#Roll to Roll Rewinding Machine

[selfadhesivepaperindustry]

Label stock Kraft Paper Lamination Film Jumbo Roll Release Paper slitter

This model jumbo roll slitter rewinder machine mainly use for converting pressure sensitive material, such as self adhesive paper, sublimation paper, BOPP, OPP, PVC film. Differential friction rewinding shaft for better control tension.

sonia wei E-mail: sonia@makwell-mech.com whatsapp: 008613306265137

[mapsthewanderer]

Caffeine, chemistry and Caleb

(The newbie POV)

Synopsis: The café was supposed to be just another coffee shop. For a law student who enjoys her morning coffee and a shy newbie still learning the ropes, it should have been nothing more than part of the daily routine… But then there’s Caleb.

Details: 1300ish words. Spring cleaning who? Another old one. People seemed to like the law student, here’s a little POV switch—non-MC!reader as the barista newbie. Expect internal struggle, hot barista Caleb, banter, and flirting. Let me know which POV you prefer in the poll! Law student POV here.

Tags: @gavin3469

The newbie | Pilot

You are late.

Not disastrously late, not fireable late, but definitely jogging through the streets with your bag slapping against your side, desperately hoping that Caleb doesn’t notice late.

And the worst part? It’s his fault.

Because waking up this morning had been a battle. Not just against your alarm—which you snoozed four times—but against the absolute war of deciding what to wear.

You never put this much effort into work. Normally, it’s whatever sweater is clean, ripped jeans, and your usual piercings (nose, tongue, ears—your little armor against feeling too soft).

But today?

Today you stood in front of the mirror for fifteen entire minutes debating if a fitted turtleneck would be too much.

In the end, you went for an oversized sweater, tucked slightly into high-waisted slacks that fit just right. Enough to look put-together, but not like you tried. Because effort is embarrassing.

And now?

Now you’re barreling through the café doors, boots squeaking violently against the freshly mopped floor.

Caleb looks up immediately.

One eyebrow lifts. “Rough morning?”

You.exe malfunctions immediately.

“Uh—” You straighten, shoving your hands into your pockets like that will somehow rewind time and erase the last three seconds. “No. Just—y’know. Traffic.”

Caleb tilts his head. “You walk here.”

You want to crawl into the espresso machine and never come out.

“…Right.”

Caleb just smirks, shaking his head like he’s already entertained. “Hurry up, then. You’re with me at the counter today.”

You.exe malfunctions again.

——————————————————————————

The morning rush destroys you.

Not because of the customers—not really. It’s because of Caleb.

Caleb, who moves too smoothly, too easily. Who leans an elbow against the counter like he owns the place, rolling up his sleeves as he waits for the next shot to pull.

At one point, he steps behind you to grab a milk pitcher, one hand lightly grazing the small of your back as he passes.

“‘Scuse me,” he says, casual. Too casual.

You.exe malfunctions for a third time.

And then, as if the universe is personally targeting you, she walks in.

You know her now.

The law student.

The golden girl.

She always looks put together, but today? Today she’s got her hair in a tight ponytail, her lipstick fresh, her whole presence practically radiating confidence.

And she sees you.

Your eyes meet across the counter.

The recognition is instant.

Her expression: Yeah. You get it now, don’t you?

Your expression: Please. Take me out of this hell.

But you both know what’s about to happen.

Because Caleb notices her immediately.

“Hey, golden girl,” he says, already reaching for a cup.

You swear she glows.

“Hey,” she says smoothly, stepping up to the counter. “Tell me something scandalous.”

Caleb lifts a brow, lips twitching. “You mean besides your order history?”

She grins. “Low blow. I’m trying to be unpredictable.”

“Right,” he says, already reaching for a cup. “Green tea. Living dangerously.”

“Mock me all you want,” she says, resting her elbows on the counter. “But I need my brain intact.”

Caleb hums, pen hovering. “Name?”

She blinks. “Seriously?”

He shrugs. “Slipped my mind.”

She narrows her eyes, amused. “We’ve done this dance.”

Caleb just grins, writes something, and spins the cup toward her.

In bold, looping script: golden girl.

She laughs, shaking her head. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet,” he says, already turning to make her drink, “you keep coming back.”

You are standing right here.

Watching this happen in real time.

It is exhausting.

It’s not that she’s bad at flirting—she’s just fearless now. Like she’s gone all-in. Unbothered. Confident. She looks Caleb dead in his devastating face like he’s just some guy, not a full-fledged, government-certified problem

And the worst part? Caleb just rolls with it.

Effortless.

Like he’s used to this. Like it doesn’t even register as flirting to him.

Caleb twirls the cup between his fingers, the soft rasp of his rings brushing against the paper sleeve filling the quiet moment. With a practiced turn, he angles the lid so the sip hole faces her, then slides it across the counter.

“Same time tomorrow, then?”

She just lifts her drink in an easy wave before heading out, looking perfectly content with her life choices.

You exhale quietly through your nose and turn back to the counter, grabbing a stack of clean cups and beginning to restock the tower, one clink at a time.

The repetition helps. It’s mindless, mechanical. Stack, rotate, stack.

You refill the espresso hopper next, pouring beans in slowly, deliberately—anything to stay busy, to not look like you’re still thinking about the name Golden Girl swirling in Sharpie on a takeaway cup.

You’re fine.

This is fine.

Totally normal coworker moment. Totally normal shift.

And then—the universe delivers one final hit.

Caleb appears beside you.

Like he materializes out of thin air.

No warning. No footsteps. Just a sudden, smug presence.

He leans his hip casually against the counter, like you summoned him with your stress.

“So,” he says, tilting his head at you, all violet eyes and soft smirk. “I feel like I didn’t get a real answer last time—how bad did the tongue piercing actually hurt?”

You.exe blue-screens.

Because no, absolutely not, we are NOT doing this again. So instead, you swallow and mumble, “It really wasn’t that bad.”

Caleb hums, eyes narrowing just slightly like he’s really thinking it through. “Huh. You probably have a high pain tolerance, then. I’ve bitten my tongue before—that’s bad enough. Can’t imagine getting a needle through it.”

You nod, barely. Already floating above your body. Already somewhere far away where this isn’t happening.

You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, a little too quickly, like your body answered before you could think.

And then—

“Got any other ‘hidden piercings?’” Caleb asks, fingers flicking the air quotes as he leans in just slightly—grinning.

Just like that.

Like it’s nothing.

Like it’s a totally normal thing to ask a coworker before 10 a.m.

Which—it is not.

It is absolutely not.

You could make a list of questions appropriate for early morning workplace conversations, and that would not be on it. What time do you clock out today? Acceptable. How bad was that last rush? Also fine. Hey, do you have anything sharp inserted through parts of your body that I can’t see? NOT FINE.

But Caleb asks it like he’s wondering if you have a dog.

He shifts his weight slightly, one hand braced against the edge of the counter. His eyes are on you. Open, curious, and way too calm.

And then—he winks.

It’s subtle. A flick of movement beneath lashes that are way too long for anyone’s safety.

You see it.

You don’t know what it is, but it’s not safe. Not for your heart. Not for your nerves. Not for your currently melting dignity.

And then—just like that—he’s done.

“Aaanyway,” Caleb says, already peeling away from the counter, heading toward the pastry case with a stretch that makes his shirt pull tight across his back. “I’m getting a muffin.”

Like he didn’t just ask you about hidden body piercings, wink, and obliterate your soul before breakfast.

He glances back over his shoulder, calm as ever. “You want one?”

You stare at him, borderline comatose.

You are hanging onto reality by a thread, and this man is just thinking about muffins.

You need to go home.

Immediately.

Except—you can’t.

Because you still have hours left on your shift.

Hours.

With Caleb.

And as if things weren’t already unbearable, he returns to the counter with a muffin in hand, casually tearing off a piece and popping it into his mouth.

You watch him chew.

Why are you watching him chew??

He wipes the corner of his mouth with the pad of his thumb and then licks it—licks it—without a second thought, and your soul immediately exits your body for the second time today.

He’s just eating.

Just existing.

Just… being hot and chewing at the same time.

——————————————————————————

Writer’s note: So y’all have gently encouraged me into doing a little spring cleaning in my drafts—bahaha. Here’s the newbie! Hope you like them. I seriously can’t pick between the newbie and the law student, which is why they’ve just been marinating in my notes forever. I couldn’t bring myself to kill any darlings. Let me know which POV you prefer before I spend the whole bank holiday happily spiraling into both. The weather’s awful anyway, so it’s peak writing time! Okey then, thank you for reading 🫶🏻

[lewismcqueen]

work husband. 02

lh44 x black!reader

read from beginning 03 masterlist summary: after talking things out, you bump into Lewis on the weekend. wc: 1,724 a/n: sped up the pacing bc i'm tryna wrap this up by pt 3 lol. enjoy!

Unfortunately, the next morning you fully remembered the night before. You found yourself rewinding it as you removed your work clothes (now soaked-through with bedtime sweat) to take the quickest shower you’d ever had to manage in your entire life. The look he had given you at the bar, the reluctance to take back his own jacket—did you imagine some of it? Insert a longing expression where there wasn’t one? 

It would have been easier to blame everything on the alcohol if not for the unusual silence you were met with once you finally made it to the office. Lewis greeted you with a smile, of course, but he didn’t bother you with random questions or offer to pass you a snack. He stayed to his cubicle, only speaking when necessary. Naomi gave you a look as if she wanted to ask if something was up, but elected not to say anything.

Things were like this on Wednesday. Then again on Thursday. By the time Friday rolled around, you’d had enough.

“Hey, can we talk? In the break room.”

“What for? You alright?”

Lewis’ brows knit together with worry as he followed you into a small space equally as bland as the rest of the office, with one rickety folding table standing in the middle on which sat a simple coffee machine. A few packets of Swiss Miss powder and a single cup of creamer sat in the barrel of it. Thankfully, no one else was there, so you shut the door quietly behind you. 

“Are we good?” You gestured between yourself and him.

He blinked. “I would hope so. Why d’you ask?”

“I dunno,” you shrugged. “You’ve just been…quiet this week.”

A thin smile spread across his lips.

“Can I not have a moment of solitude?”

You crossed your arms. “Lewis.”

“Alright, alright,” he raised his hands in surrender before dropping them to his sides, a more earnest look coloring his expression. “I thought you might want some space after Monday night.”

You opened your mouth to respond, then closed it. The haste with which you had ended that night made it seem like you were more sure than you really were that you didn’t want anything between you two. Even now, you held your mind back from imagining how that night would’ve gone if you had stayed at the bar a little longer. You shook your head.

“I told you it was fine. I don't want…” You trailed off, noticing how terse your voice had gotten. “You don't have to keep your distance, or anything.”

Lewis said nothing for a moment, studying your face the way he had that night as if he was looking for something. 

“I won't, then.”

A knock at the door interrupted your conversation, followed by a familiar voice:

“Are you guys making out in there? I need coffee!”

Lewis sighed, and you looked at him with a grin before turning to open the door, revealing Charles standing in the doorway. The man had blue-ish bags beneath his eyes, dark hair sticking out in multiple directions.

“Sheesh. You look like you died twice,” you remarked, quickly moving out of the way so that he could enter. “We were just chatting.”

Lewis’ brows shot up to his hairline. “Jesus, Charles. What happened?”

He shared a dead-eyed stare between the both of you.

“Overtime.”

With solemn nods all around, you and Lewis left the breakroom, bringing your discussion to a tentative close.

He found you again at the end of the day as you packed your things to leave. His knuckles tightened around the handle of his black crossbody bag, as if he was holding on for dear life. No other part of Lewis' body language betrayed any sort of hesitation as he casually threw his jacket over his shoulder and sauntered over to your desk, sing-songing your name.

You looked up and grinned.

“Have you finally realized that you can't live without my meticulous note-taking?”

“Your handwriting is about as easy to read as a doctor's note, so no,” he said with a cheeky smile. “I was gonna ask for your number, actually.”

You frowned in confusion. “Don't you have my number?”

Lewis shook his head. “I have your personal email, which you occasionally use like a messaging app,” he raised an eyebrow, “but not your number.”

You unlocked your phone and created a new contact before handing it over to him. 

“Knock yourself out.”

-

Lewis H: Hey 👋🏾 

You: I don't think that emoji matches your skintone bruv

Lewis H: wowww

You: 😁

Lewis H: this convo just started and I'm already being bullied.

You: Wouldn't be me if you weren't 🫶🏾

-

The weekend rolled around, and you remembered your promise to yourself to get out more after looking in the mirror and realizing how dull your usually-warm brown skin had gotten over the winter months. This could not stand.

Luckily for you, it was nice out today—the kind of sunshine that made grass look greener and cast a golden hue over everything, like the saturation had been turned up. None of that watery winter sunlight that fooled you into thinking that the temperature had actually gone up. You wore a black sundress with a golden butterfly pattern around the skirt, short enough to make sure your legs got just as much sun as your chest and arms. Car keys in hand and purse sitting in the passenger’s seat, you set your destination to the nearest restaurant with outdoor seating.

You shifted uncomfortably on a hard folding chair as you waited for your menu to arrive, the sun having heated the metal before you got there. Just when you lifted a hand to shield your eyes from it, a man's passing shadow gave you a moment of shade. Your eyes adjusted before widening once the man's face came into view.

“Lewis?”

He stopped, loose braids whipping around his face as his head snapped in your direction. Recognition spread across his features.

“Holy shit, you exist outside of work?”

“Yup, I keep the same name and everything. 

You rested your chin in your palm and gave him a once-over. Lewis wore chunkier earrings that glittered with every movement. A Cuban link chain peeked out from beneath a boxy, bright red shirt with two buttons left open to expose a patch of bronze skin. His shorts matched in color, which you found slightly amusing. 

He gestured towards the empty seat in front of you. “Do you mind?”

“Go ahead.”

A waiter came around with two menus just as he sat down. He messed with the ring on his left hand—much larger and shinier than the understated band he wore around the office—and scanned the menu with a frown.

“Not finding anything?” 

“Not yet. Have they got a vegan menu?”

Your lips pursed in thought as you traced your finger down your own menu.

“Shit, I don't think they do,” you said, giving Lewis an apologetic look. “Sorry about that.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Don't worry, it's not like you've dragged me over here. I'll figure something out.”

You closed your menu and hummed, looking deep in thought.

“Did you drive here?”

“Nah, I don't live far. I actually wanted to check this place out,” he flashed a smile, “Happy coincidence that I ran into you.”

“Good,” you leaned in conspiratorially. “Can I take you somewhere else?”

Lewis’ eyes went wide. “Take me?”

You snorted, “Yes, take you. Unless you feel weird and emasculated by that—”

“No, not all!” He laughed. “I've just never had anyone offer before.”

You rose from your seat, smoothing your dress over after pushing it back in. 

“I know an Ethiopian place down the street. You like spicy food?”

Lewis placed a hand over his chest, as if he had just been gravely insulted.

“What kind of man would I be if I didn't? Spices run through my bloodstream.”

Your car was parked just a couple of blocks down, a shiny black Infiniti that you never let stay dirty for more than 24 hours. You didn't notice Lewis watching the way your hips swayed in the sundress as you made your way to the driver's seat. The air filled with that spicy-woody scent that seemed to be his signature as he slid into the passenger’s side and firmly shut the door.

“How's my lil’ passenger prince doing?” You asked with a smirk, one hand resting on the wheel.

An unrecognizable look flashed across his face, and you could've sworn you saw his Adam's apple bob up and down, as if he'd just swallowed or gulped. White teeth found his bottom lip, trying and failing to hold back a smile.

“I'm all good, trust me. I actually don't love driving that much.” 

-

“Damn, you fuckin’ those mushrooms up!”

Lewis looked up from his plate and spoke through a mouthful of inguday tibs, the food muffling his speech. “It's amazing! You've got to try this.”

You laughed as you speared a well-seasoned vegetable with your fork and pushed your plate forward.

“Just gimme a little.”

He plopped a sizable amount of the dish onto your plate, and you added it to your fork before bringing it up to your lips to taste.

Your eyes became saucers as the spices burst in your mouth, brightened by a hint of citrus in the background. 

“Yeah, this is the one,” you nodded. “If I had no home training I'd take your plate and start eating the rest of it.”

Lewis chuckled as he watched you eat. “I'll have to come back here with you then, so you can order yourself some.”

You looked up and tilted your head. 

“Could I not order it on my own?”

He winked, “You could, but I'd rather be there paying for it.”

Whatever witty thing you were about to say next died on your tongue, your mouth falling open in shock. After picking your jaw up off the floor, a timid smile spread across your lips.

“Are you asking me out?”

Lewis winced, some of that confidence melting away. “That was too forward, wasn't it.”

“Considering that I'm about to make plans for next weekend? Not at all.”

He perked up. “So it's a date?”

The eagerness in his tone drove up your heart rate. 

“Yes, it's a date, Hamilton. Get with the program!”

[moody-sunset]

A Poppy Playtime "Saving Everyone" AU

|Chapter Selection|

|<- Prologue|

An: The tag list is open, so if you want to be tagged in later updates, just lmk :)

-

PT 1 - Twisted Familiarity

The thick air of the damp night lay heavily in Eliza's lungs as the looming building finally came into view. Her body ached with anticipation and dread as it all started to creep back into memory. Now all that remained between her and answers was a beat-up and weather-worn front door and any amount of common sense. Perhaps it was the finality of it that drove the sudden confidence in her step, or maybe just some strange need to spite her own worry, but either way, she didn't hesitate to make her way over that final threshold. She had things to do after all and she didn't come this far to cower at the first step.

Walking into the building after all these years was an almost surreal experience: The colorful walls, the echoing steps, the stale smell of oil and machinery. Familiar enough to bring her back to all those years ago, but still so changed that the place felt entirely foreign to her. It was nothing but a pale image of what had been, the silence of the empty halls leaving a particular feeling of wrongness.

‘Looks better than I thought it would’ is all the reaction she can manage. Despite the eerie feel of the place she manages to continue forward. She tries to keep her mind on why she's here.

‘Get evidence, then get the hell out’ she reminds herself, letting the thought repeat. It only stops when she notices an old tape lying on the reception desk. She pauses in her tracks, taking a few tentative steps closer and noticing a rather convenient VCR. She doubted it would be that easy to find what she needed, but still she put the tape in with all the confidence and hope she could muster. 

“Hi, my name is Leith Pierre and I'm the head of innovation here at the Playtime Co. Toy Factory. If you're seeing this, then you're trespassing! Yeah, we play this little tape on loop-” she sighs, her hopes dashed instantly. It wasn’t too much of a letdown; she knew it wouldn't be that easy, but she had just hoped once in her life she'd get lucky. But there's no point in moping about it, so instead she leaves the tape running as she looks around for anything else of interest. She ignores that uptight tone of his rather easily, almost impressed by how even after all these years she manages to still have no interest in what that man has to say.

“-So, you got my warning, it's not too late to turn around” She rolls her eyes, not a big fan of his dramatic flares.

“I just hope that you're certain whatever you're doing is worth it” The tape ends with a loud click as the machine begins to rewind itself. She stops her search to pause it, not wanting to hear his rambling warning again. The last line was the only thing that got under her skin, the seriousness of the threat of this place finally solidifying.

‘It is…it has to be’ she steels her nerves before heading towards the next room. That's when a certain old friend of hers makes its presence known on the other side of a locked security door. 

“ If I know anything about this place I know I'm gonna need that Grab Pack ” she mutters in resigned acceptance of her fate as she wonders just how she's going to get to the other side. A pad next to the door holds a random assortment of colors that she couldn't begin to imagine the combination for. She considers it for a long moment before coming to the only conclusion she can think of. Turning around, her eyes scan the entrance room again. Not finding what she needs she goes to the next room over, once more disappointed when only soft plushies line the walls. That is until she looks up at the somehow still powered train.

“That’ll do just fine” She uses the shelves to climb her way close enough to reach out and grab the old train and is beyond thankful to feel its heavy weight in her hands. Without much time to waste she quickly makes her way back to the office, toy in hand. She readied herself, taking a deep breath and hoping that whatever security systems they had were too old to function anymore. A second later the train leaves her hand, the sound of shattering glass stopping her heart for just a moment. She does not move for a while longer even though as far as she knew no one was anywhere nearby. Yet still she only continued forward when she was sure the only sound was the beating of her heart in her ears. Annoyance begins to mount in her when faced with another pane of glass in her way. 

‘Not very secure, is it?’ she carefully grabs the toy train from the pile of broken glass and wastes no time ridding the inconvenience, grabbing what she needed from the wreckage and doing her best to avoid cutting herself on the fallen shards. It's only as she puts the old thing on that her eyes catch on a blue tape. This time she decides to read the label and promptly sets the thing back down at the sight of ‘Grab Pack safety’. She'd seen that video enough to draw it from memory even a decade later. So she continues on her way, only to be proven immediately correct about the necessity of the Grab Pack when she's met with a door locked behind a blue hand. She goes to unlock it, missing more times than she'd wish to admit as she tries to remember what used to be second nature. She gets it soon enough though, the metal door opening to a sight she remembered all too well.

“And here I had almost forgotten about you” She is genuinely surprised that the thing still stands, her steps slower as she makes her way forward. She whistles at the sight of the looming statue, surprised that the larger than life Huggy Wuggy has only managed a few bits of grime and dust on its blue fur.

“Long time no see, buddy” A faint bit of nostalgia bites the edges of her consciousness, the memories of her mornings all those years ago flooding back. Despite the disdain that tainted them, there were always a few shining lights here and there, things she couldn't ever fully hate. Her morning entrance into the room with the goofy stuffed doll towering over her was one of them. She holds fond memories of her co-workers ribbing her for how she'd treat the tall thing almost like one of them. With how much of a constant it had been in her life it almost was. She even swore that sometimes, if she looked close enough for long enough, it looked alive . 

“You haven't seen any weird papers lying around, have you? It'd be really helpful if you did” She almost laughs at the absurdity of it. How had she ever found herself back here? Thirty-five years old and talking to an oversized stuffed toy. She truly had lost the wheel, hadn't she?

“Good talk, good talk. Unfortunately, I do have places to be” she continues speaking to it, an odd sense of comfort coming from the old piece of her life creeping back in. Still, she knew she had far more important things at hand. She shakes her head in an attempt to focus her mind again.

“See you around then” She gave a nod to the tall creature before turning to power the only door she could. Her heart sinks when it immediately short circuits.

Kling Kling

The chiming sound has her snapping her head behind her, trying to find the source of the sudden noise. She is confused for a long moment, a bit of frustration mounting until she finally spots it. A set of keys left dangling in the statue's hand. She stares intently at it for a while, confusion almost beating out her frustration. In silence she takes the keys before turning to the locked power room.

‘Surely not’ She turns the key and is completely shocked when they work, her head slowly turning back to the still statue.

“Well…I'm going to take the victories where I can. Thanks bud” choosing not to question the absolute miracle, she continues forward. She isn't quite as familiar with the Grab Packs electrical capabilities but she picks it up quick enough, using the emergency power to finally bring some light to the place. Relieved that she'll now be able to actually see what she's doing, she gains a slight pep in her step-

She stops, her entire being brought to a halt at what lays before her- or, rather, what doesn't . Her breath gets stuck in her throat, her heart hardly even a flutter in her chest as her mind tries to wrap around the sudden disappearance. 

‘It’s…gone? That- no that can't…’ she tries to find some rationalization for it as she takes a few tentative steps beyond the hallway. Her eyes dart around trying to catch anything out of the ordinary. Every glint of light or shift of dust catches her attention, but in it she finds absolutely nothing. 

‘Okay. This doesn't make any sense’ she ponders perhaps uselessly to herself as she slowly steps even just a bit further. Her mind suddenly races for explanations, each making less sense than the last. She even considers that she might have finally lost it, but in the end comes to the horrifying possibility that the statue was maybe, probably, most definitely, not a statue. With that, whatever amount of comfort she had grown disappeared just as quickly as she'd found it. With her senses high and her adrenaline beginning to pump, she carefully makes her way out of the room and down the long and dark halls she hurries through, hoping beyond hope that what she saw wasn't real. She moves rather quickly now, finding very little of note for a while. Making her way from room to room she spots two more tapes, but the information in them tells her less than nothing. She does manage to find the right hand to her Grab Pack along the way, but as much as that might help her later it wasn't too important now.

It isn't too long until she is once more met by a closed door, this time shut behind the lock of one stuffed toy. Looking around the room the task didn't seem too difficult, given the machine for making them was right behind her. So she tries not to be too irritated by the inconvenience, instead focusing on keeping an eye over her shoulder to satiate her paranoia. She's developed this horrible sinking dread of being watched since Huggys sudden disappearance, something she isn't quite fond of. So she gets along with it quickly, making a suitable hybrid bee cat thing and lovingly placing the freshly made toy on its designated pedestal. After a moment the machine seems to find it a suitable enough offering as it takes it away and allows her entry. 

Just as suddenly as the door rolls open does she feel the hairs on her neck stand at attention, a shiver of shaken nerves making their way down her spine. She tries to blame it on her paranoia and hopes to calm it with a solid step forward. The entirety of her body screams in retaliation but she dares another, and another. Slow, steady, and at attention. But when the air around her stills just long enough she's finally able to hear something similar enough to breathing to make her regret ever speaking against her body's better judgment. But it's too little too late. When she finally reconsiders and takes a simple step back, she's met with voided black pools of gloss finally catching against the light, a creature now somehow taller than she'd ever seen slowly creeping its way forward in awkward but deliberate movement until it stood all blue fur and sharp teeth. There is a moment where they both stand completely still, a short standoff where she is left to consider the impossibility of what she's staring at. But it isn't too long before instincts kick in and she does so the only sensible thing.

She runs .

Alarms blare suddenly as an unholy screech pierces the once still air. Her eyes turn quickly to the conveyor belt, the small opening being all she has the time to consider when she hears the screeching grow closer. She books it, her boots stomping loudly against the tiled floor. The conveyer thunks and and creeks as her heavy feet jump carelessly onto it and she dives through the opening. Only then does she spare any glance behind her, eyes landing upon a creature that should not exist as it charges against the suddenly closing door.

WAM thunk thunk thunk

Whatever it is slams against it, seeming quite upset at the circumstances. Despite the creature being on the other side of a metal wall Eliza wastes absolutely no time in getting the hell out of there. It's only when there's silence again that she thinks to stop moving. Suddenly aware that it wasn't at the door anymore.

‘Did…Did it leave?’ she asks herself, ears open for the slightest bit of sound. Carefully she slides down the tall vent, the metal creaking under the shifting of her weight…or was that her? She freezes again, her breath catching at the shifting sound of a vent moving in the distance. Realizing she was far from safe she picked up the pace again hoping to find a way out of here before-

She locks eyes with the creature through slits in a vent, the thing twisting and moving in ways so unnatural it made her stomach spin. It screeched again upon catching even a glimpse of her and she knew she had to go . Once more moving at a speed unlike she ever had before she makes her way deeper in, all the while hearing it shifting somewhere far too close for comfort. 

Her heart nearly stops when the thing suddenly appears in front of her. Without any hesitation she twists back around and ducks into whatever would get her further out of here. It was far too close now, she could practically feel it’s presence over her shoulder. She flies down the catacombs of metal, heavy breath only steady enough to keep her running. She catches glimpses of writing on the walls warning against going further, getting more and more urgent with every turn she makes as she continues to ignore them. Every corner felt like she only lost ground on the thing even if she never once turned to check. 

Then suddenly a door in front of her is slammed, the one behind her following suit. When she turns she is once again met with the horrifying and twisted way the creature pulls itself through the vents. She prepares to fight, feet digging themselves securely into the ground when the doors suddenly opens again. She didn't waste a moment in turning to run again, not quite liking her chances against the meat shredder of a mouth the thing had.

The traction of the broken conveyor belts against her boots gives her a speed advantage, but when it starts to send her backward she knows she doesn't have long left. So she gives it her all, practically throwing herself forward with every step until she is able to slide deeper into the building. She only ever seems to go faster, adrenaline and fear fueling her. Without a second thought, she uses her body to slam the cover open and she goes cascading out with it. The echoing clank of the metal hitting the ground is promptly ignored when she slams heavily with it, though whatever pain she should have felt was far too numbed by her adrenaline. Without a second to lose she goes to stand and keep up the chase. 

That is until a sudden grip on her stops her. She falls hard against the ground again before quickly turning on her back. Her eyes widen when she realizes what had stopped her, the tight grip of the terrifying creature promising that it would not be letting go any time soon. She struggles, kicking, punching, and screaming as the thing brings its full body back out of the vent. The sudden screech as the creature's many sharp teeth get far too close for comfort is what shocks her still, mind still not having processed the true horror of the warped toy. With nothing left to do, she closed her eyes tightly, her hands holding the creature as far as she could keep it. She braces for some sort of pain or at the very least a struggle but…

Nothing

No screeches, no teeth digging into flesh, no tugging or pulling or even an attempt to get out of her grip. Just a complete and sudden stillness . Slowly, and with the most dread she's ever felt racking through every system in her body, she allows herself to peek through squinted eyes. What she sees in front of her is a completely different sight than before. The creature's teeth are put away behind its wide and seemingly permanent smile, its head tilting slightly as it stares at you. There was no menace, no attempt to scare, just some strange stare , almost as if it was observing her. The confusion of the sudden change leaves her heart still and her mind racing, fear she's never felt before still wrecking its way through her system as she dares to open her eyes fully. Then the creature finally moves again, the rise of its hand making her flinch when it reaches for her throat. She grabs it's arm too late to stop what it was trying to do and for a moment she was sure that she was as good as dead when it, with just the most gentle touch, takes her necklace into its fuzzy hand. Its eyes seem to consider the sunflower trinket for a long moment, holding it just far enough for the string to press against the back of her neck. She isn't sure what to make of the sight, frankly she was out of her depth the moment that thing first showed its face, but this? This made next to no sense. It only continued to get stranger when just as suddenly as the thing had chosen to chase her did it choose to let her go. Without so much as a sound or second glance it turns back around, slinking back into the vent as if nothing had ever happened. 

Eliza is left with not a single rational thought in her body. Her adrenaline plummets in every quick breath in her lungs, her entire body shaking with the drain. She somehow managed to bring herself to her feet again, her gaze glued to the vent as if any second that thing would come running back like a cat playing with its food. But when nothing comes she is forced to consider that she might have just experienced some twisted miracle. Her hands almost absentmindedly grab at the necklace, surprised to see it still there. She squeezes it tightly to gain the courage to finally turn away from the vent.

She looks around at the now oh-so-confining walls of the place she had willingly put herself in. Suddenly these already eerie halls have become something much more sinister, leaving only her imagination to conjure the other horrors a place like this could hold. But despite all of this she still had a goal, one that was only spurred on further when faced with the true horror this place had to offer. Not to mention that she is now quite thoroughly lost. 

There truly was no going back now.

Next chapter ->

[1bibypersecond]

I just don’t get how they built such a beautiful connection between Viktor and Sky (or HexcoreSky, whatever you want to call her) in Acts 1 and 2, only to destroy it all in Episode 8 with a super rushed goodbye, and then give us a Viktor without humanity for just one episode (or half, really). And then, his "best friend" suddenly accepts him as he is when Sky had done that all along?

Like, if they were going to do that, they should’ve just written Sky out way earlier and let us have this no-humanity Viktor on screen for way longer. And don’t even get me started on the fandom. They don’t get that it was Ekko who saved Viktor, not Jayce. Ekko was the one stepping out of Viktor’s equation, not Jayce. Plus, in Season 1, the mage that gave Jayce the rune design was based on Ryze, so that whole Viktor Doctor Strange time-travel vibe in Episode 9 just felt... so bland. I’m over the whole time-travel trope—it’s so overused that it’s boring. I always knew Ekko would be the one to do it because that’s his whole character, but Viktor? Ugh, it felt like they were trying to wrap everything up way too quickly in the last episode, so they just threw in time-rewinding to make it all fit. Honestly, I rolled my eyes so hard when Viktor started his speech to Jayce about the different timelines. I was like, "Oh no, here we go."

Honestly, I get why League of Legends fans didn’t like Viktor’s rework. Mechanical Herald Viktor was way more tied to the social inequality conflict between Zaun and Piltover, something I was really hoping they’d explore in more depth. The new Viktor is much more connected to the arcane and magic, which is fine—I like cult-leader Viktor—but it loses that important conflict we saw in Season 1.

We were all excited to see Viktor’s final evolution, which lasted… half an episode? Why? Like I said, they could’ve written Sky out way earlier, given that her ending was so lackluster, and spent more time exploring this emotionless being. Maybe he was just too OP and they couldn’t keep his superpowers on-screen for too long without completely wrecking the world. I get that. Machine Viktor could’ve lasted longer because he wasn’t tied to those arcane powers.

I get it, the show is called Arcane, but the conflict between Zaun and Piltover made it feel so much more relatable. As someone from Latin America, watching how northern hemisphere countries pollute my country, dump their waste here, and have companies that destroy our environment (it's not like we don't do it to ourselves but it's still a form of oppression)—it’s a form of first-world oppression that I saw reflected in Season 1 of Arcane. But Season 2? It felt so distant. Magic isn’t real in real life, and yet Season 1 balanced magic so well that it still resonated with issues like social, economic, educational, and environmental oppression. Season 2, though, started to drift away from that. Sure, at first, you see more of that Zaun/Piltover conflict, especially with Caitlyn and the oppressive martial law (because yes, that’s literally a dictatorship). But then Jayce swoops in like, “Hey, we’ve got a bigger enemy, let’s team up,” and boom—Marvel finale.

Anyway, these are just some fever-induced thoughts I’ve been having. My ideal ending? Viktor slowly becoming Singed, like they hinted in Season 1 with that “I understand now” line. Viktor as the Herald, tucked away in a corner of Zaun like Singed, secretly helping people—not driven by feelings or morality, but by a greater good: helping those in need. Meanwhile, his humanity (Sky) tries to find him somewhere deep in his mind, ultimately leading to the creation of Blitzcrank. That’s what I thought we were getting. Instead, we got astral destruction and a bromance. Oh well, it is what it is.

[seospicybin]

REWIND.

PART II

Hyunjin x reader x Seungmin. (s,a)

Chapters: Part I

Synopsis: As a part of a research team that works on a memory-erasing machine, you work alongside the professor whom you greatly admire and a computer geek who relentlessly flirts with you. But the one that you want is the one that you can't have. (10,1k words)

Author's note: Happy reading! Let me know what you think of this fic after :)

Hyunjin almost slips as he runs in his socks and when he returns to the staff lounge, he finds you lying on your stomach on the sofa.

He can see the shape of your body basked in the faint moonlight that shines through the floor-to-ceiling window like a beautiful nymph out of Greek mythology.

He loses track of time just standing there, staring at you with admiration pooling in his eyes. He would have mistaken you for a marble statue if you weren't moving, propping a hand under your head, and turning your head his way.

"Are we going to use that condom or what?"

This is what he's been waiting for but he wouldn't mind if you changed your mind, he would love to just lie next to you and stare at your face all night.

But Hyunjin simply can't resist feeling the softness of your skin under his fingertips and the way you whimper under the faintest of his touch. Oh, he's in too deep!

"I'm afraid you have to make me wet again," you playfully say as you lay back on the sofa facing up.

"That wouldn't be a problem," he says, planting his mouth on your stomach and blowing air on it.

You laugh at how tickling it is and put your hand over your head, "My dad used to do that when I was a kid. Oh no, you make me think of my dad," you croon.

It's a good thing that Hyunjin knows how to take your mind off things, he puts his mouth on your cunt and wets it with his slick tongue.

Your hand reaches for his head and you pull him, making him hover above you so you can kiss him. He can feel you licking your essence off his lips then mix it all up in a deep kiss.

You spread your legs open and wrap them around his dainty waist, drawing him closer and closer until there's not even an inch left between your bodies.

Before Hyunjin forgets, he reluctantly breaks the kiss and props his elbow against the sofa.

"Wait a minute," he says.

"You make me wait again," you complain with an adorable pout.

He softly laughs then rips the foil packet with his teeth and carefully takes the rubber out.

"Need my help?" You offer with a soft scratch on his head.

Hyunjin doesn't answer but sits on the sofa, putting all of his focus on rolling the rubber down his length and pinching the end to make a little space.

He settles himself between your legs as you put them on each side of his waist. He doesn't hesitate to insert his fingers inside you again, feeling you clenching as he curls them inside

"Fuck..." he lowly hisses.

He pulls his fingers out only to see they're coated with your essence, he puts them in his mouth next, licking them clean.

"Do you think you can take me?" He asks with a hand that runs down the valley of your breasts.

You're slyly smiling and nodding at his words with a finger tugged between your teeth.

He uses the tip of his cock to tease your clit, "But you're so little," he says.

You prop your elbows against the sofa and reach for his cock, repeatedly rubbing it down your folds to lubricate it with your wetness, then slowly, you push it inside you.

You lean back down as you calmly mutter, "You can do the rest."

It's only the tip but Hyunjin already feels like he's about to lose it. He grips your thighs as he slides in the remaining length, little by little with his eyes intently watching his cock disappear into you.

"Oh, my God! Yes..." you breathlessly moan.

He glances up and sees you touching yourself with your eyes closed, seeing you enjoying yourself reminds him that he should be enjoying it too.

Don't think too much, he reminds himself.

He pushes in until his cock is buried inside your tight, warm walls. He has to take a moment just to try to calm down. He lets his body hover above you with a hand propped next to your head to not put his whole weight on you. He can't seem to gain any of his senses back.

Suddenly, he feels a finger pressing on his forehead, then he hears your laugh.

"You have this crease on your forehead," you tell him, dropping your hands around his neck to pull him close.

He lets out a shy laugh and hides his head in your neck, "It's just— you just feel so good," he mutters.

The two of you stay like that for a moment until Hyunjin is sure that he has some self-control in him to continue. He looks at you, slowly lowering his mouth on yours as he starts moving his hips.

It's not the first sex he's having but it's the first time Hyunjin doesn't think about his own pleasure. He wants to make you feel good, more importantly, he wants to make this special.

His thrusts are slow and steady yet they're enough to make you a moaning mess under him. You're whimpering against his lips, your hands are clawing at his back and your legs are locked around him.

At times, he wants to follow his greed, having all of you at once but he reminds himself that you're not just some girl, you're the girl. You're the girl he likes and adores, you're the girl that he believes is more than just one of his passing fancy.

He knows you've just climaxed for the second time just now from the way your walls tightening around him. He immediately slows down, giving you a moment to relish the immense pleasure.

"I'm cumming," you breathlessly inform a little too late.

"I know" He murmurs, then presses a kiss on your lips.

You eagerly return his kiss with your hand taking a fistful of the hair on the back of his head, a kiss that turns into a slow, sensual making out in the middle of sex.

You gasp for air when you let go of the kiss with your eyes still closed and he uses the opportunity to remove the strands of hair covering your face, putting them to the side and holding them there.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," he mutters with a low sigh.

When you open your eyes, you catch him staring at you and smile, "What? Lose your virginity?"

Hyunjin cracks a laugh and softly caresses your cheek, "Yeah, that."

"Let's switch positions," you say, not waiting for his approval to turn over without pulling out of him.

With you on top of him, Hyunjin can see all of you, the shape of your body against the soft moonlight and the eyes that looking down on him, full of glint, lustful, and alive.

Never in the times he thought of you, you would be on top of him and slowly rocking your hips back and forth, feeling his full length inside you.

"Oh..." His moan is quivering.

You maliciously smile knowing what you're doing to him and now, rolling your hips in slow, circular motions.

Hyunjin's hand immediately grips your waist to stop you because he knows if you keep doing it, he won't last long.

"Give me a moment," he tells you with a suppressed grunt.

You take the hand resting on your waist, exploring your body with it, and let him feel you. You run his hand down your chest and cup your breast, letting him knead on it.

You let your hand and let his hand continue its exploration while you lowly moan as he caresses your body with his knuckle.

"Gosh, you're so beautiful," he sighs in disbelief.

Hyunjin can't wrap his head around the fact that not only he can see it, but he can touch and feel it too. He brings his hand to your face and sighs again, "So beautiful."

You lay your hands on his chest and hover above him as he asks, "Let's continue, mmh?"

Not sure if that was a rhetorical question but Hyunjin can only prepare himself for what's coming. You move at a steady pace, making him drown in pleasure and he feels the need to do the same so he uses his thumb to gently circling on your clit.

You keep clenching and unclenching around him and it does nothing but give him the utmost pleasure, he can feel that his release is only a minute away. You pause for a second to plant both of your feet on the sofa to give him more depth and ultimately, more pleasure.

Hyunjin isn't ready for it but seeing the way his cock slips in and out of you is hypnotic, he can't seem to do anything but let the pleasure pull him under.

He blanks out for a moment as waves of pleasure wash over him and finds himself overwhelmed, running out of breath.

You kiss his open mouth and giggle, "Are you okay?"

Can't believe how you casually asked him that when you've just made him cum and it's the best one he ever had. Maybe it's the sex, maybe you're too good at it but he believes it's because he's doing it with you.

He roughly brushes his hair to the back and sighs, "Fuck... That was so good."

Even though he's still catching his breath, he puts his arms around you and draws you close, pulling you for another kiss. He breaks the kiss but keeps your head close to him.

"I can tick it off of my bucket list now," he playfully says, sending you collapsing on top of him, laughing.

Hyunjin comes back from the bathroom to find you in the pantry dressed in his sweater with your black tights on. He sees you taking the leftover pizza out of the microwave and start munching on it.

He sits on the stool and takes the other slice of pizza from the plate, then tilts his head to the side, watching you eating as he takes a bite of his pizza.

Aware of the stare, you're smiling as you chew on your food. You turn away to grab a new can of soda from the fridge and pop it open.

"Now that you've had sex with me, you can stop pestering me," you tell him.

Hyunjin takes the can of soda from your hand and takes a sip, "What if I want to keep clinging to you?"

"Just go..." you grumble, taking your canned soda back from his hand, "like... date someone your age."

Hyunjin hates it whenever you bring it up, not only about it but the way you make it sound like he's a snotty 12-year-old boy. He drops his half-eaten pizza on the plate and leans forward on the counter.

"That's a lame excuse," he says in disagreement.

"What?"

"The age gap thing," he replies.

He stacks his hands on the counter and looks at you, "I'm of age, you're of age," he points out the only fact that matters here.

Hyunjin snatches the can of soda from you again, "I'm hot, you're hot," he lays out another common thing you both shared.

You giggle at that and wipe your hand on a napkin.

"And the sex was great," Hyunjin adds with a lopsided grin.

You raise an eyebrow at him, doubting his remark.

"I know you liked it," he confidently says, finishing the can of soda oda and wiping his mouth after.

He gets off his stool to get another can of soda from the fridge and leans against it as he opens it, "And you obviously know I like you," he lists another one.

Hyunjin calmly sips his drink before coming up to you, standing right close to you as he makes a conclusion out of the list of things that are true between you and him.

"And despite that, I keep annoying you, I know you like me too," he makes a bold statement, ignoring his heart that is pitter-pattering inside him.

The fact that you have nothing to say to that only means it's also true. Despite the way you act annoyed whenever he flirts or teases you, you like him but sure, yeah, not as much as he likes you.

But you like him.

Hyunjin rests his elbow against the counter and looks at you, his eyes crinkling under the fluorescent lights.

"So tell me," he says, "What stopping us from dating each other?"

It's your turn to steal his soda now, taking a long gulp with your eyes locked in a gaze with him. He senses that you have the answer but is reluctant to say it to him and you don't have to, he knows enough from working with you for a few months now.

Hyunjin thinks he knows the reason why.

"My sweater looks good on you," he compliments.

He gets on his feet to stand behind you, wrapping his arms around you, not wanting to think, he just wants to kiss you and exist in this moment with you.

So he does, he crashes his lips against yours and kisses you with all of his heart, even though they won't be enough to change your mind.

"But what's underneath is better, of course," he mutters against your lips as he slips his hands under the sweater, fondling your breasts as he continues kissing you.

The sound of the landline phone ringing echoes through the halls and reaches Hyunjin's ear. He groans because he gets interrupted for the second time, not when his hands are busy getting under your sweater.

You abruptly stop kissing him and gasp, "It must be the Professor!"

You gently push him away and dash to your desk, Hyunjin unconsciously following you there, watching you take a deep breath before picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Professor?" You confirm your guess.

"Hyunjin?" You glance at him, signaling that Seungmin asks for him.

He presses his ear close to the phone to hear glimpses of the conversation.

"He didn't pick up the phone because he's in the bathroom," you cover for him.

Fuck. His phone is in his jeans and it's lying around on the sofa in the pantry, that's why he couldn't hear him calling.

"Yes, yes," you nodding along as you speak, "I'll tell him that."

You slowly turn around to face Hyunjin after hanging up the phone, he can see the slight panic on your face.

"What?" He curiously asks.

"He's on his way here," you answer.

"Professor Seungmin?"

You nod.

"Oh, fuck!" Hyunjin curses, feeling a mix of things but mostly in disbelief that he still decides to come when he could have spent the night with the missus.

"We have uh..." you fumble check the time, "like... half an hour?"

Hyunjin refuses to believe that his sweet dream should end this way. He follows you as you walk back to the pantry.

"Okay then... we still have time for another round of sex," he jokes.

"No..." you grumble.

You pick up his jeans and toss them at him, "We have to start cleaning up!"

Hyunjin puts on his jeans and almost trips on them as he does it in a hurry, "What do you want me to do?" He asks.

You're putting on your skirt as you talk, "You do the main lab and he–" you pause to zip your skirt before continuing, "he wants you to send the system status."

He almost malfunctioned looking at you taking off the sweater next, forgetting what he's about to say to you.

"What are you waiting for?" You ask, perplexed.

"Let me just—" he quickly puts on his t-shirt and brushes his hair to the back.

Even after that, Hyunjin stays there and watches you putting on your bra, swiftly clasping the straps together without looking.

"Hyunjin!" You call him while tossing his sweater back at him.

That works to snap him out of it, getting him moving and realizing that he needs to remove any signs of fun around the place.

However, Hyunjin still needs one more thing. He comes up to you and without thinking, presses a long kiss on you. The kiss certainly takes you by surprise that you can only look at him when he pulls away.

"I'm going now," he breaks into a run before you can complain.

When Hyunjin arrives at his desk and encounters a serious problem, he knows that his sweet moment has finally come to an end.

-

The sheen of sweat is apparent on your forehead, you scoop some water and splash it right onto your face. You fix your hair, tuck your blouse inside your skirt and not forgetting to spray some perfume. You do anything to get rid of any evidence that you’ve just had sex with your co-worker.

You do a final lap and make sure there’s not a single trace of fun that happened in this workplace a while ago and head to the main lab. You spray the place with a can of air freshener to remove the smell of weed that may still cling in the air.

Hyunjin’s head turns in your direction, “We have a problem!”

The last thing you need to hear is there’s a problem and from the look on Hyunjin’s face, you can tell that it’s serious. You sigh and take a stand next to him, “What?”

He types fast on his keyboard and shows you a chart, “He was off the map,” he says.

With your head already filled with worries, you find it hard to focus on it, “What do you mean?”

“He went off the brain map. He was almost erasing the wrong memory,” he explains with his fingers touching his plush lips.

“Almost? That doesn’t mean it happened, right?” you ask with a quivering voice.

“The failsafe… it worked to stop him from going way off and led him back on the map,” he confirms yet he’s not looking so calm about it.

“Then what is the problem?” you meekly ask, knowing that it’s going to be time to dread.

Hyunjin glances at you and pinches his lower lip before speaking, “You know we have to tell Professor about this right?”

“Oh, fuck!” The profanity automatically falls out of your mouth.

Surely, you have the option to not tell him and act like nothing happened but Seungmin would know. He would most likely check it himself and eventually finds out, there’s no way out of this but come clean to him that you both fucked up.

“Oh… fuck…” You meekly curse with your hand massaging your temple.

Now you know how serious it is that your head starts to spin and you get groggy, you blame it on the alcohol and the recreational drug mixed with anxiety, making you suddenly feel sick. If Hyunjin wasn’t there holding your hand, you would have broken down onto the floor.

“It’s okay. We’ll just tell him it happened so quickly that we didn’t notice but the failsafe worked, the procedure is almost done anyway,” Hyunjin resolves, trying to comfort you.

His phone is vibrating on the desk and he goes to check it, reading a text from someone, “Tim said Professor has just come through the gate.”

All of a sudden, you wish you could have smoked that one rolled joint from Hyunjin’s tin can, it would really helped you relax., you run to your desk and put your lab coat on. Seungmin could come any minute now and you check your appearance for one last time, then rummaging inside your bag to put a fresh coat of lipstick and pop two mints into your mouth.

The sounds of the elevator chimes open make your heart drop and you tell yourself that it’s time to put an act. You smack your lips together and turn around on your feet, ready to greet him.

“Good evening, Professor!” You cheerily greet which only makes it seem even more suspicious.

Aware that you’re smiling too enthusiastically, you quickly tone it down a little and clasp your hands together in front of you, letting him know you’re at his service.

As usual, Seungmin avoids looking into your eyes, he swings his briefcase and takes off his coat, putting it down on your desk, “What’s the update?”

Even though you know he’d ask that very question it still catches you off guard, your hands are flailing as you take his briefcase and coat in your hands.

“Uh… they uh… they’re on their ninth and progressing,” you stammer.

Seungmin doesn’t waste time to check it himself, you decide to put his things in his office first and join everyone in the main lab after. You have to go back to retrieve your notebook, in case Seungmin wants you to do something.

As expected, he’s checking everything himself, and from the look of Hyunjin’s face, he told Seungmin about it already.

“I checked everything and nothing else shows up, it’s only that one… I-I’m sorry, Professor, I left for a moment and not…” Hyunjin is babbling, trying to explain himself.

However, Seungmin seems to not hear him, he’s too busy checking everything himself. It would have been great if he scolds any of you but no, he stays quiet with his jaws all clenched and it looks hot on him but gosh, it only makes you more nervous.

Hyunjin throws a glance at you and you take it that he needs you to back him up but the problem is something feels caught in your throat, not allowing you to speak out. You repeatedly gulp air to muster up the courage to open your mouth and

“Hyunjin, I want you to check the log system!” Seungmin orders without looking away from the computer screen.

Hyunjin awkwardly gets up from his chair and scratches his head, “In the server room or…?”

Seungmin turns his head to the side, sharply glancing his way, “As soon as possible,” he says.

Even though Seungmin is not answering his question, Hyunjin immediately scrambles to get his laptop and hugs it close to his chest, “Copy that!”

He heads for the door when Seungmin calls his name again and you exchange a glance with him right before he turns around, “Yes, Professor?”

“Don’t miss out on any details!” Seungmin warns him with an icy glare.

Even if it’s not aimed toward you is already enough to send a shudder down your spine. Feeling bad for not being able to defend Hyunjin, you chase after him as he leaves for the server room in the lower level and grab his elbow, “Hey...”

In response to your sad call, he softly smiles and takes your hand to squeeze it, “I’ll be downstairs. No need to worry,” he says with a playful laugh.

You scoff and reach for the collar of his sweater, fixing it for him, “Okay.”

“Can you tame the beast while I’m away though?” he jokingly asks while keeping his voice low, afraid that Seungmin would hear it.

You doubt you can do that but you stifle a nod, “I’ll try.”

-

One thing you learned from working as his assistant for three years is that when Seungmin is mad, it's better to give him space.

You let him work in the main lab by himself, he'd call for you when he needed you which is a rare thing, and he's doing fine by himself most of the time.

However, you know that you and Hyunjin's recklessness has caused this therefore, you have to try to ease him up and most importantly, apologize.

Watching through the window in the pantry, you see that Seungmin is leaving the main lab and he's most likely going to his office.

You were planning to make a cup of tea for yourself in the hope of helping you sober up but then it seems like a good idea to make one for Seungmin too. who knows a nice cup of tea would help to relax him?

You keep retreating with a tray in your hands, having second thoughts about the tea but you remind yourself that it's not fair that Hyunjin has been taking all the blame himself and you should take responsibility too.

Three knocks on his door and you let yourself in, "I made you a cup of tea, Professor," you quietly mutter, almost inaudible.

You have been looking down at the floor but the absence of his answer makes your eyes wander, he only turns the light on this desk and keeps the rest of the room dark.

Through the faint moonlight that shines through the blinds, you see Seungmin's silhouette, the tall figure and wide shoulders. His hands are busy untying his tie open and pulls it around the collar of his shirt.

You have to actively tell your brain to start talking and not just stand there, staring at him.

"Professor, I'd like to apologize for being so careless and putting the test subject at risk," your throat is so clogged up that you find it hard to say those words.

Seungmin doesn't say anything but gets to the coat hanger, putting his suit jacket on there.

"Why? You're not the one operating the machine," he calmly says.

It's like walking on thin ice, one wrong step and you're done. So you choose your next word carefully or else, you'll be drowning in his icy glares.

"Because I was here when it happened and I should've alerted Hyunjin about it," you tell him, taking over the blame from Hyunjin.

Seungmin's head snaps in your direction yet he remains standing there, rolling the sleeves of his shirt to his elbow.

"Do you understand how important this test is?" He asks, his voice is calm yet sharp.

At this point, you just have to follow his words if you want to make it out alive so you meekly nod, "Yes, Professor."

He then goes around the desk, leaning against the desk, and crosses his arms in front of him, "Do you want me to fail?"

You strongly deny with a head shake, "No, Professor."

You look at him even though you can't see much in this dim light, "I know that I disappointed you but it was never my intention to make you fail," you earnestly tell him.

It's kind of offending that he makes it sound like you tried to sabotage him when in fact, you were neglecting your work to fool around with your colleague but you can't tell him that, right? Well, fuck.

Seungmin suddenly lets out a snarky laugh, "You see, the whole world wants me to fail," he says.

You take a step closer to let him see that you mean every word you say, "I don't want you to fail, Professor. I do."

"And why's that?" He asks, sounding a little weary.

Except for the desk lamp that casts a backlight behind him, it seems like Seungmin finds comfort in the dark that lingers in the room so that he can drop his facade and become a man who simply seeks validation from someone.

"Because you're great, Professor," you reply without wavering.

"Your brilliance is just... I don't think I ever met a man who is not just good but also passionate about his works," your words fell apart in the middle because it's never easy to try to fathom your thoughts into words.

"You're amazing, inspiring..." and you don't care if that sounds phony or cliché, you want him to know that.

It's like your body is attracted to him, your feet unknowingly take you another step closer to him and your hand rests on his arm.

"And if only you could see yourself the way I see you, it'd blow your mind," you tell him.

This time, Seungmin holds the gaze longer than a second and it intensifies into a stare that sees right through you and you let him, you let him see the respect you have for him and your pure admiration.

And it's too late to hide those feelings that stem from all that, so you let him see them too.

You break away the eye contact and fumble to recover, "Professor, I—"

Then he reaches for your face, turning your head to make you look into his eyes again, and weirdly, you feel like you already have a home in them.

The next thing you know, your lips are on his lips and you don't care whoever leaning in first, all you can feel is how warm and welcoming his kiss is, it almost feels like coming home.

However, in the next moment, you realize how wrong this is and abruptly stop kissing him. You immediately retreat until the back of your legs hit the sofa.

"I'm sorry, Professor, that was so..."

Wrong? But that didn't feel wrong, it feels right and if anything, it confirms your feelings are true for him.

"I love you, Professor," you blurt out yet letting them out feels relieving like a ton of weight gets off your chest at once.

"In fact, I've loved you for years now," you continue, ignoring how pathetic you spun saying that.

Then you plop down on the sofa and plant your face in your hands, realizing the damage you've done.

"Oh, my God..." You take a shaky breath through your mouth as tears pooling in your eyes.

"I shouldn't have said that," you mutter with the guilt gathering in the pit of your stomach and making you feel sick inside.

There's no turning back now and all you can do is face the consequences, it means losing the job and losing him forever. You feel pathetic for feeling the saddest for the latter.

Seungmin takes a seat next to you on the sofa and his hand holds your chin, gently turning your head his way. You feel so exposed as he looks at your tears-streaked face and how pathetic you look right now.

And you're ready to hear him saying that the two of you can't do this, that he has a wife and this is wrong but instead, you see fondness in his eyes as he tenderly wipes your tears with his knuckle and puts your hair to the side. He holds your face with both hands like you're a fragile object that needs extra care.

You finally find the reason why he kept avoiding your eyes and that's because he feels the same for you, he gets lost in each other's eyes and knows what it would do when that happens.

It's what happening now and it's getting out of control yet none of your hands are going for the steering wheel, you both let it happen, and you let your lips collide in an explosive kiss.

Seungmin kisses you hard and deep like he's been wanting to do that for a long time. His arms wrapped around you, holding you close and tight like he's never letting go. And... oh, the way a heavy sigh slips out of his mouth between kisses only tells you that he wants it just as much as you.

"Call my name," he suddenly mutters against your lips.

"Profes—"

He then puts his thumb over your lips, stopping you from calling him by his title.

"Call my name," he says again then swipes his thumb across your lips.

"Seungmin..." you breathlessly say.

It's the first time you call him by his first name yet it doesn't feel foreign in your mouth, it's a simple thing yet it brings him a lot closer to you.

He hastily presses a kiss on your lips, then rests his forehead against yours as he says, "Say it again."

You softly smile with your eyes closed and say his name again, "Seungmin..."

Seungmin smiles hearing you calling his name and it's the first smile you've seen on him in a long time, it's nice and endearing, but what makes you happy is knowing that you're the one who made him smile.

Without warning, Seungmin crashes his lips on yours again, harder and deeper. He holds your body closer and tighter, not letting you go, and oh... you don't care that you'll end up in flames, it hurts so good.

-

It takes him almost an hour to extract data in the server room and he gets used to the constant whirring of the machinery in there.

When Hyunjin gets out of the room, he is greeted by the eerie quiet of the empty building. The elevator is already on stand-by when he pushes the button up, he gets in right away while hugging his laptop close to his chest.

He pushes the floor number on the panel and waits for the doors to close when suddenly, the doors slide open again.

Hyunjin reckons it's the security taking another lap around the building to make—

His eyes widen when he sees that it's the least person he expects to ride an elevator at four in the morning with. He recognizes her from the expensive bag and the towering heels she's wearing when she has no one to impress.

"Mrs. Kim?!" He awkwardly greets, failing to hide the perplexity in his voice.

"Take me to him," she says, keeping her head straight as she speaks.

There's nothing to see here except that she'll find Seungmin working hard in his lab but Hyunjin also can't help himself thinking, what if...

He anxiously picks at the lint on his sweater the whole elevator and hopes that none of you are anywhere near each other.

The second the elevator doors are open, Hyunjin slips out ahead of her and hurriedly guides her toward the main lab.

"Professor has been working hard in the lab. Please, this way," he says, showing her the way as he walks two steps ahead of her.

But of course, Mrs. Kim is not one to fool, she notices that the light in Seungmin's office is on and decides to check it.

"He's not in his office, he's in the main lab observing the test," Hyunjin insists, trying to avert her attention away when he doesn't even know where the two of you are but his instinct tells him that it's right behind that door.

It's too late for Hyunjin to try to stop her somewhere as she pushes the door open, and lets it fly open.

Hyunjin slowly turns his head and sees his fear become reality. Seungmin is lying on top of you on the sofa with your hands all over each other, not just kissing, but passionately making out like two drunk lovers that they're not aware of people watching them.

"Working hard, huh?" Mrs. Kim says at Hyunjin, throwing daggers with her eyes.

It takes Hyunjin a moment to think of what he needs to do, he aggressively knocks on the door to snap both of you out of your lover's daze.

Seungmin breaks the kiss, he lifts his head toward the door and the moment he sees his wife, his eyes instantly dim like day turns to night.

Mrs. Kim stomps her heels against the floor and it's echoing in the hallway, Hyunjin gets out of the way as Seungmin runs out of his office to chase for his wife.

"Wait, wait, wait," Seungmin shouts as he keeps running after his wife to the elevator.

"I knew it, Seungmin," His wife says as she keeps aggressively punching the elevator button.

"I came here to work. This is a... uh..."

Even a genius such as Seungmin can be at a loss for words when he gets caught in this situation, Hyunjin reckons.

You come out of the office not long after with your hair disheveled and your eyes red like you've been crying, "Mrs. Kim, I'm so sorry, it's my fault, I kissed him first, I..." you run out of breath as you talk fit every word into one sentence.

Mrs. Kim walks past Seungmin and comes at you but maintain a safe space. She looks at you with disgust in her eyes and it goes on for a few seconds until she stops staring and claps her purse in front of her.

"You can have him," she says to you.

That gets you confused, and you blink your eyes unable to respond to that, "But Mrs. Kim... It wasn't my intention. I'm just a stupid girl with a stupid crush, I—"

"YOU ALREADY DID!" She raises her voice at you, making you smaller than her as you shrivel in front of her.

Seungmin grabs her by the elbow but that's not enough to stop her, at least, she calms down as she lets out a heavy sigh.

"You already did once and now you fucking did it again," she may have lowered her voice but it stings a lot more than the previous.

"Wh–What do you mean?" You ask her in genuine confusion while raking your hair to the back.

Mrs. Kim glances at Seungmin, hinting that it's his turn to speak, "Fucking tell her!" She says to him, yanking her hand away from him and entering the elevator.

Hyunjin is caught between you and Seungmin now, the tension is suffocating him but what is unbearable is seeing you hurt.

"Seungmin?" You meekly call him with your eyes glassy with tears.

"You wanted it," Seungmin says.

"What?" You ask in utter confusion.

"You begged me to do the procedure on you," He gives you the full answer.

You stagger to the back and hold the edge of your desk to steady yourself, "What did I–I do?" You stammer.

Seungmin looks at you then towards the elevator, he puts himself in this position where he has to choose between you and his wife.

"Seungmin," You desperately call his name again as your tears overflow your eyes and roll down your cheeks like waterfalls.

"Please..." you sadly beg.

But Seungmin knows better that you're asking him more than just an answer, you want him to stay, you want him to choose you, not her.

Hyunjin watches as the scene unfolds into a gut-wrenching sight as Seungmin makes a final decision, he goes for the elevator and leaves you here, breaking down all alone.

-

"Are you... are you okay?" Hyunjin asks as he helps you get up from the floor.

What is okay about this? He chooses her and not you.

No matter how much you expected this, you can't escape the pain of knowing that he left you after what you both shared a while ago.

What is okay about finding out he's been hiding something from you?

You need to know what she meant when she said you already have him once and you get a hunch that it has something to do with the locked files. It's just been there, speaking out to you, telling you to open it.

"Let's get you a glass of water," Hyunjin says, putting his hand on your back to get you to the pantry but you turn away.

You barge into Seungmin's face and search for his access key, you spill out the content of his briefcase for it and find it tucked in his wallet.

Hyunjin is about to enter the office when you run out carrying the access key with you to the main lab. With your eyes blurry with tears, you access the locked file on the computer and scan the access key to unlock it.

There are files, the same ones a test subject took whenever they get chosen for a test and you open the profile to find yourself on it.

Your heart sinks and it's bringing you down with it, you open the file one after another and your name is written all over it as test subject number 3.

Hyunjin takes your hand away from the computer to stop you from digging further into it but he's too late, you have pressed the play button on a video interview of you and you're dressed in a patient gown.

Then a voice asks, "So... tell me what you remember."

-

SEUNGMIN: So, tell me what you remember.

YOU: [Exhales] We met at a lecture before and I am aware of how important you are, how smart, how respectable you are and I wanted to work with you, and I... I liked you immediately at the job interview.

YOU: A month into the job, I discovered that you're so mature and you're just so... nice. I admire you so much [inhales] I was– I get so tongue-tied around you when all I wanted is for you to think that I am smart [sadly chuckles]

YOU: Oh, Seungmin, I can't do this [sniffles] how can I do this? [Covers face with hands]

SEUNGMIN: It's for the best. You know that.

YOU: Yeah, I know [sniffles]

YOU: [Takes a deep breath] Remember that day when our hands accidentally brushed and we both felt that surge of electricity? You explained that when an atom has protons and electrons in odd numbers, electrons get excited. Then you said... it was you who was excited and in that moment, I just knew, I knew something was going to happen, something wonderful [smiles]

YOU: We took that trip to the beach at midnight and got there when it was time for sunrise, you got mad because I made your slacks drenched in seawater but that day I saw the biggest smile on your face [wipes tears]

YOU: You got this idea that we should live in one of those beach houses so we can watch the sunrise together... [sighs] The next month, you rented one and we went there every Saturday.

YOU: My life only existed every Saturday when I spent the early hours watching the sun rise in your arms in that beach house... [lets out a sob]

YOU: Gosh, we were so happy... we were so happy, Seungmin [sadly smiles]

-

You can't recall those memories in your head but you feel the ache in your chest, you can feel tears begin clogging your throat and it burns the longer you keep it down.

The interview is 98 minutes long and you're only on the first fifteen minutes, you're clutching at your chest as you hit the fast-forward button to the last five minutes of the video.

-

YOU: ...said it's for the best, you offer me to get a procedure done because it's the only way we can get past this [sniffles]

SEUNGMIN: It's the only way. No one will get hurt this way.

YOU: [Nods] I know.

-

You roughly wipe the tears on your cheek with the heels of your hands, then rewind the video a few minutes back to find out the reason that led you to do the procedure with

-

SEUNGMIN: Go on.

YOU: It's so hard [cries into hands]

SEUNGMIN: You can do this.

YOU: That day... that morning, I noticed the symptoms, and I don't know [rubs temples] I think I got too excited and hastily decided to tell you that I'm pregnant. I know I should've confirmed it first but I was just so enthused to tell you we might have a child together, our child, our future... [looks up in tears] There's nothing I wanted more than having a future with you.

YOU: [sobs] [rubs chest]

YOU: I took a test in the afternoon and turned out, I wasn't pregnant, it was... [sniffles] it was a false alarm but you, Seungmin, you were already far gone...

YOU: [choked sobs]

YOU: That's when I realized that I want a man who doesn't want the same thing as me [sobs louder] I was so wrong, I was so wrong to think that I can have it all...

YOU: [Wipes tears with hands] I want what you can't give. I want what I can't have in the first place.

YOU: I want you and it hurts living with that truth [clutches chest]

YOU: The most hurtful thing is I still want you... even to this very second.

-

The sound of your own voice from the video blurs into a background noise as you feel the tightness in your chest and it keeps tightening, making it hard for you to breathe.

Your hand is clutching your chest, hitting at it to help you breathe but it does the opposite, you feel hurt instead.

Tears are dropping onto your hand and the surface of the desk, then you see the access key lying there next to your hand.

You take it, pull out the Polaroid, and turn it over to see that it's a photo of you resting your head on Seungmin's chest and you both smile at the camera, frozen in time.

What you said is true, you and Seungmin were so happy like two people in love.

No matter how many memories you erase, if two people are drawn to each other, there is little that can be done to stop that.

Even though you can't remember those memories, you somehow remember how they feel and they're real. You choke on a sob and fall onto the floor, crying into your hands.

You see, remembering is easy but it also hurts so much.

-

SIX MONTHS LATER

"I can finish this myself," Professor Song says, her red lipstick in contrast to the plain white decor of the lab.

"Are you sure, Professor?" You ask, holding your notebook close to your chest as you watch her perform a dissection on a blue crayfish.

"Yes," she replies as she picks up an iris scissor.

"It's Friday night, a young girl like you should be leaving the office early," she says, turning her head to the side to flash you a smile.

It's been months and you still haven't used to this treatment, not that it's bad, she's nice, almost maternal but most of the time, she feels like a friend that you can comfortably talk to.

"I don't have anywhere to go, Professor," you say with an embarrassed laugh.

"Why not? Get out there, have a few drinks, and flirt with a handsome fella or two," she says, carefully cutting the tail with a cartilage knife.

Scientists are all the same, they work better when they're given the time and space. You have got permission to leave anyway so why should you stay and be a nuisance?

"Is there anything else you want to do then, Professor?" You ask.

She stops bending down and looks at you, "Yes. I want you to send an email to Dr. Lee. Ask him if he has sent the specimens I requested," she orders.

You jot it down quickly in your notebook, "Anything else?"

"No. That's it," she says.

You put your pen back in your lab coat pocket and clasp your hands together in front of you, "Well then, Professor, I'm off to flirt with a handsome fella or two," you poke fun at her.

She hovers to the other table to get a new set of dissection kits, "But remember, only take one home," she warns you.

You chuckle at that and bid your farewell, "Have a great night, Professor!"

"You too, darling!" She says in response.

You return to your desk to do Professor Song's last order of the day and as usual, the girls in the next cubicle are talking about everything they're reading on the internet to pass the time until it's time to clock out.

One of them notices your arrival and knocks on the wall of your cubicle, "Hey, someone came and looking for you," she says.

You stop taking off your lab coat and put it back on, "Yeah. Who?"

"He didn't tell me his name but he's really cute," she answers with a sly smile dancing on her face as if she's amused by her own thoughts.

"Thank you for letting me know," you mutter to her.

From the way she got swooned by the brief meeting, you kind of guess who it is and you'd be devastated if it wasn't him.

Your co-worker pops out of her cubicle again, "Oh and he said he'll be waiting by the aquarium," she adds.

"Okay. Thanks," you mutter your gratitude.

You focus on the task in your hands first, writing an email per Professor Song's request, and leave the second you get the notification that the email has been successfully sent.

The natural history museum you're working in has one floor specialized in sea life and that's the division you're a part of, the aquarium is right below your office.

You skip riding the elevator knowing they'll be crowded with people leaving from work and opt for the emergency stairs. Your heart is racing because what if your guess is wrong?

But also... what if it's right?

The aquarium tends to be dark and the only source of lights are coming from the tanks. You search through the place, among the visitors to find one who has been waiting for you.

And you find him standing by a tank full of seahorses.

Hyunjin looks the same. He's still dressed in oversized clothing and ripped jeans, he still misses his month haircut, except that now, he painted his nails black.

The bluish light of the aquarium casts a glow on his face and he looks so mesmerized by it, quietly observing it with his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans.

You quietly stand next to him, also shoving your hands in your lab coat pockets.

"Do you know that seahorses mate for life?" You utter a random fact to him.

Hyunjin softly chuckles and keeps looking at how the seahorses tangled their tails together to avoid losing each other when they travel.

"I kind of jealous of them," he says.

"Yeah? Why?" You ask.

"Imagine you're a seahorse and one day, you meet another seahorse, you get together and it just... works out," he answers.

"Well, yeah, too bad that you're a tall, sexy computer genius and not a seahorse," you jokingly say.

Hyunjin turns his head at you and your eyes meet, you both burst into laughter almost at the same time. You come to him and throw your arms around him for a quick hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

He holds your hand by the fingers as he speaks, "I didn't– I didn't want to disturb you, you seem busy and all," he answers.

"That didn't stop you from pestering me before," you joke.

Hyunjin takes a moment to look at you, probably making sure that you've been recovering well from that day.

"Wow!" He clicks his tongue as he checks you out.

You suddenly get flustered, "What?"

"I can't believe that I love seeing you in a lab coat," he replies.

It feels good to reunite with him even though looking at him reminds you of that night when everything fell apart. How you said unkind things to him, how you left that night and never returned. You were too embarrassed to call or even text him, you were so mean to him when he didn't deserve any of it.

"Are you busy now?" He asks.

You shake your head, "No, I was actually about to leave."

"Okay, great," he enthusiastically says.

Hyunjin is standing on his tiptoes as he asks you, "Do you want to get dinner with me?"

He must be so used to your rejection and probably think you'd reject him for the umpteenth time. This time it's different, you nod and accept his offer right away, "My treat."

You check the time and it's a little after five which means you're eligible to leave your duty.

"I'm going to get my things and we'll meet in the lobby?"

"Yeah, sure," he replies with a grin.

"See you in five!"

As you're about to leave, you remember something and turn around to look at him. You take something out of your lab coat pocket.

"You can have it while you wait," you playfully say, putting

takes a lollipop out of your lab coat pocket and hands it to him,

-

The dinner went well, you caught up on so many things and Hyunjin was being careful the whole time by avoiding talking about the lab or Seungmin.

The night continues with him treating you with coffee since you paid for dinner. With the coffee shop is crowded, you decide to wait outside next to a newsstand and there you see him, Seungmin.

Seungmin is on the cover of every magazine there is, talking about his success in building a memory-erasing machine. It's either that or the news that he's expecting a child with his wife who would eventually become the heir of her parents' pharmaceutical empire.

You feel happy for him, genuinely happy to know that, at least, one of you is happy.

"Here you go," Hyunjin hands you one of the coffee cups he's holding.

You look away and take the coffee cup from him, "Thank you."

The night is warm so you both decide to take a walk in the park, trying to digest the dinner you both had. You stop by a bench look over the fountain and sit there.

"So you're working with fish now, huh?" Hyunjin says.

"Not fish. It's sea life," you correct him with a dramatic eye roll.

It's amazing that he can finish his iced coffee so fast, leaving only the ice cubes on the bottom of the cup. He puts the empty cup away and leans back on the bench.

"How about you?" You ask.

Hyunjin gulps air, probably hesitating to talk about how he still works for Seungmin. You put your hand on his knee and say, "You know you can stop being careful around me."

He looks at you, making sure that you're okay with it, "Well, we've been working hard on the production of two new machines," he says.

Everything seems to be going as Seungmin planned and as someone who was once part of it, you're proud of what they have achieved.

He grabs your hand resting on his knee and squeezes it, "Are you okay?"

You gave yourself enough time to wail over everything and even though, you haven't fully recovered, you don't intend to waste any of your time on it.

So to answer his question, you can confidently answer, "I'm okay."

He nods and rubs the back of your hand with his thumb, "You still don't remember any of it?"

You shake your head, "No."

If there's one good thing that comes out of it is that the machine worked wonders. You can't extract the memories you mentioned in the video interview but they do evoke certain feelings you didn't know you had.

Now you get why Professor Hale glanced at you when he said the MNE-Machine is a huge success.

"How about—" Hyunjin stops himself from continuing his question.

"My feelings?" You finish his question for him.

You look inside you for an answer, "Forgetting seems to only amplify the feeling of loss but by remembering the pain... it helps me keep moving," you tell him.

You look up at the night sky and inhale the summer air as you talk about the one thing you learn about all this.

"I'm trying to embrace the entirety of my experiences, the good and the bad, the joyous and the painful... I'm learning still," you end with a low sigh.

Hyunjin slips his fingers between your fingers and laces them together, "I think you're doing great," he says.

Another thing that you learn is that these experiences and memories, regardless of their emotional weight, shape our identities, guide our actions, and ultimately, make us human.

And you'll always remember Hyunjin as a kind and warm person, most of the memories you have of him are good ones.

"Hyunjin," you call his name.

"Yes?"

"I'm so sorry for what I said that night," you sincerely apologize.

You remember how he tried to stop you from leaving, driving at dawn while crying and you shoved him hard, cursing at him and telling him to leave you alone.

"Hey, it's okay. I understand that you were so emotional that night and I would have too if I were you," he says.

Hyunjin is always so kind and understanding, you don't know how you failed to notice them before. Oh, well, it's because you were too busy putting all of your attention on the wrong guy.

He then puts his arm around your shoulder and mutters, "I'm glad you're okay," he says.

And in shared experiences like this, both the joys and the sorrows, are what bind the two of you together.

-

The walk to your apartment building is quite far from the bus stop but he's not complaining, he likes it and it means he gets to be with you longer.

"Did you find someone else to pester on?"

Hyunjin is busy wondering whether he should hold your hand or not when you suddenly ask him a question.

"The new assistant is a Star Trek fan and a math enthusiast, hard pass," he answers.

You laugh and grab his wrist to take him to cross the street and Hyunjin uses it as an opportunity to hold your hand. He senses your eyes on him as he confidently intertwines his hand with you and surprisingly, you're not letting go.

"How about Rina? You should ask her out," you recommend again.

Hyunjin rolls his eyes, "I told you, she's not my type."

"Then what is your type?"

"Older and prettier," he shortly answers.

You laugh and swing your clasped hand as you walk the street.

"It's a plus if she's great at sex," Hyunjin adds with an eyebrow raised.

You shake your head and laugh it off, your hand shoots in the direction of a building, "This is me," you say.

Hyunjin is not ready to part yet, he slows down his pace to buy him a minute or two. You let go of his hand to rummage inside your bag for your keys, it's jiggling when you get it out.

He stops at the base of steps that lead to the door of your house and waits as you unlock the door. There's another day and another chance to see you again, but... Gosh, he misses you so much, a few hours aren't enough to cure his longing.

You turn around to face him, walking down one step to be on the same eye level with him, "It's been great catching up with you," you tell him.

So this is it, this is the part where he has to say goodnight and see you again another day. Hyunjin inhales air and puts on a smile, "Thank you for the dinner."

"Thank you for the coffee," you say back.

"Thank you for the fact about the seahorses," he adds with a lopsided grin.

You chuckle and hold your hair from being blown by the summer breeze, you suddenly look him in the eyes as you say, "I can't believe that I'm about to say this."

That gets him curious, he gazes into your eyes and asks, "What?"

You press your lips together and smile, "I'm so happy to see you again," you tell him.

It's not just words, he can see it in your eyes and how they light up as you look at him.

If only you knew how long he's been waiting to see you again. Hyunjin waited because he knew meeting him would remind you of that painful night and that's the last thing he wanted: seeing you hurt.

"Are you going to just stare at me and not kiss me?" You say.

Is it selfish of him to say that despite the hurt, he still remembers the happy moments you both shared that night? He wishes you only remember that and now you said those same words from that night, he knows now you keep those in your memory too.

Hyunjin doesn't waste another second to put his lips on yours and while he pours all of his feelings into his kisses, he feels like his chest starts to fill up with hope in return.

Gosh, you still taste sweet and heavenly, he feels like his feet are floating off the ground as your kisses are taking him out of this world.

When you let go of the kiss, Hyunjin is still reeling from it.

"Do you want to come in?" You ask.

And in a second, Hyunjin finds himself back on earth, in this moment where you finally letting him in.

With all of his heart, Hyunjin answers, "Yes."

-

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[sunflowervoltwentyeight]

Happy 28th! Here is my May 2024 fic rec, organized by word count, from longest to shortest. You can view my other fic recs here. Enjoy!

We Were Such Fools by kiddle / @bluejeanlouis (98k)

Rule #1: The Rewind Machine cannot be used to change the past, only to experience it. History will reset itself to the original timeline every 24 hours.

On his fiftieth birthday, two things are consuming Harry’s mind: what he’s going to make the kids for dinner tonight, and the fact that his marriage is crumbling at his feet.

So, when his best friend gifts him the trip of a lifetime, Harry chooses to venture off to the summer that set his life on its course—all the way back in 1987, California.

It only took him one summer to fall in love with his husband the first time around. How hard could starting all over really be?

Once Bitten and Twice Shy Series by pinkcords / @pinkcords (60k)

once bitten and twice shy (19k) This time as his stomach rolls, there’s no doubt about it. He’s going to vomit. And if he does, it’ll be on Louis’ shoes, a nice little parting gift to go with the embarrassment he’s caused the both of them. “I’m gonna throw up,” he says just as Louis turns to look at him, blue eyes swimming with shock and confusion, and asks, “Is that true?” Or, in a rush of bravery only senior year can bring, Harry confesses his feelings in a letter to his neighbor and best friend, Louis, only for the entire school to hear it and laugh him out of their small town in Wisconsin. Ten years later, Harry's a successful lawyer at Columbia Records, coming home for Christmas for the first time since he departed for college. He plans to work his way through the trip, eat his mom's cooking, and avoid everyone from his past for as long as possible. The only problem is best laid plans hardly ever go as intended. These Stars Will Guide Us Home (41k) And then he’s gonre. Harry watches him take off his shoes, sort his belongings into bins, and keeps watching until he vanishes entirely, around the corner to his gate. Louis doesn’t look back and Harry can’t blame him, certain his expression, body language, entire being would implore him to stay. It would just make it more difficult on both of them. Louis’ always been intuitive like that, strong enough to make the hard decisions that protect both of them. Or Harry lives in New York and Louis lives in Wisconsin.

Cabin Fever by germericangirl / @germericangirl (46k)

“What the fuck is he doing here?“ He asked still looking at him, before he turned back to look at Niall for an answer.

Niall’s mouth fell open and he looked at him with wide eyes "He um changed his mind?“

Harry stared at Niall for a few seconds in silence, before grabbing a bag and walking towards a bedroom without looking at anyone else, slamming the door shut behind himself.

Liam flinched in front of Louis.

“Well I’m happy to see you too.“ Louis mumbled, some of the tension leaving his body. This wasn’t exactly how he thought their first meeting would go. It was quiet for a moment before Louis finally spoke up “Did you seriously not tell him I was coming?“

Or:

One cabin, one bed, two ex-boyfriends. What could possibly go wrong?

You, In Every Color by blueskiesrry / @blueskiesrry (38k)

But then he thinks of the soft curves and sharp angles he had imagined when he first drew up the sketches for the collection, the specific green of fabric he had picked with the thought of how they’d saturate green eyes, the glossy silks and soft velvets he had once pictured sitting delicately against milky skin.

“We’re drunk,” Louis decides on a sigh. “We shouldn’t make any drastic decisions now.”

or: fashion designer louis and his model bf harry have vowed to never work together again, but with the show for louis’ first solo line on the horizon, they decide to give it another shot

We'll Be Alright by ShatteredGlassHouse / @larryislove (36k)

"Lou, I know this-"

"Not plan? Of course, this wasn't planned. Harry, this can't be happening. We can't have a kid. We are not even supposed to be sleeping together."

Harry flinched at Louis' words. He was right, but Louis didn't need to be blunt about it.

"I'm not ready to have kids. I said that when we started this… Relationship," Louis stuttered the last word, trying to find the proper wording.

"Do you think I am? I'm not even twenty-four. You are almost twenty-nine! You're at the age where most people start a family."

"Doesn't mean I want to have one!" Louis snapped.

"Well, it's happening," Harry said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Be serious, Harry. We can't have a baby. If people find out, you'll be fired."

Harry subconsciously wrapped his arms around his middle. He suddenly felt small. He didn't expect Louis to be excited. This wasn't the best news for their situation, but he thought he'd be happy.

"I know, Louis."

Or Louis is the Captian of Liverpool FC and Harry is one of the team's physiotherapists. They have a secret relationship going but things become complicated when Harry finds out he's pregnant.

Host of a Name by Signofcomfort / @signofcomfort (35k)

Louis leaves the band in the middle of the tour and drops off the face of the earth. Five years later, they might have a chance to meet him. Harry can finally have some answers and tell the truth for the first time.

Cabin on the Bluff Series by juliusschmidt / @juliusschmidt (6k)

Beech Tree in Autumn (1k) Louis walks forward. Harry walks back. And back. And back. Off the two track, through the brush, until his heel bangs against the trunk of a tree. Louis presses further still. Without so much as a, 'hello,' he's kissing Harry, hard and hungry. Mosquito Bites and Cheap Beer (2k) Harry’s careful not to look at Louis as he plays. At least, he starts out that way. But then the sky behind Louis begins to shift, clouds morphing from piles of gold-tinged wool to scoops of pink and orange sherbet. And at some point, Harry forgets-- forgets not to watch. And when he catches himself, it’s fine. Louis’ watching him right back. Sandwiches on the Shady Shore (2k) “You don’t have to do this,” Louis says. It’s hot in the little kitchen, even with the windows open and a breeze blowing in. Harry feels a flush enfold him from the inside out. “I know,” he says. And then, because he’s already showed up embarrassingly early in the day and made Louis a cheese sandwich, he adds, “I wanted to.”

Trust Me to Take You Home by hattalove / @hattalove (4k)

“I made breakfast,” says Harry, and Louis can feel him smile where his face is smushed against Louis’s shoulder blade. “Full English. All for you.” Louis finally opens his eyes, and blinks. “What about the others?” “Asleep,” Harry whispers, “it’s five in the morning.”

or, a clichéd tale of two boys in love and their first valentine's day together.

[mingsolo]

pause + play

wonwoo x reader (f) / g: meet cute, 90s au, fluff, strangers to lovers / wc: 4k / warnings: cursing, some nipple action, mingyu being a sl*t, / r: nc17

written for Now, That's 90s! collab, hosted by @beomcoups and I! ngI struggled not because I couldn't write this one, but because life is kicking my ass and I couldn't find the time to really sit and think through it... anyways it turned out pretty cute please read if you can <3

A drop of sweat rolled down from your forehead, you blew some air to your face but of course it was hot and it made you dizzy. “Is this thing even on?.” you shouted from the other corner of the shop, to your co-worker, Mingyu.

You stood under the AC trying to feel if there was actually cool air coming from it but you couldn’t feel but a weak wave of hot air over you. 

“Yeah, that thing is better off.” Mingyu shouted back, where he was lining up tapes in the kids section. “By the way, could you help me check the return box? There’s some tapes missing here, they should be there.” 

You waved out, going to the returns box at the entrance of the store. A few tapes were in, three Toy Story 2, one Tarzan and a copy of 10 Things I Hate About You along with two Armageddon at the bottom. You placed the movies on the counter as Mingyu was approaching you. “We need to rewind them first, all of them!” You say inspecting the tapes, “Geez, why do they never do it?.” 

Mingyu laughs and shakes his head. “The sign even says “Please” on it, right?.” He taps the hardcover of the vhs box, where “Please rewind before returning” signs reads on it.

“And it's so hot to be in the rewind room!.” you nag once more, taking the tapes with both arms and dragging your feet to the back of the store and rewind the tapes before someone comes looking for them. Mingyu returns to his previous spot on the kids section, not without laughing at you first. 

Despite the whole minute that it took you to get there, you are now placing the tapes into the machine, leaving the door open so some of the air could get in, the small and dark room feels suffocating just by being two steps inside it. In the speakers of the store, the faint sound of Genie In a Bottle plays on and you start humming, partly because you have the song stuck in your head thanks to Mingyu playing the cd over and over when he is on shift, and because it somehow helps the task be a little less tedious.

While on it, you hear the bells ringing meaning a customer has come to the store. You peek out to see a familiar tall figure enter, waving his way in walking directly towards the back where Mingyu was at the kids section.

“Hey!” you heard the guy saying until he disappeared from your line of sight. You tried to peek out more but it won’t be possible without you stepping out of the room, so you hurried up the process to get another glance before he’s out.

In the month you have been working there, you have seen this guy come in at least once a week. You were sure he was Mingyu’s friend as he always walked directly towards him or looked for him especially after picking up some tapes. The past times he had come with you on shift without Mingyu, you had the bad luck of always doing something like rewinding tapes or in the bathroom, never getting the chance to even greet him when he entered the store.

One thing for sure, he was cute as hell. Cat like eyes and thin defined lips, huge black frames on his face, making it look smaller. And you noticed only by getting little glimpses of him, as he was always in a rush or something, never staying more than five minutes. You thought of asking Mingyu who he was but decided not to as you were still new in the store and even if you liked and had fun working with him, Mingyu has proven to be the teasing type, and he wouldn’t let you work in peace if you dare asking him about this other guy.

Just as you were cursing at Armageddon for rewinding so slowly, you heard them saying goodbyes and the chiming doorbell announcing he was out. 

With a sigh you rolled your eyes and finished your task without hurry, hoping the cat boy would come back soon and you were luckily enough to be on the counter to greet him. 

.

.

.

Today was a Monday, and the week promised to be a quiet one. Not many new releases came to the store yet so customers wandered a little bit before getting out, or just asking when would you stock Sleepy Hollow or why you had so few copies of The Sixth Sense. You tried your best to give every customer a smile at the beginning but after a month of getting the same questions over and over, you just shrugged and advised people to come back later, and maybe the previous customer had brought it back by then. 

Mingyu was way better with customers, both girls and guys. ‘I’ll get it ready and rewinded this afternoon for you’ he said with a wink to a middle aged lady, who shamelessly smiled and flirted with him while her kid smudged chocolate from the bar he was eating on a copy of Inspector Gadget.

“Great, now I have to clean that.” you glared at Mingyu as he saved the piece of paper with the woman’s number on his back pocket once she and the chocolate kid were gone. “I swear to God I’ve seen her come in with her husband.” you arch your eyebrows at him. 

“That doesn’t seem like a me problem.” He shot gun fingers at you and got back to his task on the counter, where a few other ladies waited for him.

You chuckled and started spraying windex on Mathew Broderick’s face covered in chocolate, laughing at how Mingyu flirted shamelessly with every single one of them, all at once, but they didn’t seem to mind. 

Once good ol’ Mathew’s face was clean you left the tape back on the shelf, when you heard the bell ring. “Y/n, can you help?” Mingyu hurried to tell you, he was now surrounded by the women as he showed them a copy of Between Your Legs animatedly. “This one is from our exclusive foreign section, so exotic! And the plot is fascinating…” He looked at the ceiling and the ladies followed.

You shook your head and got up from where you were squatting, seeing the tall figure of cat-boy coming through the door. He looked at the commotion on the counter and figured out Mingyu was busy at the moment. He hesitated for a second before turning back ready to head out when you sprinted towards him, shouting “HI!! WELCOME IN!” maybe a little too enthusiastically. 

“H-hi,” he said back, a little startled by your shouting. Mingyu also looked up to you for a moment, but he was quickly back to answering curious questions from his little fan club. “Uhm, I’ll be back later when-”

“No! Please, I know Mingyu usually helps you out but please tell me what can I do for you?,” you smiled with pressed lips and your voice two tones higher than how you usually speak, but you couldn’t help it. Seeing him in front of you confirmed your suspicions, he was stupidly handsome, freakingly hot even behind those thick square glasses. His hoodie smells like coffee and the cap he was wearing backwards made the earring on his left ear seem more dangly. 

“I really would prefer to wait for Mingyu…” 

“Nonsense!” you guided him towards a free counter next to where Mingyu and his harem were discussing Between Your Legs, quickly putting some space between you two before you would get inappropriately close and start sniffing his sweater, your eyes shining brightly as you spotted cat hairs on them. 

God he is so hot for a nerd!!!

“So, what can I do for you today, I’m Y/n by the way,” you smiled again and you could swear you creeped him out by the way he started sweating. It was hot as hell inside but still, his ears turned red and the tapes he was carrying under his arm were starting to slip from his grip. He quickly put them in the pocket of his hoodie, smiling awkwardly and glancing at Mingyu behind his frames. 

You glanced at Mingyu too, who began chuckling, losing for a moment his track on the plot of the movie he was explaining. 

“Are you going to return those?” you extended your hand but he stood still, tapes still packed into his hoodie. “No?,” you asked again. He opened his mouth briefly but smacked his lips loudly looking at the ceiling. 

He looked at Mingyu and his expression changed from mortified to annoyed. He bit his cheek and took a deep breath before taking out the tapes and laying them one on top of another before you. 

Night of the Giving Head, A Beautiful Behind, Yank my Doodle! It's a Dandy!, and Throbin Hood laid on the counter before you.

There was a few seconds of silence, only broken up by Mingyu’s suppressed wheeze. You cleared your throat lightly, taking the tapes and checking if they were rewinded. “Oh a rewinder, that’s unusual!” you chuckled dryly not really knowing how to break the wall of ice that suddenly appeared in front of you.

“I didn’t watch them,” He cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact. “That’s why they are- anyway.” He sighed and stopped, releasing it seemed like he was making up excuses for not one in particular. 

“You don’t have to explain,” You tried to sound friendly and not make a big deal, but you had so many questions and this selection was the last thing you expected to see him with. “We are a judging free video store,” the words coming out mechanically as you remembered the training video Mingyu played for you once on your first day.

“Yeah…It’s not… Can we please get this over with quickly?,” He returned to his mortified expression and you nodded quickly annotating the returns on the logbook. “Thanks,” He smiled awkwardly at you before tapping the counter once, glancing quickly at Mingyu one more time before sprinting out.

“He’s going to murder me, but oh god, it was worth it!”

Mingyu was now smiling ear to ear, waving goodbye to the last girl that visited the shop for the day, her phone number written on his palm. “I got no more sticky notes left,” he said before sticking his hand out to her.

“Yeah that was… I didn’t even know we had these.” you were sweeping the floors as the store was about to close, keeping yourself busy for the rest of the day still thinking about the Night of The Giving Head cover inside your mind. “Wait, he’s your friend, does he only watch porn?.” 

Mingyu laughed loudly, helping you out by taking the trash bags out of the bins and emptied them in one big plastic bag. “Maybe, why do you ask?” he arched his eyebrows at you. 

“No reason, it was just- he doesn’t look like the porn addict type.” 

Mingyu laughed louder. “Wait till I tell him you think he’s a porn addict!” He collected the dust you were sweeping onto the plastic bag, making a knot and throwing it on his shoulders. 

“Wait! Why would you tell him that?!” 

“No reason…” he smirked, walking outside to take out the trash. 

.

.

.

The next week the store got busier than usual, so Mingyu and you barely got to chat with each other about cat-boy or anything really. He had also switched shifts to train a new employee, a younger guy, probably a highschooler, who he spent most of the time in the mornings, leaving you alone to take care of the closing shift. 

Saturday came quickly, and you were alone in the shop. Lights were almost all out, and you were finishing stocking some new tapes that came that afternoon, the last task before officially closing. 

Somehow the humid air was insufferable even by night time, so you were sweating bullets over the thick fabric of your uniform shirt. You couldn’t believe they made you wear this in this hot weather, but alas, you were transpiring and melting under it. 

As you finished putting the tapes on their respective shelfs, you walked towards the bathroom where you had a spare shirt, not before turning the volume of the radio a little, you played music a lot in the shop and the customers seemed to like your taste more like Mingyu’s.

Once there, humming to Bills Bills Bills, you were looking for your spare shirt when you noticed you it wasn’t there. “What the-?” you cursed under your breath, sure you had one hanging on the stall reserved for staff. One glance at the sweaty uniform shirt you just took off and you knew you won’t be wearing that again. “Come on, I already put roll-on….” you whined. Then you remembered there were a couple of uniform shirts in the lockers, maybe too big for you but that would do for today and you will return them tomorrow. 

And so you were signing,

Can you pay my telephone bills?, 

Can you pay my automo’ bills? 

If you did, maybe we could chill…. 

When suddenly the tall figure of cat-boy appeared in front of you right by the counter. He stared. And you stared back. And his eyes stayed on your face for a a few seconds, but they quickly drifted a little down, on your lace see through bra, nonetheless.

“What the fuck?!” you shouted, sprinting towards the locker room. 

“Im sorry! I knocked, and the lights were on…. I thought…” you could hear him speak but there was a high ringing pitch in your ears that made his voice fade away as you took one of the spare uniform shirts and slipped in over your head. “The fuck you needed to wear a see through one today, huh?!” you covered your face with both palms.

“I’m sorry… I better go…”

You heard footsteps and shouted “No!” back but when you were out you could only see his back walk out the door.

You blew raspberries, feeling insufferably hot under the hot fabric of the oversized uniform shirt, that covered you like a circus carp. “Too much for our second encounter, cat-boy.” 

.

.

.

The next day you got to the store a little early, trying to catch Mingyu before he left for the day, and to your surprise, he was waiting for you.

“A nipple piercing!” 

“Good afternoon to you too!” you sighed, walking towards the locker room with Mingyu’s tail wagging at your ankles. “And how could he notice that?! It was dark!” you threw your backpack at your locker, huffing and puffing, ignoring Mingyu’s curious eyes.

“I guess he was really paying attention,” he teased. You shot him a glare and he raised his arms signaling peace. “Hey, don’t be mad that he told me, I’m his best friend and well, he actually came looking for you, how could he know you liked walking around the store naked when you were on shift alone?” 

“I-wasn’t-naked.” you slapped the locker room shut. “Wait… he came looking out for me?”

Mingyu wiggled his eyebrows in response. 

“Tell me everything, or else.”

“He likes you, duh.” Mingyu moved toward his locker, pretending to roam for something but you knew there wasn’t anything there. “He has had his eyes on you, since the first day he saw you working here.”

“But why hasn't he talked to me? He always comes in and it’s gone in a second.” 

Mingyu clicked his tongue. “He had a bad break up two years ago, and honestly he’s pretty shy, maybe that’s why we are such good friends, we balance each other…” you crossed your arms signaling he was deviating from the topic. “... So he wasn’t sure how to approach you, he has been coming here asking me to be a wingman but I refused, I was trying to encourage him so I told him you were going to be alone yesterday.”

You sighed, walking out the locker room with Mingyu behind you, ready to get off.

“Want me to tell W-”

“NOO!” you shouted, making the couple of customers in the store turn their heads at you. “Don’t tell me his name, I want him to tell me when he finally comes and talks to me.”

Mingyu chuckled and nodded, messing your head a little in sign of encouragement. “Get him, tiger. I’ll pass the note out.” He winked and you shrugged as he walked out the store.

Needless to say, all the way to the evening your stomach was swirling inside you. You jumped a little every time the doorbell chimed, and it sank back to your stomach everytime cat-boy wasn’t the one entering.

It was almost seven and you were waving goodbye to the last customer of the day before you changed the sign from open to closed, when you heard the bell one more time. 

The couple of teens walked past cat-boy as he entered the store and they walked out. You could hear loud stomps inside your chest, and you were pretty sure they were so loud he could hear them too. You looked at the mirror wall to your left, and despite being a few feet away you could spot the newest shades of red adorning your face. 

As he walked closer, you smiled shyly, spotting the same color on him too.

“Hey,” he waved so tiny that you felt like your body was becoming butter, cause despite standing up, you felt melted, all over the floor. 

“Hi,” you replied back, not knowing what to say really. Dissociating a little from the awkwardness you focused on him. All of him. His fluffy hair, not hiding under a cap this time. The black thick frames. He was wearing a black sweater, a turtle neck one. Few noticeable white hairs on it. You remembered marshmallow, your cat, and smiled without noticing. 

“Y/n,?” you heard his voice crack, noticing you smiling.

“Sorry! Seeing the cat hair on your sweater reminded me of mine.”

“You have cats?” his eyes became a little bigger. “Me too!”

“Yeah.. I can tell by the cat hair,” you chuckled.

“Right…” he scratched the back of his head. “Well I have a couple.. A few.” 

“I love cats! I only have marshmallow because my landlord doesn’t let me have more, but one day I will!” you were glad you mentioned the cat hair cause this gave you a shot to talk more comfortably. “By the way, did Mingyu tell you my name?”

“I asked him, the first day I saw you here working.”

“Not fair, I didn't let him tell me yours.”

“Huh?” He arched his eyebrows, puzzled. 

“He told me you came looking for me yesterday… Sorry you find me like that, I swear I don’t usually walk around naked when I’m alone here…”

He laughed. “Mingyu told me you probably did.”

You scoffed. “He’s the whore not I.” 

“Can’t defend him from that,” He lowered his head a little, “Sorry I told him about your… well I was frantic after seeing you like that and ran straight to his dorm, I was too shocked I guess, I wasn’t trying to be a creep.”

“And what about the pornos? Night of the Giving Head, seriously?” 

“That was Mingyu! He dropped them at my dorm the night before telling me I should distract myself from being a coward and not talk to you…” He speaked fast and you were trying to follow up. “I swear I didn’t watched them, I tried, but they were too tacky”

“There’s tasteful porn?” you laughed.

“There should be… somewhere” he laughed back. 

“Bet the bastard wanted you to return them so I could catch you myself!” 

“He a hundred percent did.” 

There was a moment of silence after the laugh, and you felt like staring at the floor because looking at him was becoming addicting too quickly. 

“Want me to help you close? I want you to walk out with me for a while, maybe get some coffee?” He suddenly speaks, and you snap out of the mental image of you two sitting on your couch, a few cats around. 

“Uh- well I just need to take out the trash and I’m ready, I- would love that,” He smiles from ear to ear and stands straight, making you notice he’s like, really really tall. 

“I’ll help you with that, be ready when I come back!” He sprinted towards the entrance where the two plastic bags laid one beside the other and took them out. You run towards the bathroom as soon as he’s out, changing your ugly uniform shirt into your spare one, feeling relieved when you notice is there this time. After putting roll on, combing your hair a little and putting some perfume you walk out, finding him waiting for you near the entrance.

He asks if he can wash his hands and once that’s done you close up, and you start walking beside him to nowhere in particular. 

You suggest walking to your recent favorite spot, a part cafe, part flower shop near your apartment. Walking there you talk about your studies, the tedious but fun times at the video store, his job at the library (he was such a nerd!), his and your cat, about everything and nothing in particular, and time just flew by so quickly.

“This is so nice, I didn’t even notice the hour!” you say checking the casio watch on your wrist. And he does the same. 

“Let me walk you home, I would feel bad by letting you take a cab at this hour.”

“It’s not far away…” you object but he insists. “Fine, but just by the door, what if you are indeed a creep or something!” He pouts and gives you the stink eye. You laughed, delighted how quickly you became comfortable with each other.

Once at your door you ask him to give you his palm. “I learned this trick from our dear Gyu,” you say, taking out a sharpie pen from your backpack and writing your number on his palm. “There, call me as soon as you get home, I’m not done talking to you.”

You thanked him for the coffee and sprinted towards your complex door without letting him say anything else. 

A quarter to eleven, your phone starts ringing. 

Grabbing the cordless phone from its base and throwing yourself over your bed you answer. “Hello?,” 

“I was about to tell you my name and ask you on a proper date,” you heard his shaky voice from the other line. He must have literally run or sprinted towards his own apartment. “But you ran away.” 

You smiled, twirling your hair, eyes closed remembering every moment since you closed the video store a few hours ago.

“Y/n?,” 

“Not yet cat-boy, I want you to tell me only after you first kiss me.” A few moments of silence before he speaks again, you can’t see him but you know he’s smiling too.

“Deal, then I won’t be cat-boy much longer.”

@mingsolo please don't repost/translate to any sites.

[queenofshenanigans]

Family Video Employee Evaluation

Summary: Family Video is boring. Steve thinks of a way to liven up a shift. He's always been an act first, think later kind of guy. What's a little role-play between coworkers?

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Co-workers with benefits, first time blowjobs, casual sex, developing relationships, period typical attitudes, porn with feelings, steve harrington needs a hug, post-canon, not a lot of roleplay discussion before just jumping into it.

I'm tagging people who sent me a WIP Weekend ask about this, since it's done and posted. @vthx, @tinytalkingtina, @yesdangerpls, @hbyrde36, @vegasol, @sourw0lfs since I won't be answering the asks O_O

This was written as part of the @strangerthingswritersguild #steithweek2025 challenge, which was an incredible amount of fun!

Snippet below the cut

Steve was bored. Family Video shifts sucked without Robin. They sucked with Robin, because it was still Family Video, but they sucked less because Robin was there to tell him jokes and stories about her college classes and call him dingus when he failed to flirt with the pretty coeds that came in from the community college. And he got to tease her for the way she tripped over her words and forgot titles to movies whenever those pretty coeds smiled at her instead of at him, and then they'd get distracted throwing stale popcorn and expired candy at each other until their shift ended.

The shifts he worked alone were fine. He'd put on a random movie while he rewound all the tapes that customers returned un-rewinded, whatever new release had just come out that was popular but not too popular to be overly in demand. Usually it was something with explosions and dirty jokes, sometimes a romantic comedy that would have Robin rolling her eyes at him. If he was sure no one was going to come in and distract him—especially Henderson, who had opinions—he'd risk one of the Star Trek movies. Rewinding tapes was mindless work, something Robin complained about endlessly, but Steve didn't hate it. There was something soothing about it that calmed the thoughts that raced around sometimes. He'd pop a few into the machines, and try to time it so they finished at the same time. Sometimes he'd pit different actors in races to an imaginary finish line; so far, Tom Hanks was leading this week, with Tom Cruise in second place. He'd declared it the Battle of the Toms in his head, though Harrison Ford could prove to the dark horse—he was currently in third place and Indiana Jones and Star Wars had been popular rentals over the weekend.

It was the shifts he worked with Keith that sometimes sucked the most. The guy just wouldn't shut up. He kept trying to educate Steve on important cinematic history or some shit, and sometimes Steve didn't mind—Keith was passionate and knew his movie trivia—but sometimes that passion crossed the line from almost cute to totally annoying. Today, when Steve was already bored and had a borderline headache from the late autumn heat wave, there was something about his voice in lecture mode, especially the tone that made it clear he thought Steve was an idiot, that made Steve want to do anything just to shut him up.

"…Bava didn't need Karloff for The Telephone or The Drop of Water, but bringing in a ringer like him for The Wurdulak really elevated the weakest of the stories—Harrington!" Steve fought back the wince as Keith snapped his fingers in his face, pulling him back from his wandering thoughts. "Pay attention! This is important. We have a lot of customers who are into classic horror, and are going to want to know this sort of stuff!"

"That has literally never once been true." Steve had worked here for months now, and could count the number of times a customer had questioned him at length about elevated anything on one hand and still have five fingers left over. "People just want to rent movies, man. They usually just pick out whatever cover is prettiest." He had had people ask him which movies had the most naked boobies, or if Tom Cruise actually showed his ass in Risky Business—you know, the actual important things people cared about in movies. But every time he tried to explain that to Keith, or even Robin when she got all intellectual, he got waved off as being just another meathead jock, and it wasn't worth arguing over. He knew he was right—the rental numbers backed him up—but people like Keith just needed to talk themselves out sometimes. "I'd bet you five bucks that most people who rent this Korlaff guy rent him because he's hot, not because he elevates anything."

Read the rest on AO3

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

There is a voicemail on the answering machine when Steve gets home that night. It's from his Uncle Phillip, stumbling through a clumsy message about Chrissy's death, all while he can hear his Aunt Laura wailing in the background. He cuts the message off halfway, rewinding it for his parents to listen to when they return from wherever they've been. Whenever they return.

He picks up the phone, dials Gareth's number, and immediately hangs up before anyone can answer. This is a phone call that needs to wait. Even though all of Steve is itching to reach out to the family that still matters to him, he can't. He can't offer comfort or kind words or even offer to just be there. He's got the Upside Down to deal with first.

The Upside Down has returned and they don't have El and her powers. They don't have Hopper or Joyce. What they have is Steve. Steve is the only adult left in Hawkins that knows anything. It's his job to protect them all, somehow. Someway.

He's the adult.

Fuck. He can't think about this anymore tonight. He's so fucking tired. Instead of climbing the stairs to his room, he flops onto the couch in the living room, falling quickly into sleep plagued by nightmares.

Meanwhile, across town, Gareth has finally pried himself free of his mother's grip and slunk to his room. He flops on his bed and rolls to stare up at the ceiling.

He feels numb.

Chrissy is- she was- and in his best friend's house. And now Eddie is missing. What if whoever killed Chrissy kidnapped Eddie? Is something worse going to happen to Eddie?

And his mom and dad. They wouldn't say it to his face, but he can tell they blame Eddie. Maybe not blame, as in think he's the murderer, but certainly blame, in that, they think it's his fault Chrissy's dead. That whoever murdered Chrissy was really out to murder Eddie and Chrissy was an innocent bystander turned victim.

When his uncle called with the news it was unbelievable. His parents had seen the news, knew about the murder, but the police hadn't stated a name yet. He'd been asked so many questions, mostly about who Eddie knew that could have been over, but Gareth didn't have answers. Eddie hadn't mentioned anyone that was going to go to his house.

The police didn't take long actually identifying Chrissy, because they're reached out to next of kin and then Uncle Phillip had called, spoken to his dad and it's-

Well, it's all unbelievable. Hawkins has always been so dull and boring. Nothing happens here! Well, beyond that time the Byers kid went missing, then was dead but then not or whatever. And the fire at the brand-new mall but that was an accident, so even though a lot of people died, it was- it wasn't a murder.

Eddie is missing.

Chrissy is dead.

And Gareth is here, finally alone, in his room. His parents hadn't let him out of their sight since the phone call, and he can't really blame them. The death of someone in a family always makes his parents cling tighter to him but never before has the person who's passed been younger than his parents. He's been to the funeral for an uncle on his mom's side, which was her older brother, as well as for both his grandparents on his father's side.

Steve's side, he thinks. He knows Chrissy's dad called Steve's house, but his aunt and uncle probably aren't even in town. They barely were when Steve was a minor. Now that they can legally abandon him, they probably won't hear about Chrissy until Thanksgiving.

Jesus. Is Steve doing okay with the news? He knows he's got a best friend who stays more nights than not but are they there now, or is Steve alone?

Tears build in his eyes again as he thinks about when they were all younger, each just a year apart in school but all each other's first best friend. It used to be Steve, Chrissy, and himself against the world. Why had that changed?

Oh.

He knows. He changed it, heading into his freshman year. He told them he didn't want to hang out with them in high school.

And now Chrissy's dead and he realizes he no longer knows her -knew her- well enough to know why she'd be at Eddie's. Were they friend? Was Eddie her dealer? Did Chrissy even smoke weed? He knew she was dating Jason Carver but- was she also into Eddie? Chrissy had never seemed the kind of person to cheat, but what did Gareth actually know about her at the end of the day?

At the end of her life?

He rolls onto his side and sobs, curling into himself with all these unanswered questions running through his mind until he cries himself to sleep.

Steve has been awake for maybe ten minutes before Dustin is calling. The Upside Down waits for no man, so Steve finds himself picking up Dustin, Robin, and Max, and then they go to Cerebro to eavesdrop on the police.

Dustin talks him into handing his wallet over so he can run into the store and buy Eddie something for breakfast.

They deliver bad news to Eddie, follow a police car, meet up with Nancy, Robin and Nancy go to the library, he drives Max and Dustin first to Ms. Kelley's house, then the school. Once Robin and Nancy join them, Max fills them in on some depressing news before noises from the hallway draw their attention.

It turns out to be Lucas, here to warn about Jason.

Steve isn't meaning to eavesdrop when Lucas saddles up next to Dustin on the way to Steve's car and says, "Jason. He, uh, he went to Gareth's. Looking for Eddie. And he. Did you know Gareth and Chrissy Cunningham were cousins?"

Steve stumbles but if anyone noticed they don't call him on it.

Dustin says, "no. Oh, no. Don't tell me-"

"Yeah," Lucas confirms an unspoken question, "he's joined Jason's hunt for Eddie."

"Shit," Dustin and Steve say at the same time.

Unlike Steve, Gareth wakes late. It's almost noon before he drags himself from bed and to the bathroom.

A half hour later, he's clean and fed, and dialing Steve's number for the third time in a row, to get a third answering machine pickup.

"Answer the goddamn phone, Steve!" He snarls into the receiver this time, not having left messages the first two times. Just hung up and dialed again, then. "Have you heard about- I need you, so answer your fucking phone."

He slams the phone back into its cradle. His parents are still lost in their own fear and sorrow, because neither of them scold him for his language or the treatment of the phone.

He calls Jeff, and then Frankie, to cancel practice. They're worried but don't push when Gareth blames his mom. Then he spends another two hours trying to get a hold of Steve, and even Wayne a couple times, but no one answers.

He is surprised, and a little annoyed, when he mom comes to his room a bit later in the day to let him know he has guests at the door. He hauls himself from his bed, ready to tell the guys to fuck off, but when he steps outside to Chrissy's boyfriend instead of Jeff, the words die on his tongue.

Carver, some other guys from the basketball team, and Lucas Sinclair standing in the way back, are waiting for him on his lawn. Gareth closes the front door before slowly stepping off the porch. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for Eddie. He here?" Carver asks.

"No."

Carver nods, hands shoved into his letterman lifting and dropping, like he was going to make a 'what can you do' gesture but forgot his hands were in his pockets. "Know where we can find him?"

They're looking for Eddie. This is -was- Chrissy's boyfriend. He probably knows the truth as much as Gareth does. And, he wants to know more. He's sure, judging by the tension in Carver's stance and how Lucas is shaking his head no behind them all, that Carver's probably convinced Eddie did it. So, if Gareth wants the truth, he needs to find Eddie, too. "You try Dustin Henderson's house?"

Carver looks surprised by the freely given information, and Lucas looks betrayed. "No. But we will. Thanks."

"I'm coming with."

Carver, who had turned away, turns back slowly. "You think so?"

"She's my cousin. Chrissy. So, yeah, I think I'm coming," Gareth hopes it's enough to get Carver to agree. If Eddie's innocent, Gareth wants to be there to help him. And if- if the fucking worst has happened and Eddie did it.

Well. He wants to be there to help with that, too.

[ferhog]

My INSANE, out there predictions for Arcane's final Act:

Hello friends. As we approach the last 3 episodes of this show I come to you with the craziest predictions I've made in my efforts to understand the twisted machinations of Riot and Fortiche. I'm not 100% expecting most of these to happen but I'm not joking when I say these either.

Isha will be saved... and so will everyone else: Contrary to the opinions of some fans I think Isha is a good character with a good death, but it's undeniable that it was more predictable and heavy-handed than this show's usual standard. So I think she and Vander will blow up... and a distraught Jinx will go catatonic and do nothing as she's impaled by Noxian soldiers. Ambessa will close the distance on a distracted Caitlyn and slice her head off, and Vi will despairingly witness exactly what she feared she'd see in the season 1 finale, before being cut down herself... only for everything to rewind back to Echo's stopwatch in a parallel to season 1's seventh episode, and Echo and Heimerdinger will fly in (As deduced by some people analysing the trailers) and save everyone except Vander, who will still be mostly destroyed by the blast so he can be reconstituted fully as Warwick later.

CaitVi sex scene: My safest prediction that many have already made. I believe it will happen because we got to see Jayce and Mel go at it while Vi and Caitlyn is the show's lead romance. To my knowledge there has been no on-screen gay sex in western animation (Except maybe that threesome in Castlevania) and this show will cross that boundary and go all in. It's not gonna be Game of Thrones borderline pornographic stuff but it's gonna tiptoe on that teen rating. We're gonna see toes curl. We're gonna see O faces. We're gonna see Caitlyn try her best to defy nature and get her girl pregnant.

Future shows will be directly set up: Arcane has been a huge success and the Medarda plotline seems like it's setting up too much to be completed in just 3 episodes. So I think it's gonna directly tie into a whole other show all about Noxus. But maybe it won't stop there. Maybe a very confident Riot will have Arcane end on a tease for everything that is to come. A character like Ambessa, Heimerdinger, or Vi will narrate how everything that's happened is a sign that the world is changing, and this narration will play over Lux and Garen overlooking the kingdom of Demacia, Diana and Leona meeting on the battlefield, Miss Fortune breasting boobily on the high seas, and... whoever lives in the Freljord. My non-Arcane League knowledge comes entirely from TBskyen videos and rule34.

Someone will actually say "League of Legends": It's a big joke that this would happen, but y'know what, they made how Jinx got her name one of the most impactful moments in her show when in most other shows or movies it would have been hilariously stupid. So I think they should challenge themselves and actually do it just to show they can pull it off. Maybe have Vi seeing the good she's done for Piltover and Zaun and reflect on Maddie calling her "A legend amongst the enforcers" and say "Heh. Maybe I am in the league of legends". BOOM. Roll credits. Lincoln Park starts playing. Again.

Silco will return: My absolute craziest, never gonna happen theory is that Silco's body will be recovered from the river and revived by either Singed experimenting again or a straight up magic villain like the Black Rose 9If they can do that). But his mind will have deteriorated enough in death that he's brought back wrong, yet another parallel to Vander. He will remember almost nothing, not even his name, with his attempt resulting in only half success as the name... Shaco. That's right, the champion infamous for having no lore will suddenly have all the lore. Because they have a sorta similar nose and chin combo.

Loris will still do nothing: It would just be really funny if that happened. Actually you know what, it would be really funny if in the final battle Vi is about to be killed before she's suddenly saved by Loris throwing his shield in front of her. And then they give each other a knowing look like old friends who'll always have each-other's backs and he'll walk away, never to be seen again.

[itsnothingofinterest]

So it’s looking like we might be getting the ‘AFO gave Tenko his quirk’ theory confirmed and I gotta be honest; I am not in favor. I’m hardly the first to take this position, both before and after this chapter dropped, but if I may attempt to put into words why; it’s that I don't think it can really add anything except reveal postmortem some new way AFO is bad in the best case & handing Deku a potential deus ex machina in the worst case.

Like, the best case result of such a revelation at this point in the plot is that it's just to make AFO seem more evil by making him the root cause of the Shimura tragedy, except…only in a way that doesn’t even matter. Like, this reveal shouldn’t change any of Tomura’s motivations or talking points; he already knows AFO manipulated him & hates him for that, but he also hates Kotaro, Nana, All Might, and the greater hero society for the role they played in his tragedy, and AFO giving him Decay wouldn’t change how much everyone else I listed deserves that ire. It just means that some of the tragic happenstance of the Shimuras that seemingly could've happened to anyone was instead purposefully cause by that jerk we know.

It’s like if we learned AFO killed Endeavor’s father, leading him down the path to become the domestic abuser we know him as. Thus the tragedy of the Todorokis would also come back to AFO...but y’know…not in anyway that matters. Endeavor, Touya, and everyone else involved still made their choices; AFO’s just the root cause of it all by sheer technicality. How diabolical, I might care if he were still relevant.

The worst case result of such a revaluation of course is that it gives Deku an unearned & largely uninteresting easy out to solving the problem that is Tomura's rage. Because if AFO gave him Decay, then he's actually the one ultimately responsible for near everything, if not just everything wrong in Tomura's life (even if, again, just by technicality in some areas). Never mind the rolls Kotaro, Nana, All Might, and greater hero society played in it; AFO's the real root cause of it all whose been manipulating Tomura for longer than he even knows, so he should just stop caring about that other stuff.

Plus it'd also mean Tomura doesn't exist to destroy because Decay isn't his true quirk (never mind how that's not why he thinks that & he never even put much stock into that quirk-identity stuff anyway) so he can just stop being a villain now please.

Yeah this all just doesn't seem like the most interesting way for Deku to tackle Tomura's trauma, talking points, or motivations.

Plus, like a live action Disney movie, the idea's kind of felt like it’s tying up a ‘plot hole’ that didn’t need tying up; that might even work better as a coincidental tragedy. Like; people act like this can’t be just a tragedy, it's too convenient, it has to be some master machination of the grand demon lord who…is already beaten, dead, and doesn’t factor into anyone’s plot lines or themes anymore. At best, to make him seem more evil long after the point we have any reason to care; at worst, to give Deku an easy out (with the side effect of making him seem like a worse hero who can’t save villains in Tomura's position without unique circumstances to make it easy).

Also like a live action Disney movie, this almost feels like it opens up a plot hole in trying to tie one up. Because as we know; Tenko’s circumstances are identical to Eri’s, down to the signs of their quirks being random mutations. When I said the tragic happenstance of the Shimuras we're blaming AFO for could've happened to anyone; I know this because it happened verbatim to her. So if those circumstances (just so happening to get a deadly quirk that kills their families, which just so happen to be connected to the villain who'll use & abuse them, etc.) are seen as suspicious, early signs that AFO gave Tenko Decay…did he or another villain give Eri Rewind? Almost certainly not; but if not then why does she get a random mutation-caused tragedy, while Tenko must have been the victim of some villain’s plot that's already been foiled?

So my point is: I really hope this is just a red herring. Revealing that AFO gave Tenko Decay kind of feels like it undercuts the Shimura tragedy as something that could've happened to any kid in Tenko or Eri's shoes; and I don't think any payoff you'd get for that undercutting is worth it.

We should instead get the much funnier revaluation that the man who brought Tenko home that day was, rather than AFO, a completely different man who Deku would coincidentally recognize: Hisashi Midoriya.

[hockeyisforthegays]

HOCKEY ‼️

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHEN I POSTED ABOUT JJK HOCKEY AU. i dont blame you because i jsut looked and i last touched this document march 19 2024 (!!!) but it's literally just one scene i wrote out in that verse as if i was writing my own sports anime. its also been sitting this whole time ONE SENTENCE FROM COMPLETION and yk what this was the kick in the pants it needed. here have the whole thing. and ignore that i call him nanami and not kento in his own pov narration LOL i wasnt thinking

-

“Isn’t he the greatest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Nanami says, “No.”

Haibara laughs, not taking him seriously — he never does. He puts a too-casual hand on the top of Nanami’s monitor, haphazardly angling it a little more towards himself. Nanami makes a mental note to wipe the screen down after he leaves. 

“He totally is,” Haibara insists, eyes fixed on the game tape that’s playing on loop, on the college player he’s become so fixated on recently. Itadori Yuuji. “His skills are insane! His speed, his edgework, his stickhandling— And god, his power! Can’t you just see him cleaning up in the hardest shot competition at All Stars?”

Nanami says, “No.”

“What? No way. Have you really ever seen anyone shoot harder than that?” Here, Haibara points to the tape, where Itadori bangs in an admittedly gruesome slapshot. The poor college goalie all but jumps out of the way, like he thinks that puck would kill him regardless of the fifty pounds of pillows he’s wearing. He might be right. 

“I do not see him being invited to the All Star game,” Nanami says. 

Haibara gapes at him like Nanami has just killed his mother and presented him her head on a platter. Out of respect for his friend, Nanami refrains from rolling his eyes. 

Scouts like Haibara tend to greatly overvalue talent. Analysts like Nanami know there’s more to a game than the ability to play it. 

“You are correct about his skills,” Nanami admits, purely to mollify his colleague. Predictably, Haibara’s face transforms back into a grin. “But, he clearly doesn’t know the game.”

“Huh?”

Nanami sighs and rewinds the tape to several key points — Itadori missing easy connections with his teammates; Itadori falling for transparent feints from his opponents; Itadori straight up not following the rules of hockey, at one point. “I looked into him when you gave me his name, you know. There’s no record of him playing hockey in any official capacity before college. He’s not a serious player; he certainly hasn’t been trying to go pro.”

“But he could,” says Haibara. 

“Itadori is clearly an athlete. A phenomenal one, even.” Haibara nods eagerly at this, grinning at Itadori’s form on the computer screen. Nanami feels a headache building behind his eyes as he has to break it to him, “But he is not a hockey player.”

And all for the better, really. Nanami believes, wholly and truly, that hockey is shit. Itadori can play around during college and then hang up his skates when he graduates, and save himself all the pain that comes with even trying to break into this league. 

Itadori isn’t part of this machine. Haibara should know better than to try and drag the poor boy into it.  

But he doesn’t. “Well, I’m showing his tape to the GM anyway.”

Nanami winces. If there’s one person who won’t give a fuck about any of Nanami’s arguments, its the Sorcerers’ General Manager. The old fashioned bastard derides the entire field of analytics as “a bunch of number-crunching fools,” and he definitely doesn’t care about exactly what professional hockey can steal from a young life. Hell, it might be the opposite. Ryomen Sukuna might go out and offer Itadori a contract just because it amuses him. 

“I showed you first ‘cause I thought you’d be impressed with me,” Haibara adds on, now propping his head up on a hand with a pout. “I found a real diamond in the rough, here.”

“Yes, you have satisfactorily fulfilled your job description,” Nanami says. Haibara recognizes it for the praise that it is, and grins. “Now please vacate my office.”

When Haibara leaves, he leaves the tape still playing on Nanami’s screen. Nanami gazes at the grainy but exultant line of Itadori’s grin and feels an all-too familiar melancholy settle over him. Every day, he sees children fed into this system and then spat back out tattered and torn. There’s nothing he can do for them — not once they’re in it. Not when they all seem to think this hell is the highest honour they could achieve. 

There is no guarantee. Sukuna might laugh Haibara out of the room without a second thought. But it’s just as likely that he’ll take an interest. And if he reaches out to the boy with an offer — if, god forbid, Itadori Yuuji signs it, like signing away his soul to the devil—

For him, Nanami will do the only thing he can: his best. 

[theweirdkidinside03]

2024 - Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter is the Song of the Year

Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

Beautiful Things - Benson Boone

Dilaw - Maki

Not Like Us - Kendrick Lamar

Lovin' On Me - Jack Harlow

I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen) - Post Malone

Die With A Smile - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars

Lose Control - Teddy Swims

we can't be friends (wait for your love) - Ariana Grande

Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) - Taylor Swift

APT. - ROSÉ & Bruno Mars

Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan

BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Billie Eilish

Salamin Salamin - BINI

Please Please Please - Sabrina Carpenter

REWIND - B1A4

Water - Tyla

Too Sweet - Hozier

A Bar Song (Tipsy) - Shaboozey

Diet Pepsi - Addison Rae

Taste - Sabrina Carpenter

Agora Hills - Doja Cat

TEXAS HOLD 'EM - Beyonce'

TOUCH - KATSEYE

MILLION DOLLAR BABY - Tommy Richman

Popular - The Weeknd, Madonna & Playboi Carti

HOT TO GO!- Chappell Roan

yes, and? - Ariana Grande

Feather - Sabrina Carpenter

Cherry On Top - BINI

Guess (feat. Billie Eilish) - charli xcx

the boy is mine - Ariana Grande

Nasty - Tinashe

LUNCH - Billie Eilish

Training Season - Dua Lipa

Who - Jimin

Mamushi (feat. Yuki Chiba) - Megan Thee Stallion

greedy - Tate McRae

I LUV IT (feat. Playboi Carti) - Camila Cabello

Houdini - Eminem

Illusion - Dua Lipa

I Love You, I'm Sorry - Gracie Abrams

Love wins all - IU

obsessed - Olivia Rodrigo

 청춘에게 (To Youth) - EPEX

Whatever - Kygo & Ava Max

Tiramisu Cake - We Are The Night

Timeless - The Weeknd & Playboi Carti

I Can Do It With A Broken Heart - Taylor Swift

I'M HIS, HE'S MINE (feat. Doechii) - Katy Perry

Stardust - ZAYN

Misteryoso - Cup of Joe

Buzz - NIKI

Why Why Why - Shawn Mendes

Mantra - JENNIE

exes - Tate McRae

Make You Mine - Madison Beer

sining (feat. Jay R) - Dionela

Dancing In The Flames - The Weeknd

Namumula - Maki

Doctor (Work It Out) - Pharrell Williams & Miley Cyrus

CHIHIRO - Billie Eilish

WOMAN'S WORLD - Katy Perry

Casual - Chappell Roan

Guy For That (feat. Luke Combs) - Post Malone

Lucky - Halsey

Overcompensate - twenty one pilots

Selfish - Justin Timberlake

360 - charli xcx

Never Be The One - Olivia O'Brien

Eyes Closed - Imagine Dragons

Neva Play (feat. RM) - Megan Thee Stallion

Alienated - ZAYN

B.A.D. (feat. P-Lo) - Denise Julia

The Emptiness Machine - Linkin Park

HE KNOWS (feat. Lil Nas X) - Camila Cabello

Alright - Victoria Monet

Paladin Strait - twenty one pilots

Karma - JoJo Siwa

FAMILY MATTERS - Drake

HISS - Megan Thee Stallion

Nobody Knows - Shawn Mendes

KING KONG - TREASURE

Groin - RM

mikansei - zakinosuke

Disease - Lady Gaga

My Oh My - Ava Max

breaking news - flowerovlove

Tough - Quavo & Lana Del Rey

Liar - Jelly Roll

Love On - Selena Gomez

Delusion:All - ONE OK ROCK

LIFETIMES - Katy Perry

Nice to Meet You - Imagine Dragons

Angels Of My Dreams - Jade

MOUNTAINS - Stray Kids

Hands On Me (feat. Meghan Trainor) - Jason Derulo

BOA - Megan Thee Stallion

Chanel No.5 - Camila Cabello

Because I Love You - Halle

[rep-aj-lover]

Hockey stick

Author's notes: this is inspired by the fact that I have ruined my knee while playing hockey. I'm sorry for not posting in a long time just haven't found the motivation to do it. This is short!

Trigger warnings: mentions of blood and broken bones

Hockey was something you and Melissa spoke about a lot. It was one of your common interests other than teaching kids and fire trucks. You played hockey every Monday from 4 till 6, and most of the time, Melissa would come with and watch you.

Today was different though, your day had started with an argument between two of your students over which actor played spiderman better, then at lunch you had forgotten yours at home so had to have something out of the vending machine which lead you to be hungry half the day. By time 3pm rolled around you were more than ready to get on the ice and forget about your horrid day, Melissa had told you that her and Barbara were going to get food together and that she would ring you later to see how hockey was.

By 5pm you were laying on the floor with first aiders around you as your leg bleed out. Let's rewind a little bit

You arrived at hockey at 3.30 like you always did and got ready, you stepped on the ice and started training with your teammates. You were on top form as normal, that was until you tripped on someone else's stick. You hit the ice with a thud and you heard something clink in your knee. That's how you ended up here laying on the floor while you were being checked, your teammate quickly left the ice and rang Mel who picked up the phone concerned. After your teammate explained what happened, the redhead told Barbara she would see her later and left to meet you at the hospital.

By time Melissa made it to the hospital, your leg was already in a cast and the nurse was showing you how to use your crutches. Mel rushes to your side and kisses you

"I'm so sorey hun, I got here as fast as I could. What happened?"

You smile at your girlfriend's concern

"I fell over someone's stick, should have opened my eyes I guess but now I'm stuck with a broken shin"

Melissa nodded and tried to think of ways to help you. The noises your stomach made pulled her from her thoughts, giving you a worried look, Melissa pulled a snack bar from her bag.

"I'm guessing you haven't eaten dinner yet"

You looked down at your cast and sigh knowing you had to admit to your forgetfulness

"I may have forgotten my lunch and only had a snack from the vending machine"

Melissa nods and lifts your chin

"When we get home, I will make you some food and then we can cuddle together"

You nodded knowing you weren't going to win, when you got home as promised Melissa made you some food and then took you to bed for cuddles. She was by your side the whole time you were recovering and when you did get better she even started to join you on the ice just to make sure you didn't trip over another stick.

[rotinmycore]

It’s 3am, my room is dark, my ceiling fan is humming, and the only thing I can think of is my grandparents home in the trailer park. Well, their old home, the one we sold after they passed. It’s been years, but I remember the sight, the smell, the taste. It’s must and dirt and fire. The wood burning stove in the sunroom. The shag carpet. The wood panels. The lace curtains. The pull out bed in the living room with the florals where my cousins and I would sleep for sleepovers. Running a finger along the ripple in the carpet that lifted. The faded photographs and portraits in the hallway of my mother and aunt and Jesus Christ. The fax machine and china cabinets in which collected dust and vhs movies we’d play, rewind, play rewind play rewind play rewind. It’s the cross above their beds. The bowing of heads before meals. It’s the garden in which I buried my face, smell the earth and fresh vegetables. It’s the tiny, ripped, plush, rainbow soccer ball my cousins and I would kick around in the sunroom while over for holidays. It’s the neighbourhood kids who would ask us to play. It’s the broken, squeaky fence that would slam shut in our departure. It’s my grandfather’s old car in which harboured three sun bleached flies. Dead, frozen, thawed, reborn. Covering my child-like head in the backseat once summer came, convinced they would fly again. Anger in their buzzes, thinking I was their captor. Driving into town as I roll my window down by hand, braids a mess, hair swarming in wind.

This is where I want to live. This is where I wish I never ended.