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#I can at any moment give one of them a beanie. but I refuse
b4kuch1n · 2 months
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THEE audiodrama disguised as podcast
#sherlock and co#s&co#sherlock holmes#john watson#mariana ametxazurra#Ive been thinking abt these design SO much lmao. even while doing other things#decided to take cues from acd/granada more. hence sherlock's headband to mimic slicked back hair#and I went with Colors bc. well first of all Im a clown. but second of all I recall some stuff abt victorian fabrics and uh. the wonder of#arsenic green etc#they were enjoying the colors I can commit to some#and. okay Im so real with u Im also a long haired john truther bc he has a podcast of course he'd have long hair but#I think its gonna take a Hot minute. currently this is still like the slightly-grown-out regulation cut#john's jacket is bc he and sherlock are 90s kids. this was a moment of enlightenment to me. I can give john every windbreaker on earth#mariana gets the jean jacket bc I like to imagine she's a y2k kid#(sherlock I think is only 90s kid in year of birth that man's childhood was skipping class to burn shit in the wood)#(but he canonically sews which I fucking love so much. he has not bought new clothes for almost a decade#if a shirt's disintegrating no it isn't. not on his watch)#a lil sad I cant figure out how to give them hats lol I feel like thats the most victorian thing there is. a stupid hat#I can at any moment give one of them a beanie. but I refuse#there are. like a Hoard of other scribbly sketches I did to get used to drawing them. but those are for me those are not for the public#and also theyre in my sketchbook and Im too lazy to scan them#happened mostly during lunar new year lol. I was getting Hard whipped then thank u s&co for carrying me thru#ok I do other things now. have this for a while ok? thank u#have a good night lads. enjoy motion
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ioniansunsets · 6 months
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please just a crumb of heartsteel sett 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️
✖ Heartsteel!Sett Headcanons ✖
✖ Word Count: 876
✖ Tags: Established R/S
✖ A/N: Just crumbs! I am UNINSPIRED! Aaaa it's just very domestic headcanons. Feel free to ask for more specific things if any of these make you excited!
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- He likes picking you up, he's strong enough to. You cant reach something? No, he's not helping you, he's picking you up so you can do it yourself. Huh, walking is tiring? He's carrying you. Oh damn there's a puddle, alright up we go. Sett makes sure he can lift your weight. There is no instance you would catch him lacking, man will hoist you.
- Sett is always looking for you. Like actually turning around to make sure you're in the room. Waiting and searching to see if you are still following him. Walking around a store to make sure he has his eyes on you. He likes knowing you are there, that you are near so every so often you can see his head rise and turn as he looks for you, making sure you are there. The same for when he performs! Sett is constantly scanning the audience to find your face. Hoping to see you. Smiling widely when he does. He loves you! He WANTS to see you as often as possible.
- His ears get cold! He likes it a lot when you lightly rub them, actually being able to feel the warmth of your hands heat it up. Because he works out so often he is just a natural warm guy, so he feels the cold when the wind blows at his ears. Its why Ma made him the beanie anyway. If you kiss his ears they twitch. When he blushes they get warm. When you scratch them you might hear him purr, its a deep rumbling, a warm tone.
- Sett thinks its adorable if you want to work out with him! He will spot for you, give you advice, help you every way he can. Meal plans, tips and tricks, your personal trainer and motivator. Soft kisses when you hit a goal. Big hugs when you survive a gruesome set. He loves spending time with you and if you follow him to the gym he can do just that. Tired after? He's carrying you out.
- He likes body contact. He likes when you sit by him, lying on his lap as he practices singing or rapping. He likes you holding his hand as you walk around on dates. He likes to hug you from behind as you do things. He likes the physical reassurance that you are by his side. A hand around your shoulder as you two sit and chat. The gentle touch of his hand on your thigh when you talk to him. His arms wrapping around you when he falls asleep by your side. All the small things. He loves feeling You.
- When he gets the chance he always tries to buy you thoughtful gifts. He remembers! Ma taught him well. When you talk about needing a new bag because your old one is breaking? He find the best one and buys it for you. You talk about your favorite colors and animals? He remembers! He buys you cute little gifts that remind him of that. Damn, winter is cold, you forgot you lost your old gloves? He already bought you a new pair in fall. There are cuter moments too. You bringing up snacks you miss from childhood? He learns, he bakes them for you, buys them for you, finds Someone who sells them to get them for you. He is attentive. He is an idol with money, he will do what he can for you how he can.
- If you can and show up for his shoots or practices he gets excited. Doing his best, making sure to get things done as soon as possible so he find you during a break. Happily chatting with you while he hydrates. Laughing and joking at his mistakes with you when he fumbles. You warm his heart. If you get along well with everyone else in Heartsteel he gets happier. They are like family to him afterall.
- He refuses to have you spend money on him when its band related, he gives you all his merch. He gets a copy anyway and they are YOURS. Sett is happy to see you wearing a tee with his face! Have posters of him (signed) in your room. He likes if you show him off as much as he shows you off. He loves loving you and loves being loved.
- If you get hurt or get sick he's is nervous and frantic. He wants to be there for you at all times, making sure you are ok. He frets over you, genuinely worried that a little cold will be life or death. He doesn't know how to actually help you thought, it takes help from messaging his mother and Yone to realize he needs to keep you cool, get you food and just let you rest. Which he hasn't been doing cos he's been in and out of your room non-stop. But he's learning.
- He hums a lot! You can catch him singing or humming songs while working out, showering, doing chores. He is a rockstar and music is important to him, it shows. He doesn't get embarrassed if you point it out, its more like a " Eh? I didn't realize it was even doing it. Must be a good tune." Moment.
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woozten-x · 1 year
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#. 𝘼𝙨 𝘽𝙤𝙮𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 | 𝙉𝘾𝙏 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢
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[ ; M.List including other Neos! ]
─ Context: When dating, you’ve noticed many habits and cherished the many memories with your boyfriend; you recall every single one, your love for them growing stronger by the many moments shared with them. (NCT DREAM EDITION)
─ Genre: Tooth-rotting FLUFF, lots of wholesome moments of just them being ur boyfriend, Headcanons
─ Length: 7 bullet points!
❒ a/n: been in a headrot about established relationships and overall wholesome/romantic headcanons for the dreamies!! OMG by NewJeans really helped me get in the zone with these headcanons, oh lord i am sick!! i am lovesick!
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!! Mark .
We all know he’s a music lover and he has a dedicated playlist for you, every song in that playlist reminds him of you! Every time Mark feels lonely, he would be listening to it; the melody of every song bringing you closer to him, no matter the distance
LOVES talking about you even when you aren’t there - literally brings you up in every conversation whenever something reminds him of you; everyone around Mark (who know you or not) is always learning something about you
Whenever he is working/composing music, he is always giving you a snippet of the project because he just can’t contain his passion for music; as Mark’s lover, he is making you experience the very same passion he puts in every piece of music he works on
Willing to drop everything or anything he’s doing at the very moment whenever you call his name; Mark doesn’t care, he is always looking at you or looking at the direction of your voice like a lovesick puppy
For some reason, he enjoys placing his snapbacks/beanies on your head; Mark just loves seeing you in his hats, finding it adorable whenever the hat is a bit too big for you
Makes you feel like a grade A comedian because he is always giggling or laughing with you; please save him, Mark’s lungs are working 10x harder after meeting you
Whenever you are talking, his eyes are pleading towards you with every drop of attention laid on you; sometimes, he would randomly utter out “Cute.” because you have Mark in a trance with your beauty
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!! Renjun .
Everytime he draws, he likes to draw things that remind him of you or just anything that may be of your liking (tbh you like everything he draws); Renjun loves showing you his drawings/paintings and he loves every compliment coming from your lips the most
Definitely doodles on your skin with paint because he refuses to use markers that may stain or hurt your skin; the sensation of the brush is bringing you to a serene place, he is always smiling whenever he sees you dozing off with a sheepish smile on your face
Whenever you get teased by the other members, Renjun is always stepping in to defend you; he is your knight in shining armor, willing to let his rated E hands do the talking if necessary
Usually, Renjun can be quite sarcastic with the others when tested enough but his patience is endless when it comes with you; your attention means so much to him, he is willing to take any for his own greedy heart
Has a habit of combing his fingers through your hair, the small affectionate gesture conveying the amount of admiration he has for you; whenever his fingers get tangled in your hair and tugs, he apologizes quickly and kisses the top of your head as assurance
LOVES cuddling with you in bed with those glowing star stickers on the ceiling or galaxy projectors; he just loves holding you close to him underneath those artificial stars, telling you sweet nothings while drifting along the made-up galaxy the two of you created
Has set reminders/alarms to remind you of taking your medication/vitamins everyday; even when he’s out busy with whatever schedule, Renjun is making time to send a text to show how much he cares for you
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!! Jeno .
Willing to stay up with you, whether you are working or just not tired, he is accompanying you for hours; even when Jeno is exhausted or is on phone with you, he is staying awake with you to spend every second of his day with you
When you face him, speaking to him about anything, he is listening but sometimes he gets distracted; randomly, Jeno is placing a hand on your cheek and caressing your soft skin with eyes blinded by the love for you
LOVES approaching you when you least expect it, leaning close to your face with a playful grin plastered on his face; Jeno is always planting a kiss on your cheek, nose or lips whenever he gets the chance to surprise you
He’s a gamer and we all know he has those headsets that practically cancels out all noise surrounding him; but, Jeno always keeps it lower than usual and always sacrifices his own game to give his undivided attention to you whenever you call him
Risking his back to carry you around on his back or straining his arms to carry you in his arms, reassuring you whenever you feel fearful of hurting him; Jeno is your prince charming, striving to take you anywhere regardless of your worries
Purposely leaves his hoodies, shirts and sweaters for you to have and he acts clueless whenever you ask if he wants it back; seeing you in his clothes makes him smile, crescent moons adoring you while saying “That looks good on you.” every single time
Playfully sticks out his arm for you to interlock with whenever the two of you walk together or are walking side by side; Jeno letting you know that he is by your side always and making the two of you inseparable, as he can never think a moment without you
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!! Haechan .
The type to tease you, but you literally carved a spot in his heart that he can’t resist pouting or apologizing instantly whenever you get annoyed; Haechan loves getting a kick of these things, but it backfires as he ends up being the kicked puppy in the end
Shares his screen whenever he is playing games or you are sitting next to him watching, your head resting on his shoulder; Haechan loves to call you his lucky charm for winning games and show off his skills to hold the “Best Gamer Boyfriend” title
Your biggest supporter! He is always hyping you up, willing to show you off like a diamond on a ring; Haechan is the light burning every insecurity you carry, always boasting about you at any given opportunity
LOVES hugging you in whatever situation - back hugs, regular hugs, side hugs…Just anything related to hugs in general; Haechan is your personal teddy bear, clinging onto you until the very end with his addictive warmth enveloping you
Cheesy pickup lines? Suggestive jokes? Poetic words to describe his love for you? He is saying anything whenever he is with you; Haechan has no filter, completely infatuated with you, his own brain barely catching up with the words spilling out of his mouth
Likes to re-enact scenes with you or remembering the lines to have you swooning from some romantic movie he watched; due to realistic circumstances, Haechan is always laughing with you with an aching stomach and a fluttering heart
When you ignore him a bit too long, he gently grasps your chin with a feather-like touch; Haechan meets your eyes, basking in your attention for a brief moment before pulling away with a smirk as a way to have you yearning for him, also
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!! Jaemin .
A smile grows on his face every time you look at him, speak to him, kiss him - just anything in general; his gaze is softening every time, Jaemin would also softly tell you “You are beautiful.” randomly to remind you of the beauty he cherishes most in life
Takes random photos of you, whether you are paying attention or not, he is your own personal photographer; Jaemin definitely has a folder of photos dedicated to you, sometimes scrolling through whenever he misses you or to show you off
Cooks and feeds you! He definitely calls you ‘Jaemin’s baby~’ or ‘My baby~’ in endearment while feeding you; you are Jaemin’s number one! Willing to spoil you rotten with his acts of services
LOVES to pinch your cheeks together, saying his iconic ‘Aigoo~’ whenever you look at him with your cheeks pinched together; Jaemin is smiling fondly at you, littering your faces with warm kisses causing you to giggle every time
Send voice messages to remind you to eat and stay hydrated! He is also sending you photos with a message attached saying - ‘looks pretty, but you are prettier though’; Jaemin always find time to take care of his number one
Always energetic around you and he is practically glowing when spending time with you; Jaemin never has any boring moments with you, always in high spirits whenever you enter the room or text/call him - you are his most treasured happiness!
When cuddling, he loves to pull you close to him and lean in to nuzzle the tip of his nose with yours; Jaemin is always so gentle with you during these moments, the world is currently in his grasp and he is always admiring it with a never ending fondness for you
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!! Chenle .
Never letting you leave bed, no matter your protests or whatever important is going in his/your schedule; Chenle can be real clingy, especially when sleepy and he is not taking no as an answer towards the comfortable warmth you provide him
Random photos and videos of Daegal, always referring the cute dog as ‘Our daughter’ whenever he talks about her; Chenle is willing to be a father for any of your pets also, even if its a cat
Spams you of photos or videos he’s seen on social media, you basically receive ‘Boyfriend homework’; would sometimes feel betrayed whenever you ignore his messages, Chenle would sulk until you react to his spam of messages
LOVES dragging his fingertips along your arm or hand, mindlessly tracing your soft skin while he is on his phone or listening to you ramble; Chenle always conveys his devotion to you, letting you know he is there whenever you need him
Shuts you up with a kiss or unexpectedly kisses you; Chenle would defensively say he got bored or he just misses you, the adorable smile adorning his face makes you forgive him easily
He would play basketball with you, purposely losing to see you excited about winning; Chenle also gives you a kiss before or after a game against the other members, against your lips he says ‘Cheer for me’ or ‘Thank you for cheering for me’
Play wrestles with you on the bed or couch and always ask for a kiss whenever he wins; seeing you smile and laugh makes Chenle feel refreshed, his own heart overwhelmed by the feelings he felt when falling for you the first time
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!! Jisung .
Sends good morning and good night voice messages, his voice always deep with drowsiness and saying he will see you later in the day or the next day; recording his voice is easier for Jisung, he just loves to start and end his day with his attention on you
Plays games with you, mainly the laidback games like Minecraft, Roblox or other games couples play; he is always so patient with you, at times Jisung loves showing off his skills to impress you of his abilities
Shyly pokes you or tugs on your clothes/sleeve whenever he wants your attention, the big baby pouting whenever he feels a teensy bit jealous; Jisung is quite greedy, always wanting to be in your spotlight and be the reason for your happiness
LOVES holding your hand and playing with your fingers, sometimes he just likes tracing the lines on your palm; this small gesture of affection is subtle, but it comforts Jisung knowing you are his only
Is always by your side helping you clean/cook, despite lacking some knowledge in some departments - he is aiding you and doing his very best to lessen the burden for you; Jisung is reliable, wanting you to lean on him when you get busy!
Blushes and gets all flustered whenever you compliment him about his dancing or singing/rapping; Jisung’s own confidence is skyrocketing every single time, but his bashfulness is something he can never hide each time
When he’s out and sees something that reminds him of you, he is going great lengths to obtain it; Jisung even has his hyungs help him (which they do help), willing to give you the most precious diamonds to his special person aka you
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sweetestofchaos · 4 months
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let it snow | s.mg x reader
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oh, the weather outside is frightful... let it snow! let it snow and snow!
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❅ mingi x reader
❅ prompts: "looks like we're snowed in." + "maybe you could warm me up...?"
❅ wc: 1.1k
❅ warnings: pure fluff with a nice mix of smut - fem receiving oral - daddy!mingi
❅ a/n: written for Merry Chaosdays 1K Follower Event, requested by @minisugakoobies. sunny you are such a fucking doll and i love you so much! thank you for requesting my mans mingi, i haven't shown him any love in a while. i started to write this and forgot to turn on the word count...this almost got out of hand lol
❅ line, snow, mdni and support dividers made by @benkeibearn
❅ send in your own requests here
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“Mingi I swear to God, if you don’t hurry the hell up-” You glance down at the shiny golden watch on your wrist and suck your teeth, “We’re going to be late!” You shout down the hall to your boyfriend.
You can hear him moving around in the apartment, taking his sweet ass time like his mother won’t chew your asses the moment you step out of the car. You love Momma Song, but that woman is deadly with her wooden spoon. Huffing in annoyance, you kick off your shoes and stomp into the apartment, ready to drag Mingi out the door by the ear if you must. Just as you make it to your shared bedroom, Mingi steps out with one hand wrapped around the door handle. You shout in surprise and Mingi giggles as he grabs you around the waist.
“Easy, baby. Don’t want to hurt yourself, hum?” Mingi stares down at you through a pair of brown glasses and you can feel your face heating up. From this angle you can clearly see the moles on his face. Mingi leans down and pecks your lips with a soft smile on his face, “Wanna take a picture?”
You suck your teeth and push Mingi away as he laughs. “Hurry the hell up! I’m not getting hit by your momma because you refuse to move faster!”
“I’ll protect you baby,” Mingi promises with a wink and you roll your eyes.
Pulling the bedroom door shut, Mingi grabs your hand and leads you down the hall to the front door. At the door, the two of you, put your shoes on and you fist the material of your white sweater dress as Mingi helps secure a pair of fluffy white earmuffs over your knotless box braids. Mingi helps you into your faux fur coat and pulls a thick white cardigan over his white turtleneck sweater.
Holding up his keys, Mingi smiles as he unlocks the door, “I already started the car and the seat warmers are on.”
“I love you,” You mutter with a shiver knowing that it is about to be freezing outside.
Mingi pulls open the door and all you see is a frozen sheet of white. You blink and Mingi frowns, “What the fuck?” He reaches out to poke at the snow and you snatch his hand.
“Aht! Haven’t you seen those videos online? Do not touch it and shut the door!” 
Mingi shuts the door and rubs the back of his neck, “Um…looks like we’re snowed in.”
“I’ll check my email. You should call your momma.”
Kicking off your boots, you paddle into the living room and plop down on the couch. As you scroll through your email, sure enough there is one from maintenance stating that your floor and a few others are snowed in due to a sudden ice storm and people are working on getting everyone’s doors unblocked. You can hear Mingi on the phone with his mother and you are so happy that you are not the one breaking the news to her. The party isn’t until two days from now but you were supposed to spend time together before the rest of the family showed up.
Hearing Mingi sigh, you watch as he comes into the living room, pulling the white beanie hat off his head. His hair is sticking up crazy and you smile. “Well since we’re stuck here until someone breaks us out maybe you could warm me up…?”
Mingi raises an eyebrow as you pluck your earmuffs off, toss them on the floor and peel your jacket off; flopping back on the couch and spreading your legs a little to give him a peak at the blue panties underneath your dress. Licking his lips, Mingi nods his head and shoves his cardigan off before he crosses his arms over his waist and pulls his turtleneck off right after. Standing at the edge of the couch in just his white slacks with his glasses skewed, you crook your finger and widen your eyes.
“Warm me up, daddy, please?”
Crawling onto the crouch, Mingi sits on his knees between your legs and grabs your ankle. You muffle as moan as he kisses his way up your leg and nibbles on the sensitive skin of your inner thigh. “I’ve wanted to fuck you since I saw this dress laying out on the bed.”
“Yeah?” 
Mingi’s hands are warm, heating your exposed skin as he pushes your dress up to bunch at your waist. He says nothing as he peels your panties off and tosses them over his shoulder. 
“Come on my tongue twice and I’ll give you a gift early.”
Your eyes brighten at the promise and you nod your head. Mingi chuckles and settles himself on his stomach between your legs before he dives in. Your back arches as his lips wrap around your clit. He sucks lightly, teasing the heated skin with his wet tongue. 
“F-Fuck! Mingi daddy, please! W-Wanna come for you.”
“Take what I give you, baby.”
“Yes, d-daddy…” You throw your head back as Mingi continues to eat you out. His large hands, hold your hips down, stopping you from humping his face. So, you tangle your fingers in his hair, messing it up even more. Mingi hums against you and the vibrations ripple throughout your body. You can feel your pleasure building and you know it’s only a matter of time before you are tipping over the edge and falling into Mingi’s world. Sweat collects at your temples and you aren’t even worried about your edges. You can fix them later.
Your thighs clench around Mingi’s head and he’s slurping so loud, even as you cry his name, gushing into his greedy mouth. He doesn’t stop, sliding one hand downward to play with your swollen clit. It pushes you into your second release and Mingi hisses as he drowns in you.
“That’s a good girl. Give it to me, baby.”
You see stars at your vision spots and when Mingi pulls away you are both panting. He wipes his mouth with the back of his wrist and settles into your arms. He makes sure to keep his weight off you, cuddling into your side as you catch your breath. Your head hurts a little from the back to back release but you feel good. A gooey fog is blanketing your mind and the warmth of Mingi’s lips on your temple is grounding.
“It’s still early, baby. Nap and we can go again when you wake up.”
“What about you?”
“We have all day from the looks of it,” Mingi whispers as his hand starts to massage your thigh. You snuggle into his chest and kiss his Adam's apple. He laughs and hugs you, “Sleep.”
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horangboosadan · 9 months
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I CAN’T RUN AWAY | CHWE HANSOL [3/5]
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synopsis: break-ups are never easy. even less so when the one you broke up with is a world wide idol.
genre: mini-smau, angst, second chances, exes back together, small secret relationship
wc: 863
boo talks
a written part. this is more where i’m comfortable than smaus, actually. i hope you like it, and thank you for all the attention this little mini-smau has gotten throught the past two parts. 
main masterlist
001 | 002 | 003 | 004 | 005
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maybe it’s stupid.
no, scratch that. it is stupid. for more than one reason. not for the fact that it’s a movie you’ve wanted to watch since you knew it would be made, but for the very fact that it’s a movie. a movie where you saw the previous one with him. a movie you’re watching in a movie theater―a place you haven’t stepped foot since you broke up. a movie you’re watching specifically in the movie theater where you first met him.
and despite every reason you shouldn’t even go, you’re also here alone.
your heart pounds rapidly as you step foot through the doors. it’s hard to act like nothing as you walk towards the snacks and drinks section―ticket already on your phone as you bought it online. everything reminds you of him.
the snack you used to buy. the snack he used to buy. the snack you used to share.
it’s like seeing ghosts of your past self. from the first time you met where you locked eyes across the room and both of you knew you weren’t paying any attention to your date. from your first date where you sat in the waiting area, ate almost all your snacks before even getting into the correct theater, and laughed harder than you ever had before. from the many dates after, where you’d discuss your expectations, the directors, the cinematography, anything worth discussing.
from the time you were almost discovered because you weren’t as subtle as you hoped. from the time he had to leave in the middle of a movie because something happened with one of the other members and he had to be there. from that specific moment where you knew he was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with―his eyes crinkled enough for you to know that he was smiling behind his mask and see the passion within him as he talked about what he expected from the movie because he loved the director.
the abundance of memories has tears prick at your eyes. you try for a smile as you find the courage to actually walk further into the movie theater. at best, no one will question it. at worst, the teenager behind the counter will ask you questions.
you make it through without incident. you pick out the snacks. the ones you like, the ones you’d normally share, and his―because you can’t make yourself not buy them. it’s part of your cinema experience. no tears fall and the teenager behind the counter asks no questions, though he looks at you weirdly.
you’re oddly proud at that moment. this is maybe the best thing you can do in the long journey to get over him. you know that you’ll never get rid of those feelings, they will be apart of you forever. at the moment, it’s only a reminder of pain, of the loss of something that once was  a place of happiness. but maybe, at some point, you’ll be ready to really move on and it will only be a reminder of something good. something you needed on your own journey through life.
however, as you walk past the waiting area, you know that that will take a lot longer.
because there he sits. vernon. chwe hansol. the love of your life.
he’s wearing a mask and a beanie, and would be unrecognizable if not for the very fact that you’ve seen him like that too often not to recognize him. not to say that the jeans and leather jacket doesn’t give him away, but you can tell just by the part of his face visible above the mask.
you swallow a lump in your throat. know that whatever tears were only starting to form whilst buying snacks are now falling down your cheeks. you just hope he doesn’t see.
and then your eyes meet. you refuse to stop, refuse to let yourself talk to him because you know it won’t do you any good. but you don’t miss the hurt in his eyes, or the crinkle that appears as he tries to smile.
the worst part about it all, despite your own determination to not give him a second chance, is that a piece of hope sparks within you. that tiny (big) part of you that wants to try again sparks to life thinking that, if you asked, he'd say yes.
your hope that he wasn’t going to watch the same movie as you fades as he walks into the same theater only a few minutes after you’ve found your seat. fortunately, he doesn’t sit close. unfortunately, no matter how good the movie is, you don’t manage to focus. all you can think about is the look in vernon’s eyes as you walked past him. 
when you get in your car to drive home, every part of you curses him for respecting the boundary of not coming close. you wouldn’t know what to say, but seeing him again for the first time since you broke it off, not only reopened all the hurt from those five months, but also all the good parts of those three and half years prior.
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jahayla-parker · 2 years
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Self-Care Compromise: Tom Holland x Reader
Disclaimer: I do not own the above video, the creator is listed in the video.
Summary: Y/n once again finds her boyfriend Tom to be overworking himself so she takes matters into her own hands to fix it.
Warnings: None, just fluff 💕(other than brief mentions of being burnt out from working too much)
Notes: this is based on many videos similar to the one included where Tommy looks so tired but still fights for the fans.
I felt it was time someone fought for him so 🥺
The ending is not rigid so that if I want to do a part 2 (such as tasks discussed for the next day, etc.) I can 😊
———————
“Thanks Mac!” Y/n says, grabbing the freshly made tea from the barista on the set of Tom’s latest project.
“No problem y/n/n” Mac waves before starting the next order.
Y/n breathes in the pleasant scent of the tea she ordered for Tom as she walks back over to where they planned to meet before they headed back to the hotel.
It had been a long day on set for Tom today. Although, if they were being honest, it had been a really long week for him.
The crew have been working him to the breaking point and instead of listening to y/n’s pleas for him to take a day off, he kept pushing through.
Tom was waiting on the sidewalk by the barricades. He was in his loose sweats, relaxed T-shirt, and beanie.
He couldn’t wait until they made it back to the hotel for the night.
Tom loved his job and his fans. But, he just wanted to rest on the couch cuddled into y/n’s side as they ate take-out and watched stupid reality TV shows while he fell asleep.
At this point, he would give anything to just not have to keep forcing a smile and pretending he wasn’t exhausted. But, as fans began approaching him, he realized he wasn’t going to get that.
Tom took a shallow breath and pasted on a fake smile as his fans came over asking for photos.
Harry felt pity for Tom as he watched his brother. Tom looked like he was going to pass out at any moment but they both knew neither one could say no or mention something about him wanting to leave.
Harry sighted hopelessly as he stood to the side of Tom and his fans. His eyes only looking away when he heard someone else approaching.
Y/N’s eyes were glued on Tom and she wanted to wrap her arms around him and never let him go. He looked so drained.
Hearing a soft sigh, y/n turned her gaze to Harry and nodded in agreement.
“How long has this been going on this time?” Y/n asked as Tom once again forced a fake smile for the fans.
This had happened nearly every day. If he kept at it, he was going to break and get sick. Y/n knew he wanted to make time for the fans, but there’s a line.
Everyday, y/n had found small ways to try and help him with this. He refused to listen to her begging him to rest, but that didn’t mean she was going to give up.
So, instead of arguing, she settled to forcing self care tasks upon him. It had become somewhat of a daily ritual at this point.
Each healthy behavior she started him doing would pile on top of the other so that she was slowly ensuring more of his time was going towards self care.
The typical routine would consist of herbal teas (especially those for relaxation) throughout the day, night time tea upon finishing for the day so he could sleep that night, a healthy homemade breakfast rather than his damn protein shakes, and cuddling while watching the reality tv shows he and Baz had watched in London to help with his homesickness.
She’d even gotten him to start using face masks (sometimes the ones with silly characters to cheer him up) and cold eye masks, weekly hair conditioning treatments she’d apply as he would wash his hair daily due to sweating all day and not being used to his longer hair, using a weighted blanket each night, etc.
While the self care plan may seem successful, there were plenty of failures too.
She had tried implementing them taking walks as it always calmed him, but each time they’d run into fans and it would undo everything.
Y/n also tried working with Nikki and Dom to send Tessa out for a week or two for an emotional support animal therapy type thing for Tom.
But, while here, Tessa was too energetic and excited and managed to urinate all over the hotel floor when seeing Tom. It only got worse from there as she chewed on his set lists, socks, etc.
Tessa only ever did these things when nervous; a rarity for her. Y/n was certain Tessa had picked up on Tom’s energy.
The warmth from Tom’s tea seeping into her palm brought y/n’s attention back to the present moment.
Tom was looking over at her in between photos, his eyes delicate but missing their usual light.
Tom’s smile for the photos and fans may have been forced, but his smile to y/n when their eyes met wasn’t.
It wasn’t his normal smile by any means, but he’d always have enough in him to give her at least a tiny smile.
Y/n gave him a sympathetic smile and sighed.
“I’ve got to do something Baz” y/n groaned.
“We can’t. People will have a field day with it and will attack us” Harry frowned.
Y/n nodded and felt a small wave of hope upon seeing the last fan thanking Tom and leaving.
She let out a sigh of relief and handed Tom the tea with one hand while the other went behind his back to hold him to her.
Tom let out a deep breath as he tucked his head into the crook of her neck.
“Tommy, we’ve got to figure this out. You’re overdoing it” y/n says as she feels Tom’s lip quivering on her shoulder.
Tom was silent but nodded his head against her skin.
Y/n smiled softly, glad he was at least on the same page now.
“Okay, so here’s the plan” she says, stepping back to look in his eyes.
Tom lifted his eyes and y/n’s heart broke even more as she noticed his watery gaze.
“Oh love” y/n frowns, reaching up to stroke his face.
“I love you” Tom whispers, his voice weak.
“T, I love you too. We’re going to fix this. Tonight though, let’s just go home and-“ y/n says, running her thumb gently under his eyes.
However, her instructions were cut off when another group of fans approached.
Tom closed his eyes briefly to compose himself so they wouldn’t see.
Y/n sighed and held his face in her hands, “baby, you do not need to do this”.
He shrugged and sighed before forcing on a smile, “do I look okay?”
“No” y/n said causing Tom to freeze in shock.
“Tom you’re always gorgeous. But no, you don’t look okay. Because you’re not. I’m done with this, I’m handling it. Now” she says, letting go of his face and placing her hands on her hips.
“Love, I appreciate it but I’ll manage” Tom says as a yawn ironically escapes.
Y/n gives him a knowing look and he bites his lip. He is beyond appreciative of her and her protectiveness over him.
However, he knows his publicist and agents would lose it if he told fans that he didn’t feel like doing photos.
He’d told her this in the past and she argued that she could do it herself then. Tom then told her that he didn’t want her to get hate from the fans even though he appreciated the offer.
While looking into her eyes, Tom realized she was past the point of caring what happened to her anymore.
It was a feeling he knew well. Whenever people would get too close or aggressive to her in public, he was the same way.
“Hey guys” y/n said, trying to sound like she was in a good mood but also demonstrating she was needing them to listen.
The fans greeted her and then promptly asked to speak to Tom.
Y/n shook her head, making eye contact with Harry and nodding towards Tom’s security guard.
Harry nodded once and walked over to explain to the security guard what needed to happen.
It was clear to Baz by her body language that she was done with Tom being overworked and wanted to ask the fans to give him space and time.
Harry told the guard he wasn’t exactly sure if y/n wanted him to help should she get hurt in response or if she wanted him to help get Tom out of the area instead. He had his suspicions and upon looking back at her, she nodded her head backwards in nonverbal confirmation that she wanted Tom out.
Y/n had been calmly trying to explain to the fans how hard Tom had been working. She was hoping they would then understand how he was feeling and let him be.
And, some of them did. Others did not get the point and instead cheered and still asked for photos with him.
Upon the security agent approaching Tom, y/n sighed and explained to the fans he would not be staying today.
The fans began mumbling and arguing but it wasn’t clear what they were saying.
Tom’s security had him gripped by the upper arm but he was defiantly staying planted where he was.
He was not going to leave her.
Tom whispered in argument to his security that he would not be leaving until they got her out of her.
Y/n turned around and used her eyes to plead with him to leave. Once he was in the car, she was planning on thanking the respectful fans and then joining him.
But, despite his very visible exhaustion and desire to leave, he wouldn’t part from her side.
Tom tried to get closer to her but his security had a firm grip on him.
Just as y/n was about to rush her thank you message to the fans so she could drag him to the car herself, she noticed the guilty look on his face and saw his muscles twitch the way they do when he started getting a headache.
It was only then that y/n realized how loud the fans/scene was.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer to the fans, Tom’s fingers instinctively reaching for her and brushing against her wrist in an attempt to stop her.
Y/n turned her head slightly to see him and blew him a soft kiss before facing the fans again.
“Hi guys, please try to speak softer” y/n says, waving at them to get their attention.
Some of the calmer fans complied, but the others only started asking more questions.
“Please. I know you guys want to see Tom and he loves you all. But his head is hurting so loud noises as great as it is to see how excited you all are, it is making it worse” y/n sighs and the fans instantly stop their comments.
“He’s been working so hard on this project for you guys and as much as he’d love to have time to spend with you all, he needs to rest. He’s been pushing through daily and it isn’t good for him, so please respect that he is going to be leaving right now” she adds, the fans all seeming to hang onto every word.
“Tom wouldn’t deny you guys the chance to meet with him, even when it is detrimental to his well-being. So I’m stepping in to do that for him. Feel free to respond as you wish to that. But, we are leaving now to get him home to rest either way. I just plead that you realize he needs this but that he still appreciates you all. Thank you” y/n says, turning to face Tom.
Tom can feel the tears in his eyes again as his girlfriend pleads with his fans and soon enough his vision of her is clouded and blurry.
Tom shakingly reaches his hand out to her as she approaches him.
He gives her a grateful smile and kisses her cheek when she’s close enough.
“Y-you.. thank you darling” Tom whimpers, slipping out of the guards grip and into her embrace.
“I’m always here T, regardless of who I have to piss off to do so” she says, holding him closer to her as they walk to the car.
As y/n walks, she keeps her eyes down on the beautiful boy holding onto her, his head tucked down to rest on her chest as they make their way to the car.
“Here” y/n says, reaching for the cup of tea that is awkwardly pinched between his arm and her body.
Tom looks up and shakes his head, “I want it”.
Y/n giggles sweetly at him and nods, moving her hand from his cup and then up to his head as she starts stroking his hair.
Tom blushes and gives her a soft smile; genuine but still minimal due to his exhaustion.
“Why don’t you sleep baby?” Y/n whispers as Tom lays his head on her shoulder when they get into the car.
Tom’s eyes remain slightly closed due to the sheer weight of them at this point, but they never leave y/n’s face.
“‘m wanna spend time wi’ you” Tom says, his accent causing his words to blend excessively.
Y/n grins over at him and kisses his cheek.
“Rest on the drive and I’ll wake you when we get to the hotel” she assures him.
Tom lovingly nods and lets his eye completely close.
Y/n smiles down at him, happy he is finally sleeping.
She doesn’t risk kissing his cheek as she doesn’t want him to wake up so she settles for lowering her head to rest on his as he snores softly.
Since her head is resting on his, she can’t see his face so she lets her eyes settle on his hand laying on her thigh.
She smiles as she sees the rings she bought him starting to show signs of wear from how often he has them on.
One of the rings she got him -his favorite ring- has an engraving on it facing his palm. By now, it is slightly faded as he tends to rub over the engraving with his thumb when nervous or missing her.
Y/n makes a mental note to take it to the store tomorrow while he’s on set and therefore can’t have it on.
Usually Harry has it on him so when Tom’s between shoots or scenes he can put it back on briefly.
You’d think it were a wedding band with the way he treats it and always wants it back on, but it’s not.
That doesn’t stop him from being enamored by it as it holds an important meaning to him.
Not only is the ring from the woman he loves more than anything in the world, it also has a special message on it.
The engraving on the back of this ring is the coordinates of where they first met.
She knew she’d have to tell Tom she was taking it from Harry because he’d panic if he didn’t have it when he went to put it on between takes.
She’d prefer to do it as a surprise for him, but she’d settle for him being relaxed.
Hopefully though, there will be a longer scene that would take an hour or so to get through so she could sneak it back in place before he’d be done.
“Are you scheming?” Harry whispers, turning to look back at them from his position in the front seat.
Y/n snaps her eyes up to him and smirks, “no. Not technically. But I’d like to get his ring re-engraved and cleaned tomorrow as a surprise”.
“You think he won’t notice it’s gone? Y/n/n he almost yelled at me when I left it in the trailer instead of on me once” Harry laughs quietly.
Y/n rolls her eyes and turns her head to kiss Tom’s head softly now that she’s sure he’s in deeper sleep and less likely to be prompted to wake up.
“It shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes. Is there any scenes we can take advantage of?” She asks, stroking Tom’s hair.
“You two are cloyingly endearing” Harry groans despite a smile on his face, “yes we can make it work”.
Y/n smiles and whispers a soft thank you, briefly looking up at Harry.
Harry nods, “thank you. For all of that, and this, and everything” his arms waving around as if pointing to the different scenes.
Y/n blushes and tucks her head closer to Tom’s as they continue their way to the hotel.
———
“Okay, so we’ve got a panda one, a cat one, and a… I think it’s a unicorn.. one” y/n says, holding up the three face sheet masks to the boys.
Tom smiles up at her from his position on the couch. When they got back, y/n had asked him to get into more comfortable clothes after he took his desired shower while she went and got them all takeout with Harry.
Harry had entered the living room before her so that he could set the food down as she went to grab the face masks.
“‘mm either love” Tom grinned as he shuffled in his seat so she could join him.
“Okay, unicorn it is” y/n giggled, tossing him it. “Baz?”
“Panda obviously” Harry shrugged and say down next to Tom.
“Eh, that’s y/n/n’s spot” Tom whined, shoving his brother.
“Tom it’s fine, I want to change first. So, he can sit there for a moment” y/n laughed, trying to have him compromise with Harry.
Harry smirked. Y/n and Tom were both certain he’d taken her seat on purpose to start trouble but after the chaos of today, neither cared to argue.
——
Tom looked up from his dinner as y/n walked back into the room wearing his sweats and her sleep shirt, a smile forming on his tired face.
Y/n smiled at him and kissed his forehead as she grabbed her to-go container and settled in next to him; noting Harry had moved to his own seat.
Tom adjusted the blanket he had until it covered her shoulders and she leaned against him to rest her head on his shoulder as she slowly ate.
Tom sighed in bliss as he pulled her closer with his free hand as he took another bite.
He was so thankful to be home and resting. He had only her to thank for making that possible. And he had, a lot.
It felt like he was thanking her each and every single step up the stairs to their hotel room.
She didn’t need his gratitude, she just needed to know he was okay and safe. Tom however, needed her to know how much he appreciated it.
The compromise? Her accepting his compliments and grateful sentiments anytime he came up. Tom happy knowing she was aware how he felt and showing his appreciation through nonverbal cues instead.
—-
While the three of them were watching tv, Harry stepped out of the room for a moment to take a call.
“Love?” Tom asks tenderly, his fingers dancing over y/n’s hand.
Y/n hummed in response, looking over at her boyfriend.
“Are they being kind?” Tom whispered, pointing to her phone.
Y/n furrowed her eyebrows briefly until she realized what he meant; the fans on the internet.
She nodded, stroking his face as she reassured him “actually yeah. Obviously they were understanding you need a break, which is good because if they hadn’t been I probably would have been banned from Twitter…”
Tom blushed and laughed in agreement. There was a reason he never used Twitter.
“But they also haven’t been as bad as I was expecting towards me” she shrugs, “I mean even when nothing happens we both get random hate comments, but this isn’t anything drastically more than normal”.
“I’m glad… but there should be a normal” Tom frowns snuggling closer to her warmth.
Y/n hums in agreement as she plays with his hair. It’s still silky but he could use another conditioning treatment tomorrow.
“Hey, uhh, y/n/n, have a sec?” Harry asks, re-entering the room.
Tom gives Harry a questioning look but y/n simply nods and kisses Tom’s cheek as she detangles herself from him.
Tom pouts as he watches her cross the living room to Harry.
Harry whispers something to y/n who only nods and takes the phone from him before stepping out.
Tom glares at his younger brother, “who is it?”.
Baz laughs and rolls his eyes, “mum you Div. She wanted to talk to y/n for a moment”.
—-
“No dear, I’m completely sincere about this. I cannot express how relieved you made me today. I’ve been seeing that look of exhaustion on his face for days but he would not listen to me” Nikki states.
Y/n bites her lip, feeling guilty that Nikki thinks Tom is safe with her there even though he was fighting her on this matter.
She sighs, “yeah… to be fair. He wouldn’t listen to me either. He’s been a bit stubborn”.
Nikki laughs, “he usually is. Harry told me that Tom’s been doing self care things though because of you. So even if he just started listening today, at least his care for you caused him to cooperate”.
Y/n fights a blush and smiles to herself, “I’m really happy he did, he was stressing me out. I hate seeing him overextend himself”.
“I know you do dear. We are so blessed that you guys have each other. Please be sure you’re not overdoing it either, even if with the intent of helping him” Nikki pleads.
“I promise, I’ll be careful” y/n agrees.
“Good because we care about you both and you guys need each other. I will let you get back to your night, I just wanted to thank you verbally” Nikki says, referring to the fact the two had texted on this matter earlier today.
“Always. Did you want to speak with Tom?” Y/n asks, turning around to walk back inside. “He’s awake but relaxing on the couch presently”.
“Oh, sure then. Thank you y/n. Love you dear” nikki says, a smile evident from her tone.
“Love you too, here he is” y/n says, handing the phone to Tom who hasn’t left the couch.
Tom smiles at his girlfriend and tugs her hand to get her to sit with him.
As Tom talks to his mom, his grip around y/n tightens as he sinks further into the couch.
Even if Nikki was mostly scolding him for not taking better care of himself, speaking with her, while holding y/n was everything to him in that moment.
He had the most amazing support system and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
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otptings · 2 years
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Boyfriend Dreamies ☁️
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Contestant: Huang Renjun
🦢Picture perfect fairy tale boyfriend
🦢When everyone says he's written by a women they aren't kidding. He is by far, the sweetest, kindest and most respectful boyfriend alive. When he's pretending at least.
🦢This fiery Aries always has a sweet spot for you, making sure you have tickets to all of their concerts (And 127 & WayV if you really wanna go) and a safe place to stand during them
🦢Incredibly protective over you, you're not an idol you aren't used to the chaos, and he refuses to run the risk of you being harmed when he could do something to prevent it. So concerts, you're always either in the front row with security hovering you so Renjun can see you on stage, or in their dressing room backstage, watching the monitor. When you're out on dates he'll make sure that he's unrecognizable.
🦢Hoodie on, beanie on, mask all the way up. He'll go so far as to wear one of your hoodies if it fits just to make sure they don't recognize any of his. If their is a scandal Renjun is going straight to Taeyong to help him take it down, or minimize the impact.
🦢With being protective he is also a show off, on the rare occasions where he's allowed to bring you to award shows everything will match. His tie and your dress, your hair styles both have to be perfect, even your makeup colors will match the others outfit. And when it's time for photos he'll let you get a few individual to allow you to truly shine the way he knows you should.
🦢Surprisingly not jealous. He's incredibly secure in his spot, and knows that there is no one else able to handle your attitude, or spoiledness, or insecurity the way that he is able to. His spot is so set in concrete that he may be too nonchalant at time. It'll take one of the members flirting with you for him to truly become a little jealous, pulling you onto his lap, or pressing a kiss to your cheek when he starts to actually feel grumpy about all the attention you're receiving.
🦢In the same manner as Jeno I see Renjun being incredibly caring in bed. Maybe a little kinkier than Jeno, he's definitely a switch, happy to give and receive at any moment. No preference anything that happens in the moment is good for him, if you decide to pin him underneath of you he won't fight back. You need him to fuck the thoughts out of your mind, will be for it.
🦢 He's really against hurting you, or planning out scenes. Hitting you is comparably different to choking and he will continue to spread it like gospel every time you (jokingly) argue with him against him. The thought of bruising your skin, or purposefully hitting you doesn't sit right with him.
🦢And planning scenes ruin the flow of things. When it just happens on a day off, or when all of the members leave the dorm it'll just happen. Renjun believes intimacy flows more when you're just enjoying the moment and not "acting".
🦢 But on the same side, you can't argue with him against it because every time is a new experience. Renjun will consistently switch it up so it's never boring. One day he'll end you over the counter, fulfilling both of your exhibitionist streak and the next he'll have you on his lap, legs spread and facing the mirror as he watches you get yourself off. Expect the unexpected.
🦢Date nights are actually date days. Typically starting when the sun rises, a mix of the various different cafes he wants to try, o the candy store that you begged him to take you to despite his diet (he caved of course, surrounded by everything sweet along with the candy), ending by the Han River to watch the sun disappear behind the buildings as the stars came out. He brought you a star, along with telling you "he finally found something brighter to you", so on these nights you'll both look for it
🦢And if the next day there's a scandal due to Dispatch spotting the both of you kissing under the moonlight, accompanied by pictures of you too holding each other close, maybe Renjun won't be so fast to get this one taken down
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princeanxious · 3 years
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Soulmate au fic that I really wanna write where Janus is soulmates with everyone(aka DLAMPR) but soulmates stay the same every lifetime but theres a chance to have multiple soulmates and in rare cases you don’t meet them all in that life before you or your soulmates dies.(especially in janus’s case, for reasons i’ll get into shortly) With each life once you hit a certain age(say somewhere between 19-20) and/or meet your soulmate, you gain the memory of every life you’ve had in the past, specifically the life you lived with your soulmate.(also soulmates arent inherently romantic in this world, and i’ll mention that roman and remus are always inherently platonic soulmates to eachother, and are often born as twins to eachother, and if not, are often always the first meet in their group)
Janus is a very special case, and in their world considered almost an anomaly.
All the information gained in the world is supplied from his soulmates, who at the end of each of their current lives always end up together as a group, though it on average happens pretty early on in their lives, minus janus.
Janus is an anomaly because it seems that he’s dying every lifetime time that he meets one of his soulmates, lost to the world 24 hours after hes come into direct physical contact with the first of his soulmates in that lifetime.
(Check the tags for trigger warnings before reading!)
In the first lifetime, he meets Patton(who, in this life, is not called Patton), a young baker who takes his hand with excitement, the barest brush of skin alone triggering not a memory of a past life, but instead a brilliant feeling of connection, a soul-deep aknowledgement that their souls are brand new, and infact are connected to a whole group of souls. Patton is overtaken by a whole new kind of excitement. Janus matches it, and they plan an outting for the very next morning. Janus does not make it to the outting, succumbing to a stab wound just hours after meeting Patton while on his walk home. Patton meets the rest of their soulmates while waiting for Janus to arrive. They hear about his death a week later.
The in second lifetime, he briefly meets Virgil, theyre 16 and 17 respectively. He doesnt learn much, the brief brush of skin while waiting in a croud for a train, enough to distract him into turning around just enough to meet eyes with Virgil, who had been on a train back to meet the rest of their soulmates, an exclamation of relieved surprise on the tip of Janus’s tongue. And then Jan trips, or someone impatiently shoves at him and he loses his footing, niether of them really know for sure. One moment they feel the euphoria of their souls connecting, the next Virgil feels the bond instantly shatter alongside his heart as he watches Janus disappear under the oncoming train. Virgil spends that lifetime traumatized by his sudden death, guilt ridden in knowing their soulmate’s last lifetime’s death had ended in a similar fashion even in mer secs, and his soul takes on a much more cautious nature from then on.
In the third lifetime, he meets Remus, theyre 18. Remus manages to spend a whole hour with Janus before they touch, and it’s only because Janus talks him out of jumping off a bridge. Remus wasn’t being suicidal, just hyper moridly curious, but Janus didn’t know that. Janus strikes up a conversation with him, its snarky and fun and perfect, and Janus joins him on the railing as they talk. Janus derails Remus from jumping by mentioning that he’s never had sushi, and to Remus this is an afront to living. Remus hops back over to the safe side of the railing, declaring to fix that crisis immediately. Janus laughs and agrees, relaxing visibly. The relaxing is a mistake, as for a single second Janus forgets that hes still in a dangerous position. He slips, his hand missing the railing, Remus only just barely managing to catch his hand in time but he doesnt get a good enough grasp, the spark that triggers their soul connection distracting enough that Janus’s hands slip from Remus’s, and Remus is forced to watch in horror as Janus plummets to his doom. He scrambles to fish Janus out of the river, but they cant revive him, Janus died on impact. Remus doesn’t meet the rest of their soulmates for another three years. He never touches sushi again for the rest of that lifetime
In the forth, Roman is 17, Janus is 18, and Janus actually meets Roman multiple times, knowing full well what his life has in store, neither ever knowing. Roman and Janus are actors for the two main characters for an up and coming movie, and they get along super well. Janus has always worn gloves, scarves, long sleeves and jeans, hoodies, beanies. Its a bit taboo at such a young age, but Janus never seems to mind the controversy and never commets on it, and Roman doesn’t mind either. Janus is infact very withdrawn, and often gives very little input on what his true personality is and so Roman doesn’t push it. Later, he really, really wishes he did. Inevitably, they become closer. But it’s only until after the movie is released that Janus lets his walls down just a little. Somehow, he seems to know that Roman is his soulmate long before theyve actually touched. Somehow, for some reason that they just cant seem to fathom, at the end of a large event for the movie, Janus and Roman are being ushered away from eachother and into seperate cars to avoid an influx of fans for some reason or another, Roman doesn’t remember what. All he remembers is Janus taking a glove off his hand and brushing Roman’s cheek after he wished Roman an odd farewell. Not a see you later, just “Farewell, my Prince.” In perfect sync with a very specific line that Janus’s character had said. Roman is in too much shock by the time he’s in his own car, the past three lifetimes of memory flashing through his head taking just long enough to settle into dread as he realizes. He panics, he tries to get someone to listen, and by god do they try, but no one can get into contact with Janus in time. Janus dies in a freak car crash just minutes after they touched, dead on impact. Roman and his soulmates hold onto this movie for the rest of this lifetime, the last physical record left behind by the soulmate that fate just wont let them meet.
In the fifth, he meets Logan, each at age 21, Logan is a nurse in training, and Janus is a cashier, a college student just starting to work towards getting their law degree. By this point Logan has met all of their soulmates, and they all live in a flat together. Really, these days they all sit in wait, they have a plan amongst themselves, about what to do when they meet Janus, a last resort, a trying attempt to keep him alive just long enough to break that 24 hour threshold, to break the spell, to be able to say they did something to try and save him. So its truely a shame that in this lifetime, Janus is bleeding out from a gunshot wound by the time Logan is able to reach him. Its late at night, the police have been called, but it seems Janus was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and finds himself bleeding out on the tile floor. He doesn’t struggle, he doesn’t panic. When Logan approaches, he instead smiles sadly, and reaches his hand out to Logan. On instinct Logan takes it, just before he processes hearing Janus greet him with “Hello, Soulmate.” In vain, Logan tries to staunch the bleeding, but he’s done all he can do, and they know the real paramedics will be 2 minnutes too late. So they sit there, covered in Janus’s blood at 2 am in the middle of a shoddy convenience store, talking quietly about life and how their soulmates love them. There are tears in Logan’s eyes as Janus smiles sadly, knowingly up at Logan. He reaches his hand up and cradles Logans face, and asks Logan to “never forget to smile, okay?” Logan ends up leaving nursing, his mental health unable to take the soul-deep wound that incapacitates him when surrounded by the call of death.
In their sixth life, his soulmates wait, the group meets at age 23, and feel renewed hope as each month passes that they do not experience another traumatic death in their midst. Around age 30, confusion sets in, the hollow itch of meeting their last soulmate is dulled, almost non existant. They’d believe it gone if they didn’t feel it whisper to them late at night where theyre all gathered together. By the time their 60, the whisper seems to fade, and they slowly mourn the loss of the loved one they never got to have. Janus’s soul infact does not make it to the sixth lifetime, but not for lack of trying. His soulmates don’t want to believe it, waiting for his arrival to the very last of their days in this lifetime and never meeting him, they refuse to voice that they mightve lost Janus for good..
Fate has instead taken hold of his feeble soul, the weakest soul in an already unusually huge soulmate group, his soul only half as strong as it should be to balance fate in each lifetime, and so weak that his soul collapses under the amount of soulpower that reaches out to his own when his soul meets the others, and the fates are agitated by the constant unbalance of what should be their greatest and most intricately created group of soulmates yet. So the fates decided to hold onto his soul for a single lifetime, and spends the years mending and healing and strengthening his soul, practically filling in a full half of his soul, and spending years merging it while still carefully balancing his connection with his soulmates perfectly. The trade off is that the tampering and adjusting of his soul fucks with his soulmate memory trigger. He doesn’t forget, no, but his access to his previous lifetime memories is staggered, and so it takes months before he gets back all of his pevious lifetime memories, leaving the inital soulmate connection actually connecting but not immediately supplying his soul with any information of his own first 5 lives, leaving him blank at the start, though knowing that he and his soulmates soul’s are still older than being a brand new soul without memories, and doesn’t actually have a point in his lifetimes when he his an age and his past lifetime memories come to him, he /has/ to meet his soulmates to trigger those memories. The fates are very particular about him, keen on not providing this group with anymore unnessesary trauma.
So, imagine Janus’s genuine confusion, in his sixth life and his soulmate’s seventh life, at age 23 when he approaches a group at a college party on a whim to chat/flatter/flirt with the infamous Remus Sanders, the local social cryptid who always raises more questions than answers when you talk to him and who, Janus has learned, is a highly entertained arsonist-wannabe, and Janus knows that it’s smart to have contacts, because who knows when he’ll be need of someone who’ll commit arson with him? It just happened to be an hour earlier that Remy had spilled soda on his gloves, so he’s braving this interaction without a safety barrier but he’s heard Remus has all his soulmates already, all four of them to be exact, so he doesnt think he has much of a reason to worry. He manages to slide into the conversation easily, and none of Remus’s soulmates seem bothered by his intrusion, especially when he takes the eccentric way that Remus speaks in stride without even a pause, they just seem exasperated when he sneakily brings up the topic of fire.
Then Remus takes him by the shoulders, grinning at him almost crazily, and states “You. I like you” and, it’s obviously instinctive, the graceful way he laughs and puts a hand on Remus’s to agree, but of course the moment skin touches skin, their souls link and everything sparks. And then Remus shutters, and stares, his jaw going slack but his hands seem to grip Janus tighter. And for a moment, Janus finds it terribly, terribly fitting that he’s soulmates with a filterless pyromaniac, but then he remembers that Remus also has soulmates, and then the panic sets in because, assumably, that makes them his soulmates too.
Imagine Janus’s confusion when instead of being met with joy, he suddenly finds himself tucked carefully yet securely into Remus’s arms, being rocked by a man whose suddenly panicked and almost manically whispering “it’s him, hes here, it’s him.” Any move he makes to pull away even a little is met with a sob, Remus is crying, and Janus is so very confused. He tries to coo and comfort Remus, but each of their other soulmates crowd around them, touching his skin one by one, none of them moving away, his skin is burning from touch starvation, its a lot, its to much, its not enough, it burns.
It takes Janus over an hour, after being shuffled into a corner and placed in another soulmate’s lap, Janus thinks his name is Patton, to come back to himself, and finds his soulmates can’t stop touching him. He, too, feels the zing with each touch, the specific innate and undeniable feeling of ‘soulmate, soulmate, soulmate’ but he feels that hes very specifically out of some kind of loop considering all of his soulmates are crying.
When the fates whisper to them, three hours in, with the words “his soul was weak, we have fixed the issue, he is now yours for life to keep, he will safely continue.”
And while Janus requires quite a bit of catch-up, he feels like nows not the best time to ask. He feels more than sees the collective relief that sweeps through his soulmates, he lets them crowd around him further, touching and holding and assuring themselves and eachother that hes real, hes there, he’s staying alive, hes going to be safe. He tries not to say too much, doesn’t want to step on any sore spots, and finds theres tears in his eyes as well. He just lets himself be passed from lap to lap, and somehow or another they manage to all safely arrive at their joined home, pilling up a pillowfort into the livingroom and putting on a movie. Not once does he leave the hold of at least one soulmate, and finds at least two other hands on his person at a time up until he’s sat in the middle of the pillowfort(after he was allowed to get ready alongside the others for bed. He ends up in an oversized nasa hoodie that belongs to Logan) and the others begin to just, talk about life. Its too early to talk about the extreme protectiveness that theyve all treated him with each second, like hes about to dissapear at any moment. The thought makes him shudder, and he tries not to dwell on it.
Turns out, Virgil has the best idea of the night, suddenly and carefully kissing him, which triggers a bit of a domino effect, where Janus goes gently from soulmate to soulmate and trades kisses and hugs until everyone is breathless and giggling wetly with emotion.
And, when he wakes up the next morning, refusing to leave the warmth that is Roman’s chest and whining when Logan, who’d been acting as his other warm big spoon, start pulling away to start the day. And for the first time in this lifetime, Logan startlingly quickly relents and actually returns to their makeshift bed, pressing closer to Janus in an instant to hear his happy, sleepy hum. None of them get up for hours, and when they finally do, they order takeout, and dont stray far from eachother in the coming days.
Its the start of something new, something beautiful.
Something completely and finally whole.
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lonely-lost-soul · 3 years
Text
Under the Floorboards pt. III
(Technoblade x Reader): Pt. I, Pt. II, Pt. III, Pt. IIII
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     From that day on Tommy stayed with you and Technoblade in your collective house, Technoblade tried to establish some ground rules but Tommy being Tommy refused to listen to any of them. He was dead set on building a cobblestone tower as well as taking all of Technoblade’s golden apples instead of eating the golden carrots that were graciously given to him. Other than that, things seemed to be going okay for your little found family. Well, that was until Technoblade and Tommy got wind that a man named Dream was sniffing around the area. 
 Dream was an enigma to you, after hearing Tommy’s stories about the man you could only come up with two conclusions about him. One was that you had no idea what his motivations were in the first place and secondly you wanted to beat his ass for what he did to Tommy. As... unique as he could be at times no child deserved to be exiled and manipulated, it was disgusting. He was a sixteen-year-old boy who got caught up in too many wars and too much violence, you needed to protect him. So long as he was with you and Technoblade that’s what you planned on doing. That was what you silently vowed to yourself, even if Technoblade didn’t share the same sentiment. 
 Now, it seemed you were coming increasingly closer to voicing those feelings to the man himself. Tommy was shaking a little besides you he tried to look strong as Technoblade frantically told him to hide and splashed him with invisibility potions. He looked over at you next and grabbed your shoulders, he actually looked scared, which meant he wasn’t messing around. 
          “You need to hide too. God- there’s nowhere that he won’t check.” Technoblade mumbled, his brow creased, and he closed his eyes. “He CAN’T know about you! No one other than Tommy can, they’ll hurt you and-” Hesitantly you put your hands on his cheeks,  
         “Take a deep breath…” You said tenderly as he opened his eyes to lock with your own. “We’ll be okay, splash me with invis and I’ll stay by Edward, hopefully it’ll mask my particle effects.” He gave a worried nod; you pecked his lips tenderly to reassure him as he splashed you with the potion. Just in time too because a knock on the door sounded, for once Tommy was absolutely silent. You watched as a man who rivaled your boyfriend in size came through the door, your eyes widened at the white mask covering his face there was an almost haunting smile painted on it. You pressed your tongue against your teeth and watched him give a wave to your boyfriend. Even without seeing his face you could tell he was smirking coyly at him. Never one to be intimidated Technoblade gave him a casual greeting and their conversation about Tommy’s location began. You had to cover your mouth with your hands at one point to stop yourself from laughing as Techno began talking to ‘chat’ instead of talking to Dream. You watched as the masked man grew more and more angry at Technoblade’s antics, he began speaking about a favor and Techno reminded him that he believes in full reciprocity. At the end of the interaction, it took all of your strength not to punch Dream directly in his stupid masked face. Why the fuck did it sound like he wanted to murder a child? If Dream ever laid a finger on him again, he was personally going to feel your wrath. The potion wore off almost as soon as Dream disappeared over the hills, Techno immediately turned to Tommy anger written all over his face.
         “Where you eating my gapples that ENTIRE time?!” Tommy sputtered out an excuse about absorption and you watched Techno open the window and beckon Dream to come back. You gave Technoblade a look and he scoffed at you, 
          “I won’t let him hurt you again Tommy. I promise.” You swore looking down at him, and his face turned a little pink. Tommy cleared his throat and shook his head,
          “Thanks, Ms. Blade but I’m tough enough to fight him head on! Have no fear!” He pointed to himself with his thumb a proud smile adoring his face. You gave a little laugh and nodded in agreement, 
          “You definitely are. Thank you for reassuring me.” You hummed and his smile only seemed to widen, 
          “I’m more qualified to protect your girlfriend than you are it seems Technoblade.” 
 Technoblade looked unamused, his eyebrow twitching in distaste. “Tommy I literally hate you so much. You’re a nerd.” 
         “Play nice both of you.” You scolded them, “We have to work together and at least pretend to get along or it’s going to be a very long partnership.” They both nodded reluctantly, and Techno sighed tiredly, he ruffled your hair. The rest of the night was spent gathering some more food in hopes it would stop Tommy’s gapple eating tirade, it obviously wouldn’t but it didn’t hurt to try. After that all three of you turned in for the night, as both you and Technoblade were getting ready for bed he decided to speak up about the plan for the next day.
          “Tommy and I need to make a trek into L’manburg to find Phil and try to get my stuff back. I don’t want to leave you here alone considering what just happened today, but you also can’t come to L’manburg.” 
        “Bubs you know I’ll be fine here alone did we not just have this conversation?” You pinched his pointed ears, and he made a sound of protest. “I’ve got fighting skills, after all have you not been training me in the art of war?” You teased with a smirk, “I got this Blade.”
          “Okay, okay, okay.” He leaned forward and kissed you and you kissed him back without hesitation. You felt him squeeze your hand fondly before pulling away from you. “When we get back home, we’ll have a date night okay?” Technoblade whispered softly pressing his forehead to yours. 
          “Gonna be a bit hard with the raccoon boy snooping around.” You teased eyes sparkling in delight, 
         “I’ll send him on a quest for something or other. So, it’ll be just us, I swear.” The soft look on Technoblade’s face made your heart squeeze in your chest. He brushed your hair behind your ear, “I’ll make you dinner, and we can watch a movie.” 
          “Well don’t take too long then.” You sent a teasing wink his way and he smiled fondly back at you. You kissed him again pulling him down into the bed, you both bounced with a laugh. His pink hair hung down and framed his face gorgeously, his glasses slipped down his nose. You pushed them back up with your index finger and he went cross-eyed, “I’ll be looking forward to it.” 
 The next morning rolled around and after breakfast both boys reluctantly packed a bag with important things they needed for the day. Stepping outside with the two of them, Technoblade gave you a farewell kiss and you watched them disappear over the hills. They were most likely going to go cause problems for other people on purpose. Finally alone, you decided to check up on the nearby villages to see if they had any interesting trades that you and Techno could exploit. You slung a bag over your shoulder and placed a good portion of emeralds inside of it, you placed a few potions inside of the bag as well. As a precaution you also grabbed an axe and a sword, you had to be ready for anything after all. Shutting the door behind you, you started your trek through the snow-covered woods you heard the snow crunch under your boots and began to hum softly to yourself. You paused a moment and raised an eyebrow as you caught sight of a blue sheep wandering by, tilting your head to the side you approached it. 
        “Well, hey little guy.” You murmured reaching out and running your hand through the sheep’s soft wool. 
         “Oh, um excuse me!” A voice spoke from behind you, you jumped with a yelp as soon as you spun around you were met with a fully transparent man. He had a yellow sweater with a big gash in his torso, and a beanie resting atop his head. You tilted your head up and locked eyes with him, they were almost completely white.
 He was a ghost.
          “That’s Friend! She doesn’t really like others petting her but it’s okay because you didn’t know.” The ghost smiled; it was contagious as you felt yourself smiling back at him.
         “My bad, my names (Y/n). What’s yours?” 
         “Oh! I’m Ghostbur! It’s nice to meet you miss, I’ve never seen you around here before. Are you new to the SMP?” He tilted his head floating around you, almost as if to get a better look at you. You focused more on his name, Ghostbur, which means this was Wilbur Soot, ex-president of L’manburg, and ‘brother’ of Tommy and Technoblade. 
 You cleared your throat and rubbed the back of your neck. “No, I’ve lived in this area for a while, but I’m a wandering adventurer. I trade with the villages around here for interesting collectables stuff like that. I don’t do much of that now though.” You watched the ghost’s eyes widen a little,
          “That’s so cool!” He praised, “I bet you have a ton of cool stories.” 
          “Yeah, there’s been a few close calls, but I’ve made it back alive and well- oh shit no offense.” You winced a little and he laughed shaking his head, 
          “No worries it’s okay! I’m fine with being dead you know, no one really liked who I was alive, so this is better for everybody.” He puffed out his chest a little and a big smile spread across his face, that only caused you to frown. You reached out to try and touch him and your hand went right through the man, you both seemed to shiver at that, and he looked at you in shock. 
      “I’m sorry to hear that...that must be really hard.” Wilbur’s jaw dropped at your response, he floated around a bit awkwardly. If he wasn’t floating, he would’ve been shuffling on his feet in a nervous manner. 
       “N-No it’s…Wilbur was a horrible, horrible man.” He took a deep breath and began to throw some sort of blue substance on the ground in a rapid manner, you watched as he began to mutter and breath heavily. 
        “Woah, woah, woah I’m sorry don’t freak out!” 
         “I’m not, I'm okay see, see I’m fine and happy. Very happy with everything that’s going on so no worries okay! Here.” He tossed the blue substance at you and you collected it with a weary smile, “Have some blue it’ll make you feel better.” You thanked him quietly and you both stood there a bit uncomfortably that was until thunder rumbled overhead. “Oh no…I melt in the rain.” 
         “Here why don’t you come with me.” You smiled softly, “I know a place where you can wait out the storm.” 
          “Aw thank you.” Ghostbur clapped, “Friend can come too right?” 
          “Of course.” 
          “Good. Then lead the way.” He chirped as Ghostbur followed you back the way you came, now before you get too mad at yourself you should know that Technoblade had informed you that during his ‘execution’ Ghostbur had visited him at his home. If he didn’t share that information with you, you’d be never revealing Technoblade’s base. As the house appeared over the mountains the ghost looked over at you with a bright smile, “Oh! That’s my friend Technoblade’s house, do you live with him?”
         “I do.” You smiled fondly and watched his smile grow excitedly, “He’s helped me out quite a lot.”
         “That’s wonderful! Technoblade usually never helps people unless he likes them or if they can do something for him in return. You must be very special, are you two together?” He only had to glance at you for a moment before laughing excitedly, “You are! That’s wonderful!” Ghostbur chirped, clapping his hands as he phased through Technoblade’s door, officially safe out of the rain, turned snow. You had let Friend inside as well and Ghostbur continued talking “Tell me how you met, please, please, please.” Seeing how excited the ghost was you melted, he won your heart just like Tommy. However, you had to keep in mind his alive self-did blow up an entire nation and that couldn’t be just brushed away like he seemingly was trying to do, you can’t erase the past. You can only accept what happens, learn from it, apologize and grow. However, you didn’t see the harm in sharing how the both of you met so you began to retell the tale to Ghostbur, the entire time he had an almost bittersweet look on his face. 
         “I was married once...her name was Sally. She...left though. But I still had my son, Fundy and we did the best we could together.” Ghostbur said fondly his eyes softening,
         “I’m sorry...that must’ve been really hard for the both of you.” 
         “It’s alright! She was a salmon, so she was going to swim away eventually.” 
         “Like- like an actual salmon?”
          “Yes?” 
The silence that stretched into the room was deafening, you cleared your throat deciding not to dwell on the fact that the ghost in front of you very likely fucked a fish. You hoped to god she was some sort of shapeshifter, in fact that’s what you were going to believe. You managed to break the silence by asking about Fundy, and the way he gushed about him was nothing less than fatherly. It was sweet and you listened intently to him, Fundy seemed like a good kid, a bit quirky but you were dating a blood god so who were you to judge? Eventually the snow outside stopped and the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds. Ghostbur glanced out the window and decided it was time for him to head out with Friend. It was about midday and you were almost sad to see him go. 
 Alone again.
You still had hours to kill before Technoblade and Tommy reappeared, so you figured it was about time to start doing some chores. 
---
         “Ghostbur what’re you doing here?” Fundy murmured softly, looking over at the ghost with an exhausted expression. His ears were pressed back against his head, talking to the man who was once considered his dad always made him exhausted. Wilbur, or Ghostbur now, really was pitiful.
         “Can’t I visit you every once in a while!” Ghostbur hummed a smile plastered on his face as Fundy frowned. 
         “Preferably not. Plus...I’m a little busy right now I’m meeting up with Quackity and the Butcher Squad to talk about Techno again.” 
         “OH! Technoblade! I just spent the loveliest morning with his girlfriend, she was absolutely wonderful! She asked all about you and just adored Friend-”
         “Rewind, Technoblade’s what?” Fundy’s jaw dropped to the floor and he felt a hand on his shoulder, the young fox man stiffened. He looked to the side and saw Quackity besides him, Ranboo was next to him but Tubbo stood a little ways away. 
        “Yeah Ghostbur. Do continue.” Quackity grinned, his missing tooth sticking out from his last encounter with Toothpick. Ghostbur wilted a little bit and his eyebrows creased on his forehead, he fucked up didn’t he? 
        “I-um nothing actually I misspoke.”
        “Did he misspeak Fundy, cause to me it sounds like we have new leverage against Technoblade.” Quackity laughed a crazed look in his eyes, “Once again Ghostbur I have to thank you for the great information.” 
        “You’re welcome…” He murmured weakly, as Quackity stepped besides the ghost. 
        “Get your weapons boys, it’s time to pay the Technoblade household another visit.”
~~~
Hey guys! Pt. III is officially up! Technoblade’s livestreams huh? :) 
Also friendship with Tommy ended Ranboo’s my new favorite child.
As always I love your feedback thanks for reading! 
1K notes · View notes
bangtanloverboys · 3 years
Text
the first cringe of morning // myg
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summary - there were many things one would be nervous about when their new partner spends the night for the first time: was the room clean? is everything in order? did you shave? but you weren’t really nervous about those things, you were nervous as to how he would preceive your scars
pairing - boyfriend!yoongi x trans male!reader
genre - fluff, slight nsfw; newly established relationship au
word count - 1.7k
warnings - mentions of top surgery, reader is slightly insecure of his scars, anxiety, bisexual yoongi, bed sharing, cuddling, non-sexual body worship, kissing, very light non-sexual dom/sub undertones, kinda soft dom!min yoongi, min yoongi being an absolute sweetheart
author’s note - hhhhhh dream scenario honestly. . .happy pride month
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Taking a deep breath, you pulled your shirt up, exposing your chest. You stared at your torso in the mirror, your eyes zeroing in on the two thin scars that decorated your chest. You’d gotten top surgery barely a year ago, the scars nearly faded away. You were happy with the results, you’ve never felt happier or more comfortable in your entire life even. You would never go back on the decision you made to get top surgery.
However, it didn’t stop you from being nervous. Why were you nervous? Your new boyfriend, Yoongi, was going to spend the night for the first time ever. You’ve been dating for a few months now and you honestly couldn’t have been happier. You told him you were a trans man a few weeks after you felt like you were possibly getting more serious; he nodded, thanking you for trusting him with the information. While you knew he would do nothing of the sort, your brain couldn’t help but think of terrible outcomes if/when he was to see your chest. 
What if he thought you looked deformed? What if he pointed out your nipples and how they looked weird? What if after what if after what if, plagued your mind. It was stupid and you knew that, but your anxiety continued to eat away at you.
The night so far had been pretty good; he arrived with a couple grocery bags of goodies, as you did ask him to pick up some things on his way over. The two of you had a nice dinner, watched a couple movies, and you were both getting ready to settle down for bed. It was established earlier that you weren’t planning on having sex at all that night, neither of you feeling quite ready for that yet. But you slept shirtless, meaning you had the options of either A. getting it over with and showing him or B. sleep with a shirt on and possibly overboil. Anxiety on the rise, you went with the latter option. 
A knock on the bathroom door startled you, causing you to drop your shirt. 
“I gotta brush my teeth. You decent?” Yoongi asked from the otherside of the door. 
With a light chuckle, you unlocked the door, pulling it open for him. “Come in.”
Walking in, his toothbrush in hand, he pressed a kiss to your cheek. “Thank you. Can I use your toothpaste?”
“Yeah, it’s in the little basket by the sink.” You gestured to the counter behind you. “I’m gonna get the bed ready.”
“Hey,” he grabbed your wrist, stopping you from going any further. “You sure you don’t want me sleeping on the couch? Because I’m more than fine with that.”
“No, it’s okay.” You responded, hoping your voice sounded reassuring. Yoongi stared at you for a moment, possibly sensing your nervousness. He didn’t say anything, only nodding; trusting your words. After releasing your wrist, you made your way to your bedroom.
You had cleaned up everything earlier that day, looking nothing like the mess it was the past couple days. But you were satisfied with it, as long as there was no mess on the floor or dirty dishes anywhere, it was fine. With a sigh, you began taking off the decorative pillows you had on display on your full sized bed, neatly stacking them in a pile. As you continued to get the bed ready, your mind wandered, thinking about how you were going to sleep. Did Yoogni have any sleeping habits? Would he cuddle you while you slept? Would he mind the heat you tend to give off when you sleep? So many different random anxieties started to build up over the ones already there. 
“Are we not going to sleep with any pillows or something?” Yoongi’s voice pulled you from your thoughts. Immediately you realized you went a bit too far and even pulled off the actual pillows from the bed, stacking them alongside the decorative ones.
“Shit- I’m sorry, I got a bit carried away.” You gushed as you put the pillows back on the bed. 
“No worries.” You got a good look at him as he walked across the room, towards the bed. He was wearing a loose fitted T-shirt, a pair of grey sweatpants that were hanging low on his hips, and his hair was a mess from being tucked away in a beanie all day. “Do you sleep on any specific side of the bed or free range?”
“I sleep on the right side.” You said, pointing to the side you were closest to. 
“Alright,” he nodded as he made his way over to the left side of the bed. Pulling back the covers, he climbed into bed. You moved to follow him, but he stopped you. “You’re gonna sleep in your jeans?” 
You felt your cheeks grow hot in embarrassment. “Right uh. Hang on.” You muttered as you turned around. As you shuck your jeans off, you can feel Yoongi’s eyes on you, causing the heat in your cheeks to spread to the tips of your ears. Standing in only your boxers and a T-shirt, you deemed yourself ready for bed. When you turned around to face him, you spotted a smirk playing on his lips. Avoiding eye contact, you clambered into bed, shutting off your lamp in the process, leaving you both in the dark room. 
The mattress beneath you shifted as Yoongi adjusted himself to lay down and get comfortable. “C’mere.” He wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you close to him. You freeze in his hold for a moment, thinking he’s going to possibly make a move, but instead you feel him nuzzle his face into your hair. You smiled as you felt his breathing tickle the skin of your neck. Relaxing into his touch, you allowed yourself to fall asleep in his arms. 
When you woke up to the sunlight bleeding through your blinds, you were genuinely surprised to have slept through the whole night. Usually you’d wake up randomly, but Yoongi was a good luck sleeping charm that now you had, you probably won’t ever let go. You shut your eyes again, wanting a bit more sleep before either of you have to get up.
Just as your mind was about to fall back into sleep, you felt the light touch of Yoongi’s lips drag across the skin of your neck. He peppered soft kisses over the exposed skin, gently tickling you. You giggled at the sensation, but didn’t pull away. In fact, you snuggled closer into him. As he sleepily kissed you, you felt the hand that was still wrapped tightly around your waist ever so slowly slip underneath your shirt. The skin to skin contact had you stiffen. Feeling your discomfort, Yoongi moved to whisper in your ear. 
“Are you okay with this?”
“I-” You struggled to get the words out. “My scars. I- I don’t-”
“Hey shh,” he murmured, kissing the shell of your ear before he readjusted himself on the bed, now hovering over you. “You can tell me, what about your scars?”
“I-I’ve. . . never really had a partner see my scars in a more. . . intimate setting. . .” You all but shrunk under his gaze, refusing to meet his eyes. 
“No, Y/N, look at me.” His hand went to your cheek, gently forcing you to look up at him. Meeting his dark eyes, you feel nothing but adoration pouring out from them, overwhelming you. “I care about all of you, scars and all. You are the most handsome creature I’ve had the privilege of knowing.” You felt tears prick at your eyes, threatening to spill. Your hand went up to cup his cheek, bringing him down to meet your lips. The kiss was nothing too special, it was slow and gentle, yet it didn’t stop your heart from racing. Yoongi’s other hand was sneaking back underneath your shirt as he pulled away. “Is it okay if I show you?”
With a gulp, you nodded.
“Use your words, baby.” 
“Yes.” You rasped out.
Once given the green light, he pressed a kiss to your lips, then your cheek, then your neck. He kissed down your clothed torso until he was over your hips, his hands slowly curling up the bottom of your shirt. His eyes never left yours as he exposed more and more skin, stopping just below your scars. Lowing his head to your stomach, he kissed you right below your belly button. Your eyes fluttered shut as he pecked all over your stomach; on occasion he’d catch you by surprise by blowing a raspberry, eliciting a laugh from you. 
He reached the edge of your shirt again, placing his hands on the fabric before moving it anymore. “Do you wanna take this off?”
“Yeah.”
It was a bit of a struggle but with Yoongi’s help, you got the T-shirt off. His eyes not once leaving you as he tossed the shirt to some corner of the room. The silence was thick as you watched him stare at you, saying nothing. Embarrassment burned in your cheeks as you moved to cover yourself, but his hands grabbed at your wrists, pinning them to your side.
“You’re absolutely stunning, Y/N.” He praised as he lowered himself to be over your ribcage. “Please don’t doubt that, I see nothing but the most beautiful man in front of me.” Yoongi muttered as he littered kisses along your scars, the sensation light from what little feeling you have left. His words left butterflies erupting in your stomach and your head reeling, trying to accept the compliments he gave you. You don’t think anyone has ever said that to you, hell, you don’t even think you’ve said that about yourself. But to have Yoongi tell you had you drunk. 
He’d nip at your skin, testing where you could feel, and when he felt you shutter against him, your boyfriend made sure to pay extra attention there. All while mumbling praises into your skin, assuring you that he thought nothing less of the world of you.
By the time his head came back up above yours, his lips were kiss swollen and you were breathless. Smiling down at you, he leaned down, kissing you one last time before pulling away. He laid his head down on your chest, snaking his arms around you to hold you tight. Your arms went to wrap around his shoulders, messing with his hair at the nape of his neck. There the two of you laid for the next few hours, as the sun rose higher in the sky, simply enjoying each other’s company.
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soobmint · 3 years
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paper hearts | choi soobin [f] ; [c] 80s! au, 9.6k words
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s u m m a r y ; if there was one thing you wanted to avoid on valentine’s day, it was running into your ex best friend, choi soobin. but when a series of unfortunate events involving too much purple eyeshadow, drunken punches, and one stolen bicycle leads you right back to his side, you begin to realize that maybe you truly belonged with him all along.
c o n t e n t s ; soobin x fem!reader, 80s! au, valentine’s day, ex best friend! soobin, rich boy! soobin, but he’s a major dweeb and the biggest softie, yeonjun is a major prick (i’m so sorry junnie), reader is a part time worker, soobin is best friends with lee felix of stray kids, some themes of social classes, roughly inspired by the 80s movie “pretty in pink,” mentions drugs, alcohol, and single parent households, mostly just fluff, fluff, and more fluff, with a hint of crack/humor
n o t e ; hello friends! this was a very quickly planned, last minute valentine’s day idea, and it’s actually a collab with one of my dearest friends, @chanluster ! she posted her piece of the collab as well, you can check it out by going to the collab masterlist here! this was so much fun to write and i think that 80s! soobin was just too good of a concept to pass up! anyways, happy valentine’s day, i hope you enjoy this oneshot! do leave a like, reblog, or comment if you could, it really helps so much <3
[back to my masterlist] [oneshot playlist]
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IF ONE MORE CUT-OUT, CRAFT-PAPER HEART HIT YOU IN THE FACE, YOU WERE GOING TO QUIT YOUR JOB.
Of course you would never actually quit. With your mother out of the picture and your father working nonstop overtime just to barely have enough cash to put food on the table for the both of you, you had come to rely on your minimum wage part-time hours more than you liked to admit. However, the handmade strings of paper hearts that hung from wall to wall throughout the entirety of the record shop you were employed at was enough to make you consider it; not to mention the Phil Collins record that had been spinning all day, filling your ears with melodies embodying the very air of romance, and the embarrassing pink sweater your boss had forced you to wear. You mumbled curses beneath your breath as you pulled at the collar, itching away at your neck.
When you made a step towards a crate full of records, ready to tidy it up after a customer had rummaged through it leaving it a mess, you were met with another face full of cheap red construction paper. With a large growl of exasperation, you swatted at the hearts and accidentally caused the entire string of them to fall to the ground. You cleared your throat, glad that no customers were present to see your little outburst.
Your boss, Jen, still saw it all.
“That’s not very festive of you, kid,” She said, taking a drag on her cigarette. “It’s Valentine’s Day! Lighten up.”
“Ah, my bad. I forgot that I was supposed to be overjoyed on the day honoring the execution of St. Valentine,” You said as you gave her a sarcastic smile. “I’ll make sure to smile at the next couple that walks in and ask them how they plan to contribute to the commercialization of a martyr’s death.”
“You must be real fun at parties,” Jen mumbled. She shook her cigarette at you from behind the counter. “You’re just bitter because you don’t have a valentine. I can’t blame anyone for giving you the cold shoulder with that attitude of yours.”
You scowled, picking up the string of hearts that you had sent crashing to the floor. “I’m not bitter, and I don’t want a date. Also, I told you to stop smoking inside! It smells awful.”
“Last I checked, this was my shop, not yours.” You rolled your eyes as you approached the counter, handing the discarded string to Jen so she could throw it in the trash. “Now you’re making me do chores for you too? You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that.”
“Jen, please, I’m really not in the mood for this today.”
Jen shrugged, bending towards the trash can to throw away the string of hearts when she paused and pulled something from the bin. You glanced over your shoulder and gasped when you saw what she held in her hand—a small red envelope with your name scrawled across the front and a pink heart-shaped sticker stuck on the back.
“What’s this?” Jen asked, opening the envelope and shaking out the contents. A single slip of paper fell out, landing atop the counter. You rushed to grab it, but Jen snatched it up just before your fingers reached the countertop.
“Give me that,” You insisted, face growing warm. “I threw it away for a reason!”
“It’s an invitation to a party?” She seemed beyond surprised, glancing back and forth between you and the paper several times. “You got invited to a Valentine’s Day party, and instead of going, you asked me to give you extra hours? Why?”
You looked down at your feet, digging the toe of your sneaker into the blue carpet. There were, in fact, many reasons why you did not want to go to that party. They were as follows:
One: Choi Yeonjun was the one who had invited you. After you had rejected his offer when he asked to take you to a basketball game a month before, you could barely make eye contact with him in the school hallway without feeling guilty. That and the fact that he was one of the richest preps in the school, you knew he had just been asking you out for some sort of prank or dare that you preferred to not potentially fall victim to.
Two: you needed to work as much as you could. Money, as always, was tight for you and your father. There was no way you would sacrifice precious hours to go to a party full of rich kids where nothing but humiliation was sure to await you.
Three: your old childhood friend and the one person you couldn’t bear to see was probably going to be there—Choi Soobin.
You had barely spoken to Soobin in the four years you had been in high school. Crossing paths with him in the cafeteria, turning down the same aisle of books as him in the library, all those tiny stolen glances and accidental encounters were the only bits of interaction you had kept throughout all that time. The worst part was, he hadn’t done anything wrong.
It was nothing but your own cowardice that had driven the two of you apart, and you were still too afraid to own up to it.
Instead of explaining all of this to Jen, you simply shrugged and said, “I dunno. It just sounds lame.”
Your boss sighed, holding the invitation out towards you. “Okay, I’m letting you off early. Go to the party.”
With wide eyes, you shook your head immediately. “Absolutely not. Why in the world would I go?”
“Well, first of all, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. Who knows when your next chance to go to a party will be.”
You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at that.
“Second, it’s a holiday! The only reason I even opened today was because you were begging me for hours. I thought it was because you were bummed about having no plans, but clearly it’s because you wanted an excuse to be a recluse.”
“Hey, I’m not a recluse.”
“Clearly.” She shook the invitation at you once more, brows raised. “If you go, I’ll raise your pay by fifty cents for the next month.”
Your ears perked up at that.
“Well?” She asked, well aware that she had hit the jackpot. “What'd ya say?”
Weighing the risks against the benefits, you bit the inside of your cheek.
“Make it a dollar and you’ve got a deal.” 
-
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S, CHOI.”
When Soobin heard the sarcastic remark coming from his best friend, Felix, he had to fight back the urge to burst into tears then and there. He still wasn’t quite sure how Felix had convinced him to come, but he was already regretting it. The last thing he wanted to do to celebrate the day dedicated to love was spend it at a house party—or, as Soobin preferred to call them, any outcast high school kid’s version of hell on earth.
With a quick peek between his fingers, which he had used to cover his eyes immediately upon arriving at the site of the Valentine’s party, Soobin caught another eye-full of couples getting all too familiar with one another out in the open. He gulped, letting his hands grip the handles of the bike as he averted his gaze, choosing to cast his best glare at Felix, who was busy adjusting his ever-present beanie.
“Shut up,” he murmured, slowly sliding off the seat of his bike. He dusted off the worn, tearing cushion, glancing around the area. “Now quick, we gotta put our stuff somewhere safe.”
Felix looked aghast, making no moves to help Soobin in his search for a hiding spot. “What are you doing?”
“Tryna find a safe place for my bike?” He thought the answer to be somewhat obvious, but clearly Felix wasn’t on the same track of thinking. “You don’t know today’s world! Anyone is willing to steal nowadays.”
“Soobin, your bike is coughing up oil from its chains. It should be in its own care home at this rate.”
“I don’t wanna hear your slander, skater boy,” Soobin retorted, eyeing Felix’s ebony skateboard that he refused to be seen without. As if on cue, when he pushed his bike forward, the chains squealed, drawing the attention of a pair of particularly passionate individuals who had been wrapped up with one another moments before. Soobin ignored their annoyed stares, feeling his ears burn from embarrassment. He glanced back to Felix. “Help me find a hiding spot.”
Felix was anything but enthusiastic, but he began to help Soobin search nonetheless.
“Slide it in here, Soobs,” Felix called a few moments later. He was pointed to an empty space between the home’s perfectly trimmed bushes. Soobin pursed his lips together, pushing his large glasses further up the bridge of his nose—a nervous tick of his. Felix groaned, rolling his eyes. “Or you can leave it out in the open so it’ll spit more oil on the passersby? Is that what you want?”
“Fine, fine!” Soobin huffed, wheeling his bike over to the shrubbery, chains squeaking all the way. He carefully laid it beneath the brush and moved a few branches to cover it up nicely. He stood up straight, dusting his hands on the front of his loose blue jeans. “What about your skateboard?”
Felix gave the board a pat, awarding his most prized possession a dazzling smile one would expect to see a proud father giving his beloved son. But in reality, it was the school’s stoner grinning ear to ear at his old, dusty skateboard. “Nightrider stays with me.”
Soobin scrunched his nose, cringing on instinct. He still calls that thing by that stupid name?
Felix clapped him on the shoulder before he could make a remark, catching him off guard when he said, “Right. Let’s go and get your girl.”
There was nothing Soobin could do to stop the flush that rushed to his cheeks right away. Images of you, his ex-best friend and the only reason he had even come to this party in the first place, flashed through his mind. Had he not overheard Yeonjun invite you earlier that morning and then casually mention the encounter to Felix, there was no way he would have even stepped foot out of his house that night. Part of him was peeved, wishing he had never uttered a single word about you to his overbearing friend. Yet, deep down, there was hope within him—the tiniest sliver.
If there was even the slightest chance that he could talk to you that night, he would do anything. Even if it meant dealing with a stupid party, and the never-ceasing teasing he was bound to continue receiving from Felix.
“Don’t even say that,” He said, emphasizing each word as they walked up the front steps. Soobin had to glance down at his much shorter friend to see the devious grin on his freckled face.
“Say what? That she’s your girl, your woman, your one and only?”
The blush must have been creeping to his neck by that point. He could feel it. “I. . .” There were many things Soobin wished to say; angry words that would hopefully shut the blonde skater boy up real quick. But he couldn’t bring himself to say a single harsh word, so he sighed in defeat. “I can’t even say it.”
“That you hate me?” Felix only grinned even bigger, and Soobin couldn’t help the tiny defeated smile that slipped over his features. “Oh, I know. It’s because I’m too good of a best friend.”
They stepped into the house then, instantly being overwhelmed by loud music, boisterous laughter, and drunken yells echoing throughout the halls. Soobin latched onto Felix right away, gripping his friend’s sleeve as someone stumbled into him, a bit of beer spilling from their cup. He pushed his glasses up, only for them to slide right back down as he began to sweat.
“Maybe we should go home, Lix!” Soobin shouted to be heard over the noise as they travelled further into the house. “We can always try next year!”
“Stop being a scaredy-cat!” Felix shouted back, and Soobin thought he might actually begin to cry as they squeezed their way into the living room. Soobin nearly gagged at the strong smell of alcohol as it burned in his nose. The scene was nothing short of a nightmare to Soobin—loud voices, smoke rising in the air, vodka assaulting his nose and sweat beading on the back of his neck. He had never been one to drink, and he didn’t plan on starting that night; but he was beginning to understand what Felix meant when he had once told him it was nearly impossible to get through one of these parties sober.
He was about to make another complaint and beg to leave when someone from the crowd hollered his name, causing him to wince when he recognized that voice as the one that belonged to none other than Choi Yeonjun.
“Soobin! Where you been?”
Soobin smiled nervously at the school’s heartthrob—and textbook snobby rich kid—before he turned back to Felix. He didn’t want to leave his friend, but he knew that he would never hear the end of it if he ignored Yeonjun’s persistent calls. “I’ll be right back,” He promised Felix, still holding onto his sleeve.
“No, no,” Felix assured. “You go. You’ll probably find her around that place anyway.”
Soobin wasn’t so sure of that. You were definitely not of the right social standing to be caught amongst the circle of the school’s rich boys—which was why it had surprised Soobin that Yeonjun had invited you to the party in the first place. Your high school had its own caste system, and you were near the bottom of it.
And, as much as it pained him to admit it, Soobin was stuck at the very top with all the other rich snobs who cared about nothing more than their daily allowances that came straight from their daddy’s bank account.
“What about you, buddy?” He asked Felix, desperate for any excuse to remain by his friend’s side. He would have tried to bring Felix with him, but his friend was in an even worse social standing than you were—he was poor, and he was most known for being the school’s pothead. There was no way Soobin would willingly drag him into a situation where nothing but slander and torment awaited him.
“Me?” Felix shrugged, gripping his board tighter. “I’ll just smoke away the night.”
Soobin pouted, glancing back at the group of preps as they called for him once again. He sighed, clapping Felix on the shoulder. “Just make sure you won’t smell too much of it when I come back.”
Submitting himself to his doom then, he turned on his heel and slowly made his way to where the group of  boys sat near the sofa, giving them a half-hearted wave.
“Why were you hanging around that Felix guy?” Yeonjun asked once Soobin had reached their circle. “Did he blackmail you or something?”
Soobin frowned, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “He’s my friend.”
Yeonjun rolled his eyes, brushing a hand through his perfectly-straightened ebony locks. “Sure he is. Tell me, do you see every kid you find on the streets as some sort of personal charity project? Or is it just Felix and—what was her name—” He snapped his fingers then before he said, “Y/N, right?”
Soobin didn’t respond—well, it was more like he couldn’t respond. By nature he was a very passive being, but nothing drew him closer to bouts of anger than when the people he cared about were being insulted right before him.
Especially when it came to you.
Yet, as much as he wanted to tell Yeonjun off or give him a nice shove into the smoke-stained walls, words failed him. They always did. Perhaps this was why you had abandoned him all those years ago. Nobody knew him better than you did, so of course you were able to see what he truly was beneath all the expensive clothes and nervous laughter—a coward.
He figured that he’d probably have left himself too.
“Drink up, buttercup.” The chipper voice that belonged to the other Choi in the small gathering of socialites, Choi Beomgyu, thrust a plastic red cup towards Soobin’s chest. 
He shook his head, throwing another wavering smile in his direction. “No thanks. I don’t drink.”
Yeonjun rolled his eyes. “Of course you don’t. Why are you even here then?”
Once again, Soobin chose silence as his only response. He swallowed, patting the front pocket of his denim jacket. As the group of boys began conversing once more, he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander around the room, searching every drunken face for the features that belonged to you, trying to hear your name in every conversation, desperate for your voice to break through the blasting music and shouting voices.
“Who ya looking for there, Big Choi?” Soobin grimaced at the nickname. He was skinny, but incredibly tall, and nobody would let him forget that. “Big Choi” was one of his most common nicknames among the elitists. He despised it, but of course, he would never voice that aloud.
He glanced at Beomgyu and smiled nervously again, shaking his head. “Nobody.”
His eyes met Yeonjun’s and he gulped yet again as the latter eyed him with suspicion. It wasn’t as though he had anything to hide, but something about Yeonjun’s calculating gaze made his skin crawl.
He needed to escape. Just for a moment, at least.
“I’ll be right back. Going to find some water.”
He slipped out of the living room then, apologizing profusely to each couple he accidentally bumped into, bowing in remorse to each person’s toes his big feet happened to stumble over. He ached to be by Felix’s side—the stoned skateboarder had become somewhat of a security blanket to the taller of the duo—but his blonde friend was nowhere to be seen.
After snagging a bottle of water from the kitchen, Soobin managed to slip into an empty bathroom. He slammed the door shut and wasted no time in locking it. Letting out the biggest sigh of relief, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door, taking a big gulp of the ice cold water.
He set the bottle on the counter and carefully reached into the front pocket of his jacket, his fingers finding the piece of paper he had been storing there all evening. He pulled it out and let his eyes wander over his middle school creation. It was a big heart, cut out from a scrap piece of red construction paper. Scrawled across it in his eight-grade handwriting were the words, Be mine this Valentine’s! His name was etched at the bottom, and at the very top, delicately printed in hot pink glitter glue, your name was written as well.
He had planned to give this to you four years ago on Valentine’s day. Everything had been planned out perfectly; he was to pick you up on his old, trusty bike. It wasn’t really made for two people, but the two of you had fashioned a makeshift extra seat for you to sit upon whenever you went places together. 
He wanted to take you to the Dairy Shack, which was the local ice cream shop where the two of you spent the most time together. You always got a large chocolate shake to share, playing a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to eat the cherry on top. He was going to order a shake and specially ask for two cherries that time, and planned to give both of them to you before he would bravely present you with the handmade card he had spent all day working on.
However, when he waited for you outside your house that day, the red dusk turned to pitch black night, and you never stepped foot out your door.
He had even gone up to your door a few times and knocked, but there was no answer. Eventually he pedalled off into the night, back to his house. He was disappointed, of course, but more worried than anything else. He had hoped you weren’t sick.
But when he saw you at school the next day, he knew that hadn’t been the case.
And when you ignored him calling your name as you passed by him in the hallways, he knew that something had drastically changed.
For weeks, Soobin was in great turmoil as he replayed your last few encounters together before you had stood him up. Perhaps you were angry that he had won the last few games of rock, paper, scissors? If he had known, he would have given you all the cherries for the rest of time if it meant you would still talk to him. He didn’t care about them—he cared about you.
He missed you.
And as weeks turned to months, and months turned to years, you still barely spoke to him, and he missed you more and more. The best friend he had wanted to take a step closer to had taken a thousand steps back from him, and he still had no idea why.
But that night, he was determined to find out.
Well, if he could muster up the courage to get a single word out, of course.
He folded the heart back up and stuck it back in his pocket, taking a deep breath as he observed himself in the fogged-up mirror. He fixed his bright blue hair that Felix had helped him bleach and dye, making sure the pieces fell over the corners of his eyes just right. He straightened his white turtleneck and cuffed the sleeves of his denim jacket until he was at least somewhat content with his appearance.
“You can do this, Soobs,” He told himself, adjusting his big round glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “That’s what Felix would say.”
“Hey, rich boy!” A loud scream came from outside the bathroom door, accompanied by harsh knocking that sent Soobin stumbling backwards until he fell in the shower, pulling the curtains down with him.
“Hurry up in there! I’m about to piss myself!”
Soobin let out a shaky sigh, scrambling to his feet as he rushed to fix the curtain he had torn down with his clumsiness. “Sorry,” he mumbled, though he doubted the person on the other side of the door could hear him.
He realized then with an ever growing dread that it would be a miracle if he survived the night long enough to even find you, but it would take the work of God himself for him to actually speak to you.
He figured it was time for him to start praying.
YOU KNEW IT WAS A MISTAKE TO LET JEN DO YOUR MAKEUP.
When she had stopped you on your way out the door with a compact of bright purple eyeshadow, you had turned her down right away. No way in all of creation were you walking in a party with such an atrocious color caked up to your brow bone.
“How can you say it’s gonna look bad if you haven’t even let me try?” Jen had asked.
You had given her a once-over, your lips pressed into a thin line. “If it’s gonna look anything like the way you do your own makeup, I’m gonna have to pass.”
After that snide remark, she had threatened to fire you if you didn’t let her apply the makeup. And so you obliged, though you didn’t have much of a choice.
The booming sounds of the party hit your ears before you had even reached the lawn. Screaming teens—well, there were probably some adults thrown in there as well—and the sound of music spilled through the open windows of the home. Couples and singles alike were scattered throughout the perfectly kept lawn that was now littered with empty cups and other assortments of garbage.
You looked down at your patchwork jeans and pink sweater, certain that you would be underdressed compared to the rest of the partygoers. But from the looks of things, as you carefully squeezed your way through the front door and into the home, everyone was probably too wasted to even notice your arrival, let alone care about your looks.
You caught a glimpse of your face in the hallway mirror, cringing at the sight of your eyeshadow. You had tried to wipe some of it away before arriving, but it simply smudged, giving you quite the shocking smoky, purple eye look. For someone who didn’t even know the difference between a paintbrush and a makeup brush, it was a bold look, to say the least.
If Soobin saw you looking like this, he’d probably have a heart attack.
Soobin.
In the midst of all your frantic preparation, you had nearly forgotten about the main reason why you had planned to avoid this party at all costs. With a quick glance around the room, you realized that he was nowhere to be seen. You wouldn’t have been surprised if he hadn’t shown up at all. He was never a fan of parties, anyway.
You crossed your arms over your chest and slowly slipped past the couples crowding the hallway with their limbs intertwined, mouths practically swallowing one another whole, until you reached the living room. Surprisingly, it was less crowded in here than you thought it might be. A few minglers were scattered about the room’s perimeter, but they all kept away from the center of the room, which was occupied by none other than Choi Yeonjun and all his brainless, rich-boy worshippers. You quickly scanned the group, not able to make out Soobin among them. When you realized he wasn’t there, you were partly relieved and partly disappointed. If was to be anywhere at this party, it would probably be with these guys.
With a quick turn on your heel, you planned to make your way out of the living room before Yeonjun could see you. The last thing you wanted was for the boy with a bruised ego to see you, regardless of whether or not he had been the one to invite you.
“Y/N? You came?”
Too late.
Plastering a forced grin to your face, you slowly turned to face Yeonjun, who had just called your name. He was eyeing you with slight surprise, but soon, a smirk slipped across his lips as he motioned for you to come over. You had to hold back your sigh, wishing there was some way for you to get out of this situation. It was all Jen’s fault that you had to show up in the first place. You decided you were going to demand an extra ten cents be added to your raise the next time you saw your pushy boss.
“Hey Yeonjun,” you said once you had walked over to him. “I figured I’d stop by for a minute or two, since you were kind enough to invite me.”
He smirked, glancing at a few of his friends. They shared a knowing laugh with one another, but the meaning of it was lost to you. You wanted nothing more than to get away from them, but that wasn’t an option.
“You’re too busy to go out with me to a basketball game but free enough to come to a party, huh?” He asked.
You blinked, digging your nails into your arms. “I’m sorry?”
“It’s fine, really,” He drawled, swirling his plastic cup of beer in his hand. “You didn’t think I’d be upset or anything did you? I only asked you out because I was dared to shack up with you. But I’m guessing you already knew that, since you’re so smart and all.”
Your eyes went wide, but you managed to control the rest of your expression. It was just like you had guessed—Yeonjun had invited you to the party with the sole purpose of making a scene.
If you survived the night, Jen was never going to hear the end of it.
“You’re not gonna say anything?” He asked, pushing himself to his feet. You could tell by the slight stumble in his step and his hooded eyes that he had quite a bit to drink. He took a step towards you, causing you to back up immediately. Your back hit the wall, and you placed your palms against it as Yeonjun towered over you. 
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I know why you’re here anyways.” He leaned forward, his lips hovering near your ear. “You’re here to see Soobin, aren’t you? Since he’s the only one here willing to waste his time on filth like you.”
Your blood boiled, and you had to clench your fists at your sides to control your anger.
“Don’t,” You seethed, “Call me that.”
“Call you what? Filth? Or sweetheart? Why, is that something good old Binnie used to call you—”
He never got to finish that sentence, because with one big burst of anger, you stomped on his toe as hard as you could with your worn-out platform sneaker.
“What the hell!” He screeched, drawing the attention of several others in the room. His outburst even caused a few of the couples to pull away from each other’s faces long enough to eavesdrop.
Before you could even say anything back, lukewarm liquid was splashed up in your face, burning your eyes and nose. You gasped, running your hands over your eyes to see Yeonjun with his now empty cup of beer pointed towards you.
“Think twice before you act out against me next time, sweetheart. Never forget your place.”
Tears of anger burned in your eyes, and you scanned the room to see several people exchanging whispers and giggles as they glanced in your direction. You pushed past Yeonjun and quickly made your way out the back door of the house, unable to stand the humiliation for a moment longer.
Soobin arrived in the living room just in time to see you leave.
He wasted no time in rushing towards Yeonjun, grabbing hold of his arm. “Yeonjun, was that Y/N?” He asked, eyes quickly taking in the puddle of alcohol on the floor and the empty cup in Yeonjun’s hand. “What happened?”
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty blue head about, Big Choi. I just put her in her place is all.”
Soobin’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean you ‘put her in her place?’”
Yeonjun laughed, giving Soobin a nonchalant pat on the back. “Just drop it, would you? It has nothing to do with you.”
“What did you say, Yeonjun?”
Yeonjun was growing irritated now. He huffed out a breath, crossing his arms over his chest. “I said it has nothing to do with you, Soobin. I know you like to hang around people like that pothead Felix, but the rest of us live in the real world, where we’d rather not waste our time with those who have no future anyways. I bet he’s the one that got you to dye your hair that god awful blue, isn’t he?”
Soobin bit the inside of his cheek. He so badly wished to rip Yeonjun to shreds then and there. If he had Felix’s courage, the cocky bastard would have been knocked to the ground ages ago. But if there was one thing Soobin was sure he could never be, it was brave. And so, despite his rage, he remained silent, his eyes practically burning a hole through Yeonjun’s chest from how intently he was glaring.
It seemed as though Yeonjun was about to say something, but his eyes landed on the bit of red that peeked through the front pocket of Soobin’s denim jacket. Before Soobin had time to defend himself, Yeonjun had reached forward and snatched it from his pocket, revealing the large paper heart—his valentine for you.
“So this is why you care so much,” Yeonjun said, laughing as his eyes scanned the glittery words that decorated the page. “You want her to be your valentine.”
“Give that back,” Soobin said quietly, his hands beginning to shake.
Yeonjun instead lifted his eyes to Soobin, gave him a sickly sweet grin, and ripped the heart straight down the middle. He let the two pieces fall from his hands to the ground, and with them Soobin’s heart went also.
“You’re really willing to try and go against me, and for what? For the sake of a girl who can’t even afford a new pair of jeans and a boy that smokes his life away in the bathroom stalls?” Yeonjun took a slow step towards Soobin, his eyes glinting with a sinister determination. “You may be rich, Soobin, but if you choose to lower yourself to their standards, you may as well be dirt poor just like they are.”
With his hands clenched into tight fists, his glasses sliding down his nose, and his heart quite literally in two pieces on the floor below him, Soobin decided that he had had enough.
“I’d much rather be associated with people who are kind and have actual depth to their character than be lumped together with a bunch of pricks like you with no real personality—because that’s something you can’t buy with daddy’s paycheck.”
He had to physically restrain himself from slapping his hand across his own mouth in shock. It was as if the spirit of Felix himself had possessed him to say such harsh things. He wondered where Felix was then, wishing more than ever before to have his best friend by his side as he began to tremble from either the rush of adrenaline that coursed through his veins, or from fear. Or perhaps it was both.
He didn’t have time to ponder it any longer before Yeonjun’s fist collided with his nose, resulting in a sickening crack as pain echoed throughout his face in tidal waves.
He stumbled backward as people began to shout, raising his hand to his nose and gasping when he saw that his palm was covered in blood. 
Beomgyu had his arms wrapped around Yeonjun, who was desperately trying to lunge towards Soobin once again.
“Knock it off, Yeonjun!” Beomgyu shouted, pushing the elder back. “His dad is on the school board! Are you trying to get expelled?”
Beomgyu looked over his shoulder at the still stunned Soobin, who was gaping at the blood that now stained his once white turtleneck. 
“Get lost, Soobin,” Beomgyu said, to which Soobin only blinked in reply, his ears ringing.
“Now!”
Head spinning, Soobin picked up the two halves of his paper heart, stuffed them into his jeans, and stumbled out the same door he had seen you go through just minutes before. After checking to make sure his glasses were still intact—they were, thankfully—he shook his head in an effort to clear his mind of the static, eyes scanning the front lawn looking for any trace of you.
It didn’t take long for his eyes to spot you among the now dwindling crowd of partygoers. Your bright pink sweater stood out against the darkness, so he was able to recognize you even with your back towards him. He sniffed, wiping the back of his hand against his dripping nose as he slowly made his way to where you sat on the curb, your feet planted on the asphalt street. He wished that he looked a bit more presentable—when he played this scene out in his head over the years in which he would finally reunite with you, he never imagined himself dazed and covered in blood.
Desperate times called for desperate measures, he supposed.
When he reached you, he simply stood beside you in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say. He could tell that you sensed his presence, but you refused to look up at him as you kept your face buried in your hands. He could have sworn he heard a few muffled sobs slip through your fingers, but of course, he wasn’t going to bring that up.
Eventually he decided to slip his jacket off of his shoulders, leaning down to drape it over you. You still kept your head down as he sat beside you on the curb, but he watched you grip the jacket and pull it tighter around your body. He smiled a bit, holding the collar of his turtleneck against his throbbing nose.
“Thank you,” you muttered, wiping your hand across your eyes. You finally looked over at him, and when you did, you couldn’t hold back your gasp. “My God Soobin, what happened to your face?”
“Oh, well, I might have gotten punched,” He said quickly, trying to wave off your concern. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Punched? By who?”
He looked down at the ground, sniffing as a drop of blood hit the pavement. “Yeonjun,” he muttered under his breath.
“I’m sorry, did you just say Yeonjun? Are you insane? Why on earth would you butt heads with the Choi Yeonjun?”
Soobin didn’t say anything in response, he simply stared at you, eyes wide with beer dripping off the ends of your hair, makeup smeared across your face, your sweater stained down the front. It didn’t seem to take long for you to put the pieces together, as the shock left your face and was replaced with something akin to guilt.
“Oh,” You said, looking back down at your shoes.
“So she knows that I did it all for her,” Soobin thought.
For some reason, the idea of that both terrified and excited him.
A second later, he glanced over to see you ripping one of the hand-sewed patches of fabric off your jeans, leaving a square of your skin exposed to the chilly night air. You leaned towards him, pushing his hand away from his nose so you could use the patch to clean up some of the blood on and around his puffy red nose.
“Y/N, your pants!” He exclaimed, trying to push your hand away. “They’re ruined!”
“I’m not worried about my pants, you idiot,” You said, swatting his hand away as you continued to press the cloth against his skin. “You got punched in the face because of me, this is the least I could do.”
“That was my choice though,” He muttered, although he stopped trying to resist your touch. He ignored the way his heart thrummed harder in his chest, hoping that you couldn’t hear.
“Well, this is my choice too.” Your eyes flicked to his for a brief moment, your bottom lip pulled between your teeth. “Why did you do it, by the way?”
“Do what?”
“Stand up to Yeonjun for me and get a nasty nosebleed as a result.”
“Oh.” He blinked slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on yours. “Just ‘cause.”
“Because . . . ?”
“Because of you.” He blurted, causing your hand to go still against him. He swallowed his fear, braving the best smile that he could. “Just you. That was my only reason.”
You didn’t say anything as your hand fell from his face, the cloth clutched between your fingers. The anxiety he had tried his best to suppress came rushing up all at once, and he was surprised that his ears didn’t begin to squeal like a tea kettle from all the pressure. 
“Y/N,” He said, gently placing his hand over yours despite how his fingers trembled. “Why did you pull away from me?”
“What?”
“Four years ago. Why did you stop talking to me?”
You were quiet for a moment, digging into the ground with the toe of your sneaker. Soobin held his breath until you finally replied with, “I was afraid.”
“Afraid? Of what?”
“We were getting older, Binnie,” You said, and his heart skipped at the use of your old nickname for him. “You and I, we’re from very different walks of life. You get to hang out with people like Yeonjun, whereas I get a cup of beer poured all over my face just for existing, and you get a fist to the nose for trying to stand up for me. We’re from different sides of the track, one might say.”
“So?” Soobin asked, his hand tightening around yours. “Did you really think that would affect us that much, Y/N?”
You frowned, glancing down at his hand over yours.
“I thought you’d be embarrassed of me,” You said, your voice barely above a whisper.
“Embarrassed?” Soobin’s eyes went wide as he gripped your hand tighter still, pulling it into his lap. “Y/N, I would never, ever be embarrassed of you. Besides, have you seen my best friend? He’s on a first name basis with the principal because of how often he gets written up for smoking behind the school. If I’m not embarrassed of him, why would I ever be embarrassed of you?”
You laughed, wiping the back of your hand across your eyes once more. “I guess I was worried about nothing, huh?” You sniffed, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry, Soobin.”
He shook his head, squeezing your hand right back. “Don’t apologize. You’re here now, that’s what matters. Do think we could—you know—”
“Pick up where we left off?” You smiled, nodding vigorously. “I’d like that very much, Binnie.”
He beamed then, almost pinching himself to be sure that he was not dreaming, but the pain in his nose was real enough to remind him of that on its own. He jumped to his feet, pulling you right up with him.
“In that case, how about we finally go on that Valentine’s date I had planned all the way back then?”
“Date?” You asked, a brow raised. “Is it really considered a date if two friends are just hanging out?”
He didn’t respond as he pulled you along behind him towards the bushes where he and Felix had hidden his bike. He crouched down and moved the branches aside, feeling his heart drop to his stomach when he realized that his bike was, in fact, no longer there.
He shot up, turning to face you with eyes wide. “Felix—that bastard took my bike!”
You were quiet for a moment, but then, you burst into boisterous laughter, leaving Soobin utterly confused.
“It’s not funny, Y/N!” He whined, shoving your shoulder lightly. “I was supposed to take you to the Dairy Shack on my bike!”
“It is funny,” You said between bursts of laughter. “Only you would get such a rusty old piece of metal stolen from you.”
He pushed his lips out in a pout, sliding his glasses up his sore nose. “It’s a good bike, don’t make fun of it.”
You grinned, interlocking his fingers with yours, which was enough to instantly wipe the pout right off his face. 
“Let’s just walk, Binnie. The Dairy Shack isn’t that far anyways.”
You were right; the walk to your favorite milkshake place was very close to the house where the party had occurred. Although Felix stealing his bike had thrown an obvious wrench in his plans, it was a minor hiccup, and one he could most definitely handle. Besides, he wouldn’t have to see Felix until the next day anyways. He could deal with his frustration then.
At least, that’s what he thought anyways, until the two of you spotted Felix at the skatepark on your way to the dairy shack.
Soobin’s eyes took in the deplorable sight before him—from where he stood on the dimly lit sidewalk, he could see Felix and a girl he had never seen before, their faces nearly pressed together, and most importantly, with his bike discarded a few yards away from them.
“Soobin,” You said, tugging on his arm. “They look like they’re busy, let’s just go—”
But Soobin, who had little patience when it came to Felix messing up his plans, didn’t let you finish before he screamed, “Give me back my freaking bike!”
You had to hold back your snort of laughter at his choice of words. Even when he was trying to sound angry, he was undeniably adorable.
Soobin watched as Felix startled, clutching his spliff between his fingers as he glared daggers back at his friend. Soobin gulped, trying not to let his fear show on his face. What did he have to be afraid of, anyways? He was the victim of thievery, and his best friend was the offender.
Felix took a big step towards him, but he paused, his eyes landing on your interlocked hands. Soobin glanced down as well, his face growing furiously warm as he realized the situation he had gotten himself into. 
He decided to divert the subject before it could even be brought up by saying, “I can’t believe you stole my bike! All this time I was trying to hide it from strangers, but you, my best friend! I should’ve been hiding it from you!”
Soobin noticed Felix’s female companion step off the skateboard and walk over in his direction, and for a second he felt bad for possibly ruining her night with his best friend. However, his frustration was more prominent in the moment as he fixed his gaze back on his best friend, who had fixed a mischievous smirk upon his face that made warning sirens blare in Soobin’s head right away.
“Now, now, buddy,” Felix said, his voice calm and carefree as ever. It probably had something to do with what he had just smoked, but Soobin didn’t care all that much. “You’re just gonna have to let me borrow it for a little longer.”
Soobin nearly laughed at the audacity of such a statement. “You are gonna give me the bike, or—”
“How about this, Soobs?” Soobin’s lips clamped shut at his friend’s interruption, as the thief in question gestured with his joint to where Soobin’s fingers were locked with yours. “You let me keep your bike for the night, and I don’t tell your dad about you hanging out with the opposite gender.”
Unable to control yourself, you let out a big laugh. Soobin would have felt betrayed, but he was more terrified than anything else at the idea of his father finding out that he was taking a girl out without his permission. He would be grounded for weeks—no, months.
“You wouldn’t.”
Felix’s lips curled up even more into a twisted grin that Soobin wished he had the guts to slap off his face. “God, just imagine the look on Mr. Choi’s face. Imagine him finding out about your premarital hand holding.”
No. Not the hand holding.
Soobin almost felt faint, but he steeled himself to the best of his abilities as he cleared his throat. “One night, Lix,” he warned. “If I don’t see it on my porch in the morning, you’ll be sorry!”
“Oh, I’m so scared,” Felix teased. His expression changed a moment later though, when he finally noticed Soobin’s swollen nose and blood-stained turtleneck. “Wait, Soobs, the hell happened to you?”
Soobin, however, had already taken his first steps away from the skatepark, pulling you along behind him. “I’ll tell you later, bud. Enjoy your spliff with that kind girl who you probably don’t deserve!”
“Hey!”
Soobin couldn’t help but laugh as he swung your interlocked hands together, grinning as you let out a laugh as well. The anger that had seeped through him seemed to melt away in an instant as the two of you continued your journey to the Dairy Shack.
“Would your dad really be that upset if he found out about this?” You asked.
Soobin grimaced. “We should probably wait til next year to tell him about this outing. Or maybe the year after that.”
When the two of you had finally reached the Dairy Shack, you waited outside for him while he went in to order your drink. A large chocolate milkshake, with two straws, just like you used to get every time before.
When he had the drink in hand, he walked back outside and sat down beside you on the curb, smiling as you wrapped his jacket tighter around your shoulders. You smiled back up at him, your eyes creasing from the expression. Your smile had always struck him right to his core; he had missed seeing it every day.
He hoped he could see it every morning and every night from that day onward. There was no way he would let you go this time.
He just had to muster up the courage to grab hold of you first.
“You know what, Binnie, you turned out to be a lot taller than I thought you ever would be,” you said as you took one of the straws from his hands. “You’re actually enormous. It’s shocking.”
“Should I find that offensive? It sounds kinda like an insult.”
“Take it however you will,” You teased, leaning over as he popped the plastic lid off the milkshake. He grabbed the cherry by the stem and held it towards you.
“What are you doing?” You asked, holding out your fist. “We have to rock, paper, scissors for it. Remember?”
Soobin laughed as he shook his head. “I’m giving it to you this time. It’s what I planned to do all those years ago, when I asked you to hang out on Valentine’s.”
You seemed to be taken aback, but you simply shrugged as you plucked the cherry from his hand and pulled it from the stem with your teeth, glancing back over at him. It was silent for a moment, but then your eyes landed on the pocket of his jeans, where you could see a bit of red paper poking out. You leaned over even further, reaching your hand out to snatch the paper.
“What are you—hey! Give that back!”
Soobin desperately tried to take his Valentine back from you, but it was too late. You held both halves of what used to be a whole in your hands, your eyes scanning the words as you pieced them together.
“Soobin . . .”
He held his breath. Had his act of young love left you completely speechless? Were you so touched that you would burst into tears?
“This looks like a middle schooler made it.”
He let out the breath in the form of a long, long sigh.
“That’s because it was made by a middle schooler,” He said as he set the milkshake down beside him. “I made it back in the eighth grade. I planned to give it to you that Valentine’s.”
“Oh.” You ran your finger along the card’s surface, the smallest smile creeping across your lips. “Well in that case, it’s not half bad. Why’s it ripped though?”
“Ah—well, Yeonjun . . .”
You nodded, taking another glance at his swollen nose. “No need to elaborate. It seems you had a lot planned for our Valentine’s Day back then. Is there anything else you wanted to do?”
His mouth went dry at that, and he wished that you couldn’t see his face because he was sure that his expression was quite comical. All the way back then, four years prior, he had in fact planned the perfect, ideal day in his head. Picking you up on his bike, giving you the cherry from his milkshake, and presenting you with his hand made card.
There was only one thing left on his list.
He didn’t move at first, willing himself to have enough courage to even look back in your direction. But when he finally did allow his eyes to meet yours, he felt his shoulders relax and his heart rate became more manageable.
He took a deep breath, leaned forward, and pressed his lips against your cheek.
He lingered there for only a moment before he pulled back, daring to pry one of his eyes open to take in the look on your face.
The disappointment was palpable—from the way your brows furrowed together and the way you pursed your lips. His stomach dropped, and he scooted the tiniest bit away from you.
“I’m sorry,” He blurt out, his face growing warmer by the second. “I shouldn’t have done that, I just—”
“Is that all?”
Your question stopped him mid-ramble, his eyes growing wide. “Huh?”
“Is that all?” You repeated, closing the distance between you that he had created. “It’s Valentine’s Day, Soobin. I think we can do better than a peck on the cheek.”
The implications of what you were saying didn’t register with him right away, but when it finally did, he could have sworn his heart began to beat loud enough for the entire town to hear. His hand curled into a fist as he gripped the denim of his jeans. He leaned forward, keeping his eyes open just enough to watch you as he brought his lips closer to yours. He could feel your eyes on him all the while, causing his heart to pound fiercer still within him.
When he was just a breath away, he whispered, “Can you close your eyes?”
“Hm?”
He lifted his hand, gently placing it over your eyes. He leaned closer then, filling the space between you both as his lips met yours. You tasted vaguely of cherry and strawberry slice soda, and he found it quite nice the way his lips seemed to fit perfectly against your own. As the seconds drew on, your hands slipped around his neck, pulling him closer. He slowly let his hand fall from your eyes, tracing lines with the tips of his fingers down your cheek before he cradled your jaw, letting his lips part just enough to taste the sweet sugar on your lips once more.
He thought in a haze that it was a good thing he didn’t drink anything at the party, as kissing you was proving to be intoxicating enough on its own.
When you finally pulled away, leaving your forehead resting against his, he let his eyes flutter open enough to see the euphoric smile that adorned your features. He grinned as well, gently running his thumb against your cheek.
“I think that back then, I had planned to ask you this before kissing you,” He whispered, “But Y/N, will you be my Valentine?”
Instead of a spoken answer, you laughed, leaning forward to capture his lips with yours once again, and that was the only answer Choi Soobin would ever need.
-
WHEN SOOBIN ARRIVED HOME THAT NIGHT, HE WENT STRAIGHT FOR THE TELEPHONE.
It was kept upstairs at night right outside his parent’s door, to keep himself and his brother from using it in the late hours. Of course, this never stopped Soobin from sneaking it downstairs to his room in the basement to make late night calls to Felix.
And that particular evening, he really needed to give Felix an update.
He grabbed the phone from the small table in the hallway, carefully tiptoeing towards the basement stairs. Before he had even taken the first step down, the bathroom door creaked open. Soobin whipped his head around to see his brother Kai standing there, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he raised a brow at his older brother.
Soobin froze, blinking slowly as he realized the incriminating situation he found himself in.
“Please don’t tell mom,” He whispered, his eyes pleading with his younger brother.
Kai nodded, although Soobin wasn’t quite convinced that the boy was even coherent enough to understand what was going on. Soobin offered a rushed thank you, and ventured his first step down the stairs.
Well, he tried, anyways, and ended up missing the first step. He tumbled down the rest of the stairs, landing on his butt at the very end.
He winced in pain, glad to see that the phone was still intact in his hands. He glanced over his shoulders to see Kai staring down the stairway with wide eyes, his lips parted in shock. Soobin quickly put a finger to his lips, begging his brother for silence.
Kai simply shook his head and walked away, allowing Soobin the freedom to breathe out a sigh of relief.
He quickly ran to his bedroom and shut the door, collapsing onto his bed with the phone as his breaths came in ragged gasps as an aftereffect from his tumble down the stairs. He figured he should have dialed Felix’s number right away, but he couldn’t help but brush his fingers against his lips, remembering the feeling and taste of having yours pressed against them.
He was so caught up in his daze that he didn’t notice Felix calling until the third ring.
He picked it up, breathing heavily into the speaker as he rubbed a sore spot on his lower back. 
“Please tell me that panting is from running a marathon, and not what I think you’ve successfully tried.”
Soobin nearly gagged, holding the phone away from his face as he coughed, flustered by his friend's crude words. He brought the phone back to his face and said, “No, you sicko, I just fell down the stairs.”
“How the hell did you manage that with those long legs?”
“That’s not important, Lix!” He laid back onto his pillows then, twirling the phone cord in his hands as he stared up at his ceiling, the memories of his adventure with you that night flooding his mind once more. He couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear as he said, “Look, I need to tell you something important.”
If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that he could hear the smile in Felix’s voice too as his friend replied.
“Well buddy, I got something to tell you too.”
1K notes · View notes
harryhandstan · 3 years
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prompt: harry wakes up early on starbucks cup release days and surprises you by buying all the ones he thinks you’ll like. he’s usually able to escape the paps but this time they catch him and he ends up having to explain it in his next interview and gets all shy and can’t stop blushing.
a/n: hello all!! first I want to apologize for my 4 month long writing absence. life just has not been kind to me lately and unfortunately zapped a lot of my creativity energy, but I’m happy to have something done now! hopefully I can continue and keep a more consistent schedule for the remainder of this year!
immense thank you’s are owed to my kind friends @tobesolonely and @meetmymouth for the encouragement to find my creative spark for writing again and for being amazing betas! and to @taintedwonder for the lovely idea! @theharriediaries​ was so sweet to beta for me as well!!
word count: 2.1k
writing tag | masterlist | tiktok inspo 
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Harry was usually smarter than this. He had a schedule, a plan, a way to get in and out pretty quickly without being seen. 
But today, he’d lingered too long at the mugs, curious if you’d want one of those as well. Your go-to was iced coffee, even year round in the winter you would prefer something cold over anything warm. He was thinking though, of the nights you were stressed and wanted a cup of soothing tea before bed, or those slower mornings where you don’t have to rush and a mug of coffee fits nicely in your hand while he admires you from across the kitchen table.
By the time he’s decided that yes, you do need this mug with the pastel rainbow print to add to your collection, along with a few of the other cups he thinks you’ll adore and a fresh bag of your favorite flavor of coffee, there’s already a small crowd of people forming in the lobby of the coffee shop and he hopes that he can get through them without being recognized as usual; prays that it’s only the regulars filing in for an early morning fix of caffeine before they rush off to start their day.
The barista thankfully is quick, skillfully giving him his total before rushing off to make the drinks he ordered for the two of you as well. He sees the way her eyes keep darting to him though, knows after years of experience that she knows who he is and is trying to work up the courage to say something to him or ask for a photo. He almost considers offering, she’s been so nice not to draw any attention to him, maybe something discreet could be pulled off. 
In the end he chooses not to, not wanting to assume that’s why she keeps looking over at him. It could be that he still has the hood of his sweatshirt tucked over his beanie or the fact that he’s now walking out of the shop with a small handful of the brown shopping bags with the familiar green logo imprinted on the front.
He breathes a sigh of relief when he makes it back to his car without anyone stopping him. He’s so distracted by securing the bags in the backseat he fails to hear the small clicks of the camera not too far away.
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There’s a small comfort in the quietness of your shared apartment when he returns. While he loves coming home to the sound of you dancing around the kitchen making breakfast, his favorite is getting to wake you up himself. There’s a sweet softness in the way the side of your face rests against your pillow, mouth parted slightly and a gentle snore vibrating through your chest. It never fails to make him smile. He cherished the way you inhale faintly, stretching your limbs before blinking a few times, adjusting to the new day you’re waking up to. If he was there, already awake, your eyes always found him before anything else.
This morning is no different, except for the confusion on your face when you find him sitting on the edge of the bed instead of snuggled next to you. 
“You’re up to something, I can tell.”  You’re propped up enough now to accept the coffee he’s holding out for you. You take a few small sips, sighing and letting your head fall back against the headboard as you savor the taste.
“M’that easy to read, huh?” He chuckles, his hand on your thigh now, warming your skin even through the blanket, “Well..would you like your surprise here or will you be joining me in the kitchen while I make you breakfast?”
“Oh I get a surprise and breakfast today? What’s the occasion? Little early for my birthday, H.” 
“Don’t need an occasion to spoil my girl, do I?”
“I guess not.” 
You shrug, trying not to let the guilt bubble up enough to where it flashes across your face. One of his loudest love languages had always been gift giving, a quality about him you thought was wonderful, but still had a hard time accepting. You had to be careful about mentioning things you may want around Harry, he would use any excuse to treat you.
He’s rambling off his reasoning already as he leads you into the kitchen and settles you in one of the tall chairs next to the counter. He always ends his explanation with “I know you told me not to, but…” followed up by what you’re sure to him sounds like a very logical justification for why you need/deserve whatever he was gifting you. There’s nothing out of the ordinary of your regular kitchen set up this morning though, so you do what you normally do when he announces a surprise for you; let him take the lead, not wanting to take away from his excitement. 
“So..surprise or breakfast first?” He stands on the other side of the counter now, his hoodie and beanie discarded, wearing a t-shirt you were sure you bought for yourself but he seems to have laid claim to.
“Breakfast, please. If you don’t mind.” 
“‘Course not. Any requests, baby?”
Your heart flutters for a moment, just as it does each time he uses that particular term of affection for you. He’s already opened the refrigerator, scanning over options for what he could make for the two of you. You recover long enough to tell him no, that whatever he wants to make would be fine, sitting back and enjoying the view as he cracks a few eggs into a bowl.
You don’t even notice that you’re staring until he turns and catches your eye, “What? Did I get a shell in the eggs or something?”
You giggle as he even picks up the clear bowl of eggs that he’s already scrambled and seasoned, even going so far as to swirl his finger through the liquid to double check before you can stop him.
“No, it’s just..I can’t get over the fact that you’re making breakfast for me while wearing my t-shirt.”
“S’it yours?” He glances down at it, “Thought it was mine, sorry..”
There’s a smirk on his face as he turns back to the stove, and you know just by seeing that he knows you don’t mind; you love seeing him in your clothes as much as he adores seeing you in his.  
It’s not long before he’s presenting you with a plate, sitting next to you with his own plate in front of him. When you don’t immediately dig in, he leans over to inspect the food, worried that maybe he’d overdone the eggs or your toast was slightly more brown than you liked. 
So when you say, “You’ve forgotten something very important, haven’t you?” he panics, thinking maybe he should’ve taken the time to include fruit to balance the meal. You take pity on him, not making him wait too long before you lean in and he instantly softens, realizing what you’re asking for. 
He meets you the rest of the way, lips soft against yours, the taste of the coffee you’ve both had lingering for a moment before he pulls away, “Very important. How could I ever have forgotten?”
When you’ve both finished eating, he downs the last of his coffee and stacks your now empty plates to take to the sink, pecking your forehead with another quick kiss, “Alright, close your eyes. Count to 20.”
You begin to count off in your head, and you hear his voice, a bit further away, “Out loud, angel.”
There’s a rustling of bags getting closer as you count, and you can even hear a few clinks as they come closer. You can feel him moving around you, positioning things perfectly for when you open your eyes. 
He’s still behind you when you finish counting, hands squeezing your shoulders to urge you to open your eyes. When you do, you immediately recognize the bags and know exactly what he’s done.
“Oh no. Absolutely not. This is too much, Harry. I let you spoil me with little things here and there, but I cannot accept this.”
Sitting in front of you are..you stop to count them now; 1, 2, 3, 4..6 bags from Starbucks. You know from experience that each one of them contains 2 cups or mugs. You’re sure at least one of them also includes your favorite roast of coffee. He had done this before around Christmas time, when you’d mentioned how adorable a few of the ones from the holiday collection had been, not thinking that he would go back later without you and buy all the ones you’d touched or admired.  
He ignores your refusal, “You can take back any you don’t like. Go on,” He peeks inside one of the bags closest to him and then pushes it closer to you, “Start with this one.”
“Harry, really..”
“Don’t think, just open. If you really won’t accept any of them then I’ll take ‘em back and buy you something from somewhere else.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” You try your best to look serious, but you can’t stop the smile from spreading across your face, “Thank you, H.”
You finally go through most of the bags, offering oohs and ahhs and even a few squeals of joy at certain ones. 
“I think I got all the ones you’d pick for yourself. Saw you eyeing one or two the other day and the others I just guessed.”
He had done very well in choosing for you, even going so far as to get the two of you a matching pair of the kind that changed colors with the temperature. 
“For our smoothies.” He explains when you give him a particularly soft look at the idea of matching with him. 
“Also got us a matching set of these,” He skips to the last bag, too eager to wait for you to open it yourself, revealing the mug he’d taken the extra time to select, “For our Sunday morning tea. Or if you change your mind and ever want a hot coffee.”
All you can do is repeat the same expression of gratitude as before you had opened them, “Thank you again, H. I love them all, really. No more though, alright? We’re running out of cabinet space. Did you go to our regular spot or a different one so you wouldn’t be recognized?” 
“Different one. Can’t believe I wasn’t spotted though. Must’ve been too early for the paps to be out and about.”
“Or maybe you aren’t as interesting as you think you are, babe. Harry Styles coming out of a Starbucks is old news now.” 
His eyebrows shoot up in mock surprise, “Oh is it now?”
“Mhmm. You’re just plain boring now, H.” You shrug, peeling at the price tag on the bottom of one of the cups, avoiding his gaze; knowing if you look at him you’ll break into a fit of laughter. 
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He’s impossibly calm, just like he is before any interview he does. 
You sit across the room from where he’s currently getting his hair done. The stylist was nervous, understandably so, her hands unsure at first. It only takes a few moments of being near Harry; working his quiet, delicate magic of putting anyone he’s near at ease. By the time his hair is finished he’s pulled a few laughs from her and she leaves the room with a big beaming smile and a wave to the both of you.
Now that you’re alone again, he beckons you closer and tugs you down to sit in his lap, despite your protests of the possibility of wrinkling his incredibly expensive suit. 
“Don’t care,” He leans up to press a kiss to your neck, keeping his face tucked there in your warmth, “Just want you close for a moment.”
Normally you would run your fingers through his hair, but you don’t dare do that now, hand drifting to the side of his face instead, “Not nervous are you, H?”
He lets you gently push him back enough to see his face again, “Never. Just happy to have you here with me, that’s all.”   
It’s not until he’s in front of the audience, presented with the evidence of just a few days before, displayed on a screen for all to see. He had been caught, despite his confidence of getting away. He falters for only a beat, head down in hopes to hide the blush spreading high along his cheeks. He finds you in the crowd, sending a bright smile your way before he shrugs, turning his attention back to the host.
“What can I say? My sunshine likes her coffee.” 
//
tag list: @harrysblackcoat​, @summertime-pills​ 
thank you for reading!! as always likes, rbs, and feedback is welcome and appreciated!!
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After reading your opinion on Molly Weasley, i want to know: What are you're opinions on the Weasley family? Besides Ron & Molly that is.
Five characters? In one post? Well, alright, here we go.
The Weasleys as a Whole
I’ve mentioned this before but JKR writes the Weasleys to clearly be a believable but ideal family. They’re all fiercely loyal, progressive per wizarding world standards, love each other and Harry deeply, and have this wonderful off-kilter joyous house where there’s always some rambunctious thing going on. 
Harry comes to associate the Weasleys with family and, personally, I believe a large part of him marrying Ginny boils down to it will make him a Weasley for real. 
That said, they’ve got some major issues. They’re very righteous people who, as a whole, will ice you out the moment they even suspect you do something that disagrees with them. You don’t even have to do it, what you did or didn’t do doesn’t even have to be something terrible or something bad, but god help you if the family decides they’re done with you. 
They’re very resentful of people like the Malfoys. This isn’t just because Lucius is a smarmy, pompous, ass (he is) or that he indirectly almost murdered Ginny but seems to mostly be because Lucius has so much money. All of their interactions seem to boil down to the money. More than this though, the Weasleys seem fully supportive of laws that... well, used against themselves would be a travesty but used against the likes of the Malfoys it’s about damn time.
They’re unquestioningly loyal to Dumbledore. Granted, most people we see in canon are, Dumbledore’s very very very good at convincing people he’s a saint. However, these guys are practically his cult member to the point where they do things like refuse to have Harry over the summer, even before Voldemort returned, because Dumbledore told them not to. 
They also never really adopt Harry into the family. Oh they give him a nice sweater, he comes over every once in a while to the house, he’s very good friends with Ron but he’s mostly treated just like that, a good friend. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, except the way JKR sets it up we’re supposed to believe this is the family Harry found. It’s just that the family Harry’s found let’s him stay in a house with bars on his window where twelve-year-old Ron tells them, “Harry’s muggle family is really really awful” in a way that should have been raising red flags. Hermione practically lives at the Weasleys, Harry never does.
Now, are the Weasleys evil? No, far from it, they’re ordinary people who act in ways I’d expect ordinary people too. Technically they didn’t have to do anything more for Harry than they did, they didn’t have to hate Lucius Malfoy for better reasons, and they don’t have to be even slightly less worshipful of Dumbledore. They’re people, and they’re fine characters, but the overwhelming worship and love of the Weasleys we see across fandom does get on my nerves.
But you asked for individuals, so here we go.
 Arthur Weasley
Arthur is the epitome of “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” in the worst of ways and is, frankly, a giant awful joke to me. He’s the white kid you see going around with dread locks, a beanie the color of the Jamaican flag, smoking weed, and attempting to speak like Bob Marley 
Only, because he does it with muggle things, we’re supposed to find him funny and progressive.
Arthur is absolutely, albeit unwittingly, condescending in his love of muggle knickknacks. He has no idea how any of it actually works, not limited to how muggles could possible survive without the gold standard, but ardently believes he does because he can enchant the car to fly. Seriously, that he believes he’s an expert on muggle culture, as a pureblood wizard who heads an office in the ministry on it, is the worst part. His love of toasters comes across as, “Wow, look how cool it is that these poor little muggles made all this neat stuff. We should absolutely love the muggles because of it!” And that he heads an office in the ministry called “The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts” which is all about catching down Jackass style pranksters who think it would be hilarious of they enchanted toasters to bludgeon muggles to death...
Goddammit Arthur, why do you exist?
Right, otherwise, he’s got some pride issues going on. Part of the reason Percy is excommunicated is not so much that Percy doesn’t believe Harry, but because Percy dared to do better than Arthur in his own career. Arthur is stuck in his position as head of a joke of a department, he is an underling at its finest, and frankly likely only has that position because he’s a pureblood and the idea of putting a halfblood or even muggleborn at the head of a department dealing with muggles just made the higher ups shudder. (Don’t tell Arthur that though, he likes to think he’s not benefitting from nepotism). 
Arthur goes so far to accuse Percy as Fudge’s secretary as spying on him. Arthur, the guy who heads “Misuse of Muggle Artifacts”. Yeah, Arthur, I’m sure Fudge is really wasting his time using his straight laced secretary to find out all your dirty secrets. 
He also tends to see the world as very black and white. When Skeeter in book 4 writes an article after the Quidditch World Cup disaster complaining about the ministry’s lax security in enabling domestic terrorists to enter (something completely valid and true by the way) Arthur is so personally offended that both he and Percy go straight to the ministry to complain about Rita Skeeter and her daring to assume freedom of speech! HOW DARE SHE CALL THE MINISTRY’S NON-EXISTENT SECURITY AT THE WORLD CUP LAX! (To be fair, she also cited Arthur as having been in attendance at the event, a ministry employee, and having done nothing but, well, this is also true Arthur. You’re in a guerilla, underground, resistance movement. If I didn’t already think the Order was a joke this would kind of highlight it for me).
He’s also very resentful of Lucius Malfoy, and it seems to mostly be about the money. Arthur and Molly have a severe spending problem and actively resent that Lucius is swimming in money. That Arthur is ardently pleased about a law being passed in which the ministry without warrant can ransack Lucius Malfoy’s home... 
Well, Arthur, imagine the slippery slope if the government decides that it would like to search the Weasley home without warrant? In fact, he doesn’t even have to imagine it, as the beloved government in a few short years turns against him and then it’s all about how corrupt the ministry is. 
Arthur’s delightfully narrowminded, basically, and reminds us at nearly every opportunity.
Percy Weasley
Mostly, I just feel bad for Percy. Percy’s the son/brother that nobody likes and he’s painfully aware of that fact. He doesn’t fit in with the others, he has far too much ambition for the Gryffindor family and they resent him for it, and then he dares to say things like “I don’t know guys, Voldemort resurrecting from the dead after decades doesn’t sound plausible, we know Harry’s a little off kilter, and Dumbledore’s one shady dude”. Percy happens to be wrong about Voldemort resurrecting (and admits as much when the evidence is plainly visible), but he’s pretty on the money with the rest of it.
Regardless, growing up we see Ron constantly hating on Percy along with the rest of the siblings. I’m sure Percy is obnoxious, and certainly full of himself after making prefect and head boy, but he’s very clearly even before Order of the Phoenix the Least Favorite Brother (TM).
Then the Weasley family completely ices him out for a) getting a very high ranking position very quickly as Fudge’s secretary and b) not being gung ho about Dumbledore saying crazy things in the paper. Remember that to Percy Harry is Ron’s weird friend who seems to get into highly illegal activities every other week. From Percy’s point of view, it’s probably a matter of time before Harry becomes a crack head in Knockturn Alley (or given how behind the times wizards tend to be, an opium den). 
He’s constantly getting Ron into not only trouble but life threatening situations, is erratic and apparently a parseltongue of all things, and now Harry’s flipped his lid and saying that Voldemort has been resurrected after having gone through a very traumatic experience of watching a classmate somehow die. 
While we see Percy kind of (sort of)  make up with the family it’s clear that for Percy to have any relation with these people he’s the one who will always, ALWAYS, have to come crawling back on his knees and begging for forgiveness. It’s the Weasley way or the highway and I imagine, at some point probably a little after/during that epilogue, Percy will just slowly drift away because it’s just not worth it anymore.
Percy’s very much the black sheep of the family.
Fred and George Weasley
You all are going to kill me, but I actually don’t care in the slightest about Fred and George Weasley. This is because they basically have no personality aside from “funny”. 
They just have their weird, tandem, twin act and are either playing jokes on the school or else serving as Deus ex Machina in giving Harry magical items such as the Marauder’s Map for no apparent reason. The plot told them it was time, I guess. 
Their jokes, while not as bad as Sirius and James’ “Let’s sexually harrass Severus Snape by pantsing and beating him at the edge of Hogwarts lake” or Sirius’ “Let’s get Snape eaten by a werewolf!” are still often needlessly cruel and... kind of pointless. They harass Slytherin house constantly just because they happen to be Slytherins, they’re acceptable victims (which of course makes house tension that much worse). Harry gets sent a toilet seat in the hospital because... that’s funny? Har de har? 
They’re so indistinguishable from one another I routinely see people mistake which one got his ear chopped off and which one died. Because the point is, that we can’t tell the difference! It doesn’t matter who lived and who died because all we know is that Freorge is dead! 
Similarly, you see tons of fics around where character of the day ends up in this weird twincestuous relationship with Fred and George and it’s not only for a) that delightful twincest but b) because they’re such a singular unit that any attempt to pair one with somebody else feels weird. So you just get these porn fics about Fred and George being weird rapey teenagers who seem like they’d be more interested dating each other. 
Charlie Weasley
I really have no thoughts on Charlie. He raises dragons in Romania, the family loves him. Now, dragon raising feels like one of the most dangerous jobs in the Harry Potter universe, like Charlie had just gone and signed up to be a lumberjack but he seems to like it?
We really don’t see much of Charlie, he’s just the obligatory older Weasley son so that the Weasleys can be this ridiculously large family.
Bill Weasley
We see slightly more of Bill, but again, not enough to really leave an impression. We know that his marrying Fleur sent Molly into a complete state, and that they’re going to have awkward Christmas dinners forever because of it where Fleur just sits there and pretends not to loathe every second of Molly’s presence while Molly notes how bad it is that Victoire got stuck with that ugly pink hair instead of the Weasley red. 
Bill doesn’t seem to really do anything about this. He still marries Fleur, but we don’t really see a major confrontation where he tells the family “Look, I’m marrying her, so grow up.” So, I imagine he just tries to smile pleasantly and tells Fleur to just endure it for another few hours. He loves his family, his family’s great, but they only have to see Fleur once a year at Christmas.
Ginny Weasley
Ginny is weird. She’s this weird, frankly, almost personality-less void whose sole obsession in life seems to be marrying Harry. She and Harry end up in the world’s weirdest relationship and I honestly have no idea how people ship it other than canon told them to.
Ginny’s... well, first off, she’s very much in love with an idea. She had always worshipped Harry Potter but then he personally saves her life in what was a horrifically traumatic year and so that feeling just grows even more. Despite being Ron’s sister, she barely seems to know Harry, and everything she seems to like about it are just things she made up.
I imagine her and Harry’s marriage will be littered with affairs on her end. Not divorce though, because Harry would never admit his wife is having affairs on him all the time even if someone directly confronted him. Harry also won’t admit he’s gay. 
More than though we get hints of a personality. Ginny’s a fiery red-head tomboy with a temper. But... Well, it’s only ever hints. She never felt like a real person to me. She has I think one throwaway line about the Chamber of Secrets incident and how it personally affected her. We’re told she’s great at the bat boogey hex so we know she’s a fiery independent woman.
She feels more like a character sheet than an actual person. 
Whenever she’s around I always had this nagging question in my head where I ask why Ginny’s here. She has a lot of potential but nothing’s ever done with her. And when something is, it’s to get her into this bizarre relationship with Harry where he imagines there’s a green rage monster in his chest that loves her skin.
Okay Harry, if you say so. 
TL;DR: The Weasleys aren’t evil or anything, I’m not on Team Bash Them All, but they are shortsighted, ordinary, people who don’t deserve to be worshipped as all that is good in this world.
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serendipitous-posts · 3 years
Text
Fine, if none of ya’ll are gonna do it, I will
Sam had made a great choice in building material, Quackity decided. The crying obsidian of Dream's cell was dark and dreary and sucked all the joy out of the area.
Exactly like the man it was holding.
Not like Dream was all that scary now-whimpering on the floor as his mask lay shattered beside him, unable to withstand a blow to the face via pickaxe.
I'll put this pickaxe through your teeth-
Another great thing about the choice of obsidian. It hid any blood stains. The only signs of injuries were from Dream himself, and even that could be solved quickly enough.
Was any of that blood Tommy's?
It's hot in the box, the lava around them turning the cell into an oven, makes Quackity's hair cling to his head as he's forced to take off his beanie, makes his armour heavy, makes the very air around them heavy.
Still, it's annoying that he has to pant to ask "are you going to tell me now?" Like he just ran a marathon instead of a single swing of his pick
How many times has he had to ask that question? How many times has Dream refused to respond?
He still doesn't respond
This time, however, Quackity will admit he may be justified. There's no way he doesn't have some kind of concussion from the blow he just gave to him.
You would know
I'll put this pickaxe through your teeth!
His eyes are glazed, unfocused, staring behind Quackity at the wall of lava like it's his savior like it's the most interesting thing in the world. The easiest thing to do would be to give him a health potion of some sort, to clear his head but Quackity doesn't want to have any on him. He could just kill him again and again and again and why doesn't it work but that would undo all the damage
He feels the lava begin to retreat and instinctively puts himself between Dream and the entrance, even though the ragdoll laying in front of him barely looks capable of standing, let alone jumping into the lava escaping
Sam likes to do this sometimes, check in to make sure the death won't be canon, or to give Quackity more supplies. He'll defintiely have some sort of health potion. The deafening sound of the lava retreats for a moment, leaving Quackity feeling lightheaded, and giving him a brief rush of air. He doesn't look behind him, just holds out a hand for the items.
Dream makes a choked little noise but says nothing. He's learned, from all his other visits, Sam will not, cannot help him. He's alone as he damn well should-
Someone grabs his arm.
That isn't-that's not Sam.
That isn't Sam.
He knows those hands, scarred and worn and warm, even in a world of suffocating heat. Can feel the scar from where one of Technoblade's dog's bit him. He had wrapped that hand ever so carefully as the owner had cried, had wondered why Dream didn't try and call the dogs off, hadn't even faltered when he saw his oldest friends amongst the rubble of the city he was destroying
Can feel the engagement ring.
 The hand is familiar, but the expression on the face when he turns to face it is not-it's not terror, but it is approaching it, like smelling smoke before the fire, like running back to save your home only to hear tnt in the distance. A sudden realisation of what has been broken in your absence.
"Quackity" Sapnap says "what are you doing?"
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undyingskies · 3 years
Text
Adrenaline
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A/N: This one wasn’t a requested but I absolutely loved writing this one. I got the idea from a tiktok, the girl was listening to the song called Fallin’ by Why Don’t We for 3 hours straight. It made me listen to the song and it reminded me of Charlie for some reason which lead to the creation of this fic! To those who have request imagines know I have seen them and will get to them, I got caught up in this fic and another one for Owen, but I promise I’m going to get them out as fast as I can! I really hope you guys enjoy this one, I really love it! xoxo
Warnings: Few curse words.
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Here you are again, caught up in the moment not thinking twice. Your sandwiched between the wall and Charlie, your hand tangled in his hair, his under your thighs, and your lips moving fast and passionately against one another.
The adrenaline rushing through your veins, everything frozen except the two of you in that small corridor, hiding from everyone else.
You see this whole thing with Charlie started about a month ago, you had no idea how it started or where it would lead but here you are again, melting into his touch. Even though you always tell yourself that one was the last time when he’s finished with you.
You and Charlie were just two close friends for the longest time. You were hired to work on season two of Julie and The Phantoms as an intern for Soyon. You always loved fashion and wanted to do costume work on sets so this was your opportunity and you weren’t going to let anything get in the way of that. You jumped on the first plane you could get and made your way to Vancouver, Canada. Your three bags in tow, carrying everything you owned.
Kenny and producers had arranged for an apartment for you but it wouldn’t be available until three weeks after you arrived. They underestimated your ability to pack quickly and find a ticket out almost immediately. The only apartment having three bedrooms being Owen and Charlie’s, which they were kind enough to let you use at Kenny’s request.
It all started out so innocent, you and the boys immediately had a connection. You and Owen sharing a similar humor and personality. Charlie and you sharing the same love for nature and love for adrenaline.
You and Charlie quickly started going on adventures with one another. You started exploring the city and the nature surrounding it. Charlie being Canadian came in handy as he was familiar with the hiking trails that surrounded you guys.  
One day he came up to you, about two days before you were finally moving into your own apartment. He told you that he found a new hiking trail with a bridge and on that bridge you could bungee jump off of it. You agreed immediately with no hesitation. That’s the day that changed the dynamic of your friendship.
You felt the adrenaline pumping through your body as you stood at the edge of the bridge. Charlie’s hand in yours, a bright smile on his face.
“You ready?” He leans over and asks you as you start to hear the countdown for the jump.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” You tell him back with a similar smile on your face. Hearing the faint count of 3, 2, 1.
That’s when you jumped. Yours and Charlie’s yelling drowning out any other noises. You bounce up and down a few times, laughter leaving the both of you.
As you come to slow down, laughter still erupting from the both of you, Charlie’s eye lock in on yours. His laughter slowly dies down as he stares through what feels like your soul. Before you knew it or could ask him what’s up, you felt his lips on yours. That familiar feeling of adrenaline pumping through your veins. You immediately reciprocate the kiss back.
That’s when it all changed. From that day on it was you and Charlie. Anytime you guys could find, his body was on yours and you couldn’t get enough of each other. On set he would pull you into empty closets, sets that weren’t in use, and every-time that adrenaline would come back pumping through the both of you.
You two had agreed to keep it a secret, it was a part of the fun. Knowing you could get caught. You also agreed that it was just physical nothing else. You never planned for the feelings to come with it, but of course like any story they did. Now here you are a month later telling yourself this was the last time; you wouldn’t let it happen again.
But your hearts beating fast and you can’t help but think why do I love this feeling?
Voices and steps break you out of your thoughts. Charlie’s lips and hands on you, making you feel more vulnerable. Your quick to detach your lips and body from his. That fire feeling fading away in the both of you. He gives you a confused look.
“People are coming Char.” You tell him, you grab his hand to pull him around the corner and out of the now occupied hallway. Your back in the parking lot of the set.
“That was a close one Y/N.” He says with a laugh.
“Ya a close one.” You tell him trailing off, beginning to get lost in your thoughts again. Charlie notices but doesn’t say anything, he had to get back to set to film in Julies garage.
“Well I guess I will see you after we’re done here. Meet you at my car tonight?” He asks you. You reach out to fix the beanie placed on his head, the stylist coming out in you. You start to fiddle with the sleeveless tank on him, trying to make it perfect so no one has an idea of what was just going on.
He laughs at your fiddling hands, grabbing onto them and pulling them away from his body.
“It’s fine they won’t know.” As much as you don’t want to admit it, Charlie knows you like the back of his hand and knows what you’re thinking even if you don’t say it out loud. He places a kiss to your forehead before he’s skipping off to set, sending you a wink before he’s gone. Heat rushes to your cheeks at his actions.
Then you’re left alone standing in the middle of the parking lot looking dazed. Savannah rounding the corner, laughing at the scene in front of her as you come into focus.
“Little sneak away fun with Charlie again?” She says sneaking up on you with a laugh at the look on your face.
“What? No? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You tell her. She smirks at your words.
“Come on Y/N, you don’t think I’ve caught on? You two always disappearing and coming back together. You staying late when you don’t have too and leaving with him. Plus we’re best friends you don’t think I’ve noticed the way you two look at each other? It’s practically heart eyes from both ends.” She tells you, in a serious tone.
“Fine. You’re right but I don’t want to talk about it here.” She nods at your words, agreeing with you.
“My trailer?” She asks you; you follow her as she walks towards it.
That’s when you empty out all your thoughts and feelings to her. You didn’t realize how much you had been keeping in the last month. You told her how it started, the deal you guys made, and your feelings for him. And by the end of your story and all your confessions, all she had to say was,
“I think you should tell him how you feel.”
Did she not hear what you just said? How you guys agreed that this was a no feelings deal, it was for the purpose of pleasure and the two of yours addiction to adrenaline.
“I think you missed the point there Sav. I can’t, I don’t want to ruin our friendship. I would rather end it and keep our friendship than ruin it all.”
“Your delusional if you think he doesn’t like you back, you don’t see the way he looks at you. Everyone else does though.” She tells you and places a hand on your shoulder.
“You should think about it at least.”
“Okay, I will.” You tell her. I don’t think either of you believing your words. Your eyes travel to look at the clock. It read 8:02, you were late meeting Charlie.
“Oh, I got to go. Thanks for the talk Sav, I appreciate it.” You tell her and pull her into a hug.
You make your away around the parking lot pretty quickly, looking to see the mop of brown hair that you really have come to love. You spot him next to the orange car, he refused to admit was a weird color. Your eyes land on him and then quickly to the figure standing in front of him with her hands on his arm laughing.
You stop dead in your tracks, your heart dropping into your stomach. Your throat tightening at the scene, hands sweaty and shaking by your sides. You don’t want to feel like this, you know you two promised each other that what you had was nothing. He was allowed to look and talk to other girls, but you can’t shake the feeling in your stomach.
Charlie looks up and notices you standing back just looking at the scene in front of you.  A smile makes its way onto his face at the sight of you. He quickly moves to the side of the girl, gently pushing her away, and is walking towards you.
“Hey Y/N, ready to go?” He asks you, stopping once he is in front of you. He grabs your hand but you quickly slip yours out of his. He frowns at your action but quickly composes himself.
He places his hand on your lower back and walks you to the car, opening the passenger door for you. You slide in, awkwardly smiling at the girl just standing there watching the interaction between the two of you.
“Well it was nice meeting you Josie, see you around.” He tells her, sending her a quick wave before he jumps  into the driver’s seat of the car and starts the engine. Not looking back at her once.
The two of you sit in silence, you consumed in your thoughts and him just confused by your actions. He tries to place his hand on your thigh but you move it out of reach. Another frown makes his way onto his face.
He makes the drive to your apartment, you agreed to go there tonight because Owen had an early day and would be at the boys apartment. He was already suspicious of the two of you so Charlie didn’t want to risk trying to sneak you in.
You quickly unbuckle your seat belt and hop out of the car. You keep a quick pace as you make your way into your apartment building. Charlie has to jog to catch up with you, seriously confused at your actions. He doesn’t know why you’re acting like this.
As you make your way into your apartment opening the door, Charlie takes the advantage of the moment and presses his body against yours. His lips finding their way onto your neck, trailing kisses up and down them. You freeze at the contact of him against you, basking in the pleasure for a second.
Your thoughts catch up with you and you move fast to get your body away from his. He stumbles at the loss of contact. He tries to reach for you again, the third time that night and you slip out of it again.
Charlie starts to feel frustrated at your actions, not knowing why you’re acting that way and starting to get nervous he did something wrong.
He goes to stand in front of  but you quickly make your way around him and into the kitchen. He’s right on your heel though.
“Okay Y/N what gives? Why are you acting so weird? We were fine earlier so what happened?” He asks you and you can hear the frustration and confusion laced in his tone.
You shake your head, trying to brush it off.
“Nothing, everything’s fine.” You tell him, pouring water into a cup. He takes it out of your hand and places it besides you. He has you turn to face him. The two of you are chest to chest, his arms placed on both sides of you so you can’t escape him or avoid eye contact.
He leans into kiss you but you turn your head fast, his lips making contact with your cheek. The frustration Charlie feels starts to boil over.
“Everything’s fine? Are you sure about that Y/N you won’t look at me or let me touch you!! What is going on?” He asks you, slightly yelling at this point.
You shove him off of you and walk past him. You don’t want to do this with him, not now. Well never really but at some point, you knew you would have too.
You lean your head against your fridge, letting out a sigh before you turn to look back at him.
“I can’t do this anymore Char, we’ve got to stop whatever this is between us.” His face falls at your words.
“What do you mean you can’t do this anymore? I thought we were having fun, just this morning it was fine...” He says slowly taking a step towards you. You put your hand up to stop him from walking closer.
“I know, but the more I think about it the more I need to stop it. Neither of us knew where this would lead when we started it and I just can’t do it anymore.” You let out with a sigh. Charlie feels sadness overcome him; his heart feels like it’s breaking a little bit.
Little did you know how Charlie was feeling. He never wanted to make the deal of keeping it just physical, but he agreed with you not wanting to ruin your friendship or stop what was happening between the two of you. He was just happy that he was getting a piece of you to himself. Charlie had fallen for you pretty much the second he saw you and heard your laugh.
“That doesn’t feel like a real reason Y/N, just an excuse. If you give me the real reason then fine, we’ll end this and we will just go back to being just friends. But I need a reason not an excuse before I leave.” He tells you, sounding desperate.
You don’t want to tell him the real reason. You don’t want to ruin the friendship you two have. It wouldn’t be the same if you told him, you two couldn’t just go back to being two friends if he knew your real feelings.
“That is the real reason Charlie.” You tell him, dropping your hand and looking down at your feet. You couldn’t handle his stare anymore.
You watch his feet walk towards you. His hand being placed under your chin, forcing you to look up at him.
“That’s bullshit and you know it. Please just tell me.” He says just above a whisper, he no longer feels upset. He’s just sad.
You just sigh. You didn’t know what to do, the look on his face breaks your heart. You didn’t want to hurt him or make him sad and you can’t understand why this is doing that to him. You can feel the frustration boiling up in you.
You shove him off of you. You start pacing around your island.
“Tell you Charlie! You really want to know why?” This time you’re the one yelling. You can’t help but feel frustrated at your feelings and confusion. All he does is nod yes.
“Because Charlie! You make me reckless! The feeling of you and I together makes me reckless! I’ve been putting my job on the line to sneak around with you, I’m lying to my friends about what I’m doing when I am with you. I’m lying to myself and you!” You tell.
“What does that even mean Y/N, you’re lying to me?” He asks, his voice slightly raised.
“I love you, you idiot! I’ve been lying about my feelings to the both of us! I can’t do this anymore, this no feelings only physical stuff! It’s not fair to me.” You get quieter at the end of your confession.
Silence fills the air, neither of you say a word. He is just looking at you in shock. You standing on the other side of the island, your arms placed limply on the sides of your body. You look completely defeated.
Charlie doesn’t say a word just steps towards again. Again you lift your arms up, hoping to stop him. He grabs your hands.
“Would you just please let me get close to you?” He asks desperate. You let out a sigh and allow him to come closer.
He drops your hands and places his onto your cheeks, not allowing your head to fall so he could maintain eye contact with you.
“You don’t think I feel the same? Something about you makes me feel insane. I can’t control myself around you, I get a rush of adrenaline anytime I’m with you.” His confession being met with another cloud of silence.
You don’t know what to say, you just keep looking at him. You can see his eyes looking at you desperately, looking around your face hoping he could understand what you’re feeling based on your features. He can’t though.
“Please say something.” He practically begs.
“I don’t-, I don’t know what to say...” You trail off.
“Tell me you feel the same, you just admitted you loved me. Why can’t you admit you want more and that you feel the same adrenaline.” He tells you.
“Charlie...” You trail off. “You know I feel the same way about you. This whole time. You’re like a breath of fresh air, it’s never boring with you, the more we got together the more I needed you. I’m scared though, I’ve never felt like this before. Plus there are so many girls who you could get, why me?”
“Why you? Because Y/N, I’ve never met someone like you. You match me on every level, your love for adventure, your humor. You’re so sweet, you never hesitate to act in kindness rather than anything else no matter the situation. I love you. I have loved you pretty much since the minute I saw you.” He tells you. He places his forehead on yours, both of you breathing harder than usual due to the feeling of adrenaline rushing through the both of you because of your confessions.
“Will you please let me kiss you.” He asks you again the desperation laced in his words. You nod your head yes.
That’s when his lips meet yours, in the most passionate kiss the two of you have ever shared. His hands make their way down to your waist pulling you closer, as yours make their way up to the nape of his neck and entangling in his hair. You can feel the both of you pouring all your emotions into this kiss, letting each other know that both of your confessions are true.
You pull apart breathing heavy.
“Make me a promise, tell me that you’ll stay with me.” You tell him, your insecurities getting the best of you for a moment. He smiles at you though.
“Of course baby, I’m not scared to jump in if you want to.” He tells you, pulling you in for another kiss.
“Let’s just keep falling in love for the hell of it.” He tells you as you pull apart, his signature smirk plastered across his face, and he sends you a wink.
You laugh at his words.
“Ya of course, just for the hell of it.” You laugh as you pull him back into you, placing another kiss on his lips.
You pull apart and make your way to sit on the couch to just enjoy the company of each other. He places his head in your lap, you immediately start to run your fingers through his hair as if it’s second nature. He smiles at your actions and leans into your touch more.
“I guess I have to tell Owen he was right. I owe him 10 bucks.” Charlie says breaking the silence.
“What do you mean you owe him 10 bucks??” You say confused.
“Well you see, Owen and I may have made a bet about me falling for you. He said the minute you walked in the door and he saw my face when I looked at you, and he knew I was falling for you. I didn’t believe him.” You nod your head, encouraging him to continue the story.
“Then basically he bet me that I would  fall for you before the end of this year. I didn’t think us hooking up counted since it was a secret so I wasn’t gonna tell him he won. But I guess I have to now.” He says scratching the back of his neck as a nervous habit.
You laugh at his words, only Charlie would make such a bet. The adrenaline junkie and his competitiveness always getting the best of him.
“You’re not mad?” He asks you at hearing your laughter.
“Not at all, that is such a Gillespie move.” You tell him, leaning down to place your lips on his.
You can’t help but laugh at Charlie’s antics, truly he is the only person who would engage in such a thing. But that’s just another reason why you’ve fallen for the boy.
Charlie switches positions so he’s sitting next to you rather laying on top of you. He throws his arm over your shoulders and pulls you into him. You lay your head on his chest, you smile and you feel him press a kiss to your head. This is just another start to a wonderful adventure with Mr. Charlie Gillespie.
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evakuality · 3 years
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Matteo - Episode three
Social Media - There’s so much of it this week!  At the time, I only followed a couple of accounts and then only saw the rest when it was posted to the tag.  I think I’m grateful for that.  This is absolutely overwhelming, the sheer volume of things the characters were putting out.  But it’s also really nice that we get all this normal teenage life stuff.  It really does allow an immersive ‘this is real people doing real stuff’ feeling to everything.  Particularly people like Kiki and Sam who have little to do with the plot.  It keeps them real and alive through a season where they were a bit more sidelined (and I love that Matteo and David’s little trip later on keeps them alive in a way that doesn’t overpower Amira’s season - this is a really clever way for the producers to keep fan favourites active without having to shoehorn them into places where they don’t belong).  I am also a bit concerned about some of this though - how on earth did the boys not get in trouble for filming the dancing girls and posting it to social media?  At most schools I know that would have resulted in some serious discipline action.  However, the most fascinating thing about the social media is the party at the end of the episode.  Sara didn’t start posting much on her stuff until much later in the evening (the reason this post is so late is because I was waiting to watch through all the social media before I worked with it - and there was so much for so long that I was able to notice the patterns in it in a way I didn’t at the time) and then Leonie took over and it was interesting what she chose to show and how non-perfect it all was compared to what Sara was trying to do before she got really incapacitated.  I know it’s not technically part of this episode but the text string between the two of them the next day where Sara panics over how Matteo might take seeing her in such a sloppy drunken state is very telling.  She really really wants to put on a show to make sure he’s not turned off by her not being ‘perfect’ - again, this is all very subtly done but there’s a really strong push to show how much of what is put onto social media isn’t a real and true depiction of who we really are.  And of course that’s most important for Matteo himself.  He’s still very actively putting on a front and it’s only partly to try to cover for the fact that he’s interested in boys not girls.  He’s really not happy or at ease with pretty much any aspect of himself, but he’s also not really willing to show it to anyone.  Except David.  Which we’ll see as we go through the clips.
Clip one - Matteo’s shelf in the fridge is so sad!  Someone (a parent maybe?) should really be making sure he has food and is looking after himself.  We touched a bit last episode on food and nurturing and what we see here is Matteo very much not nurturing himself.  Even more so than Sara, he has no care for his own wellbeing.  Also he’s relying heavily on other people (Hans in this case) to do the heavy lifting for him.  It’s also a major contrast to the playful, if disgusting, sandwich he made with David.  Here it’s really just about putting something in to his body and there’s no thought for anything other than basic survival.  Which is, tbh, a good metaphor for Matteo’s approach to his life at this time.  The chat with Mia again veers close to things that are difficult for Matteo - he’s wearing David’s beanie, trying to get that bit of closeness to him, but then Mia starts asking awkward questions about why the kitchen was so terrible and what Matteo was up to and it’s all a bit tough.  Matteo tries again to deflect and lie to cover his tracks.  Which... is he ever going to learn?  This lying is forever getting him in hot water when he’s caught out.  Jonas even calls him out on it, basically saying ‘if you’re going to use me as an excuse then give me a heads up first’ showing that he has Matteo’s back, but is incapable of helping him if he won’t help himself.  At this point, of course, Matteo has closed off because there’s a lot he finds too hard to talk about but Jonas is already giving those hints that he’d be there for Matteo if only Matteo would let him be.  But at least Mia’s pushing serves one purpose - Matteo makes contact with David again and they manage to connect and get over the little hitch that David’s ditching caused.  Both are still hiding bits of themselves from each other (David more so obviously), but both are quite happy to make these connections and are comfortable with each other.  That David responds is so nice; it sets up the dynamic so different to the original and Matteo is much more secure in David’s friendship than Isak was with Even at this point just because of this.  Then of course Matteo does the gay test, and it’s clear he already knows but he’s just sort of trying to work through some things.  It leads to some of the things he says later that are quite unfortunate (both to the boys about the dance teacher in this episode and to Hans later about the ways to be gay), but I think there’s a genuine desire to figure out what gay might look like rather than any truly homophobic stuff.  societal expectations and stereotypes and our own internal biases mess with us big time!!
Clip two - There’s not a lot of difference with the dancing girls clip, but it’s nice to see David again and the interactions between him and Matteo are a lot more natural than with Isak and Even.  I guess because these two are in the same year, it’s much easier to pass off knowing each other and so Matteo really is a lot more casual than Isak ever was.  The tone of the ‘why does he have to be so gay’ is different here too - Matteo’s much more low key and subdued when he’s called out on ‘why do we insult gays’ and he’s apologising fairly quickly.  It really is much more obvious that he’s trying to work out what ‘gay’ is than trying to distance himself from the idea of being gay.  He has a lot of issues and a lot of stuff to work through but it’s entrenched in an entirely different way to the og even though the words are almost exactly the same.  The power of acting and body language!!  Of course, this makes sense for both characters too - Isak and Matteo have different experiences and different lives and so they each act in a way that makes sense for them.  I’m super impressed that the same conversation can look so different - both actors are very very good.
Clip three - This scene with Matteo and Sara works much better for me than the one with Isak and Emma.  But perhaps that’s because Sara is allowed to be much more of a rounded character rather than a plot device.  We can say all we like (and Leonie is so clearly right there with us) that Sara needs to wake up and see how badly Matteo is treating her, but the way this is developing makes it clear why she thinks and acts the way she does and we can have a lot of sympathy for her even while rolling our eyes at how obviously this is not working out.  This right here is the moment where Matteo really should have said ‘yeah sorry, this isn’t working for me’ but he chooses not to because he still wants that security of having ‘someone’ if the thing with David turns out the way he expects it to (eg, David and Leonie being a thing).  He wants the ability to hide and say ‘see, there was nothing there, I have a girlfriend so I’m not at all upset that David has one too’ and it’s shitty behaviour and it’s totally unfair to Sara, but at this point Matteo can’t see beyond his own needs.  Sara is very clearly not happy with the situation and she rightly feels sidelined and unappreciated but she is still willing to accept his word when she puts those words into his mouth.  She’s still invested in this fantasy in her head and she is carefully scripting it so that it goes the way she wants it to.  Like last week when she was talking over Matteo to avoid hearing anything he’s saying, here she’s literally telling him what to say to get the outcome she wants.  Leonie has quite obviously got a better handle on the situation, but Sara doesn’t want to hear it.  Sara, again bless her, is very open about what she wants and needs from a relationship and how she’s feeling.  She refuses to take Matteo’s very half-hearted attempt at sweet talking her at face value and demands some accountability.  But it’s the very nature of those demands that sets her doom.  She tells him what she needs and he gives it to her - only it’s a very pale and weak imitation of what she would really like.  He uses her communication skills to play her.
Clip four - I loathe how no-one takes Matteo’s wants and needs into account, pretty much ever.  He’s in such a rut of being used to just going with the flow that even when he tries to assert his own wants people straight up ignore him.  It’s sad that he allows Kiki etc to basically commandeer his home for their party but it’s very much in keeping with how everything else is going.  Last week, Kiki was super irritated because she had a picture of how things were going to go (they would have their event and Matteo would host it) and she couldn’t deal with things not being under her control.  I suspect that if Sara hadn’t been with them and hadn’t done the speaking for Matteo, he would have been bullied into doing what she wanted then too.  He clearly doesn't want to do this , but at least he uses it as a way to get closer to David.  ‘Well, this party idea sucks, but maybe I can get this guy I like there’ and so he goes right up to him and invites him.  While he’s quite checked out of significant parts of his life, when Matteo really wants something he’s not scared of going after it.  Of course, as we see in later events, this gets him in trouble at times.  But for right now it’s nice to see him taking some small control of his life.  This is only possible, of course, because he was able to connect with David fairly quickly after he left last week.  The fact that they are able to do this is testament to how easily they do understand each other and even while its awkward, this relationship doesn’t have the underlying tensions that the one with Sara does.  It’s awkward in a positive way.
Clip five - there’s lots going on in this one.  The studying and how little interest and engagement Matteo has with it.  The consequent stalking of David on Sara’s account, the flow over into looking for David’s favourite movie, and of course Hans and his intrusion into Matteo’s quiet space again and then his attempt at using grindr.  It’s a slow, fairly quiet clip and yet Matteo ends up doing a lot in it.  It shows again, I think, just how much he values his time by himself and how much it works for him to be allowed to do things at his own pace.  I’ve said before I really enjoy seeing the characters in their own environments being chill and just hanging with themselves.  It shows us a lot of how they are.  In this case, Matteo moves very quickly from the boredom of the studying to things he has more interest in.  Like David.  He’s restless and disengaged, using all of his tricks to try to distract himself (playing with plants etc) and then very quickly giving up on what he should do.  I like that we get these sorts of smaller, lower key indications of how much David means to him as well.  It’s not big grandiose expressions of interest, but he watches the movie because David likes it.  He can’t even let himself stare at the picture for too long because it feels like a huge admission (he literally breaks eye contact with it and looks away the way he often does with David himself).  It’s in these unguarded moments in his own space that we really see Matteo and he’s a mess, but he’s a mess who really does want connection and to find meaning with someone.  
Clip six - We all love this one, right?  It’s such a nice moment with David and their almost-kissing is very intense.  But there’s a lot going on before that that I also want to look at.  First, the way the boys call Matteo a ‘player’?????? how???? That’s his girlfriend?????  He is playing her and stringing her along when he shouldn’t, but he’s not playing the field which is generally what we mean when we say this sort of thing.  He has one girl and that one girl has made it pretty clear that he is hers.  In many ways Matteo would be better off if he was playing the field - then there’s no expectations and he gets a rep as a ladies man.  But this works better for him - he can sort of fall into it and follow along with it without having to put any effort in at all.  She literally speaks for him, even.  I have always found it fascinating how much Matteo keeps to himself in this clip.  He hugs the walls like they’re his home and Sara is out there in the middle and there’s such a disconnect between the way they’re both acting.  How would Matteo have coped with the expectations Sara outlines about sex had she not got so blind drunk she had to be taken home?  It seems like it would have led to something very awkward and maybe she’d have finally got the picture.
Laura's little visit to see Matteo is cute too.  Obviously she knows that David is interested and so she checks him out.  It’s a shame it’s interrupted by Hans who then monopolises Matteo, but she was quite deliberate in finding him and speaking with him and I love the sibling support.  David’s shirt he chooses to appeal to Matteo is hilarious too.  The thought process (and the discussions with Laura at home beforehand) must have been brilliant.  ‘I always wear black and am mysterious and aloof and cool, but to attract this boy I will wear a white shirt with a stupid picture on it’ - that it does attract Matteo just shows how attuned David is to his future boyfriend.  Maybe he’s stalking the instagrams too - the Matteo Monday and Florenzi Friday do suggest that this is something that might appeal to Matteo.  
Hans and Andi bother me too.  In much the same way that I dislike that Sara assumes that Matteo not wanting sex with her means he’s gay (like?  It’s okay not to want sex!!  It doesn’t say anything about your sexuality), I don’t like that Hans has talked about Matteo to Andi and allows him to be so forward and aggressively sexual with someone who is very obviously not willing to be out.  I know Hans is trying to be there for Matteo and to encourage him to accept himself (I think it’s pretty clear that he knows or thinks Matteo likes guys).  But this is a party with all of Matteo’s friends.  What did they think would happen?  Why did they think he’d react in any way other than the one he does?  Hans looks confused when Matteo pushes away and leaves, but why?  This behaviour is entirely consistent with everything we know of his character. That it ends in an actual panic attack makes it all much more sad and difficult to watch.  Honestly, outing people when they’re not ready is not cool and Hans should know this.
The panic attack itself is so well done.  There’s no dialogue and yet we can see very obviously how Matteo is feeling and just how ‘normal’ this is to him.  He has a set of behaviours that he follows to try to take the edge off.  He throws things (this is his go-to when he’s stressed and he does it a LOT), he tries weed and he finally tries music and sitting by himself, cuddling a cushion for comfort.  I know a million people have discussed this at length, but I don’t think we can speak about this clip without at least touching on it.  Everything about it is done so well and it all combines to allow Matteo’s feelings to shine through.  I love that it’s allowed to happen at a party and that we see very clearly how these things can be overwhelming for characters.  I won’t go on anymore, but it’s just great and the acting is so perfect.  I genuinely think this small part of this clip is probably my favourite acting out of everything in this show.
And then of course we have the stuff after everyone else has left.  Again, a million people have discussed this in a million ways, but I love how this scene again shows how easily they get each other, how good they are at communicating with each other and how quickly they get on the same page.  Matteo has no trouble at all saying what he thinks and pressing for information.  This parallels Sara in some ways - she is like this with Matteo, making her wants and needs clear and putting herself on the line.  Again, this is all very good set up for later on when Matteo finally finds himself in her position and realises just how much his behaviour hurt her because he’s living her side.  However, unlike Matteo, David is quite clear and honest back.  And that’s why they can so quickly move into a potential kiss.  As with Matteo and Sara, there are close ups as they lean into each other, but somehow it feels like there’s more space for them to breathe here.  The camera allows them both to be in the frame naturally, whether Sara is often invading into Matteo’s shots.  Here, they’re both on board and both want it.  I like that Matteo gets a moment to be open and himself after his experience with Andi.  It must take a lot of courage to do this after he was so badly affected earlier.  Testament to David’s calming presence which reassures rather than pushes, and how honest they are with each other - there’s no way David could miss how relieved Matteo is when he finds out that Laura is David’s sister not his girlfriend.  They’re both very brave here - David for telling Matteo he looks good and Matteo for trying to take that next step even after his panic attack.   And I think that’s a nice place to leave this.  Because that’s already such a lot and this has all already been said before.  
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