#I chose this song because the first time I heard it. I was already thinking about mike.. AND I was already dating ANA.

[mel-loly]

“And I see forever in your eyes

I feel okay when I see you smile, smile~”

@alsomanple/@manpleblog

[ofjunemoment]

getting even | lee haechan (P1)

synopsis —  Haechan is notorious for his pranks. Who can forget about the one time the campus fountain was bleeding red? You were weary of never getting on his wrong side, but when you get to know him better, it seems like behind all that front he's a sweet and caring guy. That is until you get a bucket of water dunked on you straight after he promised he wouldn't pull something on you. You're not only pissed that he had fooled you like this, but that he chose such a simple prank.

pairing - haechan x fem!reader

genre - university!au, (one-sided) enemies, strangers to friends to lovers, slow burn, very slice of life, eventual smut (MDNI)

Wc - 11.6k

content - clubbing scene, reader is drunk at one point, random idols mentioned, university settings

warnings: mentions of throwing up (nothing too detailed)

a/n - hi lovelies <3 heres the first part to getting even!!! while i was writing the story i noticed it was getting very long (and i still have like... five more scenes to write lol) so i thought of getting this out first ^^ not a lot happens here but stay tuned for the next part because.. a lot.. happens there hehe. i hope you enjoy readingggg!!

Walking into your lecture, your eyes scan around to find an empty spot to occupy, but you were pleasantly surprised to see your friend Naeun sitting in one corner, leaning back as she scrolls through her phone. She beams when she sees you, patting the seat next to hers.

“Fancy seeing you here,” You plop down your bag next to your chair, teasing her from the get-go. She whines shyly at your callout.

“I was struck with academic motivation never felt before. It felt like I was destined to come in today and be as studious as possible,” She points towards the lecture, which is barely filled with students. It’s a nine a.m. lecture, but you decided to come in early today to snag a good seat that lets your focus on the lecture with your upcoming assignment that's due; Naeun on the other hand barely comes in after the first two weeks of the semester, regardless of what time the lecture is. If it’s not mandatory, why go?

Her motto is what makes you raise your eyebrow at her now, scanning her figure as if to fish out the real reason why she’s here.

“Don’t look at me like that! I actually came in to study today,” you raise your hands in self-defence, looking away from her with a giggle, opting to stop teasing her.

But not even a minute later, she cracks; “Okay, fine. If you keep insisting me to tell you I guess I have no choice,”

“But I didn’t even—”

“I heard from Haneul who heard from Heejin’s girlfriend who was at that book club meeting with Renjun, which for some reason thought Norwegian Wood the book didn’t match the song, which is such a hot take that only he would take. Anyways,” She crosses her leg over her knee, leaning in as if to tell you a secret, manicured hands cupping the side of her face.

“Haechan might pull something today, at this lecture.” You barely caught her words, but after a few seconds of taking in what she said, you lean back and look at her with wide eyes.

“Haechan? I thought he was finished?” Naeun nods her head at lightning speed, her expression matching yours too.

“See, that’s what I thought too, but apparently he only had some sort of weird writer's block but for his pranks. I think he missed all the attention he used to get, not that he’s any less popular now, but you know what I mean,” You, in fact, have no idea what she means. But with the new information that you’re now fed, you’re hyperaware of your surroundings, looking around for any abnormalities within your vicinity.

Ever since the orientation of the first year of your course, when you met Naeun and had to fight against falling asleep with all the alcohol the seniors were feeding you as a sort of welcoming ritual, Haechan had already made a solid impression on everyone. With the seniors pushing all the first-year students to drink, Haechan had gotten into a bit of trouble for refusing to drink something they’ve poured out for him, as the older guys go around with mindless gossiping, stating how much of a prune he is and that he’s just ruining the fun, all while they stick around girls who are out of their league.

Later that day, Haechan had made a few drinks for the few who he had angered as a form of apology. With his head bowed in tow, he honestly looked like he was asking for their forgiveness.

“It was careless of me to disrespect my seniors so blatantly like this, could you accept these as an apology? I’ll even pour out the soju for you.” With the bottle in his hand, his other hand cradled his elbow, showing respect as he barely met their eyes. The seniors were ready to make him work for it more, but with the way he was bowed in front of everyone in the hall, it looked like they were picking on the poor boy.

“Ah, Haechan, you don’t have to do that.” One of them chuckles. “We were just joking aroun—”

“Please! Just accept this, I don’t know how I can last the rest of my uni years knowing that I had disrespected you on my very first day.” He shouts in his high-pitched voice, making the already quiet hall of murmuring people all go silent. The seniors were now all flustered, before being ushered to take the cups Haechan had provided, waiting for him to pour them drinks.

From the corner of the table, you were slumped against, you remember two things very vividly that night; one, Naeun was an only child, which we can definitely work with. And two, when Haechan looked up at the second and third years of his major accepting his drinks, his grateful smile was laced with some sort of sinister glint.

As the seniors grumble in embarrassment while Haechan finishes pouring each one of them a drink, they swish their cups around as if it’s wine, delaying drinking from them while Haechan insists on signifying their bond with a toast.

“To my seniors, I hope to perform up to your expectations,” And with the tip of their cups in an imaginary circle, everyone cheered ‘one-shot’ as the seniors down their drinks. Haechan merely sipped his, and you had noticed his lips tilting to one corner, and even in your drunk state, you knew something was off.

Your suspicions were confirmed when the seniors all started coughing wildly, some clutching the corner of a table or one anothers’ shoulders, seeming like they were coughing their lungs out.

Turns out that Haechan had slipped hot sauce into the drinks, creating a fusion of different burning sensations to travel down their throats as they drink the alcohol in one shot. Instead of being chastised, he was cheered on by the other first years who were either tipsy or barely hanging on. Ever since then, he was known to pull pranks every now and then, most harmless, some embarrassing, but nothing serious and nothing to spite anyone. Like tampering with clocks in the lecture halls, making them chime a tune every ten minutes, or when he had swapped his blonde friend Jeno’s shampoo with a firetruck red dye, leaving his neck and the better part of his forehead red from the dye for days on end. The only prank done with motivation was the first one as if it was some sort of initiation in itself.

“Wait, at this lecture? But there’s barely anyone here. Doesn’t Haechan carry out his pranks with a full-blown audience at tow?” Naeun shushes at your words, trying to get you to quiet down with your words, but it was too late. The deed was done as the guy from behind you perks up at your conversation, leaning into your conversation bubble.

You recognise him as Sunwoo, as he quickly shifts his gaze between the two of you. “Haechan’s doing something today? Like, at this lecture?”

“Oh.. well, I wouldn’t say so,”

“Naeun,” He turns to your friend, and you look at her with doom written on both of your faces. Naeun can’t lie to save her life, most people know that by now, but never really have the balls to test the theory. Until now, of course.

“Naeun, is Haechan gonna pull a prank today?”

“Naeun, remember what we talked about restraint.” You tried to keep her attention on you, knowing that if her gaze wandered to the boy, she would break.

“Come on Naeun,” Sunwoo whines now, stomping his feet, making you look at him with disgust written on your face at his sudden burst of cuteness. “Just say yes or no. Ywes or nwo.”

“Dude, gross,” You shove at his shoulder in an attempt to finally relent. Naeun squeezes her eyes shut.

“Pwetty pwease?”

“Fine! Fuck, oh my god. Yes, he is, Haechan is maybe doing something today.” She leans back into her chair, chest heaving as if she’d run a marathon. “I hated that, please don’t ever do that again.” Sunwoo winks at you two as he suddenly stands straight in his seat.

With hands cupped around his mouth, he shouts out. “Hey everyone! Haechan is pulling a prank today! Tell all your friends to be careful, and to keep their cameras rolling! Remember to post it on the campus’ blog!” And with that, phones chime as people text and call the imminent news. You and Naeun look at each other, defeated.

“At least they don’t know that we spread it?” You try, shoulders now hunched in as Naeun rubs at her temples.

“Oh! Also, it was these two who told me, so you should thank them!” Sunwoo yells one last time as he points at the two of you, with some hoots and cheers now being sent your way. You two shrink into yourselves even more.

“Haneul is never gonna invite me out for bubble tea ever again,”

As the lecture hall fills up to its max capacity, everyone is on the edge of their seat, waiting for something to happen. The star of the show himself is nowhere to be seen, but his friends are huddled in their usual corner, trying their best to smile kindly and repeat on about how they ‘don’t know what Haechan is up to. Can I send him a text to see where he is? Why are you telling me what to do—’. Thankfully Jeno was able to stop Renjun from pouncing anyone, even though they both knew nothing would’ve happened.

The lecturer seems over the moon to have the hall filled as much as it is, excitedly explaining statistics and their significance in the current world. She doesn’t seem to notice that the majority are here for some sort of public performance and not the different ways you can find the probability of whatever it is she’s droning on about. You try your best to nod when she looks towards your general direction.

As the lecture ends, people grow restless with the lack of action in the last two hours. But no one had dared to step out of the hall, much less out of their seats in fear of something happening. But when the lecturer thanks everyone for joining her this week and talks about gratitude, people slump into their chairs, grumbling and huffing about their time being wasted. Everyone starts packing straight away, slowly maneuvering to the exit as they cook up theories about why Haechan had gone so long without a prank, and how the word got spread in the first place. You and Naeun sit static in your chairs, not wanting to attract any attention, alongside Haechan’s friends, who merely go on their phones and twirl their pens.

“Do you think this will come back to bite us in our ass?” You’re careful to whisper this time, shoving your laptop into your bag and Naeun clicks her pens closed. She merely shrugs, “I don’t think they even know our names, so I think we should be fine.” You look at the lecturer, who seems to be skipping her way to the exit now, undoubtedly feeling ecstatic at doing her job. As she opens the door and steps to the hall, you last see her beaming smile before a screech echoes out, making everyone stop in their tracks.

The people who were the closest to her are now looking at the ground where she lies, bags and items now askew across the floor outside of the hall. A few step up and help her get up by grasping her wrists, pulling when she seems to have found their bearings. But their effort ends fruitless, as not only does she stay on the floor, but the two people who had helped her also collapse again on the floor.

“What the fuck…” As people go to help their friends and the lecturer from the floor, the three figures on the floor attempt to skid back into the lecture room instead of out. A guy you recognise as Beomgyu looks out onto the hallway outside the lecture hall, before pressing the tip of his shoe against the floor as if to test something. When he pressed his sole against the floor, he tries shifting left and right before pressing his other foot on the floor, rebalancing himself when he’s tilted a bit to the left. You see him squat down and take a big whiff, face confused as he stands back up, but not for long.

Smiling like a radiating child, his laugh echoes throughout the hall as he pulls on his friend Jeongin’s hand to join him. “The floor is covered with butter!”

At that, the once quiet hall grows loud, as people slowly step onto the floor, while some treat it like a skating rink, gliding and spinning right outside the lecture hall.

“The whole floor with butter? When did he have the time to do that?” You question as you now stand with your bag slung over your shoulder. Jeno, who was walking past you with Renjun, turns back to you. “He did it while the lecture was going on. If you can’t handle skidding on the floor, you might wanna use the other door,” And with a blinding smile, he turns back around and heads out the alternative door.

Naeun clutched at your bicep. “Did he talk to us right now? Like, look at us in the eye and speak words?”

You nod your head. “I think you can put your delusional days to an end. He totally likes you,” She smacks your hand as you tease her, but huddles closer nevertheless.

“I am, for once, thankful that you just speak words without thinking,”

You’re tugging at the waist of your skirt as Naeun pulls you by your locked elbows, shoes clicking towards the direction of the club. The Beehive club is known to harbour students of all majors from your university, as it is the closest club to the dorms situated just a five-minute walk away from campus, making socialising as easy as it can get. Naeun had urged for you two to go this week, even when you’d rather rest after giving in the assignment that you were slaving over for the past few days. She insisted that it would be worth this time.

“Haechan finally put a cease in his hiatus. That means he will be at the party, which means Jeno will be at the party, which means I need to make my presence known and somehow rizz him by sending him brainwaves.” She had explained while getting ready, as she blows on her false lashes before putting them on. You sulk from your position in bed, slowly trying to hype yourself up to get ready.

“You’re not even gonna talk to him? What’s the point then?” Naeun groans at that.

“You know that if I open my mouth around him I’ll pee myself. Come on, and you deserve to have some fun after all that hard work,” And so half a bottle of soju and an hour later, you find yourself covering one of your ears as you descend the stairs to the Beehive club. You feel the bass of the song travel up your legs as you enter the club, and are offered free drink coupons. It’s when you’re squeezing a lemon slice into your mouth at the bar that you feel a hand tap against your shoulder. You turn to see Haneul, a grin gleaming even in the dark of the club as she squeals and pulls both you and Naeun into a hug.

“My favourite girls, how have you been?” She shouts against the booming music against your ears, to which you give her a thumbs up while Naeun further squeezes herself against Haneul's figure in excitement, the alcohol already making her feel giddier. She pulls you towards the dance floor, muttering about how she has a VIP booth that someone had offered her, and leads the way. Plopping down, Haneul gestures for staff before saying something into his ear, before giving a wink and pointing at the VIP booth you’re settled at.

As you three start conversing, the staff comes back with more drinks, and Haneul encourages you to drink, assuring you that it’s attached to the tab of the booth. “Some guy called Jay has this booth under his name, and he said to put any drinks I wanted on the tab,” You toast your free drinks against one another, the clink of the glasses barely audible as you each take a sip. Haneul shares the anecdotes and stories that have while she was away on vacation, while you and Naeun nod and react accordingly, slipping in your commentaries at the climax of her stories.

“What about you two? Any news recently?” She takes a sip from her straw as she says this, glancing between the two of you excitedly. You and Naeun share a sheepish glance, knowing neither of you has anything as exciting to share.

“Oh come on, what have you been doing these days?”

“Just work,” Naeun frowns as she says this.

“And school,” You follow up.

“You’re right, and school. And then work again,”

“And scho—”

“You guys are miserable,” Haneul scoffs jokingly. She reaches for the bottle of champagne that's sitting in the ice bucket, grabbing two clean glasses. “Here, have more drinks so you can have something exciting to tell me later on,” Although mixing your drinks is never good, the loud music and the flashing lights encourage you to drink more, and your body craves to let loose.

Two glasses and a twenty-minute dance break later, you’re at a corner of the club huddling near each other. Naeun had caught a glimpse of Jeno at the bar, and the alcohol in her system removed all brain-to-mouth filters she had.

“He’s so—” She cups her face as she hiccups. “So fine. So so fine. You know, when we were at our lecture… the other day with Haechan’s …comeback or, fuck, butter floor, he spoke to us,” Her warm eyes fluttered as she thought back to that moment. “Jeno said real words, in real life and my ear heard them. I think he looked at me too, what the fuck?” She grabs her forehead as if taking the information in for the first time before she presses her head against your shoulder.

“She’s not being delusional, he did speak to us,” You nod your head at Haneul as she shoots you a questioning look, with Naeun clinging onto you harder. “He even helped us go out through the back door so we don’t end up all oily with the butter rink.” Naeun snorts, which catches all of you off guard and even herself, her eyes opening and locking onto something in the middle of the dance floor. Her gaze suddenly shifts, and before you know it she’s shoving her way through the crowd and heading towards her target.

“What is she—? Oh no, fuck,” You gasp while Haneul’s mouth hangs open when you both see Naeun heading toward Jeno, who’s dancing with someone at the moment, at full speed.

Haneul looks at you with contemplation. “I mean… it could turn out for the better?” She tries.

“Or she would wake up embarrassed as fuck for the next week or so,” You contemplate with her. Naeun is never the type to be aggressive, even when she's drunk. The most she’s done once was point a finger at you while she was angry and then look away to calm herself down.

But before you could relax back into your corner, you see her reach up for her earrings.

“Okay, fuck. Take this, I’ll be back,” Shoving your drink in Haneul’s hand, you make your way through the crowd and towards Naeun, rushing before she reaches her imminent doom. Jeno and his dancing partner are oblivious to the devil baby that Naeun takes the form of at the moment, which gives you hope that embarrassment can be evaded.

But then she full-body slams into Haechan.

“Woah,” He places his free hand on her shoulder, stopping her from tipping all the way to the right and losing her balance. The cup in his other hand now seems to be empty as its contents drip from both of their bodies, but Naeun is too drunk to notice and Haechan seems to have barely processed anything, seemingly working on autopilot at this point. You catch Naeun by the waist, your other hand going to her arm and slinging it around your shoulder to ground her, inspecting the mess she made. Your expression is apologetic when you make eye contact with Haechan, but he merely purses his lips and gestures putting Naeun’s other arm around himself for more support.

You mouth a ‘thank you’ and heave her body outside of the dance floor and towards the booth Haneul had brought you to earlier. Placing her on the couch, she slumps down and immediately whines when her hand makes contact with her torso on the descent.

“I’m all sticky now…” Her eyes are barely open as she says this, as the bass of the music dwindles in the semi-confines of the booth.

“That makes the two of us,” As Haechan says this, your eyes glance over his figure to see his once white button-up is now tinted blue and sticking to his body, outlining the faintest of lines in the dark of the club. You advert your eyes, not wanting to be caught gawking at him like a man in the Victorian era.

“I’m so sorry, thank you for helping,” You bite your lip momentarily, feeling mortified for ruining his shirt. He merely waves you off, “Don’t worry. I’m not too fussed about it,” His hand is placed at his hip as he says this, but his free hand gestures at your intoxicated friend. “But she seems to be the most bothered out of all of us,”

As if on cue, Naeun whines from her slumped position on the couches, shifting left and right in an attempt to gain some leverage into standing up, only to slip back down. She calls for your name and then squints at Haechan as if trying to remember his.

“Naeun, let’s call it a night, yeah?” You try telling her and you look around to find her bag that she’s left. She protests like a child in a grocery store, huffing as she droops further onto the couch, her cheek now pressed against the cushions.

“No, not until I bag the class clown's hot friend.” Your eyes widen as you feel your cheeks grow hot, trying your best to not glance over at Haechan and somewhat blow Naeun’s cover. You reach over and pat her cheeks lightly in a warning.

“Naeun, you’re blabbering nonsense now. Come on, let’s get going.”

“I’m not! I’m talking about Jeno, not nonsense. Haechan’s super hot friend Jeno,” Your whole body does a reset as she says this, shoulders going stiff while Naeun is oblivious to everything. She opens her eyes and locks them on something behind you, now pointing her finger and smiling giddily.

“Oh! Look, Haechan is here! Hey, do you think if I ask reallyyy nicely he’ll—” Her next words are muffled by your hand and a forced laugh. You cast a look at Haechan to see him trying and failing to contain a smile, as his hand pushes at the corner of his mouth. Upon making eye contact with you he quickly looks away and tries to retain himself from laughing. You sigh as you think about the number of things you’d have to run down to sober Naeun tomorrow about drunk Naeun’s antics right now. Gathering both of your things and shrugging your jacket on your friend, you quickly grab a tissue paper from the table and the eyeliner pen from Naeun’s bag, scribbling down your phone number.

Once Haechan has regained his composure, he’s met with your hand extended towards him holding a napkin. He picks it up from your hand as you wave it a bit impatiently before you quickly go to shoulder your friend up.

“This is my number, send me your details and I’ll cover for your shirt and the drink,” You grunt as you adjust Naeun’s deadweight before she gets the memo and tries standing on her two feet. “Thank you again for helping, uh, please ignore everything she just said. I know it’ll be a good payback prank but—”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Haechan’s chuckle resounds deep even in the loud bass of the club. “I wouldn’t pull anything on her for this.” He comes to Naeun’s opposite side, grabbing her arm and throwing it over his shoulder, heading towards the exit of the club without casting a glance back at you. You fumble with your belongings before quickly catching up, heels clicking as you ascend the stairs, your hands hovering around Naeun’s general direction, in fear that she’ll decide to fling herself off Haechan’s grip in an attempt of brushing her drunkenness off.

Outside of the club, cars whizz by the busy streets as people go for second and third rounds of drinks at this time of the night. Haechan lets Naeun sink into the ground as the latter pulls her weight, and you scramble towards her on the floor.

“Are you gonna hurl?” You ask. She hiccups.

“No,” And that’s all you needed to hear. Standing up, you fish out your phone and decide to call a cab back to your dorms, not wanting to carry your friend in the ten-minute walk back.

“Hey,” Haechan calls and you had momentarily forgotten that he was still here. You look up to see him scratching at his neck, mulling over his next words. “Uh, if you’d like, I didn’t drink anything and— I mean I was going to but then your friend just… What I’m saying is that I can drop you off?” The alcohol swimming in your brain may be playing with you, but you think you see a dust of pink settle into the boy’s cheek and neck.

“I mean, you’re Haneul’s friends, right? I remember you were her roommate at the dorms last year, so if you still live there I can drop you off,” He straightened his shoulder as he said this, now looking more confident about his offer.

You shift your weight, as you now actually get to take a good look at him. Under the club's dark and strobing lights, you could barely see his features far past his white button-up shirt and the light reflecting in his eyes. The street light illuminates the figure in front of you fully, allowing you to see the blue stain in his shirt, but also the tight fit of his jeans and the veins adorning his arms as he pushes up his sleeves at his elbows.

“Oh, thanks. But we should be okay. I’m sorry for the trouble.” You’re a bit flustered as you say this, your eyes flickering from his forearms to his face, not wanting to come off rude but also not being able to contain your monkey-sex brain from forming thoughts. You’re salivating over forearms.

“Okay…wait. Here,” He fishes out his phone from his pocket, typing in the phone number that you handed to him earlier in the night, calling you briefly. “Give me a text when you arrive home or if you need any help with warding off any weirdos.” You feel your stomach warm at his gesture, punching your name into his phone when he gives it to you. When you give it back to him, he mouths your name, before smiling at you.

“Will you be alright going alone?” He says as he helps you bring Naeun to a stand, the latter squeezing her eyes open and trying to regain balance and focus.

“Yup,” You pop, fixing your friend's bag on her shoulder. “She said she wasn’t gonna throw up, which means I have around twenty minutes until she changes her mind. She’s always the most self-aware pre-vom, so the walk back should be okay,” You don’t know why you’re reassuring him from getting kidnapped on your way back, but it feels nice to have someone care for your safety like this. Naeun starts marching away once you face her in the direction of your unit, and with a last wave goodbye, you turn your back to Haechan and the club.

[FRIDAY; 1:26 AM]

you: hii im home now

haechan: thats good

haechan: did she thrw up yet??

you: nah not yet

you: but we’re getting there you: t-minus three secs

haechan: remember to drink water b4 u sleep

you: okayy thank u for today :)

Telling Naeun how she almost embarrassed herself wasn’t as dreadful when she was fighting a hangover. She seemed to be more concerned about her water intake than almost causing a scene with Jeno at the club, complaining about the dryness of her skin.

“I can’t believe you let me go to sleep without telling me to wash my make-up off,” She says this as she adds her expensive serum to her face, grabbing a guasha tool and pressing the cool instrument against her temples, completely disregarding its original use. You continue brushing your teeth next to her against the sink, unable to reply with the foam in your mouth.

“You passed out on the toilet after throwing up, I almost threw up myself trying to bring you to your bed,” You say as you spit out your toothpaste.

“Wait, then how did I not cause a scene?”

“Haechan stopped you,” You reply seamlessly, drying your hands on the hand towel, oblivious to the bewildered stare Naeun throws your way.

“Haechan? Like, Jeno’s friend Haechan? The guy who put red food dye in the campus’ water which made everyone's mouth red?” You remember the initial shock of walking by the water fountain the day he did this, the blood red of the water being a stark contrast to the gloomy winter weather last year.

“Yeah, you even spilled his drink on him and everything.” You giggle at the groan that she lets out, covering her face with her hands.

“Oh my god, he’s gonna now plant a hidden alarm in my room like he did to this other guy in the dorm, or put plastic cockroaches in everything I own. I can’t believe I did that, was his shirt white?”

“Not after you spilt his neon blue drink,” You egg on even more. “But don’t worry, he said he won’t pull anything on you.” At that, her shoulders slump down in relief, as she leans against the doorframe of the bathroom.

“I’m safe,” She cheers, heading to the kitchen like nothing had happened. But being the drama queen that she is, she quickly turns to look back at you with a sharp gasp. “But you aren’t!”

You roll your eyes at her dramatics. “What do you mean? Why would I not be safe?” You disregard her sceptics as you pass by her and into the kitchen, opening the fridge to look for something to eat.

“He said that he wouldn’t do anything to me, but he didn’t say anything about you.” For someone whos nursing a hangover, it’s alarming to see her raise her voice and move as swiftly as she does around you, trying to get you as panicked as she is about her made-up scenario. “He can glitter bomb your bag, or hack your laptop so that whenever you have an assignment it doesn’t go through until a few seconds after it's due, or—” You cut your friend off by stuffing cereal in her mouth, stopping her mid-rant.

“Why would he do that to me? You have to know he only did those to relevant or well-known people, like Somi or Sunghoon. He wouldn’t do some grand prank on someone like me.” You turn to pour your chosen cereal into a bowl. “And if you say anything else, just know I’m ignoring you.”

“But—”

“I’m ignoring you,”

“You can’t do this to m—”

“Ignoring youuuu,”

You don’t hear of or see Haechan until Wednesday, when you’re walking to your second class of the day from the library.

Adjusting your items in your bag, you wouldn’t have noticed his presence at all until he had cleared his throat and brushed his shoulder lightly against yours.

“Oh,” Your eyes widen by reflex, taken aback by his sudden approach before they soften again at the smile adorning his face. “Hi,”

“Hey, you heading to class?” He small talks, and maybe you should spend less time with your roommate, because what should be a simple interaction between you and one of your peers is putting you on edge. Even when you had ignored Naeun’s dramatics about you being dunked on by the boy before you, you can’t deny the jittery feeling coursing through your body, as if your body is gearing in to go into fight-or-flight mode.

Not wanting to come off rude, you hum an agreement and attempt to cast a friendly glance at him, which doesn’t last long as you see him looking back at you.

“Did you, uh, have fun?” You attempt at making small talk, but Haechan looks at you quizically at your lack of context. “At the club, that night. Sorry for interrupting your night and ruining your shirt.” You can’t help but circle back, feeling apologetic when you recall the massive blue stain you had left him in.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. I hated that shirt anyway,” You gape at him as he says this, but quickly close your mouth shut and roll your eyes when you see the teasing glint flashing in his eyes. “And don’t worry about the prank thing too, I wouldn’t think about pranking a pretty girl like you,” You flush momentarily, but remember that you’re talking to ‘the biggest flirt on campus’. Haenul’s words, not yours.

“Good to know,” You egg him on, feeling your shoulders slump down as you grow more relaxed in his company. His jovial manner eases your thoughts of him coming after you, as his presence in front of you proves that he’s merely another student on your campus, trying to have fun and get by with crippling student debt.

Small talking a bit more as you head towards your tutorial, you revel in the drama he tells you that has occurred after you had left the club, remembering to list down the details to recall back to Naeun when you see her later. It’s when you’re at the door of your classroom when Haechan’s phone buzzes in his pocket.

“I have a call to take, but I’ll see you around?” He looks at you with a friendly smile, and it takes everything in you not to melt right there. You can see why some of the girls in your year are fond of him.

Waving him goodbye, you wait until he turns a corner before you go towards your class. You’re just a few minutes late, which explains why you’re met with the nearly closed door of the classroom. Readily, you grip the handle and creak open the door, eyes ready to scan around the room for a vacant spot for you to sit at. But before you could comprehend much, you’re suddenly soaked cold.

Turns out, there was a bucket of water placed on the top of the door, which explains why there was a slight gap instead of the door being closed like it usually is when your tutorial begins. No one in the class had a clue of why the bucket was there or thought to dismantle the bucket, not wanting to mess with the inevitable of something occurring. The door you had entered from wasn’t a main door to the room either, but instead, a back door that barely anyone used, so they were all equally shocked when you had chosen to walk through the obscure entry. Oblivious to the minute signs, you walked right into the classroom and were immediately met with water and a few cubes of ice.

You convey all of this to Naeun when she sees you damper than normal at the campus cafe, where you two usually meet during your free periods; you’re usually dryer than this, so it wasn’t hard for her to realise. She laughs, because is she truly Naeun if she doesn’t laugh at your demise, but then she falls silent, brows now furrowed.

You look at her in question. “Why do you look like you’re a shiver away? I’m the one who’s soaked.”

“Oh my god, Haechan did this to you,” She completely ignores your words, making her point with theatre-level dramatics.

You wave your hand at her, disregarding her theory. “He couldn’t have. He was walking with me when I was headed to class.”

“Exactly!” She exclaims, the hot coffee sloshing around in her cup as she almost jumps out of her seat. You flinch at the handling of the hot drink. “He walked with you to distract you from the fact that he’s gonna pull something. He must’ve set it up before and came around to slow you down. I mean come on,” She slams her cup down on the saucer. “A phone call right when you reach your class? Isn’t that too obvious?” And you hate to admit it, but Naeun does have a point. The main topic of your conversation was about him not pulling anything on you, only for you to walk into his trap just a few minutes later.

“Oh my god,” You slouch against the booth seat of the cafe, the information slowly settling in. “But—”

“Why you?”

“Why that prank?”

Now it’s Naeun’s turn to look at you quizically. “What?”

You feel incredulous now, heat building up inside you. “A fucking bucket of water? That’s it? Is that all he could think of; he’s the same person who filled a whole lecture room with ping-pong balls and tied his roommate's bed to the door with rope. Why was my prank so low-effort?” Naeun now realises the anger budding within you, as she looks around the cafe when your voice raises slightly. She splays her hands out in front of you in a lieu to calm you down, but you’re too warped in your fury to acknowledge her attempts.

“Water? Water? With like, four cubes of ice, and that’s it. Is that all I’m worth? He couldn’t put a glitter bomb in every second purse of mine, or change my ex’s contact name to yours, or anything.” You down your drink quickly, feeling too worked up to be cooped in the booth of the cafe. Naeun follows after, quickly gathering her things and putting her laptop and pens in her bag. You would feel bad for cutting your study session short, but she was barely studying, so the guilt dwindles just a bit. The anger overpowers it by a margin.

“Hey, what are you— don’t go and do something stupid.” Naeun tries as she loops her arm with yours.

You sigh when she squeezes your bicep, feeling the heat inside you cool down just a bit. “I’m not gonna do anything. If anything, if I act like it affected me and lash out at him, it would be exactly what he wants.”

“So you’re gonna act like nothing happened?” You nod your head with hesitation.

“Well, something along the lines,”

It is no surprise that Haechan thrives on attention. That’s the sole reason why he continues with these pranks, and it doesn’t take a psychology major to figure this one out. You did think about pulling something back on him, maybe like pantsing him in the middle of campus or putting some hair removal cream in his shampoo so he thinks he’s slowly balding, but even with how embarrassing and risky they are —you don’t want to leave a huge impact on him, just ruffling his feathers a bit, you know he’ll revel in the attention regardless. So you go for the next best thing.

Ignoring him.

It was a good idea when you and Naeun were walking and passed by his group of friends, who exchanged some pleasantries with you, your friend barely holding it together at Jeno’s eye smile. You held eye contact and waved at Renjun and Jeno, but barely spared a glance towards Haechan’s direction, and when you finally did, you just gave him a blank stare.

You think it worked when you saw the corner of his lip slip down from the smile he was sporting, and you almost felt bad for acting so cold to someone who didn’t do anything. Then you remind yourself that he did, in fact, do something. You thought it would be enough to do this just a few more times when you see him in the next few months of the semester, and you barely see him so it shouldn’t be too hard. But it’s like fate has a personal vendetta against you, because ever since that fateful night, you see him everywhere.

You barely remember him coming into the campus library, let alone the quiet corner that you huddle yourself in to get your grind on. So it’s safe to say that you were shocked when you feel a tap on your shoulder only to look up and see Haechan looming over you, a shy smile sporting his face at the prospect of reaching out to you.

“Hey,” He greets, his hand tugging at his earlobe as if shy. He looks at the seat opposite yours, as if wanting to sit there. You feel shame burn inside you when you don’t go to offer the seat, but you attempt to dwindle it when you remind yourself that you had to sit soaked throughout the entire class because participation is mandatory for your grades.

“How was your class the other day,” Your grip on your pen tightens as he says this, and you’re sure that the tilt in the corner of his mouth is to keep himself from laughing at you straight to your face. But you don’t give in, and instead nod your head with your eyebrows slightly raised, as if exasperated.

“It was okay,” You can only keep your replies short instead of ignoring him by keeping silent. His lingering form by your table and your avoidant gaze is already fueling the awkward air surrounding you, but you’re not giving in until he does.

And it seems like he’s not backing out anytime soon. “ Oh, I heard from Haneul that you’re planning on picking up cross-cultural management next session? I took that course last year so if you wanted some notes I can send them to you,” Fuck. How is he so good at this? His words make you think about your initial assumptions, and looking at his face, he does seem genuine about his offer, the tips of his ears now growing pink.

You soften a bit, ready to apologise to him for being overstrung, but then his gaze goes to something behind you, and now he covers his mouth with his palm as if stopping himself from bursting with laughter.

Confused, you turn around to see what was so hilarious for him to shift his demeanour so suddenly, only to be met with his friends, Jeno and Renjun, who go cartoonishly still at your attention. Of course, all of this is a running joke for him; sweetening up to you after the incident just so he can prove that no one can resist him.

Scoffing, you shut your laptop and gather your things, ignoring Haechan’s noise of surprise with your sudden movement, shoving everything in your bag and shouldering it. “I have to head out now, forgot that Naeun wanted to meet me before her class.” You make up an excuse as you look at your phone for the time. Naeun is taking a diligent afternoon nap at this very moment back in your dorm, completely oblivious to the trials you’re facing; but he doesn’t need to know your every move.

You almost slip out a ‘sorry’ as a reflex, but one glance back at the shocked faces of both Haechan and his subordinates brings you back, as you merely give him a tight smile before brushing past him.

“Oka— I’ll see you around!” Your shoulder bunches up at his volume as you hastily make your way out of his presence and the building.

Stepping into the radio broadcasting club room, you greet everyone present, apologising for being late.

“I got caught up on the way,” You take a seat at the table, putting your bag on the ground. Naeun, whos seated next to you, taps repeatedly at your bicep as a greeting, squealing away from you when you attempt to deliver a pinch to her skin.

“Did you get another bucket of water dunked on you?” Your senior Yubin comments, making everyone in the room laugh. You deliver a strained chuckle as Naeun casts a worried glance at you, but you wave her concern away

“Yubin’s just kidding, you’re not late either, we just sent Minseok to pick up the pizza boxes. Then after we’re done eating we can start brainstorming for the university mini carnival event.” Sohee softly informs, looking up from her clipboard to give you a kind smile.

“If anything, Jihoon’s the person we have to chastise. He texted saying he’ll be here in five minutes fifteen minutes ago.” Juyeon huffs at his phone screen.

As if on cue, the door opens and in comes Jihoon, but he isn’t alone.

“Sorry for coming in late, but look what I found along the way. Isn’t he so cute?” He coos at Haechan who stands beside him, looking at his friend incredulously, mockingly raising his hand. Ignoring Haechan’s disdain for his words, he pinches at his cheeks as he looks towards Yubin and Sohee. “Can we keep him? I always wanted a pet bear,”  

Naeun leans in towards you. “He’s more of a cocaine bear than a pet.” You smack at her as she whispers this to you, reminding her of restraint. “You’re not the best at whispering, babe” You tease. “Keep your tone down if you also don’t wanna get dunked on.”

You feel your heart melt when you see look towards Haechan’s direction and see his cheeks turning pink. It seems like you’re not the only one when you hear a chorus of dreamy mutterings echo throughout the room. He swats at Jihoon’s hand before tilting his head lightly at the two leaders of the club. “I wanted to make sure this devil spawn doesn’t make a mess every step he takes. I’ll head out now,” He starts to wave at everyone in the room but sounds of disapproval travel around, and before he knows it Haechan is being dragged by Jihoon and Juyeon to take a seat at the table. In the midst of all the commotion, he looks up and catches your gaze, making you still in your seat, before he’s handled once more to sit down.

“You’re more than welcome to join us,” Yubin beams, and not for long Minseok comes in with a mountain of pizza boxes in his grip.

You see the tip of his ears turn red (something you now notice that you see a lot) as he thanks your seniors. “I’ll be out after I steal your food,” He grins, and it takes much more than your initial willpower to look away.

So far, you were willing to categorise seeing Haechan manifesting everywhere as chance; maybe some sick and twisted form of coincidence. Because before all of this, if you were to get a dollar for every time you had encountered him throughout your whole degree, you would have six, maybe seven dollars if you count that one Zoom call. You had your doubts in the beginning when you saw him at the library and then at your club meeting, that he was doing all of this on purpose; but every other time you would see him in the hallways and lecture halls, you can’t chalk it up to anything but pure coincidence. Haechan is a uni student doing uni-student activities.

It takes you some time to get that idea jammed into your head, and you’ve nearly convinced yourself until today. A relaxing wind-down with one glass of wine turned into you finishing a whole bottle, which amplified your cravings for something sweet. Meeting in the breakfast aisle in your local grocer shouldn’t be something shocking, but you can’t wrap your head around the fact that he, too, decided to purchase cereal at 4 a.m. on a Tuesday.

“Nope,” You immediately put the two boxes of cereal you were choosing back on the shelf clumsily, looking around for the nearest exit in the opposite direction.

“Hey, wait—”

“No, nope. Not at all,” You’re now putting back all the drunk midnight cravings you’ve picked up, shoving them back in their designated areas on the shelf haphazardly as you make your way back out of the place. Your drunk and sleep-deprived brain can’t handle the fact that you’re supposed to interact with Haechan here, out of all the socially acceptable exchanges. You hear a shuffle behind you, but you can’t bring yourself to look back around, focusing entirely on exiting the store without tripping over anything.

Outside, the cold of the night engulfs you as you try to find your bearings, but you’re stopped from lumbering your way back to your dorm by a hand grabbing your arm.

“Y/n, slow down—”

“Stop manifesting yourself into my life,” You groan as you weakly prod away his hand, but his soberness gives him an upper hand, as he merely grabs your hand and holds you by your wrists instead.

“Manifesting? I’m not— actually, that’s not even important. Is there anyone with you tonight?” You groan lightly, still trying to free yourself from his grip. “Naeun?” He prods.

You sigh when you realise he’s not giving up anytime soon. “Naeun is at home, waiting for the Oreo cereals I was gonna impulse buy. Or maybe she’s dreaming about them? I don’t know,” You mumble, hands now lax in his grip, head tilted down. When you don’t hear a reply, you look up and are met with Haechan fishing his phone out of his pocket before pressing the dial button.

“Hi Jen, I’ll meet you at the dorms, it’s…” He glances at your slumped figure, and you’re not sure if the heat in your cheeks is due to the drinks or his attention on you. “A long story. I won’t be long.” Pocketing his phone after ending the call, he lets go of your wrists in favour of clasping his hand into yours, fingers interlocking as he starts heading in the direction of your dorms.

“What are you…” The dark of the night doesn’t help you navigate your way back, so you’re slightly grateful that Haechan is guiding you the way he is.

“Our dorm buildings aren’t far from one another. I can’t let you go home alone in this state,” He answers your question before you could even voice it, looking at you with a soft gaze. He chuckles when you go to look away from him every time he looks at you, squeezing the grip he has on your hand.

The walk is silent for the most part, but Haechan’s brows are furrowed as he thinks about something. Just as you start seeing the entrance of your dorm building, Haechan starts. “Why are you ignoring me?”

The heat in your cheeks disperses momentarily as a cold wave washes over you. The heat comes back when your wide eyes meet his questioning gaze, and you can’t help but squirm in place from being put on the spot.

“That’s cheating,” You slur with a frown. “Ask me when I’m sober. Or when you’re also a bottle of wine in.”

“A whole bottle? Jesus,” He laughs lightly as you groan, tightening his hold on your hand when you try to run away. The pull of his grip catches you off guard, as you stumble forward and closer to his figure. “I hope you can keep a promise, pretty girl.” He teases. Before you can retaliate, he plops you at the entry of your dorm building, swiping the access card to the building poking out of your front pocket and on the reader, before removing his hand from yours and dropping the card back in your possession. You already miss the warmth of his touch, but by the time you look back up, you’re only met with his retreating back.

“Hey, you’re just in time. Did you know that if I did a handstand for almost two minutes straight I can get myself to feel— Why are you empty-handed?” Naeun’s slurs have toned down since you last saw her, but it’s still there. You sigh as you plop yourself face down onto the couch.

“Naeun?” Your voice comes out muffled from the couch cushions, but Naeun hears you regardless, grunting a reply as she shuffles from her position on the floor, probably to find a not-empty bottle of alcohol.

“You know that saying about seducing the things that scare you?” You move your head out from the cushion halfway through your question, wanting to breathe more than to wallow for once.

“Ohhh, I know what you’re talking about,” She hiccups only once. “The fearing what you attract.”

“Attracting your fears.”

“Tomato-tomato. What are you trying to say?”

“I don’t think they were lying about it,” You had only possessed the fear of saying Haechan in the past few weeks, and now you only see him. If only you were that much fearful of money.

“Are you serious?” Naeun straightens her posture quickly. “I’m so scared of puppy play. Like, truly terrified. If someone handsome were to come up to me with a collar around their neck and a leash in their hand I would scream in fear,”

“Okay, I got it the first time.”

“I don’t think you understand, if they were all whiny about how they wanna be my pet and have me stroke the—”

“I get it!”

Although you had came to the epiphany that you’re attracting what you fear (you don’t know if the exaggerated gasp you let out when you walk by a bank or ATM helps, but it’s worth a try) you still can’t get yourself to not think of Haechan when you walk around campus.

But you don’t see him for the entire week after your last drunk interaction with him, and you’re not sure if you should be relieved or scared. So you choose to be both simultaneously, When you step into your corner of the library, your heart beats like you’ve run a marathon, only to be met with the usual vacantness it always was. You then go through your usual tasks until you have to a secondary location, and before you know it you’re nervous for simply wanting to walk to the bathroom.

“Am I going to constantly piss my pants every step I take on campus?” You complained over dinner with Naeun, as she constantly flips the meat on the grill to avoid burning it.

“If you keep thinking about him, then I think the answer is obvious.” She puts one slice on your plate before continuing. “But also maybe take this as a sign? He’s not popping up randomly anymore, which means that your life is like it was before.” Your reflex is to fight back for no other reason than to counteract your friend, but you cut yourself short when you realise she has a point. Ever since that fateful night, your life is now like it was before you had briefly acquainted with the man.

And so you’re not scared anymore. You even forget to double-check your surroundings to see if he’s anywhere in sight. Your life is as peaceful as a student's life can be. Of course, until it isn’t.

The university’s yearly fundraising festival had come around again, and the broadcasting club had decided to run a barbeque booth to raise their supply funds. You were assigned to take orders, while Juyeon and Yubin tended to the skewers. The heat of the booth mingles with the cool wind of the summer night, as you fan yourself with your hand, handling the money given to you as someone makes a new order.

“One order of chicken skewer please,” You raise your voice enough for Juyeon and Yubin to hear over the sizzling noise of the grill, as you find the exact change to give back to the girl ordering. As the next customer shuffles up, you’re too busy writing down the order on a slip of paper to spare them a glance (which, if this was a running business, would not be counted as good customer service).

“Welcome! Would you like to order our rice cake skewer? We have a special combo of two for the price of one,”

“How much is it for a few minutes of your company?” You feel your blood run cold upon hearing his voice. Looking up, you’re met with Haechan’s gaze your eyes locking in an unexpected encounter. Adorning a smile on his face, he looks past you and greets your club members before you can think of what to say.

“Hi Channie, how are you?” Yubin asks as she put a chicken skewer in a cup. Juyeon comes up next to you as he reaches out to pinch Haechan’s cheeks. “Hey there cutie, do you wanna do us a favour and buy everything from our booth?” He flutters his eyelashes just for good measure.

Haechan chuckles as he smacks his friend's hand away. “I’m the wrong person, only Chenle has enough money to do that. But can you do me a favour and let me steal your beloved club member?” You don’t realise that he’s talking about you, until you see his hand gesturing towards your figure as he looks at you. You’re about to protest, your brain already conjuring something up about how you have the heavy duty of being the booth’s designated accountant for the night, but Yubin is always a step ahead.

“Go ahead! Her turn was gonna end soon anyway, Sohee is gonna arrive in a few minutes with more of our supply,” She beams at you as she waves you two off. Before you can say anymore, Juyeon is shoving you out of the way, and you have no other choice but to trudge after him.

You walk side by side in silence, as the noise of the multiple booths being run by different clubs and societies encapsulate you two. You try your best to look at everything but him, even when you feel him stealing glances at your figure.

The silence doesn’t last long, though, as Haechan speaks up after looking around at the booths set up. “It’s quite stuffy with all these booths and people,” Not knowing what to say, you merely glance at him as you nod along. He purses his lips, before trying again.

“You must be feeling pretty warm, running the grill and managing everything at the booth. Jihoon used to complain all the time about how hot it got when he was in charge of these things." It's true you've been avoiding the grill area, so you’re not necessarily overheating, but does he deserve to know?

You hear him lightly huff when you just give a shrug and an ambiguous sound, but he doesn’t back down. “Do you want me to get you something to help you cool? Maybe ice cream or a can of coke.”  You're on the verge of giving your umpteenth non-verbal response of the evening, but when you look at the boy walking next to you, you’re met with a glare and a quick snarl of his lips. Faced with his insistence, you decide to speak up.

“I’m okay,” You thought this would appease him, but it seems like anything you could’ve done would eventually send him over the edge.  You feel his hand clasp onto your wrist before you’re being dragged away from the congested corridor of booths and into a secluded corner of the campus grounds. Even in the shade of the tree, the little light that slips through the lampost nearby highlights the frustration on Haechan’s face, both arrogance and apprehension flood your senses as you realize that his frustration might be a result of something you've done.

His voice is calm when he speaks, “Okay, did I do something to offend you?” He briefly closes his eyes and mentally counts a few numbers before opening them and looking back at you again, this time with a calmer yet stern expression. But rather than soothing your irritation, this seems to send you over the edge.

“I don’t know, did you?” You know you’re being childish, but that’s the point. You’re not planning on giving in until he apologises. By the look of confusion he’s sporting on his face, it doesn’t seem like it's gonna happen anytime soon.

Admittedly, he does look cute when confused, as his front teeth poke ever so slightly from his slightly gaped mouth, as if he’s about to say something but blanked at the last second. “I did do something?” At your scoff, he gathers himself. “Look, if I did do anything, I didn’t have any bad intentions. I wasn’t trying to hurt you or anything.” But this explanation only sends you over the edge.

Your hands drop from where you had crossed them in front of your chest, as you give Haechan an incredulous look. “No bad intentions? You didn’t want to hurt me? Are you serious? The fact that you even did it is terrible, but such a useless, no-brainer prank?” You’re too angry to notice Haechan’s shift of expression, as his scared grimace falls into another confused furrow of his brows.

“Like, a fucking bucket of water? Even a toddler can pull that. Couldn’t you have done something harder, more creative? Something with more effort, like, I don’t know, expired slime or a skateboard at the door. And I feel even more stupid because I believed you when you said you wouldn’t prank me, I even defended you when Naeun was going off about how I’d be your next target, and I turned out to be a fool, fuck. And for what? A lame bucket of water? Am I only worth that much?” You pause to catch a breather, hand splayed at your waist as you point the other accusingly at Haechan. He widens his eyes slightly, but then a smile falls on his face, and you’re sent spiralling.

“Are you smiling right now?” And at that, he starts laughing. Oh my god, you think, he’s a sociopath.

But Haechan starts laughing even harder, his body falling forward as he leans towards you, clutching your extended finger with his thumb and forefinger, shaking it around before folding over with laughter once more. You’re so, so confused, and now a bit scared that Haechan’s gonna keel over and fall from how hard he’s laughing.

But you don’t need to do such a thing, as he sobers up pretty quickly, straightening himself up and walking closer to you, while his hand now lightly holds your palm in his. You feel heat course through you, from the comfort of his hands holding yours and the sweet laughter that now rings in your head. You feel embarrassed that you bursted like that when you were so determined to make him fall to his knees and ask for your forgiveness. Instead, you’re left blushing like a schoolgirl who confessed with a heartfelt letter.

“Okay, okay. Wait, don’t go sullen now.” You look away, your cheeks growing hotter at being so easily read. Haechan grips onto your hand that was lightly resting on his palm, grabbing your attention.

“I swear on Renjun that I didn’t pull that prank on you. I didn’t even know that happened to you.” Your first instinct is to not believe him, but he’s looking earnestly into your eyes, and the gentle squeeze of his hand in yours makes you melt.

“I don’t know how I can prove it you that it wasn’t me, But I told you I wouldn’t do it and I always stick by my promises. I can maybe help you find who did it?” He offers this while smoothly clasping your hands together, fingers now lacing in yours. The intimate gesture sends a wave of flustered warmth through you, and his chuckle in response only confirms that your emotions are evident.

“Wah,” He sighs bumping his shoulder into yours, “What a relief, I thought you were rejecting me before I could even muster the courage to ask you out.”

“Wait, you—” You’re interrupted as Haechan starts striding forward and back into the busy atmosphere of the campus. “Haechan, slow down.” Your voice gets lost in the throng of the crowd, the bustle of people and echoes of activities happening making it hard for your plea to reach his ears. That, or he's simply ignoring you.

In a blink, you're situated back at your booth, the savoury scent of skewed chicken and rice cake wafting through your nose. Haechan releases your hand, and you both face Sohee, who's manning the cashier with a somewhat indifferent expression. “Hi, I just wanna return her,” Haechan says casually, his gaze shifting between you and Sohee.

Sohee regards the two of you with a blank stare, her expression unreadable. Haechan pats your shoulders twice before he waves the two of you goodbye. Sohee goes back to organising the money gained from tonight’s business, not sparing you another glance. “We have a no return and refund policy, especially with damaged goods.”

“Hey!”

You’re not surprised when you see Naeun in the lecture hall, but you are slightly taken aback when you see her situated just a few seats behind Renjun and Jeno. When you rock up next to her, you let your eyes do the talking as you glance back and forth between her and Jeno’s back, with the latter all the more oblivious to what’s happening.

She smacks at your leg before grabbing you and pulling to sit you down. “Shut up,”

“I didn’t even say anything?”

“Your empty brain echoes really badly when you conjure even a single thought,” You’re too shocked to retort back (how did she think of that so quickly?), so you simply go to unpack your bag. When you sit back from organising your items, your eyes fall on the door of the lecture room, and you’re surprised to see Haechan stride in. Even in the middle of summer, he has a leather jacket swinging from his fingers at his shoulder, sporting a white graphic t-shirt tucked into his black jeans. You’re about to say something to Naeun, maybe have her indulge in your admiration for a bit, only to be met with the same look you’re sporting but just aimed at the back of Jeno’s head.

When Jeno turns his head to greet his friend, Naeun quickly whips her head away, clearing her throat. You poked at her sides teasingly, as she squirms and smacks your hand away.

“I thought you were gonna ‘act chill’ around him?” Naeun huffs at your words.

“I am acting chill, I’m basically freezing.” You raise your brows at her. “There’s nothing chill about staring at the back of hi—”

Naeun smacks at your mouth when Renjun turns his face sideways, but the loud smack of skin garners more attention, as all three of them look back at you. As the other two merely glance briefly before going back, Haechan’s eyes stray longer while the corner of his mouth quirks up. You offer a simple wave and he flashes a smile before turning back around.

Naeun sighs as she releases her hand from your face, but quickly corners you with a glare. “What was that? Why was he smiling at you like that?” You’re grateful that she’s been practising her inner voice, as you know that Naeun from two weeks ago would have had the whole lecture hall aware of her words with how loud she whispers.

“Long story short, he didn’t do it, and I think …” You’re not sure if you should tell Naeun about the possible confession that occurred. Not because you don’t trust your friend but because you’re not even sure if that could be counted as a confession.

“How are you so sure? Maybe he said it to get on your good side,” Naeun stares daggers at the back of Haechan’s head, but her gaze quickly softens when Jeno plays with his hair.

“I don’t know,” You confess, “He said he didn’t do it, and I trust him.” Naeun surveys your expression for a bit with a glare, before nodding her head in acceptance.

“Alright, I trust your trust in him. But if he ever pulls anything…” You pinch your friend's cheek in gratitude. “I know, you’ll have my back.”

“Speaking of back, did you see Jeno’s when he stretched? It’s okay if you haven’t he’ll do it again when we're a third through the lecture.” You slowly pat her shoulders, speechless once more as you sigh and try to tune her out for the rest of the lecture.

read part two here !!

[two-white-butterflies]

mastermind | d3

Description: Ms. L/N turns to Mrs. L/N. In which, you ponder where you've been - and where you are now.

Pairing: daniel ricciardo/singer!reader

yournameupdates: There's a lot to unpack with Y/N's new album. The consensus is 7 of the songs written are about her ex-boyfriend: Tom Hiddleston, while Style (ft. Taylor Swift) is about Harry Styles? What could be the reason for the L/N-Hiddleston breakup?

likes by danielricciardo, balana291, and 92,129 others

comments

danielricciardo: More interested to hear about the record-breaking awards she's going to earn after this. - yournameupdates: She's definitely in for the records.

archianana29: I think it's because Hiddleston wants to seem like a bachelor?? Because of his new marvel film. - wannna82: she's not any better, she's profiting off his success. - - oceansdeap0: @wanna82 mind you, she came out of nowhere. - - - wannna82: @oceansdeap0 exacto! publicity stunt?

yournamehiddleston: According to Y/N's newest single: All You Had To Do Was Stay. Tom Hiddleston was the first one who called things off - but after a few months of being alone, he wanted to get back with her. Hence her explaination. All he had to do was stay :(

liked by danielricciardo and 109,219 others

comments

f1multistan: Daniel is everywhere these days - watchasay8: Who? - - f1multistan: the f1 racer

hesaysme129: 'YOU WERE ALL I WANTED' it's over I think.

yn1989era: I love how it's her first album and she already has 1000m fans 😭 - katyandyn: Teenage Dream and 1989 are no skip albums

Daniel Ricciardo couldn't believe that he was invited to attend the Grammys. It wasn't like he did anything groundbreaking in the realm of the music industry - but thanks to his amazing management - he was finally there. Normally, he hated award shows because of the cameras that were shoved in his face.

But he couldn't find himself hating this award show.

His favorite singer, Y/N L/N, was going to be in the same table as him. He crossed his fingers - maybe even beside him?

"God, I'm so sorry for being late. There was a mile long traffic back there," you ran to embrace Beyonce, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek as you settled in your seat. Daniel began to realize that he was extremely lucky to be seating where he was.

"Daniel Ricciardo, right?" you smiled at him with those pensive E/C eyes - pulling him back into reality. "Yes, I'm a big fan." he shook your hand, feeling those soft palms press against his.

If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up.

"Is it your first time in the Grammys?" you inquired, gently fiddling with the hems of your dress. "Yeah," he scratched the back of his head - oblivious to the cameras that were planted on the both of you. "It's nice to have someone to relate to," you chuckled as it was also your first time. "I heard that award shows could get pretty boring," you consulted in him.

Daniel felt so fucking special in that moment.

You were sitting beside Beyonce, but chose to speak to him. Fuck, does that mean that he was better than Beyonce? Nope, that's blasphemy - but still, it was flattering to think that you'd choose him.

"Tell me when you get bored, there's an ice-cream place just around the corner. We could grab a few bites." he offered - taking a leap of fate. "Sounds like a plan," you smiled and he could feel the crimson blush creep up his cheeks.

✧✧✧

This was something that he'd never forget. He couldn't wait to return to the paddocks and tell Sebastian that he had ice cream with THE Y/N L/N. "Is strawberry your favorite?" he asked, seeing you gobble down the large sized roll. "Yep, I put it in everything." you smiled.

It's been a month since you last tasted strawberry ice cream - you almost forgot how good it tasted. "I'm having a lot of fun, Dan." you complimented - seeing that the tip of his nose was coated with a chocolate syrup. "Darling, there's a little something -" you motioned.

He almost forgot how to move after hearing you call him that.

He flashed you his toothy grinned smile, before wiping the syrup off his nose. "So uhh, I'd like to get your number - so we can hang out another time." you asked, staring deep into his eyes.

Daniel realized that this was the chance of a lifetime. He almost reached for his phone to give you his number - but then he realized. He left his phone at home and he didn't memorize his number.

So instead of giving you his number - he came up with something that he'd regret until the day he died - or until the day he met you again. "No." he answered with confidence. "What?" your eyes narrowed, and he smiled again.

"I'll ask for your number the next time that I see you. To check if fate is really on our side." he explained and you could only smile back.

yournameupdates: Y/N L/N and Richard Madden are confirmed to be dating! Congratulations, she's finally found her Prince Charming.

liked danielricciardo and 102,192 others

comments

theyn_ln: He's certainly a Prince Charming! LOL - yournameupdates: 🥺

hennalova9: THEY LOOK SO PERFECT TOGETHER I'M SO HAPPY THAT SHE MOVED ON 😭

heysistersoul23: THIS IS ENDGAME

danielricciardo: You didn't hear it from me folks, but @theyn_ln is releasing a song tonight. 😉

liked by theyn_ln, maddenrichard and 1,291,192 others

comments

theyn_ln: Well, I rarely break promises.

maddenrichard: 🔥

formulalover91: DANIEL AND Y/N? THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

theyn_ln: Message in a Bottle MV will be released MIDNIGHT EST. @danielricciardo I always believed in you.

liked by danielricciardo and 1,290,120 likes

comments

danielricciardo: meetup when?

maddenrichard: I'm very proud of you - theyn_ln: thank you mi amor ❤️

yournameupdates: According to some insiders, Richard Madden proposed to Lilly James this March 4, 2017. But where does that leave Y/N? We demand an explaination. @maddenrichard

liked by 429,390

comments

theyn_ln: I honestly don't know what's happening right now. Please give me space luv ❤️ - yournameupdates: Yes ma'am

thisloveis1989: The way that she saw a future with him and he threw it away. 1 YEAR TOGETHER AND HE THREW IT AWAY?

thismyrealspace9: the album finna hit

theyn_ln: You are not the exception. You will never learn your lesson.

💜 Foolish One and Better Man out MIDNIGHT EST.

liked by danielricciardo and 1,291,002 others

comments

danielricciardo: The songs will be beautiful, but I hope that you're OK. - theyn_ln: Getting there!

taylorynkatyuniverse: FOOLISH ONE HURTS! BETTER MAN HURTS EVEN MORE 😭

icedamericano4: I see the permanent damage you did to me. RICHARD MADDEN YOU ARE PUBLIC ENEMY #1.

Daniel couldn't believe his fucking eyes. It was you.

"Y/N." his eyebrows softened, seeing the familiar posture. "Dan," you turned to look at him - inviting him with a warm embrace. "It's been 5 years since we've last seen each other," you buried your face in his shoulders, inhaling his scent of vanilla and chocolate.

"I thought I lost you for a second," he chuckled, completely forgetting about the drivers that were waiting for him back in the yacht. "Maybe this time you'll finally give me your number," you suggested and a nervous chuckle left his lips. "I'll be honest with you," he began.

"- I totally forgot my phone back at home the first time you asked me." he confessed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and offering it to you. "But I'm not letting you go this time." he smiled.

(2021)

theyn_ln: 7 years overdue, but here she is. My 2nd studio album 'folklore' will be out on September 23. Pre-order is available. You can also order @danielricciardo 's merch while you're at it hehe.

liked by carlossainz55, danielricciardo and 2,192,190 others

comments

danielricciardo: The album is 10000/10 - theyn_ln: glad to have ur opinion

carlossainz55: Are we invited to the listening party? - danielricciardo: Already happened buddy, the invitation must've gotten lost in the mail. 😭

maxverstappen1: 💜

theyn_ln: Officially Mrs. L/N-Ricciardo. 💍

liked by danielricciardo and 3,129,102 likes

comments have been restricted.

danielricciardo: Mr. L/N-Ricciardo is officially my job title.

liked by maxverstappen1 and 1,291,092 others

comments have been restricted.

@lpab07 @ietss @shouq @fdl305 @iloveyou3000morgan

[ghostofskywalker]

Gorgeous

Loki Laufeyson/Fem!Reader

Fictober Day 31 of 31

Words: 1,220

Summary: Loki moved into the Avengers Compound, but the first time you saw him was at Tony's fancy Halloween party. Your brain stops working for a little bit because he's so pretty.

Note: today is the last day of fictober, happy halloween everyone! this was originally going to be based on the taylor swift song of the same name (one of my favorite songs from her!), but i think the story took control and we lost some of that along the way.

Loki Laufeyson Masterlist

It should be illegal for someone to look that good was the first thing that ran through your head the moment you laid eyes on him from your seat at the bar. You knew who he was, it was hard to ignore the fact that Avengers Compound was now home to not one but two Norse gods, and that one of them had tried to take over New York a few years ago. You hadn’t been part of the team at that point, but you certainly weren’t in the dark about what he had done. However, that apparently didn’t mean you couldn’t appreciate how good he looked in a suit, and a lot of embarrassing thoughts were suddenly flooding your brain.

It certainly didn’t help that this was the first time you’d seen him out of his room since he had arrived. He wasn’t bound to a single room (though you were pretty sure he wasn’t allowed to leave the grounds of the compound), but he simply chose to stay away from everyone else.

A voice interrupted your thoughts. “Staring at someone?”

You blinked, slightly embarrassed that Natasha had caught you, but you could tell from the tone of her voice that it was all playful. “Maybe,” you admitted softly. “But in my defense, it’s not like I’ve ever seen him around the compound.”

She laughed. “You do have a point there. I think the only reason he’s here tonight is because Thor is making him.”

You looked back over at the god, catching the expression on his face. “Oh definitely. He’s absolutely miserable right now.”

“He’s just lucky that it’s not a costume party,” Natasha said. “He’d be frowning even more.”

You laughed, an image flashing through your head of Loki wearing a gaudy-looking Halloween costume, with Thor and Sam laughing by his side. “That’s very true,” you said. Although Tony took any excuse he could to throw a party, he hadn’t imposed a costume rule on you all this time, and for that you were grateful, because at least you wouldn’t have to meet an extraordinarily attractive god while wearing a silly outfit.

“Why don’t we go over and say hello?” Natasha said, grabbing from drink from the bar and heading over to the direction where Loki was sulking in the corner. You followed her, the whole time incredibly aware of the fact that you needed to figure out something to say to him, and your brain had apparently taken a vacation.

“What do you want?” Despite Loki’s words being standoffish, his tone was more tired, as if he wished he was anywhere else but here at this point.

“I just wondered whether or not you had met Y/N yet,” Natasha said, gesturing in your direction.

“Hi,” you said, really not sure what else to say. It certainly didn’t help that your brain had apparently not returned from its impromptu trip away. “It’s nice to meet you.”

A normal person might have waited for a response, but your fight or flight response kicked in at this very moment, and it chose the latter of the two options. If you weren’t embarrassed already, you certainly were now, because you just walked away. You could hear yourself mutter something about getting a drink, but you weren’t sure if anyone else had even heard it. And besides, the clearly full glass in your hands gave your lie away completely.

After at least heading back to the bar and lingering there for a few moments, you started to walk back around the party, saying hello to those you recognized. You knew a lot of the guests, so it was easy to flit from conversation to conversation, all the while thinking about how ridiculous Loki must find you. Maybe if saw each other on another day in the compound you could apologize for running off like an idiot and try to explain that you thought he looked nice and for some reason decided to act like you’re twelve about it.

As the hours passed and the party’s energy remained loud and joyful, you found yourself settled on a balcony. The compound boasted a different view than the one you were used to in the tower, and you found yourself missing the lights and sounds of the city, especially because it was almost completely pitch black (other than the lights from around the building itself).

The sound of the door opening behind you caught your attention, and you watched as Loki took one step onto the balcony, stopping as he noticed you. “I apologize,” he said, starting to pull back into the crowded ballroom.

“Wait!” you said quickly, hoping that he would at least be willing to hear you out for a few moments. You never wanted him to feel unwelcome, you just had terrible conversation skills around people you think are attractive, and in that moment your brain had fully sabotaged you.

By some miracle he stayed, and the door closed behind him as he stepped fully outside with you. It had gotten to the point in the year that the night air was bitingly chilly, but you didn’t mind the way it nipped at your face if it meant getting away from the chaos of the party for a few moments.

“I want to apologize for my awkwardness earlier,” you said, before he could question why you had called him out here. “I don’t want you to think that I’m afraid of you.”

“Then may I ask why you ran away before I could even say hello?” His voice didn’t sound like it held any malice, but there was still an emotion in there you couldn’t quite read.

“Sometimes it’s hard for me to talk to new people,” you said softly. “Especially ones that are dressed as nicely as you.”

It wasn’t an all-out confession, but it still seemed that he understood what you were implying. “I understand,” he said. “I also get nervous in this realm now.”

“I can help you if you need any kind of Earth Guidance in the future,” you said, immediately worrying that you sounded eager or overly-annoying to him before tempering the statement with an “if you want.”

He smiled, and you couldn’t help the way your heart fluttered at the sight. “I will keep that in mind,” you said.

The sound of your phone’s ringtone going off popped the moment’s delicate bubble, and you looked down to see a text from Natasha asking for your help with something. Loki understood this time why you were leaving, and he said that you that he was going to stay on the balcony for a few more minutes.

As you took a step closer to the door, you heard him say your name. “I think you’re dressed nicely too,” he said before turning back to look out into the darkness outward, and two things happened the moment you stepped back into the party and closed the door to the balcony behind you.

One was that you had to physically push down a giant grin from spreading across your face.

And the other was that your brain took (yet another) impromptu vacation from its duties. If you were going to spend more time with him in the future, you would really have to get a handle on that. 

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

[keepingsecretstokeepyoutk]

This is going to be very long and sound a little crazy at first, and maybe a little mean but please hear me out…

I’m convinced that Taylor sometimes purposefully includes one line or multiple lines of poorly written or clunky lyrics in specific songs to make a point.

We all have seen some version of this with bearding songs like London Boy, a simple bop whose lyrics were immediately detected as sounding disingenuous, even with the general population (the locations she was signing about were the most touristy and too far away from each other to visit on the same day, etc, basically implying that she doesn’t actually have a long term local bf there that she spends a bunch of time with exploring the city with, etc).

But just like everything else on the album, I think she’s doing maybe a more in your face version of that. No holds barred.

So High School is an obvious example of this, with all of the early 2000’s hs imagery, she seems pretty blatantly to be mocking the idea the public has of her “living out every American girl’s high school fantasy” of dating the tall popular football player. With lyrics like “touch me while your friends play grand theft auto” (barf), etc, shes being clear enough that this is not a serious song.

This is the possibly controversial part, but I’m so curious to see what others think about this - I think another iteration of this on this album is the title track, The Tortured Poets Department. Hear me out.

(First, I want to reassure you that there are lines in this song that I really like and think are well written, like: “you’re in self-sabotage mode/throwing spikes down on the road” and “but you awaken with dread/pounding nails in your head/but I’ve read this one/where you come undone/I chose this cyclone with you”. And I fully agree with the idea that these sentiments are from Karlie’s perspective. Basically, when you take out the chunks I’m about to talk about this song makes way more sense and has a beautiful sentiment of undying love behind it - which makes the following parts stick out that much more!)

The first time I listened through the album, and this was the second song, I got terrified because I didn’t understand its place in the whole narrative and when I heard the first clunky line “scratch your head like a tattooed golden retriever” I got the ick. Then the bridge with no structure and no wit and no clever turns of phrase, no metaphor, just “you put my ring on the finger people put wedding rings on” and “that was the closest I’ve ever been to my heart exploding”. So over simplified and cheesy, and doesn’t sound anything like her writing, especially the caliber of her recent lyrics

I know art is largely subjective, but I insist there is no way that the same person who wrote Cowboy Like Me wrote these lines into her title track if she didn’t have a reason and a point to make. To make it clear that this isn’t a matter of genre personal taste, because I know CLM is a very specific sound and a style that music snobs often take more seriously - I love SO many of her candy pop bangers, they are infinitely more clever, articulate, and overall works of art by a true wordsmith than this. Karma, The Very First Night, etc are all a master classes in clever words and tight writing being tucked into an “unserious” pop song.

The lyrics I cited above to me sound like what haters believe her writing sounds like, even fans who make little jokey TikTok’s about her and make up a spoofy something to sing while in character - that’s what these lyrics sound like.

Im worried im being too harsh, but please stay with me because the more I think about the more genius I think it actually is.

In the context of the themes of rest of the album, (her being trapped, miserable, manipulated, ready to burn it all down, screaming to be seen) this theory became clear to me. I think she’s leaning into her public persona (in more ways than one, we’ve already seen it with the stunting), in a way setting a “trap” for her fans and the public, that will essentially call them all out on how they ignored the real her in favor of her pr narrative, making the album about paternity tests, etc, all of which I’m guessing will become very clear in retrospect, possibly after she comes out? (Of course it’s already clear to us now, which is another purpose of the beard songs including clunky writing - to signal to us that these are not serious and that she knows that we know that she knows (like Phoebe on friends lol))

Ultimately, this is (along with So Highschool) a classic beard song. When she writes in this voice, she embodies the most extreme versions of her public persona, not just the one she has cultivated on purpose, but also the one that people have of her that don’t know her (as she did in Blank Space), including those that don’t take her seriously - because her identity as a boy crazy psycho ex girlfriend is directly tied to people dismissing her art as vapid because, they’ve only ever heard her singles, they don’t know the full her.

That voice is the straightest, the most boy crazy, the most one note, and sometimes the most unsophisticated writer version of her that people have in their minds, including her fans - the fans that refuse to see her as a whole person, the real, that believe she is head over heals for big football boy, that believe “he knows how to ball, I know Aristotle” is a romantic line about how opposites attract, the fans that say they don’t “get” some of her most beautiful and well-written songs, the fans that don’t see her and haven’t been seeing her.

They didn’t see giant Taylor on the eras tour, they refuse to see all of her queer signaling, etc, and I think she’s making the bearding songs obvious to underscore the difference between her Taylor(TM) and Taylor(person) personas.

She knows that despite the fact that the lyrics don’t even come close to measuring up to the rest of the album, the public, and many of her fans, will make this song one of the most listened to simply because they are looking for evidence of her relationships from the past year. We’ve all commented on how insane it is that this layered, complex, devastating album is being reduced to the usual paternity tests. This is currently one of the top songs precisely because it is “about Matty”. And of course, So High School is one of the tops songs along with it because it’s “about Travis”.

The juxtaposition of the bearding songs alongside her beautifully written poetry of Prophecy, Peter, Whose Afraid of Little Old Me, Cassandra, How did it end, The Albatross, etc mirrors the juxtaposition of her two selves during the Midnights era.

She has proven the point that if they think she wrote every line of this song completely in earnest, then they see her largely no differently than her haters do, as a subpar writer who writes absurdly cheesy love songs praising trashy to mediocre, problematic men. By eating it up they tell her that’s what she’s good for, for being the subject of tabloids and warring fans who make this entire album about two (purposefully) mediocre songs and the men who “inspired” them.

She has proven her point - that a subset of her fans will be distracted by a lesser song simply because they think it’s about one of the greasy men that’s she been seen holding hands with. That they will ignore once again all of her pleas to be seen, that she’s in pain and caged, and has been driven insane by their willful ignorance. That they don’t appreciate her full potential and talent, that they don’t even see it, and just want to be confirmed in their ideation of her.

This song is essentially the “forget him(her)” pill at the beginning of the fortnight mv, but it’s a sedative for the fans, who are addicted to her straight narrative. Similar to Willow’s 13 chants of “that’s my man” that started off evermore, casting a spell of heteronormativity over everyone who wanted it, so that they could choose to just completely ignore the following 14 gayest songs ever written. Don’t pay no mind to her singing directly about women with zero male perspective - she said “that’s my man!” We’re good! She’s still straight!

Taylor in the fortnight mv had to a take a sedative to be able to go into the next room and write her bearding songs - ie she self medicates to deal with keeping up the straight persona and to get through having to release dumbed down songs to feed the masses. (I also see the pill as something forced on her, I think it represents both layers)

From the first time I watched the music video I thought the writing Taylor looked so miserable and the bearding songs are why.

In this room she’s trapped, churning out the songs that her fans expect of her, the songs that make her team money, the songs that make her money, but that she has to compromise her truth to create.

But when she frees herself she’ll burn the stories that weren’t true, the filler that doesn’t represent her.

I’m curious to hear other’s thoughts on this - have you ever felt like Taylor purposefully inserts off-sounding lyrics that are written in a different voice to make a point?

I want to reiterate that it’s not the entirety of either song that I think is terrible, I genuinely love bopping along to both So High School and TTPD (track). Like I said above, when you remove the clunky lines from ttpd (track), the song has another layer and likely gives voice to some Karlie insight that is beautiful and tragically profound. It’s the red herrings, the pieces specifically meant to tie this song to a bearding narrative, that I’m dissing, and the only reason they are suspicious in the first place is because I know how gifted Taylor is with the written word.

Taylor is such a skilled writer that she can embody the voice of the bad writer that dismissive ignorant idiots believe her to be, just to make a point!

I even wonder if maybe there is a second version of this song locked away in one of those drawers in the fortnight writing room that leaves out the red herrings and is a thousand times better than the bearding version we got.

I hope one day we get to hear it.

[renaiswriting]

Under the moonlight

Pairing: Choi Seungcheol/Reader

Summary: Late-night adventures with the guy your parents hate.

Word count: +2.6k words.

Warnings: snicking out of your house, mentions of your parents not liking Seungcheol, kind of forbidden love (?), mentions of tattoos and dyeing hair being seen as something that criminals do.

Author's note: I had a dream like this probably a week before my birthday, and every time I heard the song "In the middle of the night," I kept remembering it, so I decided to write it down. It's cringy, so you're welcome.

Under the moonlight moodboard

Under the moonlight playlist

Masterlist

*if you wanna be tagged, please fill out the tag list form

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Your reflection on the other side of the mirror looked back at you with the same intense sparkle in its eyes as yours.

 

You put on your favorite perfume once again. It was your favorite perfume. The one for special occasions

 

The one you avoided wearing at all costs because it was too expensive to buy again, but that you wore because it was his favorite.

 

You touched up your eyeliner one last time and your red lips.

 

There was a sweet melody playing in the background.

 

It was one o'clock in the morning.

 

The sky was invaded by thousands of stars and the beautiful moon that had watched you grow up since you were a little girl.

 

It was still early.

 

You approached your window, sighing as your eyes were mesmerized by such overwhelming beauty.

 

You could feel your stomach being invaded by the tingling of hundreds of butterflies.

 

As nervous as you were.

 

A small chuckle escaped your lips, the sound startling you and causing you to quickly cover your mouth with your hands.

 

You were about to do something your parents would punish you for if they found out.

 

And that scared you a little.

 

But you couldn't help it.

 

The feel of his arms around your waist

 

His lips on yours

 

The sweet words he said as his hands drew you closer to his body

 

His perfume.

 

His husky voice.

 

The way he laughed

 

The way he looked at you

 

It was all so addictive.

 

That every time you set out to end this weird situation you were in, it just left you craving more.

 

Waiting for the next time you see him.

 

The images of the last time you had met only made the warmth in your cheeks spread to the rest of your body.

 

You looked at the time once more, wiping your palms against your clothes, before stopping the song that had been playing until then.

 

The volume was barely audible inside your room, so you knew your parents simply couldn't hear it.

 

Seungcheol: I'm here.

 

Taking a deep breath and a last look in the mirror, you walk as slowly as possible and carefully down the stairs.

 

You could feel your heart beating a thousand miles per second, pounding hard against your chest.

 

Seungcheol's black car was parked behind some trees, the spot he always chose because it was almost completely dark in case your parents or some gossipy neighbor wanted to look out the window. They couldn't spot him at first glance.

 

Its windows were tinted, so you couldn't see inside.

 

You bit your lower lip, trying to keep the smile that threatened to appear on your face from being too obvious.

 

The light inside the car came on as you slid into the passenger seat.

 

Seungcheol had one hand on the steering wheel, and his back was completely relaxed against the seat.

 

"You took your time; I was starting to think you might have changed your mind." He greeted you; his eyes traveled from your face to your dress, smiling broadly. "Looking pretty, as always." His minty breath washed over you; it was so addictive.

 

"I know." You rolled your eyes, gently tapping him on the shoulder.

 

You loved the way his strong biceps felt under his black leather jacket.

 

"I thought you might have fallen asleep; it's kind of late already. I was looking forward to seeing you in your pajamas." He teased you.

 

"Me in my pajamas? For you? Never." I joked back.

 

"Aw, trying to look all cute for me?" He continued the joke, starting the car and starting to drive away from your house.

 

The further they drove away, the more relaxed you felt.

 

You rolled down the windows, letting in some of the fresh air from outside.

 

There were almost no cars; it was as if you had the whole night and the whole world to yourselves.

 

"Did your parents hear you?" He asked, not really minding the silence between you both.

 

"No, my dad was snoring last time I checked."

 

"I was ready to take an emergency escape route just in case." He replied, and while there was a teasing smile on his face, you weren't sure if he was joking or not.

 

Seungcheol hummed the song that had started playing and turned up the volume a little.

 

You smiled.

 

Carefully, you moved your face closer to the outside of the window, trying to get a better view of the dark sky and the stars.

 

"Enjoying the view?" Seungcheol asked, his voice deep and husky.

 

"Yeah," you sighed, moving back to your seat. "It's definitely way peaceful out here."

 

You closed your eyes against the back of the seat, enjoying what came to be this little taste of freedom.

 

Seungcheol's hand rested on your knee, holding it gently.

 

The warmth of his hand spread from your knee to the rest of your body, making you suddenly all too aware of every move Seungcheol made.

 

"I'm glad," he replied.

 

You wondered if he also felt as nervous and anxious about these little meetings as you did.

 

Your fingers began to drum against the inside of your leg, trying to calm your nerves a little.

 

Seungcheol's hand caught yours without needing to look away from the road. "Why so nervous?" He asked quietly.

 

And truth be told, it wasn't at all fair the way he seemed so calm.

 

When one look from him had you shaking from head to toe,

 

"I'm not," you tried to defend yourself.

 

"Such a terrible liar." Seungcheol replied.

 

"What's that?" you asked, when the reflection of a light shone on his wrist.

 

Seungcheol smiled proudly, moving his arm closer to you so you could discover it on your own.

 

Your hand carefully moved along the red skin and dark lines. "Do you like it?" He asked.

 

"It's beautiful." You breathed, taking a closer look at the little details. "When did you get it?"

 

"This morning." Seungcheol replied happily.

 

"Did you actually wake up early? Wow. Unbelievable." You teased him.

 

Seungcheol pockets out his tongue at you. "I actually fell asleep while they were doing it." He confessed.

 

Your eyes were wide open with this new piece of information.

 

You didn't have any tattoos, but everybody that you knew that had one always complained about how painful they were.

 

"I must say, it's pretty, but the one on your neck is still my favorite one."

 

Seungcheol looked in your direction, making eye contact for a brief second. You couldn't ignore the obvious glow in his eyes. "I can take you to the person who did it; maybe you can get one of your own." He smiled, biting the inside of his cheek.

 

"And get my ass kicked out of my house? No thank you." You laughed.

 

"Well, what if you have it in a more discreet place? Like your lower back or something like that? I bet it would look good on you."

"I would pay just to know how many times you have thought about me getting a tattoo there."

 

Seungcheol didn't reply, but he changed the song.

 

You grinned when your brain recognized the song. Seungcheol glanced at you, chuckling at your reaction.

 

"Oh, you still remember it." He laughed, his cheeks tinted pink.

 

"How could I not?" You replied, laughing, "How old were you, nineteen?" You asked him.

 

Seungcheol snorted a yes, looking out of the window to avoid your teasing eyes.

 

"God, you have always had such a cheesy music taste." You laughed but still sang every single line of the song Seungcheol dedicated to you after your first encounter.

 

"It's not cheesy!" He sulked. "It's romantic."

Seungcheol would never know how much you replied to that song, dancing around your room like a fool in love, the first time you read the text with the name of the song.

Seungcheol and you were not exclusive.

 

Never spoke about not seeing other people.

 

But truth be told, you weren't interested in anyone else.

 

Since the moment your mother told you to stay away from him, it has been as if you had only eyes for him and no one else.

 

The first time you both spoke to each other was when your teacher sent you to give back the exams. Seungcheol accidentally bumped into you, and he apologized.

 

If he liked you at first, he was not sure about you.

 

Sure, he did look in your direction here and there. But he didn't talk back to you for months after that.

 

And you weren't sure if it wasn't for that party one of your friends made you go to, things would have gone the way they did.

Seeing him was fun, and it made you stop thinking.

 

Something that you needed so badly because overthinking seemed to be the only thing you knew how to do well.

 

Hours felt like seconds, and you always forced yourself to stay in the moment because the night was so short that you didn't have much time in your favor.

But then you were back at your house, back in your bedroom, between the four walls, wondering if it meant the same to Seungcheol as it meant to you.

"Are you sure you didn't fall asleep there?" Seungcheol asked, his hand coming under your chin and moving your head in his direction. The physical touch brings you out of your thoughts.

 

"Still wide awake." You mumbled, but a yawn made its way out of your mouth anyway.

 

"You sure?" He smiled at you. Finally reaching your favorite spot and stopping the car

 

It had a name, that's for sure, but you never learned it. However, you called it stars. Since it was so high, you could see all the lights from the city and all the stars in the sky at the same time.

The sky seemed way bigger from there.

 

It was usually occupied by tourists during the day, but at night it was mostly just you two in there (except one time where there was a car with a couple doing god knows what inside).

You went ahead of Seungcheol, getting out of the car and rushing to the edge, looking at the beads of lights that were shining brighter that night.

Seungcheol turned off the car's engine, and now that the place was completely dark, everything seemed even more private.

Seungcheol got out of the car and walked to your side at a slow pace, his hands resting in the front pockets of his black jeans.

"It is so beautiful," you sighed, trying to take in every single detail of the view in front of you.

"It's the exact same view as always." Seungcheol replied, You didn't need to turn your head to see him smiling, "but I agree, it is beautiful." You could feel his eyes on you.

You hummed, taking in the fresh air of the night.

 

There was not a single sound.

 

Seungcheol leaned against the hood of the car.

 

His hands were crossed over his chest.

 

The cold air was moving your hair, and that got you fighting against the air to avoid getting your hair on your face.

 

"You cold?" Seungcheol asked, removing the jacket from his shoulders.

You didn't respond; instead, you took a few steps back until you reached Seungcheol, who, after gently placing his jacket on your shoulders, moved his fingers up to your chin, lifting it so you could look into his eyes.

 

His free hand moved a lock of hair that was falling over your eyes, leaving it behind your ear.

 

"Your lips are purple." Seungcheol frowned, bringing his forehead together with yours. His sudden closeness got the reaction he was looking for, causing you to close your eyes in anticipation of his lips.

 

Seungcheol mumbled something, but you didn't really pay too much attention to it; your brain turned off the second you felt his soft lips against yours.

Seungcheol's hand moved to your cheek, his thumb stroking it gently.

 

Your heart was pounding so hard against your chest that you were afraid Seungcheol was feeling it.

 

Seungcheol moved his lips so slowly that a fire was slowly forming inside you, sending a shiver down your spine.

 

You broke away first, taking a step back and avoiding looking him in the eyes.

 

This was the part you hated—the moment when you wondered whether or not these weird emotions you were feeling were mutual.

If Seungcheol noticed any strange expression that was reflecting the mess you had in your mind at that moment, he did not mention it.

 

You sat next to him. Neither of you were looking at each other, but Seungcheol bumped you with his shoulder, lightly shaking you with his shoulder, and laughed when he heard your insults.

"Asshole." You told him, giving him back the push he had given you but using your hands instead, trying to use more force because Seungcheol was as easy to move as a mountain.

Seungcheol laughed, catching your hands and moving you until you were sitting between his legs.

 

"There, there, stop struggling." Seungcheol shushed you as if he were talking to a puppy that wasn't obeying.

 

He rested his chin on top of your head, drawing you to his chest as another tremor swept over you, hugging you.

"Maybe we'd have to get back in the car," Seungcheol muttered, trying to use his hands to create more warmth in your arms, rubbing the cold jacket. "You're going to be sick."

 

"In a few moments," you replied, "I want to enjoy this view a little longer."

 

"When you wake up tomorrow and can't talk because of a sore throat, remember to tell me so I can say, 'I told you so.'" Seungcheol complained, but he held you tighter anyway.

"What did you do today?" You asked, moving your head slightly to discreetly take in some of his perfume.

"No much," Seungcheol replied, his voice vibrating against your back. You closed your eyes to the sensation, liking it a little bit too much to be surrounded by his scent and his warmth. "I woke up early to help Wonwoo repair one of his motorcycles, and then I went to get the tattoo."

At the mention of the tattoo, your hand went instantly to his arm, your fingers carefully touching it.

"For someone who swears that she loves my other tattoo more, you're surely giving it way more attention."

"Yeah, well. The place where the other one is makes the whole attention thing difficult." You shrugged, freeing his hand.

"I'm still insisting that a tattoo on you would look amazing."

"I'm not against the idea, but my parents would be so furious at me." You replied.

"But what can they do once it's done?" Seungcheol asked, holding your cold fingers once again. "I never asked my mother for permission for my first; she saw it around a month or two later, and by then it was too late anyway, so she couldn't really do much. I bet your parents would get around the idea someday."

"I'm not so sure about it," you replied, but my mother sometimes still holds ground whenever she remembers that my older sister dyed some of her hair blonde when she turned twenty-five."

"But she was old enough already for that." Seungcheol frowned. "I was seventeen when I got my first tattoo." He chuckled.

"Was it good?"

"Nah," Seungcheol said, shaking his head. "It was so cringy, I got it covered up by another one."

You laughed, moving to get away from Seungcheol's arms. You were freezing, and the warmth that the car could provide was now way more tempting.

"Don't you think your parents would change their mind once they see you doing stuff like tattoos?" Seungcheol asked.

"I honestly don't know; my parents think that things like tattoos or dyeing your hair mean that you're a criminal." You smiled sadly.

"I would love to know what they think about me." Seungcheol smirked, turning the car on and starting to drive to MacDonald's to buy something to eat in the drive-through. Your stomach was already begging for some food.

The rest of the night passed so quickly that when you started realizing that the sky was now filled with much more light, you started feeling disappointed.

 

"You keep it." Seungcheol shook his head, passing his jacket back to you when you tried to give it back. "Use it in front of your parents; maybe like that, they'll start getting the idea that you'll soon also become part of the criminal life." He joked.

 

"I'll see you soon." You asked, hoping that Seungcheol didn't hear the hope in your voice.

 

"Sure, Wonwoo wants to try his motorcycles tonight; you can join us. Who knows? Maybe next time you'll be robbing banks."

 

You laughed, remembering the time you told Seungcheol what your father had said about Seungcheol's friends and their motorcycles.

 

"Yeah, maybe." You joked back.

 

And then the cycle began again.

 

You were dancing around your bedroom.

 

Wondered if he was blushing in his bedroom thinking about last night as well.

[cringe-but-proud]

Hello! I Hope You’re having a wonderful day/night. I was wondering if you can do a Wonka (2023) x reader where the reader is a show girl and is in love with Willy Wonka. And the reader works as a showgirl for slugworth (to Yk promote his chocolates). But reader and Willy falls for each other and it’s a whole forbidden love type thing since readers boss hates wonka.

Hello! Thanks so much for the request!! Gotta love the forbidden lovers trope (probably one of my favs tbh).

Willy Wonka x Showgirl!Reader (Wonka 2023)

Warnings!!!: Fem!reader, cursing (literally once, I'm pretty sure)

A/n: Baby's first request + Baby's first time posting fanfiction (AJGSHSHEJJXHDJDJ) Hope it's not awful.

Sometimes you wondered why you ever agreed to this job.

Being a showgirl wasn't as easy as a lot of people seemed to think it was.

Every other weekend, you performed at the local theatre to promote Mr. Slugworth's infamous chocolate. Two shows on Friday, two shows on Saturday.

Sounds easy enough. But, Mr. Slugworth insisted that no two shows could be the same.

Which meant that everyday you weren't performing, you were learning a new song and new choreography for your next performance. Which got very tiring very quickly.

Tonight was a particularly bad night. You were barely halfway through your show and already wanted to just collapse in the middle of the stage and sleep. Your costume felt tight, there was hardly anyone in the crowd, and your face hurt from how much you were smiling.

You had just finished your third number when the theatre doors opened. A young man walked through the doors. You recognized him from an incident in which he made your boss float through the air.

You briefly looked at him before going into your fourth number.

To your surprise, the man chose to sit right in the middle of the first row. Right in front of you. Now that he was closer you could see that he was actually pretty handsome. Dark brown curls that framed his face well and beautiful eyes that seemed to watch you in utter amazement...

You had to look away.

At the end of your performance, the man cheered loudly. Full on cheered, despite everyone else in the theatre simply clapping quietly.

He interested you with his sparkly eyes and bright smile. But, you knew you couldn't be interested. Your boss absolutely despised this guy. So, he wasn't cute and you weren't interested. That was that.

You were leaving the building through the back exit, happy to finally be out of your costume and headed home, when-

"Hi, there!"

"Ah!" You were startled by the sudden and enthusiastic greeting of... The guy you definitely didn't think was cute.

You sighed, regaining your composure after he had frightened you. "Hello." You said back simply.

"Sorry if I startled you there! I just wanted to compliment you." He said with a smile that for sure didn't make you want to swoon. "You are the most incredible singer that I've ever heard."

You couldn't help but feel flattered. "Thank y-"

"And you're an amazing dancer."

"Tha-"

"How do you even manage to dance in those tall, fancy heels?"

"I-"

"And isn't it strange to be taller than you usually are when you wear heels? Does that bother you at all?

You paused, making sure he was done talking before speaking again. "I guess being taller than usual would be strange at first. But, I'm used to wearing heels. So, being tall isn't weird for me."

"Like a giraffe." He said.

"Wha-"

"I'm Willy. Willy Wonka." He stuck his hand out.

You paused for a moment. Mr. Slugworth definitely wouldn't like the fact that you were talking to him... But, he wasn't here right now.

"I'm Y/n."

These little post-show conversations became something you looked forward to.

It was every Saturday, after your last performance of the night. He'd always be right outside the back exit waiting for you. Talking to him was always thrilling. Your heart beat a little faster whenever you were around him, breaking the rules... And maybe it was also because you thought he was cute.

You couldn't lie, over time, you'd grown to like him. And based on all of the lingering gazes and soft smiles he'd given you, you were pretty sure he liked you as well.

One day, you were backstage, looking into the mirror as you put on your makeup. You glanced up and in the reflection of the mirror was your boss, Mr. Slugworth.

This couldn't be good.

You turned around to face him. "Hello, Sir." You forced a polite smile.

"Yes, hello." He said with narrowed eyes. There was a brief moment of silence which you decided to fill.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" You said, hoping the innocent head tilt you gave him was convincing.

"I know what you're doing." He said, ignoring your previous question.

Shit.

"One of my associates told me that they saw you and Mr. Wonka meeting behind this theatre every night."

You stayed silent. You knew you were guilty and you knew you probably couldn't talk your way out of this.

Mr. Slugworth continued. "I don't want an explanation or excuse from you. I just want you to agree to never speak with him again."

"What?!" You were shocked. He couldn't do this! He couldn't just tell you to stop talking to someone outside of work! He didn't have that power!...

Except, he kind of did. You knew how Mr. Slugworth was and you knew he wouldn't hesitate to fire you over something like this.

And that's why you agreed.

That night you left the theatre through the back exit like you always did. But, tonight you walked right past Willy.

"You were incredible tonight! I- Where are you going?"

You ignored him and kept walking. To your surprise, he began to follow you.

"You look sort of down.. Is something wrong? You can talk to me about it. I'm sure I can make you feel better!" He said as he continued to follow you.

He continued to try talking to you, and you continued to ignore him. He ended up following you all the way to your doorstep.

"Y/n? If it's something I did to upset you, I'm really sorry."

You took a deep breath and turned around, looking around to make sure no one was watching before you grabbed him and yanked him into your house.

As soon as he was in your house he looked around. "I like your curtains." He said.

"I'm not mad at you." You told him.

He smiled. "That's good to hear. I was already thinking of an apology chocolate recipe for you and it would've been-"

"Willy." He went quiet when you said his name. "Mr. Slugworth doesn't want me talking to you ever again."

"Oh?" He thought for a moment. "Well, that doesn't seem fair."

"Yeah. It isn't fair."

"Well, then don't listen to him." He made everything sound so simple. So easy. You wish you could see the world how he saw it.

"I can't just not listen to him. He's my boss." You looked at the ground. "And I need this job..."

Willy crossed his arms. He furrowed his brows in thought for a moment. "Huh."

...

"Huh." He looked back to you.

"What?"

"Why don't you just work for me?" He suggested with a smile. You were about to protest, but decided to hear him out. "Yeah! You can quit working for Slugworth, then you and I can update your act, and you can start promoting Wonka's Chocolate!" He said, excitedly pacing your small living area.

You thought over the plan. "Huh." You chuckled. "That's... Do you think that could work?"

He walked over to stand right in front of you, looking into your eyes. "I know it could work."

You shook your head with a smile. You were probably gonna regret this. "Let's do it."

"Yes!" Willy clapped and then stuck out his hand so that the two of you could shake on it. Instead of shaking his hand, you sort of let your emotions take control.

You grabbed his face and kissed him. After a moment you pulled away, a bit shocked at your own actions. You searched his face for any signs of discomfort and were met with a smile.

"That was better than a handshake." He said with a chuckle before leaning forward to capture your lips in a soft kiss.

Ok, you probably weren't gonna regret this.

[angelltheninth]

On the Dance Floor Our Hearts Beat as One

Pairing: Dick Grayson x Fem!Reader

Tags: fluff, kissing, dancing, fake/pretend relationship, teasing, gala, flirting, slightly suggestive, mutual pining, resolved pining, awkward boner

Word count: 1.4k

A/N: I wrote that Prince Jason fic and it was great but a gala with Dick is equally as fun because he's just a sweetheart.

"What is the point of this exactly?" You look up at a very nervous Dick who keeps tugging on his bow-tie and scanning the dance floor. You have to admit that he looks really handsome in his black and white suit, with the blue buttons and cuffs on the sleeves. And maybe a little cute when he's nervous.

His blue eyes look down at you for half a second, taking in your dress, a matching blue color to his buttons, the way your heels make your legs stand out, and the black necklace hugging your neck. It's not hard to see where his eyes escape to for just the briefest of moments, you chose this dress for a reason after all.

"Because I can't ask anyone he knows too well. Look this is just for the night, then we can go back to being friends like nothing happened alright. I just need to get Bruce off my back. Like he's the one to tell me I'm lonely. The man barely leaves his house unless it's for a meeting or... private business." Code for Batman work.

Although the people listening in, and there were a few for sure, would think it's about Bruce going to strip clubs and parties. He had a playboy persona to keep up too, but Dick? Everyone always thought of him as a gentleman.

Oh if only they knew of the things you've heard.

"So I'm your arm candy? I knew this dress was the right choice." You wrapped your arms around him and deliberately pressed your chest into the muscle of his arm.

Dick blushed a little, smiling and scratching the bridge of his nose as he tried hard not to look down, "It's very pretty. And you're wearing the necklace I bought you too."

"It was a birthday gift, of course I am." It was a very expensive birthday gift that you wanted to throw back at him when he first bought it because you thought it was too much. Dick insisted, the price of it was nothing when compared to the friendship the two of you shared. Which is why you were comfortable coming to the gala with him.

You did spend time together quite a bit lately, it wasn't that hard to believe that the two of you were a couple. Even Bruce sometimes had a hard time telling exactly what your relationship was. True he only saw you on rare occasions when you'd visit Dick but the two of you were never shy at being affectionate with each other.

This was the perfect plan.

"Crap, I see him." Dick's eyes widened when he saw Bruce casually talking to a few people and raised his glass at the two of you. He was smiling but that could be for show, it was kinda hard to tell with Bruce. "I don't think this is convincing enough."

"No? I have my boobs pressed into you, what more can we do?" There was that adorable blush of his again.

"A slow song is coming up, do you wanna dance with me? I don't mean to brag but I'm really good." He was most definitely bragging, smug and smiling down at you, his foot already tapping along with the barely there rhythm.

"Okay but don't blame me if I break your ankles." You let go of him and watched as he gave you a very prince-like bow, offering his hand. "Such a gentleman. You may have this dance my good sir."

"Why, thank you very much my lady." Dick wink up at you as he kissed your fingers, barely putting any pressure behind his kiss yet it still made your heart flutter from it. Why does he have to be so damn charming all the time? It's hardly fair.

He led you to the dancefloor, making sure you were in Bruce's field of vision. One of his hands held yours, the other wrapping around your hip, the tips of his fingers tickling your back. He always managed to have warm hands, rough but gentle, kind and caring when he touched you.

The song finally started, couples beginning to gather and start dancing in the dim light at the slow, almost sensual melody.

"Sorry I dragged you into this. I hope you know how much I appreciate you." You, not this favor you're doing for him, you. "Promise I'll make it up to you. Just name it any it's yours."

Dick Grayson. How about that?

"How about you taking a proper break and us going somewhere for a day?" It was still him, still his company you were asking for. His eyebrows vanished into his hairline, his grip pulling you closer.

"That's all? You're a very simple woman then. And I mean that in the best day." He smiled at you again. Too cute. Way too damn cute.

Feeling a little mischievous from being called simple you drew close to his neck, "If you want to I can show you just how interesting I can be." This was only meant to tease him but you may have put a bit too much truth into those words. Dick gulped and almost stumbled across his feet.

"Interesting. And if I were to ask, would you demonstrate that during out one-day vacation?" Was he asking what you think? You were kidding at first but... now you're not so sure anymore. Not with Dick's slightly darker blue eyes looking at you.

"Ahem." The two of you tore your gazes from each other and toward Bruce who was looking at you a little judgmentally, "Young love is a beautiful thing, I'm happy for you, but please, don't scandalize the guests. At least take her to your bedroom." He turned around and left before he could elaborate on what he meant by that.

"What's his problem?" You pouted, pressing yourself close to Dick. The moment you did you felt your face heat up, "Dick, are you um... please tell me that's actually a gun and not..."

A gun would have been less embarrassing and more easily explained, "Eh... I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"How can I not notice that?!" You hoped no one else did though, the headlines would not be favorable to Dick.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled and let his head fall on your shoulder, his face visibly red, even the tips of his ears, "I didn't mean for it to happen. You just look so sexy in that dress and it sounded like we were flirting just now, I thought that... well I don't want to tell you what I thought."

Oh. "Oh. Those thoughts." He nodded a little, face still hidden. From an outside perspective it looks like he's kissing your neck, which will also get the rumors going pretty quickly, "Can you walk okay?"

"It's uncomfortable, but I'll manage, just get me out of here." He somehow still managed to move gracefully through the crowd, fast and calculated until he reached the hallway and in a panic pulled you against his chest, "Sorry. Can we stay like this until it goes away?"

You inhaled deeply and nodded, wrapping your arms under his arms and around his back, fisting into the fine material of his suit, "I do that much for you do I?" You had to tease him just a little about this, it was too good of an opportunity to let slip.

"Apparently." Dick let out a little laugh, "Bruce is gonna give me a long talk after this. I can't believe he still treats me like a kid sometimes. I'm a grown man."

"Oh I don't doubt that." You giggled into his ear. There was definitely some movement after that sound. He liked your laughter and giggles. Good information to know for the future.

"You're never gonna let me live this down will you?" He turned his face toward yours, "How much do I have to bribe you to make this incident go away?"

"A week worth of a vacation with you. I think that's a fair price for me to hide your... big secret." You were laying it on really thick right now, but lucky you Dick seemed to pick up on it, even with his awkward situation.

"A week worth of my attention. All yours." Without a doubt this was the best awkward moment of your life. It really payed to come with him to this gala. You should have done it sooner if these were the results, "One thing. You have to promise me you'll make it interesting for me."

The breathy way he said it sent shivers down your entire body, the implications making your imagination run wild, "Count on it." It was gonna be one hell of week.

[theaceace]

I'm still thinking about this and people seem to like it so here's some more thoughts, also this is getting its own post now as a follow up to this

Dream is the prince of stories and so he knows already how this story is going to end. How it always ends.

He was there, after all, the first time it was lived, the first time it was told, and heard, and sung, and wept over, and dreamt of. And not only that, but he knows every variation - and there have been so many of them over the years. So many twists and turns that have been dreamt of - so many of them by over a thousand people, until all of them were as true as each other from the beginning to the end. The stories are contradictory, but that doesn't matter. They can all be true nonetheless, and not even Dream knows now which was the original.

(He could know. It would be so easy to know. It must be there within the library - within him - gathering dust. He didn't look, even when he could. He chose not to)

There are worlds in which Orpheus looks back in doubt, in which he is afraid that he has been tricked and his love is still deep in Hades. There are versions that have him unable to bear Eurydice's cries, her wails of anguish, and he turns to comfort her even knowing that it will be their doom. There are tales that have him reach the living world, and in his exultation turn to help Eurydice a moment too soon. There are poems in which he looks back believing he is saving them, and songs in which he knows he is dooming them.

Dream wonders, as he follows silently behind Hob, which version this shall be. Just when his old, old friend will succumb to the tale, as he inevitably must. Will they make it as far as the door - will Dream be afforded a glimpse of sunlight, after a century of the dark? Will he see beyond Hob, for that single moment as he turns in the doorway, see out to the Waking, or to his own realm?

Or will Hob surrender before then? He has made it much further than so many of the others, his back straight and his steps sure. He had marched so confidently from the basement that Dream might have been able to overlook the way his hands trembled. The Dreaming will not make it easy - and Dream has not the power to control it while he is still bound within the narrative. The path through the house is clear, but it is long and circuitous - far more so than its Waking counterpart. Hob does not falter at each twist and turn, but Dream knows there will be other tricks and traps.

(Hob hears voices calling from the other room. He hears Eleanor, hears Robyn, hears the voices of all those he has loved and lost in his long life. They cry out to him, beg him to bring them back too, ask him why he didn't ask the Dream Lord for them to be returned to life. You could have asked for anything - why didn't you ask for me?

Because you're gone. Because I loved you and lost you and mourned you and still I chose to live without you! He doesn't call back. Because my friend is the only person I have never had to lose or leave behind! The voices stop eventually, and the house is silent once more but for a single set of footsteps)

(Once, he hears Dream's voice, begging him to turn and look, please, won't Hob look at him? And Hob only scoffs, because even bound naked and caged for over a century, his friend had not begged for Hob's help. He can't imagine his arrogant old stranger ever begging for anything at all. And so, the house falls silent)

Dream had never thought overmuch about the path Eurydice walked as she followed his son from the depths of Hades. Had she wanted to leave that place, as Dream does? Had she felt some piece of herself returning with each dogged step, or had she followed because the gods willed it, and so she obeyed? She had dreamt often of Orpheus, of their life together - she must have loved him then, while she still lived. Had she loved him then, when he came to fetch her, though she was but a cold shade of herself? (She must have, she must have, she must have, Dream thinks, staring at Hob's back. How could she not, when he was the first warmth she had known in that place?)

Had she known? As they climbed, and she stared at her lover (Dream's son) had she known then that it was futile? Had it mattered to her, or had she been content knowing that Orpheus loved her enough to defy the underworld? Had she watched his back as they walked, and known that the next time she saw his face would be the last? She must have forgiven him, of that Dream is sure. She must have understood.

(Dream has already forgiven Hob for his failure. He knows not when it will come, only that it must, and he isn't angry. This story is as much a part of him as any other - how could he resent Hob for playing his part in it so beautifully?)

Dream has never regretted, before, his reticence when Eurydice still lived. He thinks of his son and the mortal girl he had loved, staring at his dear friend's back, and is unsurprised to find himself crying.

Once, as they draw close to the end, he sees Alexander Burgess watching them from behind a half-closed door. He doesn't know if Hob sees him, doesn't know if his steps are unfaltering through sheer force of will. Alexander watches, his facade flickering between that of an old man, the timid thing that had shot Jessamy at the heart of Dream's prison, and the quaking child that had first followed his father through to the basement of the Dreaming house. Dream cannot harm him, of course. As a young man he had asked for safety, and so safety he would have until he left this place, after spending years glancing back like a hunted animal. Even if there should come a time that Dream is freed, he will not break that vow, and Alex will remain as trapped by his cowardice as he ever was.

But - oh. There it is. The door - he had been distracted, and by the time he looks forward again, they have reached it. Hob reaches for the handle, and still he hasn't looked back. He pulls the door open, and still he hasn't looked back. He steps out, into weak morning sunlight, and still he hasn't looked back. He stands, unmoving apart from the way his clenched fists shake, and still he hasn't looked back.

Dream stands, frozen, in the shadows of the doorway, staring out over the threshold. At the light, at the freedom, so very close. A few steps, nothing more. He doesn't understand - this is never how the story goes. All the dreamers that tried to bend it to their will (the idiots that had given it a happy ending) and inevitably it had returned to its true form, over and over. This isn't... He doesn't...

His throat works, his jaw moves, his voice is thick.

"Hob?" He doesn't understand, he doesn't -

And Hob -

End title

[tightjeansjavi]

Burning in a Hopeless Dream

Boston QZ : Part 1

A/N: here we go mother fuckers, hope you are all buckled in and ready for this ride, it’s gonna be a wild one.

Summary: Joel hears your government name for the first time while you are waiting in line for your ration cards. He loves to get under your skin any moment he can. You give him hell for it.

~Word count: 920~

Warnings: a whole lot of swearing, Joel being mean, m/c not taking his shit. Mild violence (you hold a knife against his throat) sexual tension, mature themes (+18)

Song for this chapter: “Kiss With A Fist” by Florence + The Machine

___________

June 2020: Boston QZ

You were a ticking time bomb when it came to Joel Miller. He set you off over the littlest things and you weren’t even sure why you allowed him to get you so worked up. You hated the effect he had on you because it made you feel weak. You were not weak, not in the slightest and Joel never treated you any differently. Not when he was aware of your skills. Knives were your weapon of choice and he learned this quickly after you had thrown one at his head, grazing his eyebrow and leaving a permanent scar. From that day, he was impressed with your abilities and he liked the fact that you could handle your own.

He still found himself being protective over you despite this.

You were both in line to receive your rations for the day after working brutal hours. This was the first time you had worked a shift with Joel and you were already regretting it. He chose now out of all the hours you were together to give you shit.

“Hey darlin, think one of these days you can teach me how to throw a knife like that?” His voice was low against your ear as you stood in line for your rations.

“Not a fuckin chance in hell, Miller.” You shot back at him under your breath.

Your interaction caught the attention of a young Fedra soldier who gave you a look of disapproval. Like you gave a fuck about what some Fedra piece of shit thought of you.

“Careful darlin.” Joel drawled out. y’know how these fucks feel about language ‘round here.”

You knew he was toying with you as you chewed on the inside of your cheek then, feeling the bitter taste of copper on your tongue when you had bit down on the soft flesh a little too hard.

“Fuck you, Miller.” You whispered back.

Your government name was called out by the same Fedra soldier that gave you a look. “Gwendolyn Brooks.” He spoke in a monotone voice.

You took a small step forward then, snatching your ration cards from the soldier, looking him right in the eye. Despite your lack of height, you could be intimidating as hell, when it was necessary.

Stuffing your ration cards in your worn jacket pocket, you marched past Joel who stood there in disbelief. This was the first time he had heard your real name and after the tone you had previously taken up with him, there was no way he was gonna let you live this one down.

Snatching his rations cards in the same manner as you, he walked after you. Taking long strides to keep up with your quickness. “Your name is fucking Gwendolyn?” He mused, kicking at a stray piece of rubble beneath his worn boots. “Gwendolyn, Gwendolyn, Gwendolyn now what in the hell kinda name is—“

He was cut off by you shoving him back into an alley wall, knife drawn against his throat in a flash.

“Fucking say my name again Miller. Go on, see what the fuck happens next.” You spat out and lightly pressed the tip of the blade against his jugular to prove your point.

Joel held his arms up in defense then, a smirk slowly crawling onto his chapped lips. He could have turned the tables then, if he wanted to; and had you pinned, but he enjoyed seeing you get all worked up and flustered. It brought him pride knowing he had this effect on you.

“Easy now, doll. No reason to get so worked up.” He looked at you dead on as he spoke.

“If I were you, I’d lower that knife now, doll face. Don’t be stupid. Y’know how easy it would be for me to snap your neck? Takes seconds and then it’s lights fuckin out for you.”

You slowly lowered your weapon then. Your eyes never left his as you tucked it back into the holster around your waist before you had taken a step back from him. The close proximity was making your head spin and you needed to create that distance between you two quickly.

“Just as easy as it would be for me to slit your throat, Miller. Don’t ever fucking call me Gwendolyn again.” You spoke before turning on your heel and exiting the narrow alley.

Joel stayed flush against the wall for a moment then, catching his breath and muttering to himself about keeping his composure. He knew he was playing a dangerous game with you. Hell, he wasn’t even bothered by the fact that you had threatened him. In fact, it excited him to see you so feral. “Fuckin hell.” he muttered to himself as he pushed off the wall and followed after you once more.

“Won’t call you that again, doll. I promise. Nice to know that you have a real name after all. Never thought I’d get the joy of hearin it myself.” He spoke, a good foot behind you now.

“Were you expecting something a little more mainstream? Perhaps Jessica? Natalie? Rebecca?” You turned around slightly to look back at him as you spoke.

“Nope.”

“You don’t look like any of those. Not even close doll. Thank god honestly because there’s no way in hell I could be seen with a Jessica.” He chuckled then.

“Exactly. So you can call me doll, darlin or whatever the fuck else. Maybe one day you can call me Gwen but don’t get your hopes up.” You quipped back.

“We’ll see about that, doll face.” You could hear the smirk in his tone, every syllable he spoke sent your blood boiling.

“Game on, Miller. Game fuckin on.” You muttered to yourself as you started the trek back to his and Tess’s apartment; the sun brutally beat down on your backs. One thing was certain, June was a mother fucker and so was Joel Miller.

CHAPTER 2 :

[leelei1980]

Loving Mr.Munson

Part 18 -Who's your Daddy?

This piece was written from an anonymous ask, what would happen if reader called Eddie 'Daddy' ? 😈

🛑Smut warning- Mature content-18+-Minors DNI🛑

Eddie:

" Oh my god I'm so excited!! This is going to be the best birthday ever!"

My sweet Angel walked into the living room and my breath caught in my throat.

" Goddamn Sugar." Was all I could manage to get out. She stood before me wearing a red V neck shirt , her fucking rack looked absolutely exquisite , a fitted black leather jacket and a tight leather skirt that made her ass look so delicious I wanted to take a fucking bite out of it. " You do realize that every single pair of eyes in that club is going to be on you tonight, right? "

She smirked and rolled her eyes." I highly doubt thatppp Ed's. The club is going to be full of people way hotter and way sexier than I am." I watched as she bent over to zip up her knee high boots. Fuck.

" That's highly fucking unlikely." I bit my lip then went over and slapped her ass and she yipped in surprise and then laughed.I lightly rubbed my hand over the spot that I had slapped, then pulled her close to me, rutting into her.

She hummed,"Mmmmm, Mr. Munson, starting early with the birthday spankings I see. I think I'm going to need a few more Baby."

" The night is still young Sweetheart." I whispered , nibbling on her ear.

She moaned." Don't start that or we will never get out of here."She pressed her ass into me." We are supposed to meet the crew at the club in 30 minutes."

" I know, I know. You just look so fucking fine Princess." I ran my hands up her thighs, up her stomach, squeezed her breasts. " I don't know if I will be able to fucking take it, seeing you shake your sweet fucking ass all night. Do you know how many men are going to be looking at you the way that I'm fucking looking at you right now."

She laughed." Baby I think you are overestimating my sexual prowess-"

" Your a fucking snack."

" Thank you for saying that baby, but honestly your the one that will be scoring all the attention tonight. If I'm a snack your a fucking entree because you look fucking scrumptious."

When I had asked my Wife what she had wanted for her birthday I thought that maybe she would want to go away for the weekend, or want a new piece of jewelry or something like that but she replied that she already had everything she needed, and all she really wanted was for our friends to come visit so we could all go out 'clubbing'. Now I had never gone clubbing before in my life, gone out drinking for sure , gone to shows , yes , but dancing? The only dancing I did was slow dancing because that didn't require much for foot movement. I may have excellent rhythm but I have two fucking left feet, and when I explained that to her she just laughed and told me I could just stand there and look pretty and she would do the dancing for the both of us.

Having never really gone to a dance club I had her pick out an outfit for me, she chose a nice pair of jeans and a black button down shirt that she insisted I keep the first 3 buttons undone, and a pair of boots. She also pulled the top half of my hair back into a man bun. At this point I would let her do whatever the fuck she wanted with me.

" I'm going to be the oldest person in the club."

She laughed." You are not." She slid her arms around my waist." Thank you for taking me out Baby."

" Absolutely Darling. " I leaned down and kissed her forehead. " Let's go clubbing."

**********************************************************

The club was fucking insane, beautiful young people shimmying and thrusting to songs that I am pretty sure I had never heard before. It was funny, in the time that I had been with my Darling girl our age gap had been a total non issue, it just wasn't something that we even recognized, but tonight in this club, I felt fucking old. I was surrounded by twenty something's, well , with the exception of Steve , Nancy and Robin, who we're currently having the time of their lives dancing with Lisa and my Wife. She was a couple of shots and two margaritas in and she was living her best life and I was 1000% here for that.

I watched her drink, dance and laugh and my heart fluttered in my chest. This funny , exuberant, sexy woman was mine. I could see other men looking at her, their eyes wandering over her body as she danced, as she swayed her hips and shook her ass, at first it fucking pissed me off, how fucking dare they? But then I felt pity for them because when it came right down to it they could look all they fucking wanted because it didn't matter. Her heart belonged to me. Now if they tried to touch her that would be a completely different matter.

" Hey baby," she danced her way up to me, slinky and sexy, biting her lip,hips swaying to the beat of the song. I felt my fucking dick twitch.

" Hey Sweetheart, how are you doing?" I reached out and grabbed her hips pulling her close." Are you having a good time?"

She smiled up at me and put her hands on my chest, " I am having the best time Eddie Baby." She stood on her tippy toes and lightly kissed my lips. She was so fucking adorable. " But I would be having an even better time if you would come dance with me."

I smirked. " Princess, you know I can't dance-"

" I know that you can move your fucking hips though." She winked and I laughed. " Come on you.." she grabbed my hips , dancing backwards to the group . They all cheered.

Steve, who's dance floor energy was always unmatched ever since high school, clapped his hands, "Welcome to the fucking party!"

Nancy, feeling a little tipsy smiled and shimmied her shoulders and Robin, poor sweet Robin was about as good at dancing as I was but was having a wonderful time. Lisa was an absolute wild woman on the dance floor, and would shriek when certain songs would come on. That was the current situation.

" Oh my god it's our song!" She clapped excitedly. I had witnessed this about ten times over the course of the evening so far, some of their 'songs ' were Jennifer Lopez's On the floor, DMX's Party up, The Thong Song by Sisqo and Right round by flo rida. How do I know this? Because my Angel made sure to fill me in each time. The favorite song at the moment was Shoop by Salt N Pepa, that was one I actually knew.

I smiled as I watched her sing along, watched her dance , she was a ball of fucking energy right now and I fucking loved it.

When the next song came on she backed against me , wiggling her ass against me and I wrapped an arm around her waist.

" What's the name of this song Sugar?"

" Bump, Bump , bump by B2K."

Her ass bounced against my cock with each bump she sang and I thought I was going to fucking die.I swayed with her and she leaned back against me." Is this what you wanted me to do Dollface?"

" This is exactly what I wanted you to do. Look at us Baby , we are dancing. "

" If you call me grinding my dick into you dancing.."

" It's sexy. See that blonde girl over there in the purple dress? I've been watching her all night. She's had her eye on you-"

" She's probably staring because she can't believe an old fucker like me is in here-"

" She is staring at you because your fucking hot. " She stopped dancing for a moment then turned around to face me. " Guess I gotta show her that your mine." She wrapped her arms around me and brought her mouth to mine.

" Ooooh the Munson's are getting freaky." I heard Robin say in the background.

I felt my girl smile against my lips as she pulled away. She looked up at me with her big doe eyes than ran her thumb across my lower lip, removing any trace of gloss she had left behind. I kissed her thumb. " There, " she said satisfied. " Now she knows who you are going home with tonight."

I pulled her in for a hug." I've got big plans for when we get home tonight. Gonna take real good care of my birthday girl."

" You always do. You always fuck me so good baby. " She whispered in my ear. "You always know what I need."

Jesus. " Your quite cheeky when you drink tequila aren't you?"

She smiled up at me. " Tequila makes me a total slut. " She giggled.

I laughed and smiled down at her." Do you need another drink?"

" Yes please. See, you always know what I need."

I kissed the top of her head then motioned to the others that I was going to get us another round. I held her protectively against my side and we walked up to the bar, Steve following close behind. She took a seat on a barstool and we moved further down the bar to where the bartender was trying to get his attention.

As Steve and I ordered I watched a young frat boy looking motherfucker slide into the seat next to my Sweetheart and start chatting her up. She was politely talking , half paying attention , looking around the room, waving to the girls still on the dance floor.

" That guys is totally hitting on your wife." Steve leaned in. " Want me to go take care of him for you?"

" Does she look uncomfortable?" I tried to look around the crowd that surrounded the bar.

" She looks bored."

" Let me know if he puts his fucking hands on her."

" You want to go over and I will wait for the drinks?"

" Yeah. Just in case he can't take a fucking hint."

I listened to their conversation as I walked over-

" So can I buy you a drink?" Frat boy asked my Angel.

" That's sweet but I'm here with someone tonight and I wouldn't want to get your hopes up or lead you on. I'm flattered though."

" Who are you here with?" That Nosy Fucker.

" My husband, my friends."

" Your married? " He smirked.

" Yes. One whole month now. Oh, here he comes!" She beamed. " Hey Baby!"

" Hi Princess." I slid my arm around her waist. " Making new friends?"

" Eddie this is Troy, Troy this is Eddie, my husband."

Troy laughed." This is your husband? He looks old enough to be your fucking Father!"

I glared and him and was just about to open my mouth when Dollface smirked and bit her lip, slowly looking me over.

" No, he's not my Father, that's fucking Daddy right there." She winked at me.

I drew in a sharp breath.Ho-ly Fuck. I felt my face get hot, my heart started racing.

"Wha-what was that Darling?"

" Are you my Daddy, Mr.Munson?" She looked up at me with her big pretty eyes and ran a finger down my chest.

I couldn't even fucking think, that one fucking single word, Daddy, had me flustered. That one fucking word, rolling off her tongue and over her lips, made me fucking feral. In that fucking moment it was just the two of us, no fucking frat boy, no dance club full of people, just my Angel and I.

I leaned in to her ear." Do you have any fucking clue what that just did to me?"

" What baby, what did it do to you?" She smirked.

" I want you so fucking bad right now-"

She hopped down off the barstool and grabbed the front of my shirt, dragging me away. Somewhere in the background I could faintly hear Steve hollering." Ed, your drinks!"

I couldn't care less about drinks at this moment, all I could think about was stuffing my wife full of my cock.

She let go of my shirt when we reached a hallway and peeked her head into the ladies room." Stay right here for a minute I'm going to do a sweep." I watched her disappear for a moment, than I watched as two young women came out. A minute later she opened the door and waved me inside.

I turned and locked the door behind me then attacked. Our mouths came together in an intense meeting of lips and tongues and teeth. I felt her whimper into my mouth and I pulled away.

" I need you to be a good fucking girl for me, I need you to be real quiet my Sweet Babygirl." I whispered in her ear.

" I'll be your good girl, your bad girl, whatever girl you want me to be Daddy , I just need you to fuck me."

I practically growled into her neck , lightly biting at her before I unbuckled my pants and pulled them down. My cock was aching to be inside her.

" Jesus Eddie!" She whispered as she stepped out of her panties, I knew without even looking at them that they were moist.

I didn't waste another second, I picked her up ,hiked up her skirt and backed her into the wall , her legs automatically wrapping around me . I drove my cock into her. She was so fucking wet. She gasped, and I clenched my teeth together to keep from fucking shouting. I pounded into her and she buried her head in my neck and mumbled." Fuck me Daddy, please, feels so fucking good."

That only made me fuck her harder, she pulled my hair, I kissed her and groaned into her mouth. She whimpered and whined and clawed into my back as I fucked her into that wall.

" You feel so fucking good baby girl, so fucking good." I pressed my forehead against hers and murmured.

" I'm so close baby-" she whispered against my lips.

I snapped my hips up, again and again,panting ,but it was enough to send us both spiraling over the edge.

I watched her face as she came, her mouth dropping open in a silent scream of ecstasy, her brows furrowed her lips puffy from biting them to stay quiet. She was fucking exquisite.

My body shook with my own release and I leaned against her trying to catch my breath.

She peppered me with kisses and I felt her lightly running her fingers up and down my back. " That was incredible baby, wow. " She smirked. " If I had known you liked to be called Daddy I would have done it sooner."

" I didn't even fucking know, it's like I just fucking snapped. " I held her face in my hands and kissed her then carefully backed away lowering her to the floor. I held her a moment,her legs shaking."You good Sweetheart? I'm sorry I was rough-"

She smiled. "Your sorry that you gave me a mind blowing orgasm that made my legs wobbly?" She kissed the tip of my nose,"My sweet , darling man, you have no reason to be sorry. "

There was a knock at the door, I looked at my Sweetheart, panicking.

" Occupied! Be right out!!!" She hollered.We quickly tidied ourselves up and made ourselves presentable as quickly as we could . I ran a hand along my Angel's hair and gave her one more kiss.

"I love you baby." She whispered, than opened the door. I heard her laugh.

" I , uh, got your drinks." Steve smirked holding up two glasses and shook his head. " I wanted to make sure everything was alright, you guys kinda rushed off after talking to that dipshit... I was worried when you didn't come right back...I'm realizing now everything is just fine."

I stepped beside my Wife, pulled her close and smiled."Yeah, we're fucking amazing."

Steve smiled." Yeah."

We walked down the hallway and back to the table the girls were lucky enough to have claimed.

" Yay, they are back!!" Lisa cheered, Nancy and Robin clapped.

" Time for a toast," Steve raised his glass."Tonight we toast a woman that, within this past year has become a friend, become family, and has stolen our best friends heart and become Mrs. Munson. Let's raise a glass to  this lovely lady, hope you are able to start off this next year of your life with a bang!" He winked ,she laughed and I just about died.

As always thank you for reading, comments and re-blogs are the best❤️

Eddie watching his girl shaking her ass:

Tag list Lovlies : @tlclick73 @fairymunson @micheledawn1975 @elegantkoalapaper @goth-cowgirl-03 @bmunson86 @retrorage86 @hideoutside @veemoon @emmyshortcake @erinekc @babyloutattoo89 @amberolivia666 @eddiesxangel @liminalpebble @eddiesacousticguitar @munsons-mayhem28 @munsonsmullet @skyline4446 @maskofmirrors @blainetiberiuswinchester @bexreadstoomuch @xxhellfirebunnyxx @candice-1983

Dance club mix:

And some other fun songs to picture Steve dancing to😂:

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP, sorry if you've answered this question before but what is your best song from Face?

***

Hi @tabbypuppykitty

I’ve had a rethink. I think Face-off is now my favourite song on the album.

Set Me Free Pt 2 is still top 3, but Jimin’s enunciation on Face-off brings a smile to my face every time I hear it because that man is too damn sassy for his own good lool.

In the latest Suchwita episode, Hobi revealed that Jimin practiced live singing six hours everyday before and during FACE promotions.

Six hours. Every day.

That made me pause. I started thinking about everything that happened during FACE. I don't talk about this at all here because I won't ever share personal pictures and I know I was incredibly lucky and many other people here likely deserved to see him before I did, but I saw Jimin live during his very first shows for FACE.

He was so happy. The joy on his face and the way he worked the crowd... like a fish in water. He gave some of the best performances of the year during FACE promotions. The whole project and the thoughtful way he went about promoting the album, is noteworthy.

(You should watch this if you haven't already)

*

But then I remembered the BS, the way k-pop stans reacted to the album, to the MVs, to the encore stage, the way BTS akgaes indulged in their sociopathy on his account, how BigHit failed (the anger Jimin biases feel is justified but some of y'all are wallowing in it). I remembered a few of Jimin's Wlives, how so much has been going on for him this year, and then tried to fit 6 hours daily practicing into it...

I have to stop myself when I think about Jimin. He has such latent intensity, like a glamour, a force field around him... it's like a black hole that sucks everything, including you, into him and his world. It scares me.

I know I whine about Jimin biases but y'all amaze me ngl. It takes a special fortitude of heart to bias Jimin. This post already sounds incredibly effusive, but I don't believe I'm exaggerating when I say he's a truly beautiful person. It's almost as though the world does not deserve him. It's impossible to not love him, desire him, care for him... want more sooner for him. I see all that, but I also see that man is stubborn as fuck.

He took his time to start work on his solo album. The middle of the Vegas concerts is when he said he suddenly came to his senses, shook himself out of that trance, and earnestly started putting together the FACE project. He'd written songs before, but FACE was its own thing. The personal stories he chose to communicate, the care in lyricism and production, the quality... Jimin created art in FACE and trusted that those who care for nothing but the best, will love it.

That's sexy, but the way he went about it also betrays a conservatism in him. It's a shadow of the edge in him, that thing about him that causes a tinge of anxiety when you watch him too closely.

I'm not sure if I'm making sense, but what I mean to say is you need a special kind of courage to bias and love Jimin. I recognize that. When I write what I do here, I always remember that. I also have very little respect for solos. And those two sentiments aren't mutually exclusive.

But taking it back to Face-off, my favourite thing about it is Jimin's sense of humour and skill coming through in the song, as well as how he enunciates his words. To really hear the switch in his tone, you need to stream in this order:

Like Crazy > Alone > Set Me Free Pt 2 > Face-off

By the time you get to Face-off, Jimin's voice has already gone through every variation possible, but then he brings out a tone I've heard only one other artist do well (Rihanna), and that tone is disgust.

Pure, refined sass. And he's already got the sauciest voice in k-pop.

The melodic and tonal choices Jimin makes at these timestamps fucks with my head:

1:53 - 2:08;

2:16 - 2:25;

2:41 - 2:56....

(lol, at this rate you might as well just listen to the whole song again.) Jimin is fantastic in the whole thing.

Europe is where Jimin belongs, but America would eat Jimin up too. The country already does if we're being real, America already loves Jimin. But given the right concept, Jimin would devour because he always does, and the world should get to see it. I hope I get to see more of it. As I've said before, if you feel inclined to communicate that to BigHit, I strongly suggest you do.

During Suchwita, Hobi showed how he's planned content for fans almost years in advance. It's possible Jimin does this too, planning music and content for fans to see months later... (So we might not learn why he went to London, for months...)

Yeah... I don't have the strength of heart to bias Jimin. Good luck to y'all.

*

...that was kind of a lot lool. So to calm down, Jimin:

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Anyway, sorry I rambled. Face-off is a really good song and Jimin did an excellent job on it. The whole project is very good so I can't wait for the next songs we get from him. Shit can't get worse than BB deleting D2C sales so on the bright side, we can only go up from here, and for Jimin who already owns the record as the first soloist in history to debut #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, up will be a good spot to be.

Stream Like Crazy, Seven, All Day, and HUH?!

[arashrita]

Wild Flower

(I only added the song because I am in love with it.)

Flowers... goddamned flowers...

What is it that his heart yearns for?

It all started a month ago. He was hopelessly, helplessly, way too obviously in love with you. At first, Malleus didn't know what to do with this newfound information. You didn't feel the same way, he was sure. Well, no problem. He was ready to take his feelings to the grave. What can possibly go wrong?

Everything...

Things started going horribly wrong with him. At this point he doesn't remember when he started coughing up bloody flower petals. Wild, nameless flowers...He wasn't stupid, he knew the meaning behind it. But he didn't want to destroy what you two already have. Sure, he is a powerful mage. But, even he can go so far only...

He told Lilia. Obviously, the older fae told him to straight up confess like a man. But, let's face it, Malleus Draconia is old and wise but he acted like a cinnamon roll and honestly he didn't have the guts to confess.

So his health kept deteriorating...

The first one who actually noticed the signs were Leona. Yeah, good grief for you overgrown lizard. Leona was seriously tempted to say that. But something stopped him.

"Who is it?"

"Wha—?! Kingscholar, why did you sneak up on me?"

"Just answer the damn question."

"It doesn't concern you."

"Is it the herbivore?"

"........................"

"So, it is."

Slowly, more people were becoming aware. They just didn't want to believe it. Really? The prince of Briar Valley can fall in love? They can't picture that even in their wildest dreams.

You eventually heard about it from Ace and Deuce. Malleus stopped showing up for a long time and you just couldn't contact him. When you heard your best friends talk about it in such an exaggerated way, you couldn't help but get more worried.

So, you decided to corner Lilia.

"Khe khe khe, you are quite the bold one, aren't you prefect?"

Lilia gave you a mischievous smile and disappeared almost immediately.

That night, Malleus finally showed up. He looked like he had been run over by a patrol tanker. When you told him exactly that, he just looked more crestfallen.

"So, you finally decide to show up? I was so worried about you!" You huffed.

"I apologize."

"Really, that's all you are gonna say?"

"What else do you want me to say, child of man?"

He was agitated for some reason. You could guess why but— really, why is he so hard on himself? It irked you. You wanted the best for him and you wanted him to be honest with you."

"Malleus, I didn't see you for ages. You look like you ran a marathon for a whole damn year and your cryptic answers aren't helping."

"Why do you care?"

"Why do you think?"

"Don't answer a question with a question."

"...Is it true?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The rumors, are they true?"

"I don't know what are you talking about, (Y/N)."

"Alright, since you chose the hard way, I will elaborate and phrase it out exactly the way the others did to me. Is it true that the future king of Briar Valley, The most powerful mage in NRC Malleus Draconia is in love with the magicless prefect from another world?"

"Child of man—

"I'm tired if playing this stupid game of hide and seek."

"Prefect—

"You either be honest or we end whatever we have this instant, because you clearly don't trust me."

"(Y/N)!!!"

He looked so hurt that you almost back-pedaled. But, the words were already out in the open. There is no taking them back.

"Fine, you want to hear the truth? Then let's be it. Yes, the rumors are true. I, Malleus Draconia, the future king of Briar Valley, the best mage in NRC is in love with you, the magicless prefect from another world as they like to phrase it. You are the reason I found a reason to be happy. You cured my loneliness. You listened to me when there was no one to listen. You stuck with me like glue when everyone avoided me like the plague. So, yes, I'm so hopelessly in love with you that it hurts. It hurts to know that you want to end things. It hurts that I can't hold you in my arms even if I want to. It hurts....that you will never reciprocate my feelings... You will never be mine...."

There was a mixture of passion, anger, love, hurt and emotions you couldn't point out in his stare. The look he gave you was enough to sweep you off your feet and pull at your heartstrings in a dangerous way. Your eyes softened.

"Mal..."

"Stop... I don't want to hear your rejection..."

"Who said I didn't feel the same...?

"What...?"

You stepped closer to him. This conversation proved that you felt the same way and you wanted to say it right away.

"Malleus Draconia, tell me who are you to steal my heart and then assume that I don't feel the same way as you?"

His eyes widened comically. You would laugh if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Y-you love me?"

"Always did."

"I love you too!"

He pulled you almost instantly in his arms and captured your lips with his own trembling ones. He was desperate, yet so gentle at the same time like you were some fragile glass. It left you speechless and craving for more. For now though you wanted nothing more than to comfort your adorable dragon as he whimpered in your arms.

This may be wild love. The fae prince and the normal human from another world? Sounds so wild and insane, right? Well, this is the kind of wild love the both of you craved desperately as you two stood there in the middle of the night with unspoken words and newfound love.

[blueberry-pride]

Sing Me A Melody

Centurion Follower Event Special (March 1-25) Warnings: N/A Request: Hi, can I request about mc/Yuu loves to sing and rook and mallues write a poem about how they admire their songs ^^ (I really like poems and singing I think it'll be Soo cute ✨)

Berry: So I accidentally messed up with the original one in my inbox TvT hopefully this still finds its way to that anon because I actually really like this idea <3 Haven't written poems in a while but it was fun getting back into it!

"To what do my sharp ears have the chance of hearing?" He chuckled as he peaks from afar. Standing still, blending into the woods as he watches (Y/N) as the light dance through their skin, their voice echoing through the trees, leaves gently falling down like rose petals around them which has the hunter enraptured.

Would spend the next few days, trying to find your voice once more. Planning out his schedule just so he could spend just a little time to watch you in your moment.

Watches from afar as to not scare and interrupt your singing but just couldn't help himself singing a lonely duet for a while. Be it singing along with you or adding his own verses. He often finds himself to be in a more lovesick mood, humming and swooning (Vil and Epel are giving him the side-eye)

To describe his style of poems, I think he'd write like hundreds or even thousands (you can't stop a man who is this passionate) and they all vary depending on the song you chose to sing that day. Very sweet, charming and passionate for your eyes only.

You'd come across these poems as Rook would have them in a sort of scavenger hunt. Easy to find and navigate but loves the thrill of it when you realize it'll lead you to the place you'd often sing at. There, you'd find him, smiling softly with a single red rose in hand. Would you care for a duet (Y/N)?

My words, my pen, and my heart could not do you justice

But by the stars above,

Your voice, your melody and your presence…

is your dialect, a showcase of love

I may know and speak a many from far and near

But you, mon amour'

You speak in a language that only my heart can hear

Through you, I see beauty, I see your grandeur

My pen, Your Melody, My heart to your presence

May we sing together in our decadence

No matter what we may speak, no matter what is sung

Our ballad will go onward as the day is still young

"I've heard countless melodies and ballads for my kingdom, and for my honor..." He thought to himself but he couldn't stop his feet from walking towards the familiar voice near Ramshackle. "But never have I been struck down like lightning by a melody as soft and gentle as rain."

The Fae prince was already poetic and smitten from the first time he heard your voice and each time he watches from afar, he grows even more fonder of you. Would often just stop in the middle of what he's doing if he hears you humming from across the hallway. (Don't make him shush you)

Whenever he doesn't know the song your singing, he'd go to Lilia or even others for help on the matter. (A very funny scene is him bothering Leona about it as well if he' catches sight of the lion's in the vicinity). Similar to Rook, he's also the type to hum to himself as he goes about his usual walks at night or around the dorm. All while his dorm is curious to what got their dorm leader so enamored by a love song..

His style of poems has quite the difference in comparison to Rook's. Malleus' are what I believe to be honest, sentimental with a all the love showered into each verse. Devotion and sincerity in its purest form all while sprinkled with ornate words that are only fitting for such a Fae of his caliber.

I see this story befitting of a secret admirer trope. Malleus would be the type to send poems night after night, happily watching from a far just to see you smile upon reading them. He'd leave it by your doorstep up until You'd come back earlier than expected to accidentally catch him in the act.

"Well isn't this quite a predicament we're in child of man."

The stars don't hold a candle

in comparison to how radiant you are tonight

The darkness, where I've lived for long and alone

Yet your sweet words, The heart in your song felt like home

How I feel for you can be the making of a story

Path of thorns, wall of flames, or even if I was pierced by ivory

No matter, lull me to sleep with your symphony

And I shall let it be

Of shadows, of storms and curses I master

All to hear your melody, my symphony

Give us a serenade as I waltz you to our Happily Ever After

[unhingedhousehold]

count the sheep

summary: you can't sleep and bradley passed his sweet mom's genius method to help you.

lol. omg. was scrolling through tumblr when i found this post and one of the reblogs said they used to go through alphabet and name a person they love whose name starts with each letter and... that's how i gave birth to my 2nd story lol who would've thought I'll have 2 babies!

this story is so funny in my head sffdgfgr i had so much fun writing this sfagafwfsgsgsgsgdg okay enough with the giggles

pairing: bradley bradshaw x reader (reader has hair)

warnings: mentions of bradley's parents, mentions of pineapples on pizza (lol), mentions of mint choco flavor (lol again), implied smut, a bit of marriage proposal thought (bradley is a simp), bradley saying fuck!!, my knowledge about natops and navy based on my 5 mins google research so apologize for any mistakes, english isnt my 1st language so you know the sorry for any inaccurate words and bad grammar drill!!

words: around 2k i think

i don't consent my work being translated or copied, please be respectful of someone's work!

Bradley felt like it's been hours since you've been turning and tossing on your side of bed when in fact, it's only been around 30 minutes. He already turned off the lamp, a playlist created to help both of you to sleep soundly still playing, yet you're still wide awake squirming trying to sleep. You were in his embrace earlier, but escaped because you simply just can't stop moving and shift your body a bit from Bradley's. He heard you grunt, and that's his cue to get you back to his embrace, his arms wrapped around your body and chin on your hair.

“I say this with so much love, please stop squirming or I'll have to tie you on the headboard.” He heard you chuckling and even though he can't see you but somehow, he's able to detect there would be a witty answer from your upcoming reply.

“Oh kinky, wouldn't be the first time though.”

See?! You and your smart mouth will be the death of him!

“Pervert. Seriously, what's up? You're usually the first one to go to the dreamland. Try to relax and stop thinking, okay? We had a long day; let's rest our tired body, yeah?”

You sighed, feeling guilty and trying to escape again from his embrace so he'll be able to have his sleep, “That's what I've been trying. Sorry. Maybe I should be sleeping on the cou–” he stops you with a kiss on your lips, “Nah, don't apologize,” and tightens his grip to prevent you from getting away again, "and not a chance."

You relented and hugged him back, with muffled voice, you reason, “This is why you shouldn't let Bob chose a movie. I don't do well with horror.”

“He won today's quiz from Cyclone. Phoenix would've killed me if I interfered with Bob's choice of movie. Besides, you have your eyes closed the entire time the movie is on! And you know it yourself you will never be able to say no to Bob.”

You smiled fondly at his statement, recalling the time when Bob offered you to try his mint choco flavored ice cream and you ended up liking it to normal amount (up to this day, Fanboy still convincing you you're basically having toothpaste as a dessert. Hangman as the Vice President of Mint Choco Ice Cream Lovers kicked his ass for that). “Bob is really the worst enabler in my life.”

You can feel Bradley's laughter from the way his chest grumbled. He then hummed along the song that's currently playing, usually his humming would help you sleep faster, yet it's not working.

You're tracing something on his back, from your initial to his, and mixed both of your initials when he started talking again, “You know, maybe I know a way. This is something my mom came up with when she was dealing with her insomnia.” He said it with so much ease, so different from years ago when he didn't even wanna talk about his mom. You started writing his Mom's name on his back.

“How?”

As he felt you writing the O letter, he answered, “Count the sheep.”

You stopped your movement from writing the I letter, “So I should literally counting them to thousands? I've made it past 300 only back then.”

(You remembered it because you had 3 coffees in one day thanks to back to back studying session you had to do during exam period.)

“No, you're not literally counting the sheep. It's more like you try to think of things that fit the topic you chose and count them, but don't google the answers. Just lay in bed and think of them.”

“Does it work for you?”

He answered when you just finished his Mom's name, and now you're going to write his Dad's, “Most of the times, yes.”

Bradley felt it when you're done writing NICHO, index finger about to start writing L when you quietly asked, “What kind of topic did you chose then?”

“Inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons between 1980 to 2009. What's on NATOPS Pocket Checklist. NATOPS Emergency Procedure Basics–” before he can continue with more Navy related that you have no idea about, you looked up and kiss his lips tenderly to shut him up, “You're such a nerd.”

He laughed, kissing the top of your hair and defends himself. “Not always like that. Sometimes I think of ways to please you. My favorite topic to think about, honestly.”

You rolled your eyes, your hands that previously on his back smacked his ass lightly.

“Or you can use my mom's way, she told me to go through the alphabet and name a person I love whose name starts with each letter.” Bradley started writing something on your back, like you did earlier to his.

When you felt him writing your last name, that's when you found your voice back. “Hmm. Interesting.”

“Yeah, I used to do that a lot when I was a kid but I don't think I can do it now.”

“Why?”

“Because your letter is the only letter I can think of. I don't need to through from A to Z to think of someone I love.”

With your fist, you hit his chest lightly, “You're such a sap.”

“Only with you, sweets.”

His index finger started to write M, followed by R, S, continues with B, R, and then A. You had an idea what he was about to write, so you decide to try his Mom's method.

“Okay, I'll try.”

He just finished writing W with heart emoji in the end when he replied, “Go on. I'm listening.”

You wrote A on his chest, rocking your brain to come up with someone whose name starts with A.

“A.. I can't think of any A... Aaron?”

Bradley tensed up, the movement of his index finger trying to write the V letter suddenly stopped and shifted his body a bit to get a look at your face, “Who the hell is Aaron?”

“What? Urgh, I don't think this method will work. It's just one male name and you're already this worked up. How am I supposed to go through until Z?”

“The Aaron I know in your life was your ex-fling! You could've mentioned Ally!” Your brows furrowed, looking at him with confusion clouded your face, “She makes omelet you claimed is to die for at the diner we frequent to?”

You laughed at his goofy but correct answer, “You're unbelievable.”

You're back to his chest, writing B as the next letter. “Okay. B.. hmm...”

You both knew damn well who is the person going to be, but riling him up is your favorite thing to do so you made your voice to be the sweetest and full of hope voice that you'll certainly say one precise name.

“Oh I know, this is the easiest,” You practically can feel Bradley's anticipated eyes, smile at the ready and kisses that awaits you after you said one name, his fingers ready to write so much after he finished i love you on your back earlier.

(He's just that good with his timing, huh? You can't let him have his victory, though.)

“It's Bob! Next for C...”

Bradley released you from his embrace, fingers stilled in the air, and giving you that look when you told him you like your pizza with pineapples on it, “What the fuck?”

You showed him your innocent eyes, a kind of eyes that will let you get away with anything and everything, blinking them, “What? I'm doing it right! Bob starts with B!”

He huffed, hands covering his face dramatically, “You know there's someone else whose name starts with B.”

You taunt him, “Yeah? Who?”

Oh, he loves you so much for that.

He pouts, voice like a little kid whose mom rejected his idea to go biking with friends, “Oh come on, big elephant in the room?”

Your eyes lit up when he said that, as if you got what he meant by the elephant in the room.. because you should! How could you forget his name? A name that you're screaming to when he went down on you! A name you fervently vocalize when he's ball deep insi –

“Hmm.. Benjamin Penny?”

Shocked at your answer, his mouth goes wide open, formed a big O, “Are you kidding me?”

And what happened next was your laughter filled the room with Bradley hovering over you as he tickled you with so much force; from your waist to your sole, your stomach isn't lost on him as he blew so much raspberry on it. Not only that, he attacks you with kisses on your neck, biting the juncture between your shoulder and neck, the back of your ear tickles at how much force he puts to make you laugh that you can't say anything but laughing. When you got lost in the feeling, he's back on tickling your waist.

He's really good at memorizing your body, thanks to the amount of times he spent to explore on it. You decided you couldn't take another tease from him when you felt his right hand trying to make its way on between your closed legs, and as you tried to get away from his teasing by hitting his shoulder, an idea came up, “Stop it, Cradleeeey!” But it seems like he didn't hear you, looking at how his hands busy kneading the flesh of your thighs.

“Hey Dradley, stop it! Okay, I surrender!” He's now looking at you, confusion over his pretty face because he just registered what you just called him.

“What did you just call me?”

“Cradley. Dradley. Eradley? Bradley starts with E sounds so weird.” Both of his hands are now on your side, face inches away from yours, “Fradley is funny though. Oooh, Gradley?” You kissed his nose, and his cheeks as you said each name.

“Did you just change the first letter of my name?”

“Yeah. Now I know what you meant by elephant in the room! You said to go through the alphabet and name a person I love whose name started with each letter, right? Hradley sounds weirder than Eardley, don't you think?”

He laughed so hard at your expression and to muffle his chuckles, he hid his face on your neck. You can't help but to join him as you wrap your hands around his neck.

“Wait until we get to T.” He said after so much effort to stop his giggles.

“Oh my god! You're right. Hey, Tradley,” you giggled, amused by it and he kissed your forehead because he didn't want to interrupt your laughter and looked at you like you hung the moon (you did, according to him), “I don't think I'll be able to pronounce Xradley and Zradley well though.” You said the X and Z with struggles, and for your attempt to pronounce Yradley and Wradley next, he rewards you with a kiss to your lips, deepening it when he felt you opening your sweet lips to welcome him.

–––

And the next few weeks when Bradley was deployed and had a hard time sleeping, he chose his topic about ways on how to propose you. He woke up smiling as he vividly remembers what he came up with. He thanked his genius Mom for her count the sheep method; that's how he knows his Mom has always been, is always, and will always be with him, just like she promised.

the ending is a bit weird but whew 🥹🥲🫣 if you make it to the end, thank you for reading!

[1989stanz]

Karaoke at Xander's birthday

Sooo, this one been sitting in my drafts and I've been thinking if it's good enough for me to post. My immediate answer was “no”, but I kind of liked this one. A quick remainder: the year was 2009 and I just put songs that were trending at the time or were made before 2009. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: mentions of Nash Hawthorne, Jameson Hawthorne, Alexander Hawthorne, Grayson Hawthorne and minor cursing. The characters are not mine! They belong to Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

English is not my first language! Sorry if there's any mistakes.

Word count: 10K (it's acceptable, isn't it?)

December 17th, 13 years ago

It was December at Hawthorne House, which meant two things: Christmas and Xander birthday party. It was always the most busy month in the house—with employees walking around the mansion, carrying balloons, boards full of the most expensive foods, Christmas lights, and the decorations for the trees. Overall, it was the mess that came along with Alexander's birthday mixed with the mess that came with Christmas. Xander liked this time of the year, not just because it was his birthday and his favorite holiday in one month together. And definitely not because he used to make jokes that the employees looked like robots, focused on nothing else but doing what they were programmed to do. December was usually when Skye arrived, just to spend the holiday and go back by new year. She wasn't really present in her son's life, at least not in the way other mothers were, but she was there in December. She typically arrived on the 17th. In other words, in the day of Xander's birthday. That's why 5-year-old Xander was sitting in front of the library window. Three hours ago he got expelled from the kitchen because he would just sit there without any movement, waiting for Skye, and Nash found it depressing to see his youngest brother this way. Nash knew that it was very likely that she wouldn't show up, so he just expelled him from the kitchen, expecting that he would forget it. But Xander was a Hawthorne, wherefore he just found another window that led directly to the front door, where Skye was about to show up. At any second. But why was she taking so long? The house was already decorated for his anniversary, still, he chose to wait for his mother to start celebrating. Consequently, he waited. Waited. And waited. Waited a little more. And when he got tired of waiting, he just forced himself to wait even more. But there was no possibility she was about to show up. He looked up, glancing at the clock. 10:00 pm. He was looking at the window since 9:00 am, but he didn't catch a glimpse of Skye. “She's not going to show up” Xander thought, and hated himself for thinking it. Of course she was, she was his mother. That's what she's supposed to do. “She's not coming”, this time tears fell from his eyes to his cheeks, dropping and wetting the carpet. There was only one in the beginning, but quickly there were more than he could count. More than he could contain. So he just let them fall, without fighting. Skye had failed him—she should've been there. She should be wishing happy birthday to him, with a bright smile on her face. She should've had seen him blowing out the candles of his cake. Not only that, but she should kiss him in the forehead and ask, “What did you wish for, Xan?”. That's what she had always done, and he could practically hear himself answering his mother, “I cannot tell you! It will ruin my wish.” But his wishes were already ruined, because all he always wished was to Skye come back in his next birthday. He must have done something wrong in the last year—that would explain her absence. There is no way she missed her son's birthday on purpose. Crying, he held his head in his hands and just drowned in his misery, wondering what he did wrong to have such an absence mother when all his friends' mothers were all present—not only on their birthdays or in other special occasion. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him and fastly wiped his tears away, turning around to see who was coming. Jameson. “Hey, why are you crying? What happened?” At the age of seven years old, Jamie was already the biggest problem on the house, always mocking his brothers for anything. Sometimes, he made up scenarios just to mock them, like when he stole Grayson's clothes when he was taking a shower and mocked him for having a Disney princess towel. Yet, he knew when it was time to stop. Xander replied, “I'm not crying. My eyes are just sweating.” Jameson raised an eyebrow. “Eyes don't sweat.” 

“At least not yours” Xander said, except that his voice was shaky, his eyes tired, and some tears were dry in his face. Not to mention the headache that he had now. His brother sat down beside him, putting an arm around his youngest brother's neck. “So, why are your eyes sweating?” His tone was calm and gentle, also he didn't complain during the time that Xander took to reply. “She didn't come” he said weakly, his voice lower than a whisper. Jamie didn't have to ask who. She didn't show up for his birthday neither, but he pretended it didn't matter like he always did. “I know it hurts, but she won't be here for all your birthdays. She wasn't here for mine, but it's okay. You can still enjoy it. She'll be here soon.”

Sniffling, Xander acknowledged the elephant in the room, “Why she's rarely here?” Jameson arched his back, tense. He didn't know, and he didn't like to think about it—otherwise it would mean that she considered other things more important than her own children. “Maybe she's just busy. Why don't you spend some time with us?”  

Us as in Jameson, Nash, and Grayson. “I don't think I'm up to anything right now.” He stared at the ground, unable to even think straight. Jamie squeeze his shoulder, asking really quietly, “Not even karaoke?”

After a long time gathering himself, with Jameson telling him about that one time he put superglue on Nash's favorite cowboy hat, and he had to get a buzz cut after using it just to make Xander laugh through his misery, they knocked on their brothers' bedrooms. Nash and Grayson were both reluctant, but once they understood the whole situation, they just agreed profusely. Walking through the halls, they tried to not make too much noise to do not disturb the employees sleep. They had a really tiring day and needed rest. Once they arrived, Nash turned the lights on, revealing the karaoke equipment in the stage. Untouched. Brand new. Ready for the night. Jameson started to run to pick one of the microphones, but Nash grabbed him by the shoulder. “Hey, James, not today. It's Xander's birthday, he will choose the music. It's fair.” Jameson made a furious face at Nash. “Don't call me James. I hate it.” Nash tilted his head. “Then behave.” He looked at Xander, “It's your night, Xan. Choose whatever the hell you want to, and we'll sing it.” Xan. Skye started calling him this way because she wanted to have a different nickname for her son. It hurt to remember that. It almost hurt when he was called by Xan by his brothers, but somehow it didn't. “He's five. You're not supposed to say hell in front of him” Grayson complained, arms crossed over his chest.

“Don't worry, kid”, he side eyed Jamie, “someone taught him worse words than just hell.” It was true. Jameson one day selected all the cuss words in the dictionary, and ran up to Xander so they would found out what they meant. “So, what are we waiting for?” Xander asked, excited. “Let's see how noise we can make without getting kicked out of the house!”

Nash was the first one, and Xander meticulously considered the most unserious song for a cowboy like him to sing. Only one music popped on his head, and he put it in the karaoke machine with a devilish smile. “Nash,” he turned to his brother, “I think this one would fit you well.” Nash looked at the music author and raised an eyebrow at the name. “Taylor Swift? Who's her?” 

Xander was shocked, to say the least. “You never heard 'You belong with me'?” He asked, and Nash shook his head. Did he live under a cave? “Never heard about the woman, but I know this song.” Xander nodded. It wasn't as bad as it seemed. The intro started to play and Jameson already lost it when Nash did the phone signal with his hand. Grayson tried hard to not laugh, but he was cracking up in the bridge. Xander almost fell to the ground. He was dying of laughter. “Make him stop” Grayson said, taking spaces between the words. They all had to make spaces between the words because of how funny the scene was. Even Nash couldn't hold it anymore in the end of the song. “Give me an autograph, Nash. I'm your biggest fan!”, Xander yelled, and they all chuckled. “I love this song. I'll look up for the artist later.” Nash told Xander, and he was amused. “You'll love her work!” Nash smiled and glanced Grayson. “Definitely. But I guess someone's about to sing to us, isn't it, Gray?”

Gray had, technically speaking, a bass type of voice. In other words, his voice was so low it fit classic songs really well. In Xander's words, his voice fit Katy Perry perfectly. His older brother gave him a dangerous look when 'Hot n Cold' started to play. Jameson was pleased, to say the least. “Go, Grayson!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the walls of the room. They all got up to dance and make fun of Grayson. He, in the other hand, had an incredible voice, as expected. He'd spent hours and hours singing, trying to achieve the perfect tone and not missing one single note. If he did miss, he'd have to start over and over until it was carved on his mind. Nash was dancing some steps that seemed really bizarre, but exactly like how Xander thought a cowboy would dance in this situation. Jamie was rocking the non-dance-floor, and his youngest brother too. They all were laughing, for Gray's misery. When he was done, left the microphone and came to join his brothers. “Didn't know you are a fan of Katy. I could give you my vinyls!”, Xander said cheerfully. “You cannot”, Gray narrowed his eyes. Jamie passed by them, picking up the microphone. “Though I think that Gray would love your vinyls, Xan, It's my turn to show you how my voice is better than his”, he looked at Grayson, a challenge in his eyes. Xander altered his glance between them, excited. “So it's on?”, he didn't have to give other explanation. Gray analyzed the situation, pondering if he should agree or just kick his brother's ass for saying that he has a better voice. Slowly, he shook his head, “Bring the karaoke battle, little brother.”

The situation was: Grayson, with murder in his eyes, singing “Milkshake” with Jameson, who had a wide-eyed gaze. The tension was intense and Nash almost interrupted, but he didn't take it serious. It was impossible to take anything serious when his brothers were singing about milkshakes and yards. Grayson was shooting bullets at Jameson with his eyes, what made the scene even funnier. And Jamie answered each look with a Jameson Winchester Hawthorne type of smile—long, Machiavellian, twisted, and playful. Like he was not worried about the competition because he would win eventually. Gray just had a blank face, beside his eyes.

Once it ended, they looked at Xander. “So who's the winner?”, they asked at the same time. It was determined that he would decide who was the winner. Only if he thought there was one. Spinning and picking up the mic from Gray's hand, he calmly replied, “Myself.” 

“Yourself?” Jamie laughed. “You didn't even sing.” Choosing the music, he said “I'm about to,” He turned around, “but not only me.”

Tobias had bought four microphones and four mic stands for his grandsons, probably thinking that they were going to sing together at some point. The point never came naturally, but Xander saw the opportunity and took it. And the song of the night was “Just Dance.” Nash was sort of a country music fan, but when it came to Lady Gaga, he did not play. And Gray was having way too much fun for someone who claimed that “classic music is better than pop.” Dancing and singing, they didn't even bother to be in rhythm. But it was still beautiful, because it was real, natural, and imperfect. In fact, it was so perfectly imperfect. This moment—the happiness they felt and shared—would be remembered. At least, Xander will always remember how his brothers saved his birthday. He always “saved” them with his humor and genuine joy, but sometimes he needed to have moments like this in order to don't feel drained. Certainly, his brothers were more than happy to give these moments to him. Surely the whole house was awake because of the noise, but it wasn't a problem to them. Fortunately, nobody came to interrupt, leaving them to taste the magnificent and wonderful moment