#I've had this set saved for a rainy day and now he is finally being set free

[jtownraindancer]

missing my second favourite revolutionary spy played by burn gorman tonight 🇬🇧

[nutcasewithaknife]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

@bbcphile and @difeisheng thanks for the tag! :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

20

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

309,516. Which is actually insane, I'm not sure how or when I did all that

What fandoms do you write for?

Used to write for The Witcher, Supernatural and BBC Merlin, but not anymore. Currently writing for The Untamed and Mysterious Lotus Casebook (mostly the latter). There's one Love Between Fairy and Devil ficlet in there somewhere. I can't see myself making the space for anything else soon :')

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

One Ignorant Bard and His Witcher - The Witcher, geraskier (3.1k)

The Sins of the Father - BBC Merlin, canon divergent fix-it (11.5k)

You Can't Escape The Thoughts on a Rainy Day - The Untamed post-canon sangcheng (57.5k)

Foolish - modern au sangcheng (29.1k)

Are You Listening? - post-canon yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation (5.8k). It's part of the series that #3 on this list spawned!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I used to respond to every single one, but nowadays it's just once in a while when I can. I read every single one multiple times like a lovesick fool tho <3

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have a terribly hard time writing fics that end angsty, the best I can do most times is bittersweet. That being said...

It will never be the same (1.5k) - Jiang Cheng returning to the Jiang Ancestral Hall after Guanyin Temple and speaking to his dead family. The night after Guanyin Temple, Jiang Cheng finds himself standing in the Jiang Ancestral Hall. Some things, long realised but unspoken, finally get said.

Found (34.5k) - Lan Wangji's angsty boy winter, set mid-canon during the 16 years wwx is dead and brimming with OCs. I really wanted to wallow in what made him the man he is during those years. Naturally I sent him off to a village beyond the Jianghu and gave him a boyfriend. It's incredibly angst filled and the ending is hopeful, but still sad by my standards.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm a hopeless sap! Too many of them are happy endings!! Given my current MLC brainrot, I'll have to say it's the three post-canon liansanjiao fics I've written with them being soft together and at peace <3

I have a special soft spot for Foolish though, because Jiang Cheng deserves a happy ending story ;-;

Do you get hate on fics?

I'm not popular enough for hate hehe

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

YES!! It took a lot of work but now I do! Sometimes very explicit, sometimes not. It's mostly chaotic and soft and at times emotional. Laughter and banter during sex is cocaine to me and it shows.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Sadly, no

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Have gotten a couple of requests to translations into Russian and French, but none of them ever went through as far as I know

What's your all-time favorite ship?

You can't do this to me I refuse to pick ;-;

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh, there are too many, but the one I'm most invested in rn is a postcanon MLC fic where difang manage to save Li Lianhua's life and very many Feelings are had.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue is what I've been told. Specifically, I think I do a good job of finding each character's voice. This is something I've been consciously working on and I think it's been paying off, especially the last year or so!

What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot!! I cry every time I need to plot anything. That's why most of my fics are mostly just Vibes

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Ohhh I'd love to do that though I haven't yet. I think it would mean fewer people would read it, but that has never stopped me from writing a thing >:)

First fandom you wrote for?

The first I posted was a Witcher fic, but the one I started writing first was BBC Merlin. It still has a chokehold on my psyche

Favorite fic you've written?

AAAA once again i refuse to choose ;-;

Tagging @istgidek1234 @redemption-revenge @angryteapott @wuxia-vanlifer @omgpurplefattie (no pressure)

If you're a fic writer, feel free to give it a go even if you're not tagged!!

[accirax]

how did i completely miss that you're also the one who wrote the p:eg mastermind rankings. how are you everywhere

DUDE i had the exact same reaction when i realized that i recognized your username as the person who told me about Mark not speaking in the closing argument. to answer your question, uhhhh, i just really like fangans and theorizing? i'm definitely still missing some of the big ones (coward's paradise, (he)artless deceit, ch1 of shattered hope, to name a few i've heard of but not seen), but that's mostly because i'm trying not to overload my brain by getting into too many new fangans at once. better to save them for a rainy day when my drdt hype dwindles a little, right? :)

anyways, to finally respond to your comment that i fully forgot to read after i couldn't easily open the link on mobile (sorry!!!)... yeah, the fact that it says Mark was absent in the tweet itself and not on the actual image would explain why i'd never seen that piece of information before. it is highly suspicious to put that information in an accessible place, but one that's easy to miss or forget about. that way, the information is out there, but it wouldn't be as widely called out as if he said it in his introduction or something.

i don't think it's a complete death sentence, though, because there are definitely ways to explain around it that don't involve him setting up the killing game. one option is that it's just supposed to highlight his reclusive nature. another is that wanting to release the big project he's supposedly been working on for this past year will eventually become a motive for murder. a third is that Mark's character seems pretty connected to Jett, who also has had to take time away from the spotlight due to his injuries. the fact that both of them have been benched for a little while could be something that causes them to bond, or something that's used to draw parallels between them, perhaps?

that being said, you're really cutting through my "i don’t really have anything that can argue him better or worse than 12th place." i wouldn't say Mark cracks my top 5 just yet (which Diana is still in, even if i wouldn't call her #1 anymore), but i think i'd update him to be my #6 most suspected thus far. the setup for his character gives me far fewer narrative doubts than the likes of Wenona, Wolfgang, and Eva, so even if i think that some of them being the mastermind could be cool, i have to admit that it's probably more realistic that Mark would become the mastermind. however, against Desmond as my other "there isn't much making him NOT suspicious," i still think that Mark's personality fits slightly less for a mastermind to me. (if he prefers to stay out of the spotlight, why would he trap himself in a killing game with 15 other people and two mascots...?)

i'm even more excited for chapter 1's release now. thank you for pointing all of this out to me! also, i have to ask: is Mark your #1 mastermind pick, or did you just think he should have been higher than 12th? i'm curious what you think.

[archenemyintellegence]

Shining Funeral.

Thank you for those who joined me in watching me performing random actions in Shining Live in its final moments. Your presence made the event less depressed. 💀

I thought I would just play the songs or watch some stories for one last time during the final hour. But I found that I've got some event medals left and were able to get some bangles for ur tickets and some Reiji SRs I haven't acquired. That was a pleasant surprise because it was kinda surreal doing the 100% UR gacha with all those tickets. Time went by so fast when there's so little time left for the game. An hour past like a few minutes, but I was still able to watch one last new story from a new Reiji SR I've got from the bangles. And it happened to be the Christmas story... I guess that's the perfect end for my time with the game.

I've never expected that I actually had fun in the final moments in the game, since I had a lot of bad things to say about how shitty klab handled the closing of the game, like how they refused to merge the server even when people are spamming them emails. Another thing that I didn't expect is THAT THEY CLOSE THE SERVER AT THE EXACT SECOND THE CLOCK HITS 1400 JPT LIKE WHY DO U HAVE NO MERCY FOR US. With your shitty attitude I thought the whole international server team is sleeping since the announcement of server close and now you're proving to us that you guys can actually be efficient in handling things, in the worst way possible 😭

Memories with Shining Live

I've forgot the exact date I started playing the game, and it's impossible to find it out since the account was pre-owned by my sister (and yes the birthday is set to hers so every year Reiji congratulated her birthday lmao). However what I know is that I started playing during the period of White Day Reiji gacha. He is so gorgeous in every way and I was so glad that I was able to get his card before the gacha ended (actually I kinda whaled but yeah I'm happy because sometimes you can whale and get nothing).

I was even happier when I learned about his story. His story told me that I can do good things with my talents as long as I have good intentions. I thought all my talent can bring to people is hate and envy, but he helped me to start believing myself, to start drawing. Being with him in the game, learning more about him, and making memories with him in the game heals me, and adds something in my empty soul.

Shortly after joining the game, there was a Reiji SR event, the Rainy Ren event. It was a shame that I barely missed Tier 1 as my cards were awful back then and people were crazy on that event. But I was still happy that I maxed my Reiji SR. It was also a painful lesson that taught me to aim higher next time so I can guarantee the tier I wanted.

Fortunately, after the failed attempt in tiering, I got a chance to try again in the SSL Reiji event, and he was also with Natsuki in that event, who was my second boy back then. The set list is perfect as I love every songs there, but the difficulty of the set list was extremely challenging for me as I could barely finish a pro song at that time. I remember my struggle to even complete the last song Kisu wa Winku De (EXTRA). But I endured it all for Reiji, and managed to T1 it. I've got my first Rainbow Crowned Reiji UR card and I still remember the joy of accomplishment. Also the card is one of my favourite Reiji cards. Who can hate this cute boy wearing his favourite outfit and begging for a hug while laying on a cloud with rainbows 💚😭☁️🌈

And then I crowned another Reiji UR on his bday. It's crazy that I saved whaled 12k prisms for his bday gacha. It is just wild doing gacha for an hour non stop. He is still my favourite bday UR! Maybe there will be another new bday UR to top him next year but I can't get him anymore so it's safe to say he's the best bday UR. It's a shame that I will be 1 copy short of rainbow crowning my 2nd Reiji Cruise UR because my luck on the bday gacha for the rest of my gaming life suck ass.

Then is the Reiji SR for Otoya SSL event. I absolutely love this SR because he looks funny af. I made numerous memes of him 💀One of the edits is the legendary Hamji lmao

The 2nd Reiji UR event I tiered is the Treasure Hunter Reiji. Imo the card is kinda meh but NEVER... was in the list. Also it was the first time I participated in a nametrain. I believed I was Rank 6 in the picture lmao

The next event is FAR FROM MEH. IT IS MY FAVOURITE EVENT OF ALL TIME. IT IS MINEBUKI. It is the peak form of event. The song list is perfect with two of my favourite songs, Kisu wa Winku De and BLACK DEJAVU IN IT. The difficulty of BLACK DEJAVU is absolutely horrible but I managed to Ultimate Combo it and play it for hundreds of times💀I love this song so fucking much that stop playing the songs was actually the hardest part of the event, as I was trying to park my score. The Minebuki event was the first time I tried to score park and I was so happy that I parked it successfully. It required some calculations and focus to do it, which I was horrible at, but the joy of score parking was so great that I tried to do it everytime I tier for Reiji events. Besides of the event, the story of Minebuki is epic too. His bravery to emit that he has made an imperfect decision which brought harm to the people, and to try fixing the problem no matter the cost is beautiful. He may not be a perfect character but the way he burns is so beautiful, that I can't find another story in game to top it.

4152020 = the release date of BLACK DEJAVU

I even parked my play count for BLACK DEJAVU at 415 that time lol

After a looooooong wait with some Reiji SR events, he finally got another UR event, Flower Reiji. It is the longest event gap in the history to this date and the ultra short gap between his previous 2 events (2nd shortest event gap in game) only made the wait more painful lmao. Too bad that I don't like that event. The only thing that makes the event bearable for me is that Timepiece is in the list and also it's a Reiji event💀

306 = waited 306 days for a Reiji event

1202 = start of Minebuki event hahahaha

After the meh event, finally there is a HOT REIJI EVENT. I remember the reaction when I saw the event. HE IS VERY HOT. Actually the rest of the event is very average. The story is meh and the none of the songs in the list is my fav. The stats and skills are kinda trash too. But the list is interesting tho, especially for the beatmap for HURRAYx2 DREAMERS. It's like I'm dancing with Reiji while playing the song and it's the best part of the event. BUT ANYWAY HE IS VERY HOT. THAT'S IT HE IS H O T.

301 = some numbers about dart lmao

The last event I tiered in this game is Null Reiji event. He definitely won't top Minebuki but the memory I made in this event is probably the best one. It's the first (and maybe the last) Reiji event that I edited the name train for the name train group. I tried working as the main editor for them before but this one is the event of my best boy. Also THE THEME WORKS PERFECTLY WITH MY AESTHETIC. It's fucking wild to spend 40+hrs on the edits while tiering the event with 6.9M score at the same time but I enjoy every moment of it. It's the first time I parked my score for town event and there's little information on it. I almost failed it which gave me a mini heart attack but I managed to save it with good maths 😃👍🏻

699 = no. of notes for Alright, All Night (PRO)

6969 = funny number for silly Null

Conclusion

The existence of the game has changed my life. I've never thought I can truly enjoy something, and accomplish anything in my life, but this game proved me wrong. I am a horrible gamer but in this game I was able to achieve some cool stuff by score parking and creating cool stuff for the community and whaling 💀 With this game, my life is no longer blank, and I am the one who fill it with beautiful memories. I've spent so much money in the game that I literally don't know how much I've spent, but I guess it'll treat it as the cost for a therapy lmao. I think that I am strong enough to live without the game, as Reiji reminded me of the power I possess that will stay with me forever. Also Reiji is still with me! Actually idec about what they gonna do with him because I can create some Reiji content myself if I really want to.

After the closing of the game, I won't continue playing on Japan server as the experience will never be the same. I can't read Japanese so I won't be able to understand the stories in game or communicate with other gamers. It's pointless to just play for the sake of playing so I believe this is the end of my journey with Shining Live and the beginning of money saving thank god.

Here is my player info. A proof that I existed in this wonderful game. Minebuki as my pfp as he is my favourite. White Day Reiji badge as he is the one who welcomed me to the game. Cruise Reiji for yellow as he is my favourite bday card. White Day Reiji for Red. Null Reiji as Blue as I enjoyed so much in his event.

There are so many cards that I love but there are so little space in the player info... There are so many things I want to try in the game, like Rainbow Crowning more Reiji UR and doing 10M in a Reiji event, but there was so little time for me and the game. But the short period of time, the 2 years (or maybe 3 idk maths lol) I spent with Shining Live is long enough leave so many beautiful memories in my mind, and much more beautiful things can grow from them...

Thank you Shining Live.

Goodbye.

[worldwidebt7]

Hell[L]ing || 05

§ — Pairing: Chimera!Taehyung x Empath!Reader (with mentions of Reader x Other Members)

§ — Genre: SciFi AU, fluff, angst, smut, horror

§ — Wordcount: 2,974

§ — Rating: M § — Warnings: None. Just an awkward AF encounter.

§ — A/N: Gone for so long, but not forgotten! I love this story, and I don't plan on letting it die any time soon~ I need a manager-- I've got way too many projects! Anyone want the job? LOL

Summary: You moved out into the wilderness to live a calm, peaceful life. Your abilities made it impossible to live in crowded places, so even if you wanted to you couldn’t return. But when something happens outside the realm of even your normalcy, you start to think that maybe having everyone else’s emotions bearing down on you isn’t such a bad alternative to being trapped with your own.

You were definitely beginning to question your decision-making skills, or lack thereof. Any sane person would never let a man they met once into their isolated house on a rainy day— it was an exact recipe that stereotypical horror films follow. And you were to be the soon-hunted lead female. Whether or not you get killed milliseconds before the credits started rolling depended on how you treated the situation henceforth.

Standing in your bathroom, you contemplated your options as your fingers ran over the plush fabric of the grey towel you intended to hand to the soaking wet gentleman currently standing in your kitchen. First, you could continue on the path you were currently set on: heading back down the stairs to help the supposedly sick boy dry off and offer him a warm drink. This would most certainly end poorly if your expertise of the genre was anything to go by. Assist the helpless stranger, let his quirky personality charm you, then die. Not preferable.

You could, adversely, call the police or one of your friends to come save you and distract your company until they arrived. This would be the smarter move, though you have your doubts that the situation warrants such a reaction. Besides what your extrasensory abilities allowed you to perceive, your neighbor has done nothing to make you think he holds any ill-will against you. Having him forcibly removed from your home would only certainly sour his opinion of you.

Your last option, from what you could organize from your frayed thoughts, was to expedite option one, in which you dried him off, warmed him up, and sent him on his way before any amount of intimate time passed. You figured that this was the best option, even if it weren’t particularly the safest. You had no reason to suspect the boy of any violence or threat, but he made you inherently uncomfortable either way.

His emotions began to blip at a faster pace— nervousness, worry— were the rate of his emotional markers linked to his heart beat? That was something new. Well, everything dealing with this boy’s emotions was new to you. Taking a deep breath, you turn and leave the bathroom. You suppose your prolonged absence has made your guest begin to panic, and you really didn’t want to have his sporadic emotions to get more intense; you were already feeling the beginnings of a headache.

Scurrying down your wooden stairs, you felt his interest perk at the sound of your footsteps. Anticipation— but gentle anticipation. Warm, welcoming; you almost wanted to hurry to put yourself back in his line of vision, and as you stepped back into the kitchen, you felt the wave of relief that washed over him. His accelerated heartbeat kept the bursts of emotions abrupt, but they were soothed, a welcomed change from the abrasive concern.

His eyes were locked onto your form, taking in every miniscule movement you made. You made sure to avoid his gaze and cleared your throat as you stepped in front of him.

“Here,” You held out the towel for him to take. “You should probably dry yourself off…” He eyed the soft fabric for a moment, a shy gratefulness melding with slight apprehension. You sent him a warm smile when a few moments had passed and nudged the towel towards him a bit. With that, he tentatively reached forward and gently took the cloth from you. You retreated your hand swiftly and as he brought the towel to his chest you sidestepped towards the counter. “I’ll make something warm for you to drink, yeah?”

As you busied yourself, you didn’t see him lift the towel and softly burry his face in it, drying himself. You did, however feel the warm glow of comfort sprout in the air like quickly blooming flowers. With your back turned to him, you didn’t bother hiding the pleased look on your face. Finally— you thought— an emotion from him that didn’t barrage your senses.

With water heating up in your kettle and the packet of cocoa already retrieved from the pantry, you no longer had anything to distract yourself with. In an attempt to make this spontaneous visit less awkward and less unnerving, you turned to make light conversation. To begin, what on earth the sickly boy was doing wandering about in the rain.

“So…” you started, catching his attention immediately, his nerves returning. “Your name is Taehyung, right?” you received a delayed nod. “I’m Y/N. Ah, though you already knew that, right? From last time?” Another nod. Talkative, this one. You supposed you should get straight to your most burning question at the moment. “I gotta ask… I did extend the invitation, but… is there something I can do for you?” He visibly stiffened and the blips of his anxiety sped up with what, you were sure of now, was his increased heart rate. Oh, the headache. Perhaps you should rephrase. “W-what I mean is, since your health is poor, why’d you come over when it was raining of all days?” This seemed to calm him, as the frequency of his beats trickled off.

He didn’t answer you for a long while, opting to look down at the floor in contemplation. You did your best not to stare— you didn’t want to spike his unease once more— but you were finding it difficult to do so, seeing as the wet boy in your kitchen, now that he was up close and personal, was too beautiful to bear. Your previous appraisal of his other-worldly appearance was far too lenient; how could anyone like him possibly exist at all? And his dark hair— curled more from its damp state and hanging further over his obsidian eyes— only seemed to add more depth to the perfection of the features it framed. How utterly unfair it was for someone to be so beautiful.

“I—” you just about jumped at his voice, breaking the silence, but not cutting through it. The melodic depth of it filled the room. “…bad day…” he was pensive with his words— giving you all you needed to know and no more. There was no deception to him, but he was clearly safeguarding information, keeping it locked away.

You gave a thoughtful hum, but you couldn’t hide the shock and confusion you felt. He came to you because he was having a bad day? Someone he didn’t know and only met once before? You couldn’t help but feel this was… odd, for lack of a better term. And he seemed to realize this as well, as his eyes never once met yours. His apprehension was understandable now, and his fear of being turned away— he really had no reason to be here.

Still, your heart warmed at the thought that he had come to you for comfort, as unexpected as it was. And, slowly, the majority of your concerns over the situation began to melt away. Yes, he was a strange boy, yes, there were things about him that were odd and seemed unnatural, but… there was nothing aggressive, or dangerous about his intentions. He seemed more like a child than anything else with how small his large frame looked; like he was trying to curl in on himself.

A sharp whistle pierced the gentle atmosphere and both you and Taehyung jumped nearly out of your skin. You recognized the sound as your kettle quickly after having your nerves fried, but your guest was immediately on the defensive, his fear refusing to subside as he took a pathetic few steps back from the offending object.

“Sorry!” you called out to him and you turned on your heel to remove the kettle from the stove. His confusion was evident, and mixed with the other strong emotions bombarding you, you were almost inclined to say that he’s never heard the shriek of a kettle. The noise subsided as you lifted the item off the heat, turning the burner off in the process. “Phew— that scared me!” At your laughter, his confusion turned into curiosity, and his fear ebbed away.

You emptied the chocolate powder into one of your mugs and promptly drowned it in the hot water from your kettle, the smell of hot chocolate immediately permeating through the air. You se the kettle back down on the stove before stirring the drink, your neighbor’s curiosity only heightening. You turned back to him and beckoned him forward, placing the mug of hot chocolate on the island in front of him in hopes he would sit. When he did nothing, a breathy chuckle escaped you.

“You can sit down if you’d like,” you offered, hoping he would oblige. You realize that this directly opposes your original plan to make this visit as quick as possible, but his uncertainty had found it’s way into your heart. You weren’t sure if it was because he was often ill, but he seemed so unsure of how to interact with other people, like he hasn’t had much social interaction before. It was endearing in a way, and even though there were still some things that concerned you about the readings you got from him, you felt inclined to spend time trying to unravel him.

Or you could simply be suffering from your own solitude.

Either way, you smiled when he slowly made his way over to the counter and seated himself on the stool that the mug sat directly in front of. He still had the towel you had offered him clutched to his chest and seemingly hadn’t dried much more than his face with it. Cautiously, he eyed the mug of steaming liquid.

“Do you not like hot chocolate?” you asked, suddenly aware that it’s possible for people to have different tastes. Or worse, because of his illness he couldn’t drink it at all? “Oh, I’m sorry! Can you even drink hot chocolate? I should have asked before. If there’s something else—”

“No! I—” you blinked, surprised. It was the first time he had spoken so suddenly or with so much conviction. He seemed shocked by his own voice, and immediately receded into himself, almost as if berating himself for his outburst. He chewed on his lower lip, “…I’ve never had it… hot chocolate…” you blinked again.

“Really?” He nodded, and his hand slid forward, reaching for the mug. When you saw his fingers wrap around it, you realized how large his hands were— yet another ridiculously beautiful feature as you couldn’t help but think about how elegant the lines of hands were curved around the dwarfed mug. If he noticed you staring, nothing in his demeanor showed any discomfort at the attention, but you were quick to correct yourself when you became aware of it yourself. “Are you sure you can have it…?” you didn’t want to accidentally poison your neighbor if he was allergic to chocolate. A shake of his head did little to reassure you.

“I’ll drink it,” he said with confidence. He raised the mug, his other hand joining the action as the ceramic was completely eclipsed. It took you a moment to realize that he may not be are of the heat.

“Oh, wait, that’s hot—!” you were too late, and you watched him take a rather large sip from the cup. You blanched, expecting him to burn himself, but he only lowered the mug back to the counter, both hands still firmly encasing it, seemingly unaffected. Huh. Well then, wasn’t that odd?

After a moment of deliberation, excitement burst through the air and Taehyung’s eyes lit up. He quickly took another sip of the drink and from the rush of emotions you knew he was absolutely thrilledby the taste of hot chocolate. You stifled a good-natured laugh, not wanting him to think you were making fun of him, and settled for an endeared smile as you leaned forward to rest against the island counter. Why were you so scared of this boy again?

“I’m going to guess that you like it?” you couldn’t help but tease him a little, and, thankfully, he didn’t seem to take offense; he was far too enraptured by the sweet beverage before him. He nodded happily.

“Thank you,” he said, cheer popping in the air around him, making you want to squeal at his child-like wonder at something so simple. Still, you had to wonder— how is it that he never had hot chocolate before? And if he hadn’t had something so elementary, what else had he not been privy to and why? You suppose you could chalk it up to him being ill often, and if such is the case, he must have been sick for much of his life. You wondered who had been in charge of his health all these years and why they refused him such small pleasures such as hot chocolate, making you again second-guess giving him the cocoa treat. But the pure bliss he exhibited bade you believe that just one cup wouldn’t hurt and that it was surly worth it.

He had been so wrought with nerved when he appeared at your back door that any positive change in his emotions was a welcome one. Perhaps he would leave having a better day than when he came. You could only hope.

“I’m glad you like it,” you said simply before moving on, trying to keep whatever stilted conversation you had going. “I’m surprised you came here if you were having a bad day… did you and Seokjin fight?”

At the mention of his roommate’s name, he stiffened, some of his anxiety returning. You must have hit the nail on the head, because as his fingers fidgeted around the mug he looked off to the side towards the floor. You felt bad immediately, not wanting to sour his mood again.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t pry,” you straightened a bit at your mistake, readying to correct yourself if given the opportunity. “If you want to talk about it, um…” What could you offer him, honestly? Why would he divulge the details of his roommate quarrel with you? He barely knew you. Still, he did come to you— as a source of comfort, as a distraction, or as escape, you’ll never know. You did know that you may be his only choice out here in the remote wilderness and so, to an extent, you felt a certain obligation to offer him support. After all, should something happen to you, he and Seokjin were the only ones in miles that could aid you, and you could only hope that they would do so without hesitation.

However, he shook his head, signaling that he didn’t wish to divulge the issue. More mystery then, it seems. You nodded and gave no further attempts to interrogate despite the burning questions that nagged at you, knowing full well about the need to keeps certain things to yourself.

“I…” he began, suddenly standing. Startled, you too took a step back from the counter as well. “I should go…” he placed your towel on the island next to the half-empty mug after a long moment, seemingly disappointed to part with it. Taehyung hesitated, but eventually took a large step away from where he had been seated and began to make his way to the back door.

His sudden, hurried departure had you reeling. You had wanted a brief, eventless encounter, so letting him leave now would probably be for the best. Yet, despite all your concerns, you were still opening your mouth.

“W-wait!” you called after him, stepping out from behind your countertop. He immediately halted in his tracks, shifting slightly so he could see you out of his peripherals. His uncertainty thrummed in the air like drums, making your otherwise silent home ridiculously loud. “The… the rain…” For the first time in the last ten minutes, you peered outside your window, expecting to see the previous torrential downpour. However, to your surprise, it had calmed to a drizzle at some point during your neighbor’s momentary visit. When had that happened?

Sensing that you didn’t have anything else to say to him, Taehyung continued his journey to your glass doors slowly. You watched him with a rock settling into your stomach— this didn’t feel right to you, and as he opened the door, you called out to him again.

“Taehyung,” this time, at the sound of his name leaving your mouth, his head spun around completely, eyes wide and panic vibrating from him. No, not panic; something akin to panic, but not quite so negative. Something warmer… ugh, trying to decipher his emotions was like learning a new language. So, instead of feeding into your present headache, you continued, immediately embarrassed by what you say. “Come back again sometime… we can have lunch.” You felt the heat in your face from your blush and then, unexpectedly, it was as if the very space around you was placed under a heat lamp and Taehyung’s not-panic set your nerves on fire. What the hell was going on?

You didn’t have time to dwell, because as soon as the shocked, anxious boy recovered, he nodded quickly and slipped out the door, taking his blips of emotions and quickly disappearing into the tree line separating your properties.

With his departure, you could finally breathe, and you found that a tightness that you hadn’t been aware of begun to unravel in your chest. Your migraine, which you were hoping would leave with your neighbor, proceeded to hammer away in your skull. As much as you wanted to dissect your more than odd exchange with the onyx-eyed boy, you couldn’t imagine thinking about much of anything in your present condition.

“Bath…” you groaned, massaging your temples and groggily treaded your way upstairs to soak away the pain in scalding, fragrant water.

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