Fuck. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

And why couldn’t he tell Lupin and Regulus!? Lupin was probably the only person who could actually help you right now. Barty hated that – hated that someone else could help you and he couldn’t – but he also loved that you had people who loved you and could help you.

Fucking fuck, he was supposed to be burning moving pictures of his father right now, not trying to bring his best friend back from the brink of death.

“That’s enough Treasure, you need to wake up.” He muttered, shaking you by your shoulders gently. When that still didn’t work, he cast a quick rennervate. 

You groaned in pain and tried rolling onto your back. 

“No, Y/N, you need to stay like this. I need you to tell me what happened.”

You moaned again and turned back towards him; eyes shut tight in pain. 

“I...I needed to leave I, I – ugh.”

“Okay, okay. So you left, that much I can understand. How’d you get bitten?”

“I didn’t, I didn’t know it was there until it was too late, Barty. I swear it. I was following the trail behind my-my house and it just appeared! I fell back- backwards onto my arm when it lunged and I apparated once I realized what was happening, but it was...it was too- too late.”

“Where were you trying to go?”

“The Potter’s.”

“And why can’t you go there now?”

You opened your eyes at that, and Barty felt his heart fall out of his ass at the amount of pain that spilled from your eyes that had nothing to do with any of your various physical injuries.

“Rem... Rem hates himself. He hates The Wolf, he ha- hates his lycanthropy; he thinks he is a m... monster and deserves nothing. Barty, he’ll hate me.” You broke into a sob at the end of your sentence and Barty was very close to joining you.

He didn’t think you were right at all, mind you; he thinks it’d be rather impossible for anyone to hate you, least of all Lupin who seemed completely lovesick for you and Regulus. He didn’t think it was worth your energy to argue with you about it though, seeing as he already pinky promised not to go to the lycanthrope or your other boyfriend about this.

He didn’t know what to do, though. He needed to close this wound and stop the bleeding, he needed to pilfer from the infirmary, he needed to pilfer the potions supply closet, and he needed to figure out how to help a werewolf. And he needed to do all of these things whilst somehow not leaving your side at all. 

“I’m tired, Barty.” You murmured quietly, startling him from his internal panic.

“You can’t sleep, Treasure. Not until we close this wound and stop the bleeding.”

He pulled out his third year DADA textbook to find the chapter on werewolves. 

“Dangerous creature this, loss of moral sense that, right then – powdered silver and dittany applied to a fresh bite wound.” Barty recited as he read off his textbook. He looked over to your wound, still oozing and bleeding, though the new angle and elevation did seem to be helping staunch the blood flow at least a little.

“Right... fresh enough I suppose.” Barty sighed, making you promise to stay awake long enough for him to raid the potions supply closet and the infirmary to get the necessary ingredients.

Barty had been feeling quite confident in his plans.

Except something was very, very wrong.

The dittany and powered silver bubbled slightly where it interacted with your blood and flesh but didn’t seem to be sticking to your wound at all; it seemed that it was just causing you to moan in agony as Barty uselessly tried spreading it over your leg.

“You’re sure it was a werewolf that bit you?” He asked again. Barty was certain that if you were feeling better, you would have kicked at him.

He wished you could have kicked at him.

“Yes, Barty.” You cried.

“Oh, Treasure, I’m sorry.” He lamented, putting down his bowl of useless silver paste and brushing sweaty hairs away from your forehead.

“Salazar, you’re burning up, Y/N.” He commented, cupping your heated and flushed face with his hand. 

“I’m cold.” You argued, awkwardly trying to pull at his bedsheets to cover your arms. Barty hated to add more layers on you when your fever was this high, but he couldn’t really bring himself to deny you, either. 

Unfortunately, it appeared that Barty needed help. 

Unfortunately, Barty made you a promise.

Fortunately, there were ways around that. 

Unfortunately, that meant having to resort to a fate worse than death.

“Oh! Hello there.” Mrs. Potter greeted Barty as she rounded the corner after being alerted by the house elf that there was a student at the floo. “Are you looking for Regulus?”

Barty adorned his most charming (and least maniacal) grin as he bowed politely to Mrs. Potter like the proper Pureblood he'd been beaten raised to be. 

“Euphemia Potter – looking as smashing as ever.” He said before returning to his full height. “Actually, I’m here for the lesser Black brother today.”

Mrs. Potter narrowed her eyes at his comment but pursed her mouth as if fighting back a smile.

“Am I to assume you’re referring to Sirius, Barty?”

Barty sighed in admiration. “Smart and pretty, Euphemia; how do you do it?”

“I’ll be right back, Mr. Crouch.” Mrs. Potter called over her shoulder as she left the floo reception room. Barty quickly pulled out the charmed compact mirror he had connected to a hand mirror which he had set up beside you before he left. You were asleep and shivering violently, but you were alive.

Help is coming, Treasure. 

“Oh.” Barty heard, causing him to close the mirror and look up to see a confused looking Sirius pausing mid-step into the room. “Sorry, I’ll go get Regulus for you.”

Barty scoffed derisively. “Oh, come off it Black – give the woman a little credit, yeah? I asked for you. Now let’s go.” He barked, turning towards the floo flame.

He turned back when he realized Sirius wasn’t following him.

“Hello??” He called sarcastically. “Did you not hear me? I said let’s go.”

Sirius looked Barty up and down and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Why in the hells would I go anywhere with you?” Sirius asked bemusedly. 

“Black!” Barty seethed. “I do not have time for this, we have to go now.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what this is about.”

Barty sighed and looked down to the hells for patience or possibly extra strong demonic powers to get through this conversation with Sirius. 

“Where is Regulus right now?”

Sirius considered Barty skeptically but answered, nonetheless. 

“Upstairs with Remus.”

Barty looked at Sirius at that. “Is it safe to assume he is helping him recover from last night?”

Sirius’ face fell and he levelled Barty with a hard glare. “What the hell are you on about, Junior?”

“Black, please believe that there is absolutely nothing in this realm that I’d rather be doing than sitting here asking for your help but I’m here doing just that.”

“For what?”

Regulus was here, and Regulus was helping Lupin, which meant that Lupin was also here with his supernatural hearing. Barty made you a promise – he would not tell Regulus or Remus what has happened.

“I need your help, because I’ve found a lost Treasure that seems to be in some Trouble.” Barty explained slowly, praying to every god that Sirius would pick up on his not-so-subtle clues.

Sirius’ eyes stayed narrowed at Barty before they grew comically in understanding. 

“Where is-”

“Not here.” Barty interrupted. “Grab your things and come with me.”

“I have so many fucking questions.” Sirius muttered as he stepped through the floo, somehow ending up standing in the Slytherin common room. 

“Like?” Barty asked in a bored tone.

“How the hell did you manage to connect the floo network to the Slytherin common room?” He started, realizing that it probably wasn’t the most important question, but it seemed to take precedence in his mind.

Barty turned to sneer at Sirius, though his steps never faltered as he sped towards what Sirius could only assume was his dorm.

“Really, Black? I tell you that your future sister-in-law is in dire need of your help, and that’s what you’re- you know what? I’m not surprised. The floo network is easy to manipulate so long as you know how to dismantle ancient wards.” Barty explained dismissively.

 Easy. Dismantle ancient wards. Sure.

“What’s wrong with Y/N?” He asked much more seriously. Most (though not all) of the contempt drained from Barty’s face as he stopped in front of a door. 

“She...she was bitten.”

Sirius just stared dumbly at the absolute last person he imagined he'd be spending his morning with as he let that information process.

He wasn't given much time, however, as Barty quickly opened the door and disappeared into the room, clearly unbothered to see if Sirius was following him in or not.

“Treasure? Hey, hey; it’s okay. Look? I brought some help, okay? You’re alright.” He cooed at a curled-up form on his bed – your curled-up form.

“Oh, Trouble.” Sirius breathed out in disbelief, surveying your shaking and battered body before his gaze paused on your exposed thigh – clear as day was a large canine bite, still bleeding. 

“Oh, my girl.” Sirius cooed, feeling like he might be sick at the sight of one of his favourite people in the world in so much pain. It was very different from post moon care with Remus; Remus was seasoned, he was prepared, they were prepared.

You looked like you were dying.

“What’s wrong with her?” Sirius asked quickly, shaking himself and trying to force himself into action.

“Other than the very obvious werewolf bite?” Barty sneered. “She has a fever that won’t quit.”

“Take the blankets off.” Sirius ordered, earning him a whimper from your form.

“S’cold, Siri.” You whined.

“I know, Trouble, but you’re burning up.” He replied apologetically, pulling the blankets out of your currently much weaker grasp.

Barty looked like he was just as heartbroken as you were at the loss of the warmth, but clearly agreed with Sirius enough not to argue. 

“Mean.” You pouted; eyes still screwed shut in pain.

“I know, I’m the worst.” He whispered, casting a quick auguamenti and glacius on a rag and placing it on your head, earning him another protesting groan from you.

“Why’s her leg still bleeding?” Sirius asked, eyes still on your face as he used the cloth to wipe away the sweat from your features. He quickly prepared two more rags and placed them on the back of your neck and your chest. 

“I don’t know. I followed the instructions from our DADA textbook on werewolves – three tablespoons of powdered silver mixed with four tablespoons of dittany to create a paste. It did nothing but hurt her and aggravate me.” He admitted, sounding horribly dejected.

“Where’s the silver from?”

“Slughorn’s supply closet.”

Sirius groaned. “That’s why. The school buys the cheapest ingredients they can to keep costs low. That won’t be pure silver.”

“Well, where in the hells are we supposed to find pure silver then?” Barty groaned. 

Of all the times for Sirius to not be at Grimmauld Place anymore – that place was teeming with pure silver.

Pure...

Toujours pur. 

“Regulus.” Sirius whispered no louder than a breath. You didn’t seem to hear him, your lucid moment clearly over; but Barty did.

“I promised Y/N I wouldn’t tell Lupin or Regulus.” He explained plainly, causing Sirius to groan.

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

Barty turned his face to glare at Sirius. “I promised Y/N I wouldn’t tell Lupin or Regulus.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “I heard you, Junior. So, what are we going to do then?”

Barty let out a long-suffering sigh. “I promised Y/N I wouldn’t tell Lupin or Regulus.”

Sirius’ brows furrowed and he cautiously lifted his hand to press the back of it to Barty’s head, checking for fever of his own. Barty aggressively swatted him away.

“Are you quite alright, Junior? Is this a stroke?”

“I need you to listen to me very carefully, Black. Okay? Are you listening to my words?”

Sirius nodded at him as Barty grabbed Sirius by the shoulders and stared imposingly into his eyes. “I – Bartemus Crouch Junior – promised that sweet, lovely Treasure you call Trouble over there, that I – Bartemus Crouch Junior – would not tell Remus Lupin or Regulus Black. I promised her.” 

Now, Sirius feels it’s important to note that it was currently maybe seven o’clock in the morning, and he’d only just stepped out of the shower after washing away a night of romping in the woods around Potter Manor with Moony as Padfoot to be told there was someone at the floo for him; in other words, he was fucking exhausted. And to add to that, he had one of his least favourite people tell him that one of the worst possible things happened to one of his favourite people. So, sue him for what he said next.

“I don’t understand.” 

“Fucking son of a mother fucking cunt, I swear to that fucking muggle-religion-wizard-guy-that-caused-the-whole-brew-ha-ha-in-that-big-ass-muggle-tome I will shave that fucking head of yours and wear your hair as a wig; I cannot tell Lupin and Regulus.” Barty spat, though somehow managed to keep his voice low enough to not gain your attention.

“Yes, yes, yes. You promised her.” Sirius lamented. “You p- wait... you promised her. You promised her.”

“Thank Merlin and Morgana.” Barty groaned as fell to his knees in exhaustion, clearly more than thankful that Sirius had finally gotten it. 

“I’ll be back.” Sirius announced and started towards the fireplace in the Slytherin common room in order to retrieve his brother. 

Regulus looked up from the pages of his novel to survey Remus’ form again. His boyfriend laid on his back with his head propped up on two pillows and his eyes closed as the soft morning light filtered its way through the sheer curtains and painted his features in its warm glow.

Regulus knew Remus was likely exhausted and sore and perhaps feeling awfully sorry for himself right now, but Regulus wasn’t sure he ever looked more beautiful. 

“You should take a picture; it’ll last longer.” Remus commented dryly, never bothering to open his eyes as a smile danced on his lips.

“Ha ha.” Regulus deadpanned, returning his gaze to his book with a blush taking over his face.

“You worry too much, love. I’m okay.” 

“I know you’re okay.” Regulus argued.

“Yet you still worry?”

“Yet I still worry.” 

Regulus heard Remus’ head turn against his pillow, and he looked back up to see Remus regarding him.

“Have you heard from her by chance?” Remus whispered as if fearing the answer he knew was coming.

Regulus knew it was you who Remus referred to; they’d been waiting quite impatiently for your owl for the past few days.

You had promised to write as often as you could - every day if possible – over the winter holidays. The last correspondence they had with you was four days ago as you told them of some family gathering at your home.

He hated to be the bearer of bad news, but he could tell he was caught at the disappointed sigh from Remus.

“No, mon loup. I’m sorry.” Regulus admitted.

Remus let out another sigh and leaned his head back down on the pillows, squishing his eyes shut as if the pain of not knowing how you were was more painful than the current aching in his bones.

“Hey, Reg?” Regulus heard his brother call from the door. 

“He’s awake.” Regulus called back simply.

“How’re you feeling, Moons?” Sirius asked, walking towards the end of the bed with his hands in his pocket.

“Been worse.” Remus answered.

“I...” Sirius started, cutting himself off with a sigh.

“Spit it out, Sirius. We’ve not got all day.” Regulus drawled and put his book down. He couldn’t stop his heart rate from picking up when he noticed Sirius’ discontent, however; sudden flashbacks of Sirius standing in Regulus’ doorway begging him to pack his things and leave with him bombarding his mind.

“What is it, Pads?” Remus asked, seeming to pick up on his friend’s anxiety as well.

“I need your help.” He admitted. “It’s...it’s Y/N.”

Remus sat up all too quickly and winced at the cracking of his back.

“What is it? Where is she? Is she okay?” He asked, trying to free himself from the bedding that Regulus had tucked him into hours earlier.

“No, well, yes...she-”

“Where is she?” Regulus whispered in horror.

“With Junior. At Hogwarts.”

Regulus relaxed slightly to at least know you were safe at Hogwarts and with Barty, though that raised more questions than answers for him.

“How do you know that?” Regulus asked, all the while Remus continued struggling to dress himself despite his various aches and pains. 

“Junior told me.” Sirius admitted, finally taking pity on his friend and helping him dress whilst his boyfriend sat their uselessly. 

“Why did he tell you? When did he tell you?”

“This morning!” Sirius barked, clearly growing agitated, “listen, I just-”

“What happened to her, Sirius?” Remus begged, finally taking a moment to catch his breath and stare at his friend imploringly. “What happened to her that Junior told you and not us?”

Sirius swallowed thickly before he answered.

“She was bitten, Rem.”

All colour drained from Remus’ face and Regulus sat stock still.

“Was it me?!” Remus asked through a choked sob. This seemed to snap Regulus out of his uselessness and he reached for Remus’ shoulder to squeeze it affectionately.

“No, no. Moony, no one was there last night. I swear it.”

“What...why do you need my help? What do you need?” Regulus asked quietly, standing to pull on his own jacket and retrieving his and Remus’ wands from the dresser. 

“We can’t get the wound to close, and she’s got a wicked fever that we can’t bring down. She’s barely lucid, she's lost an insane amount of blood, and the silver at the school didn’t work to close it and-”

“No, it wouldn’t.” Remus agreed breathlessly.

“Why not?”

“Too costly to give pure powdered silver to a bunch of students who make throw away potions – they only use what works in the brew but not in practice.” Remus explained, groaning as he stood and quickly transfigured his suitcase into a cane on account of his hip after the transformation. 

“So, you need pure silver? Like... the ring!” Regulus whispered, hastily ripping the Black Family signet ring from his thumb and passing it to Sirius.

“We need to go now. She can’t afford to lose any more blood, and it should have been closed immediately.” Remus pressed, making his way to the door albeit a little shakily. 

Regulus was sick with worry; for you, your life, your future, your family, for Remus and how upsetting this must be for him as well, but something still wasn’t making any sense.

“Why did Barty tell you?” Regulus asked as they stepped through the floo into the Slytherin common room, making a mental note to ensure that it was closed before the rest of the students returned from winter holidays.

Sirius grimaced slightly and turned to look at his friend who he was supporting as they followed Regulus to the dorm room.

“She...she made him promise not to tell you guys.” Sirius admitted.

Remus’ steps faltered and Regulus turned, ready to help Sirius in catching him, only to notice that he wasn’t falling but rather had stopped walking all together.

“Why wouldn’t she want us to know?” Remus asked mournfully.

“I never did hear why.” Sirius admitted, encouraging Regulus forward with a nod of his head.

The three of them entered the room to find Barty sitting on a low stool beside you with his pinky interlinked with yours. Your eyes were still shut tightly and your breathing was shallow, but Regulus could hear Barty talking lowly to you and your occasional responses. 

“I like that song about the fighter, the writer, and the ruler.” Barty murmured quietly to you.

Your brows twitched as you gritted out “it’s Soldier, Poet, King.”

“Ah, right you are, Treasure.” Barty responded, looking over his shoulder at the new additions to the room. “You always know everything.”

“How is she?” Sirius asked as he dropped the signet ring inside the mortar and pestle and traded seats with Barty who began to grind it into powder, and Regulus and Remus moved to stand near the end of the bed to take in your form.

“Hanging in there, Black.” Barty responded to Sirius, though he looked at Regulus as he said it.

Sirius must have noticed Regulus’ death glare being pointed at Barty and opted to intervene. 

“Hey, Trouble?” Sirius asked you gently, brushing some of your damp hair away from your forehead. You hummed in acknowledgement without opening your eyes.

“Why didn’t you want Remus and Regulus to know, sweets?”

You whimpered as your face morphed into agony, eyes finally opening to look at Sirius through fat tears.

“Remus will hate me.”

Remus actually whimpered at that, clearly itching to move towards you, but not wanting to interrupt you.

“Why would he hate you?”

“He hates werewolves.”

Remus’ head dropped in shame as Regulus rubbed soothing circle into his back. 

“But he loves you, Trouble.” Sirius pressed, watching Remus all the while.

“Not anymore.” You sighed in resignation, closing your eyes once more.

“Always, dove.” Remus insisted. You squeezed your eyes tightly as if you were trying to convince yourself that he wasn’t really there. 

“Do you hear me? I will always love you. There is nothing that could ever happen that would make me hate you, okay?” He carried on, slowly making his way to the other side of the bed in order to curl up behind you and pull your back into his front. 

You whimpered, though Regulus was sure it was less from physical pain and more in distress.

“What about Reggie?” You cried as Sirius continued rubbing his thumb across your forehead. 

“It’s almost ready.” Barty interrupted as he began measuring out the silver and dittany. 

“Reggie thinks the world of you, dove.” Remus murmured into your hair, looking over at Regulus imploringly. 

“You’ve got a lot of people who care about you, Trouble.” Sirius added. “We’re not going to let you do this alone.”

“It’s done, Treasure. We’re gonna fix you up.” Barty said as he made his way over, keeping his eyes trained on Regulus. 

“Dovey, this is going to hurt an awful lot, okay? But you’re so brave, you’re so brave and then you’ll feel better, okay?” Remus spoke into your hair, keeping you pressed tightly to his form as you began to struggle against his hold. 

“Regulus, you need to be brave for her.” Sirius ordered, looking as severe as Regulus ever remembered his older brother being. 

What could Regulus have ever done to make you think it was at all possible for him to feel anything but love for you?

How could Regulus ensure that you never thought such things again?

“I’m right here, amour. Okay? You’ve got four of us here who love you, we’re not going anywhere.” He pressed, moving to take over Sirius’ place on Barty’s short stool as Sirius positioned himself close to your feet.

“I don’t want to hurt.” You cried, breathing becoming slightly erratic as Remus added more pressure in keeping your arms pinned to your sides.

“I know, amour. It’ll be over soon, okay?” Regulus tried, brushing hair away and pressing his lips to your overly hot forehead.

“You’re so brave, Y/N. We’ve got you, okay? Such a brave girl, come on babylove, you’re okay.” Remus chanted, looking over at Sirius as he pinned your ankles to the bed and Barty transfigured a stirrer in an applicator.

“Please. I don’t want to.” You begged.

“You’re so brave.” Remus repeated, pressing his mouth to the top of your head as his own tears fell into your hair.

“Do it.” Regulus insisted, not wanting to prolong this anymore.

Regulus nearly dropped his wand in his haste to throw up a silencing charm around the dorm room as your screams bounced off the stone walls in time with Barty’s first swipe of the ointment. 

Regulus couldn’t hear the words spilling from Remus’ lips, but he knew that he was whispering sweet encouragements to you as he cried in sympathy. Sirius looked to be using all his strength to keep your legs pinned down as you struggled, and his eyebrows furrowed on your behalf as well.

“You’re okay, amour. You’re okay.” Regulus insisted for both of your benefits, watching as Barty applied the last of the paste to your leg.

“Now what!?” Barty shouted over your agonized cries.  

“Breathe dove, breathe. The pain will fade, just breathe.” Remus coached, rocking the both of you gently back and forth as you sobbed.

“You’ve done so well, amour, so well. Ma courageuse fille; you’re so brave.” Regulus praised, taking both of your hands into his and pulling them from Remus’ grasp to press kisses to your knuckles. “Tu as si bien fait, tu es la personne la plus forte que je connaisse.”

It took some time and many more encouragements before your sobs decreased into pitiful hiccups and whimpers as you looked towards Regulus. 

“You don’t hate me?” You asked pitifully.

Regulus used his thumb to wipe away the tears that were still falling as Remus caressed your arms.

“It never even crossed my mind, cheri. I could never; non.” Regulus insisted. 

“I’m so sorry, dove.” Remus whispered into your head. “I’m so sorry this has happened to you.”

“Remus.” Sirius warned. 

“Not because it makes her any less lovely, Sirius. But because she doesn’t deserve it.” Remus explained. 

“I’m scared.” You admitted timidly.

“I know, dove.”

“Lucky for you, Trouble, you’ve got some seasoned professionals here.” Sirius added, nudging Remus’ foot. 

“Can I start the animagus process now, Rem?” Regulus groaned, looking at Remus pointedly. 

“I guess it wouldn’t be fair to make you sit out on full moons now.” Remus relented – he’d always hated the idea of putting the two of you in any undue danger, but he couldn’t deny Regulus of the two of you, nor you of Regulus; not when you would need him most.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Barty interrupted, moving his skeptical glance between the four of you. “You’re telling me that animagi can romp around with the likes of werewolves?”

Remus nuzzled his face impossibly further into your head as Sirius chuckled. 

“Werewolves don’t care about animals. In fact, it makes them quite happy to have a ‘pack’.” Sirius explained.

Barty laughed conspiratorially. “Well, sign me the fuck up. Regulus, I’ll buy the first mandrake leaf; my treat!” He called as he grabbed his jacket and wand and headed for the door, likely heading to Hogsmeade for supplies in his excitement. 

“Moony is not going to like him.” Sirius proclaimed flippantly, finally falling into a chair in exhaustion after Barty was gone.

“It’s not just about him, anymore.” Remus responded, pressing a kiss to your head. Regulus could tell your fever was reducing, though your cheeks were still flushed.

You had a lot to discuss; what happened, why it happened, and where to go from here. But for now, Regulus was just happy you were alive, currently safe, surrounded by people who loved you, and agreeable to him running you a bath. 

[creganslover]

Cregan Stark with

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m right here, okay? I’m not gonna leave you. I’m never gonna leave you.”

cregaaaaaaan <333 sorry if its short!

warning/s: mentions of kidnapping, slight violence, cregan being worried

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

You had gotten taken, someone had managed to sneak into Winterfell and had a target upon you, Cregan Stark’s spouse. They were smart enough to attack at the time when Cregan had been off to the Wall to check on his men in training. 

All of Winterfell had been alerted of your missing presence, causing alarm and panic from your people, with Cregan left with no knowledge of your taking. 

Until a raven had been sent to the Wall. 

Cregan was absolutely fuming, the spouse he had promised to return to, that he promised to take care of until snow seeped into his bones- taken at the time of his absence. 

His horse took him home, few of his elite men following suit as Cregan was nearly going berserk with worry and agitation, the folk witnessing as their Lord torn the walls apart with his booming voice, demanding as to why his spouse was not guarded that night and why had they let the intruder take them easily. 

Cregan began thinking of the possibilities of who could have done this, it could have been anyone, sending out patrols whilst getting no ounce of sleep, mind running million miles an hour. Were you well? Had they hurt you? Or worse, killed you? 

Yet the news of an unknown camp sighting came within the sights of Wolfswood, Cregan hopped onto his mount before one could even speak his name. 

It had been a long search, a day or three when Cregan and his men narrowed it down and found indeed the camp within Wolfswood, overhearing the men laughing and celebrating the capture of you followed by your cries made his blood run cold. 

In a matter of moments, their entertainment was cut short by Cregan appearing, demanding his partner be released or face such consequences, the leader had been surprised and made the mistake of taunting Cregan, not knowing he would go through the Seven Hells and back for his other half. 

Cregan gave the signal, and his men came out from the woods, dealing with the goons. Cregan then searched until he had stumbled upon a lone tent, his heart fearing the worst as he neared and grasped the flap of the tent. 

There you were, shivering and tied to a post. Thankfully, you did not look too harmed nor defiled, Cregan kneeling as you shook, realizing it was him as he cut off your ropes, wasting no time in embracing his burly frame, shaking in his hold. 

Cregan wrapped his strong arms around you, murmuring in his deep voice, clutching you tighter as he rubbed warmth onto your back. “It’s okay,” he began. “They’re gone, it’s okay. I’m right here, okay? I’m not gonna leave you. I’m never gonna leave you.” He told you, shrugging off his own furs to wrap around you. 

You can ensure that once you get back to Winterfell, Cregan would punish those who had failed to protect you that night, sending them to the Wall as he replaced them, you had also noticed him be hesitant when he is required to leave you, even for a short while. But as you kept reassuring him when you had felt better and regained your strength and life, Cregan could slowly see your usual self coming back. 

Cregan entered your shared chambers, wanting nothing more but to get back to you after his responsibilities, shrugging off his cloak of furs before he joined you on the bed. “Are you alright?” He always asks, holding onto your hand. 

Leaning in to nuzzle against his form, you sighed in content as you placed your hand over your man’s chest. “I am, do not worry.” You reassured. 

“Thank you, Cregan.” You voiced after a beat of silence, which he returned with placing his lips against yours, giving your hand a light squeeze. 

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

cregan tag-list: @misswynters

[electronalytics]

Silicon Microphone Integrated Circuits (ICs) Market Overview and Regional Outlook Study 2017 – 2032

The Silicon Microphone Integrated Circuits (ICs) Market refers to the market for integrated circuits that are specifically designed for use in silicon-based microphones. Silicon microphones are a type of microphone that utilizes silicon-based materials and technology to convert sound waves into electrical signals.

Silicon microphone ICs are designed to provide amplification, filtering, and signal processing functionalities for silicon microphones. These ICs play a crucial role in enhancing the performance and capabilities of silicon microphones, making them suitable for various applications such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart speakers, automotive systems, and other consumer electronics devices.

The market for silicon microphone ICs has been witnessing significant growth in recent years, driven by the increasing demand for high-quality audio solutions in various electronic devices. The advancements in semiconductor technology and the miniaturization of components have led to the development of smaller, more efficient, and cost-effective silicon microphone ICs.

Some key factors driving the growth of the silicon microphone ICs market include:

Rising demand for voice-controlled devices: The increasing popularity of voice assistants and voice-controlled devices like smart speakers, virtual assistants, and voice-activated home automation systems has created a strong demand for silicon microphones and their associated ICs.

Growing adoption of smartphones and wearable devices: The proliferation of smartphones and wearable devices has resulted in a higher demand for compact and high-performance silicon microphones integrated with ICs, as they are essential components for voice recording and voice communication applications.

Advancements in MEMS technology: Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology has played a crucial role in the development of silicon microphones and their associated ICs. MEMS-based silicon microphones offer advantages such as small size, low power consumption, high sensitivity, and improved noise cancellation, driving their adoption in various consumer electronics applications.

Increasing demand for high-fidelity audio: With the growing emphasis on high-quality audio experiences, there is a rising demand for silicon microphones and ICs that can provide better audio capture, noise cancellation, and signal processing capabilities. This trend is particularly evident in applications such as professional recording, broadcasting, and conferencing systems.

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Market Segmentations: Global Silicon Microphone Integrated Circuits (ICs) Market: By Company • Knowles • Infineon • Omron • NRJC • NeoMEMS Global Silicon Microphone Integrated Circuits (ICs) Market: By Type • General purpose ICs • Application-specific ICs Global Silicon Microphone Integrated Circuits (ICs) Market: By Application • Consumer Electronics • IT & Telecommunications • Automotive • Medical & Healthcare Global Silicon Microphone Integrated Circuits (ICs) Market: Regional Analysis All the regional segmentation has been studied based on recent and future trends, and the market is forecasted throughout the prediction period. The countries covered in the regional analysis of the Global Silicon Microphone Integrated Circuits (ICs) market report are U.S., Canada, and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Rest of Europe in Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Argentina, Brazil, and Rest of South America as part of South America.

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[magz]

Thread by ItsMaybeMadi on Twitter, on February 12, 2024 (source)

Quote:

Thread of information from Bisan's tiktok live on february 12th

more than 100 people were killed

dozens are still underground

the 100 that were confirmed dead are just those that were found

She is currently in Rafah

There's no other place to go

People are living in mosques

There is no internet connection

keep donating e-sims, she and a lot of others are using them

Boycott Israeli products

boycott brands supporting the Israeli regime

keep protesting

keep educating yourself

by doing this you are helping to change history

she's seen the people commenting her names on trending videos and she says it's very smart

"keep doing what you're doing"

keep pressuring your government to stop funding the genocide

the idf pretended to be nurses and women, and excavated three Palestinians looking for help

the bombing has not stopped

Donations Are Getting To The South, its not enough, but aid is getting there in very small amounts

he is not safe, no one in gaza is

she feels helpless and stuck in this "new reality"

"we are facing a genocide"

donate to UNRWA

she doesnt know if tiktok gifts are profitable for her, but she'll look into it

"the best thing you can give to an opressed group of people is to hear them, and to make them heard"

Her family is safe

She has faith, but she is very tired

Everyone is under tents

call your government and demand a ceasefire

there isn't enough food, so no matter how much money you have you can't eat

they have to wait to get canned food

She has launched a gofundme

(magz note: Even though the original goal was reached, it is way way below the actual need)

Her arm is better

"when everything is done, and everything is back to its glory, just visit gaza"

Q: "what are you doing to help your mental health?

A: "nothing, we can't"

She feels its important to stay where everything is happening to be the voice of the people

from week to week everything changes

(responding to someone asking what her name means) Bisan is the name of the most ancient city in the whole world and in Canaanite means "the home that is lived"

the situation has been complicated since 1948

1.5 million people are displaced

there isn't any bombing currently in Rafah, but there is in Khan Yunis

she wants to tour the world, and visit countries that supported palestine

Khan Yunis is still invaded

Keep educating yourself

end of thread (end quote)

unrwa.org

gazaesims.com

Bisan's TikTok account: tiktok.com/@wizard_bisan1

Extra: (different) Summary Instagram video about attack on Rafah by Bisan Odwa (wizard_bisan1) - posted february 13, 2024