#LOVER YOU'RE THE ONE TO BLAME ALL THAT YOURE DOING CAN YOU HEAR THE VIOLENCE?????

[trafalgarlogy]

If you do yandere had cannons could you please do some with sae with a darling that has the personality of yui from diabolic lovers if you're not too busy

sure!!💕

☰ WEIRD GIRL - SAE ITOSHI

CUSTOMER . @kiannas-stuff TW . Possessiveness, Violence, Reader's personality is kinda like Yui Komori, more like a softie reader? , Manga spoiler, Cringy Writing, Manga events included, Fem! Reader

⊹. . How Did You Meet ?

‎‧₊˚ Sae Itoshi, the Soccer Genius of all of Japan lost to Team " Blue Lock ", had shaken the corners of the nation more than those present in the stadium, and this shocking event became a headline of various news platforms. ‧₊˚ he didn't care much about it in any way as he still believed he was far superior to them for all he could blame was the bunch of weaklings on the team, who let him down. ‧₊˚ he scrolled through the headlines with a tired look on his face, a sigh escaped his lips as he threw his phone to the corner of the bed carelessly, he got up to take his wallet and keys of his manor moving outside in the cold weather. ‧₊˚ He quietly walked to a local convenience store nearby his house, entering the store he was greeted by many stunned faces just looking at him, scoffing them off. ‧₊˚ strolling through the area with his usual poker face, without even realizing his teal eyes caught the view of a (h/c)-ette girl struggling as her hands tried to reach the top of the rack to get something. ‧₊˚ he quietly approached her and raised his hands to get the item that her small hands were struggling to get for so long, he turned towards her to meet the gorgeous face of the girl which he couldn't help but admire. ‧₊˚ The anonymous girl waved her hand in front of his face getting him back into reality, "sir?...are you alright", Sae blinked twice in confusion and turned red in embarrassment, he threw the item into her hands and rushed to another corner, leaving the girl standing there in confusion. ‧₊˚ after a while, he went to the counter with a can of energy drink, placed it on the desk, and the employee got and grab the can to scan the code as Sae quietly watched him, "that'd be 150 yen", he took out his wallet and placed a 1000 yen note making the employee's jaw drop "keep the change." he said walking out of the shop. ‧₊˚ He walked outside the shop to hear the employee scream "THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING!", rolling his eyes as he kept walking, "Sir!" a familiar voice from behind stopped his steps, turning around he saw her again, her panting heavily with her hands on her knees and him glaring at her, he spoke "What...?" ‧₊˚ "Well, I wanted to say Thank you cause you helped me back there," the girl said standing up straight after catching some breath, "and so you took the struggles to catch with me to say this?..." a disgusted look formed on his face, "well yeah! of course, well I guess I'm done here...now I'm going to take my leave" (h/c)-ette bowed and took a turn to leave, "Hey! wait..." the girl turned her head around with one of her eyebrows raised, "Well nevermind...you can go..." Sae said with a sigh. ‧₊˚ "Oh ok...well let's meet some other day!" the girl replied with a smile, the response stunned Sae for a moment, "Sure..." said in a low voice with sarcasm, "btw I'm (Name), remember me ok!" waving a bye before running away. ‧₊˚ "(Name)...", "What a weird girl..." he rolled his eyes.

⊹. . Aftermath

‧₊˚ At first Sae thought you were someone weird for how casually you talked to him in your first meeting. Though, your personality didn't fail to amaze him. ‧₊˚ this simple thought of you took turns into becoming an obsession, how can just a local girl like you, who he met at a convenience store just drive him insane in just a single meeting. ‧₊˚ He didn't know anything about you other than your name, he would always look forward for he'd bump into you again but, this time never let you go ‧₊˚ Well this time it seemed like god was on his side, and he finally found you, as much as he was happy, he was jealous at the same time with the view of you being with some other guy/girl other than him. (chill that person is not your s/o , just a friend of yours) ‧₊˚ but he was a guy who was just too spoiled from a very young age, if he wants something he gets it no matter what. and you are no exception ‧₊˚ in his opinion you were a play hard, who was trying to ignore the fact he is an international level soccer player, and that he was known worldwide, but little did he know that you didn't even know a single thing about soccer. ‧₊˚ The more he got to know you, the more he realized how naive, caring and innocent you were, there was something about you that made him fall for you harder day by day. ‧₊˚ He loved every single thing about you, that kind personality of you to help anyone in need, you were such a pure soul he thought he swore that he wouldn't let anyone ruin you, he wanted to take you somewhere no soul could even dare lay a finger at you. ‧₊˚ indeed you were too naive, to fall in love with a monster like him...

⊹. . How Would He Treat You?

‧₊˚ well in most of the animes I portrayed the characters to be extremely violent to a level that they don't have a hesitancy to do some killing for their darling, but the case here is different I believe, yes, Sae is indeed violent but not too a level of killing cause aside from you he gives very much importance to his career and he can't take any chances to commit something like this for his own reasons. ‧₊˚ Cause first, his career would get ruined alongside his reputation among the newer generation of soccer players. ‧₊˚ Second, He knows it would hurt his darling if he does something like that, and he can't afford to see you cry right? ‧₊˚ If some guy touches you, Sae is strong enough to break those hands and send that guy to the hospital without even getting reported to the police. ‧₊˚ but he hides this monstrous side of his from you, cause he is afraid you would leave him. What would he be without you? ‧₊˚ But here is the thing he is R.O.U.G.H, the guy would leave bite marks over your neck and tell you to wear somewhat revealing dresses to show the marks, as to tell the world who you belong to ‧₊˚ let's say he would spoil you rotten, I mean he is a celebrity right? imagine his annual income, it's enough for you to buy every single thing you ever wanted ‧₊˚ well he finds you too adorable that he developed a habit to squish your cheeks. (IDK I JUST TURNED RED WRITING THIS ONE.) ‧₊˚ He is not too possessive and yet too possessive, but only in the cases you being around other men other than him or else you have the freedom to enjoy anything you like. ‧₊˚ But what if, you find out about his bad side what would happen? ‧₊˚ Well, he would try convincing you he did it all to keep you happy, but you won't buy it so he would leave you alone, till you can calm down and he could sort things out with you. ‧₊˚ well longer the relationship the more he knows about you, so using that innocence of yours up to his advantage he would successfully convince you to stay with him. after all they don't call him a genius for no reason right? ‧₊˚ well he'd force but not actually force you to get a tattoo of his name(optional where) ‧₊˚ people who know you are scared of him, and they'd tell you he is scary but you still deny it. ‧₊˚ he saw himself to be a devil for a goddess like you, who brought light to his darkness. ‧₊˚ most of the guys who ever tried to make you uncomfortable or flirt with you were reportedly almost beaten to death but survived with serious permanent damages, as you could say Sae spared the for the sake of you. ‧₊˚ and yet again things go back, and he would occasionally take you with him on a vacation. ‧₊˚ well he would always book you a front row to his match so that he could watch your cute reactions to his goals, and that you would cheer him which would boost his confidence or more like ego. ‧₊˚ and even when you are too shy kissing him when he asks for it, in front of people, especially his teammates then oh dear, he would get annoyed, that he would just pull you close and start making out with you shamelessly in front of them. ‧₊˚ well humiliation like this is common in your relationship with him. ‧₊˚ Just so you know Sae Itoshi is a monster disguised as your prince charming of your dreams.

THANK YOU FOR ORDERING!

[sollattes]

The oya boys, when you get cat called hcs

warning: the usual HnL stuff, yk violence, bruises, and wounds:)

Hanaoka fujio:

-the worst thing you can do in front of fujio is disrespect his friends, so when somebody disrespects you, his significant other, nuh uh, they ain't walking out of oya without that a black eye and bruises

-makes sure that you're okay before beating the guys that cat called you

-also, make sure that the guys' comments don't affect you, assure you that nothing is your fault, and that you have the right to where what you want

-definitely a "my s/o can wear anything they want, I can fight" type of boyfriend

-"if you ever do that again, I'll put some of your teeth down your throat"

Tsukasa takajo:

-he is normally non-confrontational, but when it comes to you? Tsukasa is ready to destroy himself a thousand times for you

-makes sure that you won't see him beat the guy that cat called you up since he doesn't want you to be afraid of him or see him as someone he is capable of hurting you

-like fujio, he would assure you that nothing is your fault

-will never let you walk home alone again, he would either escort you himself or have fujio walk you home

-"you ever pull that shit again, and I'll make sure that you'll be eating with a straw for the rest of your life"

todoroki yosuke:

-now todoroki wouldn't take action immediately. His no. 1 priority is you

-he would comfort you first, then hunt the guy down like a predator hunting for its prey

-After making sure that you'll be okay on your for a little while, he is now a man on mission

-would let you treat his wounds after the fight tho(if he even has any)

-"if I ever see you near them ever again, I promise your nose won't be the only thing that's broken"

Poly tsuji and shiba:

-now if you think having one oya boy is protective... MAKE THAT DOUBLE !

-though their reactions are similar, their approach towards it are pretty different

-tsuji's priority would probably have the guy that cat called you kneel before you and apologise until his breathe runs out, while Shiba's priority would be comforting you and assuring you though he would also make sure that his other lover woudnt be alone in beating the guy up

-they also would let you their wounds while assuring you that every cut or bruise they got was worth it since they got it from fighting for you

-"now now I can't just let myself have all the fun, just wait until my boyfriend gets here and he'll be the one finishing the job"

Yasushi:

-it's everyone's favourite feral cat time !!

-yall know how crazy protective yasushi gets, so if someone would breathe on you the wrong way, hell would break loose

-eventhough he is already so eager to smack a bitch, he would still make sure you are safe and away from the fight then after making sure you're okay and kissing your forehead lovingly yasushi is now on his way to fuck shit up

-gets a bit sadistic while beating the guy up so you'll be the one to calm him down<3

-"I won't stop until you're bleeding from inside and out"

Nakagoshi ooki:

-now, nakagoshi really matured from when we first saw him to now. He is now more calm and thinks before doing anything

-like todoroki, he wouldn't do anything at first, and the only one that would be on his mind was you

-nakagoshi would only show his sweet side to you and keeps you away from his gang persona, he tends to keep it that way, so he would talk with nakaoka in secrecy about on how get revenge on the guy, he would never let you hear any of it

-would hide his injuries from you so you won't blame yourself for anything

-"if you ever try to take away their innocence, they still have, I assure you you will never live to see the sunrise again"

I might make a housen ver later but uhm hope you enjoyed it😘

[en-thralled]

ENHYPEN YANDERE MAKNAE LINE [SUNOO, JUNGWON & NI-KI] PT. 2

MAKNAE LINE X READER

Warning: anything portrayed by ENHYPEN in this story does not reflect how they are in real life. I don't condone yandere behavior.

For entertainment purposes only

This story contains strong language and violence, read at your own risk :)!

A/N: yalls have been asking for part 2.. So here it is!!! It's really short. It's just to show new life of the reader. Sorry it took a while again😭 (i took a break from tumblr since i chose to focus on my studies :()i hope you like it though. I'm pretty sure this wasn't worth the wait😔💔(+this is pretty cringe frfr) . If you feel like this doesn't satisfy ur imagination, dw, there is part 3.(If you haven't seen part one yet, i recommend you read it. It gives a better understanding of the story.. 💜)

Also... Confession before I die(cbid) is on hold.

Part one here

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Starting...

it feels like eternity being trapped in this hellhole. You were lifeless, laying down staring at nothing but the ceiling. You were indeed, mourning for your boyfriend's death, and his body isn't found until now. His poor parents are worried sick about him.

You were blaming it all on yourself. What if you stayed away from them? Would it change anything? Honestly, your life now is full of what if's. Now, you're stuck in this place, with your 'lovers' who claim to love you sosososo much... You couldn't believe it. What they were capable of. They would take a life-- lives just for you. The fact that they can do it over and over again. It was.. killing you inside.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

"Miss Y/n..." A knock startled you. it knocked you out of your trance, as you struggle to put yourself up to sit on the bed. "yes..?" You weakly answer.

"Master Yang, is calling to you. " the maid informs you. You let out a heavy sigh. You drag yourself to stand up. You lazily hold the doorknob to open it. The maid almost looked surprised of how you look right now, you looked terrible. You could tell the slight twist in her facial expression, you couldn't tell if it was worry or disgust.

The maid assists you in going down the cold marble stairs, she was holding on to you like there's no tomorrow, as if you were to collapse in any second.

You were welcomed by the three guys, sitting on the fancy couches. You never knew jungwon was this rich, you weren't invited to his house very often. Well, its because he'd find any excuse just to cancel the plans of coming over to his house.

Their heads turn to you, and automatically, your body stiffens.

"Hi y/n! " sunoo greeted you. You still remain not to give any eye contact to any of them.

"Hi." You simply say, the maid guides you to the seat.

"Gina, ask my y/n what she wants. " he commands the maid. She nods, "ms. Y/n, what do you want to eat for breakfast?" She asks you. What did you want to eat? I mean, how can you eat such glorious food given to you? Daehyun was supposed to be the one eating this food right now, he should be the one alive.

bang

A loud slam startled you. "honey," you shudder at the nickname, "didn't you hear what Gina said? I don't suppose you want to starve and die?" jungwon cocks his brows at you.

You gulp, " yes, yes I do. I'd be with my boyfriend, with daehyun." You felt the way sunoo and niki's eyes darken.

"Or, why not kill me now?" And a blink of an eye, you find yourself on the floor, and felt a sharp sting in your cheek.

"You fucking bitch." Sunoo hisses, "you should be thankful that your alive." With that, he leaves and jungwon follows, feeling the same rage sunoo was feeling.

Your lips quiver in fear. A tear fell from your eyes.

"Stand up." Niki orders.

you look up to niki with pleading eyes. "Why... just why would you do this?" You ask, hoping you would get an answer.

He chuckles, " Because we love you. Sososososo much." he smirks and leaves.

You were sick to the stomach,because they love you? What. Kind. Of. Sick. Fucking. Lie is that?

[butterfluffy]

Hi fluffy!

Can we get Mihawk for your msa event please

“my strange addiction”

⠀⠀ੈ♡˳· wine drunk, the vampire-like man made up his mind—and that is to finally come and get you to satisfy his addiction..

⠀⠀➧ fluff? | yandere!d. mihawk × gn!reader | oneshot

⠀⠀➧ warnings — contains yandere themes, (slight) violence, and kidnapping/abducting/confinement. get out of this fic if you're uncomfortable with these. mistakes and swearing are present too.

⠀⠀➧ requests are closed until further notice!

⠀⠀꒰ 🍨 ꒱ notes: welcome to “my strange addiction,” which is a writing special i made to celebrate this account reaching 500+ followers.

requested by: anonymous — thank you for the request, anon! i had quite the fun on writing mihawk as a yandere, hehe! 🫶

by continuing, you consent into reading this oneshot fanfic which contains yandere themes, violence, and confinement. if uncomfortable with these, please don't read this fic. also, do not go blaming me, i gave you a warning.

Hearing the unpleasant sound of crows cawing loudly, your eyes cracked open, finally waking up.

“Ugh... My head hurts..” You muttered, a frown on your face as you sat upright on the bed you're on, which you noted to be rather... Unfamiliar.

“Ah?” You gasped out after a few moments, now fully awake, looking around the spacious room your in.

This is not my room.

You said to yourself, holding your breath, clutching the bedsheet tightly when you were hit with the realization.

“Where the hell am I? I.. This place, I don't know this place. All I know is that—” click.

Startled by the door clicking and creaking open, your head was quick to turn to its direction, eyes falling on this tall, good-looking, raven-haired man.

“Mhm, my love, I see that you finally woke up. Would you like to eat breakfast now?” He asked, approaching you with breakfast in his hands.

“I.. E...Excuse you? My... Love? Do I know—wait, who even are you? What—why am I here?” Interviewing the man who lightly chuckled by your questions, he hummed, setting breakfast down the table beside the bed before he went on to answer your inquiries.

“Ah... Mhm, first question, I am Mihawk. Dracule Mihawk, your lover.” Mihawk stated, causing you to tilt your head to the side.

A lover? Do you even have one? Moreover, do you even have a history with this man who proclaimed himself as your lover?

“But I—ah, nevermind.” About to object, you were quick to fall silent, not complaining furthermore to this handsome being before you.

“Then... I bought, well, abducted you here. Had quite the trouble since you were unwilling to come with me, even though I had asked you nicely.” Says the man with a shrug, his answer shocking you.

“You what?”

“Did you not hear me, my love? Would you like me to repeat what I had said previously?” Taking steps closer to you, you shrieked, backing away from him, rushing to the window.

“Don't come any closer, y..you creep, kidnapper!” You exclaim, backing yourself to a corner near the window, processing everything as you thought of what to do..

“That's not very nice of you to call me that, Y/n.” Mihawk utters, taking the almost emptied bottle of wine sitting on the desk and pouring it to his cup, calmly approaching you once again.

“Will you just behave here and accept this?” He whispers with a sigh before he emptied his cup in one go, dropping the glass on the floor, shattering it. Now standing in front of you, staring you down like a hawk with his preying eyes.

“...N..No!” You shout, pushing him away then setting a foot on the window, ready to jump down when—

“Careful, darling. The drop from here is pretty high. I can't have you dead.” Mihawk warns, quickly taking your arm before you could fall and pulling you close to him, embracing you.

“Now, just stay here with me, alrig—?” “Can't you take a fucking no as an answer!?”

Wriggling away from him, you took a shattered glass piece and pointed it at the raven-haired male who raised a brow.

“Sorry, I can't. I'm not, and will never take that no of yours, my love..” Taking the glass piece from your shaking hand, Mihawk held your hand, driving you to the bed, pinning you down as he pricked your skin with the shard, causing it to bleed.

“..So you'll have to stay here with me, whether you like it, or not....” He hums in a husky tone, licking the blood off your skin before he quickly pressed his smirking lips on yours, deciding to hold you captive just so you stay with him, if possible, forever...

© butterfluffy 2022

ʚїɞ · likes, comments, reblogs, and/or feedbacks are highly appreciated!

[hearts4joon]

00. the end. NEVER TEAR US APART.

summary. waking up 300 years later, you're thrusted into the modern world - one where the loves of your life no longer know who you are, and despite being one of the most powerful witches in your decade, you're no match to the newest forces fighting to tear you apart, leaving the men with the familiar faces to care for the weird witch.

pairing. ot7 x reader

warnings. harassment, fighting, blood, violence, g*ns, death!!!!, lots of talks of lack of rights, mentions of sex.

word count. 10.1k

authors note. super important!!! all the members have a different name for this chapter but they’re quite similar to their rela names! just incase, here’s a little guide.

namjoon: hajoon, seokjin: seokjoon, yoongi: yeong, hoseok: hyon-seok, jimin: mi-jin, taehyung: jaehyung, jungkook: jung-hwa.

You run down the dark forest, jumping over every tiny bump in the place you find huge comfort in. The floor is soft, dirt still seeped with water from the last time it had poured, which was just the night before. The air was cold, whipping against your slightly chubby cheeks, numb from the gusts of wind. Your dress was wet from its bottom edges as well and you were sure you would never hear the end of it from your mother, but you were too entranced in winning the race.

“You’re cheating!” Jung-hwa yells out to your laughing form.

“I am not!” You call back out, the huge smile on your face not leaving for a second.

“You’re using your powers! I just know it!”

“Am not!” You gasp out, the two of you slipping as you try and stop your fast bodies from colliding into the others. A pair of arms grab onto you before you get the chance to fall, clinging on them as you meet their touch.

“You can’t blame my wins on my power, Jungie.” You call out to him, panting from the run.

“I-it’s only because you do use them.” He waves you off, bending over, leaning his strong arms against his knees.

You scoff, turning to the man that had managed to grab you. There’s a bright smile decorated on his pretty face, dimples prominent. “Hello, pretty.” Ha-joon coos, leaning his forehead against yours. You can’t help the happy giggle that erupts as he holds you closer to his body.

You’re pulled out of the guys embrace and into another warm pair of arms. They’re not as big as Ha-joon’s and for that, you can easily tell it’s Yeong. You lay your head against his chest, content as he holds the back of your head gently. “I was beginning to get worried.” He sighs, “you and that dimwit took far too long.”

“Hey, we would have been sooner if this lady would just stop fixing her hair.”

“A lady needs to look beautiful.” You scoff under Yeong’s embrace.

“It didn’t matter in the end! Look at your locks now!”

“They’re fine now, my love.” Yeong assured you, patting down the last piece of baby hairs.

You turn about your hiding spot, only spotting Mi-jin, Seokjoon and Hyon-seok, missing Jae-hyung. Your eyebrows furrow with confusion, putting a bit of distance between you and your gummy-smile lover. “Where’s Jae?”

“Not sure,” Mi-jin answers, placing a soft kiss to the top of your head. “He had to watch his little sister for a while.”

“He’ll just be a little late.” Hyon-seok assures you, taking you into his arms. You laugh out loud wrapping your legs around his waist as he lightly spins you. “I promised I’d give you extra kisses for him.”

“Is that so?” You joke right back, puckering your lips out for him. He doesn’t waste a second, pressing his lips against yours. The swarm of butterflies that swarm in your tummy makes you smile in-between the lip-lock. The man pulls away, foreheads touching as he smiles down at you, a sweet look on his face. “I don’t think it was enough.” You shake your head, a feigned look of hurt sprawled on your features. “I need a bit more to make up for it.”

“I’ll give you all the kisses in the world when we head inside, alright?” He promises, putting you down, legs finally touching the floor. You don’t hesitate to take Ha-joon and Hyon-seok’s hands on your way to the cave you all had found.

It was dark and cold at first, but with materials from Seok-joon’s fathers shop, he got to put up a few posts for torches, and you often used your own gift to light up the place, which they loved to watch. In the end, the eight of you spruced the place up, creating a safe space. No one knew of the place, no one but the eight lovers of course. It was their safe haven from the cruel world they were made to live in. A place where you could be yourself and practice the gift given to you.

You skip into the cave, heading deep into your shared space. Yeong from behind you lit up his torch, lighting the rest as he made his way in. Instantly, the cave begins to warm up, the flames dancing around the place.

“Seokjoon, pull the blankets out, will you?” Hyon-seok calls out to the oldest guy. He nods, doing exactly as asked, wrapping one of the bigger pieces around your shaking body.

“Is my baby warm enough?” Seokjoon coos, wrapping you up in a big hug. You shiver in his hold as he places warm kisses around your face. “My baby, I always warn you to wear your warmest clothes.”

“I lent them to Jack.” You mention your youngest brother who had wanted to play with some kids. Your mother wouldn’t let him because she had yet to save up enough and buy him the warmest cloth you could find in your village. You quickly offered up your own jacket and wraps, to which he gave you a huge kiss on the cheek before he left in an excited flurry.

“Hmm, you sure are a nice sister.” Jung-hwa pulls you from his partner’s hold, dragging you to sit in the middle of the cave like he liked. He sits across from you, pulling your hands out. “Show me again.” He urges, eyes sparkling with excitement.

You laugh at his excited demeanor, pushing the blanket off of your shoulders. You hold your hands out further, eyes on Jung-hwa to catch every muscle movement on his face. You can feel the other’s eyes on you, also ecstatic to watch the way your fingers conjured something out of thin air.

Softly, you begin, “Post tenebras spero lucem.” And just like that, a ball of light is hovering over the palm of your hands. Jung-hwa is in complete awe, looking at it from every angle possible, eyes bright. “Want to see something I’ve been practicing with Jack?” The guy nods excitedly, looking up at you in awe.

“Hold your hands out.” You usher him, and he does as told, cupping his hands out like you were doing. You don’t let your mind drift from the ball of light as your wrists move upwards, letting the tiny power of light flutter into Jung-hwa’s hold. The giggles he lets out are heartwarming, making you and the others giggle with him as he twists and turns his arms to get the ball to move with him.

“How is this possible?” He squeals out, the light illuminating his face beautifully.

“It’s just a small induction of power.” You shrug, swiping at the ball, your mind releasing the ball. It disappears from his rough hands, but he’s not upset like you thought he’d be, rather, he’s on a high. “It’s easier on my body to do it with another witch but it’s still pretty cool, huh?”

“I wouldn’t know what to do if I had that power.” Mi-jin takes a seat beside you, laying his head on your shoulder. You chuckle at his words, patting down on his brown locks, they were fluffy and long, overdue for a haircut.

“Well… you don’t really do much with it to begin with.” You begin. “It’s just there…”

“But you do practice it, don’t you?” Ha-joon questions, taking his own place in your huddled circle.

“We do. But it’s just to control them, we are not supposed to use them outside of repressing them.”

“Supposed to.” Yeong chuckles, taking his own spot. “That doesn’t stop you does it?”

A cheeky smile erupts on your face. “I just think we shouldn’t hold a single part of ourselves hidden.”

“Even if it’s the best course of action for your kind?” Seokjoon questions, a brow up quizzically.

You shrug, dismissing the same argument you had with your mother. “Just because we embrace it doesn’t necessarily mean we’d share it with normal folk.”

“Would that not be a part of embracing it?”

“It shouldn’t have to be.” You can feel your excitement building at the plans you had shared with your mother. “There’s a huge number in our community and I think it would benefit to have us all live alongside one another. Have our own land, our own laws, our own schools — a nook in the world where we can be ourselves.”

Seokjoon smiles as he listens to you go on and on about your plans for the future of you and your people. You spoke animatedly, arms thrashing around to get your point across, all loving faces directed at you.

“I’ll help.” Jung-hwa is the first to offer. “I can help build these schools.”

You coo at his cute words, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek. He blushes bright at your antic, lathering in your touch. “I need my strong man to help me.”

“Men.” Yeong corrects, “your strong men. We’ll all help.”

You laugh at his possessiveness. “Of course, Yeongie.” You assure him with a nod. “You all can help.”

“We’ll make it the safest place.” Ha-joon agrees, placing a sweet and chaste kiss on your temple.

“I’m holding you all to that.” You stare at them seriously. “So we can live in harmony.”

“Promise.” Mi-jin’s sweet smile is enough to settle your twinges of doubt. You place a warm kiss to his plump lips, only pulling apart when you hear the sound of steps. Turning, you watch the dark path worriedly, the other’s sharing the same look of worry.

Relief wafts through your body at the sight of Jae-hyung. You smile bright, love swarming through your body once more at your last love. “Jae,” you rise from your spot, ignoring how dirty your skirt now was. You rush to him, wrapping your arms around his neck, and he welcomes your touch. His hold is strong, bringing you as close to him as possible. That makes you giggle, even more so when he inhales your scent shakily. “Are you alright, Jae?” You question, fingers gliding through his thick hair.

He nods against you. “I’m fine, beautiful.” But he doesn’t let you go, the others sharing a concerned look. “Just missed you is all.”

“I missed you too.” You rub at his back soothingly. While you were unsure what it could be, he was shaky and tense. Perhaps it was how busy his job could get ontop of taking care of his younger sister, so you shrugged it off. It wasn’t anything you and the boys couldn’t help him out with.

“You know I love you, right?” His sudden question doesn’t shock you, rather, it concerns you.

“Of course,” you pull away from him, arms settling on his waist as you look up into his deep brown eyes. “I love you too. But what’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

He nods, that boxy smile of his directed at you now. It settles your nerves, assuring you all is fine with him. “Okay… I showed the others this cool trick, come, let me show you.”

—

You held onto your basket of herbs tight in your hands, legs moving fast to evade the man following you.

“____!” Baekhyun calls out to you, an obnoxious mustache on his upper lip. “I just want to talk!”

“My father has declined the proposal. It’s best you leave me and my sisters.” You call out to him, annoyance evident.

You feel a tug on your long skirt, a gasp erupting from your mouth. You pull away from his hold, your dark purple skirt swinging in the air as you look over at him, eyes wide. “You are not to touch me!”

“You are not to raise your voice at me!” He hits back, just as enraged. “You and your pathetic little family have no right to treat me this way.”

“We are not treating you in any unfair way.” You scoff, glaring up at the man. “You harass me and my eldest at every hour of the day — this treatment is only the cause of your own actions.”

“She will marry me.” He seethes.

“She's far too good for a ridiculous man like you!” You raise your voice, anger finally getting the best of you. “My sister will never marry someone as dim-witted as you—” your body falls to the side as his big hand collides against your cheek. You feel the small pebbles on the dirt path ingrain into the palm of your hands, cheek stinging, a metal taste in your mouth.

“You make sure you know where you stand!” He spits at your shaking form. “Your family may play a huge hand in the village but you are still a vile and filthy woman!”

You don’t respond, tears brimming your eyes. Not for the pain. Not for his comments. You’re crying in anger, knowing he’s right. Despite holding the upper hand from the mere mortal, you have no authority and no power. You hated feeling powerless when you held more magic in the tip of your finger than anyone known to mankind. You were a woman. A woman whose family and long line of witches and warlocks have been hidden in the shadows, learning to hide the biggest part of themselves.

And so with one last sneer and a glob of spit thrown into your basket, you’re left to cry on the empty dirt road.

—

Your younger sister prances about the room as the oldest helps her finish packing up her remaining clothing. It wasn’t much but your youngest wasn’t the type of person to fold her own clothes, leaving the others to do such a thing for her.

“What if I meet my prince?” Julie swoons, stomping her feet gently with an excited giggle.

“You’re fifteen years old, you are finding no one but your way to the shop.” Imelda scoffs, finishing up with the last piece of clothing.

You make sure to stay out of their way though, the two falling into arguments often. Mother tried to calm the two but it was no use, the twenty-six year old would never share a single thing in common with the fifteen year old.

Grace nudges you, head nodding to Olive who stared out of the window wistfully. Turning back to Grace, you shrug, unsure what’s going on in your other sister's mind. But Grace nudges you once more, making you sigh softly before scampering up off the cold and dark wood, heading straight towards Olive.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Olive’s attention is brought onto you, a small smile gracing her beautiful features. Out of all the siblings, you and her shared the most similarities, almost a spitting image of you.

“I don’t want to leave.” Olive huffs out, her eyes watering instantly. It makes you feel panicked, taking a quick seat across from her, your soft hands on her cheeks.

“I know, Liv, I’m sorry.” You’re not sure what you’re apologizing for. Maybe it’s for the guilt of staying back while her young self has to work away from her family.

The girl wasn’t too young than you, just a year and a half separating the two, but her sensitivity and tendency to cry at any minor inconvenience made her seem years younger. Your father loved her for feeling so much, swore it would make her the best person she could be but it was in complete contrast from your mother’s lessons. Which wasn’t a surprise, despite being the woman in charge of your education in all aspects, she raised such different daughters, neither of them ever really following her word.

“What if I can not make a single friend? What if the job is harder than I thought?”

You send her a small and comforting look, “what could possibly be harder than running back and forth in this cold forest for a gallon of water?”

She lets out a small snort of laughter, sniffling softly. “It’s not the same.”

“Is it not?” You hum gently, dabbing the last of her tears before pulling away. “You have the type of energy that everyone loves. I can assure you, no matter where you are, people will love you.”

“Wanna swap spots?” It’s a joke but you can’t help the sad smile as you coo at her.

“I would give up everything to switch, you know that.”

“But that would mean giving up on mom and dad.” She finishes for you. You nod softly, looking out the window with her.

“You’re going to do wonderfully, Olive.” You assure her.

It’s quiet between the two of you for a few seconds. The silence is gone when Olive begins, “I… I can’t help but feel like something bad is going to happen.”

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion at her words. “What do you mean?” You question.

She shrugs, suddenly embarrassed at her random admittance. “I’m not sure. You know that feeling before a huge spell?”

“The chest burns.” You nod, understanding her completely.

“I can’t shake the feeling away and it just doesn’t feel right.”

Getting up from your spot you take a seat next to her, letting her head fall onto your shoulder. “Everything will be fine, Olive. I promise.”

She sighs shakily, nodding against you. “Okay… everything will be fine.” She repeats, but it’s clear she’s not sure of herself.

“Olive!” Imelda screeches at the sight of her sister still not dressed for the trip. “This is the third time, go and get ready!”

Olive scoffs, rolling her eyes at the eldest. “And you,” Imelda’s eyes fall onto you. Almost on instinct, you pull away from Olive and scamper back to Grace before she scolds you any further. “I can feel the grey hairs growing.” Imelda scoffs, strutting out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

That ushers Julie to jump up from her seat and chase after the oldest head on, “don’t go slamming doors! We did nothing wrong!” Her voice begins to fade as she walks off.

“Julie, stop!” It’s Olive’s turn to rush out of the room, ready to stop the fight if it worsened.

“Girls, enough!” Your mother yells as you and Grace rush to watch the scene unfold. “I understand tensions are high but we all need to act like respectable women.”

“Neither of you have ever been such a thing.” Jack snorts, your father and him sharing a high-five.

“Ugh,” Imelda scoffs. “And there go the men, without a worry in the world!”

“Imelda, do not speak to your brother like that!” Your mother gasps as if she had never heard such a disrespectful tone.

“She has a point.” You shrug, which once more, earns a small nudge from Grace.

“Would you like me to rush you off to the city, young girl?” Your mother glared at your figure. Mockingly, you give her a graceful bow, picking up your skirt at its sides.

“I would like to volunteer as tribute.” Grace lifts her arm up excitedly.

“Since when have you wanted to head into the city?” Your father questions the girl, thick eyebrows furrowed.

“Since Harriet told me of the handsome and courteous men she met.” Grace swoons at the tales a neighbor had told the family.

“Maybe she should go.” Olive agrees, “it will help her marry quicker and let us stick it to Baekhyun.”

“No one is sticking it to anyone.” Mother scoffs.

“We should.” Julie nods in agreement. “Imagine the victory.”

“It does sound nice.” Jack hops right back in, “can't wait until I’m taller to beat him up.”

Imelda and Julie fall into fits of laughter at his words, “you’re never getting taller.” Julie cackles out.

“Dad says it’s coming!” Jack yells defensively. “Right, dad?”

Your father stays quiet, looking off into the distance. You can’t help but laugh loudly at your brother’s sullen face.

“Come on, don’t be mean!” Grace coos, rushing to the small boy and wrapping her arms around him. He fights in her hold but she doesn’t give up. “He just wants to stand up for his dear sisters.”

“I can take a bulky man better than this twig.”

“Mom!”

“No more teasing your brother,” but it seems your mother is just as amused. “He’s going to be the man of the house one day.”

“Man of the house.” Imelda scoffs, Julie giggling next to her. “Let’s talk about more important things.”

“Like what?” You ask the girl with a bored expression.

“Like your own marriage prospects.” She hits back making you roll your eyes.

“What about yours?” You throw back. “I don’t see you in any rush to marry.”

“That’s because I’m far too busy taking care of scoundrels like you all.” She turns to mother as she speaks her next words. “She came home covered in dirt and sweat just a few nights ago!”

“You promised you wouldn’t tell!” You gasp with embarrassment as you feel your parents' eyes on you. “I hate you!” Like a child, you continue to argue with your family, oddly relishing in the last time you’d all be in the same room together.

—

“What is the prettiest girl in the entire-whole-wide world, up to?” Seokjoon’s voice makes you look up from the small cluster of growing flowers.

“Seok—”

“What the hell happened?” His long strides pull him towards you, holding your face as gently as he could. He winces as you do, a look of fury in his eyes. “Who did this?”

“It’s fine,” you send him a reassuring smile. “my father already helped—”

“Who did this to you?” His words are a lot rougher, something you didn’t get often from your eldest lover.

“Baekhyun.” You blurt out, feeling nervous under his strong gaze. You turn your head away, gnawing at your inner lip.

He lets out a shaky sigh, pulling your face to look back up at him. His soft features stare down at you, beautiful looks making him look as graceful as ever. There wasn’t a single maiden in your village that didn’t go after him — often leading to your blowouts of jealousy. But alas, there was nothing you could do but make sure he knew who he belonged to behind closed doors.

“And your father? Has he spoken to his father?”

You nod, a soft sigh coming from you, shoulders slumping. “He has. He is also persistent in getting my sister's hand in marriage.”

“Scum.” Seokjoon scoffs. “I will happily do something about him.”

You roll your eyes, “yeah? And what will you do?”

“Make Jung-hwa go after him, of course.” It earns a laugh from you, the thought of the youngest of the bunch going after the imbecile.

“Jung-hwa can not get into any more trouble.” You scold, poking at his shoulder lightly. “His mother will send him with his father out to sea.”

“Wouldn’t it be worth it to see Baekhyun finally put in his place?”

“No!” You shake your head fervently. “I need him with me!”

“Alright, alright,” he laughs as he takes a hold of your half full basket. “I promise I won’t speak of it to Jung-hwa.”

“It’s only for the best.” You agree, watching as the older man bends down, picking at a few flowers. The weakest ones, letting the others continue to flourish as they should. “Have you seen Jae-hyung?” You question, thinking back to one of the youngest men.

“Not in a while.” He shakes his head, getting back and leading you to another bed of flowers. “Last I heard, he was preparing his sister's departure.”

“Right…” you nod, “she will be heading into the city. I haven’t heard from him a while.”

“The others haven’t either.” He shrugs. “I’m sure he’s fine. You know how he gets with these things, he’s the head of his family. He’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

“I know.” It makes your heart ache to think of the pressure he’s under, unable to do much about it.

A soft pair of arms wrap around your figure, making you giggle as big hands lay on your stomach. “We are going to be spotted, Kim Seokjoon!” It doesn’t stop him from holding you tight, hands dancing about your abdomen.

“Let them,” he hums, placing a sweet kiss at the top of your head. “Then I’ll be the one to marry you, have the others hide their affection for you.”

“You are pure evil.” You laugh, slapping at his hands.

—

“I’m so bored.” Mi-jin extends his words as he lays his head on your thighs. He had been staring up at you for a while, but you were quick to place a hand over his eyes, his look making you nervous. He gave up soon after, simply playing with own hands or with a loose thread of your clothing, but he voiced his thoughts often. “Let’s go to the cave.”

You shake your head no, fingers running through his hair, other hand carrying the book of spells you and your siblings were taught. Before you had requested to keep the incantations written down, only one witch had done it prior. Spells and rituals were lost along the way of the suppression, but little by little, you and your siblings were working up with a true witch's book. That, of course, wasn’t easy. There was a scarce amount of equipment to do such a thing, and you kept it hidden from your parents which was a feat in itself. It was worth it if it meant your future and your peoples future was secure.

“We are supposed to be doing something fun.” Mi-jin pouts, a whine to his voice. Pulling the book from your face, you look down at the beautiful man. His luscious hair curved at the front, creating a stunning swoop across his face. “This is not fun. In any sort of way. I’m actually very bored — the exact opposite of fun!”

You can’t help but laugh at the exasperation of his voice. “I have to gather at the very least two more spells before I get to run off with you.”

Mi-jin scoffs, “I hate these rules.”

“Aw, come on,” you coo, tapping his chubby cheek with your index finger. “You know this is for my survival. Be happy for me.” It’s mostly a joke, but it makes the man’s face fall, and you’re quick to notice how serious he’s taking your words.

“We shall keep going!” He hops up from his position, taking a close seat beside you. You find yourself squished up against the wall of your room, the cold wall making you shiver slightly. “Let us up the pace here! Your precious survival depends on this!”

A snort of laughter comes from your mouth as you turn to look up at him, “I can feel the love!”

He giggles, placing a soft and chaste kiss to your lips. “I would do anything to keep you and your people alive.”

You hum against his lips, a faint smile on your own lips. “My guardian angel.” You put the book to the side, turning your spot to sit over his lap. “You know… good Samaritans deserve nice gifts.”

He places his smaller hands against your hips, looking up at you with those shiny eyes adorned with the love he holds for you. “And what should my gift be?”

You trail wet kisses down his jaw, his form slightly tense under you, holding you tight. “You can pick.”

—

“I do not like this game.” You cringe as you look down at the lake, Yeong and Hyonseok beside you.

“Jung-hwa would not stop boasting about his jump,” Yeong scoffs, shivering as the wind blew against his shirtless figure. “I want to see what it is all about.”

“And I always tag along with him.” Hyonseok smiles bright at you.

You send him a feigned smile, “what a true friend! It seems I am not one of those because I am leaving.” You’re ready to turn and leave but Yeong holds you back, making you groan with displeasure. “Yeong! This is a death wish!”

“A death wish is hearing Jung-hwa bravely talking about this… all. the. time.”

“I can handle his boasting,” you claim, trying to shrug away from his tight hold. “I’ve dealt with it for years, I can handle a few more.”

“A few? You’re spending a lifetime with him,” Hyonseok laughs. “So you might want to rethink jumping.”

You stand still, looking down the edge of the cliff once more. There were small ripples from the wind that was picking up as the sun set, but the water was a deep blue. Darker in the middle, which gave it an eerie feeling but it didn’t stop you from seeing the tiny fish swimming through the lighter sides. “A lifetime?” You question, eyes not once leaving the water.

Unbeknownst to you, Yeong and Hyonseok share an accomplished look, pounding fists at their win. No one, not even you, could handle Jung-hwa’s tales of bravery. It was cute at times, watching him spew on about his latest conquest, but it would fall into smug words, making you all want to… well, making you want to jump off the edge of the cliff and dive straight into the lake.

“Whoever hits the water last owes me a slice of sweet bread.” Is the last thing you say as you hop over the cliff, catapulting straight into the water.

Your body only tenses up for a second, but the water hugging your figure relaxes you. Despite how scary it looked up on the cliff, the inner lake was beautiful. It was clean, beautiful rocks coloring the bottom, a few of the fish from the shore not too far, swimming about the cooler place. Bubbles flew out of your mouth, hair flowing around you in such a serene way, leaving the men stunned from your beauty.

You send them a smile before paddling to the surface, ready to fill your lungs once more. You gasp when you resurface, hands pulling your hair away from your face and eyes. The two others follow after you, whisking their own wet locks to further show off their beautiful faces.

“I clearly won, right?” You can’t help but taunt them with a laugh.

“Hyonseok lost.” Yeong swims over to you, wrapping his arms around you from behind, the both of you looking out at the sore loser. “He owes us sweet bread.”

Hyonseok scoffs, the pout leaving his face as he watches you two in disbelief. “You two jumped far too quickly! Rematch!”

“No, no way!” Yeong shakes his head, pulling you with him as he swims back, further away from Hyonseok. “We won, stop being a baby.”

“You should have at least counted to three! You jumped like maniacs!”

“These maniacs won, so…” there’s a taunting to his voice, making Hyonseok snap.

“Oh, you’re so getting it!” Hyonseok begins to make his way towards the laughing man as he pulls away from you.

You let the two chase after one another, laughing when Hyonseok swims beneath and pulls Yeong under. You cheer for both of them, making them both pout when you refuse to pick a side.

In the end, the three of you hastily put your clothes back on after laps of swimming. Still wet beyond belief, you all race back to the cave, laughter filling the air, the eyes on you going unnoticed.

—

“Show me another one!” Jung-hwa calls excitedly across from you.

You sat cross legged, a long skirt covering you up completely. It was warm, despite that, Junghwa wrapped you in his jacket, the same one his mother sewed for him a while back. He treasured it completely and it meant a great deal to have you wear such a priceless valuable. But he made you promise a few spells for his warmth and you would be a fool to pass such a thing up.

“Fine… but it’s the last time.”

“I promise!” He stands the candle back up between you. It was old and small, because despite how he loved to watch you work, he knew the strain it caused on your body to speak such heavy spells. If it were any other circumstance, you’d be fine, but with money lacking in your home, you weren’t as nourished as you should be.

Holding your hands out, you speak the simple phrase, “Ascendo.” A gasp erupts from the man’s mouth as the object begins to ascend, spinning when you twirl your finger.

“Ascendo.” He repeats, eyes not once leaving the candle, entranced. His big eyes are full of curiosity and excitement. He holds his own hands out, as if he were the one working the spell, making you smile bright.

Your lovers never treated you differently because of the blood you bore, it was a part as to why you fell for every single one of them. There were times when the eldest two and the second youngest of the bunch felt slightly uncomfortable, but they never outright detested you. It was mostly fear, fear that you’d be caught and hung for what most considered sins.

But Jungkook was never afraid. He stood tall, he spoke with authority, and he made sure to take in every inch of you. He loved watching your face of concentration when writing a new spell down, or the smile that graced your lips when you successfully worked through a tough spell. He loved that the hands he loved to hold in his, could conjure up the most magnificent of things. God, was he completely enamored with you.

“You think I can be a warlock in my next life?” Junghwa’s question takes you for a loop, but the hopeful look on his face makes you pause.

“You will be a warlock in your next life, I promise.” It’s silly to make such a promise, the knowledge of the afterlife was unknown to everyone, even the supernatural. That, of course, didn’t stop your beliefs. Reincarnation was a strong belief of yours and the witches around you. There was no certainty he would become one, or know whatever life he will get next, but it’s enough to make him happy, bunny teeth out on display.

“I hope you’re a witch in your next life too.” He reveals, taking a hold of your hand, letting the candle clutter onto the floor. “We can be together forever.”

You can’t help but laugh, your face feeling hot at his sweet words. “We’ll be together forever despite what or who we are next.”

“You really think that?”

“Of course!” You nod with fervor. “If we’re rocks? We’ll be on the same path. Trees? Our roots will be intertwined. Witch? Human? Well, I’m working on our future, but we’ll always be.”

“I can’t cry.” The man groans, covering his face with his arm. He sniffles softly, cheeks wet with tears. “My mother says it’s not very manly… but I can’t stop.”

You tsk, crawling to him, holding him in your arms. “You cry whenever you want with me. No manly crap in my arms, just us two, okay?”

“I’m crying even more now!”

“I’m sorry!”

—

“How are you so slow?” You huff out, the dirt path ahead of you soft and gooey from the rain pouring down on your village.

“You know I can’t run well! Much less in the rain!” Hajoon yells back out, careful with his steps. His arms were out, as if balancing him out. It’s a silly view, such a big man trying to slide through the storm with ease. But there was nothing easy to walking in a storm.

You aren’t actually annoyed when you stomp over to him, but he still sent you a sheepish smile. “Here,” you take his hands in yours. “Hold onto me.”

“No way,” he tries to pull away. “I’ll end up tumbling to the ground with you.”

You don’t let him go though, instead dragging him through the cold forest. “No need to argue, this is what I say, so it goes!” The rain only begins to pelt down harder, tingling against your skin.

“It’s too intense!” He yells over the pouring rain. “We have to take cover!”

“We’re almost there!” You shake your head, determined to meet Jaehyung in the cave. It had been too long since you had seen him and you felt your soul yearning for him.

“We can’t,” he begins walking down a more open trail, rushing for the empty openings sprawled around. “There’s a small space over th—” he lets out a yelp when he slips on his bum. Your own feet slip beneath you as you try and keep him from hurting himself, your white skirt covered in a hideous brown.

“Oh no, are you okay?!”

The loud sound of your laughter is enough response. He was completely covered in mud now, crawling over to you in a panic, and he looked so silly. It takes him a second to register what’s going on, but he falls into laughter with you when he spots your own body covered in the mud.

The rain only settled a bit, but you were still being pelted, giving you the perfect idea. “I can’t head home like this! My mother will forbid me from leaving the house!”

“And what are you proposing?” His eyebrow lifts when he catches sight of your mischievous smile.

“I think we should go for a wash.”

“A wash?”

“The lake isn’t far from here.”

“But the winds are crazy!”

“I need to wash!”

“Wash in the rain!”

“Where’s the fun in that?” The man helps you, holding your hand tight in his. Even with his protests, he can’t find it in him to say no to you, so he rushes the both of you off to the lake. Instead of being daring like your other lovers, he decides it’s best to walk down the path and simply dip in, which you aren’t opposed to.

Once there, you happily drag him to the lake, the two of you hopping in. You drench your bodies only for a second before coming back up and swimming further into the lake. The water is rippling with the drops of water falling majestically from the sky.

All the beauty around you, all you can focus on is Hajoon and how happy he looks to be swimming in the rain with you.

—

It was an overall tense situation you caught yourself in.

Baekhyun came to your home to be a bothersome person once more, father and crew by his side. The men waited outside, alerting you and your remaining family. It had been a week since your father and mother decided to move your sisters to the city, as a way to help make means or even marry for money. It was empty now, but sitting with the man you detested, it made you feel a bit more at ease.

He stood tall and cocky, as if he knew something neither of you did. He settled you and your family down first, around your table, where he sat with confidence.

“I’m here to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” He prompts for the hundredth time.

You have to hold your scoff back as your father turns him down once more, your sister sitting angrily beside you, one of the only girls who had refused to leave, staying to care for the youngest and only boy. “It’s a nice offer,” your father announces at the mention of what they would give up for her. “But my daughter is not for sale.”

“You, of course, can decline the possessions we’re offering.” Baekhyun speaks smugly, staring your sister down.

“I’m declining the entire proposition.” Your father is getting angrier by the second and your mother takes notice of this, placing a hand on his arm. She knows her place though, unable to speak around powerful men. It settles him down, turning back to the man with a bored expression.

Baekhyun sighs, fixing his shirt up nonchalantly. That makes your eyebrows rise in suspicion, glancing out your window to see the men all tightening their holds on their weapons. “That’s a shame, really.” He clicks his tongue in an obnoxious manner, eyes falling on you. It makes you shiver, the evil look in his eye as he refuses to let your eyes go. “You all would have lived for much, much longer if you simply accepted my father and I.”

“Is that a threat?” Your father lifts himself up from his seat, protectiveness settling in. The chair scampers behind him, making your little brother flinch. That urges your sister to hop up from her own seat and push the little boy behind her.

“No, no.” Baekhyun laughs, carefully sitting up from his seat. He fixes his shirt once more, looking up at your father. “Threats are usually empty. This… this is a… a follow through to a threat.”

Your father grips the smaller man’s shirt, tossing him aside to fall onto the ground as soon as the door to your home bursts open. The men Baekhyun had dragged along clicked their weapons, pointing them at you and your parents. You take notice that your sister and brother are no longer there, having fled in the midst of the fighting.

“And what will you do?” Your father scoffs, refusing to move an inch towards the men at their weapons. “Kill us without a reason? That’ll get you all hung and you know it.”

Baekhyun flinches out a laugh as he rises back to his feet, the palm of his hands scraped at the strength of the shove. “I heard of a few hangings down south, a few women. Witches.” You freeze at the word, looking straight up at him. And his eyes are already on you. “I thought it was a bunch of foolery. Witches? If witches were real, why would God will it upon women? And I truly would have kept believing it to be fake if it were not for your daughter here!”

Both your parents turn to your frozen body. But there was no way. You were careful, absolutely careful with every move you took. And if you ever found yourself slipping, the men you associate yourself with caught you. There was simply no way.

“Grab her.” A strong hand grips onto your hair, making you yell out in pain. They drag you out of your home, stumbling down the steps and onto the street of your village. “___, ___, ___!” The man taunts from behind you as you shakily turn to look up at him. The loudness of his voice dragged others' attention, watching the scene unfold. “You’re the person I hate the most in the godforsaken village! Always walking around the place acting… acting like a man!”

You scoff, “I’m simply smarter than you. Does that hurt your ego?”

“___.” Your mother scolds you from her position, a gun held to her temple. “Stop talking.”

“Yes, ___, stop talking!” Baekhyun laughs, turning to the crowd that gathered. “The witchery hit our village, everyone!” There were gasps coming from all around, watching as your family got gunned down. They wouldn’t make a move before the news, much less would do now. “The pure evil the sacred word tells us about everyday is here! Living within these filthy creatures!”

The whispering begins, pointing at your shaking figure. Your anger was rising with every second, watching as the people you grew up with completely believed his words.

“And what evidence do you have to support such a ridiculous claim?” It’s Seokjoon that speaks, making you turn to look at him. He doesn’t bat an eye, instead, tackling the man head on with questions.

“Good question, good sir!” It’s a mock, but Seokjoon doesn’t let it deter him. “What better source than my own two eyes? Why, her lover, of course!” That brings a new onslaught of whispers and questions. “She whored herself off to the wrong man!” He laughs, pointing at his man to make a move for him.

Your eyes trail the mans body, your heart faltering when he grabs Jaehyung’s arm. You had been so stuck with your parents safety, you hadn’t taken notice of Jaehyung who was shoved to the side, beaten horribly. There were trails of blood cascading down his sweet face, one eye shut from the hits poured on him.

It’s then that you see Jung-hwa running up to the scene, Hyonseok following after him. They’re both looking down at you and back at Jaehyung with heavy breaths from their running and complete fear.

“Just a few towns over did this disease hit!” Baekhyun yells back out. “And us two, we’ve both seen it firsthand!”

“You’re lying!” Jung-hwa yells out, angrily. His eyes are wide, nostrils flaring as he worriedly watches the scene. “There is no such thing!”

Baekhyun shrugs, moving Jaehyung’s tired and aching body around in his hold. “Why don’t we ask the man she’s been spending her nights with? Tell them.” All eyes fall onto the beaten man. He hesitates, refusing to look down at your shaking figure, taking a few gulps before speaking.

“He’s right.”

“You scum!” It’s Mi-jin who yells now, running toward Jaehyung and tackling him. The crowd falls into a panic, women and children running into their homes and men staying behind to deal with you and your parents. No amount of times you spoke, or how many days you spent running around the village full of laughter and life, none of it mattered any longer. “How. Dare. You!” You can hear Mi-jin repeatedly bashing his fist into Jaehyung.

“Mi-jin!” You yell out, a loud sob racking your body as you get pulled up from the floor. “Stop! You’re going to kill him! Stop!” Hajoon runs to the man, pulling him off as best as he could, watching as a bloody Jaehyung coughs from his spot.

“Quiet!” The end of their gun is smacked up against your head, making you tumble to the ground once more, a nauseating feeling wafting through you. “I’ll deal with you last.” Baekhyun grips the back of your head with a fistful of hair, forcing you to look up at your parents. “For now, I’m going to make you watch them blow your parents fucking brains out.”

“No, no, no!” You try and pull from the man’s hold with cries. “Let them go! Please, please! Stop this!”

“I will, I will,” he tries to shush you gently but it doesn’t work. “Show these men what you can do and I’ll let them go.”

Your mother shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. “Don’t. Remember, ___. Suppress yourself, don’t let them be right.”

“Wrong answer.”

A loud yell comes from your mouth as a bullet makes its way into your mother’s head. You thrash in his hold, in complete pain at the sight of your dear mother’s body falling onto the floor. Horrendous sobs rack from your body, not faltering for a second, even when a body tackles one of the men to the ground, another body following right after.

Your father gets lost in the fighting, barely getting a word in before slamming a body. And then he’s gone, a bullet hole straight in his head, a few feet away from your mother. Your chest tightens, all the air around you suddenly gone. The panic is setting and you’re so lost in grief you barely take notice of the way Baekhyun lets you drop yourself onto the ground, numb from watching such horrible deaths. You miss the way more bullets echo through the small village, sitting empty between it all. It’s not until you feel an arm lift you that you’re brought back to earth. Yeong is holding you, a gun in his hand and face splattered with droplets of blood.

“We need to get you out of here.” Is all he says as he leaves behind the others to fend for you and themselves.

“W-wait,” you pull from his grasp, rushing to Jaehyung who still laid deliriously on the floor. “We need to help him. They… th-they’ll kill him.”

“He got your parents killed!” Yeong yells out to you, full of anger. It’s evident it’s directed to the man holding onto life on a thread, but his worry makes it transcend to you. “He outed you!”

You shake your head with persistence, taking a kneel beside him and gently holding his face in the palm of your hand. Your hand is wet with his blood and you assume the blood from Mi-jin’s own hand, but it doesn’t make you pull back. “Jae. Jae, come-come on. We’ve got to go.”

He groans as he shakes his head, “g-go.” He coughs, blood coming from his mouth. “Yo-your…” he huffs, using every last ounce of energy he had to speak to you. “Your si-sister.”

“Wh-where’d she go?” You question frantically.

“L-left.”

“We need to go.” Yeong pulls you up, not giving you the chance to protest, dragging you down the dark forest you love to run around in.

The sun is beginning to hide, its last remnants creating a beautiful color between the trees. A huge contrast from the wave of terrified feelings you wore, but the world would never accommodate you.

“Our best hope is to just leave this place.” Yeong tells you, making you stop in your step. He stops as well, turning to you with a worried look. “What? Is something wrong?”

“I’m supposed to leave?” The fear is evident in your voice as it wavers. “And do what? Hide for the rest of my life? Live a lonely life?”

“I’m going with you.”

“And the others? They’re out there risking their lives for me! I can't leave them!”

“You can’t do anything to help, ___!”

“I can—”

“You’re not using your powers!”

You scoff, sniffling. “And why not? It’ll help us stop more lives being lost!”

“Because you can’t prove them right! You heard your mother! They won’t ever stop, all you can do is go. Go and live that long life you want!”

You shake your head, “I can’t… I can’t lose you guys too, please, let’s go back. I-I can stop them. I can.”

Yeong sighs, holding your face gently. “I can’t let you go back. We… We made a pact.”

You pull away from his soft hold, confused. “What?”

“We promised… we promised that we’d get you away if it ever got out. We’d fight until we can’t anymore and we keep you safe.”

“No, wait, no.” You’re frantic as you try to rush back to the scene, only to get pushed up against a tree, a hand covering your mouth.

Yeong stares down at you, wide eyed and a finger over his mouth. It’s enough to tell you that they’re around, the detested men who wanted to see you choke to reach a breath.

“I’m going to shoot,” Yeong whispers and you shake your head against his hold. He ignores you, your warm tears falling over his hand, going unbothered by him. “And you’re going to run, okay? Run as fast as you can. Don’t stop. Not for anyone.”

You shake your head again, urging him to stop but he simply counts down to three, pushing you aside as he blasts his weapon. But you do as told, running off in the distance, every sound of the weapon blasting made you flinch, more tears falling down your battered face. You trip over roots, over stumps, but you don’t stop, not until you’re sure they’re no longer on your trail.

Collapsing onto the floor, you let your aching body succumb to its wish, darkness flooding your every sense.

You awaken with a yell, loud enough to make the few birds in the sky scatter. The sky is dark, only the light of the moon and stars creating a small hue, but you don’t dwell on it. You scamper to your feet, mind muddled with the thought of your lovers, the men who often fought for your affection, finding middle ground for one thing: saving you.

The walk is long, the sun beginning to peak out, the sky decorated with a pretty hue of pink that fades into the soft blue you loved. You’re still far from the village, deciding to stop at the spot you had last seen Yeong. The intense man who had a passion for the arts that his father made and sold for the village.

Your heart breaks for the umpteenth time as you fall to your knees.

Right in front of you laid Yeong, lifeless and cold. The soft nose of his that turned pink in the colder weather was pale, and his usual rising chest was completely still. Around him laid the men he managed to kill for you. He had laid his life down for you and you didn’t do a single thing.

It’s then you decide to do the one thing your mother and father made you resist.

Walking into the quiet village, you take notice of the complete bloodshed. Jaehyung had been repositioned, sitting up against a wall, lifeless like your deceased lover in the woods. Surrounding him were a few men, a gun at his side, telling you he fought up until his very last moment.

His corpse sends a bigger wave of fury throughout you.

“___?” You’re pulled from your thoughts as a soft voice calls out to you. Turning, you meet Hajoon’s eyes. He looks tired, holding onto his stomach, flinching with every movement he makes. The blood surrounding him isn’t the bad mens, it’s his, pooling out from his open wound.

Running, you collapse right next to him, hands shaking, unsure of what to do with his gaping wound and slowly fading life. “I-I… there’s no healing spells. I don’t- I can’t. Hajoon, what do I do? I need- I can’t do this.” You sob, watching him smile softly at you.

“I-I know. I’ve,” he coughs out, “I’ve read that book of yours so many times.”

“Th-there’s a… another one.” You ignore his words, “here, I’ll, I’m going to try, okay? Stay still for me.”

“No, ___-”

“Asinta mulaf hinto, sho bala.” Your hands are shaking as you hold your hands over his wound, which he had let go of, far too weak to hold them up.

“That- ___, that’s not for healing.”

“Asinta mulaf hinto, sho bala.” You ignore him again, “Asinta mulaf hinto, sho bala.”

“That’s to take away- away pain.” He shakily breathes out.

“Don’t leave me.” You sob, but neither of you can do anything to help. He can’t make a single move, life leaves him with every second, and no amount of power in the world can reverse his dying body.

Your last seconds with him are him assuring you he’ll be fine, leaving you behind with a trail of bodies. The rest of them weren’t any of the men you loved, and you guessed they managed to slip out. You weren’t sure how far though, surely there were still others chasing them.

You spend the next few minutes cursing yourself and the universe. Cursing yourself for listening to your parents' horrible advice. For having such a strength and leaving the mere humans to fight for you. The universe for granting you such amazing people and yanking them from you with no second thought.

Your face falls into Ha-joon’s chest with loud sobs racking your body. You feel as if your soul is dying along with them. The men you loved were tethered to you in every way and little by little were they leaving you behind in this sad and cruel world.

The humans you had come to trust, the ones you grew up with, the ones who danced with you during festivals, the ones you told fake scary stories to during bonfires — they had betrayed you. Their evil souls, tainted with so much fear they couldn’t see the damage they brought onto his world. They took away some of the kindest and smartest beings you had the pleasure of knowing and loving.

Unforgiving humans with their petty prejudices. Unforgivable Baekhyun, who emerges from the darkness of the woods.

He looks beat. His face is covered with dry blood, lip completely busted to match his slashed eyebrow. His right eye is unbelievably puffy, a purple hue all around it. He looks as gross as he always did. And he doesn’t seem to notice you as he looks at his men and neighbors sprawled around the town.

With a shaky breath, you pull yourself off of Ha-joon, face cold from your tears. With a stumble, you make yourself known to the bane of your existence. The true evil your parents always warned you about. The loving parents who died protecting the family secrets, the ones who died by his hand.

It seems even a war can’t deter his horrible behavior. He scoffs loudly when his eyes fall on your bloodied body. None of the blood on your dress and arms is yours, but of the man you had to watch die slowly. He takes notice of your distressed state and he only pushes further.

“He,” he laughs with a wince. “He wouldn’t quit it.” The way he looks at Jae-hyung leaves you unsettled, nothing but pure hatred in his eyes. “Begged and begged to not do a thing to harm you. Quite an honorable man, truly. The only thing that made him snap was to threaten his—”

And that was your snap. Your long awaited breaking point.

It doesn’t take much for your power to surge throughout your aching body and out onto the devil himself. His body lifts off the floor, six feet up in the air, hands grasping at his straining neck. He tries to take big gulps of air, kicking around as if it would help him even an ounce.

All you see is red as he struggles for air, his eyes falling onto yours, pleading to be released. His begging look makes you laugh loud, right at him for thinking you’d do something so ridiculous like letting him go.

“Every life you live will be one of misery.” Your voice doesn’t shake despite the condition you’re in. “Every person you love will never hold the same sort of affection you hold for them. You’re going to beg and plead to any God out there to help you, to help ease the seething pain you’re in but everyone and everything will turn a blind eye.”

His face is red, sweat dripping down his face. The complete look of terror in his eyes makes you feel good. Good to see him the same way he let your loved ones feel before dying horrible and unjustifiable deaths.

“Your soul will be haunted until the end of time for what you’ve done here, Baekhyun, but know that not even hundreds of lives trying to make up for this disaster will ever be enough.”

With a quick flick of your head, his entire being is gone. His body falls lank onto the hard ground, every bone on his body snapped into pieces beyond help.

It’s scary how invigorating it is to finally end him. But it doesn’t help soothe your anger, and it’s evident with the way the trees around you wisp harder than they should for a day with no harsh winds. The panic of your lost loves is catching up to you, finally giving you the chance to look away from what you’ve done, frantic to find the others. It only worsens the way the earth is shaking around you, your entire world blurring.

It’s hard to see much of anything as the wind picks up, swirling around the land polluted with the foulest of energy. Your dress whisks around with the other objects picked up, hair going crazy with it. The little things only anger you further, mind in a haze.

“____!” The voice sounds familiar but it’s not enough to calm you. “Stop! ___, stop this!” They beg and plead but getting through to you is impossible when you’re this deep into your powers.

The bubbling inside of you is at its highest point, ready to spill out into the world. But after your surge, it wouldn’t be contained like those other times you practiced in the woods with your family.

You’re about to let loose, arms out beside you, chest ready to let go and release the most gruesome yell. But it doesn’t come. The earth stops and your mind is shut off as you fall to the floor, completely gone.

taglist. @singukieee

[elk96]

A Battle Of Ideals 2

Part 2.

Pairing: Chris O' Doyle( Free Fire) x female OC

Warnings: graphic description of blood, wounds, some violence, swearing cause that's all they did in that movie, enemies to lovers kinda?, h/c, English is not my first language, and I do not have any medical knowledge.

Word Count: 2476

Chris didn't wake up early enough to watch the sunrise, he didn't even get to share Amara's lunch with her, burned bread with butter and the cheapest cheese she could find. At noon he finally opened his eyes, regretting immediately that subconscious decision. His whole body felt filled with lead, wrapped in needles, his head hammered. His eyes were too heavy to open, still, he flinched when a hand came resting on his forehead.

"You're completely cool", Amara said satisfied. "Well done to you Chris".

She earned a loud groan in response.

"Are you hungry"?

Another grunt, considered to be a 'yes', led her to the kitchen. Shortly after, Amara came back with two fried eggs, and a small, peeled apple.

I'll have to get him to sit, she thought with a sight of boredom, and through groans and grunts she pulled him somewhat upright.

Chris faced her with a defiant look as she held the plate for him, holding the fork in front of his mouth.

"You can't eat with one arm and half a leg you proud idiot. Eat your damn food so you can go back to sleep", Amara said harshly-perhaps she had too little patience for the job.

Chris's eyes never left hers, wide open, and ironic, and that ridiculously deep hue of blue in them, and so Amara did him the favor, alright. She dropped the tray on Chris' lap, hearing him groan in satisfaction, before she put the fork next to him on the mattress with a sarcastic grin.

Chris' hand shook as he lifted it up, and the piece of apple fell on his lap, but he clenched his teeth and tried again.

He tilted his head down so as to meet the fork halfway, and scraped his mouth against the metal clumsily. It was that last sound of pain that made Amara grab the fork from him in a swift motion.

"For fuck's sake, god damnit", she growled and shoved the next piece of egg onto his mouth.

She'd never fed a baby before, but she imagined it would've been much, much easier. Babies don't feel so fucking mortified of being taken care of, do they? So defiant. And if he was defiant about her doing such a simple thing as feeding him, how the hell was she supposed to convince him to abandon his cause?

The phone in the kitchen rang just as she was about to wipe egg and apple juice off of his ridiculous mustache, so he stayed undignified for a moment.

Chris focused his hardest on listening to the conversation in the other room, but his head was so dizzy he only caught a few stray words.

"Alive" and "Of course he made it, isn't that why I was sent here"?

"Not yet", she then said in a different tone. "He's not ready yet. No, I will tell him when he is better, and ready to listen to me. He has no choice, does he? I will, I will. Yes, I know the stakes, that's why I'm treating him like the idiot that he is. And now excuse, I have to wipe the shit out of his ugly face".

Amara returned to the bedroom more furious than she had left, swiped some paper across his face and then, full of joy and cockiness, unfolded a wheelchair in front of him.

"A wheelchair? Really?", Chris complained, eyebrows intensely raised.

"Would you prefer a coffin? I can arrange one if you want. I'll cut the bed frame in 4 to fit you".

"No", Chris rasped out, serious this time. "I'll live to see my home country united. I'll go back".

"Back home"?, Amara asked and blamed the wounded man for the emotion her voice carried.

"Yes".

"You've got anyone waiting for you there"?

"I have my people".

"Calm down Gandhi".

Chris's eyes lit up by a sincere intensity despite the fact that he couldn't keep his head up for more than a minute. He half opened his mouth so as to say more, but knowing she wouldn't, couldn't understand, he decided to save his strength.

"You"?, he asked instead, tilting his head on the side like a curious puppy.

"Nah. We've kinda grown apart, you know? I had a sister once…she died. Too young. But now's not the time for sad stories", Amara said and took a pill out of her pocket.

"You drink that as a good boy, will you"?

"Fuck you-how old are you eh? Can't be older than 26, what the hell are you doing here"?

"What are you doing here Chris"?

"Trying to save my country, girl".

What about the innocent lives you take in the process?, she wanted to shout but instead put the pill in his hand.

"Don't drop that too", she said and left for the kitchen.

Damn it! She had to think. She had to. What the hell was she doing? Chit chat and shit, hI cHriS yOu hAve AnyOne wAitInG foR yOu baCk homE? How do you like your eggs? Fuck.

She'd planned on sleeping in the kitchen that night, she'd even brought pillows and blankets. And now her heart clenched enough to crash her chest just thinking about leaving him alone.

Him. Him of all people.

He's helpless, compassion argued, and before she got more angry at herself, she got pissed off at Chris, Chris who was so helpless he couldn't take a piss on his own, but, oh well…

"Did you take your pill"?, she barked as she entered and Chris flinched.

"Yes for Christ's sake".

"Great".

With long strides she reached his side, grabbed his shoulders and threw him on the wheelchair with surprising strength. Chris was all grunts and muffled curses, but he insisted on going to the bathroom by himself.

Silence fell over the room, and Amara tensed. She checked her watch. It'd been 10 minutes.

"Chris are you alive in there"?

She knocked on the door.

"Chrissyyyy"?

Grunt if you're alive, she sighed and opened the door. Chris had never actually made it to the toilet, he was splayed in the wheelchair, head hanging low, face pale.

"God's sake", Amara murmured despite herself and rushed to him. She instinctively knew he'd be too much of a jerk to answer a question, so she brushed his wounded leg with the heel of her shoe. Relief run n

through her upon hearing the familiar sounds of pain.

Chris half opened his eyes, remaining silent as she slid his underwear down, helping him sit in the toilet. She so much as had to keep him from falling on the side, had to stay there, mortify him. Between glimpses of bitterness, and another feeling, one Amara could not pinpoint, he managed to clean himself up a bit, before being led to bed again.

He looked like a corpse, pale and stiff -and yet he was burning hot. Amara struggled to realize they, him and her, were in the same place, at the same moment. She was left untouched by the mayhem in the warehouse- had let the others do the job, she thought with dismissal.

Her jaw clenched, eyes tentative, she reached for his forehead. The 679th time this day.

"You've got a fever again, goddamn it".

"Yeah, you don't say"?

Yeah yeah, speak while you can, cause you’ll start whining in a little while.

"Do…would you like me, perhaps, to stay here"?, she heard herself say. "-To keep an eye on you I mean".

Chris scoffed, with an exhale that would've been a laugh if he wasn't so weak, eyes locked at her face again.

"I'll take that as a no", she murmured and banged the door behind her. If the bastard needed help, he'd have to scream for her to hear him. Should hurt his ribs enough.

It suffocated him, hurt while he was breathing,his whole body spasming beyond any control. The room was spinning, a bone-deep ache flooded him and he was alone.

It’s probably the shock, damn you, just try to relax, he thought and focused on his breathing. But as the hours passed, the trembles running through his body became more severe, made him jolt in pain and grunt and curse, until all he could think of was the need for it to stop. To relax, and sleep, and fucking heal, if possible. It didn’t seem possible at that moment.

He called Amara, a few times over actually, until he realized no voice was coming out of his mouth. It was all in his mind, and he’d have to make his muscles cooperate in order for her to hear him. But how would he open his mouth, how would he keep his teeth from clutching?

In all his years he never had to face problems like these, so human, so humiliating.

So goddamned weak because of a deal gone wrong.

“Amara”? The word was full of regret as it left his lips. “Amara”?

She’d closed the door. Why had she closed the fucking door?

“Amara”? Please just come here, please.

Had she heard him? Was she deep in sleep or just pissed off by his attitude?

You’re a grown man, not a little child. She won’t come at all, his conscious whispered and the panic made him yell her name louder.

The woman rose to her feet immediately as she heard him, opened the door quietly. Even in complete darkness, Amara could feel Chris’s eyes pinned on her.

“Are you okay, what’s wrong? Chris”?

“I don’t know…It just won’t stop”, he whispered hoarsely.

“It’s okay, don’t worry”, Amara smiled, and disappeared from the room.

“Don’t go”, Chris uttered, too low for her to hear him. He kept begging she’d return, silently, despite himself, his instinct, his principle.

When he saw her silhouette again he released the first shaky breath of gratitude in what seemed like a decade.

“Don’t worry, I’d only gone to bring the painkillers with me”, she said softly and placed a dump cloth on his forehead.

“ ‘M cold”, Chris whined. “It doesn’t stop”.

“It’s because your fever is rising again, Chrissy. Drink that”, she said and helped him swallow down another aspirin.

Their eyes met at that moment, filled with pain and desperation, Amara’s melting under his silent plea.

Her fingers brushed his wet forehead and Chris closed his eyes, her palm warm and steady against his skin.

“It will pass. Soon. You’ll sleep, don’t worry, okay”?

The sadness in her voice made Chris indulge into that physical ache. He dared move his body, only a tiny bit, towards her.

“Please”, he said, more like a muffled breath.

A pathetic whine escaped him as her touch became firmer, brushing his hair back. He tilted his head towards her-a little more to the right and he would reach the spot she sat on on the bed, and he would feel her close.

Amara held his hand steady, feeling herself the trembles that shook him. ,

The same thoughts as every night came to her mind as she layed on her makeshift bed. What the hell was she doing with a half dead man in this shit hole in Massachusetts, hm? And since she was with him, why hadn't she shot him yet?!

You don't know if it's him. It could have been someone else.

Yeah, as if it would make a difference. They're all the same, aren't they?

"If you know what you believe in, then you're truly free", their father used to say, his phrase followed up by some snarky comments about the government, or society, or that mess of a world they lived in, in general.

And she was floating now.

Between uncertainty, fear, and her ever strengthening code of ideals.

If you don't know what you believe in, how can you keep going in life like that?

At least Chris is lucky in that part, she thought through her new wave of melancholy.

But he wasn't lucky in anything else. The fully closed curtain left no light to the room, his eyes seeing figures and shadows as if he were a child. His head felt tight, as if someone was crushing it with a hammer. Continuously.

And the trembles wouldn't stop. It made him suffocate.

“It will pass, I promise. Just you wait”.

Chris’s breath itched, in fear she’d leave again. He tagged her weakly towards him. He needed her, needed her to hold him, to feel her warmth, her calm strength.

“Come here”, he breathed out, and at that very moment, he lost all hold of himself. The tension was too much to bear, his eyes started watering, a sob got caught in his throat.

“I’m sorry. For all of this”, Amara muttered as she slid underneath the blanket. He was too battered to hug him, only so few places she could touch him, but Chris felt he would completely unravel if he lost the closeness. He rested his head on her chest, as her hand petted his harsh features, while the other one in his stomach tried to steady him against the fever, and the wounds, and the fear.

“That’s it, try to relax”, Amara whispered with a softness she didn’t know she could have towards him, as his muscles relaxed ever so slightly.

“I can’t”.

The only sound in the room was his shaky, tortured breaths, and the gentle scratch of her hand on his hair. The rest of the world had faded away, distant and unimportant.

Chris continued to shake, elbows and sharp hip-bones poking into her flesh. The tears ran all the way down to his naked torso, making him crave for her warm touch in every part of him.

Please don’t die, okay? Don’t die on me, Amara thought and soon she found herself kissing him everywhere, his brows, his eyelids, his temples, and when she realized what she was doing, it was already too late for her to stop. Cause Chris had finally found something else to focus on, rather than the pain, and he began to still, and relax, even though the low whines continued.

“I know, it’s okay. Ten more minutes and you’ll be fast asleep, I promise. Your temperature is lower now”, she whispered, her lips brushing against his temple.

The first morning light came to represent the beginning of an easier time, for both of them. His body stayed almost lifeless on the mattress, his eyes fell close. Chris could feel Amara’s heartbeat, steady, and fast. The sobs were replaced by tears, the tension turned into a bone-deep weariness that seemed would haunt him forever.

Amara turned her head slightly towards the window, as noises came from the neighbors.

“Don’t leave me now girl”, he whispered with all the strength he had remaining.

Her hand on his forehead became heavier, holding him down firmly against her chest.

“Sleep, Chris. It’s going to be fine

[a-gal-with-taste]

Reeling (Firelight!Reader)

Summary: Staring death in it's hell & blue eyes, you know you are left with one chance. One chance to either prepare to meet your maker, or do something, anything, that will leave Silco reeling long enough for you to escape.

Warnings: SFW. Gender-neutral!Reader, first-meets, canon-typical violence, potential-slash if you squint/potential enemies-to-lovers, threats, banter, action, unplanned first-kiss

There are three guidelines that come with being a Firelight:

One, don’t get caught. 

Two, don’t die. 

And three, if you do find yourself to dancing along the edge of your own grave while in the hands of the enemy, don't go out without a bang.

In the hands of your greatest enemy, you already know that you have undoubtedly failed your first priority, and the fact that the enemy happens to bear the name of Silco, you know that your end is all but guaranteed, inevitable. 

That leaves you with trying to figure out how you can inflict the third, and if you go out like this - flat on your back, one boot crushing your wrist, and despite your desperate grip on his own wrist, the knife presses ever closer to your throat - if this is how you die, than you want to ensure you go out memorably.

And Ekko had said this would be an easy ambush - more of an assassination. In some cases, it was, with security either in another car or awaiting their boss's return from Topside in the Underground.

That should've been a sign for you to turn your hoverboard back around, instead of bursting into the gondola transportation line mid-air to singlehandedly rid the biggest parasite in Zaun out with an easy ambush.

Bitterly, you wonder if maybe it was easy for him... you certain did Silco some favors by coming alone, and stupidly assuming him unarmed, something you're about to be thanked for with a severed artery.

“I’ve never enjoyed sad stories,” Silco says, almost conversationally. Deceptively so, except for the breathless tone of voice, and the wheeze you make when he lowers himself, knee to your gut, in order to lean down closer to you. “Already so many in our lives, and we certainly don’t need more lessons to how rotten the world can be.”

"O-or... don't wanna hear about the sad-stories you caused-?" Your challenge ripples into a wheeze, not only because the knee digs deeper with the full-weight of the slim man, but his fingers find your hair. And more importantly, the strap connecting your mask to your face.

You don't even have the time to say discourage, threaten or insult him, before it's off and clattering loudly on the metal floor beneath you.

This close, the Eye of Zaun titular features hone in on your fiery expression with a look of upmost boredom. He didn't look like he was expecting anything, yet was still unimpressed, while also not bothering to care even as you bare your teeth furiously at your unmasking.

"Little bug, tragedy doesn't start and end with me all the time, you know," He murmurs, deceptively and dangerously soft as his fingers slowly coil through your hair. A whine escapes through your teeth with the sharp-yank, bringing your face closer, and in-earnest pressing your throat harsher against the knife... he only has to wiggle it from one side or another, in order to finish the job.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid I do have to claim responsibility for this sad-story we seem to find ourselves in... you forced my hand, and yet it's still my fingers holding the knife."

"Saw a chance to knock you clean out of the sky," You snarled, jerking your trapped hand almost in reflex, now that your shoulders and head were involuntarily rendered immobile. "Can't blame me for that."

"No? Well then, there are certainly other things I could blame you for," Silco raises the one-brow he has with a faux thoughtfulness as he hums, turning his knife.

The body senses even more danger than it's already in, and freezes in place as he turns his knife until just the tip runs along your skin. It's with expertise - and a sickening layer of almost tenderness - that Silco traces your racing jugular with the very edge of his blade, only a single flinch or a jerk of his wrist to sever the artery and leave you to bleed out in this cable-car. "Several shimmer-shipments for starters... interrupted business, being a general annoyance. There's quite a few crimes, yours and the rest of your hives', to pay for..."

It's almost tickling you. The way the most notorious, toxic man of Zaun drags the blade back up to flick aside some loose locks of your hair, before settling it on a sensitive point just beneath your ear as he leans out, both the frosted metal of his blade, and the warmth that caresses your skin as he breathes out.

"And make no mistake, little bug. As much as I despise sad-stories, I have no problem with turning you into a tragedy."

Any other would be shaking - and to be fair, your fists are clenched so tightly the muscles are quivering beneath your adrenaline-laced flesh - but you don't cower. "The only tragedy is that you're alive," You rasp, eyes slits as you pant beneath him. Half from the fight that predated this, and half because the mixture of smoke, spiced and almost salty, sees to suffocate your esophagus before Silco slices it open. "No sadder story than that the Eye of Zaun still lives."

"It'll be a tale for the ages." There's a curve to the dagger that is his smile, as the knife once more begins to caress it's way down your skin. "A pity you won't make the footnotes."

The fight - the will to survive finally kicks in full-force, when the blade sweeps slowly past your jawline.

You could punch, but haven't prepared for it, so it would be nothing more than the final protesting buzz of a Firelight, before your light is snuffed out.

He's got you pinned too well, too perfectly to even attempt to avoid the blade, and though you don't want to become one of the many victims in his empire's crusade, you also don't want to be left clumsily bleeding out.

Can't fight.

Can't escape.

But the will-to-live continues to exist, and without your permission, it acts.

With boots planted-flat to the ground, it's not much, but it's enough purchase to brace your head up and forward before the knife makes itself at-home beneath your chin. It's enough for you to raise your head even slight because - realizing this rather suddenly - the warm breath that passes your face comes from the fact that Silco has allowed himself to be impossibly, dangerously close to your own.

A fact you take advantage of, in order to put him at the biggest disadvantage you can offer as your mouths collide.

It’s not a kiss. 

It’s harsh, like rocks slamming into marble, and your teeth sting in protest to the sudden clacking of his against your own - you distantly hope you don’t share the same chips with the Industrialist now. The knife is lax against your collarbone, loosened by astonishment or distraction as you press your lips and opened-mouth closer to the man who’d been seconds away from slitting your throat. It’s not one, but you still kiss Silco with every ounce of passion you can muster, and apparently, it’s enough to still his hand.

You still continue to kiss him like your life depends on it, even as the blade fully slips from his limp fingers, and slides uselessly onto the ground beside him.

You... don’t know why you’re still kissing him. Why you aren’t taking that blade for yourself, why you aren’t cracking your fist across the relaxed-face of the Eye, or why you haven’t stopped kissing his stupid, warm mouth-

His boot shifts off your wrist, and both of your hands - one sore - are now free. 

A solid whack against his forehead with the flat of your palm unlatches his mouth from yours, and sends him off you with a sudden choked sound of surprise.

It almost makes you laugh as you twist yourself upright onto your hands and knees, did he not expect you to strike back...?

Your mask. Left abandoned on the floor, the knife lays between it and you, and it’s instinct that makes you go for the protection of the mask rather than the knife. But apparently, the Industrialist knows your motives, because you only manage to shuffle a few feet forward and stretch your hand out, before long fingers grab it first.

"Damn it."

You liked that mask, and don't particularly like seeing in the hands of the Eye of Zaun. But after such a near brush with death, you decide you like living far more than any mask, and twist onto your feet to sprint to the doors of the gondola. Fully ignoring the shout from behind you, and embracing the fall ahead as you take a running-leap straight out the doors, with a miles-deep drop beneath you.

The whistle bursts from your mouth the instant your feet hit the open air. There's a second - only one - where you are free-falling down, and it's practice and habit that reminds you to bend your knees.

The hoverboard responds to your call, and there's a small jarring-racing up your legs from the impact, but again, habit and practice have taken over.

It's practically a second-language of your body, the way it balances and shifts the plate beneath your feet to twist and dive your way back to the rendezvous point. It's a reward of expertise that allows your hands to do their own work, quickly pulling the hood of your jacket tight over your head in an attempt of saving your identity... a useless venture. The Eye of Zaun already knew your face.

Face, voice, and mouth.

Conveniently, you leave out those pesky details when your feet touch-down hoverboard at ready as the remainder of the ambush-party gathers. The fight with security on lower-grounds went poorly, but not as poorly as your bloodless form proves.

There's no room for frustration, not here and it's a closer-shot than the Firelights have ever been able to manage before. That doesn't mean there isn't a solid-brace of anger lining bruised shoulders, and you share the level of irritation that's flowing in the air between you all as you, bitterly, call the retreat.

It's as bitter a failure as the taste of smoke still on your tongue. A taste you only realize still lingers on your lips when you and the team pull back into headquarters, and you furiously scrub at your lips with your sleeve.

"Swallowed a bug?"

Gods, you wish. That would be far more simple.

You say nothing to your fellow Firelights, though, not during the trek of failure back to base, not as you wait to listen on how exactly the ambush-party had gotten screwed over on-the-ground, and you say nothing at all, when you're asked for your point of view.

"Where's your mask?"

"Strap snapped when I hit a breeze. I have a spare in my room."

"Okay... did he have backup on that gondola?"

"He had a knife. Probably knew we were coming... probably wanted to send a message."

"Right." Pause. "How'd you get away?"

After you don't answer, and are sent away with a sigh and a tired promise to succeed next-time, you once more scrub at your mouth until the bitter mix of smoke, spice and the faintest hint of sea-salt based cologne, starts unclogging your senses.

It wasn't a kiss. But it still seems intent to linger as one - perhaps that's the punishment for not throwing a fist instead, or for not immediately picking up the lack of guards as a sign of him awaiting your presence, and not dumb luck.

It wasn't a kiss. It wasn't, and you refuse to consider it as one... even when you consider it many, many times over in the days to follow. Particularly without your mask, you have to physically snatch your hand down with a dark scowl to yourself, furious to have caught your fingers brushing over your lips as if you could still feel another's.

It's nothing short of am embarrassment when you inhale a bit deeper at those corners near the smoke-shop, and thankfully, you have enough presence of mind not to give into the urge to take a nice, calming stroll along the Alcoves-coast when your mind starts to wander, and starts to think about everything you could've done different...

And annoyingly, think once more about what you did.

'Not a kiss,' You convince yourself with a particular shove on a bar door - not sure which one, but it's open and sells alcohol, so it's a winner in your distracted mind. 'Just a last-ditch effort. A final hurrah. If it hadn't have worked, at least I would've had a couple good stories to tell on my way down...'

A rationalization that's flimsy and weak, but one you stick with as you blindly seat yourself at the bar, waving a hand for a drink, any kind welcomed at this point.

The cold of the glass is far more welcomed than the memory of warmth on your mouth. You'd rather be frigid, and secure in the knowledge that you're stabilized by weak-rationalities, than be left reeling by Silco.

Unfortunately, with a much different, and gloved long-finger hand soon sliding your drink into your hand, followed by the gentle click of your mask being set onto the counter next to it, you understand that you're far from secured.

In the sudden explosions of your ironically blank-mind trying to rationalize his presence, his reasons for being here, you realize it doesn't quite matter that much. The 'why's' don't mean as much as they should, for his reasons for settling in the stood beside you with a thoughtful hum as you gaze down at your mask blankly.

Because, even if he-himself doesn't seem to know the reason he's truly sought you out, Silco seems intent on one thing with you...

"It seems you have surprised us both. You might just make more than a footnote, little bug.

And that's to make this - whatever it is - go memorably.

[miniimapp]

Every Hero Needs a Sidekick - Robaire

Gen ;; Action + Romance (Enemies to Lovers??) - Story

Warnings ;; Violence + Mention of Weapons (Guns)

Proofread + Edited ;; Absolutely not mate, have you seen any of my writing before ??

Word Count ;; Guess bitch lmao

Auth. Note ;; WELCOME TO DAY 13 OF THE 4*TOWN CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN !! Post 2 of the day lmao

I'm thinking this might be a new hero based au :DD

Enjoy !! <3

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈«

You've learned two very important things since your being hired by the hero corporation: patience is a virtue and being a sidekick fucking sucks. Here, crouched behind a bunch of crates crowded near the entrance of the warehouse you could potentially die in tonight, is where you decided to analyse the choices that lead you to this moment.

As one of the corporation sidekicks you don't really have a set hero that you work with, you've worked with many though you do have the ones that crop up more often than most. One being the leader of world-famous hero group 4*TOWN.. Ro.

Look, you're not saying you deserve world fame, or even want it, but it's funny that you're the one running around, kicking ass while he barks commands at you and does next to nothing. Okay, well, he does actually do a fair bit, but still! At the very least you're doing the same amount of work and yet he gets fame and admirers and a shit ton of money and you get nothing? Not even a thank you half of the time? No one even remembers your name yet they can remember these guys entire autobiography because?

All you're saying is if the corporation has enough money to give 4*TOWN their own penthouse office then they have enough to give you a liveable wage.

Speaking of money, you hope they have a slightly heftier paycheck waiting for you when you get back after this mission. It's probably the most dangerous one you've been on yet and you've been lobbed in with Ro so the least they can do is pay you properly for your time.

It's a pipe dream, of course, but it keeps you going.

"Focus, mon amour. If we fail this mission you know what will happen.."

A scowl forces its way onto your face before you're even able to register it and you begin to grumble under your breath, "Yeah, I'll get all the blame and you'll still get praised no matter what.."

You sigh and force yourself to concentrate on the mission, saving your frustration for later.

Suddenly, words start flowing out of your ear-piece and into your ear giving you both a multitude of instructions, "Make sure keep out of sight you two, this is a stealth mission above all else. If you're seen you'll have to take down everyone in there and that's a death certificate waiting to happen. Be careful and we'll see you back at headquarters soon." You hear a click in your ear signalling that the line has closed.. so much for a fucking guide..

"Hear that, be extra careful because this is a stealth mission. Wouldn't want you messing things up after all."

In an attempt to centre yourself once again, you pinch the bridge of your nose and take a couple of deep breaths. God, why were you paired with this motherfucker..

"Being a sidekick has never been more annoying than right now.."

Ro hummed, "What was that?"

You quickly shook your head, "Nothing. Let's go, shall we?"

Ro smirks at you, "I thought you'd never ask."

Huffing out a sigh, you stand up from your crouched position and make your way towards the warehouse. With a short hum you reach for your utility belt, patting around for your grappling hook. See, while you had teleportation as you gift you weren't fond of using unless necessary, too much jumping caused nosebleeds and 12 hours naps. Not ideal.

Annoyingly enough, Ro doesn't seem to share your less than ideal side effects, being able to change his voice to mimic anyone or anything without so much as a sore throat afterward. If you were being honest, you have to admit that his perfect, amazingly strong powers do indeed piss you off, but you're not honest, not about this. Insecurities are dangerous on the field, an unreliable variable that can easily be turned against you just as much as it can encourage you.

You aim and shoot your grappling hook with practiced ease, soon feeling the sudden weightlessness of being pulled into the air. You note Ro following suit, just a second behind you, and continue forward, pulling yourself up onto the warehouse roof and looking around for an opening.

You practically tiptoe over to the warehouse's skylights, contemplating how much force you'd have to put into prying it open. Not much apparently, seeing as Ro brushes past you and slams as much force as he could into the skylight frame with a hammer he got from god knows where with all the stealth of a bull in a china shop.

Let it be known that you'd asked to take this as a solo mission before anyone gets too caught up in blaming you.. god, pay is going to be grim this week..

Obviously the people milling about inside the warehouse notice your.. entrance and, evidently, they're not happy about. At least, this is what you gather after being pushed through the hole Ro created in the ceiling and then immediately cowering away from the shit show that starts up.

Apparently, no one thought to warn that going out on a mission with Ro would leave you in the middle of open fire. Seriously, did no one think about this beforehand? Because a warning would've been nice, just saying..

No time to lament over the thoughts of your agency, unless you want them to be your last it seems. After a bullet skims the side of your face you throw yourself behind a unit packed with boxes upon boxes of what looks to be a gold dust of sorts. Not your problem either way, all you need to do is detain any villains, report to your bosses and then watch a "real hero" get all the praise. No, you're not bitter, shut up, you're just a little tired of being cast aside is all.

You press on your ear com and word vomit to whoever on the other end of the line, "Listen, I think we need emergency backup because we've got all hell breaking loose over here."

"Afraid we can't assist you at the moment, our hands are full until further notice. Keep us updated and stay safe." The line clicks closed once again and you're left reeling.

What in the ever-loving fuck could they possibly be doing that they can't spare one person?

"Mon amour, I need some help over here. I'm surrounded."

You let out a silent groan and teleport yourself back up to the hole in the roof so you can look over the whole warehouse. Clutching at your chest in in attempt attempt steady yourself, your eyes dart around, searching for some sign of Ro before finally locking on to his location. He wasn't wrong, he's completely surrounded and looking worse for wear. Better get stuck in before things somehow go even worse for the two of you.

You will yourself behind a guy to Ro's right, foot flying into the back of his knee as you tackle him to the ground. You quickly knock him out before dodging out of the way of an attack.. this is why you hate doing stealth missions with other people, they always seem to end up in a brawl.

Throwing yourself from person to person, from fight to fight, you lose track of Ro and, despite your complaints, you find yourself hoping he's okay.

As the number of lining up to fight you begins to thin you start look around for him, eventually spotting him behind you to your left. He catches you eye and winks at you as he punches the final minion attempting to get a hit. You scoff and roll your eyes as you duck under a shoddy swing from your current opponent and sweep their feet from under them.

"All done?"

You turn to the source of the voice: Ro. Hes smirking a little but its clear he's exhausted and in a fair bit of pain if the clear favouring of leaning on his right side compared to his left is anything to go by.

"Sure am, you?"

"As you can see, I have risen above all the things sent to try me."

You stare at him blankly before sharply turning and brushing last him and the many unconscious bodies that lay around your feet.

"What did we need to grab again."

You turn and glower at him as he takes an obnoxiously long time pondering before shrugging, "I think they just wanted a report on the situation."

Your eyes widen before narrowing at him, " You mean to tell me that this whole things was practically for nothing?"

Ro at least seems to have the decency to wince, "Not completely, I sure had a good time sharing this bonding experience with you."

You laugh humourlessly at his words, "I can't believe I was worried about you. I somehow forgot how much I despise you.”

You notice Ro's fave brighten just a little before he smirks at you, "I don't think you ever truly despised me, did you? Think wisely before answering, mon chéri, you don't want to go breaking my heart now, do you?"

"Don't push it, Ro."

"At least admit that you like me now, mon amour!"

"..I tolerate you."

"I'll take it!"

You huff and shake your head, using the movement to hide the smile sneaking its way across your face.

"Let's just go back to headquarters."

Ro smiles and dramatically waves a hand gesturing in the direction of what you both assume to be the exit, "But of course, mon chèri. After you."

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈«

Praying that this isn't too shit,, not really used to writing like this,, kinda miss my headcanons but oh well lmao Hope you enjoyed !! <3

[septembersghost]

Hi again! :) I'm so sorry if this question has been asked before. What are your top McWexler songs? The songs that, when you listen to them, you can't help bu think about Kim and Jimmy?

hi lovely!!! i don't think this has been asked actually - someone asked me for an in-character list, and that one's harder for me to place working from their times and tastes than it is choosing songs that subjectively make me think of them! i have my top five taylor list (which could easily expand to ten), and of course cowboy like me remains thee ultimate song for them. and i mentioned silver springs by fleetwood mac and slow like honey by fiona apple. something stupid probably goes without saying ;___; <3

also! a bit of an aside, but in lantern, when chuck is playing jazz, it's "it never entered my mind" by miles davis, and it was SO eerie to me because frank sinatra's version of that song was already in my head as being very jimmy/kim whenever they might separate, because i think too much about things that make me sad!

so i'll give you five modern ones and five old ones, with apologies that somehow these ended up leaning way towards the melancholy.

♥ hate to be lame - lizzy mcalpine feat. finneas (it's always in the back of my mind/maybe my mistakes are the reason that I made it back to you in time/if i could rewind, would there be some butterfly effect?/what if we never met? what if the stars never aligned?)

♥ grapejuice - harry styles (there's never been someone who's so perfect for me/but I got over it, and I said/"give me somethin' old and red"/I pay for it more than I did back then/there's just no gettin' through without you)

♥ hold out - aly & aj (you know I never meant to be a burden to ya/I never wanna cause you harm/I know what heavy conversation does to ya/I wish I never brought it up at all/but some days, I need a rescue/hey you, if you hear me calling/hey you, if you see me falling/will you catch me?/will you hold out your arms and catch me?/will you catch me?/do you think that you're strong enough?/you always told me that these days would get better/but I'm afraid that you were wrong)

♥ new normal - sasha sloan (wake up alone in an empty bed/it's quiet in the livin' room/go for a drive like we always did, in the middle of the afternoon/havin' a drink at our favorite place like we always used to do/this is my new normal without you)

♥ the louvre - lorde (a rush at the beginning/I get caught up, just for a minute/but lover, you're the one to blame/all that you're doing/can you hear the violence?...our thing progresses/I call and you come through/blow all my friendships to sit in hell with you)

♥ a case of you - joni mitchell (you're in my blood like holy wine/you taste so bitter and so sweet/oh, I could drink a case of you, darling/and I would still be on my feet/I am a lonely painter/I live in a box of paints/I'm frightened by the devil/and I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid)

♥ like a lover - brasil '66 (how I envy a cup that knows your lips/let it be me, my love/and a table that feels your fingertips/let it be me, let me be your love/bring an end to the endless days and nights without you)

♥ these foolish things - ella fitzgerald (the winds of march that make my heart a dancer/a telephone that rings but who's to answer/oh, how the ghost of you clings)

♥ you've got a friend - james taylor (or carole king!) (if the sky above you grows dark and full of clouds/and that old north wind begins to blow/keep your head together and call my name out loud/soon you'll hear me knockin' at your door/you just call out my name/and you know, wherever I am/I'll come runnin' to see you again)

♥ two sleepy people - carly simon (here we are, out of cigarettes/holding hands and yawning/see how late it gets/two sleepy people by dawn's early light/and too much in love to say goodnight)

[lacystar]

hey guys, update on my mental health: I'm doing great, but cquackity is so thought you said that you would always be in love but you're not in love no more but honey I'll be seeing you wherever I go but honey ill be seeing you down every road 'cause honey I'll come get my things but I cant let go I'm actin like I don't see every ribbon you used to tie yourself to me midnight we're fading till daylight we're jaded we know that its over in the morning you'll be dancing with all the heartache and the treason the fantasies of leavin' our rules, our dreams, we're blind blowing shit up with homemade d-d-d-dynamite a RUUUUUUUUSH at the beginning I get caught uUUUUUUUP just for a minute but lover you're the one to blame, all that you're doing, can you hear the violence? megaphone to my chest, broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom, and make 'em all dance to it our thing progresses I call and you come through blow all my friendships to sit in hell with you baby really hurt me crying in the taxi he don't wanna know me says he made the big mistake of dancing in my storm, says it was poison, so I guess ill go home into the arms of the girl that I love, the only love I haven't screwed up she's so hard to please but she's a forest fire I do my best to meet her commands play up romance we slow dance in the living room but all that a stranger would see is one girl, standing alone, stroking her cheek cause I remember the rush when forever was us before all of the winds of regret and mistrust now we sit in your car and our love is a ghost well I guess I should go yeah I guess I should go, hard. feelings. of loooove, when the sweet words and fevers all leave us right here in the co-o-old, alone with the hard feeeeelings of looove god, I wish I'd believed you when you told me this was my home these days we kiss and we keep busy the waves come after midnight I call from underwater why even try to get right? when you've outgrown a lover the whole world knows but you it's time to let go of this endless summer afternoon three years, loved you every single day, made me weak, it was real for me, yeah, real for me now I'll fake it every single day 'till I don't need fantasy till I feel you leave, but ill still remember every thing how we'd drift buying groceries, how you'd dance for me, I'll start letting go of little things till im so far away from you, far away from you, yeah bet you wanna rip my heart out, bet you wanna skip my calls now, well guess what, I'd like that cause im gonna mess your life up gonna wanna tape my mouth shut look out lovers we're l-o-v-e-l-e-s-s generation l-o-v-e-l-e-s-s generation all fuckin with our lovers heads lights are on and they've gone home but who am I? we told you this was melodrama all the glamour and the trauma and the fucking melodrama they'll talk about us all the lovers how we kissed and killed each other break the news, you're walking out to be a good man for someone else sorry I was never good like you in my head I play a supercut of us all the magic we gave off all the love we had and lost and in my head the visions never stop these ribbons wrap me up but when I reach for you its just a supercut we keep tryin to talk about us slow motion im watching our love I'll be your quiet afternoon crush be your violent overnight rush make you crazy over my touch but its just a supercut of us cause in my head in my head I do everything right when you call when you call I forgive and not fight because ours are the moments I play in the dark we were wild and fluorescent come home to my heart and maybe all this is the party maybe the tears and the highs we breathe, maybe all this is the party maybe we just do it violently but you're not who you thought you were I hate the headlines and the weather I'm 19 and im on fire but when we're dancing I'm alright, it's just another graceless night, all of the things we're taking 'cause we are young and we're ashamed send us to perfect places all of our heroes fading now I cant stand to be alone lets go to perfect places

all the nights spent off our faces tryna find these perfect places, what the fuck are perfect places anyways?

[greencruz]

dedicate + todos os nossos couples

SEND ME “DEDICATE” FOR A SONG DEDICATED TO YOUR MUSE FROM MINE : ACCEPTING !

nesse aqui eu coloquei a dedicação deles e as minhas pra eles.

YOHAN & GYURI.

mardy bum - arctic monkeys (dele)

well, now then, mardy bum ive seen your frown and it's like looking down the barrel of a gun and it goes off and out come all these words oh, there's a very pleasant side to you a side i much prefer it's one that laughs and jokes around remember cuddles in the kitchen, yeah to get things off the ground and it was up, up and away well, now then, mardy bum oh, i'm in trouble again, aren't i? i thought as much 'cause you turned over there pulling that silent disappointment face the one that i can't bare

sucker - jonas brothers (dele)

we go together better than birds of a feather, you and me we change the weather, yeah i'm feeling heat in december when you're 'round me. i've been dancing on top of cars and stumbling out of bars i follow you through the dark, can't get enough you're the medicine and the pain, the tattoo inside my brain and, baby, you know it's obvious i'm a sucker for you you say the word and i'll go anywhere blindly i'm a sucker for you, any road you take, you know that you'll find me i'm a sucker for all the subliminal things no one knows about you and you're making the typical me break my typical rules it's true, i'm a sucker for you.

the louvre - lorde (minha)

well, summer slipped us underneath her tongue our days and nights are perfumed with obsession half of my wardrobe is on your bedroom floor use our eyes, throw our hands overboard i am your sweetheart psychopathic crush drink up your movements, still i can't get enough i overthink your punctuation use not my fault, just a thing that my mind do a rush at the beginning i get caught up, just for a minute but lover, you're the one to blame all that you're doing, can you hear the violence? megaphone to my chest broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom and make 'em all dance to it

GALE & MAISIE.

stutter - marianas trench (dele)

i know i never make this easy, it's easier to disappear. you said give me something that i can go on together, yeah anywhere but here. and i'm begging you bring me back to life i just can't stand leaving you alone tonight it's too late to go already taken me forever just to try you know one for the money, two for the show three to get ready, and four to go for the life of me i don't know why it took me so long to see. i just stutter, stutter, stutter di-di-di-di-di-did i?

talk too much - coin (minha)

caffeine, small talk wait out the plastic weather mmhmm, uh uh, discussing current events i'll take my time i'm not the forward thinker you read my mind better to leave it unsaid... why can't I leave it unsaid? you know i talk too much honey, come put your lips on mine and shut me up we could blame it all on human nature stay cool, it's just a kiss oh, why you gotta be so talkative? i talk too much, we talk too much

superboy & supergirl - tullycraft (minha)

superboy, supergirl, i've got a question for super world: what gets you through who gets you past and how do you fly so fast.?superboy's got his problems and girl's got her hang-ups and i know that it can't be easy to be superboy in a messed up world these days or a supergirl in a thankless world these days. i said, please don't let them get you down because you're the only superheroes in our town

BIRDY & HENRI.

starlight - muse (dela)

far away this ship is taking me far away far away from the memories of the people who care if i live or die i will be chasing a starlight until the end of my life i don't know if it's worth it anymore. my life, you electrify my life let's conspire to ignite all the souls that would die just to feel alive. i'll never let you go if you promise not to fade away. our hopes and expectations black holes and revelations hold you in my arms i just wanted to hold you in my arms

on melancholy hill - gorillaz (minha)

up on Melancholy Hill there's a plastic tree are you here with me? just looking out on the day of another dream. well you can't get what you want but you can get me, so let's set out to sea, love 'cause you are my medicine when you're close to me.

sunlight - hozier (dela)

i had been lost to you, sunlight and flew like a moth to you, sunlight, oh, sunlight, your love is sunlight. all the tales the same told before and told again: a soul that's born in cold and rain knows sunlight and at last can grant a name to a buried and a burning flame as love and its decisive pain oh, my sunlight

[daisyrandonegf]

Well, summer slipped us underneath her tongue Our days and nights are perfumed with obsession Half of my wardrobe is on your bedroom floor Use our eyes, throw our hands overboard I am your sweetheart psychopathic crush Drink up your movements, still I can't get enough I overthink your punctuation use Not my fault, just a thing that my mind do A rush at the beginning I get caught up, just for a minute But lover, you're the one to blame All that you're doing Can you hear the violence? Megaphone to my chest Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Our thing progresses I call and you come through Blow all my friendships To sit in hell with you But we're the greatest They'll hang us in the Louvre Down the back, but who cares—still the Louvre Okay I know that you are not my type (Still I fall) I'm just the sucker who let you fill her mind (But what about love?) Nothing wrong with it Supernatural Just move in close to me, closer, you'll feel it coasting A rush at the beginning I get caught up, just for a minute But lover, you're the one to blame All that you're doing Can you hear the violence? Megaphone to my chest Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom And make 'em all dance to it

[screamingay]

GOT TO THE FIRST REAL TENDER FACE HOLDING RAAAAAA

[honeydazai]

jealousy headcanons — Arcane

feat.: Viktor, Jayce Talis, Silco, Vander, Vi, Jinx, Ekko, Caitlyn, Mel

requested?: yes! | reblogs appreciated!

VIKTOR can't say it's entirely unexpected when one of the Enforcers starts hitting on you despite him standing right next to you — you do look like you're out of his league, after all.

Even though the experience is rather humiliating, he refuses to show it and instead clears his throat to catch your attention. A second later, he's tilting your chin up with his fingers, and then he's kissing you; all possessive and passionate, his hand on the back of your neck. At the gasp the Enforcer lets out, he smirks into the kiss, amused.

Viktor is confident in the fact that you chose him as your lover, but he's still a little disgruntled; he can't help but be frustrated. However, he'll be fine if you only reassure him a little and tell him he handled the situation well.

“Can you blame me for being frustrated? Of course I believe that you love me, dear. I'll always believe you. Still, the sheer arrogance of these Enforcers makes me despise them even more.”

JAYCE gets jealous easily, there's no use denying it. Still, he forces himself not to step in and instead watches you chat with the guy who has been flirting with you for the past ten minutes. He's genuinely not sure if you're doing it to tease him or if you're actually that oblivious, but he can't say anything without losing face.

Not that he actually has to speak up — it's painfully obvious just how bothered Jayce is. He's standing next to you with a forced smile on his face, his jaw clenched, body tense and eyebrows pinched together, and if you didn't know him any better, you'd think he's five seconds away from punching the man you're talking to.

By the time you're back home, you can make it up to him through cuddles and lots of reassurance. It's not easy for Jayce to be this vulnerable with someone, but he trusts you enough to let you coax him into your welcoming arms despite his sour mood.

“'m not angry at you. I just want to be sure you're not into that guy, you know? Like—, you love me, right, babe? Say it then. Pretty please? Just need to hear it right now.”

SILCO doesn't have a reason to get jealous often. Most people know you're his, which is why it's basically considered off-limits to even talk to you. Still, he occasionally can't help but feel possessive when you're spending too much time away from him.

He's the quiet type of jealous — he won't outright tell you there's anything wrong, but it's obvious in his attitude that something is bothering him. He huffs in response to your words and rolls his eyes, and it'll take a while before he has calmed down enough to talk to you again without an unnecessary amount of sarcasm in his voice.

“No, dear, I'm quite alright. Well? Did you have fun with that guy you were just talking to? Feel free to leave again if you'd rather spend time with him then. I'm quite content on my own.”

Despite occasionally getting jealous, VANDER doesn't want to come off as possessive. He's a big guy and really doesn't want to scare you. Quite the opposite, actually; he wants you to feel safe around him, which is why he, even if he does get jealous, doesn't speak up about it.

However, it's a different story if you're receiving unwanted attention. Even though he's not keen on violence, Vander is fiercely protective of you — if a customer at The Last Drop is bothering you, he'll, uh, take care of them.

“What? No, I'm alright with you going out with that friend of yours, darl. Just be careful, alright? Don't want ya to get hurt. Or, you know what? Why don't you two just stay here? This bar is just as good as any other place and this way, I won't have to worry.”

VI doesn't get jealous easily. She doesn't mind it if you've got close friends who show their affection through physical contact — she's confident in the fact that you're in a relationship with her.

Still, she's protective of you; when a stranger keeps bothering you, Vi is at your side immediately. She hugs you from behind, both of her arms wrapped around your waist, biceps on display, and with her chin resting on your shoulder as she raises her eyebrow at the guy. It's obvious that she's not afraid of a fight.

“Hm? Babe, who's that? That guy causing you trouble? No? Well, if you say so. Alright then. You know where to find me if you need anything, yeah, doll?”

JINX isn't afraid of showing that she's easily jealous. She's simply possessive of you — and doesn't hesitate to make it obvious you're hers. She's got no shame as she drapes herself over you, her hands roaming over your body while she pulls you close to her.

Whoever had just been talking to you usually backs off by then, because, honestly, even if she wasn't Silco's daughter, she'd be pretty scary. Since no one made you uncomfortable, she most likely doesn't resort to scaring them on purpose, but her usual behaviour is enough to send most people running.

“Hey, come on, sugar, pay attention to me instead. Why're you talking to that guy, anyway? I don't even know who that is. Ah, well, anyway — let's get going, darl. There's this new food place that I want to try out.”

EKKO denies that he has ever gotten jealous — he thinks it's childish and petty. Still, he can't help the way his body tenses visibly and his eyes narrow when you cheerfully talk to one of the newest Firelight members, oblivious to how obviously the guy is flirting with you.

He really tries not to let his jealousy show, but he's soon standing next to you with an arm around your waist. His grip is a little firmer than it needs to be, though, of course, never to the point of it being uncomfortable for you — Ekko simply wants to be close to you to subtly show you're his.

“You almost done here, babe? There's something I still wanted to show you. What? Don't ask me what it is, it's, well, a surprise. We talked about it this morning, remember? Come on, let's go.”

MEL tilts her head to the side in a playful manner as she stands next to you — and to one of your closest friends, who had been hitting on you for some time now. You're painfully oblivious, which is why she decides to take matters into her own hands.

She doesn't outright confront your friend — that'd just be rude —, but doesn't leave again, either; she's part of your conversation now, whether you want that to be the case or not. Mel can, occasionally, be a little mean, which is why you should've expected the rude little jabs she makes at your friend's expense. Mel isn't even jealous, she just enjoys messing with people.

“Oh? This must be the friend you mentioned before, dear. How very—, uh, interesting. Oh, no, it's nothing, really; you simply described them as 'funny' in your stories. That doesn't seem to be quite accurate.”

When CAITLYN notices the way one of her Enforcer colleagues flirts with you, she can't stop the feeling of jealousy from churning in her stomach. Despite knowing that it's immature, she's not above being a little petty, her mood sour.

She eventually realises, though, that she's being childish and sighs before apologising to you. Caitlyn isn't insecure about your relationship or your love to her — it was simply a bit of her temper shining through.

“Ah, surprised to see you again so soon. I thought you had, you know, a thing going on over there. You sure you'd not rather spend your time with my colleague? Fine, alright, that was unnecessary. I get it. Sorry, dear. I just—, I don't know, lost my cool a little.”

notes: credits to my dear friend salemi for the Jayce jealousy headcanons bc we talked about how funny a jealous but awfully polite Jayce would be

➛ if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

➛ want to join my tag list? click here!

tags: @my-awakened-ghost @afidiofobia @helloyellowsheeps @yuuotosaka3 @sccarymonster @satoruislove @pastelsbaby @artsyxabbyx @cyan-skulls @arboranimus @marina-and-the-memes @holysmokesblog @twilightdollie @kaaylvst @definitely-not-v @innerstrawberrypolice @misty-q @perylinsus @pleasemakeitgayer @imaginesbymk @meimayooo @doxmino @smolbeandrabbles @darknessbyme @darthkenobii @mars738 @cupcakkesinflatedwetbussy @illicittete @lemzhargreeves @festivalthrash @savagemickey03 @rosepxtlz @user4837 @Nervousartisanheart @mikariell95 @mechmoucha @silcobrainrot @medeaa5

[kenny-the-kitten]

Jarful of Bitterness(Cassandra Dimitrescu x Fem!Reader)

Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Minor Character Death.

Prompt: There's always things you learn when your girlfriend is a homicidal vampire.

Alternatively- me projecting personality on a character I know little more than nothing about because I'm in love.

There are the basic things - and not to mention useful, the way to properly bleed out and string up a human carcass. You know the tenderest places on a body, you've seen each separate category of flesh carved out(Cassandra had been so excited about showing you her knowledge and skills, later you didn't have the heart to say how you'd puked out your lunch after). The way a person looks before they die. The last breath leaving the lungs, the way the body twitches and finally stills.

Then there's the less basic stuff - the various pleadings and gasping promises that accompany a person when they know they are about to die(the pleas of the maiden who died not more than an hour ago keep ringing in your ear still).

But when your lover is a sadistic psycho you get used to such things. Now, you barely move a muscle, much less flinch when you see and hear such things. All of these things are deep-seated in this way of life - the one you chose.

Or so you thought.

The oh-so-fresh epiphany happened this evening in Cassandra's chamber. The ill-fated maiden had accidentally spilled 'wine' on Cassandra. The girl was new here, and unused to everything that was the custom in the castle(how could you blame her? Cassandra had the same effect on you the first time you met her). Scared, shaking like a leaf the glass had slipped from her hand and the content had splattered onto the black material of Cassandra's dress.

Cassandra wasn't even angry at the girl - you could see it in her eyes, there was only amuse present as 'please' and 'sorry' spilled from the girl's lips. She was bored and this was good enough reason to have a toy to torture(not that she ever needed reason for the homicides, the 'it was actually so-and-so's fault' show was entirely for your benefit). The girl had stared into your eyes with fear, her look begging you to offer help, say or do something to interfere. Even after the sickle slashed her throat and the body fell to the ground after Cassandra decided she had her fill of blood, the glassy eyes continued to stare at you.

That was when you realized how much of a chicken you are. All this time, you thought - to make for the lost empathy - you had gained bravado. You have experienced the whole range-

"Hey."

The voice jolts you from your musings and also off your bedside. Hands on the edge, you raise your bottom up. And Cassandra's standing there(speak of the devil) chuckling at your demise.

"Creep." you stare at her accusingly, "How many times have I told you to knock at least 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 before entering?"

"It's your fault you didn't close the door. How many times have I told you to not leave it open?" she rolled her eyes before slumping down on the mattress like it's her own bed, "I knocked five times. What were you even doing?"

She pulls you down from your standing position and you end up straddling the woman's lap, legs on either side of hers and face less than an inch far. And not for the first time, you're aware of just how beautiful she is, especially with the smile she has on her lips now. A smile that falls away when yours is rickety in return.

"You look...worried," her concern is endearing, and you would have pulled her in for a kiss if the mood wasn't so conflicting.

"It's that girl, isn't it?" she asked.

"How'd you know?"

"Did you think I wouldn't notice you sulking since then? You can tell me, kitten, what is going on in that brain of yours?"

Her gloved hand caresses your forehead and tucks a stray lock behind your ear. Why are you so bipolar? you want to ask her. Cassandra was the perfect example of a considerate lover and at the same time a perfect precedent of a coldblooded murderer. Ouch, you thought, no offense, Cass.

Is that why you liked her? She had a rare kind of beauty, the kind to cherised like a butterfly in a jar, stunning and captured only for a little while. The thought always had the inside of your chest fluttering, that 𝘺𝘰𝘶 are the one she opened up to.

"I'm a chicken."

"What?" Cassandra looks genuinely taken aback.

"Sorry, I sometimes forget English isn't your first language. I mean 'chicken' as in metaphor for um, coward," you don't find it in yourself to deny. Or maybe it was time the two of you sat down for a chat.

You expect her to say something like "ugh, dumb empathetic humans" and then roll her eyes.

"And...do you, perhaps, feel dissapointed about it? Upset?" she says instead and although she voices it in the most casual way you get the feeling Cassandra's a bit more invested than she's letting on.That's surprising. Well, kudos for you then, you captured her interest.

"Yeah, a little dissapointed," you say, "Since I thought I'd mastered the art of being unempathetic."

Cassandra huffs a quiet laugh, "So, you're saying that you think you are a coward because you don't freak out?" her hand comes to rest on your thigh with a soft pat.

"I’m not disgusted at the...the - no offence, Cass - atrocities that I see almost every day. It's like I don’t freak out because…because I’m a coward. And maybe that's also why I didn't stop you from killing the maiden. Because my brain doesn’t want to deal with what it sees."

You can almost hear her filing away your words, adding it to the mental catalogue she keeps of you. Of you, another thing that has your heart fluttering - her quest for approval from someone she considers so much inferior.

"Fear isn't always a bad thing." Cassandra says the sentence with a grimace, like she's embarassed at herself for saying such, "And saving someone doesn't make you heroic. Those are simply actions, kitten. It's the intent behind all movements that define."

Now, its you who laughs. You can't possibly stiffle the chuckles,"Are you, Cassandra Dimitrescu, talking about humanity with me right now? What would even your sisters say? What would anyone say?"

Cassandra mouth twists in a grimace,"Same as you, I'm sure. Don't think about even mentioning this to either of them, got it?"

"At least," she adds with a self-satisfied smirk, "you've stopped sulking."

Then she's leaned forward and her lips her pressed against yours, "What I'm saying is, it does no good to pretend you do not feel something. Sooner or later, it will find its way out. Always does."

You are afraid, constantly, at how quickly she's able to divert your thoughts with a kiss and comforting words. Afraid about how you like it.

-----------------

Afterwards, Cassandra stays to make sure you eat dinner and doesn't bother to hide the lock of her eyes on your throat. For her own dinner, she chooses to bite down on your jugular and take her fill of your blood like her life depends on it.

(When Cassandra leaves, you imagine her as more human than you would have ever thought possible.)

[totalbetty]

Touch || Lee Jeno - III.

AU | soulmate au pairing | OC x high-school!Jeno genre | slow burn, strangers to friends, friends to lovers, soulmates; fluff & angst word count | 20,2k trigger warning | 16+ strong language, sexual innuendos, blood, death, kidnapping, assault, violence

description | In a world where everyone has a soulmate, but not everyone is destined to meet their other half, Ru didn't think she could be an exception. After all, what kind of story starts with an ordinary, teenage orphan like her? However, all that changed when her eyes met his: big, dark and mysterious.

Masterlist! PART I | PART II | PART III | PART IV | PART V | PART VI | PART VII | PART VIII

chapter eleven.

The wooden floor of the bedroom wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to study— or to do anything, for that matter— but Ru laid on the floor anyway, her textbooks sprawled across the floor.

It had been over an hour since she gave up doing her homework. In the middle of working on a particularly boring essay, Ru received a phone call from Chohee; it was a group call for the three of them. Since then, she had been on a call with them, her school tasks completely forgotten.

"No waaay, seriously?" Chohee's squeaky voice blared through her phone.

"I know!" Jia's sweet voice filled the air, "I felt so bad, letting him down in front of all his friends like that."

"Hold on," Ru interrupted. She was now lying down on her back, facing her ceiling fan. "Is this the same guy we were talking about last time?"

Jia chuckled. "No, actually, this is another—"

"—Oh my god, we forgot to tell you," Chohee squealed, speaking over Jia. "This one's a toootally different guy! He's, like, not even from our school."

Another guy? Ru laughed in disbelief. She couldn't blame these boys for liking Jia, though. Not only is she gorgeous, but she has this sweet and angelic presence. She'd be lying if she said Jia didn't catch her attention too.

"What was his reaction?" Ru asked.

"Oh, it was bad!" Jia exclaimed. "He got all sad and walked away without even saying a thing. His friends made it even worse, though; they all laughed— made everything so awkward. Now I just have a bouquet of roses and a bunch of chocolates."

Ru could hear Chohee cackling on the other line. "Share the chocolates!"

"Come over and we'll eat the chocolate together! We can paint our nails again and talk about our failed love lives— my nail polish is already chipping."

Ru instinctively raised her hand above her, admiring the viridian green nail polish on her hands as a little smile formed on her face.

Chohee responded, "oh, what do you mean, 'failed love lives'? You've had plenty of chances at a love life. Are you ever gonna accept anyone's confession?"

There was a slight pause, before Jia said, "I will! I'm just waiting for that someone special."

"Oooh, someone special? Are you talking about a particular someone?" Chohee teased.

"No, of course not! Ru's probably bored of my stupid drama, anyway, we should talk about something else."

Bored? Ru spent many nights watching and reading drama-related content, and now she finally has a real one; it was weirdly exhilarating.

"Don't try to change the subject Jia," Ru giggled, "give us all the details."

Chohee's laugh filled her room. "You see, even Ru's invested!"

There was another brief silence, like Jia didn't quite know what to say now. However, Chohee interrupted the silence with a little gasp.

"Oh my god, don't tell me you're waiting for your soulmate or something! That stuff only happens in the movies, babe."

"No!" Jia's soft voice responded quickly. "Are you crazy? I'm not one of those soulmate fanatics."

The three of them laughed boisterously at Jia's declaration. However, Ru couldn't help but feel something tugging at her.

She's not a soulmate fanatic, is she? She never intended on finding her soulmate, she just... did. Nonetheless, she couldn't ignore the fact that for these past few weeks, soulmates had been a pretty prevalent topic in her mind. She befriended a boy just because she stupidly thought they were soulmates— oh god, did Jeno think she was some soulmate fanatic?

Obviously, there's nothing wrong with explicitly waiting for your soulmate, it's just that it has been proven to be such a lost cause, anyone who does so comes across as foolish. She hoped she didn't sound stupid... No, you know what? Having a hunch that you may have found your soulmate but not acting on it is what's stupid.

Yeah, would've been stupid to stay silent, Ru nodded at herself in reassurance.

She was interrupted from her agitation by a voice calling her from a distance.

"Ru, can you come downstairs?"

It took her a second to realize that it was Mrs. Choi calling her from downstairs.

"Guys, I have to go now," Ru spoke into her phone. The girls greeted her goodbye and she hung up.

"Coming!" Ru called out, picking up her phone as she stood up. She walked out of her room and down the stairs to find the entire family by the front door. Dabin was on the floor, putting on his shoes, Mr. Choi putting on his jacket just by the coat hanger.

"Ah, there you are," Mrs. Choi said as she was fixing her coat.

Ru stopped just in front of them, feeling slightly out of place.

"We're all going to the hospital. Will you be okay home alone?" Mrs. Choi asked, finally turning around to face Ru.

"Yes, I'll be fine." Ru nodded. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, no—" Mrs. Choi waved her arm dismissively— "just a hospital check-up."

Ru nodded again, feeling slightly awkward. She didn't really know if she should wait for them to leave the house or if she could go back to her room now. She watched silently as Mr. Choi rummaged through her bag until she finally fished something out of it.

"In case you want to leave, here's the spare key so you can lock up the house." Mrs. Choi handed her a key with a tiny bird keychain.

"Thank you—" Ru reached out for the key, giving Mrs. Choi a polite smile.

As Ru grabbed the key, Mrs. Choi noticed her dark green nails. "Oh, did you get those with your friends?"

Ru nodded as she grinned shyly; a warm smile spread across Mrs. Choi's face. "I used to do those with my friends too, when we were younger. You know, we should go and get our nails done sometimes! I've always wanted to go with someone, but Little Dabin here would throw a tantrum if I ever dragged him to a nail salon."

She glanced at Dabin, who was now scowling at his mother.

Mrs. Choi chuckled gleefully. "Alright, then. We'll see you later, darling. Bye!"

Ru waved them a silent goodbye as they all walked out the door, closing it behind them. She sighed in relief, skipping steps as she climbed up the stairs. She could name a lot of things she didn't want to do right now, and one of them would be spending hours alone with Mrs. Choi.

She felt slightly guilty about feeling that way, but it was weird how Mrs. Choi treated her like a little kid— or even worse, her little kid. At least she didn't have to worry about that today.

Upon entering her room, she was greeted with the messy pile of work on the floor. She groaned, crumbling to the ground at the thought of spending the rest of the day doing homework. She didn't really feel like doing anything particularly productive today, so she collected her textbooks, closing them all and putting them on her desk.

The sun was leaking into her room, giving the space a natural glow. She was tempted to sit all day and do nothing, but she decided against it. She got up to the bathroom, washing her face and brushing her teeth, even though she already did it this morning when she woke up.

Ding!

Her phone lit up beside her. Curious, she looked at her phone to find a new notification.

Jeno:) sent you a message.

She felt her heart skip. She reached for her phone but hesitated for a moment— what could he possibly be texting her for? She was almost too nervous to swipe, but she ignored her irrational anxiety. She picked up and swiped her phone, reading the message:

Jeno:) : Hey

Jeno:) : You busy?

She stared at the text. Was she busy? Does it matter if she's busy? Why does he want to know why she's busy? Confused and slightly intrigued, she replied.

Ru: No, why?

Oh god, the text must sound so dry. Her fingers danced over the keyboard, trying to come up with something else to say. Why was it so hard to come up with anything—

Ding!

A new message popped up on her screen.

Jeno:) : You still have the address for that psychic?

She furrowed her eyebrows. The psychic? She thought back to that day when they got the address; it was written on the back of the list of soulmate books she had written down. She hurried out of her bathroom and towards her backpack, crouching to reach it on the floor.

She rummaged through her bag, flipping through many books and stuffing her face into her bag to look into the deep corners of her bag. However, she was disappointed to find nothing.

Where did she put it? She didn't remember throwing it away, so it must be somewhere here. Her eyes wandered throughout the room cluelessly until they landed on a pair of jeans, barely peeking out of her clothes hamper.

She felt a tiny glimmer of hope surface as she crawled her way towards the hamper. She reached into its pockets, not expecting much. However, she felt a tiny piece of crumpled paper. Pulling it out, she straightened out the paper to find the address written messily on it.

Yes!, she cheered internally.

She took her phone and texted him back, telling him she had it with her. It took a while, but another message finally popped out on her screen.

Jeno:) : Good

That's it? Good? She tossed her phone on her bed, annoyed that she was expecting something else. What did he want with the address, anyway? Did he even want it? He didn't exactly ask her for it—

Knock, knock.

Her head shot up straight. What was that? She looked at her bedroom door. The knock didn't sound like it came from her door. After a moment of silence, she shrugged; it must be from outside.

Just as she was putting all her things back in her bag, she heard another knock— louder, this time. She stood up, confused. The knocks sound like they're coming from the...

She turned her head to the window and yelped.

There, just outside her window, was Jeno. He was crouched behind the window, pointing downwards for her to unlock it. She shook her head as she exhaled in relief, walking towards him. She unlocked her window, pulling the handle upwards to open them.

They stared at each other for a moment; Ru was a little speechless— there he was, just casually kneeling behind the window.

"You know," Jeno broke the silence, speaking in a low voice, "your room's really easy to break into."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What on earth are you even doing outside my window?"

"We're going out," Jeno stated simply.

"No—" she rolled her eyes as she chuckled— "I mean, what are you doing outside my window? I hope you know what front doors are for."

"Oh." He paused, looking down at himself. He didn't realize how easy it was to climb the tree by her window; the fact that there was a roof conveniently placed under her window also caught his attention.

"I, uh—" he smiled— "as you can probably tell, I sneak out a lot."

He watched her lips curve into a little smile. "You idiot."

She turned around, gesturing for him to come in. The roof of her bedroom was strangely low; he could touch the ceiling if he raised his arm.

"Let me just get changed real quick," Ru announced as she grabbed some clothes from her wardrobe drawer.

"Why?" Jeno asked, trying to hold in a smirk.

She gave him a confused look. "Why? I'm in my pajamas, Jeno."

"So?" Jeno walked slowly towards her until they were in front of each other. He bent a little lower so their faces were at eye-level of each other.

The smirk finally grew on his face, and he watched in amusement as her confusion became more apparent.

"Changing out of your pajamas won't make you look any less like the sleepy little toddler you already look like most of the time, anyway."

"Wha—" Ru opened her mouth in retaliation, but nothing came out. She looked away shyly, before looking back at him with narrowed eyes— "I'm changing."

She huffed softly and turned around, walking into her bathroom. Jeno let out a little chuckle, shaking his head. He sat on her desk chair as he waited for her, pulling out his phone and randomly fiddling with it.

That was when he came accidentally across an email he had received earlier today— the message he wanted to distract himself from, even by visiting a stupid little psychic store he had no interest in.

It was a message from the foster care administration, informing him about his father. He felt his blood boil; what made them think he had any interest in his father's well-being? The man could jump off a cliff for all he cared.

Nonetheless, he couldn't help but re-read the message, his eyes painfully scanning through the paragraphs.

Lee Jeno,  We have received updated information regarding your father, Mr. Lee's recent illness, which we are obligated to notify you about. Please be reminded that you also have 37 letters in our possession, addressed to you from said relative, one of which includes an application form to become an inmate-approved visitor. Please confirm your new address below in order to receive these letters.

He stopped reading the message; he let out a breath of frustration, turning his phone off in annoyance. He didn't care. He didn't want to care, nor would he ever care. He stood up, his eyes scanning the unfamiliar room around him as a way to distract him from his anger. Strangely, he felt his breaths steady the longer he looked at her room.

Her bedroom was a plain and small space; there wasn't much decoration or anything that would indicate a teenage girl lived here. All she had in her room was a small twin bed, a clothes drawer and a study desk just by the window.

On her bed was a single pillow, her blanket folded neatly on the corner of her bed. Her desk was a little messier than the rest of her room, the textbooks messily stacked and her stationery scattered across the desk.

His eyes wandered to her clothes drawer, a few bottles of lotions and other bathroom supplies neatly lined up on top of it. He walked towards it mindlessly, observing it. He noticed a little box, on top of it labeled 'Memories'.

Memories? Curious— and completely unmindful of the fact that he shouldn't be snooping around other peoples' belongings— he picked the lid off of the box. He expected to find pictures or letters but instead, he was staring back at a box full of buttons.

He noticed on top of all those buttons was the daisy button she bought with him all those weeks ago. Why does she have so many buttons?

"Ru?" Jeno called out.

"Yeah?"

"Do you sew?"

Her muffled voice responded, "I wish I did, why?"

"Uh, nothing." He looked back at the box of buttons, slightly more confused than he was before. So she just collects them? What kind of person collects buttons?

Suddenly, he heard the bathroom door unlock. He closed the box silently, sliding it back to its place.

Ru stepped out, wearing a slightly large grey wooly sweater, layered with a baby pink overall dress. He glanced at her briefly; he didn't know how it was possible, but she actually looked tinier now than she did before in her pajamas.

"So—" Ru picked up a small sling bag hanging on her door— "unless I completely misread your text, I assume we're going to that psychic."

"We are," Jeno replied.

Ru turned around to face him; now that she actually took the time to observe him, she realized how out of place he looked in her room. For starters, his black shirt and black ripped jeans made him look like an intruder— although she had to admit he'd be one hell of a fit intruder. Being in her low-ceiling room also made him look freakishly tall.

The sight of him against the background of her bedroom took her off-guard, but she regained her thoughts enough to utter, "I thought you thought it was stupid."

"I still do," he stated, stuffing his phone into his pocket, "but I'm a little curious now."

She furrowed her eyebrows skeptically. "O-kay, let's go then."

With that, she led them out of her bedroom and down the stairs by the dining room. They walked out the front door, Ru locking the door behind her.

"Can I have the address?" Jeno asked as they walked down the street.

"Oh—" she pulled the paper out of her little bag before handing it to him.

He read the address on the paper for a brief moment before stuffing it into his pocket. "I don't know the exact address, but I know the area."

She nodded silently, and off they went, into more crowded streets and sidewalks. It was hard for them to talk with all the crowds and chaos of the people around them, so Ru followed him quietly like she always did.

For the first few minutes of their walk, Jeno walked slightly ahead of Ru; his long legs made it really easy for him to do so. Every once in a while, he would look beside him and slightly to the back to make sure she was still there. It flustered her, honestly, making her feel like the little toddler he described her to be.

"Could you walk any faster? I feel like I'm walking with the Flash or something," Ru called out, slightly out of breath.

Jeno turned to look at her, slowing down with a slightly amused expression. "Could you walk any slower? I feel like I'm walking with a toddler or something— oh wait, you are one, huh?"

Ru narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms in protest. Before she could say anything, Jeno started laughing— his mesmerizing, crescent eyes almost distracting her from her frustration.

"Okay, seriously, you look even more like a baby now," he tittered as he approached her.

"Come here—" he pulled her in front of him. She didn't even process what he was doing yet, and suddenly they were walking again.

"Just walk," he instructed her as he chuckled.

"Wait—" she tried to look back at him without tripping— "I don't even know where to go—"

He grabbed her shoulder on both sides, steering her to the right just in time for a crosswalk. She tried not to stumble as she took one step after the other. He let go of her shoulders, but hovered closely behind her.

She took a deep breath— there it goes again, her stupid heart.

For the rest of the journey, she found herself trying hard not to think about his hands gripping her firmly to guide her through the crowd, about their bodies colliding with every abrupt stop, with every difficult path they had to navigate themselves through.

She cursed herself for feeling this way, but the truth was, she felt safe. The bustling people, the disorder she found herself whirled into as they passed little markets and underground malls; she had no clue where they were going, but she felt confident that they'd get there— that he'd get them there.

Soon, they entered a new stretch of road. Ru's mouth was slightly agape as she tried to take in the new scene before her.

The streets were lined on both sides with traditional structures, the red paper lanterns decorating the sky in a zig-zag pattern. The scorching sun blessed the landscape with a surreal glow, emphasizing the bright colors before her. The sea of people bustled about like a swarm of scattered ants, and in that moment Ru could only blink.

They were finally in Chinatown.

________________________________________

chapter twelve.

Ru had never been to a chinatown before, but this was exactly what she imagined it to be.

Her nose was greeted with the rich scent of various street foods, an abundance of little stalls settled along the long stretch of road, some even in the middle of it. Ru hated the crowd— she always has— but the life and excitement around her was undeniable.

Every nook and corner of the place, there were people going about their day. A little boy running after his mom with a miniature traditional lion dance puppet, an old man in a battered old undershirt fanning the skewered meat on his open grill.

"Buy four, get one free! Buy four, get one free!" The man boomed, inviting nearby passers with his sonorous voice.

The new and invigorating atmosphere almost made her forget about why they were here in the first place. That was until Jeno leaned in from behind her and spoke up, "how are we gonna find the psychic?"

How were they supposed to find the store in the middle of all this? She started to fan herself, the heat of the place finally catching up to her. Maybe she shouldn't have worn such a wooly sweater.

She leaned back so that he could hear her. "I guess we'll just have to look around."

They pushed their way through the crowd, keeping their eyes peeled for some sort of psychic store. Ru didn't actually know what she was trying to spot. What would a psychic store even look like?

As her eyes scanned the vast area, she spotted an otherwise ordinary stand that displayed two words Ru didn't know she wanted, but definitely did now— Cold Smoothies. Suddenly, it felt like the heat around her increased two folds, her throat instantaneously dry.

"Jeno—" she tugged on his shirt, her excitement building— "let's get smoothies!"

"What?" He leaned down, their height difference apparent as he bent down to hear her better.

"Let's get those smoothies!" She spoke up, pointing at the stall; the poorly drawn cup was starting to look tempting.

It seemed the crowd was relentlessly loud, as Jeno gave her a confused look and again, asked, "what?"

She sighed in mild frustration. With her mind occupied with the smoothie, it didn't even register in her brain when she took his hand in her's, pulling him with all her weight across the mass of people.

This time, it was her hand tightly bound around his, her small fingers wrapped eagerly around the palm of his hand. He followed her helplessly, his arm tugged forward as he took large strides to keep up with her fast pace. She couldn't walk this fast before?

They finally reached the stall; she dropped his hand without a second thought, letting his hand fall down to his side. He stood quietly beside her as she scanned the small menu board taped to the front of the stall, trying his best not to think about the tingling feeling that lingered on the palm of his hand.

"Excuse me, sir, I'll have the peach smoothie, please—" she looked up at Jeno excitedly— "do you want anything?"

Jeno stepped forward and gave the man a polite smile. "I'll have the chocolate smoothie."

The man gave them a jovial smile before he started cutting up fruits and crushing blocks of ice. Jeno's eyes lingered on her. She stood patiently, waiting for the man, but he couldn't help notice her head slightly bobbing to the rhythm of the crowd, her eyes glued to every move the man made.

The man finally finished the smoothies, handing it to them as they paid for it. They were about to walk away when Ru suddenly stopped.

"Wait—" she turned around, taking the piece of paper with the address on it and presenting it to the vendor— "excuse me, but do you know where this place is?"

The man wiped his hands on his apron as he took a closer look at the paper.

"Ah, that one—" he nodded— "red window over there."

The two of them looked simultaneously at where the man pointed. Barely visible from across the street, Ru spotted a small store cramped just at the edge of an intersection. Though rather plain and unassuming, her eyes easily found the red-painted door frame and windows.

They thanked the man and made their way across the four-way street while sipping their drinks. Ru had gotten used to the rowdiness by now; she slipped in between people with ease, her eyes locked on the psychic store.

Finally, they were in front of the store. On top of the store was a large sign written in Mandarin, presumably the store's name. The paint on the walls were already cracked and fading, although she could tell they had recently tried to paint at least the doorframe and windows a bright red— it didn't really do much for the store.

For such a crowded environment, this store looked as dead as they come. People walked past it like it didn't exist; if Ru didn't know any better, she'd imagine there were some sort of force field around the store that pushed the people around it further from the store.

Jeno walked up to one window, taking a quick peek inside. "Pretty empty."

"Oh, wait, look—" Ru pointed.

There was a sign just by one window: a silhouette of a burger and a beverage, with a large, red slash over it.

"No drinks inside." Ru shook her half-finished peach smoothie at him.

Jeno took another peek in contemplation. "There's no one inside."

"The shopkeeper's gonna be there. I'll just finish my drink here." Ru plopped down on the curb in front of the shop.

He wanted to protest, but couldn't be bothered. He sat down next to her, shaking his head. "You're such a goody-two shoe."

She gave him a cheeky smile, her teeth clasped on the straw.

Together they sat, people watching as they slurped down the rest of their drink. Ru didn't think it'd be so hard to finish the entire cup, but she felt her stomach expand further and further as she swallowed the drink. Jeno was almost finished with his drink, taking small sips as his eyes jumped from person to person.

He didn't even notice her glancing at him; she traced the outline of his lips with her eyes, the natural yet subconscious pout evident on his face. He always did it when he was distracted— pout.

It was the softest little pout she had ever seen on anyone— so tempting, so intriguing. Her eyes wandered to his; the secrets it hid behind, she wanted to know. His eyelashes were thick and long, giving his eyes an alluring charm.

She wanted to know.

"Jeno," she called suddenly, her straw still wedged in between her teeth.

His head snapped in her direction. "Mhm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

He furrowed his eyebrows skeptically, taking the final sip of his drink. "Shoot."

"Last week, when you guys almost fought with Jinwook..."

His face dropped; his jaw clenched.

"Jaemin, he uh—" she fought to keep her eyes on him even though she wanted to look away— "kinda told me about all your history with him. And his brother."

"He kept talking about a favor, and uh..."

Jeno looked away, taking in a sharp breath. God, maybe she shouldn't have asked. Her eyes started blinking in nervousness.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to—"

"No, it's not a big deal." He faced her, his eyes emotionless. "Jinkyu knew all about how I came into the system— about my dad. When he heard that my dad was only going to be sentenced to ten years with a chance of parole, he offered his help, told me he could get him to stay for longer."

Jeno shook his head subtly. "I wanted nothing to do with my dad, so I agreed. I don't know how Jinkyu did it or what he did for it, but my dad somehow ended up being sentenced thirty years with no chance of parole."

Oh. She looked down at her almost-finished peach smoothie silently. She didn't quite know why she was surprised. When he first told her about his mother's murder, she immediately assumed that prison was where his dad would be. But it felt different, hearing it come out of his mouth. It was like a bitter reminder, almost.

She bit her lips, not sure how to react. "Sorry."

She looked up and to her surprise, the stoic expression was gone. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't be. If I could have him sentenced for the rest of his life, I would."

She shot him an apologetic look, partially relieved that he wasn't mad.

He cleared his throat as he stood up. "Come on, let's go in."

They threw their cups into a nearby bin before finally entering the little shop. The little bell above them rang as they pushed open the door, and they stepped into the shop.

When the door closed behind them, it was like the crowd was muted. The hectic chinatown atmosphere faded into the background as Ru found herself in a new little world.

The room was so much dimmer and cooler than the brutal sun outside, with velvet curtains hanging on all sides of the wall. Rows of shelves held numerous little trinkets, many of which were unfamiliar to the two of them. In the centre of the room was a round table that displayed colorful gems and flashy tarot cards.

Ru looked over at the cash register. Nobody was there. Behind it was a door, slightly ajar. The shopkeeper must be back there; Ru reckoned the person could stay in there all day and it wouldn't really matter.

Next to it was a rotating bookshelf, and as Ru discovered, the entirety of the shelf showcased only one book: 'The Game of Chance: a Memoir'.

It finally dawned on her that she didn't quite know why they were here. Jeno was across the room, picking up a gem keychain off of a basket.

"So—" she walked over to him casually— "what are you looking at?"

He chuckled, lifting up a gem to show her. "Apparently this gem speeds up the Binding process between you and your soulmate so you could be Bound faster."

The bright teardrop-shaped opal gem hung motionlessly from his hand. She giggled at his comment, looking down at the collection of gems in the basket.

There were all sorts of colors and variations, each of them with a little tag that explained what the gem could do.

Who came up with these?, she wondered as she picked up a random, yellow stone.

She almost gagged. It was an irregular shape— probably the strangest one she could find. It was a rough textured, cylinder-like shape, and attached at the bottom of it were two big blobs of crystals protruding from its sides.

She tried so hard not to let her jaw drop to the floor. Do they not know this is shaped exactly like a...?

At that point, Jeno looked over at the gem in her hand. Just like telepathy, they both made eye-contact, their lips pursed in shock. A second later, they both burst out laughing, his nose scrunched in bewilderment.

Jeno took the gem from her hand, uncontrollable laughter now escaping his lips. Still in disbelief— and slight amusement— he opened its tag and they both read:

like the compass points due north let this crystal set forth your journey towards the beauty of spiritual re-unity

She shook her head, a wide grin forming on her face. Seriously?

She still couldn't believe the shape of the gem; how could nobody have realized while making this?

She read the tag again and scoffed. "Like the compass that points due north? More like due south—"

Eyes wide, she stopped mid-sentence, feeling awfully out of place that she had said that out loud.

Jeno, on the other hand, looked at her; his eyebrows were raised in pleasant surprise. "What did you just say?"

She shook her hand and looked away, burying her head into her hands as she tried hard not to burst into laughter again.

Beside her, Jeno nudged her in protest. "Say that again, you dirty—"

"Greetings, my dear soul searchers! Are you looking for anything in particular?"

The two of them jumped at the sudden voice, immediately dropping the gems back in its basket.

Before them was a lanky middle-aged woman, dressed in a silky patterned dress that reached her ankles. She wrapped herself in a concerning amount of dark scarves, her long nails digging into the fabric as she stared at them through her thick-rimmed glasses.

Ru gave the lady— who must be the shopkeeper— a kind smile. "Oh, no, we're just looking around, thank you."

She looked away on purpose, hoping the lady would do the same. However, she could still see from the corner of her eye that the lady remained. Ru gave the lady another glance, and was surprised to see she was actually approaching them.

The lady had her beady eyes on Jeno. He seemed to have noticed this as well; he plastered an awkward smile, his eyes avoiding her gaze.

It was safe to say the lady was mesmerized by him. She walked towards him with subtle steps, her arms slightly outstretched like she wanted to reach him. As soon as she was in front of him, she stopped. Her hands cupped his face in amazement. Maybe it was her glasses, but her eyes looked wide in fascination.

"Beautiful boy—" she studies his face, oblivious to the fact that she was touching a random stranger's face— "strong bones, pure skin. Your nose brings you fortune, my boy, and your eyes— wisdom!"

Ru bit her lower lip; she didn't know it could be so difficult to try not to laugh. Jeno's cheeks looked soft and squishy under the woman's grip.

All of a sudden, she let go. Her gaze switched towards Ru now; her abnormally large eyes looked at her like it were its own creature. Just like that, Ru's smile faded. The lady displayed a crooked smile, eyeing her up and down.

"You're not so bad yourself, darling. I believe if I focus enough energy, I ought to discover your fortunes."

What's that supposed to mean?

Before she could say anything, however, the lady grabbed ahold of Ru's arm, wrapping it around both her hands as she hugged it and pulled her in the direction of the back room. The lady gave Jeno a brief glance, not stopping. "Now, boy, you must come with her."

Ru turned around and gave Jeno an alarmed look. He merely shrugged, following closely behind her without saying another word.

The lady dragged her past the cash register and through the staff door, her arm still wrapped around Ru like a child hugging their favorite teddy bear.

Ru didn't know what she expected, but it definitely wasn't this. Through the door was a small room, the walls covered in the same velvet-like material that hung outside like curtains, only this time they covered every corner of the wall.

The room was cramped, big enough for only a single round, wooden table and a few cushioned seats. There was a shiny crystal ball sitting in the middle of the table, a variety of gems and tarot cards along with several wood-scented candles lit around the room.

Of course it's a reading room, she thought, wondering why she hadn't expected this before.

The lady finally let go of Ru and rushed to her seat at the further side of the table.

"Come, sit, children—" she gestured at the seats opposite her, waving her hands in what felt like an attempt at mysticism.

The two of them gave each other a very brief, yet very telling look before they sat down awkwardly. In front of her on the table was a name placard, presumably one that belonged to her. Esmeralda, it read— definitely a stage name.

Esmeralda put both her hands on the table, the palms of her hands opened, facing up. The room was silent for a moment; Esmeralda looked at the two of them, her eyebrows raised. "Come on— your hands, please."

"Oh—" Ru took her hand and placed it on top of her hand reluctantly; Jeno did the same.

Instantly, Esmeralda gripped both hands tightly, swaying them slowly on to the spot as she closed her eyes. Her hands were rough; Ru could feel the calluses on her palm.

Ru was tempted to look at Jeno because she knew for a fact that he was trying his absolute best not to laugh. However, she looked straight ahead, terrified that if she looked his way, she would burst into uncontrollable laughter and ruin everything for this poor lady.

Esmeralda started to sway herself, humming incoherent little tunes. With her eyes still closed, she started to whisper, "I feel it... the energy. From the moment you walked in, I felt the energy. Yes... yes, it's true."

She opened her eyes. "Two soulmates, re-united."

This time, Ru looked at Jeno and he was already looking at her. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she instantly understood what he was thinking— she's delusional.

Jeno cleared his throat, trying to play along; the lady looked at him, her eyes wide and lips slightly parted.

"But ma'am, how is that possible? I don't have a soul mark."

Esmeralda's eyebrows went rigid; her eyes shrunk a little, and it actually almost looked normal now. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Oh god, this is so embarrassing for her.

Ru was waiting for her to stutter, to take back her words, or even kick them out but instead, she closed her eyes again, the dazed expression back on her face.

What was she doing?

"Of course, no soul mark... How fitting! The energy still prevails. I feel it, I can feel the energy. The story demands to be told."

Esmeralda opened her eyes and this time, she faced Ru.

"You, darling... You had a twin in the womb—" she nodded in confirmation— "Yes... But you swallowed dear Seoyeon before she had the chance to see the light of day."

What?

Did this lady just conjure up a fake sister for Ru and give her a name?

Esmeralda's eyes glided over to Jeno, causing him to lean back in apprehension. "Stripped... She was stripped of her birthright: re-unity with her soulmate."

"But of course—" Esmeralda shook her head in conspiracy, her eyes darted back to Ru— "you still have a piece of Seoyeon within you, which is why I felt the connection between the two of you."

Ru's lips were slightly parted in confusion. She must be joking.

Slowly, the lady let go of their hands, a solemn look on her face as it seemed like she was trying to focus on something. There was a weird moment of tranquility, almost like time was frozen.

Esmeralda looked up at the two of them and in all seriousness, said, "I can still feel the lingering aura, the prevalent energy begging to be brought forth. But with both your energies bouncing off of each other so magnificently, I'm afraid it makes it hard for me to further read your auras."

Ru sighed in relief, feeling the tension on her shoulders loosen. She anticipated her to draw an end to whatever it is they were doing, but Esmeralda crossed her arms, a certain intensity in her eyes. Now Ru was beginning to feel like they were far from over.

Esmeralda placed her hands on top of Ru's hand, causing her to flinch. The lady looked at Jeno and began to speak in a low tone, "I would like to further read this young lady's energy. Would you care to step outside for a moment?"

Jeno lifted his eyebrows skeptically, glancing at Ru.

It seemed that Esmeralda sensed the hesitation, because she continued, "don't worry, dear— you'll have your turn."

Her eyes continued to linger on Jeno, giving him no choice but to leave the room. He stood up, giving Ru a brief sucks-to-be-you kind of smile before he finally left the room.

Silence hung over the room once more as it was now just the two of them. Esmeralda's grip on Ru's hand tightened as their eyes connected. As much as Ru was weirded out, she found it very hard to break eye contact.

"I sense it... The strong connection you have towards that boy. You feel yourself yearning for him, your soul reaching out for him like two halves wishing to be whole, your primal instincts overpowering you, like two lovers wishing to bond in each others' naked embrace—"

Okay, what the f—

"—your chemistry raw, synchronized, eager to explode into a firework of passion. Am I right?"

Ru was speechless. What?

She struggled to register whatever hyperbolic symbolism this psychic was trying to sell.

"Um..."

Esmeralda's eyes looked eerily child-like, waiting for her response.

Oh, screw it.

"...I guess?"

A wide grin spread across Esmeralda's face. Ru regretted her answer immediately, watching the excitement and validation light up instantly on her face.

"Now, listen carefully, young lady. You must ignore the energy, ignore the instinct. Because you are not the master of these desires. I sense it— the foreign energy within you, small but powerful. You must know that it doesn't belong to you, but your deceased twin."

Oh, for god's sake—

Esmeralda's face remained stoic, almost hilariously so. How could she say that with such sobriety?

"Now, close your eyes."

At this point, Ru was in no capacity to even question the lady, so she obliged.

Again, Esmeralda began to speak in a sultry tone. "Relax your mind. Let the darkness sink in, but focus on the light. Let the light grow, let it spread. Your soulmate is calling, let it guide you."

Esmeralda squeezed her hand; Ru's palm started to feel sweaty.

"Listen for his voice, and feel as you slowly lose your inhibitions. In the core of your soul, you see him."

Strangely, the calm yet commanding voice drifted Ru to a bit of a trance. She sat with her eyes closed, her shoulders beginning to loosen.

"Now, what do you see? Explore his features— the shape of his nose, the gloss of his eyes. Yearn for it, reach for it..."

As Esmeralda continued to speak, Ru felt the voice slowly drift away, shutting it out completely.

Within her mindless daze, her thoughts wandered into a whimsical daydream.

Curious, brown eyes. Crescent like the moon, the way they fluttered when he spoke. Lips, red like cherry, the way they glistened when he licked his lips. The crinkle on his nose when he smiled, cheeks flushed.

She could trace the lines of his jaw with ease, feel the hollow shape of his collarbones. The curves on his arms; his hands— soft, warm. The mesmerizing sound of his deep voice, calming and alluring all the same.

The scent of peppermint; a bitter reminder that he's there, but out of reach.

"Miss?"

Ru's eyes shot open, her senses coming back to her like a rush of blood in her ears. Her eyes fluttered nervously as she stared back at Esmeralda.

"Do you see him? Can you picture your soulmate, dear?"

Ru was at a loss for words. A sudden realization hit her, quick like the prick of a finger— but it lingered.

She withdrew her hand from the lady's, rubbing them together in discomfort.

"No—" Ru snapped, looking down.

Before Esmeralda could say anything, Ru stood up from her chair.

"I'll, uh—" she gestured at the door awkwardly— "go get my friend for his turn."

She turned around, quickly walking away from the table and out through the staff door. The bright sunlight greeted her with a warm welcome as she stepped out of the stuffy back room, her eyes immediately searching for Jeno.

"How was it?"

Ru jumped on the spot; she looked to her left to find him leaning against the wall right next to the door.

She sighed in relief. His expression was curious, although he had a hint of anticipation etched in his eyes.

"Just get in," she chuckled, shaking her head as she playfully nudged him towards the room.

With that, he disappeared into the room, closing the door behind him.

She sighed once again, strolling aimlessly around the shop. She tried hard not to dwell on her imagination, but she couldn't ignore the thumping of her heart.

She knew he wasn't her soulmate— that was the whole point of all this, wasn't it? To help her figure out why her soulmate wasn't here with her yet, to figure out who it was.

She rounded back to the basket with the gems, absent-mindedly picking them up as she bit her lips.

She had been so preoccupied trying to find her soulmate, but she never once thought to wonder what he would look like, what he would be. It was only when Esmeralda urged her to picture him, that she did.

Well, she didn't, though— she pictured Jeno.

Her mind trailed back to her image of him, back in the reading room. As soon as she did, however, the image shattered into a million pieces as it hit her— he doesn't belong to her.

Someday, her real soulmate would finally find her, and that person won't have his smile, his shy chuckles, his mysterious presence.

It won't be him.

Her jaw clenched in bitter frustration. She knew this— this wasn't a newfound revelation, so why does it feel like this?

Why does it feel like she's actually lost a soulmate? What did she expect, really? For it to be him waiting on the other end? Maybe she has lost her mind—

"Why are you holding the dong?"

She snapped out of her internal dilemma, whipping her head to the left. Jeno stood there, looking at her with a puzzled— yet slightly amused— look on his face.

Only then did she realize she had been twirling the suggestive piece of gem around her hands, too deep in her thought to have realized.

Without missing a beat, she looked at him, gem still in hand.

"Oh, don't be so crass—" she narrowed her eyes at him, waving the gem in front of him— "and his name is Mr. Shlong."

It must've taken him by surprise; he let out a breathy laugh, his shoulders shaking as he scrunched his nose— "god, that was so bad."

Ru giggled in response, partially glad that she made him laugh. "Hey! You laughed—"

"Well, that was a transformative session, wasn't it?"

Their laughing ceased gradually, and Ru quickly dropped the gem back in the basket as they turned to see Esmeralda walking out of her reading room. She approached them with a certain sway. In her hands were two brightly-animated tarot cards.

She handed one tarot card to Jeno— "for spiritual empowerment."

She looked at Ru, handing the remaining card. "This will help you expand that light within you."

Though she felt awkward, she had to admit that it was a nice gesture.

"Thank you," Ru gave her a sincere smile.

"Of course! They're free for first-timers," Esmeralda chuckled.

"Oh!" Esmeralda held up a finger, gesturing for them to wait as she shuffled across the room. She took a book from the shelf by the cash register before she came back to them.

She handed Ru the book she had seen earlier. "Here you go, darling. For you guys, it's free!"

Ru laughed nervously, taking the book almost hesitantly. With that, they both thanked her and walked quietly out of the store and back out into the busy commotion that Ru had almost forgotten about. They took a path around the side, avoiding the crowd.

As they walked, Ru flipped the book to read the blurb on the back. She noticed that on the book was a price sticker, crossed about three times to display a new discounted price.

She couldn't help but snort. Esmeralda was something else.

"What did the lady talk to you about?" Jeno asked.

Ru looked straight ahead; frankly, she felt a little too sheepish to look at him. "Nothing that crazy. She, um, just asked me to visualize my soulmate or something, let the image form in my head."

She looked at him. "What about you?"

"That woman's convinced your twin is my soulmate. She kept talking about it, for a second I was convinced you had one— you don't, right?"

Ru let out a hearty chuckle, shaking her head. "No!"

He laughed in return, the wrinkle on his nose apparent under the bright sun.

"She messed up that first time, assuming we were soulmates. After that, it's just her trying to convince us she's legit. She kept insisting we were connected."

Ru laughed, but this time, she felt a little weight on her chest. She watched the way his lips move so subtly when he talked, and she felt a knot form in her stomach.

"I don't know—" Ru shrugged dismissively, looking down— "maybe she has a point."

Jeno looked down at her, his eyebrows furrowed in total bewilderment. "You're joking."

She looked up and laughed at his shocked expression. "No, seriously! I mean, obviously she's crazy— nice, but crazy."

There was a slight pause when she looked into his curious eyes.

"I know we're not soulmates—" she didn't think it'd be so hard to say that sentence out loud; she took a deep breath, trying her best not to let it show.

"But maybe us meeting wasn't really a coincidence. Maybe the reason my soulmate's missing has something to do with why you don't have one."

Jeno's face became stoic, his little pout showing as he pondered the thought. "Maybe."

He looked straight ahead, but her eyes remained on him.

It was true that her soulmate was out there, waiting for her to find him. She knew this.

But god, she wanted so badly for it to be him.

________________________________________

chapter thirteen.

Ever since that visit to the psychic store, Ru couldn't stop thinking about her soulmate— or more specifically, how Jeno wasn't.

She tried not to, distracting herself with school and hanging out with Jia and Chohee. Mostly, she had been avoiding it— and him, for that matter.

Although, she didn't really have to put much effort into the latter; she hasn't had the chance to talk to him ever since that day.

They always seemed to miss each other; whenever she was having lunch, he was either in the court playing basketball or downstairs by the mini mart. She had been busy with extra projects, so she would stay back after school and he'd leave early on his own, for god-knows-what reason.

Today, she had more assignments that kept her in school for another hour and a half. Jaemin offered to wait for her, but she knew she couldn't have him wait that long so now she found herself walking home alone.

She was pleasantly surprised to see that the sun was still bright out; it felt like she had been cooped up in school for several hours.

She tapped on her phone absent-mindedly, her eyes darting back to the time every once in a while. It seemed she still had some time before the sun would set. It didn't really mean anything to her, however, so she marched on in the direction of the Choi's.

The city ambience, the traffic and the chatter had become a little bit like tradition to her. She was so used to it that it blended into the back of her mind. The road back home had also become another natural routine. Past the little shops, busy markets and quiet houses until finally— home.

It had been a long day, that's true, but a part of her didn't want to go home yet. Her heart was tugging at her, and her feet itched to move.

In the peaceful silence, her eyes wandered to her bedroom window on the side. The roof below it sat in a fixed position, the orange tiles faded with time.

In her mind, she pictured it: him, crouched outside her window, the hood above his head. The knocks on her window, she could hear clearly. Another adventure awaits, just beyond the window.

A hopeless sigh escaped her lips; she shook her head and looked away. She couldn't fathom why, but her legs kept walking. Back up the street she just came from, through the corner and past the convenience store.

Her eyes glazed lazily over the bright, green and purple neon sign above the convenience store. Where was she even going? She didn't have a plan. All she knew was that she didn't want to be alone.

Actually, no, scratch that— she wanted to be alone, but she just didn't want to be alone with her thoughts.

She pulled out her phone from the pocket of her bag, instinctively looking through her contact list. It wasn't a long list, so she found herself scrolling up and down numerous times in a daze. She finally decided on texting Jia, just to see what's up. She wrote:

Ru: Hey, are you busy?

Did that sound weird? Why was she even texting Jia, it's not like she had anything to say to her—

Ding!

Jia replied:

Jia<33 : Nopeee

Jia<33 : What's up?

Uh... She stared at her phone, unsure how to reply.

How does she explain that she potentially likes someone but couldn't be with them because she is already tethered to her soulmate, but that soulmate is someone else. Oh, and that soulmate is also nowhere to be found.

She rolled her eyes. This is ridiculous— forget about it. She texted Jia back on a whim:

Ru: Do you wanna hang out?

She waited for a few seconds, and got an immediate text back from Jia, agreeing to hang out. She sighed in relief; maybe Jia could help her get out of her mind. A few moments after, Jia sent a location— a cafe— where they should meet up. At the end of the text, Jia signed it with:

Jia<33 : See you soon, cutie ;)

Ru smiled at the text. She stuffed her phone into her pocket, suddenly feeling very much excited about the mini date.

Walking felt a little more relaxing; the skies were a subtle orange now, the sounds of distant traffic somehow soothing. She walked and walked, blended in with the city ambience. Before she knew it, she found herself standing in front of the cafe.

She entered the cafe to find that Jia hadn't arrived yet, so she picked a corner that was vacant and sat down. She didn't have to wait for long before Jia came walking through the cafe doors. Ru waved her hand in the air so that Jia could notice her.

Her hand caught Jia's attention; she flashed a cheeky smile and skipped in her direction.

"Hey there," Jia greeted in a sweet tone.

Ru smiled in return, patting the seat next to her. "Come sit."

Jia sat next to her on the sofa, her luscious hair tucked neatly behind her ear.

"Should we order?" Ru asked.

"Let's just wait for the others."

The others? "Is Chohee coming?"

"Oh, no she couldn't come; she has some sort of family gathering—" Jia tilted her head— "aren't the boys coming?"

"Oh—" Ru raised her eyebrows, feeling slightly sheepish. She thought that this was going to be just the two of them; she didn't know Jia thought differently.

"I didn't invite the boys, actually."

"Ah—" Jia's shoulder slumped ever so slightly, but it was gone as soon as it came— "no worries, then, we can just order now."

Ru felt slightly awkward all of a sudden, but she tried to shake it off. Together, they stood up and walked towards the line at the counter.

"Hey, actually—" Jia gave Ru an apologetic look—"I can't stay for long, my dad's gonna need me soon. Is it okay if we take this to go?"

Ru nodded immediately, giving Jia a reassuring smile— "of course, yeah. I don't actually want anything, so you just go ahead and order."

Jia gave her a bright smile as they finally made it to the front of the line. Ru stood by Jia as she ordered a complicated drink she couldn't be bothered to try and understand, specifying that it was a take away.

After Jia paid, they walked back to their seats, plopping down on the sofa next to each other.

"So," Jia began, her head slightly leaning to the side, "why'd you wanna hang out?"

"Oh, nothing, really— it's fun hanging out with you guys."

Jia gave her a cheeky smirk, in which Ru returned with a slightly giggly smile. It was true, though. Hanging out with Jia and Chohee had been the highlight of her days, besides being with the boys, of course. They spent a lot of their after-school time hanging out at cafes, visiting karaoke rooms just for the sake of it.

"Hey, I actually have something to tell you—" Jia shifted in her seat, facing Ru.

Ru raised her eyebrows, her lips curving in anticipation.

"Alright, so please don't laugh, cause I know this is stupid—" Jia fiddled with her fingers, looking down with a silly grin on her face.

What was she going to say? Ru didn't realize but she inched closer towards Jia, excited to hear more.

"I, uh—" Jia looked up, the light shining perfectly on her bright eyes—" actually like someone."

What? The Jia finally likes someone? Ru burst into an excited giggle, letting out a little squeal. She didn't quite know where that came from; she was hoping Jia would be too occupied with her situation to bother making fun of her weird squeal.

"I know, it's stupid—" Jia shook her head, looking down again.

Ru interjected. "What— no, it's not, tell me about it!"

Jia looked up and smiled, before her lips curved into an 'o' shape in new excitement. "Also, I know Chohee's gonna kill me for telling you, but she's got her eye on someone too."

What? Chohee, too?

"You guys!" Ru teased, lightly nudging Jia. "Now you're making me feel left out!"

They both laughed, Ru's curiosity for these boys growing even bigger. "So, who is it?"

"Oh, but please don't laugh," Jia pouted dramatically.

"Why would I laugh? I get to know who finally caught your attention."

"Alright..." Jia took a deep breath.

"It's Jeno."

The stupid grin was wiped off of Ru's face. She felt her shoulders tense and for some reason, her neck started to feel hot. Her heart felt heavy; all she could think to do was stare blankly as her heart started to thump at an irrational speed.

"Oh, it's stupid, isn't it?" Jia looked concerned, her eyes looking slightly sad.

Ru managed to shake herself out of her little stupor. "What— no! Of course not, why would it be? He's a really cool guy—"

God, why was she still talking?

"—and honestly, you guys would look good together!"

Oh, just shut up!

"Really?" Jia's slight pout was now turned into a relief smile. "Aw, Ru, you're such a cutie. Also, seriously, Chohee's gonna freak out that I'm telling you this, but she likes Donghyuck."

...Seriously?

"At first I was a bit worried that she liked Jeno, too, but then she told me yesterday that it's Donghyuck she likes."

Ru was speechless. "Wow..."

"I know! Actually the reason why I'm telling you is also because I kinda need your help."

Ru felt her heart deflate a little.

"My help?"

"Yeah, could you help us out and set something like a double date for the two of us?" She made puppy eyes as her lips curved into a childish pout— "I know you guys are super close to each other."

Oh god, no.

Ru chuckled nervously. "What? We're not that close— and besides, you guys are friends too, why don't you ask them? I'm sure they would like that."

She hoped to God he wouldn't.

"I knooow," Jia groaned, "but I'm still super shy around them and I don't want to come off too strong in front of them, you know? Maybe you could pretend to invite them to a hangout and then let the four of us have a double date, how does that sound?"

Ru spaced out. Before she even realized, she was replying, "yeah, of course!"

A bright grin spread across Jia's face. "Yay! Thank you so much, Ru, you're just the best, really!"

Ru smiled, but that was only to cover whatever she was feeling underneath. What in the world did she just agree to? She didn't quite know what to feel, but all she knew was that she didn't really want to be in this cafe anymore.

She jolted up from her seat, not quite sure how to play things out from here. "I, um— I kinda have to go, actually. I'll talk to you soon!"

Jia seemed a bit taken aback, but it didn't last long; she nodded her head with a satisfied grin on her face.

Ru didn't waste another second; she nodded awkwardly, turning around and taking quick steps out of the cafe. The streets weren't as busy as they were before she entered the cafe, but she still felt claustrophobic, like the people around her were closing in on her.

Well, it's safe to say that she has it down bad for him. She groaned in frustration. What was she even doing? She tried her best to ignore the heat in her chest— it truly felt like it was on fire.

She bit her lip subconsciously, marching through the peaceful passersby with her thoughts running like bullet trains through her head.

But seriously, of all people, did it have to be him? She could picture it already: the two of them, hunched under a tree with the beautiful view of the city landscape somewhere, his jacket draped over her because it's raining and they didn't bring an umbrella.

Alright, maybe that was a little too dramatic— she's only asking for a double date. But regardless, Ru felt a knot in her chest she wanted so badly to untangle, but didn't know how to.

She hated the thought of them together; she wanted to be mad at Jia, but how could she? She's feeling the same thing Ru was feeling.

Why? was all she could muster up in her head as she walked past a crosswalk towards her neighborhood. She was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he wasn't her soulmate, that she shouldn't even have feelings for him— she didn't think she'd have to see him with someone else.

She slowed down, finally coming down to a halt just at the entrance of her neighborhood.

Shut up, Ru, she scolded herself.

Stop thinking. Stop thinking about him, stop thinking about your soulmate, just stop.

Maybe it was her desperation to forget about it, maybe it was her anger, but in a split second decision, she broke into a sprint. She dashed down the street past the trusty convenience store, letting the house blur down on her peripherals as she rushed to her house.

She didn't stop there; she burst into the house (although she had a moment of panic, hoping none of the Chois caught that) and ran up the stairs into her bedroom.

She shut the door behind her, plopping onto the floor dramatically. Her lungs were on fire now, her legs wobbly. Maybe this was a sign that she needed to exercise more.

She groaned, ignoring the thought.

No, this was a sign that she just wanted some sleep.

Hopelessly drained, she curled into a fetal position on the floor by her bed. The hard, wooden floor cooled her down and she let each deep breath lull her into an uncomfortable, yet much needed nap.

⭒⭒⭒

The first thing she felt was the deep pumping of her heart against the hardwood floor. The only thing she could hear was her husky breathing, her body sprawled across the floor in an awkward position.

Feeling slightly disoriented, she sat up from the ground, rubbing her eyes in circular motions. Her room was dark now; all the lights were off, the skies outside were glum. However, she noticed that her door was now slightly ajar, the dim yellow light seeping in a thin, straight line.

As soon as her heart quieted down, she finally noticed another soft, subtle noise repeating itself— sniffles.

She looked across her room and her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

By the door to spot a boy huddled in the corner, his knees clutched closely to his chest. It took her a second, but she finally recognized him as Dabin. A feeling of relief washed over her for a second, but it was soon replaced with concern.

Still on the floor, she crawled her way to him in the dark.

"Hey," she whispered, placing her hand gently on his shivering shoulder, "are you okay, Dabin?"

He didn't answer; he continued to sniffle, his head buried into his arms.

"Dabin?" she whispered again, tilting her head downwards in an attempt to glimpse his face.

At that moment, Dabin looked up and quickly wrapped his arms around Ru's neck, sobbing into her shoulders. It took her by surprise; she was almost knocked backwards from his sudden hug.

"Woah, Dabin—" she gasped, hugging him back in alarm— "what's wrong?"

The longer he cried, the harder his body shook. Ru could tell he was trying his best to hold it in, but it must've been really hard for him because he continued to cry into her shoulder.

"Mom—" Dabin hiccuped, trying his best to control his breathing— "mom is sick, I think she's very sick."

Ru's breathing became shallow and she sat there in silence, waiting for more words to come out of his mouth.

"She has a tumor."

She felt her whole body ice up, the feeling of instantaneous cold enveloping her as she sat on the ground, a crying boy in her arms.

She held her breath in shock. Mrs. Choi: such a warm person, with such a unique smile, full of life and full of questions. She didn't dare think it, but what would life be like without Mrs. Choi?

She felt a wave of guilt surge through her; all those times Mrs. Choi had been so nice to her, constantly asking questions, all her efforts to be part of Ru's life. Ru was always irritated by it, feeling as though she was just a charity case, but what would she be now without it?

In her silence, Dabin's crying grew louder. She forced herself not to dwell on the guilt— she needed to comfort him.

"Hey—" she pulled herself away from him, just enough that she could see his face— "don't you worry about it, okay? Your mom will be just fine, because she's strong."

He looked at her, the innocence barely holding on in the tears threatening to fall down. There was a slight pause, then he whispered, "but what if—"

"—No," Ru interrupted, her voice cracking slightly, "no buts, no what ifs. Just focus on how strong your mom is, okay? You have to believe in her, because that gives her strength."

The pout on Dabin's face was short of devastating. He sniffed once more, and then nodded silently.

Ru plastered a reassuring smile. "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?"

This time, he nodded much more quickly.

She smiled as she got up. "I'll go make something for you, alright? You can stay here if you want."

He nodded, still sitting cross-legged on the floor as he wiped away his tears with the long sleeves of his sweater.

She took quick steps down the stairs and towards the kitchen. She opened one cabinet after the other, re-checking the fridge about three times before she realized she didn't really know how to cook anything.

Damn it, she muttered to herself as she continued to search through shelves.

She finally landed on a big pack of instant ramens. She paused for a moment, then shrugged.

This'll do.

She opened two packets and dropped it into a pot, letting the water boil. It didn't take long for the noodles to finish cooking; she poured them into two separate bowls and placed them on a tray.

Hm. She quickly circled back to the snack cabinet, taking a few packets of marshmallow-filled chocolate pies and a packet of seaweed. She placed them neatly on the tray, looking at it with somewhat of a satisfied look on her face.

She was just about to head out of the kitchen when she started hearing a soft cry.

Was Dabin crying again?

Her eyebrows furrowed.

The sound seemed like it was coming from the hallway, though.

She peeked into the hallway right by the kitchen, where the bathroom, living room and parent's bedroom would be. As she tiptoed into the hallway, the crying got louder. She creeped slowly towards the noise until she found herself a few steps away from the slightly opened parents' bedroom.

There she was: Mrs. Choi, sitting at the end of her bed, her head buried in her hands and shoulders shaking. Beside her was Mr. Choi, solemn as he placed his hand on her back, rubbing circles.

Ru wanted to cry. Why did this have to happen to someone as kind as Mrs. Choi? Not that she wanted it to happen to anyone else, but of all people—

"Ru? What's taking so long?"

She flinched, turning to find Dabin standing at the end of the hall. He walked towards her lazily, trying to get a peek at what she made.

She gave Mrs. Choi one brief look before turning to Dabin.

"Here you go—" she passed him the tray gently— "why don't you go in there and share this with your parents? They must be hungry, too."

He nodded, taking the tray and slowly walking into the room. She watched as Mrs. Choi quickly wiped away her tears, forcing a smile for her son. Upon seeing the tray in his hands, it seemed both Mr. and Mrs. Choi were momentarily distracted; Dabin sat down next to his mother as Mr. Choi ruffled his son's head playfully.

She didn't even realize when Mr. Choi looked up in her direction; she suddenly felt like she was imposing on a family moment.

As she was about to turn away, Mr. Choi gave her a quick, grateful smile.

She returned the smile, feeling a tear build up in her eyes.

________________________________________

chapter fourteen.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Ru looked up to Donghyuck staring at her.

"Are you okay?" He chuckled, "you've been quiet all day."

She shook her head dismissively— "yeah, no, I'm fine."

Ru wasn't exactly fine, but what else could she have said? She tried to focus on the board, but it must've looked like she was just staring at it; Donghyuck leaned closer to her, whispering so the teacher wouldn't catch them.

"Are you sure? Jaemin bought you that strawberry jelly drink you like so much and you didn't even drink it."

She tore her gaze from the teacher, giving him a funny look. Was it that obvious?

She chuckled, "yesterday was just a weird day, is all."

"Well—" he shrugged— "today's not yesterday anymore, you know? So if it's still bothering you, it must be more than just a weird day."

Her eyes were stagnant on him, her mind slowly wandering away.

"You can talk to me about it, if you want."

His little smile pulled her back, and she couldn't help but smile back.

She was upset about Jia's sudden confession. But after what she found out at home, she felt guilty feeling bad about something as silly as that.

She looked down at her textbook, fiddling with its pages.

"My foster mom—" she uttered softly, glancing at him— "we found out yesterday that she has a tumor."

Donghyuck's eyes widened.

"Jeez, Ru—" he sat back on his chair, rubbing the back of his head— "that's more than just a weird day, that's terrible."

"Yeah," Ru sighed. "Now I kinda wish I drank that jelly."

Donghyuck chuckled silently, leaning closer to her again. He glanced briefly at the teacher to make sure she wasn't looking their way, before he whispered, "let's just ditch school after this."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"Yeah, I'll buy you the jelly downstairs and we can all just walk around."

She looked at him incredulously. "ditch school? We still have half the day to go!"

"You're not gonna die from missing out one day of school," Donghyuck pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, you need it."

She bit her lips and stared at the board... She had never ditched school before.

She watched as the teacher continued to write on the board, the endless words spilling on the board like scattered, illegible letters.

It's not like she could focus if she stayed.

"Fine," she conceded, "but we're not making this a habit, okay?"

Donghyuck flashed her a cheeky grin, giving her a small salute. "You got it, ma'am."

She rolled her eyes playfully; a little smile lingered on her face.

⭒⭒⭒

The hallways were always packed with students during recess time. Ru stayed close to Donghyuck as they walked down the stairs, jostled in between other students also rushing to get to the courtyard.

Donghyuck stuffed his phone into his back pocket just as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I just texted Jaemin and Renjun to meet us by the mini mart. Meanwhile, we'll get you that jelly you really want—" he squished her cheeks.

She swatted his hand away, nudging him playfully on the ribs. However, she stopped midway. "Wait, what about Jeno?"

"Oh—" Donghyuck shrugged— "he's not in school today."

Oh? "Why isn't he in school?"

"I don't know, he was kinda sick last night. It's those headaches again. You have no idea how cranky he was this morning, I just told him to skip school," Donghyuck explained, "he's scary when he's cranky."

Oh. She forgot about the headaches he used to get. Well, technically he still gets them.

She felt a sudden, hollow feeling in her stomach. She couldn't believe she was bummed that he didn't tell her, which was stupid in itself. Why should he have told her?

Even worse, she was upset that she didn't know. She couldn't have known, but she wanted to. She couldn't believe she was thinking it, but she wanted that aching pain on her chest, even if it meant she knew.

She took a deep breath, letting reality sink. Even if she did feel anything at all, it wouldn't be because of him. It would be because of her soulmate.

"Hey, we could buy Jeno some snacks, see if he feels better," Donghyuck suggested, pulling Ru out of her own thoughts.

Ru smiled. "Yeah."

They stopped by the mini mart just by the courtyard and like Donghyuck promised, he bought her a jelly drink, along with other snacks they thought the others might want. As he laid out the snacks on the counter, Ru waited behind him, tapping incessantly on her phone.

Maybe Jeno felt better already, so there's no need to check up on him... But what if he's still sick in bed? It would be nice to receive a message when you're not feeling well.

Ru contemplated, her thumbs hovering over her phone's keyboard.

"Hey—" Ru looked up from Donghyuck's voice— "can you text Jeno, ask him if he's feeling better?"

"Oh, u-um—" she stuttered, but he was still too busy with the snacks to notice— "okay."

She typed out a quick sentence, sending it before she thought too much of it.

Ru: Hey, I heard you're not feeling well. Are you okay?

The message delivered.

No answer.

She scoffed internally; it's literally been a few seconds, of course he hasn't answered. She dropped her phone into her backpack just as Donghyuck finished paying for the food. The two of them walked out, a jelly drink in Ru's hand and a small lollipop in Donghyuck's.

Students were scattered across the courtyard, some girls sitting at a corner watching boys play basketball. Ru remembered when her school was just an all-girls school; the courtyard was always much more quiet then.

"So," Ru asked in between sips, "how are we going to sneak out?"

"There's this hole on a wall behind the school, and it's covered with a bunch of these metal sheets. I don't know if the teachers even know they exist, but nobody watches the place."

She raised her eyebrows, impressed. She's been here for four years now, but has never heard of this hole. They've only been relocated to this school for a few months and they've already found it?

"How did you even find it? I've been here so much longer than you and I didn't even know you could sneak through the back of the building."

Donghyuck laughed. "Yeah, that's because you're not looking. A quick getaway's the first thing we always look for in new places."

Why, of course. It was easy to forget how delinquent they were.

Her eyes wandered mindlessly as she sipped the last bit off her jelly drink. She waited for the familiar faces of Jaemin and Renjun, but as she looked into the courtyard, she spotted another set of familiar faces: Jia and Chohee.

Her eyes widened, the memory of yesterday flashing in her mind. They were talking casually amongst themselves as they walked slowly— but surely— in her direction.

"Hey—" she started pulling at Donghyuck's sleeve— "let's just go to the back first, they'll catch up with us."

"What?" Donghyuck looked at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah—" she nodded, trying not to sound too rushed— "if the four of us went to the back together, it'd look too suspicious."

He pouted for a moment, but with her subtle nudging, he shrugged. "I mean, we do it all the time but I guess you have a point."

She nodded again, barely hearing what he said as she pushed him towards the building and away from Jia and Chohee. She didn't even realize, but soon she was dragging him. It didn't take them long, but the sound of the crowd began to fade away and they were finally at a deserted section of the school.

She sighed, finally coming to a halt. Yes, she felt bad avoiding them like that, but she really didn't have the energy to think about the favor she promised them. She really hoped they'd just forget about it, however unlikely it may be.

She finally took in her surroundings: a few broken tables and chairs were piled on a corner by the building wall. The walls enclosing the school were tall and undisturbed, and just like Donghyuck told her, a tattered metal sheet leaned against one section of the wall.

"I guess it isn't that hard to sneak out, huh?"

"It's a piece of cake, really," Donghyuck shrugged as he pulled his phone out of his pocket— "anyway, I'll text them to meet us at the court, it's better than waiting for them here."

"The court?" Ru asked, her head tilted slightly.

"Yeah, we always just chill there when we sneak out."

Ru couldn't really imagine 'chilling' at a basketball court, but at this point she just wanted to be anywhere but school.

"Alright—" Donghyuck put his phone back in his pocket, walking right up to the metal sheets he described earlier. He lifted the sheets slightly to reveal a big hole in the middle of the wall.

"Ladies first."

It was hard to see what was on the other side, but all she could see were overgrown grass. She crouched under Donghyuck's arm that was holding the metal open for her and slowly, she crawled out through the hole.

Her feet planted firmly on the ground below her and she felt the tall grass tickle her feet. Behind the school seemed to be an empty plot of land, covered with an ocean of unkempt plants and weeds. Not far off where the plot of land ends, an empty road stretches out towards the corner and out of view.

She could hear the slight shuffling behind her; Donghyuck finally crawled out of the hole. They walked carefully through the tall grass until they finally reached the side of the road.

It was mostly silent as they walked, until Donghyuck broke the silence.

"So... How are you feeling?"

"Um..." She kicked the tiny rocks beneath her feet. "I don't know, really."

"Are you close with them? You know—" he looked at her and bobbed his head lightly— "your host family."

She bit her lip in contemplation. "Honestly, I've only ever seen them as people I share a house with. But after yesterday, it's like... I know them, you know? And they know me. That must be worth something, right?"

She looked over at Donghyuck, who nodded back in consolidation.

She swallowed the lump on her throat. "I want her to be okay."

He put one arm around her, pulling her close to him as he rubbed her shoulder. "She'll be okay, you just have to believe it."

She hugged him back. It wasn't much of a reassurance, but it was nice to have a hug.

She pulled away gently from his embrace, nudging him playfully. "Look at you, being such a sweet boy and all."

"Shut up—" he rolled his eyes, a cheeky grin evident on his face; Ru could swear she glimpsed a slight rosy tint color his cheeks.

Before they knew it, they finally rounded a corner and were greeted by the sight of a big basketball court. Unlike the other basketball court Ru's been to before, this court had no barrier net. The court was bright and empty; it was certainly much cleaner, too.

There was a thick collection of trees right next to one side of the court, with little benches placed nicely on either side of the area. They walked towards the bench closer to the trees to get a good, shady spot to chill.

"Alright—" Donghyuck plopped himself on the bench— "which snack shall we eat first?"

He dumped the snacks on the spot beside him as Ru found herself a comfortable spot on the ground, taking off her bag next to her. They didn't waste another second before diving into their snacks, too eager to even wait for the others to arrive.

Unnoticed by Ru, the odd beating on her chest steadily subsided; the warm breeze and delicious snacks brought her out of her own head. She looked over at Donghyuck— it seemed like he was enjoying himself just fine.

"Hey, so—" Donghyuck crunched on a big bite of chips— "you and Jeno have been spending a lot of time together, huh?"

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Well, yeah—" she cleared her throat— "I guess."

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think you two were, like, soulmates."

There it was again! Her heart...

She tried to mask her nerves by chucking a snack at him.

"Hey—" Donghyuck blocked it from hitting his face, chuckling.

Ru looked down. "It would be easier if he were, though."

There was a brief pause, but Donghyuck continued, "trust me, though, once your soulmate shows up I can guarantee you'll forget you ever thought Jeno was your soulmate."

She sighed. Hopefully, that was the case. At this moment, she couldn't even fathom it.

Her thoughts started to slip through the cracks of doubt, so much so that she didn't even notice Donghyuck pick up a large rock littered on the ground next to the bench.

"Ru, get up." Donghyuck instructed her suddenly, his tone so much deeper.

"What—" she looked up and finally saw his face.

His eyes were steely and alert, one hand behind his back and the other balled into a fist. She stood up immediately, heat spreading through her body in alarm. She barely had time to look at what's causing his apprehension before Donghyuck pulled her behind him.

Then she finally spotted them— six guys walking towards them at an alarmingly fast pace. They were all wearing uniforms— presumably from another school— but the way they were wearing them, you'd need a double take: collars up like thugs, sleeves rolled in a pompous manner, ties hanging loosely around their necks.

There was a tense silence when they finally approached them. The one in the center stood a little higher than the rest of the boys; he was tall, his messy hair greasy under the sun. He had this permanent scowl on his face like he just smelled shit nearby.

"Well, this is a rare sight." The one in the center spoke with smug lips. "Where're your buddies at?"

Donghyuck stared straight at him. "They're coming."

The boy smirked a little too confident for Ru's liking. His finally flickered in her direction, and the smirk grew into a malicious grin. "And who's this chick?"

His question was met with silence.

"Come on, Donghyuck, introduce her, why don't you?" The boy stepped forward slowly.

Donghyuck's hand reached for her, pulling her closer behind him. She didn't know what to do; her eyes peaked tensely from over his shoulder.

The boy started to chuckle; other kids behind started snickering along to him.

"Don't worry... I won't bite."

Donghyuck scoffed and this time, he took the step forward until they were face-to-face.

"Are you that desperate for another beating?" Donghyuck questioned, his eyes narrowed.

The boy kept his stance, his smirk ever so apparent on his face.

Donghyuck's voice turned into a low growl, a challenging look now plastered on his face. "We fucked you up once, we'll do it again."

"Don't start acting all smug now, your shit friends are nowhere to be seen! Actually..." the boy paused, raising his hand in conclusion. "Maybe now's a perfect time to teach you a lesson."

He took a quick step towards Donghyuck again, this time grabbing him by the collar.

Ru gasped as she was shoved slightly from the boy's force on Donghyuck. She grabbed onto the back of his uniform in apprehension.

What the hell do they do now?

That's when she finally noticed the rock on his hand. He held a tight grip on the rock, the rough surface of it dangerous to the touch. Something told her that she should take a step back and away from the rock.

"You think you're all high and mighty, maybe it's time someone made you think twice." The boy spoke, barely above a whisper.

"Well—" Donghyuck adjusted his shoulders— "I don't really have to be all high and mighty to do this."

"What?"

In a flash, Donghyuck swung his hidden hand as hard as he could, the jagged surface of the rock making brutal contact with the boy's face. He immediately stumbled backwards and down to the ground.

She couldn't even register the scene before her when Donghyuck took her hand, pulling her in the opposite direction and into the trees.

Before she knew it, she was running.

Her breaths were shallow as they sprinted, tree after tree. She could hear the harsh shuffling behind her; she didn't need to turn around to know that they were all hot on her trail.

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" She could hear a vague voice scream somewhere in the collection of trees.

It didn't take them long, but they were finally out of the trees. She no longer had any idea where they were. They were met with a tiny stretch of road, with a few shops lined up on one side.

They didn't take a second to catch their breaths as they ran down the street in a direction she didn't recognize. She followed him until they reached a main road. Looking back once, she saw that they were gaining in on them.

She could only barely glimpse the blood trickling on the thug's head before she was whisked into the crowd of the busy road.

Donghyuck's hand never let go of her's, pulling her through crowds and occasionally shoving people to get through. As fast as she felt like she was going, she could still hear the ruckus behind her; she knew they weren't going to back out anytime soon.

The longer they ran, the smaller the streets became. Gradually, the crowds started to thin out; he began to lead her through weird turns. After a dramatic few minutes, they found themselves in the midst of a few abandoned buildings.

"This way—" Donghyuck muttered.

He finally let go of her hand as they approached a run-down building; it looked like an old, abandoned apartment. They dashed up the stairs in the entrance, moving past one floor after the next.

When they finally ran out of stairs, he stopped moving, and she halted promptly behind him. Her breathing was ragged, her heart pumping right out of her chest.

Did they lose them?

It seemed like Donghyuck was trying to find out just that; his eyes stared into the space in concentration, trying to listen for noise.

It was silent. She listened for any unusual noises, but there was none.

Still afraid that they would get caught, she whispered, "are they gone?"

He looked at her, his eyes focused and alert. "I think so, but we have to wait—"

Clang!

Loud, clanging of metal caused her to flinch. Donghyuck didn't waste another second— he grabbed her hand again and led her down the dank hallway, past peeling wallpapers and rotting floorboards.

Along the hallways were about a dozen identical doors. He tried each one as they went, but they were all locked. She felt her stomach curl into a nauseating knot; at this rate, they'd be cornered and they'd beat him up real bad. Judging by their character, who's to say they wouldn't beat her up too? They looked like the type of boys who would beat up a girl—

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a clicking door. This one's unlocked!

They rushed inside, closing the door behind them. Even though they were completely hidden now, they instinctively crouched. Both of them were breathing hard, but were trying hard to minimize it.

"We can't stay here, they're gonna check every room and they'll find us unless we get out of here," he whispered.

"What do we do now?" Her voice came out raspy and dry, the panic obvious in her tone.

He didn't answer her. Instead, his eyes flicked towards the only window in the room. He stood up and looked out the window, before he finally turned to her.

"We'll go out through the window."

What?

"Are you crazy?" She hissed, trying her best to keep her voice down.

"Come on—" his hand reached out to her, gesturing for her to come— "there's a balcony on the building beside us, we'll jump."

"What? I can't jump buildings, Hyuck!" She whisper-screamed, her throat scratchy and dry now.

"Well, do you have a better idea?!" His eyes were wide in exasperation.

Before she could even respond, the sound of muffled footsteps shook the floor. They were getting closer.

She groaned. This can't be happening.

Donghyuck pulled the window upwards, sliding it open. "Just climb out of the window and jump to the balcony— it's lower so you should jump easily."

She was speechless. She peeked her head through the window to find another similar building right next to the one they were in. There was a balcony one floor lower, protruding out of the building.

Slowly, she slid her legs out of the window, securing them on the ledge before the rest of her body followed suit.

"Careful—" Donghyuck grabbed onto her arm as she wrapped her hands along the line of railing conveniently placed along the sides of the building.

She took timid steps, sliding her legs so that she could reach the edge of the building and closer to the balcony. Eventually, Donghyuck had to let go of her when she was too far out of reach.

"Alright, now jump, Ru!"

Oh, god.

Her eyes were blurred now. She knew it wasn't much of a jump, but in her panicked state, it felt like she was attempting a parkour stunt.

Thumping sounds grew louder, more violent. She looked over at Donghyuck to see that he wasn't looking at her anymore; he was looking inside in a frozen position. She wanted to ask him what was wrong but before she could even say anything, his body disappeared back into the building. The window shut quickly after.

Oh, hell no.

He wasn't going to leave her, was he?

She wanted to cry. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Alright. She has no choice but to jump. She let out a subtle breath, focusing her energy on the jump.

One...

Her heart was beating out of her chest. Ignore it.

Two...

A vague thump could be heard somewhere inside the building. Ignore it.

Three!

She mustered all of her strength and let go, pushing herself off the side of the building and towards the opened balcony.

The air rushed past her until she finally fell on the hard floor of the balcony. The wind was knocked out of her lungs as her body crashed harshly against the tiles. It took her a moment, but she finally regained her strength and stood up, dusting the tiny debris off of her clothes. She tried to ignore the subtle aching on her back. That's definitely going to bruise.

Her eyes lingered on the closed window. Where was he?

Where does she go from here? She stood, hopelessly confused. She wanted to call his name, but she knew she couldn't.

A sudden movement in the corner of her eyes caused her to look down. Her heart did a little somersault as she spotted two boys step out of the building she was just from, scanning the area eagerly.

She immediately ducked down, peaking out ever-so-slightly. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath, her chest constricted as she watched them stomp back into the building.

Shit, what should she do? Donghyuck's in there— she couldn't just leave him like that.

She retreated into the balcony door and luckily, it wasn't locked. She tiptoed through the room, making as little noise as possible as she walked out of the room and into the hallway. The building had almost an identical structure to the previous one, so Ru found herself navigating the place easily.

She found the stairs and took quick steps towards the ground floor. What in the world does she do now?

Walk out of the door and she would risk getting caught by them. Stay in the building and Donghyuck has a very good chance of getting caught by them. Fuck! She wasn't good at this at all.

She creeped towards the main door leading outside. The door wasn't shut all the way, so it was perfect for her to peek through. Her eyes adjusted to the bright sun that made its way through the crack of the door, and she spied for the thugs.

She almost yelped when a figure walked past her building; she shut her mouth with her hand, terrified that her irregular breathing would give her away.

Three boys met up just a few steps away from her, in perfect view from her hiding spot.

"We searched the building, we couldn't find them," one boy reported to the leader; the crimson tinge on his forehead was now dry.

"He's in there, search again—" his hands balled into a tight fist— "NOW!"

The other boys soon disappeared back into the first building. The infuriated boy stood there, pacing around like a hawk waiting for its prey.

How was she supposed to help Donghyuck like this?

She looked around frantically in search of any ideas. There was nothing around her except the debris and a few metal rods laying on the floor under the stairs. Her eyes furrowed in contemplation, her heart burning from nerves.

Maybe she could distract them. Yeah, she could do that— get them out of the other building. She took a deep breath as she picked up two metal rods. Her hands were shaking at this point; this was either a genius idea or a stupid one.

This could work.

She didn't know if she was just trying to convince herself, but it wasn't really working. Her eyes scanned the first floor of the building. Near the flight of stairs was a hallway that ended with another door, the tiny window on it allowing the sunlight to shine naturally on the dusty ground.

She just had to make sure she wasn't inside when the boys swarmed this building. Just create a diversion, then run out through the backdoor of the building.

She crawled back towards the crack of the door. The boy was still standing there, waiting.

Alright, here goes nothing.

With all her strength, she hit the two metal rods against each other, letting the loud clanging echo throughout the building. She felt her chest heat up as she watched the boy's head snap in her direction.

She didn't wait another second; she dropped the rods and sprinted for the back door. She couldn't even manage to slow down, bumping into the door with a loud thud. She pulled on the doorknob, but a daunting realization finally set— the door was locked.

Fuck! She felt her eyes tear up as she turned around, desperate. She ran along the hallways, turning each doorknob with ragged breaths.

This can't be happening, this can't be happening—

Just as she was about to give up, she finally pushed one open. She rushed inside, closing the door behind her.

The room— unlike the one she was in before with Donghyuck— was packed. There were a bunch of old furniture, all of them covered in white cloth.

She rushed towards a small rectangular piece of furniture. She pulled up the sheet to reveal a small cabinet, opening its doors and crawling in. She could feel her skin scrape against the splintery surface of the interior, but she didn't care; she forced herself into the tight space, closing the cabinet doors in front of her.

With that, she fell silent. She covered her mouth, her cheeks damp from the tears.

She focused on the sounds, all of them clear as day. She could hear distant thumping, getting closer each time.

Please don't come in the room, she begged in her head, hoping for anyone— or anything— to listen to her prayers.

Just a few seconds after she settled into the cabinet, she could hear the door open, its heavy creaking taunting her. Maybe someone listened to her prayers, but it certainly wasn't God.

She crouched, helpless. Her breath was held, and she tried with all her might not to let out a sob.

Suddenly, a low voice echoed throughout the room.

"I know you're in here."

Her lips trembled. She could no longer control her tears; they were flowing down her cheeks, her hands now wet over her lips.

"You have nowhere to run, so why don't you make this easier for the both of us—"

His voice was cut and he fell silent.

Her eyes shifted uncomfortably in the dark. Why was he silent all of a sudden? As much as she hated him talking, his silence wasn't any more comforting.

She held her breath as the vague footsteps outside the cabinet retreated, slowly fading away.

She anticipated him to come back at any moment, so she stayed put.

The minutes rolled by; she didn't dare make a move. With each daunting second, she felt her heart start to regain control.

Maybe he's gone now.

Her body was frozen; she didn't want to check, but she didn't want to stay here either. She slowly reached for the cabinet door, pushing it forward.

The natural light seeped in and she paused.

Nothing.

She made tiny movements, slowly reaching for the sheet that covered the cabinet and lifting it upwards—

Heavy footsteps suddenly erupted; her heart leapt out of her chest as she immediately retreated back into the cabinet, closing its doors quickly with a loud thump.

Shit! He must've heard her cabinet shut.

This was it.

She wanted to scream— He was going to find her. This was it, wasn't it? She's definitely dead now—

In a swift, daunting motion, the cabinet door swung open and she let out a terrified screech. Her eyes were shut, her body pressed against the confining walls of the cabinet.

She felt an arm on her thigh and suddenly—

"Ru."

The soft and deep voice jolted her; her eyes flickered open and she finally saw the boy kneeling before her.

She didn't hesitate, jumping out of the closet and hugging him. Her heart was still beating out of her chest, but this time her body was light and frigid.

"Jeno," she whispered, her face buried into his neck.

His arms were wrapped around her, his hand cupping the back of her head. She felt her breathing slowly start to steady.

"Ru, thank god!"

She let go of the hug to find Donghyuck running into the room, immediately kneeling in front of her. He pulled Ru into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry I left you, but they were coming and I knew we'd be caught if I went out the window too, so I had to distract them—" he pulled away from the hug, observing her face with guilt and concern— "are you okay?"

She mustered up the best smile she could. "Yeah, I'm okay. Are they gone?"

Donghyuck nodded back. "Yeah, they heard the others coming and thought they were the police, so they ran."

The others?

"You made Ru climb out of a window?"

She looked up to see Renjun and Jaemin standing by the doorframe. Seeing all four of them here with her, she felt an intense feeling of relief wash over her.

"Dude, we were surrounded!" Donghyuck retaliated.

As shaken up as she was, a vague smile escaped her upon Donghyuck's casual, defensive tone. She finally gathered the strength to stand up. She dusted off the dirt from her skirt and blouse, trying her best to fix her hair.

Jeno had already stood up and was now peering out of the dirty, translucent window. Jaemin approached her, giving her a quick side hug in reassurance.

"You okay?" He asked.

She looked up at him and nodded. This time, she really meant it.

Renjun was standing in front of her, a reassuring smile on his face. Now that she had calmed down, one question finally popped into her head.

"Hey—" she looked at Renjun— "how did you know we were in trouble?"

"We came to the basketball court and you weren't there, but all your things were— Donghyuck even left his phone."

"Wait, how'd you find us, then?" Donghyuck interrupted.

Renjun reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and showing them the screen. "Your location's on."

Ru did a mental face-palm. On his screen was her little icon on the map. She had her phone this entire time, but didn't think to call anyone.

"Come on, let's not stick around to see if they come back," Jaemin advised, gesturing for all of them to get out.

Ru looked in Jeno's direction. He had been silent ever since they got here. She wanted to thank him, also possibly ask him if he was feeling better now. However, before she could even approach him, he walked out of the room ahead of the others.

Maybe next time, she thought.

As they all walked out of the musty and dim room, Donghyuck muttered to the rest of the group.

"So, are we going back to the court?"

Everyone groaned simultaneously— "No!"

________________________________________

chapter fifteen.

Ru was lucky the school didn't notice that she skipped school; the Chois were none the wiser about what happened yesterday. Nonetheless, it's safe to say that Ru wasn't going to skip school anytime soon.

Thursday was a quiet day for Ru. As soon as school ended, she bid the others goodbye and walked home— alone, this time. Jaemin and the others had offered to walk her home as usual, but she didn't really feel like having company at the moment.

At least that's what she kept telling herself. The truth was, she didn't know if she could spend another second around Jeno.

Why?

He was ignoring her again. She had been racking her brain all day, coming up with a reason why he had barely spoken to her. They had been fine all of last week but now, it felt as if they were back to square one.

She pushed the house key into its keyhole, the bird keychain dangling as she twisted the key and unlocked the door. She took off her shoes and walked towards the stairs past the dining room.

Ru was surprised to find Mrs. Choi sitting on the dining table, looking at a bunch of opened envelopes, one hand rubbing her temple. Her presence distracted Mrs. Choi from the papers, however, as she looked up at her. "Oh, hello Ru."

Ru returned a sweet smile. "Hi, Mrs. Choi."

Mrs. Choi got up from her chair, scrambling to collect all the sprawled out papers, barely looking at Ru— "would you like anything to eat, darling? I can cook you something from the fridge, I think there might be some leftovers from yesterday—"

"—Oh no, I'm good, Mrs. Choi," Ru replied quickly, shaking her head.

Mrs. Choi paused, looking at the abundance of paperwork on her hands. She sighed, dropping them on the table and looking over at Ru.

"Would you like to go out for some ice cream?" Mrs. Choi blurted.

Ru paused for a moment. Ice cream?

She watched Mrs. Choi's hopeful expression, and something told her the offer wasn't really just for Ru.

"Yes, that'd be nice, thank you." Ru gave Mrs. Choi a grateful smile.

"Perfect—" Mrs. Choi sighed, looking down and gathering the mess of papers on her hands— "let me just put this away and we can go."

Ru nodded awkwardly. She excused herself and went up to her room to get changed. A few minutes later, she came back down to find Mrs. Choi already waiting for her by the door.

"Shall we?" she invited, opening the door for the both of them.

She unlocked her car and they both got in, driving off in silence.

It was weird being in a car with just Mrs. Choi. Normally, the whole family would be together and all she had to do was be silent or occasionally answer questions from the usual prying Mrs. Choi.

This time, she didn't ask Ru any questions. They rode in silence, the saturated orange hue reflecting against the interior of the car like a warm, cartoon movie. Mrs. Choi made turns in directions Ru didn't really recognize, but she didn't mind. She thought that the silence was going to make the car ride feel like an eternity, but before she knew it, the car came to a halt.

The engine stopped, and Mrs. Choi pulled on the hand brake.

"We're here," the poised lady announced in a mild sing-song voice; she was definitely in a better mood already.

Ru stepped out of the car to find that they had parked across the street from a quaint little ice cream shop, its pastel pink and blue striped awning giving the place a homey vibe. Their car was right next to a big community park overlooking a nice, little lake.

Together, they walked across the crosswalk and into the ice cream parlor; the little bell rang as they pushed the door open. It was a tiny shop with only a few round tables aligned on the wall and several ice cream-related decorations hanging from the ceiling.

A long ice cream display freezer was situated right by the door and Ru could immediately spot the overwhelming variety of ice cream flavors: chocolate chip cookies, matcha delight, strawberry swirl, lemonade, Ferrero Rocher, peanut haven, mandarin pistachio, bubblegum...

Ru felt her mouth water from all the colors, all the choices.

The girl behind the counter gave them a warm smile, showing them some of their best-sellers. Ru wasn't really listening— she had already decided which flavor she wanted: Ferrero Rocher.

The rich chocolate color tempted her, pulling her in like a child in a, well, ice cream parlor. She could only remember eating the Ferrero Rocher chocolate once when she was fourteen; one of her many foster families had bought a large box of the round delicacies and she snuck down the pantry at midnight to steal one. She remembered it was heavenly— both the treat and the fact that she got away with it.

"Do you know which flavor you want?" Mrs. Choi asked.

Ru nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I'll have the Ferrero Rocher, please."

Mrs. Choi gave her a warm smile before turning to the employee and placing their orders.

Just as Ru was watching the girl scoop her ice cream into the cup, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled out her phone to find a text message.

Jia<33 sent you a message.

Oh, no. Normally, she'd be excited to receive text messages from Jia or Chohee. But this time, she knew what the text was going to be about. With an uneasy feeling in her stomach, she opened the text:

Jia<33 : Hey cutie!! How are you?

Ru bit her lips as she sent a short response:

Ru: Hey Jiaa, I'm just out with my foster mom

It wasn't even a minute before Jia responded:

Jia<33 : Sounds fuuun

Jia<33 : Btw, what's the status on the double date? I told Chohee about it and she got so excited you should've seen her scream uWu

Her lips turned into a bitter frown. Before she could even think of a response, Jia sent another few texts:

Jia<33: We're actually free tomorrow, can you check if they're free?

Jia<33 : I know a super cute cafe that just opened up

Jia<33 : I'll send you the location

Jia<33 : Hopefully we can double date there! <3

Ru sighed. She didn't respond to the text messages, stuffing the phone back into her pocket. She'll respond later.

"Here you go, Ru—" she looked up to see her glorious ice cream in her foster mother's hand.

"Thank you!" Ru took the ice cream, her excitement growing. She forced the thought of the text out of her head and luckily, the mouth-watering ice cream in her hands was an effective way to do so.

The two of them found a seat in the corner of the shop, plopping onto their seats across from each other. It was silent for a while as the two indulged in the first few bites of their ice creams, until Mrs. Choi finally looked up at Ru, clearing her throat.

"So—" she took a quick scoop off her ice cream— "how's the ice cream?"

"It's delicious."

Mrs. Choi presented a grateful smile, looking down at her own ice cream. If Ru didn't know any better, she wouldn't have noticed. But she did.

Ru cleared her throat— "How, um... how are you, Mrs. Choi?"

She looked up, slightly taken aback. "Oh—" she shook her head dismissively— "I'm alright, I'll be alright."

Ru wanted to put on a brave face for her. It should be her telling Mrs. Choi that she'll be fine. But maybe she wasn't that good at hiding her feelings.

"Don't you worry about it, Ru," Mrs. Choi reassured instead. "What about you, how are you?"

"Oh, you know, I'm fine. Just usual school stuff," she dismissed.

"No, no—" Mrs. Choi leaned in closer, a hint of gloss in her eyes— "tell me about it, I want to hear it."

Mrs. Choi's expression was hard to read. Normally she just looked eager and nosy, but this time it was different. Was it desperation? Maybe there was a bit of sadness in it.

Ru wondered back to Jia's text, Jeno's cold shoulder, even the frightening run-in with those thugs yesterday. How could she explain any of it to her? None of it would make sense, would it?

Mrs. Choi's expression now shifted into anticipation.

It's just Mrs. Choi.

Ru cleared her throat. "There's this boy..."

Mrs. Choi's eyebrows raised in enthusiasm, but she kept quiet. Ru looked down at her ice cream, feeling too awkward to look directly at Mrs. Choi while she told her story.

"I thought he was my soulmate, but it turns out he wasn't. I know I've touched my soulmate, but I don't know where he is... I feel guilty, because I kinda wish that boy was my soulmate, while my real soulmate is out there waiting for me. Even worse, I think the boy wants nothing to do with me."

Ru shifted uncomfortably; she looked up to see Mrs. Choi smiling at her endearingly.

"Honey, soulmates are a tricky thing."

Ru chuckled; she didn't have to be told about that, definitely.

"It's one thing to wish you'll find your soulmate, but when you know you've touched your soulmate? You have absolutely nothing to worry about. He's getting here as fast as he could, and so are you.

Everyone has something to say when it comes to soulmates, but at the end of the day, you have to let your heart decide. Forget about the rules and let your heart guide you. Just relish this moment, every emotion and uncertainty. When your soulmate finds you, you'll just look back at this and laugh."

A smile formed on Ru's face as she felt a warmth in her chest, easing her shoulders from its tensed posture. "Thank you, Mrs. Choi."

Mrs. Choi nodded in return, taking another spoonful of her ice cream. "Despite all the drama, it's still exciting that you've found your soulmate, right? It's such a special and rare thing to happen to someone!"

Mrs. Choi's eyes perked up as she made a barely-audible gasp— "You know about astral capabilities right?"

Ru tilted her head slightly— the word did sound familiar.

Ru's eyes shifted as she tried to recall where she'd read it before.

"I'm sure you've learned it in class before—"

Right, that's where she's heard it.

"—but if you think soulmates re-uniting are a rare thing, astral capabilities are even more so. There's this one documentary I watched once about soulmates with astral capabilities; some soulmates get these powers after they Bind with each other. Isn't that cool?"

Ru nodded; Mrs. Choi looked genuinely excited as she continued to explain.

"This one couple from Costa Rica can breathe underwater when they touch each other. Apparently, they experienced the Binding while kissing underwater in the ocean, and researchers speculate it's why their astral capabilities are related to the water. Amazing!"

"Wow..." Ru heaved, her face a little blank.

They could breathe underwater? She was surprised she had never heard of it before.

"Isn't it crazy to think that you have the possibility of getting astral capabilities, too? Oh, this is exciting, isn't it?" Mrs. Choi squealed, her eyes crinkled in excitement.

Ru took the last scoop of her ice cream as she imagined herself with astral capabilities. She had to admit, it would be so cool to be able to breathe underwater, or whatever other astral capabilities she might be able to get— if she got them at all.

As soon as the two of them were finished with their ice creams, they bid the girl behind the counter a nice goodbye and walked out of the ice cream parlor. The afternoon sun greeted them warmly, the view of the park ahead of them serene and bright.

"Shall we take a quick walk around the park?" Mrs. Choi asked.

Ru nodded as she smiled. "That would be nice."

They walked across the street right past their car and into the park.

The last time she was at a park, Jeno told her he had no soul mark. The atmosphere was so different then; everything was dark and the air was positively chilly.

Now, the sun was out in a warm hue like from the movies, watching over the birds as they chirped joyfully, smiling over the flowers as they swayed with the wind.

The two of them walked through a wide and long stretch of road in the middle of the park, past little stands selling various little trinkets. She didn't even realize when Mrs. Choi stopped in front of one stall, her eyes scanning the rows of accessories on the table.

"Ru, come here—" Mrs. Choi called her— "we should get matching necklaces!"

Ru walked over to the stand and observed an array of matching accessories. A set of necklaces with the sun and the moon, another one with a yin and a yang.

Mrs. Choi gasped lightly as she picked up one set of necklaces— "these ones look beautiful, Ru, what do you think?"

At the end of the necklaces were two tiny, silver robins. Both their heads stuck right next to each other with magnets, like they were leaning against each other. Ru was immediately reminded of the keychain on their house key, which she now realized was also a robin.

"You must really like robins, Mrs. Choi," Ru chuckled, holding the necklace in her hands as she observed its smooth texture and intricate details.

Mrs. Choi laughed. "I used to have a robin when I was a child. I've always thought about getting another bird, but I never got around to doing it."

It was strange hearing Mrs. Choi talk about her childhood. Quite frankly, Ru never really imagined that there was a time when Mrs. Choi was just a child.

She watched Mrs. Choi admire the little birds with awe.

"Well, you should," Ru piped up, "we have a really nice porch out front; it would be a perfect place for its cage."

Mrs. Choi looked at Ru. "You think so?"

Ru nodded. Mrs. Choi gave her a wistful smile and avoided her gaze. There was a moment of silence before the elder finally said, "let's get this necklace then, shall we?"

"Looks perfect," Ru confirmed.

As Mrs. Choi was paying for their necklaces, Ru felt her phone vibrate again. Her little date had caused her to completely forget about her whole Jia and Chohee situation.

She fished out her phone to find that this time, she got several texts from Chohee. Her heart dropped a little as she struggled to click on it; she couldn't bring herself to open the text messages.

Ru stared blankly at her chat history: Jia's texts from earlier that she hadn't even replied to yet, the unopened text messages from Chohee.

Her eyes wandered a little lower until she came across her chat with Jeno. She clicked on it subconsciously, almost like she thought she would find answers in it.

The latest message was one that she sent him yesterday— she had asked him if he was okay. Her eyes flickered down to the bottom of the text, where it said one simple, yet disappointing word: read, 21:36.

The words blared at her. Maybe this was her answer.

On a whim, she exited the chat and clicked on Chohee's messages. It read:

ChoheeO.O : Ruuuuu I'm gonna give u a big fat HUG

ChoheeO.O : As soon as I kill Jia for spilling my secret, you'll get ur hug babe

ChoheeO.O : Ily thank you for the date, we owe you

ChoheeO.O: MUACH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She really had no choice but to move forward with the date, huh?

Her fingers lingered on top of the keyboard. She wanted to type something— anything— but no words came out.

Ru looked up in mild frustration. She watched Mrs. Choi admire her newly-bought necklaces. The crinkles by her eyes were accentuated from the subtle smile playing at her lips. The sunlight hit her face perfectly, casting a golden glow on her brown hair. She suddenly looked so much younger, so much more alive than she had ever realized.

Ru knew it then.

There are more important things in life.

She typed in her responses to both Jia and Chohee, telling them both that she was glad to help.

Her fingers hesitated, but she sent them.

She'd be lying if she said there wasn't a heavy weight on her chest. Despite the sad little pit she had dug for herself, Mrs. Choi was right— she'll laugh about it later.

At least, she hoped to God she would.

________________________________________

Prev | Next

Taglist | @marijmin @jaeminsnanadoongie