#I always love it when Hoshi looks like nearly identical to when he was in highschool lmao.

[deathbyseventeen]

Since the Day I Met You (1)

Title: Since the Day I Met You (Part 1 of 2) || Part 2 

Series: Between the Dusty and the Sparks

Words: ≅18.002

Genre: Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Romance, Pining, Adventure, Fluff, Angst

Pairing: Woozi/Jihoon x (F)Reader

❦❦

Blurb: For better or worse, he’s been your friend since the day you met. You’ve been through a lot together already, you, Jihoon, and your ragtag rebel family. But someone messed up, someone made the elitist Sparks government focus on you all– a group of nobody rebels in the cast-off City of Dust that have never even seen the luxury of the walled-off City of Sparks. With a heavy, love-stricken heart, choices have to be made; and, as the leaders of this family, for better or worse

they will be made.

A/N: This AU can be read as a standalone but it *is* a continuation of Steampunk Hoshi - that can be found here: MISSED CONNECTIONS (Y/N ver.) or MISSED CONNECTIONS (Third Person, AO3 Ver). 

                                        ❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦

As the sun rose higher into the sky and the heated the land of the Dust, two of its resident engineers tinkered on their projects silently. 

They worked inside a long building, separated from their main house by a make-shift greenhouse, that only held two rooms. Inside these medium-sized rooms were workshops, personalized by each of its owners; and yet, their workshops were nearly identical. 

A long table with gears, tools, and half-finished projects was set up against the back wall. Crates filled to the brim with nuts, bolts, gears, and scrap metal were pushed up and stacked on top of one another, against the left walls, waiting to be used. 

A single, thin, decaying wall at the center of the building divided them. The sound of their hammers being brought down on metal sheets and their fists pounding against their worktables in frustration, could be heard when one stopped to rest. 

At times, they stared at the door on the flimsy wall that connected the rooms and wondered if the day would come where they could stop pretending that they only held the feelings of friends for each other.

But, it hadn’t yet, so they sat on their stools and continued on with their projects. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It was the old, rusty hammer that you had found one day when you had snuck out of the house and roamed the Dunes of the Forgotten, that your hand was most accustomed to. It was the hammer that had gone missing from your tool box months ago. 

You weren’t sure how you knew the specific sound it made when it was being used, but you did, and at the moment, you could hear him using it— slamming it against his latest project, the sound reverberating through the cracked anvil that he owned. 

Clink. Clink. Clink.

You sighed as you wiped the sweat off your face and then wiped your hands on your pants. They were dirty anyway, covered in grease and dust. Who would notice the difference? 

You looked out the window that faced the path back home, wondering how long you had been in your workshop when the bell attached to your favorite window started to ring. 

It couldn’t be ignored. They knew.

Even when you were completely immersed in your ministrations, you always found yourself glancing out of your favorite “casement window” (as Joshua had explained to you when he had fixed it) with a half-circle top. It was tall and wide and it let you see out to where the fences had been added to surround the house. 

“Y/N! Jihoon!” A faint, faraway voice drifted into your workshop, tearing you away from your favorite window. 

You turned around to face the front door and found it closed. A moment later, you remembered you had closed it to keep the warmth of the fire you had started in your furnace in your room. Sighing, you stood up to take a peek out of the small, square-shaped window that faced the back of your house. 

Joshua. 

Even with the bonnet-styled roof dropping a shadow over the window, you could still make out that it was him running in your direction because of the way the small lather pack wrapped around his left thigh bounced against his leg. 

Grinning to yourself, you ran up to the dividing wall, lifted a hand to pound it, and paused. Usually, you’d let Jihoon known that someone was coming and that he should come by pounding on the door. 

But… it had been hours since you had last seen Jihoon. 

Trying not to run, you jogged out of your workshop and straight into Jihoon’s. A wave of heat hit you instantly as you crossed the threshold. 

“Wow,” you said, “it’s really hot in here. Maybe you should turn off your furnace for a while.” 

It was almost comical the way Jihoon dropped the hammer he had in his hand and turned to look at you like he had just been caught doing something indecent. 

You tried not to giggle, choosing to look around to calm down first. That’s when you noticed that he didn’t have a fire in his furnace— the heat in the room was coming from the sun entering the room from the left wall’s window. 

“Oh, it’s hot because the sun’s hitting your shop directly… Ji, you should come over and use my workshop instead of staying here like this.” 

“W-what are you doing here?” He stuttered, his face flush.

“Jihoon,” you sighed, “don’t change the subject. Look at your face.” 

“M-my face?” He asked, eyes wide. 

“Yeah—” you answered as stepped closer to him, your hands reaching up to gingerly cups his cheeks, “you’re too hot. You’re burning up. You could be minutes away from having a heat stroke.” 

You were simply worried about his wellbeing. Your words were far from registering in your thoughts and they wouldn’t until nightfall when you would revisit the day’s events. 

If it wasn’t for the suffocating heat that had plastered red on Jihoon’s cheeks, you might have been able to notice a fresh, non-sun induced wave of heat running up his face and to the tips of ears. 

“I’m fine,” Jihoon told you, swallowing. 

“Next time go to my workshop. I won’t mind. Alright?” 

“Alright,” Jihoon nodded. 

You frowned and it took Jihoon all he had in him not to kiss your frown away. Instead, he lifted his hands to lay them on yours, and while he tried not to intertwine them, he pulled your hands off his cheeks. 

“Why are you here?” 

You paused. It sounded like he didn’t want you here. 

Smiling, you cleared your throat and backtracked to the door, “I wasn’t sure if you heard the bell—” Jihoon looked at the bell tied above his window, “Joshua’s  coming up the trail right now. My shop, yeah?”

Perhaps it had been a bad idea to come to his workshop instead of knocking on the diving door to let him know they shared a visitor like always.

He hummed in response— a yes, you knew and nodded before backing out of his shop and speed walking back into yours. A quick look outside showed you Joshua was nearly there. So, you rushed to your worktable and placed an empty box over the project you had just been working on. 

Not a second later, you watched as Joshua neared your door, glanced at Jihoon’s workshop, nodded at him, and then jogged into your shop.

“Y/N!” He cheered as he enveloped you in a hug, pushing you backward.

“Joshua!” You laughed. “You’re back! How was the trip? You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“Trip?” He said as he shot you a look and then motioned for you to sit down. “Y/N, you know very well that I wasn’t on a trip. I was doing recon—”

“What’s wrong about letting Y/N call it a ‘trip?’ We know what it was,” Jihoon grumbled as he entered through the front door. 

He glanced at you for a fleeting moment before focusing on Joshua. Seconds passed as they both took opposite walls to lean against. Joshua on the dividing and Jihoon on the opposite. They smiled at each other as if the dry, afternoon wind had just brought in the smell of rot and decay from the dunes of the Forgotten, miles away.

“Alright,” you swallowed nervously. The two never seemed to get along and figuring out why didn’t seem to be in your cards. “The bells were ringing. Is something going on?” 

“Cheol wants to call a meeting.” 

You nodded, “Okay, I’ll meet you guys at home. I just need to put away my things.” 

“I’ll wait for you,” Joshua said. 

“No, no,” you responded quickly, “I’ll only be a minute. You guys go on…ahead.” 

“O-kay?” Joshua said hesitantly. 

You watched as Jihoon hurried out the door, not once turning back to spare you a second glance. 

“Go on,” you smiled reassuringly at Joshua when he stopped at the door. Then you waited. 

It didn’t take very long for either of them to be far enough where they couldn’t see into your workshop. In an instant, you were up from your seat and at the door closing it, gently, so they wouldn’t turn around and come back.

Running back to your worktable, you removed the box you had placed over your project and smiled. Quickly, as to not risk having it seen, you grabbed the half-done brown, leather belt’s pieces and one by one, placed them in the box— the belt, the holster, the three small packs you were planning to add to it, all of it. Then, you closed the box and sealed it with a long piece of used tape.

It only needed to look sealed, after all. You would be back to work on it as soon as you could. You just didn’t want anyone to see it. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“Where’s Y/N?” You heard Seungcheol say as you entered the back hallway of the house and headed straight to the door the opened up to the inner courtyard. 

“She said she’d be a minute,” Joshua sighed. 

“Why didn’t you stay with her? You know she’s going to start working again.” 

“Y/N doesn’t need a babysitter,” Jihoon snapped and you stopped. Never had you been more grateful for your tendency to wear your dying, brown combat boots. Their worn-out blocked heel, so close to the ground, kept you from making any noise when you walked; and now, they let you see how Jihoon interacted with Seungcheol and the others when you weren’t around. 

Your mind jumped back to a day three years ago when they had all refused to tell you what was going on after you returned. You could feel the heaviness in the room that day but you never managed to get the truth out of them. 

“She’s perfectly capable of following through on her word on her own,” he grumbled, “Why can’t you just start the meeting already.”

“I asked for a meeting,” Seungcheol grumbled in return. 

Your eyebrows furrowed, Seungcheol really had no reason to hold back because you weren’t there. 

“I can’t start a meeting. You two are the leaders of this group. None of us can do anything without your approval.” 

“Our approval?” Jihoon scoffed, “Neither of us asked to be leaders of this shitty group.” 

You frowned. Deciding it was time to stop eavesdropping, you crossed through the door and sped walked to the center of the courtyard. 

While more of the people you had… found, were sitting legs crossed within the overgrown grass inside the stone fountain, others, including the newest addition to your once sanctuary, were standing backs straight and tense, as the watched Seungcheol and Jihoon. Those two, on the other hand, were standing inches from each other. If you didn’t know better, you’d say they looked like they had their chests puffed out to intimidate the other and there were only seconds left before someone threw a punch. But you did, and you knew that within their narrowed eyes, a fight was already raging on. 

Jihoon shifted.

“Enough,” You barked with faux confidence, “I don’t understand what’s going on here, but it’s enough.”

Standing behind Soonyoung, one of the first you and Jihoon had found, a twenty-two-year-old woman that he had brought from Sparks, squeaked and clutched his torso. You scoffed. She had already been around all of you for half a year. 

“Afraid, are you,” you sneered, giving her outfit choice a once over. She was wearing a loose, leather brown dress, a copper-colored, long-sleeved, button-up shirt, and brown, ankle-high boots. Everything, including her socks and the piece of cloth holding her hair in a ponytail, screamed Dusty. But, she wasn’t.

You hated it. 

She wasn’t a Dusty. Even with the clothes, she didn’t look like she belonged here. 

She didn’t. 

You knew the disgust was obvious on your face. 

“Y/N,” Soonyoung said. A warning was evident in his voice and in the narrowing of his eyes. 

“What?” Jihoon snapped, turning to him. “Do you have something to say. Soonyoung? Because I don’t think you have the right to complain.” 

“Enough,” You barked again. You rolled your eyes as Luz— the Sparkian, jumped. “I don’t care what you think, Star-man.” 

Then, you turned to Seungcheol who watched on with crossed arms. 

“You called a meeting, didn’t you?” A discussion about leadership would have to take place later. You already had one headache starting to build. 

“Right,” Seungcheol nodded. Though he still had a frown on his face, he motioned for you to take a seat next to the others— Chan, Seokmin, and Mingyu, in the fountain. Jihoon followed suit if only to lean against the top half of it, next to you on your right.

“I don’t know if you remember, but Joshua left us a month ago to go on a recon mission. Only I, Y/N, and Jihoon, really knew why and since Joshua came back today, I think it’s better if we all know what he discovered,” he paused and glanced at you and Jihoon, “Agreed?” 

 “Agreed,” Y/N agreed, turning to nod at everyone else. 

“Joshua?” Seungcheol asked, “Would you mind telling us what you found?” 

On your other side, Joshua shifted and cleared his throat. “O-Of course,” he answered. 

Dread ran down your body in an involuntary shudder. Something felt wrong. 

Joshua stood up and joined Seungcheol at the front. He smiled awkwardly before clearing his throat again. 

“Well, I went away to go check on the other access points we have into Sparks. They’re all fine and nothing has been moved from the way we set it up and there were no footprints in the sand. After I was done with that I was supposed to find a way into the government’s database to see if they had any information on any of us.” 

“Get to the point,” Jihoon said curtly, cutting in. 

“Mmm, well… I had to sneak into the Sparking Tower… it’s the government’s headquarters. I-It was the only way to…” he trailed off nervously. 

“What… did you find?” You asked slowly, pushing yourself off the ground to stand tall next to Jihoon. 

“They don’t know much about us, who we are or what we’re doing… but they do suspect that we’re a band of rebels trying to usurp the government.” He stopped and looked down at his feet. 

“Isn’t that what we are?” Chan, the youngest in their group, asked. He was confused. Having the title of rebels had long been wordlessly accepted between everyone. Now that Joshua was openly stating it and hesitating at that, something felt off. 

“Yes,” Jihoon answered him quietly as if it were some taboo secret that he couldn’t bring himself to talk about any louder.

“Sort of,” you added quietly, “A bit. But not exactly, Chan. We’re not trying to overthrow the government… but we are… against them?” What you were was hard for you to explain when you couldn’t figure out how to form sentences that made sense. 

You looked at Joshua. He refused to meet anyone’s eyes. That’s when you knew there was something else going on that he didn’t want to say— something he didn’t know how to say.

“What else?” You asked calmly though your hands were starting to ball up into clammy fists. 

“They know about Soonyoung and Luz.” 

“So?” You asked. Anger was beginning to bubble. Even without the light of the sun reflecting off discarded glass and metals, everything around you was starting to be overtaken by a red tint. 

“They… might be trying to figure out how they communicated between borders. And since they suspect that they’re in a relationship, and Luz was…” he trailed off, shooting Luz and apologetic look before continuing, “a common citizen in Sparks, they’re on high alert.” 

“Meaning?” You asked through gritted teeth, trying very hard to not scream. 

“Meaning they probably assigned some elite to come after us. Is that it, Joshua?” 

You looked at Jihoon, horrified at the words coming out of his mouth. He, more than anyone else here, knew what those words triggered inside you. 

He avoided you eyes. He stared unblinkingly at Joshua instead, a red flush racing to the top of his ears. 

“They assigned a special operations agent to investigate us, find us, and eventually… eliminate us.” he finished, swallowing the rock that was forming in his throat. 

You paused, trying to swallow the anger you felt.

You failed. 

“Because of a nobody?” You asked. Every word you spoke rose in volume as the anger flowed freely. “Because… of a nobody,” you hissed, “she isn’t even one of us.” 

“Y/N!” Soonyoung boomed.

“What?!” You yelled in return, turning to your left to glare at him.

He glared at you in return, and behind him, Luz avoided your gaze. 

“You have no right—”

“No right?” You scoffed. 

“Our lives are in danger because you decided to bring some nobody into our home.” 

“That’s not fair.” 

“Not fair?” You hissed, “You’re a lovesick idiot. Have you even finished the repairs on the zeppelin or have you been too busy fucking that Sparkian on the runway? Who, by the way, probably didn’t even believe that the Dusty deserved the same rights as her. Ask her!” You yelled, “Ask her what she thought of the Dusty! You brought in a stranger, Soonyoung! Did she even know your real name?!” 

“I did what I had to do!” 

“What you had to do?” You laughed. 

“She’s responsible for her own actions just as much as you are,” you hissed, “she knew what she was doing when she used that damn Monet! And let’s not forget that if she hadn’t used it in broad daylight like some idiot, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place!” 

Luz jumped and ran inside. 

“Pathetic,” you seethed. 

“Y/N!” Soonyoung growled, fury written all over his face. 

“Fuck off,” Jihoon grumbled, stepping in front of you protectively, “You know Y/N’s right. Our lives are on the line and it’s your fault. We worked in secrecy and you two screwed it up.” 

“Screw you,” Soonyoung hissed. 

“No need,” you snapped as you started to back away in the direction of the workshops, “You already did that when you chose to bring some privileged Spark here and had her pretend she’s one of us.” 

Soonyoung didn’t answer. He glared at you before turning around and chasing after Luz. 

Sitting in the fountain, Chan, Seokmin and Mingyu, looked on wide-eyed.

They didn’t know what to do. They had just been hit with an avalanche of information. 

Chan nudged Seokmin and Mingyu. He pointed a thumb toward the inside of their home and as they disappeared inside, Seungcheol groaned and followed. 

Joshua was the last one to remain outside, looking your retreating back. 

“Everything’s going to be okay, Y/N,” Joshua yelled, trying to console you. But, you ignored him. 

“Infamous last words,” Jihoon grumbled at him as he walked beside you, and, you couldn’t agree more. 

A distance away from the courtyard, in the empty backyard, Jihoon walked as he had been doing with you lately, silently. 

With everything that had gone down, you were thankful that at the least, the person you considered your closest friend was still walking beside you. 

You didn’t try talking to him, too afraid that he would leave you to walk alone with your thoughts, to wallow without end. 

A gentle touch brought you out of your own torment. Out of the corner of your left eye, you saw Jihoon’s hand hovering over your elbow. It took him a second to realize that you were looking at him and retreat back into himself. 

Disappointed, you cleared your throat and shoved your hands into the pockets of your pants. The heat of the sun had warmed your clothes and shoving your hands into the pockets of your pants gave you a fleeting feeling of warmth spreading all over your body. 

But not a minute later, you found your left hand being pulled out of your pocket and into another. 

Jihoon coughed, avoiding your eyes as you whipped your head around to look at him. 

All thoughts left you and without realizing, your gaze trailed down his arm until it reached his hand. Hidden as it may have been inside his own pocket, you were able to see his hand enveloping yours. 

It was calloused but pleasing. It sent warmth up your arms, up your cheeks, and down your body. 

You wondered if your cheeks were red because you swore you couldn’t feel anything but his hand at that moment.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” he whispered when you turned back around, squeezing your hand. And at that moment, the weird way he had been acting disappeared, replaced by the comfort he made you feel and the trust he reminded you that you had in him. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

10 Years Ago (Age: 13) 

It was the first night in three months that it wasn’t raining. Hours ago, the rain had stopped but you were still stuck inside your home, waiting for the sloshy ground to dry. 

You had been warned plenty of times by your parents that if you tried to go out while the land was settling its dues with the rainwater, you’d be putting your life in danger. ‘Death,’ it seemed like they had wanted to say, but instead decided on saying that the earth would swallow you up. 

You wanted to laugh. It had been raining without end for three months. What could be worse than having to use small, steam-powered boats to travel? 

…

Alright. You had to admit that technically going out at night in the Dusty was probably more dangerous itself. 

Raiders walked day and night, their… shadier business happening under the cover of night. Or at least that’s what your parents had told you when noises outside your window woke you up in the middle of the night and they rushed into your room to tell you to lock your door and hide under the bed until they told you to open the door. 

Houses were raided. 

People went missing. 

This was constant. 

But you ignored this. If you didn’t, you feared that you’d be too afraid to go outside again.

Ignoring the warning they had given you, you found yourself jumping out of your bed and racing to put on the warmest clothes you could find. Though it’d been raining day and night, the way temperature worked was yet to change. Days were hot and nights were cold as ice.

A worn pair of old, dark brown leather pants your dad had gifted you not long ago for your twelfth birthday, an old, yellowing, long-sleeved shirt, a black, cotton jacket, and black, knee-high boots.

You shoved some coins into your pockets and plucked the heart-shaped stone that your parents had gifted you. It went into your pockets like the coins. 

Then, after poking your head out of your room to check that your parents were asleep, you sped walked through the open hallways, staring up at the night sky and shivering as the cold air hit you. The stairs caused you no trouble, they were easy to jog down; and, before you knew it, you were slipping past the smaller, metal front door that you had just helped your father oil that same day, locking it with your key, and racing towards the train tracks a mile away.

You glanced down at your wrist as you ran, trying to catch a glimpse of your watch to see the time. Half an hour till midnight. You’d be getting to the main city of Dust around midnight if you managed to catch the train. 

Luck was on your side that night as you got to the tracks with a minute to spare. 

As the freight train raced passed you, your eyes locked onto one car in the distance. Its door had been left open and you knew that was the car you had to make it into.

Jumping trains was a dance with death. Without your parents to spot you, you had to rely on your own skill. 

You took a deep breath as it was ten seconds away from you. ‘I’m a Dusty,’ you reminded yourself. 

Five seconds.

Your parents had been teaching you to do this since you could walk. It’s the only way to get around without horses. But back then, they’d always held your hand as they ran. They’d basically pulled you the entire time. Now you were doing it on your own. 

Three seconds. 

You took another deep breath and stomped your feet, losing the clumps of mud that had stuck to them like glue. 

Then you ran. 

Just as the car started to reach you, you jumped, lunged, and tumbled into the car, narrowly avoiding one of the moving side rods on the train’s wheels.

You laughed as you laid inside, the air whipping past you.

The rain was gone.

It had been so long since you had been out. 

And the ground had yet to eat you up. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

You weren’t sure what you had been expecting when you reached the main city of Dust. Maybe you hadn’t been expecting anything in the first place. But when you got there and found the streets were under a foot of water, you found yourself startled. 

Water was dangerous for a Dusty. Hardly anyone ever learned how to swim— large bodies of water were…rare. Your parents had told you about “pools” existing in the old world, a structure that had been built for people to swim in. They told you how some homes, bigger homes, had pools meant for that specific home. 

Things like that would be considered wasteful now. 

You paused. Would the planetarium you wanted to go to still be open?

The streets weren’t as full as they usually were, but they weren’t empty either. 

They felt like the back alleys and abandoned sections of the city, where people always went missing or wound up dead. 

‘Well,’ you thought to yourself, ‘I’ve already come this far,’ and with that, you set off to the north end of the city. 

You hadn’t been walking for five minutes when you realized that you had followed a very bad idea. Not only was the water level rising, but the streets were getting emptier by the second. 

Soulless. 

It seemed everyone else had realized much sooner that the north end of the city would be significantly underwater. The city’s land dropped after all before it came up again like a hill. 

It wasn’t much of a drop, not much a hill, but it was enough for the water to reach your waist. You waded through it, pushing through with as much force as you could as the frigid waters made it harder to move.

There was no way the planetarium, or any places for that matter, would be open.

You shook your head, disappointed. 

The only thing you could do now was to go back in the direction you had come from. You were just about to take a step in the other direction when a body rammed into you, knocking you into the water.

Caught off guard, you sunk to the bottom while choking on the water that rushed into your lungs before a hand grabbed yours and pulled you up.

“We have to run!”

They pulled you up as you struggled to breathe, heaving water at every second. At that moment, it didn’t seem to matter to you that some stranger was pulling you along. 

Until it did. 

“What the heck?!” You yelped, pulling your hand out of their grip. “Stranger!” You yelled as you turned to run the other way. “Stranger danger!”

“Stop, would you!” They snapped. 

You stopped, ignoring the voice in your head telling you to run. 

The voice you were hearing was too ‘childish,’ you thought to yourself. They were annoyed, yes, but their voice was too soft to belong to an adult like your dad or your mom.

You turned around slowly then, afraid that your judgment had been wrong.

But it hadn’t. 

In front of you, a boy no older than you by the looks of it, stared at you wide-eyed and panting. His round cheeks were as red as you imagined yours were. 

It was instinct to ask, “What’s wrong?” 

“They’re after me! And they’ll grab you too.”

“What?” You asked, confused.

For a moment, the boy looked ashamed. Then the look

disappeared and instead, he looked impatient, “I stole something from them and they caught me as I was leaving.” 

“Then give it back,” you said.

He scoffed, “It’s too late for that. They’re looking for blood now and whether they find you or me, they’ll kill.”

“Wha—”

“Where are you, you fucking twerp? I know you’re down here! The waters don’t lie!” An older, rougher voice bellowed around the corner from where the two of you had stopped. 

Your heart stopped.

That voice sounded far from friendly. 

“We have to go,” the boy whispered hurriedly. This time you didn’t try to wiggle your arm out of his hand. Instead, you ran as fast as you could through the waters until he eventually let go.

Then, when the waters reached your chest, you grabbed his hand yourself.

The cold was making it hard to move, but fear ate away at your insides and pushed you to keep moving. 

“W-where are we going?” You whispered. 

“W-we have to g-go to my hideout, or we’ll g-get s-sick, but w-we have to hide f-first,” the cold was starting to get to him too.

“Come out. Come out, wherever you are. I promise not to hurt you.” The pursuers gruff voice laughed around the corner. The water sloshed as they came closer.

A flash of heat ran down your body as you panicked. 

“In t-there,” the boy pointed at the building next to the two of you.

The windows had been left open and even in the darkness, you could tell that the room dipped inside. 

“We c-can’t go in there,” you stopped him as he took a step towards it, “the waters are deeper. I don’t know how to swim.”

The boy stared at you for a second, “I won’t let you drown. I-I promise.”

It took you a moment to answer him. In hushed whispers, you relented and let him pull you forward.

In less than a minute, he was pulling you into the darkness of the farthest corner, where even the light of the moon couldn’t reach.

Just barely, on the tip of your toes, could you push your face over the water.

“On the count of three,” he said as the sloshing got closer, “w-we go under.” 

“One,” you said, swallowing your fear.

“Two,” he followed as the man’s grumbling sounds neared the building.

‘Three,’ he mouthed, and then, together, you submerged yourselves underwater.

Holding your breath was torture. You remembered that the only times you’d ever tried to keep your breath was when your mother used to fill the tub with warm water. In those moments, you’d always have the option to rise and breathe when you needed it. You didn’t have that option now; and, with every second that ticked by, you felt your resolve breaking.

As if sensing your struggle, the boy squeezed your hand and although that didn’t solve the air problem, it did comfort you a bit.

You forced yourself to relax, emptying all the thoughts in your head and clutching his hand. Time moved faster then, and before you knew it, he was pulling you closer to him so he could lead you forward.

“I-Is he gone?” You whispered when you were above water. 

“I think so,” he answered, “I can’t hear him anymore.”

You nodded sluggishly. 

“Common,” he said, pulling you forward, “we need to go.” 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

You were drenched. From head to toe, all you could feel was the prickly iciness of your clothes sticking to your skin and the cold night air hitting it.

Your bones hurt. 

How long you’d been walking with the nameless boy beside you, you didn’t know. You weren’t even sure that your watch continued to work after going through the works with water.

You weren’t even sure in which direction he was taking you, all memory of the city was lost along with the feeling in your toes.

“How much farther?” You asked quietly.

“We’re here,” he answered just as quietly. He nodded at the old building just up ahead.

It looked old and worn out like most of the buildings in the Dust. But closer to it, you saw that it was missing windows and doors too. ‘Ravaged for parts,’ you thought to yourself.

“That doesn’t look so safe,” you tried to say, but your voice dwindled as you spoke.

“It’s fine,” the boy said, “it does its job.” 

You didn’t answer as you followed him. You were too tired to argue with him.

When he realized you weren’t going to answer, he spoke again, “It’s not that bad. It’s falling apart but it’s not dangerous. The rain didn’t get inside either, so it’s dry.”

“Okay,” you said. 

The inside of the building looked just as the outside did, old and worn out. But to the boy's credit, you admitted that it didn’t look as bad as you imagined it would be. The walls were just beginning to peel and the holes in them looked more like someone had taken a hammer to them. They weren’t decayed, or at least, they weren’t as decayed as the buildings you were used to.

“We’re going into the basement,” the boy muttered in front of you.

“Is there light?” 

“No, I usually use a torch. We can use it to start a fire though,” he said. You could almost hear his desire for sleep in his voice, “it’ll help dry us so we won’t get hypothermia.”

“I think we’re past that,” you said, “I can’t feel my toes. Besides, I need to get home before the suns up.”

“I’ll help you get home,” he sighed, “but let’s start a fire first.”

You would have liked your descent into the basement to be slow and careful. But despite your silent hopes, the boy walked quicker, already accustomed to the place and that left you to follow quicker than you liked lest you be left in the dark to figure it out yourself.

You were pleasantly surprised, though, when after reaching the final step, you found yourself in a concrete basement full of fruits and blankets; and, at the center of it all, wood stacked up in a pile and the boy was already lighting it on fire.

“Mothers of gears,” you shuddered as a wave of heat reached you.

“Take off what you want dried,” he mumbled, red smoothing over his cheeks. “I promise I won’t look. You can cover yourself with the blankets.” 

You did so quickly, taking off your boots, socks, pants, shirt, sweater— everything but your undergarments, piled it up, and shoved it towards the fire. After wrapping a thick blanket around yourself, you settled near the fire and called out to him.

“I’m done.” 

Without a word, he swiveled around and neared you to take the clothes you had taken off. You watched on silently as he set-up a pulley system above the fire and hanged your clothes and shoes.

An hour later, while you were both laying on opposite sides of the fire, curiosity spiked inside you though sleep was starting to nip at you.

“What did you even steal to get them that mad?” You asked.

The boy was silent for a while before answering, “Food.”

“Oh.” You didn’t know what to say. He had been caught stealing food. Why did he even have to steal food in the first place? He was too young to steal…

“Don’t judge me,” he grumbled, pulling his blanket tighter around himself.

“I’m not judging you,” you said, “I know that some of us have to steal to survive. My parents have done it before too.”

Silence. 

“Sorry.”

“No need,” he mumbled, “I’m used to it.” 

“You’re a stranger,” you spoke, staring into the flames in front of you, “but you look as old as I am. And to think that you had to steal food…it just doesn’t—”

There was silence between the two of you. Without meaning to, you eyes flicked over to the boy. 

“I’m Jihoon.”

“Y/N.” 

“Thank you… for trusting me, even though you don’t know me.” 

You shrugged under the blankets, meeting Jihoon’s eyes, “Something told me I could trust you.” 

Even under his own blankets, you could have sworn he shot you a smile. A blush crept up your neck and flooded into your cheeks. 

You curled into yourself, embarrassed by the fire on your cheeks.

“Do you… do you actually trust me?”

“Yes.” 

In another life, you might have been ashamed of how fast you answered him. 

“Then sleep,” he whispered, “I’ll wake you in an hour and help you get home.” 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It had been three years since Jihoon had offered you a home in his own. Three years since that boy had offered you a room next to his; and, three years since your parents had… 

No. 

No. You wouldn’t think of that. 

It had been days since you had fought with Soonyoung because of the insufferable tick he’s got attached to his side. Neither had spoken a word to each other; and when Luz caught a glance of you, she would scurry like a rat back into her hole. 

Her inability to face you only made you dislike her even more. 

And to top it all off, Seungcheol had yet to treat himself as a leader, insisting that you and Jihoon were the true leaders of this band of rebels. If that were the case, you thought to yourself, you were running out of time to come up with a plan. 

A plan had to be made, sooner rather than later. You had choices to make and you couldn’t make them alone.

You’d been awake since four in the morning, huddled in the corner that your bed rested on. You could glance out of your window if you turned your head enough, and see the outline of your workshop.

You wondered if anyone else was awake. Were nightmares plaguing their dreams like they were yours? Unable to sleep for long?

The wall across from yours shuddered with a small pang.

You were still for a second. 

That wall also belonged to Jihoon. 

You stood up and made your way to the door, trying not to trip over the length of your pajama pants in your hurry.

Without giving yourself a moment to doubt your choice, you stepped to the door next to yours, opened it, and stepped inside.

You looked at Jihoon dumbly, your mouth moving like a fish’s as you tried to think of what to say.

“You’re awake?” 

Jihoon looked at you blankly, nodding once. 

“Me too.” Stupid. “I-I just, I heard you hit the wall and I was awake and I was just wondering if you were…alright?”

Silence. 

“Yeah.” 

Silence yet again. 

A gust of wind hit your partially exposed back, making you shiver. Putting on a sweater hadn’t crossed your mind. 

“You forgot to bring a sweater,” Jihoon said, glancing at your bare arms.

You nodded in confirmation. Without missing a beat, he patted the spot next to him on his bed.

Thankful that he wasn’t kicking you out yet, you threw the door closed and rushed to his side. You practically jumped into his bed and pulled the blanket over the two of you, sitting side by side.

Relaxed and content with the silence between the two of you, you started to doze off. Only when your head fell on his shoulder did you startle yourself back awake.

“Jihoon,” you whispered, softly as to not disturb him if he had already fallen asleep.

He hummed in response. 

“What are we going to do?” 

“About?” 

“The impending doom that Joshua was trying to tell us about.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” he scoffed under his breath. But you were able to hear him anyway.

“But what if that man does find out about us? Where we live.”

“We’ll be alright.” 

“How?” You asked him, worry bleeding into the question.

“We’ll disappear before he can get to us. Find a new home.”

Silence overtook the two as you tried to unravel what he was proposing.

“We’d have to abandon your house?” You whispered sadly to him, pushing off his shoulder to look at him in the darkness of his room. But even in the darkness, you could still find his eyes staring attentively at you.

“This isn’t just my house,” he said, “this is your house too.”

“Jihoon,” you started, “this is your parent’s house.” 

“But it’s not my only home.”

Under the covers, Jihoon’s left hand made its way to yours, his fingers intertwining with yours. He held your hand gently as if he were afraid of crushing it.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I do.” 

“So…” 

“If they find out about us… and they send someone after us…”

“Trust me, and we’ll escape. I won’t let anything happen to us,” he whispered to you. 

You knew you could trust him. As he peered into your eyes, trying to get you to understand that nothing bad would happen, you felt your love for him, your trust for him, grow.

“Okay,” you whispered back to him, squeezing his hand.

“Let’s go to sleep, yeah?” He asked you as he nodded at the pillow on his bed.

You nodded. “Sleep would be nice,” you mumbled, laying down next to the wall.

Jihoon laid down next to you, trapping you against the wall. He waited for you to complain, to show any signs of discomfort, but you didn’t.

He pulled the covers gently over both your bodies. 

You sighed in contempt as you nuzzled into one of his pillows.

Even if only for a few hours, you’d be sleeping comfortably for the rest of the night.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

The fire you were standing over, turned your face red.  

You gritted your teeth in a shaky snarl as you brought your hammer down on the red hot metal below you.

No matter how much you tried not to think, your anger was spilling out with each blow you brought upon the metal. The metal, it mocked you.

While you tried to make sure that it bent in the direction you were working for, it showed you your reflection. A red face. A snarl. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes. 

It made you angry. 

You felt like a fool. 

<><><><><><><><><>

“Should we wake them up?” 

“What are they even doing together?” 

“Do we have a choice?” 

“Let’s wake them.”

“But, I’ve never seen them sleep past sunrise…”

“I’ll go ask Cheol if we can postpone.” 

They all mumbled so they wouldn’t wake you. Still, you were awoken by their conversation. 

Squeezing your eyes shut as the sunlight started to bypass your eyelids, you hummed and nuzzled further into your pillow. 

Someone aww’d. Who it was, you didn’t know. Your brain was still loading. 

“They look so cute together!” 

That startled you. 

You were starting to register that someone was in your room. A couple of seconds later, you registered their words. 

A particularly long inhale introduced a musky and sweaty scent to you. It was a familiar smell, and it didn’t take you long to place it. 

You opened your eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light in the room. It wasn’t long before you noticed you were staring at black cloth. 

You had a palm against it. Your fingers twitched, and it dawned you. You were pressed up against a chest. 

Whose chest? Who was you cuddled up to? 

Jihoon. 

You gulped. 

You almost didn’t want to check. But the warmth you were feeling...

Ever so carefully, so you wouldn’t alert the others in the room, you tilted your head upwards until you could see the person you were sleeping with. 

‘Jihoon,’ you gulped. 

Your eyes darted back down to the hand against the black fabric— ‘Jihoon’s chest,’ you corrected yourself. 

He was warm. 

Your fingers curled around the black fabric of his tee. You could feel his hard chest below your hand.

You wanted nothing more than to curl up against Jihoon again, take in his scent and bask in his warmth.

But you couldn’t. To anyone unfamiliar with Jihoon’s sleeping patterns, they might have missed the twitch of his fingers. You couldn’t. 

The arm he had draped over you tensed. Anyone might have been able to miss his movements. But again, you couldn’t. When you looked at his face again, you realized he was awake. 

He looked asleep, but his eyes told you otherwise. Still heavy with sleep, his eyes were only open a slither. The others couldn’t see. His head was angled downward as if curling towards you. 

He never blinked. 

You wondered if he even saw you. 

Then his eyes shot open, and blood rushed to the tip of his ears and dusted his cheeks. Now you knew he saw you. 

“Cheol said we should let them sle—”

It came like rain in the Dusty, unexpectedly and suddenly. You were on the ground before you could even get a word out, landing on your side and spraining your wrist. 

You groaned from your spot on the ground. 

It took everyone else a moment to process what had happened before they rushed to you.

“What happened?!” Chan.  

“Are you alright?” Seokmin. 

“Here.” Joshua. “Let me help you up.” 

“Ow. Ow. OW,” You yelped as he helped you stand. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked. 

“I think…” you paused to ride a wave of pain, “I hit my ribs.”

“I don’t think you could have broken them,” Joshua said as he glanced at your side, eyes narrowed in concern, “Perhaps just bruised yourself.” 

“Yeah,” you said. 

“What happened? How did you fall?” Seokmin asked as he fixed your hair. 

“Oh, I just…I think I just…,” you trailed off, glancing at Jihoon.

You studied him, taking in his appearance. His eyes were shut, and his breathing was level.

He looked like he was perfectly asleep. 

“I guess I just rolled over and fell out of bed,” you smiled, hoping it didn’t look as fake as you felt it did. 

<><><><><><><><><>

He had pushed you out of bed. 

You held back a growl as you brought down your hammer again. You should have been more than careful with your project, considering how small it was. The heart you were building fit in the center of your palm perfectly. 

Your fingers curled around it, hiding it as you clutched it in anger. Despite the heat it was enveloped in and the searing pain it was causing your palm, you kept it there.

You were starting to question the point in finishing this project, and yet, you couldn’t bring yourself to stop.  

The bells started to ring not long after. 

As if finally registering the pain you were causing yourself, you tossed your heart into the box on the table behind you. 

It took you a single look from your peripheral vision to see Joshua’s form starting to materialize in the distance. 

You didn’t wait.

After quickly pouring water into the fire and extinguishing it, you hurried out your door and locked it. 

Joshua was perhaps only halfway to the workshops before you sped walked to his side. 

“Aren’t you going to wait for Jihoon?” He asked, glancing between you and the workshops. 

“If you want, you can go and get him. I’ll go ahead to the meeting. Fountain, right?” 

“Yeah,” he answered. 

There was a pause as you stared ahead, refusing to look back.

“Better hurry. I plan to make the meeting start as soon as I get there. Don’t feel like wasting any time today.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It had been a couple of days since you had last seen him, and although he wasn’t looking at you, you could still feel the ghosts of his eyes following your movements. 

He glared at the floor, arms crossed, and with his lover protectively at his side. 

You wanted to scoff. 

You wouldn’t hurt her. Not unless she gave you a reason to. 

But you liked it this way. Seeing the Sparkian curling into herself pathetically, avoiding being in your line of sight like you had the power to crush her from so far away.

The rest seemed to ignore it all, casually sitting in the grassy ruins of the fountain. 

“Another meeting? It hasn’t even been a week yet.” 

“Yeah,” Seungcheol nodded at you. He waited until you had hoisted yourself up into the second bowl of the fountain to continue. “Some…,” he hesitated, “information was brought to my attention.” 

“By who?” You asked stiffly. Your swaying legs came to a stop as you crossed them and leaned back on your arms.

You hadn’t realized it until now, but it was frustrating that an ex-Sparkian held information you were supposed to know being as even he had said you were one of the leaders. Even if Seungcheol had joined your group of outlaws years ago…

“Outside sources.” 

You raised an eyebrow questioningly. Not that deep down, you knew you could trust him. But, it still frustrated you that he had all the information you were supposed to know. 

“What’s going on?”

Jihoon. 

It took an amount of restraint you didn’t know you had to keep your eyes on Seungcheol instead of looking at Jihoon, who walked in with Joshua at his heels. 

No one responded his question. They didn’t know if they should. 

The way you and Seungcheol had yet to take your eyes off each other grew unrest within them. Though in reality, you could see it in Seungcheol’s eyes that he was wondering why you weren’t answering Jihoon’s question. 

Eventually, Jihoon reached the fountain and stood off to its side. You could feel his gaze on you, and it made you wonder if he had been asking you that question. 

But it didn’t matter, you weren’t going to answer. 

Seungcheol seemed to understand that you weren’t going to answer him then when you wouldn’t turn or acknowledge Jihoon in any way. 

“We received some new information.” 

“And that would be?” You asked impatiently. 

“Sparks assigned an elite to trace us. They picked a top operative that goes by the name ‘Eight.’” 

Silence. 

Seungcheol’s gaze met your’s again and stopped. If the rest didn’t understand what he meant by that information, you did. 

“So, they’ll come after us. And even if we’re in the uncharted Dusty, isolated from the main city of Dust… it won’t take that elite long to figure out where we are.” 

“What?” You heard Seokmin gasp at your words. 

“How long do you think we have?” 

“At the most? A week, maybe less.” 

“Then we have to leave as soon as possible— get as much distance between us and him as soon as we can.” 

“Will that really be enough to get that elite off our trail?” Chan asked, worry lacing his voice. 

“Nowhere will be far enough,” Joshua answered quietly.

Startled, your gaze flicked over to him, standing beside Seungcheol. He met your gaze without hesitation, conveying to you all his thoughts in a single second.

Then you hissed, hurt, as you sucked in a breath of air through your teeth. Your breathing sounded so loud to you, you doubted that the rest of your crew had failed to notice. 

“What do you mean?” Mingyu asked after a moment of hesitation. 

“He…” you started and paused, hoping to find the right words, “…means that we need to disappear.” 

“And that would mean?” Chan asked. 

“We need help making magic real,” Joshua spoke. 

On your right, you could feel Jihoon’s stare land on you again despite your silence. 

“Someone really needs to spit it out right now,” Chan grumbled out of growing fear. You could tell.  

“We have no government, no law… do we?” You asked rhetorically. “If we want to escape, then we need someone’s help.” 

“And who,” Jihoon asked tensely, holding back a growl, “would that be, exactly?”

He was asking you, you knew. But, you couldn’t help but bite your tongue and wait for someone else to answer, still avoiding looking at him. 

“The self-proclaimed King of the Dusty,” Joshua began. “As rich and elusive as he can be, anyone who needs… special help usually finds him.” 

“His existence is only of rumors,” Jihoon snapped. 

“He’s real,” Joshua started, eyes meeting yours. 

“And I know how to find him,” you finished, looking into his eyes. 

Jihoon scoffed beside you, “You’re going to go find a man that can’t be found? A man that’s known to be a traitor to all? I don’t think so.” 

You clenched your teeth together, angry at the words leaving him; and, for the first time all day, you spoke to him though you still didn’t look at him, “This isn’t your choice to make.” 

“There must be another way, Seungcheol,” Jihoon snapped, ignoring you. 

It made you even angrier.

You thought about meeting Jihoon for the first time— letting him save you.

You thought about Jihoon giving you a safe haven after your’s disappeared. 

You thought about the promises he had made you last night. 

You were always helpless. 

“I’ve made my choice,” you growled, whipping around to look at him before turning to Joshua and Seungcheol. “I’ll be the one to go.” 

But not anymore.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

3 Years Ago (Age: 20)

“Keep running!” You screamed over the pounding in your ears. 

In the heat of the sun, sweat dripped down your face in bucket fulls. No matter how many times you had run in the scorching sun, your eyes had yet to stop burning when drops of sweat touched them. 

You clenched your eyes shut as you tried to force the stinging to go away. Your feet stumbled over each other as the tips of your boots hit the hillsides, and you fumbled to right yourself as you tried to run up and down hills. 

Planks of rotten wood that littered the ground tripped you, causing you fell. Your knees hit the ground with a shallow thud, and pain shot up your legs. 

Through blurry, narrowed eyes, you studied the floor in front of you, making sure there weren’t any upturned nails and stuck your hands out to push yourself up. 

You whimpered as you took a step forward, and your leg gave out for a second. 

You were about to fall again when someone pulled you up and forward. 

“It’s okay. You’re okay. Just breathe,” Jihoon rushed out. Letting go of your arm, he reached for your hand without a second of doubt. 

“Agh!” You yelped. Sweat trailed into your eyes and stung you again.

“Breathe,” he gasped out. The exertion of running up and down hills was starting to get to him, and the run was far from over. How were you going to get to the rest of your crew before the group of raiders caught you?

As if sensing your thoughts, Jihoon gave your hand a squeeze. Reassurance. 

You were going to make it. All you had to do was trust in him. 

“I can’t see!” Another voice screamed behind you before the owner of said voice reached out to hold your other hand. 

You held back a snarl as he held onto you but didn’t shake him off. It was added weight, just another thing to hold you back as you ran. But, if you made it back to where your crew was waiting without him, you feared you’d pay even more for it.

“Just keep running,” you grumbled out. You helped pull him along with as much strength as you could muster. 

But, it took you two more minutes before you all reached the actual city of the Forgotten. 

Buildings in the process of falling down, stained in a rusting color, surrounded the three of you. 

Shade came and went while running through the streets.

Pieces of concrete protruded the ground in jagged and random lines. Most of them were visible, but you were sure there was some hiding in the small mounds of dirt and sand that had been piled all over the place. 

 “How much—”

Two words were all you were able to get out before you were pulled down, and a yelp escaped you. 

“What the hell, Joshua,” you snapped as you ripped your hand out of his. 

Leaving him on the ground, you shakily stood up, your hands pushing off the ground. Somehow, during the fall, your hand had managed to slip out of Jihoon’s. 

Once you were standing upright, you realized he was standing beside you, no longer in front of you where he should have been. 

“Gee, thanks for the help,” you grumbled as you dusted off your legs. 

“I think we have a problem,” he said.

“Like we didn’t already?” You huffed. You slapped your knees harshly, biting back a yelp. At the most, you had been expecting you bruised your knees during the fall. But, when you brought up your hands to slap the dust off of them, you realized there was blood on them. 

A single glance downward confirmed your suspicions. 

Your black leather pants had torn from the knees when you hit the crumbling concrete beneath you. Your knees had been scraped, and though you didn’t want to be dramatic, you were sure, that under the dripping blood, you could see your kneecaps.

“Oh…crap,” you winced. You turned around quickly to ask Jihoon for help. But, as you did, a bigger problem fell into your laps. 

“What the hell happened?” You asked. 

Laying in front of you, the man you had been forced to lug around in ‘good faith’ to ‘show him around’ was out cold on the floor. A tiny pool of blood was forming on the ground near his temple. 

“I-Is that blood?!” You yelped. 

“Yes,” Jihoon hissed, bending down to the boys level to study him, “I think he hit his head on the way down. He’s got a gash on his forehead.” 

“Crap,” you muttered, “I didn’t bring any first-aide with me today.” 

“It’s fine, we’ll just have to hurry. Quick,” he grunted as he pulled one of the man’s arms around his neck, “prop his other side on your shoulder. We’re gonna have to carry him out of here.” 

“Alright,” you said. A dull throbbing in your knees made you wince, but you moved nonetheless, doing what Jihoon had asked you as fast as you could. 

You had just made it to the corner of the street, twenty steps away, shuffling under the man’s weight when you felt it. 

“You need to go,” you told him through gritted teeth. You hadn’t moved much, but the pain in your knees was shooting through your legs in waves. You wouldn’t be able to get far, move fast. You’d collapse in almost no time. The three of you would be caught — taken as prisoners, maybe worse.

Soonyoung…Chan…Seokmin…Mingyu… none of them would be able to find you.

“You need to go,” you repeated, forcing Jihoon to a stop. 

“What?” He asked you confusedly.

You looked into his narrowed, brown eyes determined, “You need to go.” 

“No.” One word, but it had a steadfast furry behind it that you could only ever imagine coming from him. It was in his eyes too, the determination to get the three of you to safety and the anger of hearing you suggest leaving you behind. But, you were willing to bet that you had the same type of determination as him. 

“Yes,” you forced out, “I can’t move very quickly with these knees—”

“No.” 

“You’re carrying around extra weight too—”

“No.” 

“So, you need to leave us.”

“No,” Jihoon snapped. 

“Yes,” you insisted, “look, we’ll hide in this building. You go get the others, get some weapons—” you unholstered the rusted beam gun you had blindly brought along, “that aren’t broken.” 

“No, Y/N. I’m not leaving you here.”

“You have to, Ji.” It was a risk, you knew, but you had to take it, or you’d be risking worse. Still, it took all the courage and determination you had in you to avoid his gaze and start pulling him in the direction of the building closest to you before you could change your mind. 

“They’ll be here soon,” you told him. 

He followed you silently, trying not to trip over his feet while he glared at the floor. 

“I’m not leaving you.” 

You didn’t answer him. 

Once inside, you pulled him toward the first room you saw towards the back of the building. Then, you helped him lower the Sparkian onto the ground, leaning him against a wall. 

It was done.

You knew you had gotten him to agree, now you just needed him to get moving.

“Just…” you started, finally finding his eyes, “promise me you’ll come back.” You finished in a whisper as if what you were telling him was a secret no one else could hear.

Jihoon nodded grimly, training his eyes on the floor. 

“Stay safe.” 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It had only been ten minutes since Jihoon left when a sharp pain spread from your lower abdomen to the rest of your stomach. Just like your knees, it felt like fire was blooming. 

The feeling was overwhelming. You had just managed to lower yourself next to the Sparkian’s limp body when you felt your legs numb out. 

Another wave of pain rolled through you then, and you had to bite back a wimpier to keep yourself from crying. You tried to clutch your stomach in sudden fear, only to feel like you had just set fire to yourself all over again.

You studied yourself; from head to toe, nothing seemed to be out of place.

Your knees were still bleeding, blood slowly sliding over your pants and onto the floor. 

Then you saw it.

A speck of blood where it shouldn’t be. 

With the most care you could have with shaky hands, you lifted your black shirt and winced when you saw the firsts bits of your blood-soaked skin. 

“No, please no,” you whispered, tears trailing down your cheeks. 

There was a long gash on the bottom right side of your stomach. Blood streamed out of it slowly. 

Not a minute later, as you were trying to untie your belt, your hands went numb. Then darkness started to curl around the edges of your vision. 

“Please, hurry,” you whispered. 

The sound of heavy footsteps growing closer interrupted your whispers to Jihoon.

You bit your lips, trying to stifle your whimpers. But it was no use. From the corner of your eyes, as you tried to focus on the small window across from you opening up to the sky, you saw a man come inside. He stopped beside you, studying you and the man beside you. 

‘This is it,’ you thought, a buzzing sensation starting to overtake your consciousness, ‘they found me, and if I don’t die right now, I’m going to wish I was dead.’ 

“This is quite a situation that you’ve gotten yourself into, isn’t it?” They asked. 

The man had blocked your view of the window. Though you didn’t want the last thing you saw before dying to be the face of a raider, you lifted your gaze to see the man before you. 

He looked like he was around your age. High cheekbones, dark, golden-brown hair, and shapely lips. 

He didn’t look like a raider, and, if memory served you correctly, you hadn’t seen him with the raiders either. 

But here he was, staring at you with an expressionless face, hands crossed over his chest.

A shudder ran down your spine. Spots started to appear in your vision. 

But before either of you could say anything else, you blacked out. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Your body felt like a throbbing, inflated balloon. It pounded, but it also buzzed.

You groaned as you opened your eyes. They had stuck together, and opening them felt uncomfortable. But when you did, a bright light about you, forced you to close them again. 

“What the hell?” You groaned again. 

There was a click around you, “Sorry about that, I don’t think anyone thought you’d wake up.” 

It was a smooth voice, nearly velvety, but it had a cold edge to it that put you on edge. 

Your eyes shot open. 

Memories rushed back. 

Above you, staring down at you was the same man that you had seen before you blacked out.

Your first instinct was to sit up, run away. The moment you tried to though, you discovered that you were tied down to a cot. Ropes were wrapped around your torso, legs, and arms, pinning you down and immobilizing you.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Some of these are tied directly above your injury…” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head disdainfully at you. 

“What the fu—”

“Language!” He snapped. “I thought Sparks were taught to keep clean.” 

“I’m not a Sparkian,” you grunted, glaring at the man as you tried to lift your arms. 

“Is that so?” He hissed. He moved quickly, grabbing your chin with a hand. For a second, you feared he was going to snap your neck. Then, he forced you to look to your left. 

The Sparkian. 

“I’m pretty sure that right there is a Spark.” 

You gulped. 

“I’m not a Spark.” 

His fingers dug into your skin. 

“I’m not a Spark,” he mocked. 

Your breath caught in your throat. Was this man going to torture you? 

“Let me go you fucking raider,” you spit on his face, “or kill us already.”

The rage on his face dissipated as he stood up straight. Like the moment he found you, the expressions on his face dulled until it looked like he was staring at a piece of scrap metal without any idea what to do with it. 

A door opened. 

“Jun, she’s not a Sparks citizen,” a woman’s voice pipped up.  

The man— Jun, raised a single eyebrow in your direction before stepping away. 

“No matter what she is, she’s a traitor to the Dusty’s,” he said.

He left your side, and you took the moment to study your surroundings before following his movements. 

He, or rather they, you thought, had brought you to an empty warehouse. The walls had been stripped of their inner skins, and only their bones could be seen. Even the roof was bare-skinned, only showing its inner metal works, the outer wall, and the lights that hung like bait on strings. 

You and the Sparkian had been placed at the center of the room. Two large, heavy doors were planted on the far right side of the room. Besides them, Jun and a young girl beside him stood in conversation. 

“She’s a Dusty, Jun.”  

“And the man?” 

“Sparkian. Chuu found him in the central database. Looks like he’s a promising engineer. Name: Joshua Hong, twenty-years-old just like her.” 

“Fucking raiders,” you yelled, “you’re casing out your victims now too?!”

Jun ignored you. But, the girl beside him turned to look at you. 

“We aren’t raiders. Why exactly do you think we’re raiders?” 

You bit your lip. The less they knew about you and what you did, the better. 

When you didn’t answer, the girl glanced at the handless gauntlet she wore on her right arm. She pressed some buttons, and a green light suddenly emitted from it. 

“Y/N Y/L/N. Age twenty. Orphan. Ex-Blacksmith apprentice. Parents killed five years ago. Lives with some Lee Jihoon, age—”

“Enough!” You growled, twisting in your ropes. Though you didn’t want to hear the names of any of your friends coming out of their mouths, hearing Jihoon’s name felt like a slap. 

Pain shot through your torso as the rope dug into your injury. Though you couldn’t see, you could feel the blood exiting your body. 

“Look at what you did,” Jun huffed, “Do you think we have medical supplies just lying around to waste on traitors?”

“Fuck you,” you spit. 

He rolled his eyes, “I heard traders were going to be in the Forgotten City. Instead, I get a traitor and a Spark. Maybe I can get some ransom out of him.” 

“Traders?! Those weren’t traders! They were raiders!” 

“I don’t think anyone would give a ransom for her though…” 

“Jun,” the girl chastised him. 

“Ahh,” he whined, “fine, go find Haseul so she can fix her.”

“On it,” the girl told him, spinning on the heels of her black combat boots. 

“Oh, and Kim Lip,” he stopped her, “make sure to bring Chuu with you.” 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Jun had stayed in the room with you for a couple of minutes before he left wordlessly. The door had slammed behind him, and before you knew it, you had been left alone to dwell in your thoughts. 

How long had you been here? 

What had happened to Jihoon and the boys? Did the Sparkian’s friend kill them because both of them had gone missing? 

You were sure that the only sign of your existence in the city— in the building you had hidden in, would be a pool of blood. 

Did they think you were dead? 

Tears formed in your eyes as your thoughts returned to Jihoon and that girl’s— Kim Lip, words. 

Did he think you were dead? 

Was he okay?

Orphan. 

Orphans.

How much did they know about you? About him? Was he in danger now? 

Jihoon had been your only family for three years. You had been his for far longer. You couldn’t bear the thought of having put him in danger. Of Jihoon having the same end like you. 

A shiver ran down your spine. 

Had that really been the last time you would get to see him?

You let out a cry then, twisting and turning in your binds. You only stopped when the pain made it impossible to breathe. 

You looked at the Sparkian beside you. Still out cold, it seemed. 

He had the same binds tied around him and gauze wrapped around his forehead. 

“He isn’t dead if that’s what you’re wondering.”

You whipped your head around at the sudden voice and jumped when you saw her proximity. 

“I figured,” you grumbled before hissing. 

The woman had plunged a needle into your side, and while the pain in your side was numbing out, you could still feel the resonating pinch and the girl’s other hand pressing down on the injury. 

“Please let me go,” you begged her. 

“Oh, sure. Just one condition…” 

Jun.

Hidden in the shadows near the door, Jun, Kim Lip, and another, widely smiling girl leaned against the beams of the wall. How long had they been there? 

“Kill your little friend.” 

Silence. 

You couldn’t do that. You glared at him. 

“That’s what I thought,” he smiled stiffly. 

“Please let us go.”

Amidst their silent glares, the Sparkian awoke, and using his wheezy voice, pleaded for their release. 

“Mr. Hong, you finally join us.”

Tense, you turned your head slowly. Mr. Hong was flicking his gaze between the lot of them, eyes red and watery.

Though you doubted he knew what was happening, it seemed that he was picking up the details of your predicament faster then you had. 

“Please let us go.” 

“I’m afraid I can’t. You see, you’re a Sparks citizen and I…well I’m the King of the Dusty.” 

“The Dusty don’t have a king,” he coughed. 

Jun laughed, “According to… you… we don’t. But ask around, the Dusty have their king, and it’s me.”

“The King of the Dusty is a myth! A fairytale!” You growled, but he ignored you.

“Then let her go,” Mr. Hong struggled to get out, “she’s got nothing to do with me. I don’t even know her.”

“How nice,” Jun laughed as he walked closer to your cots, stopping next to the girl who had injected you, “you want to protect your friend.” 

“She’s not my friend,” Joshua said. 

“Right,” Jun nodded, though it was clear that he didn’t believe him. 

“There,” the woman said, “as long as you don’t touch move too much, the wound shouldn’t reopen.” 

“What did you do?” You grumbled. 

“She just saved your life… again,” Jun answered, scoffing, “And does she get a thank you? No. Traitors are all the same.” 

“Please,” Mr. Hong cried, “She just met me. I threatened her into showing me the Dusty.” 

“You,” Jun laughed, “threatened her? Frankly, I don’t believe that.” 

“It’s true,” Mr. Hong insisted, “I snuck into the Dusty. I found her and her friends. She hates Sparks just as much as I do.” 

“Doubt it,” Jun laughed before snarling, “I lost everything I ever cared for because of people like you.” 

“Jun.” Kim Lip snapped, stomping her way to the cots. The smiling girl followed behind her. “Enough.” 

“Sorry,” Jun smiled, nodding at Kim Lip, “I just—”

“I know. You don’t need to apologize,” she sighed, “but we can’t just punish anyone with any sort of ties to Sparks.” 

“Fine,” Jun said defeatedly. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes turned hazy as he stepped away from your cot. 

The smiling girl behind Kim Lip flicked her gaze between them, “Well now seems like the best time to interrupt. Jun?” 

He was silent, still lost in his own world. 

“Jun?” She called out to him again. 

“Hmm?” He hummed, turning around to look at her before realization dawned on him, “Oh, Chuu, right. Tell us what you found.” 

“Alright, well I managed to track their movements using old security systems that are still running without anyone knowing—” 

“After this, take Heejin and make sure to erase any proof of their existence. Make it so no one else can have access to that, only us.” 

“Already on it, boss. Now on the issue of them,” she nodded her head in your direction, “I was able to track them all the way to their first encounter. It seems she and her friends stumbled upon one Joshua Hong and Choi Seungcheol, both citizens of Sparks.” 

“Premeditated?” 

“Actually, no. Choi and Hong appeared to be lost and one of her crew, in good faith, took them to a resting place. From the footage recovered, it seemed Miss Y/L/N was planning on… eliminating both of them before a ‘Lee Chan’ interfered and stopped her.” 

“And yet now she’s one of them.” 

“Fuck you!” You spit, trying as hard as you could to kick your feet. 

Chuu ignored your outburst and brought up her arm where she could use her gauntlet. She pressed a button on it, just like Kim Lip had done before, and in an instant, a green light shot upwards from it. 

You couldn’t see what it was projecting by the speed that Chuu was tapping away at. It took her no less than three seconds before a video started to play.

“Watch this,” Chuu said, turning her arm so Jun could have the perfect view of it. In turn, you got to see what he did too, though you had to look on from behind. 

It was you. It was Jihoon. It was Chan and Seokmin and Mingyu. 

It was the Sparkians on their knees. 

“…. please….”

The images were near grainy and the audio crackly and hard to make out, but it was clear what was happening. Joshua Hong and Choi Seungcheol were on their knees, begging to you and your crew. 

What they begged could only be guessed.

Two Sparks on their knees for a group of Dusties— it was a sight to be held, but your eyes only managed to focus on it for a couple of seconds. 

Instead, your gaze moved to the other figures being projected until they stopped on Jihoon’s figure standing next to yours. 

You hadn’t noticed it then, the way Jihoon glanced at you every couple of seconds to check on you. It looked like he was constantly sneaking a glance at you to defer the decisions to you. He was waiting for you to call the shots. 

Then it happened. 

His arms were crossed over his chest as he glared at the Sparkians. But in a brief moment where you remembered all you could feel was anger, Jihoon moved his hand a fraction of an inch. 

It was almost indiscernible if they weren’t paying attention. 

But like a butterfly’s kiss, his hand brushed past your right arm’s bicep. His thumb made circular motions on your skin before pulling away as if it had never happened. 

You couldn’t remember that moment happening. But it had. The video that was playing on Chuu’s gauntlet proved that it had happened. 

You thought back to that day, that moment of anger, and realized that you could remember feeling your anger dissipate in a fleeting moment. 

And it was all because of Jihoon.

A painful pang ran through your heart at the thought of him. 

But, before you could dwell on the pain and think about him, Jun grinned as if he’d just won the Dusty’s yearly suppliers lottery. Though, you doubted that he would grin or enjoy that or anything that was sponsored by Sparks. 

“Well, what do we have here?” Jun asked, stalking over to Joshua, and grabbing his chin forcefully like he had grabbed yours. “A Spark that begged for what? Tell me.” 

“What the hell do you care what he begged for?” You spit, glaring at Jun’s side profile. 

Jun chuckled, and without letting go of Joshua’s chin or turning around to look at you, he spoke, “A real fire burns inside of you, doesn’t it. I doubt it wants to be extinguished.” 

When neither of them, Joshua or you, spoke, Jun roughly pushed Joshua’s chin away and moved to stand next to Chuu again. 

He nodded for her to stop the video, “To me, you’re nothing but a traitor to our kind. I don’t care for traitors. But some people—” he paused to glance at Kim Lip, “think you might be worth a little more.” 

“Wait!” Joshua yelled as Jun started to walk away, “Don’t ransom me to Sparks! They’ll kill me! Please!” 

“Ransom,” Jun chuckled as he came to a stop near the door, “Your death isn’t really my problem. Sparks would pay good money to get someone back before they spilled their city’s precious secrets.” 

“Please!” Joshua yelled again while you silently glared at Jun.

“Kim Lip,” he grumbled, “it’s lights out. It’s your call.”

She nodded, and Jun left. 

“Haseul,” she said, turning around to look at the girl who had been tending to your wounds before, “put them to sleep.” 

Haseul nodded and whipped around to face you.

“What?!” You yelped as your eyes fell on the needle in her hand; and, without a second to waste, plunged the needle into your arm.

It took seconds before you felt your eyelids start to drop, and in those weary seconds, the last thing you saw was another needle being plunged into Joshua Hong’s skin.  

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

When you woke up, you thought you were having a lucid dream where all you could see was darkness— and it felt like your mind was torturing you. 

You could tell that you were moving your arms, stretching your limbs, hitting a hard substance but, it wasn’t until you saw a flickering shadow on the ground in front of you, and adrenaline spiked throughout your body, that you realized you were wide awake. 

Your eyes searched for the source until they finally landed on metal torches that had been fastened to the walls. Then your eyes adjusted, and you were able to make out your surroundings. 

You fumed as you realized where you had been brought. If the wall of bars in front of you were any indication, you had been placed in a cell in a basement far below the earth. 

A shuffling near you made you whip your head around, looking for the origins of the sound. 

Joshua Hong, the Sparkian you blamed for this mess, was propped up against the bars that made up the right side of your cell wall. 

He was still unconscious, but in a cell of his own and shivering constantly. He was far but not far enough for you to keep your emotions under control.

“Joshua,” you grumbled, your voice rough from sleep. When he didn’t wake, you tried again, “Joshua.” 

Nothing. 

“Mr. Joshua Hong,” you snapped. 

Like a bucket of water had been poured over him, he woke up gasping for air. His hands made their way to his face, where he rubbed his temple frantically only to hiss in pain. 

You watched on in silence, sucking on your bottom lip as you wondered if it had been such a good idea to wake him. 

Too late now.

Besides, why did he get to go on living blissfully asleep and unaware of the predicament they were in while you were forced to be awake and think.

“Morning, Sunshine,” you said mockingly. 

“Y/N?” 

“That’s still Y/L/N to you.” 

“M-miss Y/L/N,” Joshua stuttered, “where are we? What’s going on?” 

“Oh? Would you like a recap of our situation?” 

“I—”

“No! Allow me,” you quickly went on, “After knocking yourself out, we were captured by a group of raiders, who after tending to our injuries, have placed us in cells. Would you like to guess what they are most likely going to do us?” 

“Kill us?” Joshua responded quietly, feeling the fury you were withholding. 

“Oh, you wish they’d kill us,” you spit at him, “Did you really believe they’d trade you? That’s wishful thinking.” 

“I-I don’t understand.” 

You laughed hopelessly before answering him, “You’re a Sparkian. It’s obvious he loathes you and your kind. What’s better that to parade you around Dusty as his own little prisoner.” 

There was fear in his silence. You could feel it radiating off of him like the heat of a winter fire. 

“What will they do to you?” He asked in a small voice. 

“Me? How kind of you to ask—” you paused to glare at the floor underneath you and dig your nails into the dirt floor, “I’ll probably just be tortured down here. Kept alive until I’m nothing but a stupid shell. All because you and your damn friend had to see the Dusty for yourselves. Well, how was it?!” You yelled. “Did you enjoy your little tour of the Dusty? Were we all you were expecting?!” 

“Quite the lovers spat you two are having. What are you guys— forbidden lovers?” Someone squealed, “Tell me more!” 

You froze, your hammering heart lodging itself in your throat. You turned around to look for the owner of the voice— fear making you question if they had come back already. 

“Over here!” the voice said cheerfully, “To your left!”

You turned and before you sat a dark-haired girl in tattered clothes and bruises that were barely visible on her face and arms. You stared at her with a renewed, fearful realization that you would most likely look like that when the raiders came back. 

When you didn’t respond, the girl took it upon herself to keep talking. 

“Sooo…are you guys a couple? A Spark and a Dusty in love?” 

Her question sent a jolt of anger through you, “I would never fall in love with a Sparkian, let alone date one.”

The girl was silent for a moment as she stared at you, then she blinked, “But you are in love with someone then?” 

You flinched, “I never said that,” then grumbled, “How long have you even been there?”

The girl lifted an eyebrow, “Listening in on your conversation? Since the beginning, honey.” 

“That’s not— that’s not what I meant.” 

“Right,” the girl nodded, “Well, I’ve been locked down here for about two years. Tell me, is the land still as red as I remember it to be?” 

You flinched, “You’ve been down here two years?” 

“Yup,” the girl sighed, slouching against the bars now that her entertainment had vanished, though she still faced your direction, “two… years.” 

“H-how?” 

“How? Or why?” 

“I—”

“They aren’t raiders, you know,” the girl mumbled sadly. 

“What?” 

“I’m just saying. Whoever you met before coming down here… they aren’t raiders.” 

“If they aren’t raiders, then who the hell are they?” You grumbled, arms crossing over your chest.

The girl was silent again, and you had to concentrate to make out the expression on her face.

“Have you ever heard of the King of the Dusty?” She said, her voice as distant as her eyes.

“He’s a myth,” you whispered. 

“He’s a legend,” the girl said, “A Dusty with an abundance of resources and an army of his own. He helps our people and—”

“He isn’t real!” You whispered harshly. “And even if he was, he’s a traitor to everyone!”

“No,” the girl shook her head, “he helps the Dusty’s, but he doesn’t help anyone who stands with Sparks. You probably met him upstairs. He has a sharp face, brown hair, and his actual name is Jun.”

“H-how do you know this?” You asked quietly. 

The girl smiled sadly, “I was one of the people that Jun saved. I was part of his army. But one day, while I was scouting, I met this man. I never thought he could be anything but a Dusty— I mean, who’s ever heard of a Spark coming out willingly and dressing like us.”

“What happened?” 

“I got close to him. Eventually, he told me he was a Sparkian that had run away from Sparks— that he hated them. Before I knew it, I was in love with him, and I hated seeing him suffer, jumping from place to place without a permeant home.” 

The girl turned silent for a moment, and you felt like you knew what the girl had done get thrown in the dungeons. 

“I realize now that I didn’t think it through. I shouldn’t have told him about Jun… about his army… about what Jun stands for,” the girl squeezed her eyes shut like she was withstanding an onslaught of pain, “I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t. I should have known. I should have known not to sell his secrets.” 

The girl continued to mutter to herself, curling into the farthest corner of her cell, turning her back on the pair.

Feeling unnerved at the girl’s sudden change in attitude, you turned away from her and stared at the torch across your cell. You could feel Joshua Hong’s eyes on you, waiting for you to say something, perhaps a way to get you two out. But all you could bring yourself to say nudged you deeper into a cesspool of hopelessness.

“I should have known better than to believe a Sparkian wanted to escape Sparks.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“Hey,” Kim Lip snapped as she banged a metal plate of slosh against your cell bars, “wake up. You eat now, or you don’t eat at all.” 

You sucked in a breath as you opened your eyes. You didn’t know when it had happened, but your body was quickly growing heavier and sluggish. 

You’d stopped trying to count the days when you realized that it would be impossible to keep track when there was no sun to see, and food was brought to you at times where it felt like an eternity had gone by. 

Even your memory was starting to crack under your sluggishness. All you could really remember was constantly coming in and out of sleep.

You knew that Joshua Hong stared at you more often than not. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care. If he wanted to escape, he could figure that out himself— you didn’t want anything to do with him. 

Kim Lip had placed a new tray of food on the ground at the entrance of each of their cells and collected the dirty ones where they had eaten last, before leaving them to the darkness again. 

You crawled over to the tray of food and ate a spoonful of slosh before closing your eyes with the spoon still in your mouth. Maybe if you tried to savor the food longer, you’d be able to distract yourself. 

“You know,” the girl said, slurping her slosh loudly, “pretending like you’re not eating slosh is just going to make it harder for you to accept that you’re stuck down here.” 

“Leave her alone,” Joshua grumbled, scooping his own slosh so carefully anyone watching would question if they even gave him slosh in the first place. 

“What did you guys do to get thrown down here, anyway?” She continued, ignoring Joshua. 

“Would you just s—”

“Nothing,” you said, cutting off Joshua, “We were running from raiders. We were injured, and King Jun found us— the Dusty and the Spark, dying of blood loss.” 

“Must have been quite a scene. How’d you two get together anyways?”

You scoffed.

Joshua answered. 

“We didn’t get together,” Joshua whispered, “She and her friends found me and my friend and saved us from dying of heatstroke.” 

“What?” The girl laughed, not believing what Joshua was saying. 

“It’s… true,” Joshua sighed, “After they saved us, we begged them to show us around for a day.” 

“No one in their right mind would ever do anything for a Spark—”

“We told them that if they didn’t, we’d take them to Sparks and accuse them of having kidnapped us.” 

“What?” The girl asked, her eyes narrowed, “How many of you were there?” 

“Just two,” Joshua said shamefully, lowering his gaze to the floor, “but we said that we had new tech that would immobilize them before they could even take out their laser guns.”

The girl looked at you, “And you fell for that?” 

You stayed silent. This was news to you too, but you didn’t want to think. You didn’t want to regret it when you couldn’t— not when the first thing you would always think about was the safety of your friends.

“Wow,” the girl laughed, “and you really didn’t have this tech?” 

“No,” Joshua whispered. 

“And you honestly left Sparks because you wanted to explore? You aren’t trying to spy?” The girl asked curiously, peering at Joshua Hong though the bars of their cells. 

“No,” he answered, “My friend and I… we felt suffocated in Sparks— we felt like we were always hiding. And no one knows our names, who we are here… so we thought it would be nice… to disappear for a few days.”

The girl scoffed, “And you didn’t think that your disappearance would be noticed?”

“No,” Joshua answered firmly. “I made sure that our presence would be registered in each of our homes. I made us take some days off.” 

“Some genius, are you? And yet you ended up ruining this poor girl’s life.”

Joshua flinched, “I-I know.”

“Catch that, did you?” 

You flinched and dropped your spoon to cover your ears when a sudden screeching overtook your cells. The sound reminded you of train wheels when someone tried to force them to stop. If it didn’t stop, your ears would start to bleed, no matter how much weight you placed against them. 

Then, when you felt like your brain was going to explode, it stopped, and a robotic voice joined them, “No signs of deceit detected.”

“Sorry!” Another voice followed. Chuu’s voice, you realized. “The sound system is still glitching out before connecting!”

You whipped your head around, trying to find the girl. 

“Classifying as non-threatening. Proceed to main office.”

“What?” You asked, eyes widening as you whipped your head around until finally noticing that the girl who had been celled with you was slowly standing up and dusting herself off. “W-what’s going on?”

The girl glanced at you momentarily before pushing through an imperceptible door at the front of the cell. She walked over to your cell without a word, and after taking out a pair of keys, unlocked your cell. Then, she moved onto Joshua’s and did the same.

You were shell shocked.

“If you two would follow me, please.” 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

In a large room with worn-out couches on one end and a single wooden desk on the other, sunlight streamed inside through broken windows. 

You and Joshua Hong stood at the center of the room, trying not to close your eyes and bask in the warmth of the sun you felt you had felt ages ago. 

Behind you, the girl who had been in the cells with you lounged on the couch like she didn’t have a care in the world. 

After minutes of standing at the center of the room, Jun came barging in, Kim Lip and Chuu behind him. He sped walked to his desk without sparing you two a glance, then paused. 

“Where’s my chair? Who took my chair?” 

“I think I saw Heejin with a chair that looked oddly similar,” the girl answered him. 

Jun swallowed back a sigh, “Thank you, Yves. You’ve done well today.” 

“No problem.” 

“What do you want with us?” You said, fear eating away at your patience. You couldn’t think of anything else besides that anyways. 

Jun trained his eyes on you, lifting a single eyebrow to stare you down before answering. 

“I wanted the truth. Luckily for you, he gave it to me sooner rather than later.”

“What?” 

“I’ve been reading your files,” Jun said, tapping on the desk to turn it on. Like the gauntlets that you had seen before, the tabletop started glowing green, and even from a distance, you could see the makings of what seemed to be a picture of you. 

“Y/N Y/L/N usually found with a Lee Jihoon and four others. The five of you are no threat to me. If anything, you stand for the same things I do.” 

A growl formed in your throat. 

“Oh, am I wrong?” Jun asked you. “Do you and your friends not hate Sparks? Is this information about you and your friends actively opposing the Sparks government wrong? I think this right here—” he pointed to something on the desk you couldn’t see, “about you and Lee Jihoon helping and caring for some Dusties that were close to death, speaks for itself, doesn’t it? I think you’ve even managed to steal and run out the few Spark officials that you’ve come across… running their plans to kidnap Dusties.” 

You were aghast.

There was nothing wrong with what you had done, not to you and not to him either, it seemed. Maybe it felt wrong to the Sparkian besides you, but he was Spark, and in the end, his opinion wouldn’t matter to you. 

No.

You were aghast because Jun knew about everything you and Jihoon, and ultimately Chan, Seokmin, Mingyu, and Soonyoung, did. Most of these were things nobody was ever supposed to know. You worked under the cover of night after all. 

But he knew it all. 

“Am I wrong?” Jun asked, gently this time. 

“No.” 

“Then, I’d like to offer you a deal if you don’t mind.” When you didn’t answer, he continued, “Join my army. Help me accomplish what I’ve set out to do.”

“And what exactly would that be?” 

He glanced at Joshua. 

“Him too,” he said, changing the subject, “he’s no threat to me or my people. But I don’t offer you the same deal. You’re a Spark, and I will never trust you or your kind. I will let you go, though with a fair warning that if you ever speak of me, my people, or anything you saw here, we will find you.” 

“Yes, sir,” Joshua gulped.

You swallowed, “How long have you kept us here?” 

“Just a few days. You spent two knocked out and just one in the cells.” 

“One?!” You yelped. 

“Yes,” Jun nodded, “We have ways of making sure you lose track of time.” He mimicked bringing a spoon up to his face, and you knew exactly what he meant. 

Though that fact was still processing in your mind, one that you had been keeping locked up in the back of your mind because it hurt to think about, started to surface. 

You had been gone for a total of three days. Your friends— Jihoon, probably thought you were dead. You couldn’t bear the thought. 

“If we are no longer your prisoners, I would like to go home too,” you sighed, “that’s all I want.”

Jun sighed, “If that’s what you want.” He knocked on the desk, and the glowing disappeared. 

Inside, you still feared Jun. You didn’t know if you believed that he was the fabled King of the Dusty or that he’d really let you go. But when you thought about it, he had been the one to save you, and he hadn’t done anything to harm you two. There was a bit of manipulation to get the truth out of you… but still, there was something about him.

This was your problem, you sighed. Jihoon told you this all the time. 

When it came to Dusties, you always tried to find the good in them. You trusted them easier. 

But when you listened to your gut, you were more often than not— right about your decisions. 

“You can leave tomorrow morning, it’ll take you two days to get home. Chuu will show you the way tonight. For now, you’ll be given some rooms to rest and eat. Yves, will you please?” 

“Okay,” she nodded, sitting upright. 

“Okay,” Jun nodded, making his way to the door. He stopped suddenly and looked at you, “I’ll just ask one thing from you. Don’t tell anyone who we are or where you spent your time. Not even your friends.” 

You nodded.

“If you ever change your mind about joining me or need help… just… find your way back here.” 

“Why?” You asked.

“Because,” Jun said sternly before his voice quieted down into something like a soft whisper, “I have nothing against orphans who came to be the same way as I did.” 

He shot you a look that spoke volumes to you. In a simple sentence and a single look, you felt like you had just come to understand who he was. 

“Thank you,” you said to him.  

Jun nodded then disappeared through the door. Chuu and Kim Lip silently followed behind him. 

Yves stood up then, slowly making her way to the two of you. 

“I hope you know that Jun is being sincere,” she said, “he’s a good guy. He really is the King of the Dusty.”

You nodded wordlessly. 

In the silence, Yves shifted on her feet, “I’m sorry we had to... you know, mess with your heads to get you to talk. But it had to be done, and it’s not like we can just... trust anyone. If we did, then... the King would’ve disappeared long ago.” 

“I... get it,” you nodded. 

“Just a tip, then? You might want to work on your resistance in interrogations and mind games, just in case you’re ever in a situation like this again,” Yves said, suddenly smiling nervously at you. 

“Right,” you nodded, “I… I wouldn’t know how to go about that though…” 

“I can help if you want.” 

“Sure,” you nodded, “yes. That would be great.”

“Alright, well if you two will follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms. I think Kim Lip might have already gotten someone to assemble packs of supplies for the both of you and put them in your rooms.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

You and Joshua traveled for two days, stopping only for necessities like eating and sleeping, with the sun beating down your backs before you were able to make out the place you called home on the horizon. 

“There,” you stopped at the top of a dune to point out a large, tan, one-story Spanish adobe styled home. It was encapsulated by a half-finished metal fence and had arches outlining its long porch. 

It was something you could point out on sight, but Joshua had never been there before, and you knew that he could use the hope and excitement of almost being safe.  

“That’s home— Jihoon’s home, I mean.” 

“That looks close,” Joshua whispered, “really close.” 

“Yeah,” you nodded, “ten, twenty minutes tops. We’re almost there.” 

Half an hour later, you finally reached the house. 

Your steps stuttered as you saw the front door unlocked and wide open. Something felt wrong. Something felt off. 

“Common,” you told Joshua, “stay close behind me.” 

You set off quickly, crossing through the door and closing it behind Joshua, locking it to make sure nothing could get in or out without a pause.

The house looked like it was devoid of any life. Dust was normal in the Dusty, but you had always taken pride in the fact that the youngest of your friends always tried to keep their home clean. But now, now dust and dirt covered the floor, the furniture, the windows, and even the walls. 

You stood silently, gaping at the living room aghast. 

“Then leave!” Someone— it was Jihoon, you knew, his voice was something you could never forget, yelled. “I don’t need you! I never asked you to be here.” 

You set off running. Jihoon’s words sparked worry in you that you had been trying so hard to keep down since you had been separated. Anger was evident in the way he was speaking, but there was something else there too. Something that you had never heard from him before and it made you feel like something bad was about to happen. 

Through the living room, and out a door that opened up into the courtyard, you ran, Joshua following behind you. 

You came to a skidding stop behind an uncut hedge when you found yourself witnessing your friends, and Choi Seungcheol, Joshua’s friend, face off against Jihoon. There were no weapons— unless you counted the knife that you had been clutching as you ran, but you promptly put that away when you saw it was only them. They just faced each other, Jihoon glaring at the others. 

“You can’t keep acting like this,” Seungcheol snapped at him. 

You narrowed your eyes. Who had given him the right to speak to him like that? 

“And what right do you have to speak to me like that?” 

“Jihoon, we’re only trying to help you. You can’t keep acting like this, it’s bad for your health. We’re here for you,” Mingyu pleaded to him. Words had never made you worry more. 

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, “I don’t need babysitters. So go ahead, leave, the door is right there—” he motioned in the direction of the door that you had just walked through, without looking— “I didn’t ask you to be here for me.”

Silence brewed, and you chose that moment to step out from behind the hedge.

In a quiet voice, you asked, “What’s going on?”

Time froze before speeding up again. Nobody moved, they were all static, then like puppets all being pulled by the same string, they all whipped their heads around. Their eyes widened, and though you were staring at them expectingly, none of them answered you. 

Then Jihoon let out a shuddering breath nobody could have missed if they wanted to, and he rushed forward, enveloping you in a hug that had you shutting your eyes and melting into his chest. 

“What’s going on?” You whispered to him, the smell of him making it hard for you to pull away. 

“Nothing,” Jihoon answered. 

“But I heard you guys arguing,” you told him. 

“It was nothing,” Jihoon sighed and pulled away, though his hands itched to hold you again. But instead, he pacified himself by looking you up and down, willing himself to believe that you were real, and he wasn’t imagining things. 

Then he saw the bandages wrapped around your knee, and the one peeking out from under your untucked shirt and a rock lodged itself in his throat. 

“What happened? Where were you guys?” Seungcheol’s voice forced you to tear your eyes away from Jihoon and focus on the reality behind him. 

“W-we got taken,” Joshua stuttered out next to him. 

“Yeah, we passed out from blood loss, and when we woke up we were somewhere else. They kept us for a few days, and then they let us go.” 

“But who?” Seungcheol asked, “And why?” 

“Who doesn’t matter,” you said, remembering what Jun had asked of you two, “and as for why, they did it just… because.” 

“Just… because?” Seungcheol repeated, looking at Joshua for confirmation. He looked at you panicked, but instead of butting in, you stared at him expressionlessly.

“Yeah,” Joshua nodded, “just because.”

“Enough talking,” Jihoon said, “Y/N needs to get those bandages changed.” 

“So does Joshua,” Seungcheol said, trying not to snap at Jihoon’s exclusion.

Jihoon narrowed his eyes, a retort starting to form. But before he could say anything, you cut in, already sensing what Jihoon was about to do. 

“Joshua will get his bandages changed too. And, you’ll be allowed to stay here for another day before leaving.” 

“Thank you,” Seungcheol responded. 

“No,” you said sternly. At the swaying of your body (the pain in your knees and torso was coming back, but you weren’t about to tell anyone), the rest of your friends came running up to you. The four of them gave you quick hugs before Chan and Seokmin threw your arms around their shoulders to help keep you standing, and Mingyu and Soonyoung took the pack were were carrying off of you.

Jihoon walked around from behind them and motioned for Mingyu to give him the bag before standing next to Chan, on their left and giving you a careful, worried look. 

“I’m fine,” you muttered before turning back to Seungcheol and Joshua. “Joshua told me the truth. The whole truth.” 

Blood rushed to his cheeks, and he had the decency to look ashamed. 

“I don’t trust you,” you said slowly, “but I’ll give Joshua the benefit of the doubt.” 

“Tha—”

“Because of that,” you cut him off, “I’ll give you both a place in this home when you need it, but we are not some vacation home for you to come and use as you please. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Seungcheol replied unconsciously. 

“That being said,” you swallowed. You feared that the words that followed could end up making things really bad with them, “you should know that we don’t take Sparks kindly here. If you stay here, if you join us, it’s because you dislike Sparks just as much as we do. We don’t stand with Sparks, we don’t do what they say is law, we stand against them, and we do what we can to usurp them when we can.”

Seungcheol was silent, staring at you with a look in his eyes that you couldn’t discern.

When he turned to look at Joshua, he found him looking at you calmly and relaxed. He had already made his choice. Now only you were left. 

“The choice is yours,” you said, “But I do expect the two of you to apologize to the rest of them.” 

“Understood,” Seungcheol nodded. 

Then without a second more to waste, Jihoon steered Chan and Seokmin in the direction of the bedroom they had transformed into a med station. Joshua nodded at Seungcheol smiling, and they followed close behind. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Part 2 

[murdertrialimagines]

V3 Boys+Tsumugi Catching Their S/O Cuddling Monokuma

“May have any v3 boys + Tsumugi Shirogane réaction to their s/o sleeping with Monokuma ? (but they are not thé mastermind)”

This is super cute! I love cuddling with my Monokuma plushie too :3 I am sorry if this is short, I’m stuck in some writer’s block for a different request, so I’m hoping this gets the gears grinding! Story under the tag~

Shuichi Saihara

You usually spent the night at Shuichi’s dorm, and he knew you sometimes had nightmares

This is why he felt bad when he left you to go training with Kaito and Maki

So when he came back and saw you cuddling with the very bear that stuck them in this mess, he didn’t know how to feel

I mean, that bear is a killing machine

But...you look so cute?

Shuichi watched you nuzzle up to the bear, who stared at him with a deadpan expression

He nearly jumped at the high pitched voice

“I may be a horrible being, but I know to be nice to someone when they need it!”

Shuichi watched for one more moment before walking back out

“Maybe it’s best I stay out for a bit longer...”

Kaito Momota

The second Kaito even sees Monokuma around you he wants to drag you away to the furthest corner of their prison

Only trouble follows that bear! 

When he found you sleeping with Monokuma, his first instinct was to wake you up

Which he did

When you opened your eyes, you found your boyfriend had already removed Monokuma from your arms, you now in his

“Leave my Y/n alone!”

Monokuma gave you both his signature laugh before leaving quickly, somehow exiting the room without opening the door

Swiftly, Kaito set you back on the bed, grumbling about the bear, stopping when you pulled him down with you

Wrapping your arms around his waist, you cuddled into his chest

“Sorry...I got lonely, and training seemed to be lasting forever...”

Kaito melted

He returned the hug, pulling the blankets over the two of you

“I’ll try to finish up quicker next time. Goodnight, Y/n.”

Ryoma Hoshi

Ryoma never misses a night with you, especially once the first murder occurred, giving you intense nightmares

It wasn’t rare for you to wake up in the middle night, having nightmares that made you need to check to see if your boyfriend was alive.

He had volunteered to stay back one night, Miu needing someone small to help set up camera’s in a room that had suspicious events occurring in it

He felt bad, but you insisted that you would just stay awake until he came back

So when he came back to his dorm saw it was pitch black, his mind raced

You always fell asleep with the light on, Ryoma turning it off after he was sure you wouldn’t wake up again

Why was it off?

He clicked it on, jumping at the voice that rang out immediately, as if it was cued by the light switch

“She’s not dead, if that’s what you think.”

Ryoma scanned the bed, barely making out your body shape in the heap of blankets piled up

And hooked under your dead-weight arm was Monokuma

“What-”

He was cut off by the bear’s red eye glowing slightly brighter, gleaming

“Since you’re here, my job is done. Get me out!”

Ryoma freed Monokuma from your grasp easily, you only stirring in response

Monokuma waddled to the door, jumping to hit the light switch, making the room light up by only the moonlight peering in from the open door

“They only asked me here because they said I’m close to your size, ya know” 

Ryoma slammed the door in Monokuma’s face, and jumped into bed, taking some well needed rest by his favorite person.

Rantaro Amami

Rantaro had spent all night in the hall to the library, hoping that the mastermind might come in and reveal a clue, or even their identity

And you, the ever supporting s/o, stayed with him, despite how easily you fell asleep

He stood, pacing back and fourth, while you leaned on the hall wall, blanket draped over your shoulders.

You two kept yourself occupied with conversation, but soon enough that turned to him speaking and you giving soft hums of agreement or acknowledgement.

After asking a question and not getting a response, Rantaro turned around, not surprised to see you had nodded off

What did surprise him, however, was the bear in your arms, staring directly at him

“You should’ve known this plan was never gonna work!”

Rantaro shushed the bear.

“Quiet. Y/n is sleeping”

He bent down to pluck the bear from your arms, and to his surprise, Monokuma buried himself deeper in your arms

“Not yet! I’m starved for affection, you guys are all so mean to me!”

Rantaro only sighed in response before picking you up bridal style, Monokuma still in your arms

“Hm, fine. But we’re going back to our room.”

Gonta Gokuhara

The second Gonta saw you cuddling with the bear in your room, he panicked

He really thought the bear was trying to kill you, as Monokuma was standing on your stomach, staring at you

The bear only pulled up its fist in response, staring straight at the cowering man

“Keep quiet Gorilla! She asked me to stay till she fell asleep, nightmares or something”

Monokuma jumped off the bed, waddling towards the door before turning back to Gonta

“They’re kind of a mess, huh?”

And with that, he left, leaving a stunned Gonta in his wake

Gonta immediately ran to the bed, shaking you awake to make sure you were in fact, alive

When you murmured and squinted your eyes open, he let out a sigh of relief

“Thank goodness! Gonta thought that Y/n-”

Before he could finish his sentence, you grabbed his suit collar and tugged, causing him to stumble a bit

He got the message and slowly laid down next to you, blushing when you curled up closer to him

“I’m sorry...” You whispered, pulling the blankets over you both. “I just got scared, and you weren’t here to help me”

Gonta stammered, trying to give out a good apology before you shushed him

“No talking please, I just wanna lay down and sleep...”

Gonta gave out one more meek sorry before settling better onto the bed watching as you slowly drifted back off

Oh, how adorable you are

Kokichi Oma

Kokichi always stayed out late, working on whatever sinister scheme he was plotting next

Well, this time it was a prank on the Ultimate Astronaut, but that’s besides the point

It didn’t really bother you, since you always slept in your own room, saying it was safer than being together

But he really needed your help putting something up on a shelf, so he went to your room

Knocking on your door, he twirled around, calling to you in a singsong voice

“Oh , Y/n~! I need some help, pretty please? I promise it wont take long!”

Instead of a vocal response, he heard a click from your door, presumably unlocking

He threw the door open, arms wide expecting to run into you and hug you

So he was surprised when he opened it to see you still in bed, completely asleep

And he was even more surprised to see the bear that put them in this game laying next to you, still as stone

“Oh? This is a new development!”

Monokuma began to talk, but before he could even finish the first word Kokichi ran towards the bed, belly-flopping on the both of you

You woke up to a sudden impact on your body, the bed shaking almost violently under you

“What the-”

“Y/n! You’re alive! I thought you were dead!” Fake tears grew in Kokichi’s eyes

You grumbled and shoved him off of you, body jumping when you spotted Monokuma next to you, staring at you

You jumped from the bed, pointing at the bear. “When did he...what is going on?!”

Kokichi sat up and gasped, eyes going wide

“Ooooh, you didn’t know he was here? I invited him for a sleepover!” he threw his arms open, falling back onto the bed

After throwing a glare at Kokichi, you turned back to Monokuma

“Why are you here?”

“I get so lonely! None of you like me or even thank me, and for all the work I put into this school for you!”

You grabbed Monokuma’s paw and dragged him to the door, slamming it in his laughing face. Turning back to Kokichi, you sighed

“The people I have to deal with.”

Korekiyo Shinguji

It wasn’t unusual for Korekiyo to stay late in his classroom, claiming that he worked best at night

You didn’t blame him, you knew how he was around the other students, and how the school was empty at night so he wouldn’t run into people

But you were a cuddler, and sometimes a pillow wasn’t enough

So when Korekiyo came back to his room to find you asleep with Monokuma, he wasn’t surprised

He knew from the beginning that Monokuma wouldn’t hurt any student for no reason, meaning he had no reason to be fearful for your safety

He mostly found it entertaining how the threatening bear was so compliant to do something if asked nicely, which, knowing you, you said please and thank you.

He watched for a little bit longer before leaning over and tapping the bear on the head, causing it to stir from your arms

“Ah, thank you Monokuma for keeping Y/n company, but I am afraid you are no longer needed.”

Monokuma grumbled something about never being needed anymore before getting up and walking to the door, somehow leaving the room without opening it

Giving a faint smile at your sleeping form, Korekiyo changed and slowly climbed into bed, not wanting to accidentally wake up his peaceful S/o

He wasn’t known for being affectionate, so he simply pulled a pillow to his side of the bed and laid down, giving out an airy laugh when you immediately turned on your side and cuddled into his back

He always felt so close to you

Kiibo

Kiibo didn’t sleep, he was a robot that only needed charging

I imagine him standing in the corner attached to a wall outlet

But you still liked to stay in his room, knowing that he was vulnerable when he was shut down

But this night, Kiibo ‘woke up’ a bit earlier than usual

Guessing he might’ve just used less power today, he made sure all his systems had booted up properly before looking for you on his bed

He saw you peacefully sleeping, and satisfied, started towards the bed

His footsteps stopped however, when he noticed something else shifting in the bed by you

On high alert, Kiibo slowly walked towards the bed and threw the covers off, screaming when he saw what lay underneath

Monokuma jumped up, dusting off imaginary dirt from his fur

“Oh, hey Kiibo! Just keeping your S/o come company during the night! I see my work here is done, so I’ll see ya later!”

Kiibo stopped Monokuma before he could run off, asking him why he was even in here, let alone in the same bed as you

“Y/n always says that they get lonely at night, so I guess I stand in as a huggable teddy bear! Maybe you should learn how to charge in bed so you can keep your own S/o company!”

And with that, Monokuma was gone, leaving behind a bewildered and slightly envious Kiibo

Kiibo glanced over at your sleeping figure, watching as you shuffled a bit before settling in a slightly different sleeping position

Seeing a chance, he slowly crawled into the bed, wincing at how it creaked under him whenever he shifted

He carefully wrapped his arms around you, afraid you would push away once you felt his cold exterior

Instead, you cuddled up closer, causing the boy to blush, shaking a little

He watched as you smiled in your sleep, murmuring randomness before falling back into your peaceful state

He definitely needs to ask Miu to make him a portable charger

Tsumugi Shirogane

Tsumugi almost never let you stay the night at her room, always saying that it was too cluttered, or another excuse to keep you in your own room

In reality, she knew she needed to go down to her hidden room quite often, and as much as it hurt her, she couldn’t let you know she was going out at night, let alone that she was the mastermind!

Tonight though, was a special case

She had no need to go behind the scenes, and was upset with Kokichi for ruining a perfectly good motive of hers for the millionth time

Trying to think of something new to continue the game was taking too much of a toll on her tired brain, Tsumugi determining that she needed cuddles, now

She walked to your room, listening as the lock clicked open thanks to others behind the scenes knowing what she wanted to do

She’ll just tell you that you forgot to lock it in the morning

When she walked in she already knew you would be asleep, as it was the middle of the night and you always boasted about getting the proper hours of sleep

What she didn’t expect though, was her own machine cuddled up to you side, your arm snug under it

It almost made her laugh, wanting to photograph this

At least someone was appreciating her bear!

Smiling, she looked at you one last time before laying down next to you, not bothered by the bear

She laid down as she listened to your steady breathing, and the almost silent whirring of Monokuma’s machinery

She picked up Monokuma so she could snuggle into your side instead, moving the bear into her other arm

She sighed, feeling much needed relief

She was glad she could have you, even if that could change at any moment.

     _____________________________________________________________

Wow, it’s done! I’m really glad I got this one out early! I might not be able to update for a bit, since I have finals soon and a bunch of things to take care of. Thank you for requesting this! Wow Shuichi’s is really short I’m sorry -

[kpophours]

A Shadow in the Night

➵ SF9: Zuho x fem. reader / one shot, assassin AU / angst, fluff

➵ warnings: mentions of violence, slight cursing

➵ word count: 1.8k

a/n: I just wanted to drabble but then... this happened. I’m currently not planning to turn this into a series - so, please excuse the cliff-hanger.

Your heart beats frantically against your ribcage.

It’s dangerous and stupid, this game you’re playing.

But right now, it feels right, oh so right.

“Got you.” A body presses against you, warm and solid, already feeling way too familiar.

“Juho.”, you whisper, letting yourself be turned around by the tall man, who immediately captures your lips in a hungry kiss. You press your body closer to his, sliding both arms around his neck, answering his desperation in the same manner.

“No one saw you, right?”, he whispers against your lips, dark eyes boring into yours.

“Of course not.”, you answer mildly offended, “You’re not the only one who knows how to hide and sneak around, Ju.”

He grins. “I know, but I love teasing you. You always get that cute line between your eyebrows.“ He playfully taps your forehead, making you swat his hand away.

“You’re an actual ten year old.”, you chide, “I don’t even know why I put up with you.”

“Because of my stunning looks and sparkling personality.”

Before you can retort anything witty, his lips are on yours again, your playful banter quickly forgotten.

Neither Juho nor you had planned for this (whatever this might be), but neither of you can stop this anymore – not that you would want to. From being rival assassins and each other’s enemies to becoming lovers… You would have bursted out laughing if anyone had dared to predict something like that.

But here you are now, in the arms of one of your brotherhood’s biggest rivals, The Nine. And not just someone from The Nine – the Shadow, a name never whispered without fear.

It had been the Shadow you had seen step out of seemingly nowhere all those weeks ago, when you had been posted as a stakeout one cold winter night, being tasked with looking for The Nine. The Shadow had been the one who captured your eyes, the one who sparked not only fear but also curiosity in you.

... If only you had known then, what would come for you - all the loss and pain and fear. But who could have known? And hadn’t it been worth it, after all?

You and Jun had been captured by The Nine a few months ago, not long after your brotherhood had tried to murder one of them. The assassins of The Nine had slowly tortured both of you in an attempt to get the names and locations of your brotherhood. But you had remained stoic, simply holding out and fleeing into a happy space inside your own head. The8 had prepared you for situations like these – you as well as Jun. After days of zero progress, The Nine had tried a different approach: getting Jun and you to trust them. So they had begun to send two assassins into your cells. For Jun, it had been an assassin with greyish-blue hair and a bright smile by the name of Jaeyoon, for you it had been someone named Hwiyoung, one of The Nine’s youngest assassins. But again, their attempt had failed – because The Carat had staged a dangerous and stupid rescue mission to break you and Jun out of The Nine’s headquarters. Even The8 had been there - and your leader seldom left headquarters anymore.

Well and that had been it. No more contact with anyone from The Nine for weeks. Everything had seemed calm, peaceful even.

You and Juho had actually met on a totally different occasion – a ball.

To be more specific, a masquerade ball to celebrate the 500th birthday of your nation state; basically everyone had been invited. Even The Carat had not wanted to miss such a big party and in the end, most of the brotherhood had gone to the ball. You had almost laughed at having to wear a mask for it – as an assassin, you were always wearing some kind of mask to hide your true self. Only this time, you had to wear a real fancy one. But still, you had been excited to finally get out of headquarters again. The8 had been way too protective of you and Jun, locking you away inside headquarters ever since The Nine had managed to capture you both. For the first time in weeks, you had felt like finally being able to breathe again. The mere thought of leaving the dark chambers of your hideout had been liberating. So you had put on a dark red dress, a silver mask and had worn your hair open for the first time in too long. The night had felt full of possibilities and freedom and you had been unable to hide your excitement, when you walked down the steps towards the glittering dance floor.

Your warm, heartfelt laughter had been the first thing Juho had noticed about you. He had been intrigued from the first second, quickly making his way through the many dancing figures towards you. He had captured your hand in his, twirling you around to face him. He had only been able to see a pair of sparkling eyes through your mask as well as the bright smile tugging on your lips. He didn’t recognize you from before, because that night, you hadn’t been the assassin he had captured all those weeks ago – that had been someone else entirely, a dark and sly assassin. The woman at the ball had been just you for once.

“Dance with me, please.”, Juho had said to you and after taking a quick double-take at his deep voice and sharp jaw line, you had nodded a bit shyly and followed him onto the dance floor. Neither of you had been aware of the other one’s true identity. 

“What’s your name?”, Juho had asked, but you had only smiled at him, before giving a cheeky answer: “There’s no need for names tonight.”

Juho had been enthralled ever since.

It had been the beginning of the end for both of you.

When The8 lifts the dark cloth covering the face of his prisoner, you just barely manage to conceal your shock and stifle your groan.

Your heart begins to frantically hammer against your ribcage and you shift from one foot to the other, crossing your arms and slipping on a mask of mild annoyance and boredom.

“So, who’s that?”, you ask, feigning innocence.

Your leader grins like a Cheshire cat, eyes glinting dangerously in the dimly lit room. “That, my love, is one of The Nine’s inner circle. Hoshi and his team managed to capture him last night. And I think we’ll have a lot of fun with him, don’t you?”

“Oh, you know that I have absolute faith in Jun’s methods.”, you simply answer, smiling slightly.

The8 nods thoughtfully. “I think you should lend him a hand, though. You two are the best we’ve got and I need information as quickly as possible.”

“I’m all yours.”, you answer sweetly, honey coating your voice.

Don’t look at him, don’t look at him. Just ignore him, you think to yourself, bile rising up your throat.

You try not to think of his eyes, which always look at you in such wonder and awe, which you know better than your own by now, which get darker with lust and lighter with laughter... 

And which are now blackish-blue and almost swollen shut. 

God, it is painful to look at Baek Juho, your lover, your confidante, your beacon of light in the darkest of hours. 

The barely noticeable movement of his chest is the only sign that he is still alive, that your brothers and sisters haven’t killed him yet.

What have Hoshi and the others done to him?!

You almost cry at the sight in front of you.

God, you have to get him out of here – even if it means betraying the only family you have ever known.

“Is he even still alive?”, you finally manage to ask, surprised to find your own voice steady and flat.

“Barely.” The8 grins. He usually isn’t a fan of unnecessary cruelty, but The Nine has been your enemy for the longest of times now – and finally having the upper hand for once seems to make your leader more than happy.

“And who exactly is he?”

“The Shadow.”

Shitshitshitshit. The8 even knows Juho’s title. That means he will install the highest of security around him at all times.

How are you supposed to get him out of here? And alone, at that?

“Well, if that’s all for now… I think I need to rest for a bit, if you don’t mind.”, you finally say, nearly choking on this simple sentence.

The8 just shrugs. “Sure, you’ve had some rough nights. Go, get some sleep – or whatever you do with Wonwoo these nights.“ He grins and shoots you a wink.

You barely manage your smile this time. The8 doesn’t know you have ended things with Wonwoo weeks - no, months ago already. He doesn’t know, because you don’t tell him anything anymore. He used to be your best friend, your confidante and had always been the closest thing you had to family. 

But so many things have begun to change these past months - and not only thanks to your new lover. The change in The8′s character began as soon as the old King died – and that’s probably the reason for you stopping to call him Minghao; he’s only The8 for you now, at least in your mind. He has become so power-hungry, so ruthless – your oldest friend has withered away and become a monster you don’t even know or want to know anymore.

Meeting Juho all those weeks ago has only managed to confirm your own thoughts. During your secret meetings, he began to tell you all about The8’s dark secrets and by now, you don’t want to be part of The Carat anymore. You want the only life you’ve ever known to be finally over.

Maybe you’re going settle down, somewhere distant and totally different, like some others of your brotherhood have done already. But maybe you’re also going to stay in this city, the city you love so much - stay here, together with Juho, who has shown you that you can lead a different kind of life. Maybe you could even become part of The Nine and if not, do something entirely different. 

You have wanted to talk to The8 about this for some time now, but you have always found ways around this particular conversation, never feeling ready to talk to him about it just yet.

And now, it is too late for that.

Because you definitely need to get Juho out of here, as fast as possible - and no matter the cost.

You need him more than anyone else in this world.

So you will fight for him - until the very end.

[masterlist] | [requests] 

[j-wonwootrash]

The8 || Change

Word count: 2k Genre: Soulmate!au, fluff, slice of life, romance A/N: Part of the Seventeen soulmate!au. Enjoy! Do dm me for requests~ 

|| s.coups || jeonghan || joshua || jun || hoshi || wonwoo || woozi || dk || mingyu || the8 || seungkwan || vernon || dino

Your scream made Ayeon deaf for at least 10 seconds. She was reading a book when she jolted in her seat, your dolphin scream irritated her. “What now Y/N?” It wasn’t surprising for her to hear you scream because well, you were quite a scaredy-cat. 

“Ayeon!” you cried as you removed the towel from your damp hair- blonde with pink and blue highlights. No! This can’t be! 

“Ooh you’re so gonna get in trouble!” she hit you jokingly. “Hello detention!”

It wasn’t your doing, rather it was your soulmate- whom you never met. Your soulmate could’ve waited until the end of your school year. Did he even know how the school worked? Was he a rebel thinking that it was okay to color his hair in 3 shades? Did he ever think of you before he did it? All this thinking had you in a worried state. 

Luckily for you, you have a roommate who thought of an idea: Wear a beanie, she said. True enough, it was winter and it was alright to wear anything that would make you warm. As long as it fit the color coding of the system, no problem. You were in a girls’ school and you had to abide with the rules. No hair-dye was one of them. And it was that rule you never expected to break. You were the school’s ace and breaking the rules would be hindering your reputation.

And off you were, you tied your hair in a bun and wore the beanie. This is bothering, you thought, as you walked down the hallways of the lockers. Every girl whispered to themselves, curious of your attire. Your heels hit the slippery floor when they stopped at the call of the disciplinary teacher. “Y/N, come to my office.”

Oh boy, this is it. 

———

“I understand the weather is cold but as the school rules goes, you have to remove it once you’re at school grounds.” Mrs. Park reminded you.

You looked down to your shoes, not wanting to take it off. But you had to obey her. “Mrs. Park? Are you familiar with the soulmate thing going on nowadays?” you bravely asked her, avoiding her gaze.

“I’m well aware that most students consulted me of the matter. I supposed you have the same reason?” she closed her hands together, as she saw the blonde strands at the ends of your hairline.

 “Yes Ma'am,” you managed to speak without wavering. “I know I’m the school’s ace and reputation is most important and-”

“Nothing is more important than meeting your soulmate. I understand, you may leave.” she assured with a smile.

You left the office and sighed heavy. Ayeon and Risa came running to you, worried that you might get a warning. “Well she let me off the hook.” 

“As expected from the school’s ace!”

———

Months went by and you saw how your hair changed- the blue and pink strands slowly faded, curly blonde and now silver blonde. 

It worried you though, because the shoot for annual school magazine was approaching. And you didn’t want anyone to know of your hair colour. Might as well ask the editors to change from blonde to your hair colour.

“Just a few takes and we’re done.” Mr. Kang insisted. You politely asked for a request, and surprisingly they agreed. You let your hair down and they complimented how it suited you. 

“Well, it looks like I got it permed, but it’s natural enough.” you chuckled shyly. 

Minghao thought of dyeing his hair red for the next comeback of their first full album. He wasn’t aware of the whole soulmate thing but he was already reminded by his members to be careful of the colour he chooses, to be considerate of his soulmate. Apparently, he didn’t believe in such thing. 

“I want to dye my hair red.” he told Chan as he wiped his sweat from practice.

“You.. Hyung we have told you many times that-”

“But I don’t believe in those. I’m not convinced.” he hissed, looking at the younger one, who stared at his blonde hair that slowly turned copper brown. “What?”

Chan didn’t speak, he quickly just grabbed Minghao’s shoulders to the mirror behind him. “Are you convinced now?” 

The rest of the members came back from break and were amused to see Minghao’s hair. “Whoaho, we left for three minutes and it changed.” Jun touched the newly dyed hair. 

“Your soulmate seemed pretty annoyed with the marshmallow colours.” Soonyoung laughed. 

“Well, it was quick of her to realize it was Minghao hyung’s doing.” Seungkwan put down the boxes of chicken. 

Minghao wondered if you knew who he was, if you saw him perform at live shows or on tv. He was slightly convinced, however he later got bummed out after he knew he wouldn’t get to dye his hair red. 

His fans loved his hair, and one thing he could thank you for. His group was rising to be more popular than he thought. So he planned to let it slide for a while. 

———

He stared at the mirror, checked his watch where it marked the 7th month of having copper brown hair. He was getting impatient. No matter he tried to dye his hair red, you were always a step further. It got into his nerves. He really wanted to dye his hair red.

His members made fun of him, they copied his ways of tantrum, his expressions when his hair would always turn to brown just a day after he’d dye red. 

This year-end month, it was such good timing. Another comeback was approaching and he made sure you wouldn’t stop him from getting what he wanted. Even if you knew who he was, he’d do it right now. When his company agreed to let him dye his hair for the umpteenth time, he was beyond the clouds. For a few weeks at least, you did not bother him at all. 

“Finally I could be less stressed.” he laid down on the couch of their dorm.

“Well, when there’s achievement, always gotta be prepared of the consequences.” Jeonghan warned.

What could it be? he thought. He was happy that you finally let him choose the color he wanted. There was nothing he could think of.

Boom Boom was successful and the guest shows they did was too. He thanked you for that, that he made countless of memories with his group and fans. He thanked you for being understanding. Yet something in his heart felt empty. He couldn’t figure it out. His unit didn’t know what it was, though they knew what he felt. There he realized.

It was you he missed.

It was the continuous arguments of the change of hair color. It was the only thing that connected him to you, his soulmate. At least to figure out who you were or where you came from. Why was he inconsiderate of you in the past? Was it his beliefs that nearly made the both of you in pain?

———

For seven months you wondered why he let you have the copper brown hair. It was the color that you have always wanted after you finished school. For seven months you tried to figure who he was, why he would dye his hair so often that it took your happiness away. He annoyed you, yes, but you just couldn’t understand why he let you off the hook. It was the only connection, the only clue to his identity.

“Why soulmate why?” you stared at your red hair you had for weeks. “Who are you? And why do you do this?”

“Because I love you and the colors expresses my feelings for you.” Risa crept up from behind you as she pretended to be your soulmate.

“Ha ha very funny.” you rolled your eyes. “I just don’t understand. One moment he does it and then leaves it. And when I do it, he lets me. Now that my hair is red, I don’t know what to do.”

“The answer will probably come to you soon. You just have to wait for him.” Risa entered the toilet as she prepared a new hair color. “I’ll help you dye your hair. It’ll probably leave an impression on him once he sees his hair change.”

You took the packaging and your eyes widened. “Yellow blonde?” “Yeah, it suited you before, but this is a lil’ darker. I mean, I can tell you miss him. So why not show him?” she started to untie your hair.

“Yeah, I guess there’s no harm. There might be a lead.”

Once your hair was done, you felt weird. It suited you but you felt uneasy. Maybe I’m just overthinking things. Ayeon smiled at you, she saw how there were times you’d complain about him- so stubborn and rude.

It took you a lot of time to adjust to the blonde hair again, but you just let it be. It was the only way to know him. And for a few weeks, he acknowledged the hair color.

———

“Thank you for the hard work!” Minghao said to the staff after filming his unit’s music video. 

“Ah your hair suited you.” Jun praised him, messing his hair. “She probably got tired of the red hair and went back to blonde.”

“Wasn’t that the color that the universe introduced the both of you?” Chan asked the older one.

“Yeah. And I think she missed me.” Minghao went to a room where they rested.

“How?” Soonyoung questioned him with furrowed eyebrows.

“Think about it, if one of us stops then this whole soulmate thing would lose connection. It’s the only way that links us together.” he shyly covered his face.

“It’s the new year soon, what are you planning to do?” Jun placed his arms onto Minghao’s shoulders. 

“I’ll dye my hair brown.” 

———

A few months have passed and you liked the shade of brown your soulmate chose. You could tell he wasn’t annoyed anymore.

“Y/N!!!” Risa called you, her hands holding tickets.

“Did you win the lottery so that it made you hyper?” you pinched the girl’s cheeks, her lips forming a weird shape.

“I wish but no! Ayeon and I got VIP tickets to a concert!” A concert? You never been to one and you never got the time. You’ve always knew your friends have been into K-pop but you don’t really give much attention. Risa begged you to go with them in case they fainted, you would be the one to catch them.

“Okay okay I’ll go! Just tell me when.”

“Tomorrow!” she jumped several times.

That quick? You just let it slide and maybe just this once, have fun.

———

The concert was fully packed and you were shocked to see the amount of fans this group has. And to be honest, they were good, talented young men. There was this performance that left an impression on you, you believed it was a duo with a garter perhaps. It was graceful and elegant, you wondered how long they practiced.

All you could remember was the screams of Ayeon and Risa. They waved their lightstick almost throughout the whole concert and their energy was still full. Once the concert ended, you all lined up for a hi-touch. Your friends never mentioned about it but here you were, so close, despite being the last one to see them.

And then you saw them. They were handsome, tall and polite. You recalled one of the duo to be the next one in line. As you hands touched, a flow of electricity ran through your bodies.

Minghao saw a particular girl who he assumed was dragged by her friends. And that made him laugh. When he saw you approaching and he brought out his hands, a sensation ran his body.

Everyone saw the ends of your hairs, like lightsticks, they lit up in colors, from blonde to silver to red to blonde and to what was original, brown.

You both blushed, upon realizing your hands were still together. You tried to let go but he tightened his grip. “No, don’t. Stay like this for a while.” he whispered. “My name is Minghao.”

“Y/N..” you averted his gaze. “I’m not sure what to do now.” His large hands were still in yours.

“I- uh..” he started. “Hi soulmate.” his tinted cheeks became more red that his friends, took notice of.

“Ni-nice to meet you..” you cleared your throat. “..soulmate.”

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BHNA self insert AU OC

Name: Iwata El Roca Iida Age introduced: 15 Height: 5′4 Gender: Male Birthday: May 7th Sexuality: Bisexual   Hair Color: Black, Curly Eye Color: Dark Brown Quirk: Telekinesis, Engine School: UA high Class: Dual enrollment Hero and Intel A classes

Likes: 

Black coffee, Memes, Poetry, Hot Chips 

Dislikes: un-necessary gendering of objects, capris, capitalism, cold weather 

Quirk: Telekinesis and Engine

What it does: Levitate objects and self with mind 

flaw/limit:

1) Though one facet of mother’s quirk, can levitate things faster and can fling them with velocity and force 2) No limit to how much they can levitate but prolonged use causes headaches 3) Unstable without the proper suppressants and constant mind simulation  

What it does: Pistons along the arms and palms 

flaw/limit:

1) Size and location of the quirk makes him capable of flight  2) Palms can release short bursts of energy for balance (when in flight) or close range attack 3) Cool downs are less than a minute but still has full use of arms, they’re just hot to the touch until cooled   4) Can retract and extend the pistons at will, except the palms

About the family:

Itati Palma: Mid-range Telekinesis, Copy Tenya Iida: Engine Lili Perla Iida: Master Thread, Engine Tensei Oro Iida: Teleportation, Metal Manipulation Hanaka Rosa Iida: Fire, Engine

Family of a CEO, Pro-Hero and 4 children with a robot-dog. Double quirks, coffee addiction and curly hair run strong in this family. Though they live busy lives, everyone makes sure they spend Sundays together as a family. Love, understanding and music keeps this family strong and unified….you can thank mom for that one!

Techniques and preferences:  

Like his mother, they prefer to be the strategist and have wrestler type moves. When in agent work, stun weapons are his go to. When hero training, like all the Iida’s before him, is a speed machine but with the telekinesis boost. Both of the quirks combined makes him the undefeated king of spars and perfect for any type of job. 

About :

Middle child of this unique family and with the most talent and skills. Raised to be whatever he wanted to be but felt the pressure to be more like his mother because he looks just like her! He feels the need to fulfill everything his parents accomplished and that he was the chosen one but unsure on what. Often gets anxiety and panic attacks because of it but with his best friend Beizu Hatsune by his side for the long ride, he has all the help he’ll ever need to find himself. The lax, funny older brother and the weird, gifted friend are the roles he plays. Big momma’s boy and often goes to his mother for advice and guidance whenever he runs into difficult life questions or can’t control his telekinesis too well. 

School life:

Is in both top hero and intel courses because he’s an intellectual and over-achiever (just like mom and dad). Not too social with other students because everyone is intimidated by his power and family background. Doesn’t have any rivals, Iwata is too laid back and weird to have beef with anybody BUT isn’t afraid to throw hands at anybody that’s being homophobic, transphobic or is picking on his best friend. Iwata and Beizu are a 2 for 1 special, you can’t have one without the other and you’ll often see them working on projects and homework together or simply just hanging out on their shenanigans.  

Uniform and Costume:

Wears the uniform like they’re supposed to but with fun socks and always has a knitted sweater on him because he’s always cold. Doesn’t wear glasses but changes up his hairstyle to tame his curly hair. Their costume is nearly identical to his mother’s when they were in high school but the difference was slits for his engines, thigh high support boots with steel toe and an aero-dynamic visor. 

Fun details:

Was a band geek before turning gears to go to hero school. Played anything he could get his hands on and mastered them, even partook in marching band in Middle school. Iwata and Beizu were friends since infancy (Beizu’s mother is Mei Hatsune!) and are the dynamic duo of chaotic good. Speaks perfect English, Spanish and Japanese but picked up mom’s habit of spanish cursing and latina rage. Iwata doesn’t care about gendered clothes, if he likes the fit or design, he’ll wear it and not give a fuck because he’s feeling himself! Loves diving into mom’s closet to put on all the designer and flashy clothing, sometimes borrowing an item or two to wear on his next outing. When introduced to dorms, he shares with Beizu and they made the room into their chaotic sanctuary of dozens of pillows and other comfort items. Back home he shares a room with little brother Tensei and they bond over music and memes. Like mom, he keeps his stash of hot chips under his bed in the dorms.

=========================================

That’s Iwata’s character sheet! He’s one of my self aware characters but drives the plot to fill in the blanks. So like a self insert in this self insert? Is that too meta? Either way...he’ll grow on you if you really liked my self insert character. Love all the inboxes I’ve gotten about him, I dreamt him up to be this relatable lmao. Fallen a bit behind? Here’s some links to my other OCs, master posts and FAQs. Hope you’re doin’ okay during these scary times, writing this AU helps me keep busy and distracted. We’ll get through this in one piece...promise :3

Love,

Palma-sama

Book 1 Master Post * Book 2 Master Post* Beginning of Book 3

Itati *Jin *Mimi *Lili *Hoshi