#Shit that distracts people from how garbage it is

[findingtheperfectcharacter]

.

[fairlyang]

Thigh riding 🕷️

you are peer pressured to somehow help Miguel from the hell of a week he's had

w/c: 5.5K

pairing: miguel o’hara x f!reader

tags: 18+ smut, no use of y/n, lil plot, angy Miguel, going in with no plan, pestering, lots of tension, giving in, making out, thigh riding, jerking him off, tasting each other, cum

notes: the beginning of this I reused for “prank” but that was an og idea I abandoned then did end up using 💀

Miguel had been stressed, annoyed, and overworked for the past week and a half. No one even dared to go into his office or bothered to start up a conversation if they saw him walk the hallways of HQ. Not even Jess.

But that didn't stop Gwen from plotting something, because "why not."

"He will literally kill anything that comes within a 100 feet radius of him-" Miles says making me scoff.

"1000." I mutter shaking my head.

"Okay but we need to help him out somehow-" Gwen starts to say and I widen my eyes.

"Gwen, he will literally kill someone on instant impact-"

"Don't exaggerate-" she starts to say and I cut her off grabbing the ends of my mask and take it off for dramatic effect.

"I saw a glimpse of both veins yesterday." I say and shiver in exaggerated horror. "From afar."

They both turn to look at me with widened eyes. "Neck and forehead?" Miles asks with his mouth agape.

I nod and scoff, "So if you want a death wish....."

"I just feel bad-" she says and sighs. "There must be some way we can distract or help him?"

"I mean I feel bad too, it's not a nice thing to see... but what can we do?" I say and sigh.

Helping him or even bothering up to talk to him would be like talking to a concrete wall. Impossible and won't do anything.

"Maybe take him to one of those rooms where you hit garbage with a bat." Miles says and shrugs.

"A rage room? You suggest we take our boss to a rage room?" I ask and laugh. "Then he'd just get offended we think he has anger issues."

"Think?" I hear a familiar British voice speak and look up seeing Hobie walk towards our table.

I snicker then bite my lip. I'll shut up, Miguel could appear out of thin air. "Tell Gwen that we shouldn't be messing with the devil reincarnate."

"She and Miles shouldn't. Hell I definitely shouldn't..... but....." he trails on as he sits next to me and I groan.

"Do not even-"

"Perfect so you know where I'm going with this. Have fun-"

"Absolutely fucking not-"

"But why-"

"I don't wanna die!!"

"No, you won't-"

"He doesn't even have spidey senses and he's somehow just gonna sense the air being different before I even walk in-"

"Calm down-"

"He's fucking built different Hobie I'd be a goner-"

"Calm the fuck down!"

"Do you want me dead?!?" I hiss and he chuckles shaking his head at me and sits across from me.

"What don't you get- listen... he might dislike the rest of us. A lot.. but you're different-"

"Don't say that-“

"It's true and you know it!" He exclaims laughing at my reaction and I bite my lip looking down. There's no way....

I sigh and take a deep breath. Oh god.

"How the fuck do I change his mood though? I can't be too chirpy or pester him. Both are things I'm an expert in but won't help- it'll make shit more fucked-" I whine and groan.

"You can figure it out. You of all people can figure something out...." Miles cuts in and I roll my eyes.

"Come on arañita-" he teases and i scoff. (little spider)

"Oh fuck off-"

"See you're the only one that is even worthy of a nickname by the devil." Hobie teases with a smirk and I scoff.

Fuck-

"I never-" I freeze, eye widened. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

All three turn to look at me and give me a look. I purse my lips and close my eyes. I’m the only one worthy of a nickname? Really? just me- Did it really have to be me? I mean he does tolerate me. My presence. On a regular basis.... barely...

Shit.

I sigh and look back at them. "FINE." I mutter and stand up.

Gwen lets out a sigh and Miles covers his mouth not wanting to laugh. I glare at him and he lets out a snicker. "Miles Morales-"

"My bad!!" He says and covers his mouth again.

"If you don't hear from me within the next two hours, I'm as good as dead. Hobie you can keep my dog." I say semi jokingly and he nods giving me a thumbs up.

I roll my eyes at him and turn to Gwen, "You owe me one."

She waves me off letting out a laugh and I sigh. "Good luck." Miles says and fake salutes me.

I walk away from the table and instantly hear them snickering. Couldn't even wait for me to be gone-

What did I get myself into?

I let out a deep breath as I walk out of the cafeteria. I'm done for.

I walk the halls of HQ and head over to Miguel's office. i couldn't help but think. I guess it was kind of true? I bugged him but he never got like really mad? It's like he almost didn't mind my company? He's never kicked me out... what did that mean though?

Now the thing about Miguel is he's a very sarcastic, sometimes cold, very angry man. I somehow ended up kind of befriending him by calling him out on shit early on when I was recruited and he hates when I do it but somewhat respects I have the guts to do it at all. I play around with him a lot and at first it bugged him, a lot but then he started doing it back and that's the dynamic we have going.

Now this didn't make me an exception from when he gets pissed like he is now. At least that's what I was thinking..... but after seeing and hearing what Hobie was saying, I was conflicted. But why wouldn't he get mad at me? Because I was barely able to befriend him? I wasn't even close to the level of friendship he has with Jess and even she hasn't dared to talk to him.... or even Peter's friendship with him, and he's been with him through his ups and downs. So it wouldn't make any sense...

I shake off my thoughts and take a deep breath standing outside his door. I peep through one of the windows and he's looking at his screens. So he definitely hasn't heard me... yet.

I open the door as quietly and slowly as I can only to be met with his frustrated grunts at the screens in front of him. I quietly close the door and lean against the wall. He's swiping along muttering swears in English and Spanish making my eyes go wide.

I'm fucking done for. I didn't even come in with a fucking shed of an idea of how to distract him or cheer his ass up. I'm done. Me va gritar, me va chingar, y ni me va hacer caso- (he's gonna scream at me, beat my ass and he's not even gonna pay attention to me-)

Then he turns around to look me right in the eye, making me jump, and snarls, "You're breathing loud arañita, que quieres?" (what do you want?)

"You have some balls to come in here." He mutters before quickly turning back and mumbles, "Chingdada madre-" (mother fucker)

I cover my mouth to hide my nervous laughter and shake my head. I'm fucking breathing loud??? I knew this would happen-

"Be nice Miguelito, I just came to... check up on you.." I say and walk up to him slowly. I felt a bubble of nervousness form in my stomach and my hands were getting sweaty under my suit. This was gonna be bad...

He turns back around to me pressing a button on his watch making his mask disappear, showing me his distressed face and scoffs. "Check up on me? Oh so now I need hawk eyes all over me at all times?"

I gulp and stop just a few feet away from his platform. What the fuck do I even say???

"Do I look like I need checking up on?!?" He says and slams a hand on the desk making papers fly off and a pen roll off to the floor.

My eyes shift from his eyes to the floor to his neck. Oh god the veins... It's only the one on his neck- I'll try to keep it that way...

"Well...." I trail on and take a step up to his platform but still not within range to touch him or vice versa.

He completely turns to look at me and places a hand on his hip with a look on his face. What was it? Curiosity? Annoyance? Anger? I couldn't tell.

"Listen..." I start and put my hands up in defense, "we were starting to get worried-"

"We?"

"Yes. We. A handful of us..." I say and take another step forward and now having to look up at him but still not within reach. Oh fuck.

"And I think you've been in here too long... necesitas relajarte o distraerte." I say softly and put my hands down slowly. (you need to relax or distract yourself)

"Quieres que me relaje? Distráeme?" He asked unamused with a cocked eyebrow. (you want me to relax? To distract myself)

I simply nod and hold my breath.

Fuck fuck fuck.

"And how do you propose I do that?" He asks raising an eyebrow at me and I bite my lip.

That's such a good question....

"hmm... well I actually didn't really have an idea....." I trail on, scratching the back of my neck and he scoffs.

"So you came in here-" he starts but I interrupt.

"Now listen-"

"No, you listen-"

"Miguel-"

"You came here-"

"Yes-"

"With no idea-"

"Well Gwen was getting worri-"

"Gwen-"

"Well me too I guess but-"

"Oh so you were too-"

"Cállate-" (shut up)

"Escúchame arañita-" (listen to me little spider)

"And it's not that I didn't have a plan-"

"Really because it sure sounds-"

"I just didn't think-"

"You never do-"

"Cabron-" (asshole/bitch)

"Latosa." He snarls and I scoff. (annoying ass)

"Mendigo-" I blurt out and cross my arms against my chest. Then it hits me. (asshole but more aggressive maybe bastard fits)

Fuck.

He walks towards me giving me a glare and I freeze. This is it. I've lived a decent life- I got to enjoy my spider powers for as long as I could, helped a ton of people. But this is it-

He steps in front of me and I bite my lip looking at his chest too fucking petrified to look him in the eye. I bring my arms down to my sides and widen my eyes. Oh god why did he have to be so fucking intimidating.

He unfortunately gets rid of my thoughts and takes care of my lack of eye contact by lifting my chin up with two fingers. I gulp and stare into his eyes.

Amusement. Shock.

Then I look down at his lips. A smirk?

Huh?

"Repeat what you said." He demands and I stifle a laugh.

He was enjoying this? Maybe all he needed was a little pestering? Shockingly enough- could he have missed me- nah.... that's a stretch.

I look directly into his eyes and cross my arms against my chest. "Men-di-go." I say slowly making sure to annunciate every syllable exaggeratedly. I purse my lips and widen my eyes slightly.

I'm playing with fire. No- worse- a fucking ticking time bomb.

He raises an eyebrow with a shocked expression and I have the urge to burst out laughing but I don't want to make this any worse. Then in a swift movement his hand is gripping my jaw and my breath hitches in my throat. He tilts his head and leans down so I can't look at anything besides his eyes.

Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Don't laugh.

He narrows his eyes down and I'm on the verge of breaking. I bite my lip, my heartbeat quickens, my cheeks grow red. His stare was intense. Neither of us looking away.

His grip was then softer, for a split second before he takes another step forward making me yelp as my lower back hit one of his desks.

His body towered over mine and his hands were then gripping the desk behind me, or on each side of my body so I had nowhere to go. I was trapped but it didn't feel intimidating. He didn't look like he was going to pounce. I let my hands stay on my sides and I couldn't move. I felt like I was frozen.

What the fuck was this?

My breathing was a bit unsteady and I couldn't do anything. Why'd I feel like I was in a trance?

My mind then took an unexpected turn from being nervous to intrigued. Excited. And I couldn't help but take a close notice of his features. His pretty crimson eyes. His high cheekbones. His thick eyebrows. His full lips. His big nose- we all know what they say about big noses-

No—

I then feel an oh so familiar feeling appear in my stomach and I gulp. Oh fuck.

My eyes slowly made their way down and really took in everything. I've never been so close to this man... ever... I was able to see everything-

His chiseled jawline that genuinely looked like it was sculpted by gods. Then I realized how much bigger and taller he was than me. He was huge. His broad shoulders. His toned chest. Muscular arms. Those biceps the size of my head. Which were all shown absolutely perfectly by his skintight suit. 

Well every inch of him was shown to perfection, accentuating every curve, line, inch of his practically Greek god physique.

I then thought of escaping, my thoughts were going some place they've never been towards him, my breathing was unsteady, but then I felt his hands moving down to my waist making me take a deep breath in. What the fuck??? Que está tramando??? (what is he plotting???)

Suddenly as if a light switched in my brain I realized what I had to offer to relax or distract him.... I felt my cheeks get hot and I shift a tiny bit. Was I really going to-

I slowly looked back up at his eyes and he was already staring at me. He leans down a tiny bit, I could feel him breathing on my nose... I bite my lip and try to calm myself down. There's no way he's thinking the same I am.... Right?

His eyes had darkened and they looked glossy. The look in his eye- it was impossible to miss... oh my god-

I breathe out and slowly move my hand from my sides to go up to his chest. I prayed I wasn't reading shit incorrectly and leave my hands there gently. He didn't stop me. He didn't even flinch. Oh wow....

I didn't know where to go from here- I noticed his heartbeat going all over the place as well. Was he just as nervous as me? Just as excited?

Maybe he's had pent up arousal?

But do I help him?

He leans down a tiny bit more and our lips are now millimeters apart. His grip on my waist was firm and his body was against mine. I could now see the lust in his eyes and I have a feeling he sees it in mine. I was appalled. We've never, ever done anything like this. It didn't exactly feel wrong but it was odd? Different. Confusing. But felt right?

I slowly reach up to wrap my arms behind his neck and look into his eyes then down at his lips. They were right there.

He then clears his throat and I look back up into his eyes. "Creo que ya se como me puedo distraer." He whispers softly, his breath lightly hitting my lips, and I feel myself almost melt. (I think I know how I can distract myself)

So he was thinking the same as me.....

I nod in agreement, not trusting myself to speak and he takes that as his green light. I close my eyes and I feel the softness of his lips on mine. Instant sparks running through my body as I slowly kiss him back. I didn't think I would feel this way- hell I didn't think I'd ever kiss Miguel of all people... but it felt so good and natural...

I felt the flush of my cheeks grow warmer as I felt one of his hands going down to my hips and the other softly wrapped around my neck, and deepening the kiss at the same time.

I move my hands up to play with the ends of his curls and lightly tug on them making him let out a moan. I then slide my tongue into his mouth exploring every crevice as I feel his hands snake down and grope my ass, making a combination of a moan and groan leave my throat.

I feel him smirk before shoving his tongue in my mouth and I melt into his arms. He grabs the back of my thighs and lifts me onto the desk and stands in between my legs. I wrap them around his waist and bring him closer to me which makes him change the pace of the kiss, more passion, hunger, neediness.

I moan into his mouth and he pulls away making me whimper but his lips went down leaving wet kisses on my jaw, then moving down to my neck. I tilt my head to the side giving him more room as he licks a spot then sucking on it roughly making me gasp and grip onto his hair.

He groans against my skin and I feel my eyes fluttering as I feel heat go deep into my core. I was breathing heavily and the way I felt his hand go down to squeeze my thigh, definitely wasn't helping. His other hand was playing with my long hair as he left more love bites on my neck. By this time I felt like my neck was invaded with red marks, he would suck then lick it softly to ease the slight pain and repeat.

His hands were suddenly rougher on me, his hand on my thighs now nearing my inner thigh, trailing up and down, teasing me. He was now tugging on my hair making me head go back and he kissed up my throat sending shivers all throughout my body.

He pecks my lips softly then bites my bottom lip lightly. I cup his cheek and he suddenly picks me up so my legs are wrapped around his waist as he sits us down on the chair he has in his office.

I was sitting on his lap so I leaned down to kiss his neck making my way to his ear and nibble on it. I felt his breathing get harder and a groan leave his lips. I grind myself slowly onto him, I almost stopped when I felt him- he was so fucking hard...

I positioned myself properly and moved to grind directly on his bulge as I went down to kiss down his neck wanting to leave some marks on him. I found a spot and sucked on it harshly before licking it and moving my head towards his throat and kiss up it. I felt a groan against my mouth and I couldn't help but moan.

Why was that so hot?

I felt my wetness moving around between my thighs, I was possibly leaking through my suit- how the hell would that even be possible?

"Así- mm así mami-" he moans out and I move my hips a bit faster. I felt my eyes flutter and I felt like I could pass out already but I knew I had to stay in the moment. (Just like that)

I felt his hands grip on my hips helping me grind against him while my hands were behind his neck trying to steady myself. I moaned against his throat and I felt his hips buck up making his bulge directly rub against my clit. Fuck. "S-shit-" I murmur and feel my eyes closing.

"Would you get mad if I ripped your suit open?" He suddenly asks and I stop. I widen my eyes and I just look at him.

"A-Are you insane-"

"I could have Lyla make you a new one right now-"

"Don't call her now!!"

"I'm just saying-"

I then close my mouth and shake my head slowly. He motions for me to stand up and I get off his lap and stand in front of him with furrowed brows. He gets on his knees then in just a few seconds his hands go to my thighs as he rips the fabric of my suit, between my legs to be more specific. Now I just had a big hole between my thighs. "You owe me a new and improved suit by tomorrow." I mutter and he just chuckled and grabbed the back of my thighs.

He left small kisses on my inner thigh and I felt my legs shake. God how did he have this much of an affect on me-

I then suddenly feel cold and I look down and gasp at the sight. He used his fangs to rip my panties.

My mouth was wide open as he looks up at me with a smirk, my little blue thong between his fingertips. "Oh you sick f-" I start but then he spreads my legs apart and blows a small puff of air against my slit making me quiver.

I whine and he laughs. "Que decías nena?" He teases making me try to squeeze my thighs but he had a strong grip on them. That petname- (what were you saying baby girl?)

From his lips- madre mía- (oh my god-)

"S-sick fuck." I mutter and he smirks.

"Now I still want you riding my thigh... but I need to taste you." He growls and as soon as he finishes his sentence he licks a long strip on my already soaked pussy.

I moan and indistinctly move my hands down to his hair. He licks it softly at first until he went up to my swollen clit and kissed it, licked it then sucked on it harshly like a man that hasn't had dinner for weeks. He definitely was a starved man.

"M-Mig-" I moan out and buck my hips towards his face. He groans against my pussy and his hands grip the back of my thighs harder.

I move my hips back and forth and he continues eating out my pussy. His hands moved to smack my ass for a second and then up to my hips helping me grind against his mouth. "So good Miguel-" I murmur breathless.

He pulls away making me whimper until he brings a finger up to rub my swollen nub and I let out a moan. "Estas más deliciosa de lo que me imaginé arañita." He purrs looking right into my eyes. (you're more delicious than what I had imagined)

I whimper and close my eyes. This is really happening.... Miguel O'Hara is between my legs- I just felt his tongue on my pussy... he is on his fucking knees looking up at me- All it took to distract him was some pussy?

I come back to reality when I no longer feel his touch. I open my eyes to see he's stood back up. I look up at him as he back up to sit back up on the chair. Oh....

With one finger he motions for me to sit on his lap and I don't hesitate to walk back to him and place myself on his lap again. He shifts in the chair to have his left thigh directly on most of the chair then grabs my hips and make me lift one leg over his.

He brings my hips down my pussy now making contact with his suit. I gasp at the new texture and put my hands against his shoulders slowly moving. "Good girl." He purrs and his hands on my hips helping me move making it easier for me.

"I- but y-your suit-" I stammer and try to stop but his hands make me continue moving.

"It's fine." He whispers and presses on his watch and I watch as the lower half of his body is soon exposed as the pixels of his suit disintegrate.

My pussy was now directly on his toned thigh and it felt so good. My eyes begin fluttering again as I move my hips rubbing myself against his now soaked thigh. I then open them again and instantly take notice he's completely bare.

My breath hitched at my throat when I looked at his thick cock that was already throbbing and leaking with precum. I widen my eyes and gulp. There was no fucking way he'd fit... as if he read my mind he chuckles and lifts my chin up to look at him then holds my hands. "We don't have to go all the way- if anything I think seeing you cum will do it for me." He says and I feel my cheeks grow warm.

I subconsciously squeeze my thighs together and he groans. I bite my lip and roll my hips back and forth again, my hands going back to his shoulders to steady myself. He lets out a deep breath and his hands go back to my hips. "Look at you fucking dripping on me pretty girl." He purrs making me blush.

I look down at his cock and bring a hand down to gently grab it then spit on it. I start stroking him with my saliva dripping down a vein and I feel myself getting wetter. He groans, his grip on my hips now tighter as I grind myself faster on him. "M-Miguel-"

"You're doing so good arañita." He murmurs as I stroke him faster letting out moans of my name.

I whimper and feel my thighs starting to hurt but I was also slowly feeling my orgasm coming in. "Asi nena- se siente tan rico-" he praises breathlessly. (Just like that baby girl- it feels so good-)

He lays his head back and I let out bundles of moans and whines on top of him. He bucks his thigh up making me whimper in pure pleasure. My eyes were glossy, my body was growing tired but I was so close and he was too I could tell by the way his cock was twitching in my hand. I lean forward closer to him to have somewhat easier access to jerking him off.

One of his hands lets go of my hip and cups my cheek as he leans in to kiss me roughly. It was the sloppiest kiss I've ever endured in my life but I didn't mind and I kissed him back with just as much of his neediness. He moved his thigh up and down making my tremble and moan against his lips. "No pares-" he mumbles against my lips and I slide my tongue in his mouth stroking him even faster. (Don't stop-)

I feel him groan in my mouth and I melt into his shoulder almost giving out. Both his hands were back on my hips pushing them back and forth as he saw I was slowing down a bit. How kind.

I pull away and l lean my forehead against his, breathing heavily, legs trembling. My orgasm quickly took over making me shake more and let out shaky moans. I stop moving trying to calm my rapid heartbeat as I felt Miguel's grip dropped from my hips and to hold my other hand. Our fingers intertwined and my hand still didn't stop but that's when I looked down at his cock in my hands and realized he was cumming so I slowed down, letting him ride his high.

He let out so many grunts and moans bucking his hips into my hand. His streaks of cum shot up to my hands, his stomach, and my thighs. I chuckle looking down at the mess he made and bite my lip.

It's only fair I get to taste him too.

I bring my hand up to my mouth and lick off his cum that landed on my hand. I hear him gasp when I swallowed and I look up at him with a smirk. "I needed to taste you too." I say and bite my lip.

He snickers and shakes his head. I then notice the slight tug of a smile forming. Jesus.

Oh god- why the fuck did that give me butterflies.... Why did he look so good.

I looked at him, eyes hazed, hair pulled back, he was sweaty but he looked fine. So fucking good.

I can't believe we did that- us.

He was still holding my hand and I feel myself blush. Fuck- well now what?

I let out a sigh and try to stand up but instantly felt the pain in my thighs. "Fuck-" I groan and sit back down on him.

"Come here I got you." He says softly and moves my left leg over.

I lay my head against his shoulder and I feel him slowly lifting me up. I wrap my arms behind his neck and nuzzle between his chest. I felt fucking exhausted. "You did so good arañita." He whispers and I fight back a smile.

He walked up off deeper into his office, probably taking us to his room considering he completely fucked up my suit and my whole pussy was on display. I pull away and point at him. "New suit-"

"Yeah yeah yeah- para mañana. I got it." He retorts and I laugh. (For tomorrow)

He placed me down on his bed and I yawn. My body felt so sore and I look down at my thighs. Still had his cum on me... I bite my lip and shake my head in disbelief. How did this happen?

He walked over to his dresser and grabbed a shirt and some sweats. I scoff and shake my head. "Those won't fit."

He rolls his eyes at me and throws them at me, I catch them before they can whack me in the face. "Rude." I mutter and start talking off the remains of my suit.

I grab the ends from my neck and pull it down my body. Thank god I decided to wear a bra today.

"Where the fuck is my-?" I start to say then look up at him mouth agape.

I look at his hand and sure enough there it is. My thong. "Give it-"

"Ask nicely."

"I literally just helped distract you from your shitty ass week- dámelo!!!" I demand and stand up somehow gaining the strength to walk over to him. (give it to me!!!)

His eyes gaze down at my bra and I roll my eyes. "Want the matching bra?" I tease and he smirks.

"Well it is only fair I get bo-"

"Estas loco- now give it!!!" I whine and reach for it but unfortunately he was faster than me and lifts it high above my head. (You're crazy-)

Why did he have to be built like a giant at desperate times like this....

"I have an idea-" he starts but I interrupt.

"Dámelo latoso." I say sternly and he scrunches his nose. (Give it to me annoying fuck)

"You're not convincing me very well..." he trails on and I shake my head.

"Fine." I say walking back to his bed and putting on the clothes he gave me.

I slip on the big sweatpants and groan. I pull on the drawstrings to the tightest it can go and tie it. "It looks like I have no ass-" I whine and roll my eyes.

I quickly slip on the shirt and take off my bra. I slip the straps off my arms through the arm holes and then take the bra off from under. I throw it at him and with ease he caught it.

"Maybe this'll be how we can calm your ass down...." I say and give him a wink before walking out of his room.

"You're the perfect distraction arañita." He calls out and I bite my lip.

I take a few steps and I was back in his office before I quickly ran out. I open the door, slip out then close it. I lean against the door and can't help the smile the appeared on my face. Wow.

[whoopsyeahokay]

October Sun

summary: Simon had been on the verge of getting the fuck out of Dodge, the enormity of everything he'd found out starting to bog him down. He hadn't been able to do it alone, not anymore, not even for Maddie. Thankfully, the universe had heard him and had held out an olive branch.

pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader

warnings: eventual smutty smut smut. and mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence.

bon reading, frens

___________________________💀

OCTOBER SUN pt.11

Simon crept to his car, a tactical advance, hunched low to the ground and clinging to the shadows as far as they would take him. He was afraid, adrenaline pumping, heart pounding in his ears; he didn't want Mr. Anderson to find him sneaking around the school a second time. Not after what he and Maddie had uncovered in the supply closet.

Mr. Anderson had propelled up Simon's short list of suspects to the top spot, the cache of money a sure sign the man was up to no good. Simon didn't have a lot of experience with society's seedy underbelly, but if movies had taught him anything, it's that normal people didn't hide stacks of cash outside of their homes unless they expected a police raid.

Was Mr. Anderson a drug dealer? Some kind of kingpin moonlighting as a high school English teacher? It was the perfect disguise. Cops would never think of a man who works with teenagers capable of that level of corruption. At least, not in Split River. No matter how many problems the town had, it wasn't that degree of shitty.

Only, Mr. Anderson had seemed nervous; a man forced onto a ledge at gunpoint. Threatened. Scared.

Okay, Simon reasoned, so Mr. Anderson wasn't a high-ranking drug lord. But he was definitely on the wrong side of the law and was obviously desperate. And desperate people were unpredictable when they felt backed into a corner.

He'd claimed he'd given Maddie what sounded like had been a large sum of money. A bribe, maybe. One that, in the end, hadn't been enough to convince Mr. Anderson she wouldn't rat on him. The thought made Simon's stomach churn, bile burning the back of his throat.

Maddie had been wrecked by the discovery, hands shaking from a surge of emotion too enormous to contain. She'd held it together long enough to caution Simon not to contaminate the evidence by touching it, assuring him she'd count it after he was safely off campus.

She'd shooed him from the classroom, "You have to leave, now," eyes watery as Mr. Anderson's betrayal had finally seemed to register. "I've got this, okay? Just go."

Simon had done as ordered. What good would he be if Mr. Anderson took him out next?

He peeled out of the parking lot and into the road, lightheaded as a thousand and one questions flooded his brain. His chest tightened, breathing labored, and—God, shit, he hadn't had a panic attack since middle school but, since Maddie's disappearance last Friday, they'd made a grand comeback. Kept him awake at night when there was nothing left to distract him from what could've happened to his best friend.

"Fuck." Simon rasped, smacking the steering wheel with his palm. And then, increasing in volume and intensity, "Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!" He beat the steering wheel, accidentally hitting the horn once and startling a woman walking her dog.

"Sorry!" He called, sheepish, through the open driver's side window, flashing a hand in apology. He didn't wait for a reaction, simply continued to drive home.

The thought of interacting with his parents put him on edge. He didn't know how he was supposed to stay quiet about Mr. Anderson. Noticeably off the last few days, Simon had already endured three separate lectures about drug use, depression, and sexuality respectively.

His parents' unconditional support, though amazing, made him feel like garbage—or, more accurately, a landfill—for causing them to worry to the point of draping a rainbow flag over the back of the couch and reassuring him that, "Love is love, mijo. We just want you to be happy."

Even if he could slip past his dad, his mother would undoubtedly pick up that whatever plot she suspected Simon of hiding had thickened. And, frankly, if she asked just right, Simon knew he'd crack and tell her everything. About Xavier, about Mr. Anderson...about developing The fucking Shining and assuming the role of Watson to his best friend's ghost.

Buying himself some time, Simon took turns he didn't have to; drove through random neighborhoods as he tried to think up a plausible excuse for his behavior that wouldn't result in another intervention. He didn't have it in him to watch his mother's face crumple as he lied to her again. The umpteenth time that week.

He needed to talk to someone. To get it out of himself and share the burden. His skin felt too tight and his bones too heavy and he couldn't carry the weight of Maddie's murder mystery alone.

And then, as if God had heard him, Simon's prayers were answered.

Without thinking it through, he pulled over and beeped his horn to get your attention before you turned onto the path that margined the small, neighborhood greenspace.

Clambering sideways to get out of his car, his foot caught on a pedal, seatbelt still hooked, Simon called out, "Hey!" grunting when he was knocked back into his seat by the strap. He took a second to collect himself, unbuckled his seatbelt, and climbed out in a less frenzied manner.

"Uhhhmm, are you okay?" You asked, your face displaying how not okay you thought Simon was. You glanced up and down the street, puzzled, "What are you doing here? Don't you live in Cedar Bank?" A suburb on the other side of the river that bisected the town.

Simon debated whether or not it had been a good idea to stop, but he didn't think he could give you an excuse and drive away, either. He dimly sympathized with how Mr. Anderson had felt back in that classroom; splitting threads pulled through the eye of a needle.

He summoned his resolve and turned to face you, "I need to tell you something."

You cocked your head, looked Simon over, and nodded slowly. Simon could tell you were trying to determine what this was about. Realized as you walked him into the little playpark and took a seat on one of the two swings, that he'd come out of nowhere in a move that could easily be interpreted as stalkerish.

"I could give you a lift home if you wanna talk in the car?" He offered, settling into the second swing all the same. The park was deserted, dark, the glow of the streetlights falling short by a few meters.

You shook your head and hooked your thumb over your shoulder, "That's literally my backyard."

Simon followed your indication and saw the top half of an antique build, painted a deep royal purple and trimmed in evergreen, that peaked over a tall, bushy hedgerow. A wooden fence several inches shorter than your family's hedges divided the public space from private property, running the length of the park behind your house and a few others.

"Huh." Simon returned his gaze to yours, "Never mind."

"Did you talk to Nicole?" You asked, possibly thinking that that was what Simon wanted to discuss.

He fiddled with his hands, closed his eyes, and supported his head on the metal chain that held the swing up. "No." He stated honestly. He needed to tell you about Mr. Anderson. Just. Start talking. But the words kept sticking in this throat.

"Simon? You're starting to scare me, is everything okay? Is this..." You trailed off and when you spoke again, you sounded worried, "Is this about Maddie?"

"Kind of," Simon admitted, pressing the meat of his palms into his eyes. "Screw it," He spun the swing so he faced you completely and then uncorked the bottle, "I found a shit ton of money in Mr. Anderson's classroom. Like, wads of it. Probably thousands of dollars hidden in the wall in the closet."

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

What the f u u u u u u ck.

One minute you'd been on your way home, trying to parse out why the connection between you and Wally had gone dormant as soon as you'd left him, and now, there you were, listening to Simon basically tell you that he'd unmasked Mr. Anderson like a Scooby-Doo villain.

You didn't have that on your Everything is FUBAR bingo card, that's for sure.

Okay. Okay. This was...big. Huge. And, "Holy shit, maybe it has to do with why he freaked on me in the theater," you said, mostly to yourself though you knew Simon would hear it.

"He what?"

You looked at Simon, "Earlier, I was—" Lie like a smart girl, "—looking for something Tilly forgot in the theater and he found me. But, Simon," You stood, started to pace, "He was acting paranoid like I found his dead mom à la Norman Bates. He practically threw me out of there." Which was, fine, a mild exaggeration, but Mr. Anderson's paranoia hadn't been. "I've never seen him like that. And he kept getting these phone calls that made him even more angry."

"Wait, what do you mean 'phone calls'? Did you hear anything?"

"No, just that he needed a minute. I guess to go find somewhere I wouldn't hear him."

Simon was standing now, pacing in a pattern the opposite of yours.

"He was on the phone when I saw him. Talking to someone about how he shouldn't have given Maddie money."

You felt like the sky had fallen on your head, "He gave Maddie money? Is that why she..." You'd wanted to say ran away, a kneejerk reaction borne from days of convincing yourself she'd just put Split River in the rearview. With what you knew now, you settled for, "Disappeared?"

Simon appeared to notice your choice of wording, peered at you like a math problem, but didn't mention it, instead revealing, "It's a line of inquiry."

You rubbed your temples to ease away the migraine that was building. Today had been too much; too many things unfolding one after the other: First hearing from Wally that Maddie was a ghost, and then just Wally and everything you had to unpack with that, and now Mr. Anderson's apparent criminal activity that may or may not have had a direct impact on Maddie's being a ghost in the first place.

Of course, you reminded yourself, she wasn't a ghost because you couldn't see. her. Which meant that, if he was involved, Mr. Anderson had drugged her to the point of a coma and had hidden her body somewhere.

"Oh my God," You moaned dismally, "This is so f u c k e d." As the gears turned, a thought clawed for your attention. "Simon," you ceased pacing to lift your gaze and regard Simon closely, "Why were you there?"

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Simon knew he had to give you something, but, Jesus Christ, he was nervous. He'd already decided not to admit he could see Maddie, unable to believe that you wouldn't tell a trusted adult. And he wasn't keen on getting pumped full of antipsychotics and locked in a padded room, thanks.

You watched him, eyes hard, jaw set, more serious than he'd ever seen you, "Simon, what the hell?"

He swallowed, opting for half-truths, because he'd come this far. He needed help. A confidante. Would've preferred Nicole but she'd galivanted off with Xavier, apparently, and took the choice out of Simon's hands.

"I've been looking for clues about what happened to Maddie," Simon confessed, a weight lifting from his shoulders. "Since the search on Monday, when Xavier got arrested—"

You interrupted, fierce, loyal, "He wasn't arrested, Si. His dad was just taking him to the station to give an official statement."

"In the back seat?" Simon deadpanned.

"There's no room in the front of the cruiser!" You threw your hands up as if dealing with the situation would drive you to drink.

"With the lights on?"

"Because there was a crowd of people practically throwing themselves at the car to get Xavier's face on video."

Simon conceded and resituated himself on one of the swings. You followed his example, though, this time, you shrugged off your backpack and dropped it in the sand beside you.

"So, what do we do?" Simon wanted to know, close to getting on his knees and begging you to take the reigns on this because he was exhausted.

"Alright." You shifted to straddle your swing, hands in front of you as you counted details on your fingers. "We know that Maddie went missing on Friday. We know Xavier had nothing to do with it." Your eyes narrowed, daring Simon to comment. He didn't. "We know that Mr. Anderson is hiding money and that he gave some to Maddie. To keep her quiet?"

"That's what we-" Simon tensed, quickly undoing his mistake, "I'm thinking."

That intense look of scrutiny was back on your face and Simon resisted the urge to gulp. Three days ago Simon had figured you for the only person who'd believe him about Maddie's ghost. My how times have changed.

"If he was hiding money in his classroom, he could be hiding other things around the school, too." You rationalized. "Like the theater. I bet you anything that there's something in there he doesn't want us to find."

True. In fact, "Do you think he's hiding Maddie in there?"

"What, like, under the stage? That'd be pretty risky. And the cops went through every room in the school with search and rescue dogs and everything. Wouldn't they have found her if she was down there?"

Simon deflated, "Good point," reluctant to add that those dogs probably weren't the type trained to find cadavers.

"Right." You paused, either to organize your thoughts or analyze Simon further, he wasn't sure, but you soon continued, tone weak, "Simon, if he did have something to do with Maddie...I take back what I said before."

"About?"

You shrunk into yourself, forcing, "Maddie being okay," as if the words had to be wrenched out of you. "I don't want to believe Mr. Anderson could've hurt her but..." You blinked a rapid dozen times up at the sky, visibly shaken as you considered the worst, "I don't think she's okay."

A lump formed in Simon's throat. He was all too aware of the painful truth. His vision blurred, nostrils prickled, the enormity of the situation closing in on him.

"Yeah," He sniffed, "Me neither."

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Neither you nor Simon were aware that, only ten feet away, crouched in the bushes, a figure wearing Simon's best friend's face had heard everything.

Cold.

Hungry.

And without an iota of guilt.

💀___________________________

PART TEN - PART TWELVE

note: thank you so much for reading, lovelies! i'm currently working on the next update (which is Reader/Wally-focused) and am hopeful that it'll be ready by the end of this week! so keep an eye out 👀 (@banana-lol no accidents pls 😉)

if you'd like to be kept up to date, please FOLLOW ME and TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS, since the taglist has malfunctioned 🙈 i'm still adding ppl to it, but i can't guarantee that it'll notify you when i update 💀

[marvel-ous-m]

Eddie Munson’s Guide for How to Adopt a Jock in Four Easy Steps (2/5)

Part One 

Part Three

A.N.: Um... guys, WHAT?! The outpouring of love and support for a blurb I had sitting in my Notes app for the last two months has been absolutely wild. I’ve been writing for the better part of the last day, and this is now a ~7k, five chapter fic that I will be posting to Tumblr as well as my AO3. I can’t thank y’all enough for all of the support, and I hope you like where this is heading! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

After Steve finished ranting about the middle schoolers he spent time with, Eddie launched into a description of the campaign he was working on for Hellfire. Steve listened intently as Eddie spoke, slowly making his way through Eddie’s sandwich and the bottle of water until both were finished. Eddie kept talking after Steve finished his food, distracting himself by going on a tangent about goblins in D&D. He was pulled from his rant at the sound of a soft thump- which, Eddie realized with surprise, was Steve’s forehead slumping down far enough to hit the tabletop. 

Steve sat up almost immediately when his head hit the table, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. 

Eddie snorted at Steve’s antics, piling his books together. “Damn Stevie, I didn’t realize I was that boring.” 

“Stevie?” Steve whispered under his breath, then shook his head, shooting a sheepish smile Eddie’s way. “You didn’t bore me- I liked it, really, I just-”

“Hey, Steve?” Eddie cut Steve off, smirking at him. “You don’t need to make excuses. No offense man, but you kinda look like shit, I can tell you haven’t been sleeping well. Speaking of which- why are you even here? You should probably be at home resting, not zombie-walking your way through a day of classes.”

Steve hummed at that, shrugging and resting his cheek on his palm. “S’better here than it is at home.”

Eddie frowned at that, his brow creasing. Steve had just told him a few minutes ago that his parents hadn’t been home in three months, and all of Hawkins knew he was the only child of the Harringtons. What was so bad about spending the day in a giant mansion that most definitely had central heating? Eddie would kill to spend these winter months in a house like that instead of under approximately fifty blankets (while somehow still freezing his ass off) in the trailer. 

Steve breathed out a small puff of air, and Eddie noticed that his eyes had slipped shut in the minute-or-so that Eddie had been distracted by his internal monologue. Shit, Steve was really exhausted. Eddie sighed and stood, quietly loading his books into his backpack. After zipping up his backpack and pulling it onto his shoulder, Eddie gently shook Steve’s shoulder, wincing sympathetically. The last thing he wanted to do was wake Steve up, but Mrs. Boliene would have a fit if she saw Steve like this.

He was definitely not expecting Steve to practically jump out of the chair, or for his breathing to suddenly grow erratic, in response to being woken up. There was something in his eyes- a kind of fear that Eddie could only associate to something he saw in Wayne’s eyes after waking his uncle from a particularly bad nightmare. 

Eddie held his hands up, taking a step back from Steve. “Hey- sorry, it’s just- Ms. Boliene can be kinda a bitch about people sleeping in the library. I know a place you can rest for a while if ya want. Let’s be honest, you probably aren’t going to be learning anything if you go to the rest of your classes today.” 

Steve clenched his right hand a couple times- Eddie would file that particular coping mechanism away to ask about later- then nodded, his breathing (mostly) back to a normal pace. “Sorry about that. Yeah man, whatever you say.”

Eddie nodded, let his arms drop, then cleared his throat. “Right, just go ahead and follow me, King Steve.” 

Steve sighed and stood with a wince, gathering the garbage from his (Eddie’s) lunch before following the other boy out of the library. He tossed the trash in the garbage bin outside the library then took a couple of long strides forward to catch up to Eddie. “Can you um- maybe, like… not call me that?”  

“Sure thing, Steve-o. Here, hang a right.” Eddie turned down a hallway and Steve followed, eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“That’s it?”

Eddie stopped walking when they reached the drama room door, shrugging. “Yeah man, that’s it. You don’t wanna be called something, I’m not gonna call you that. Nicknames are supposed to be fun, dude.” 

Steve nodded in understanding, but his brow was furrowed- he was clearly deep in thought. Eddie stood there a moment, waiting for Steve to say something. When it became apparent that the jock was going to keep his thoughts to himself, Eddie smiled tightly and opened the drama room door, walking past the gaggle of students sitting together and eating lunch at the front of the room. He ignored their stares and walked to the back of the room to a set of double doors, which he opened and then led Steve through. “This is where Hellfire meets. You can lay down in the corner over there on the couch cushions and blankets. I set that up last year for my mid-morning, skip-P.E. nap time.” 

Steve blinked in surprise, then turned to Eddie with a playful smirk. “Is that why you’re repeating this year? Slept through too much P.E.?”    

Eddie chuckled at that. Harrington had some sass to him, huh? “One of the many reasons. What can I say, getting sweaty for some dumbass P.E. teacher just doesn’t agree with me.” ‘There are much better things to get sweaty for’, a distant voice in Eddie’s head whispered. Eddie pushed that thought away, shaking his head at himself. Harrington was not the kind of guy to think those kinds of things around. 

Steve giggled to himself- honest to god giggled, it was quite possibly the best sound that Eddie had ever heard- then stepped into the room, taking in the variety of chairs surrounding the giant table and the various decorations on the walls. Suddenly, Steve’s playful smile disappeared, turning to a grimace. “Um, are you sure it’s okay for me to sleep here, Eds? Don’t you have Hellfire here later tonight? I wouldn’t want to intrude-” 

“Stevie, I promise it’s fine. You’ll probably be awake by the time we’re in here playing through the campaign anyways. Just don’t worry about it and get some rest, okay?” 

Steve nodded, walking to the corner and sitting down on the cushions. Eddie smiled reassuringly at him from his place at the doorway, then waved goodbye to Steve. “I’m off to English and Chem. I’ll be back in about two hours, but I could lock the doors in the meantime?” Eddie pulled a lanyard out of his pocket, grinning. “Perks of being club president. I’m the only one with a key other than the drama teacher, and he never comes in here. I just figured- maybe you would sleep better knowing that no one can get in? You would be able to get out, obviously, but- y’know what? Maybe this is creepy, pretend like I didn’t say anything-”

“-Thank you, Eddie. I… would appreciate that.” Steve cut off Eddie’s (admittedly awkward) rant and punctuated his request with a yawn, scrubbing a tired hand over his face. 

“Yeah, yeah of course dude, whatever you need.” Eddie stepped out and locked the door behind himself, then slumped his back against the door. Step One: Get Steve Harrington to Take Care of Himself, complete. Time for Step Two.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A.N.- tagging those who requested/insinuated a request, lmk if you’d like to be added/taken off the tag list.

@ellietheasexylibrarian @cuips-not-cute @melodymeddler @i-have-three-feelings @sc00ps-ahoy @singmeyoursimpsong @patchworkgargoyle @spectrum-spectre @devondespresso @thesuninyaface @obsessivlyme @angeldreamsoffanfic @carlyv @nburkhardt @inspirationorinsanity @rebelspykatie @my2amgaythoughts @lavenderagenda @just-a-tiny-void @mamafaithful @breadboi66 @beholdingloser @randomfandomcontent @oftirnanog @yellowdevilkitten @steves-strapcollection @keep-er-steddie

[daceydeath]

Club 143

Pairing: 0T8 x Reader, Felix x Reader Word Count: 27.1K Genre: Work Romance, slow burn, Warnings: 18+, Minors DNI, swearing, male escorts, hosting, alcohol, Explicit Activities

This is my offering of thanks for the 2K of you that have followed me and also kept me going over the past 12 months you guys are amazing and I love the absolute shit out of you all xx

It had been a hard 18 months in every single way, your boyfriend has cheated on you, your job was a never ending cycle of not quite making it and all your friends were either getting married or having babies. Something had to go your way, so this new editorial opportunity had to be the start of it all turning around for you.

You swiped left again, the dating app that your best friend had downloaded for you was full to the brim with fuck boys, dip shits and douche bags none of which interested you long enough to even read the stupid little bio they had written. You had been alone long enough to know you didn't want to waste the little time and effort you could give to someone to be wasted on someone who wouldn't even be able to give you what you wanted let alone what you needed. You had complained to your best friends often enough that one had bought you a vibrator and the other had installed this stupid app telling you to just get back out there and meet people but you were struggling. You didn't want a cheap fuck in an alley behind a club or a guy who couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag let alone find your clitoris taking you home. You wanted to feel good, it wasn't neurosurgery it shouldn't be that hard to find. You had tried dating a few times since your break up with your ex but to begin with it was hard to trust a man again and then you realized you perhaps didn't want to fall straight back into a relationship until it was too late and you had given all the better options the flick.

Sighing you got back to work figuring that it would keep you busy you had been in the news media for a while now and although you weren't a fully qualified journalist, you had never bothered with university, you had made your way up the food chain and were currently working in the health, wellness and well being section of your company. You were sent to cover makeup launches, yoga classes, newest beauty surgical day spas and other garbage but this week you had been given a different assignment. As one of the only women in the team who didn't get embarrassed at the sight of anything too 'exciting' you were being sent to the latest host club for professional women. A week's worth of sitting around trying to not get too drunk while you watched professional, lonely and probably far too wealthy women get flirted with by attractive young men. It had made you a little nervous but you had looked into everything you had been given and you were hoping that it would go smoothly. 

Club 143 was in midtown just across the district border from the wealthiest areas of the city. The home of idols, celebrities and the business elite, it was incredibly well located to cater to their every need and whim. The man who you had spoken to over the phone had seemed quite casual, he had introduced himself as Bang Chan and said he was the owner and operator, he also seemed quite happy to have you come for the week to see how the premises operated and ran. You were going for the following day Wednesday to meet him and see what the club had to offer then you would meet with the various hosts and finally if you wished to he would grant you the full host experience free of charge in exchange for the editorial you would write. Your phone ringing broke you out of organizing what you would need to know for preparation.

"Good evening" you answered, slightly distracted as you saved your research on Mr Bang.

"Have I called at a bad time?" Chan's voice sounded slightly concerned.

"No not at all Mr Bang, I was just preparing for tomorrow" you chirped wanting to sound professional and interested despite being nervous.

"Good, good. I was thinking if it isn't too early we could start at about 11? It will just be me and the bar and waiting staff to begin with so don't feel you need to be dressed up. The boys wouldn't arrive until after 7 anyway so if you need to run home or to the office you have plenty of time" He explained to you gently.

"Oh excellent, that will hopefully give me time to interview you about the first half or so of the editorial on the beginnings and such" you nodded your head even though he couldn't see you.

"I'll see you tomorrow then" He said warmly, his voice having an effect of soothing you each time you heard it.

"See you tomorrow Mr Bang" you hung up feeling a little less worried but still unsure of how this assignment would go.

Arriving at 10:55 you stood looking at the fairly standard looking five story glass building, the only thing making it look slightly different from its surroundings was a total lack of signage except for a small black and sign with elegant gold script reading Club 143 next to the large front doors.

"Good morning Miss" a calm professional voice spoke, making you almost jump "You are here to meet with Mr Bang correct?". 

"Um yes, yes I am, I'm from the editorial team at JYP News" you smiled introducing yourself and following her inside.

"I'm just one of the wait staff Miss, Mr Bang asked us to keep an eye out for you and bring you to his office once you arrived" she explained leading you through the opulent looking bar with its high ceiling and huge chandelier to a door reading staff which she opened for you and gestured for you to enter and take a seat "He won't be long Miss" 

Nodding as she left you alone to wait you looked at the waiting area you had been led to, soft wingback armchairs in warm chocolate tones filled the space, gold accented furniture and a wooden floor seemed excessive for a staff area but you assumed you needed to present the lavish luxury everywhere just in case.

"Miss Kim?" His deep velvety voice asked, making your eyes snap to him "I'm Bang Chan, but please call me Chan" . His warm smile and adorable dimples were a stark contrast from his built physique and generally sexy appearance.

"Hello, if I am going to call you by your first name then please call me by mine" you swallowed hard shaking his hand as you greeted him.

"Good, I prefer to keep things as casual as possible, it can get too pretentious otherwise" He explained cheekily taking you into his office which was far more minimalist than the ostentatious club. "This is my office, we have seen the boys waiting room and you walked through the bar, would you like the tour first or to chat?"

"How about the tour first then we can start the start of the interview process" you smiled politely placing your bag on the floor beside his desk.

"Alright then" he clapped as you followed him back out to the bar to begin "This is the main bar this is where anyone can come to have a drink or enjoy themselves without interruptions, this bar isn't limited to women but we do anticipate that most of the clientele will be female due to the other services we provide"

"So this is not host related at all then just a regular bar?" you asked looking at the beautiful furnishings and row upon row of alcohol bottles that lined the mirrored walls behind the bar.

"Yes the first 2 levels are just a speakeasy come cocktail bar level 3 is where that changes although any available host will be down here in hopes of attracting clients" he waggled his eyebrows at you while he guided you to the large staircase which you climbed after he had offered his arm to you looking over the large cut out that had been made to house the gigantic chandelier.

"It does look beautiful" you murmur your fingers sliding against the fabric of the leather couches as you continue to the far end of the room towards the elevator that stood with its glimmering golden doors set against a black marble wall "Although very opulent".

"Opulence is not your taste then?" Chan queried interested in your opinion as the elevator doors opened and you stepped in together.

"Not to this level, I like a little bit of glitz every now and again but I'm more of a homebody" you felt your face heat up as you spoke not wanting to insult his business before you had even had a proper conversation with him.

"That's fair, I'm not into this lifestyle either, it is excessive" he chuckled. "But the women who are will pay for this experience without a second thought".

"Clever Chan, you know your target audience well" you tried not to smirk as you watched him stuff his hands into the pockets of his black chinos as you traveled up to the next floor through the mirrors all around you.

"This is level 3 and the first level of the host experience, women of all ages can come here and be doted on by male hosts who will drink with them, eat with them and basically fawn over them providing all the attention they desire" Chan continued to explain as your eyes roamed the deep red painted booths that could be hidden behind matching deep red velvet curtains. Before returning to the elevator to go up again into another room full of more private booths that were set further apart to elude more privacy.

"Level 4 is the next level of our host services, so the private bookings or most popular hosts will normally be here. They see people one on one for extended periods of time" Chan continued as you took in another over the top room only this time in deep emerald greens with gold accents.

"Ok so most popular? Does that mean the most requested? So the hosts on the lower level are more of a on demand and availability sort of set up?" You asked making a note in your phone to include the differences when you started writing.

"Yes, the ones that are requested the most or have customers wanting to request them on a regular basis. Yes they will be on this floor" he smiled as you took a few notes and asked things you weren't sure of.

"Is this the last level?" You asked, thinking back to when you had looked into the building as part of your research "I thought this was a five story building" you tilted your head to him.

"You are right there is one more level which I'll give you a tour of only one part since it needs to remain an enigma to out clients" he smirked like a cat who had gotten the cream as you stepped into the lift once again the last floor could only be accessed by key card as Chan swiped his allowing for the floor to be selected.

"Oh, is it really a secret then?" you sassed playfully as the lift climbed to the final floor, the lift opened revealing a single hallway that led to a set of 10 doors the entire hallway painted deep navy blue with only the golden door handles and numbers glinting like stars against the dark walls.

"This is level 5, the premium service, and the most expensive and exclusive part of Club 143" Chan grinned, leading you out of the elevator with his hand resting against your lower back "Pick a door any door and that will be the final part of the tour". You walked down the hallway and stopped before door three looking back at Chan with your eyebrow cocked"

"Door 3 please Chan" you smiled.

"Are you sure you won't get to see inside the others, this is the only one you will see?" He teased walking to the door and swiping his card and opening the handle slowly as you nodded up at him.

"Woah" you muttered as you stepped into what could be a million dollar penthouse, with a lounge area, large bedroom and as you wandered a giant bathroom with a several person bathtub and shower that could fit at least four people.

"Level 5 is the full host experience, you are wined and dined in the comfort of a luxury home and there are no rules except for the ones made between the host and the client" he explained further as you turned back to him, your eyes wide at his obvious implications.

"I'm sorry level 5 is a brothel?" you almost squeaked as Chan doubled over in laughter.

"We provide a full service, but it doesn't have to include sex" Chan continued to chuckle "Some of our hosts are escorts some are not, some of the women who come to this floor will only be here to avoid being recognized on the lower floors some will be willing to part with a lot of money for a night with one of my boys".

"Sorry, that came out quite rudely didn't it?" you apologized flustered "I just wasn't expecting hosts and escorts".

"It's fine" he shrugged, still trying to stop his laughter "Come back downstairs and we can chat about it all in my office and grab some lunch, I've told the kitchens that anything on the menu you order is on the house".

"You don't have to put up with me poking around all week and feed me" you retorted knowing how much this was potentially going to put him out of pocket.

"If you are here and you are working then I should feed you, it's the only way for you to have a fully immersive experience after all" he shrugged as you got out of the lift on the ground floor and followed him back to his office.

You had spoken with Chan about everything you could think of, why he started the club, where the idea had come from and how he selected the hosts you had moved into the waiting room that he had called the boys waiting room setting up your laptop and starting with the opening parts of your editorial as well as typing up your notes of all the things you would need for later a tasting plate of pasta that the chef had prepared for you sat mostly eaten beside the coffee you had asked one of the bar staff for. You felt strange being given anything you asked for so you had tried your hardest to only order a relatively inexpensive dish off the overly expensive menu so as not to appear greedy or that you were taking advantage of Chan's generous hospitality.

"Good afternoon beautiful" a soft pleasant voice interrupted your typing as you looked up slightly confused as two handsome men had walked into the waiting room.

"He means you sweetheart" the other smiled, his pretty smile and easy manner distracting from his hulkingly muscular frame.

"Hello" you answered quietly as Chan emerged from his office. 

"Minho, Changbin you're early and you have met our resident reporter I see" he rolled his eyes at them both.

"Resident reporter?" The taller one quirked his head furrowing his brows.

"Remember the editorial that is being written about our first week to help boost the popularity of the place Minho?" Chan sighed slightly exasperated.

"Oh yeah shit that's right" he smirked "Sorry" he turned to you again looking smug rather than sorry as you blinked again and went back to your article taking a sip of coffee.

"Get in the office will you we have stuff to talk about" Chan groaned as the other two plodded into the office after him and you took that as your cue to finish up and go home to change for the evening so that you at least looked the part of someone who should be in attendance at a fancy arsed party. You had borrowed a few dresses from a colleague that you had spoken to about the assignment, she had suggested you stick to darker and more modest dresses that would help you blend into the background so that you didn't draw unwanted attention. Needless to say the black square necked mid length dress made you feel like no one would notice you compared to the socialites that were expected to be in attendance.

When you returned to Club 143 the doorman ushered you straight in and you were met by a well dressed man who welcomed you and took you back to the waiting room you had been in for half of your day.

"Mr Bang, your guest has returned" he knocked and ushered you in leaving you quite surprised at the room now full of preposterously handsome men.

"Um hello, guests aren't meant to be back here sweetheart" One of them smiled his eyes friendly as he moved to take you into the still empty bar.

"There you are! you disappeared I wondered which one of the boys had stolen you away" Chan teased.

"Well I didn't think I would fit in that well in a work suit so sorry about that" you sassed straight back feeling distinctly more comfortable after floating around him for so long during the course of the day.

"Miss reporter you came back" one of the guys from earlier grinned.

"Reporter?" A very young looking man asked, his fine facial features making him look distinctly fox like.

"This is the reporter who will be doing the editorial on the club to, hopefully, increase our business. She's here for the whole week so be nice to her. She isn't a client so don't treat her like one" Chan announced.

"This is Minho and Changbin who you saw earlier today" he gestured to the two guys furthest away, "this is Han, Hyunjin, Seungmin and Felix". You followed Chan hand as he introduced each one, smiling until you met his eyes. He was so beautiful he almost took your breath away but you tore your eyes back to look at Chan as he introduced you to them.

"I figured tonight you can wander at will observing whatever interests you and then tomorrow you can talk to the guys about whatever you need for the article" he continued.

"Sure that sounds good, give me a chance to see the rest of the staff in action as well" you smiled politely hoping to seem professional.

"We do have more hosts obviously, but they are either getting changed or not here yet" he added, looking at you as you quirked your eyebrow at him.

"How many are there in total?" you tilted your head pulling your phone from your tiny purse to take more notes.

"There are thirty hosts in total and these seven are the ones I expect to be the... most popular ones" Chan smirked.

"Oh the host for upstairs, the hosts that are actually escorts but you're calling them hosts, those hosts? Right" you rolled your eyes sounding sarcastic as you entered a few short notes looking back up at him to see a shit eating grin on his face.

"You catch on quick" he winked.

"You are an impossible flirt Mr Bang" you pursed your lips to cover your chuckle.

"Hey what did I say about the Mr Bang thing?" he almost yelped.

"Not to use it" you met his eyes cheekily "So naturally that will be what I call you". 

Your eyes flicked back across the others, taking in the amused expressions before you put on your best professional face and turned back to the door, opening it and walking though to cut off whatever comeback he was preparing for you.

"If you need me Mr Bang I'll be at the bar, need to review your bar staff too you know" you called as you walked towards the large bar where three barmen were waiting.

Once the music started and the doors opened to the many beautiful and well dressed women who wanted to see what a building full of ridiculously handsome men could offer them. You watched as each of the impeccably dressed hosts were either assigned or accosted by the women filling the bar you watched on seeing socialites you recognized, CEO’'s and directors of well known businesses and politicians wives all ogling the men you had met earlier and the many that you hadn't as they flitted through the crowd with ease. Chan was busy entertaining a group of women who all had glasses of champagne in their hands, Minho seemed to be captivating his audience of four young women who had bee lined for him and an a tall man you hadn't met was keeping another group of women enthralled by some story he was weaving for them.

"All alone tonight Miss R?" A sexily deep voice asked from you left making you jump slightly as you turned to face him as he slipped the stem of a glass of champagne between your fingers.

"Oh no I'm just observing tonight" you answered slightly flustered by how smooth his actions had been until you actually looked at him, tall, blond and handsome in an expensive tailored looking suit.

"I'm Felix" he smiled dazzlingly, taking in what must have been a slightly shocked expression on your face "We met before but there were a lot of names for you to remember".

"Yes, yes we did" you smiled back feeling helpless to do anything else as his golden flecked brown eyes skimmed over your face "How is the night going so far for you?".

"I would say excellent but then I saw you alone and I thought you might want a little company for just a little while" His voice was like honey and you instantly realized that this must be why Chan knew he would be so popular with his clientele.

"That would be lovely Felix, but aren't you meant to be working?" you sipped the champagne to cover the flush that was creeping up your neck as he moved a few strands of your hair behind your eyes.

"I am working" he teased "I am working on giving you a good view of how this works although this is more enjoyable to me than politicians wives or silly socialites".

"I can't tell if you are actually telling me the truth or that you are a professional when it comes to flirting" you admitted almost too quietly to hear over the music and noise.

"Truth not flirting" he smiled crookedly "Flirting is hardly going to work on you since you know what happens here".

"Well thank you for the honesty" you conceded while taking another sip of the wine.

"It's not entirely selfless but it thought I could show you around a bit let you see how upstairs is looking" he suggested offering you his arm like a gentleman "after all showing you around does give me at least something enjoyable to do that also gets me away from some of the women old enough to be my mother" he joked.

"I would really like that, it seems less like spying if I am next to you" you grinned taking the offered arm before Felix escorted you to the elevator, you noticed the looks some of the women threw at you and started to fell a little self conscious of the sheer lack of wealth and importance you looked as you passed them.

"Ignore them" Felix whispered, placing his other hand on top of the one you were holding his arm with. "They are just jealous of how beautiful you look tonight compared to them".

"I agree that they are jealous but it's not for how I look it's because I'm with you Felix" you whispered back making him smile genuinely at you. "So level 3 then?"

"We can start there and see where it takes us" Felix smirked naughtily as though he was intentionally breaking a rule, gently guiding you into the elevator along with another host you hadn't seen before who had a giggly young woman clutching his arm Felix tiled his body to hide you from the other woman his warm chest brushing against your arm.

Stepping from the lift the hosted area looked almost as full as the bar downstairs, each of the booths were either occupied or had velvet ropes preventing the area being used until a host was available to fill it. Felix took your hand from his arm and instead guided you with his arm delicately draped around your waist, your skin heating up where he made contact with your dress. He helped you onto one of the bar stools slipping onto his own beside you and catching the attention of one of the bartenders.

"What is your drink of choice?" he asked casually, still looking toward the bartender.

"Oh I'm working, I shouldn't be drinking" you replied softly.

"Well how about a non alcoholic drink?" he shot you a seductive smirk as you blinked at him.

"Um" you thought for a moment.

"Can I get two specialty martinis please" Felix ordered before turning back to you and winking "if you say specialty at any of these bars they will serve you a non alcoholic drink that looks like one so no one is the wiser".

"Any other tips you can share with me?" you smiled gracefully as the bartender placed the two drinks in front of you making Felix lean into your ear as though he was spilling secrets.

"Don't take Chan as just the owner, he is one of us too" he whispered "and to be honest half the escort boys you met would have knocked me out if they knew I was going to monopolize your attention for so long". His breath grazed your neck as he spoke, making you shiver hoping that he wouldn't notice the effect he was having on you and the struggle to remain as professional as possible that you were currently battling inside your head.

"How often this week do you think you will be on this floor then Felix?" you whispered back hoping to keep the purely professional status between you since your mind was screaming at you that he was too good to be true.

"This is probably going to be the only time to be honest with you" he moved to tuck your hair behind your ear once again, before taking your elbow to guide you back across to the elevator "I have a feeling I will be booked fairly solidly from here on out, shall we see the next floor?"

Stepping into the elevator again Felix draped his arm once again around your waist pulling you closer to his side, completely distracting you from the doors closing or opening again, before leading you from the elevator to a private booth at the far end of the room and sliding you in and following in after you.

"So tell me, why did you take this assignment?" he tilted his head looking only into your eyes as he spoke, capturing you entirely from what you had been planning on observing around the room.

"Truthfully, I was hoping I could make a good impression on my bosses and get more interesting work" you admitted "I'm a little tired of the ten ways to look younger, or how to land a wealthy boyfriend articles I usually get".

"Hmm, I can understand that" he sipped his drink casually. "You don't seem the type to work in the whole lifestyle media world to be honest with you, you seem more serious".

"I wouldn't have taken you for an escort either, a rich boy maybe or even a host but still here we are" you fired back teasingly.

"Well right now I'm not any of those things" he smirked, eyes twinkling in the low mood lighting of the room.

"Oh I'm pretty sure you're still a rich boy, judging by how tailored that designer suit is" you giggled playfully, enjoying how he was making you feel much more comfortable than you had anticipated.

"Fair I am still that, but I'm not treating you like I would if you were one of my guests, I thought you might get a bit sick of me if it was all just smoke and mirrors" The honesty of his words made you feel somewhat pleased that you were seeing a more realistic version of Felix even if it wasn't the same as if you had met him anywhere else on any other day.

"Right this is where you're hiding huh?" Chan's voice floated over you both bursting the bubble that you were currently in.

"I'm just showing Miss R what a host experience would entail Chan" Felix grinned cheekily.

"Well you have a booking so off you trot I'll find someone else to entertain our fly on the wall guest" Chan chuckled as Felix got out of the booth missing the look he shot you before he left to find his guest, he looked almost a little disappointed to be leaving you which made butterflies burst out in your stomach.

"Would you like me to find someone to look after you?" Chan's voice had you turning back to him blinking.

"Oh no, it's opening night, you need them for your guests, I'll just wander and keep to myself if that is easier" you said hurriedly not wanting to cause him any issues.

"That's fine too. I have a keycard for you so you can go to any of the floors you want, except the top, don't want you walking into something you shouldn't" he winked sneakily pressing the card into your hand before heading back to your assumed work.

You slipped from the booth taking the final sip of your drink and heading towards the elevator deciding that you should probably make your way back down to the bar to observe the party and not just spend the rest of the evening hoping to catch a glimpse of Felix again. Stepping into the party atmosphere of the upper bar you walked towards the bar slipping around groups of women and wait staff who looked like they had been training for how busy it was going to be for weeks in advance. Different handsome men caught your attention as you looked about, all were almost unbelievably attractive but no two looked that much alike they all had their own uniqueness which you suppose was how they made their money catering to the exact fantasy of the guest they were entertaining. As you made your way closer to the bar you were intercepted by a man you hadn't met before.

"Good evening, beautiful, what brings you here alone?" His smooth voice washed over you "May I keep you company?".

"Hello and of course you can but you will be wasting your time on me" you apologized quickly.

"I would very much doubt that" you smiled softly, his pretty eyes and angelic face making you feel a little flustered "I'm Yunho" he introduced himself taking your hand to press a chaste kiss to your knuckles.

"Pleasure to meet you Yunho" you stammered as he guided you to a seat at the bar "I'm the reporter that is writing the editorial on the place".

"Oh you're Miss R!" his eyes lit up as he waved down one of the staff at the bar "Some of the others were talking about you, said you were very pretty and had been swept off her feet by Felix. I'll admit I'm pleased that only one of those is true".

"I can tell you're a host but what kind of host are you?" you licked your lips trying to keep your composure at his flirting.

"Ah Chan already mentioned there are differences, no wonder he's hopeless with telling too much to pretty girls" he laughed "But I am just a host, I'm not in the same league as Felix, Chan or Hyunjin".

"Now you know I'm not a paying guest, do you still want to sit here with me?" you questioned not just because you wanted to ask him everything you could think of about his job but also because you didn't want to make him feel obligated if there was money to be made elsewhere.

"I would rather talk with you about whatever you wish to know than pretend to be interested in empty headed socialites" he whispered coyly his lips coming closer to your ear "Although maybe we should move to our own little corner rather than the bar?"

"What did you have in mind, Yunho? you're the one with experience here" you whispered back conspiratorially a small smile tugged on the corners of his lips.

"Follow me Miss R, I'll show you all the ins and outs" you waggled his eyebrows playfully at you before picking up two tall glasses that looked like gin and tonics. Yunho nestled you right into the front corner of the upper level which gave you access to watch the whole floor and a good section of the lower floor placing your glass in front of you he sat closely beside you.

"What drew you to this job?" you quipped as soon as he was seated.

"Well I fell into it actually, I met a few of the other guys Yeosang, Wooyong and Mingi they said I should give it a go. I already knew I had pretty good looks so why not use them to make some money right?" He explained animatedly "So after I worked at a few different host places where I was just part time I met Chan, he had given the others a job and he gave me one too".

"That is such a random set of circumstances" you laughed.

"Well the other three work here with me, we’re here 5 nights a week and make more then we would working a normal job with way less hours" he shrugged easily his smile infectious as he looked at you softly "I meet interesting people, I get paid to flirt and be charming it is the easiest job in the world the only downside is that I haven't told my family and getting a girlfriend is hard" you nodded empathizing with him, you hadn't thought about it but you would probably have to leave all last names out of the article to make sure that a level on anonymity was maintained. You couldn't out people for their jobs to their family after all that was unethical.

"So the hours are good and the job isn't too hard? Sounds like a dream really" you said wistfully thinking of how much over time you were going to need to work to type up the part of the article to do with the opening.

"It's not all roses, some of the people we have to entertain treat us like shit, we are paid to give them attention, flatter them, make them feel special but they treat us like we are nothing more than an object half the time. Or worse we get some who not only eat up every word we say but believe it so they become obsessed and come in all the time." he continued shrugging as though it was normal to have admirers fighting for your attention.

"What happens in the case of them becoming obsessed?" you asked genuinely concerned.

"Well as long as they can afford to pay for our time then we keep seeing them, you do feel bad for them they think we are in love with them and we are actually saying the same to the next woman we see. Once they can't afford our time they can come in the building anymore" his answers were still far too casual for what he was talking about in your opinion.

"They are just barred?" you almost splutter.

"Well not barred permanently they can come back when they can afford to but that is why Chan decided to make a much more elite version of the standard club. The more money you have the more you can spend but the more likely you will draw a scandal if you become too invested in any one host" he clarified not looking at you directly but leaning in to you as he spoke so he could keep his voice quiet. He seemed to be watching the room far closer than you which made you sit back from him and continue to scan the crowd and how smoothly things were coming together.

You couldn't help notice the moment Chan walked back into your eye line speaking to another quite tall and attractive man who he sent toward a man who had been standing at the bottom of the stairs monitoring the room the whole time you had been in a place you could see him. You hadn't been introduced but you assumed he was the majordomo in Chan's stead while they were all working, he seemed to direct just about every host that was on the lower floors and he sent this tall handsome one up the stairs towards you.

"Good evening Miss R" he smiled almost sinfully "I'm San and I deeply apologize but I need to steal Yunho here away".

"Oh of course, I don't want to interrupt your work" your eyes widened slightly thinking you had gotten Yunho in trouble "I didn't mean to take so much of his time".

"Don't worry Miss R" Yunho grinned roguishly "I think someone else wants to monopolize your time" he stood following San across the floor to a group of women who were probably in the later part of their thirties to make a good impression and hopefully some business.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself," Chan noted, offering you his hand so you could stand.

"This is a lovely bar regardless of the other things you have going on here" you conceded watching him look proud from a moment.

"Would you like to have a little more in depth look around?" He offered chuckling at how you seemed to be taking in as many details as possible.  

"How much more in depth?" you tilted your head at him for a moment making him chuckle before he led you to the elevator. 

"Were going up to the level 4 I have a space that I haven't been able to fill that I think you might be perfect for" Chan almost purred as he spoke to you making your body react in a way you hadn't expected, you shivered and your breathing increased at the prospect of what he meant.

"I'm confused Chan" you said slowly as he gently guided you towards a booth that was unoccupied.

"Well the fourth floor has a booth that hasn't been filled and a host that hasn't been assigned so I was hoping you would do me a favor and fill that gap for the time being" he revealed helping you on to the plush velvet couch that made up the majority of the space. Most of the curtains around you were drawn partially or completely, you could see the occasional glimpse of the host that was working but not the guest. The booth to your right hand side Changbin lounging legs half spread as he lent toward whoever he was entertaining to your left you saw a flash of blonde hair and a tailored suit and knew instantly it was Felix.

"I can do that for you, it would be my pleasure" you bit your bottom lip a little to cover the nerves you were feeling but you did feel like you owed Chan to help him if he needed a favor in return for the unlimited access he was giving you.

"Excellent, I will let him know you are here" He grinned walking behind you to the bar. You didn't want to get caught looking around too much but you couldn't help your curiosity, looking at the other booths you could see occasional comings and goings of the wait staff bringing drinks or bottles of wine but nothing too interesting until you sat further into the cushions and looked to your left noticing Felix's looking at you with a almost annoyed expression but his eyes darted away quickly.

"Hello, we met earlier" a slightly husky voice took your attention away from Felix and to yet another handsome man, this one tall and lean with beautiful features and the prettiest lips you thought you had ever seen on anyone ever. "I'm Hyunjin".

"Hello Hyunjin, I do remember" you swallowed feeling shy to be under such an intense gaze, he moved to draw the curtains across both the left and right of you to keep you from any other person's gaze but not before snorting softly as he pulled the left side across. Sitting beside you he pushed a small button on the coffee table in front of you and made himself comfortable.

"I realize this might be slightly strange for you but I will try to make this as genuine as I can without too much theatrics" He chuckled honestly making you feel a little more at ease.

"How is it that a host such as yourself is not fully booked?" you asked tentatively not wanting to start off on the wrong foot.

"Well my guest was unable to choose between myself and another host so she flipped a coin and I was suddenly no longer booked" he smirked as you furrowed your brow at him. "We will see guests in pairs or sometimes even groups but if they want a more one-on-one experience we usually prefer to work solo, unless of course the price is right".

"One on one? you don't, mean down here do you?" you asked, picking up and sipping the glass of wine that had appeared on the table for you brought by a very discrete member of the staff.

"Perceptive of you" he chuckled and smiled fondly at you "Yes one on one upstairs".

"Well you guys have to pay your rent too" you shrugged looking up at him "So what is a night with a host actually like? Is it all flirting and playing a role for you?"

"Its both those things but much more, I won't bother with the smoke and mirrors Felix said you can see through that, but we make conversation, give you our full attention, give you the opportunity to unwind with a man you might not normally get to spend time with" Hyunjin clarified "We are paid to feign interest but I won't need to do that either because you Miss R are quite interesting already".

"Why have all of you started calling me that?" you almost giggle watching his eyes crinkle with amusement.

"Well you are a reporter, and we are not going to call you by your name in case someone recognizes you, you get the anonymity that the rest of us hosts do while you're here. But if you come back after we will all definitely use your name" Hyunjin teasingly laughed making you smile as his eyes turned into perfect little moons making him look younger.

"How did you fall into this life Hyunjin? Was it just that you are incredibly attractive?" you continued to smile as he looked almost surprised at the confidence with which you spoke as you swirled your drink.

"Incredibly attractive huh?" Hyunjin smirked, recovering quickly. "Probably the same way as the others you have spoken to did, I was in art school and pretty broke. I was thinking I could do life modeling for extra money but that isn't the best paid job. I overheard a classmate say she had gone to a host club with her friend and they weren't even as pretty as me and I thought I can do that so I did" he shrugged casually readjusting his position on the couch so he was closer to you.

"That is actually not too different from what Yunho told me" you agreed, finishing the glass of wine.

"Yunho? First you run off with Felix then Yunho, you are popular" Hyunjin joked moving to pour more wine into your glass.

"That's not what happened!" You almost squeaked "Felix showed me around and Yunho just sat with me for a little while at the bar in between his bookings". Hyunjin threw his head back laughing at your defense while you still looked scandalized.

"I was just teasing you Miss Reporter" he admitted smiling wide, his overly sexy demeanor dropping to show you a glimpse of the more everyday version of him as you continued to sip to hide your nerves and keep yourself grounded.

"I think I might have gotten Felix in trouble though" you admitted sheepishly "Chan didn't look too pleased I was taking up his time".

"Oh he wasn't displeased or even annoyed" Hyunjin interrupted you swiftly "Chan was thrilled Felix took an interest in you actually, it gave him the potential of a very favorable editorial and also Felix doesn't really have an interest in anyone who isn't part of our little circle".

"What do you mean by that, the not showing interest part?" you quizzed quickly feeling more forthright as the alcohol buzzed through your system.

"Felix is incredibly professional, he doesn't see women outside of the job, we were worried he was gay for a while and that we had been using him to attract the wrong clients. But he just doesn't take any interest because he doesn't want to get hurt, he knows nearly all women would not want to be with a man who make his money fucking other women" Hyunjin stated bluntly.

"Oh that's awful. Do you all feel like that?" You probed gently feeling sad for Felix and mad at yourself for not noticing that he was perhaps not happy.

"We all love our job, we are well paid, we get to spend time with beautiful women and we can work when we want. But it can be lonely in our world" his smile was wistful as he looked at you moving to tuck you hair behind your ear slowly pulling his hand away from you.

"Still, that sounds like it makes things harder for you" you sighed, meeting his eyes.

"Kind of you to say but we will only have this job for so long, then we will have the rest of our lives to find someone" Hyunjin leaned a little closer again but you didn't mind closer was good for sharing information that otherwise wouldn't be divulged.

"Still you're all so young to just give up on the idea that someone out there won't care for you regardless" you chastised playfully "You only have your youth once Hyunjin".

"Well consider me a changed man then" he giggled, taking your hand in his tracing his fingers in small circles across your wrist. "What about you then? Surely your boyfriend would have hated the idea of you spending a week here, job or not".

"I am very single so that was not an issue" you grinned starting to feel a little more than buzzed from the wine.

"I find it hard to believe someone as gorgeous as you is single" he smirked, his fingers still tracing patterns on your bare wrist and forearm.

"Funny Hyunjin" you rolled your eyes. "I have actually been single for a while, I don't seem to attract the right men".

"Again that seems unlikely but if you say so" he teased, topping your glass up again.

"I understand how you are so popular as a host now though" you smirked while you enjoyed his flirting and gentle touches you knew they weren't real.

"I'll let you in on a little secret then shall I?" Hyunjin whispered in a low voice sliding across the velvet surface until he was touching your thigh with his and his words could be breathed directly into your ear.

"Sure Hyunjin, tell me and see if I believe you" you whispered back sounding more confident than you were.

"Everything I have said has been true and I would very much like to take you upstairs" he whispered again pressing his lips to your earlobe.

"I'm sorry?" you spluttered, completely flustered by his words and the feeling of his lips on your skin.

"I. would. like. to. take. you. upstairs" he repeated slowly enunciating each word.

"I, um, why would you want that?" you stuttered feeling heat burning under your skin

"I think I could show you exactly how you should be treated, I think you would enjoy it and I very much would" he continued slipping his arm around your shoulders to hold you closer against him, the hand on your wrist now cupping your face.

"I don't think you mean that Hyunjin" you whispered breathily, your wide eyes trained on him.

"I think you will find that I do" he smiled sultrily before closing the space between you and softly pressing his lips to yours. It had been so long since you had been kissed you almost melted into him as his plump lips slid against yours but instead you pulled away slightly and Hyunjin dropped his hand from your face as he moved to press his forehead against yours.

"Hyunjin" you breathed your breath no doubt caressing his lips given how close he still was "You can't, we can't, I can't".  

"Because of your editorial or because you don't want to?" he smiled softly, not moving away from you.

"The editorial is most of it" you admitted trying to get your heart rate to calm "but I also don't want to be tipsy if I was to go upstairs with you or anyone else".

"You are very honest Miss R, which is almost fatally attractive" he whispered fondly, moving himself slightly further back from you to give you a little more room.

"I try to be" you blinked, still feeling a little dazed.

"How about we call this a night, I will make sure you get a driver to take you home and make sure you are safe" Hyunjin smiled ruefully.

"I am sorry Hyunjin, I don't mean it harshly I just don't want to be clouded by alcohol" you bit your lip feeling like you had hurt him.

"I'm not hurt by your decision Miss R, I respect that you wish to be sober that is not a flaw" He explained intertwining his fingers with yours "now let me make sure you get home safely"

"Thank you Hyunjin" you agreed following letting his lead you to the elevators but not before looking to see if you could catch another glimpse of Felix, the booth he had been in was empty now curtains pulled back and the table sparkling clean again making you feel something you couldn't identify as you looked around noticing the others were all still occupied and that the elevator was not coming down not up towards your floor.

"If you're looking for him he is on level 5 by now" Hyunjin whispered in your ear making your stomach drop slightly.

"Oh no I am just wondering what happens when the table becomes empty does Chan replace it with just regular hosts?" you tried to cover your obvious want to see Felix again.

"I don't actually know, you see all of the guests in here, beside you, will end up on level 5 with their host so what happens after we go upstairs isn't something I've ever bothered looking at" Hyunjin shrugged mischievously as he stepped into the elevator with you making your way down to the ground floor but instead of leaving through the main entrance he sneakily took you through the the staff door. 

"Hyunjin, where on earth are you taking me?" you chuckled, confusion lacing your voice as you noticed some of the other hosts you hadn't seen before looking at you surprised.

"I told you Miss R, I'm making sure you get home safely, we have drivers, I will send you home with one to make sure that happens" he shook his head at you sitting you in one of the chairs as he ventured through a door that led further into the building.

Hyunjin had put you in a black luxury sedan that drove you home and made sure you had entered your building before leaving to return to Club 143. Your head was full of too many thoughts and the fog of alcohol to actually bother writing anything down for the editorial you simply got into the shower, washed your face and climbed into bed hoping the morning light would bring clarity not just embarrassment for your behavior. Felix had flirted with you and had shown some sort of interest in you, but he looked annoyed at you later on, Hyunjin had kissed you and asked you to go to bed with him and Yunho had divulged some more sinister aspects of the job. The following part of the week was going to be intense, you could feel it but that was fine you would be able to handle it.

You were happily surprised that you had no headache or hangover when you woke up although you didn't think you had drunk enough to get hung over. It was much more of a little too tipsy, not full on drunk. You knew as you got dressed you would have to transfer your notes from the cloud to your laptop so that you could start the editorial about how beautiful a location it was and how fantastic the food, drinks and staff were, you could also start adding the sections that you needed to write about Chan as the owner/operator but you would need to speak to him about what he would and would not like to have added about his on host activities. It had been almost two in the morning by the time you got home so you knew that there was no way you could turn up before lunch, the staff would need time to recover all though surely there were dozens and dozens of them in order to be open everyday.

Concentrating you spent the first few hours of your morning writing and editing your drafts before ordering flowers for your colleague who had lent you the dress for the previous night. You would probably need to shop or at least rent something for the other nights rather than just wear her clothes the whole assignment. Besides, something inside you was telling you that looking a little bit more interesting than you did last night wouldn't be a bad thing, at least for the first weekend they were open. You were expecting to see more interesting things over the Friday to Sunday nights, more normal to the host world and less of a large opening gala type thing. Chan had previously stated that you were welcome to bring clothes with you to change into and anything else you might need for you to change into, to save you time and no doubt also to give him more time to sleep off the night before so shopping before you left for Club 143 should be easy for you.

Stepping into the large department store was something fairly foreign for you, you stuck to smaller and cheaper stores generally since you couldn't afford this level of expense everyday. The sales assistants were all impeccably dressed in black chic uniforms flitting between customers and looking far more put together than you ever did, for the most part they ignored you which gave you time to think about the level of investment these few dresses would be.

"Good morning Miss R" a deep honeyed voice spoke softly to you as you ran your fingers across the fabric of a beautiful dress that was way too expensive for you even to pretend to look at, making you look up slightly startled.

"Good Morning Felix" you smiled shyly looking up at him "I didn't think you would be out and about so early considering how busy you were when I last saw you".

"I needed to pick up my suits for the weekend" he explained his smile warming you "Although from what I was told you spent your time all over the party last night, even Hyunjin was lucky enough to spend time with you".

"True, not my doing though I was asked for a favor from Chris which was to fill the booth Hyunjin was working" you shrugged "He seems nice if not a little forward".

"Forward? Sounds about right" Felix laughed, the deep smooth sound attracting the attention of the attendants in the area "Did you have fun? Is that why you are shopping for new clothes?"

"I am but I have strayed off course I could never wear designers like these" you admitted as his brow crinkled slightly.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try them on, these clothes are only beautiful on someone not hanging on a rack" he smiled again dazzling you into nodding slightly.

"Excuse me miss? my girlfriend is looking for a few new outfits, could you assist?" Felix turned to the assistant waiting a few racks away smiling at her politely.

"Oh course sir" she nodded, batting her eyelashes at him as she made her way between the clothes  to you "What size would fit you, Miss?" she smiled.

"Oh I'm not sure" you bit your lip looking at the dress in front of you.

"I would suggest a medium sweetheart" Felix almost purred as the assistant nodded in agreement and found several items in your size ushering you and Felix towards the dressing room area.

"Felix" you quietly hissed, "I shouldn't be wasting her time like this and who said anything about girlfriends" knowing he heard you as he silently shook with laughter.

"It's not wasting her time if she had nothing to do anyway" he whispered back taking a seat on the large lounge suite that sat next to the full length mirrors as you were ushered behind gold colored curtains to change into the dress you had originally been looking at a black lace square necked dress that was lined with a skin toned underlay. You knew you were not going to buy any of these but Felix waiting for you to show him how you looked in it spurred you on. Getting yourself into the dress was easier said than done. The zip was small and awkward and you needed to wiggle yourself around but when you got there clearing your throat you popped your head around the curtain to see Felix smirking waiting for you.

"Well come out sweetheart let me see how it looks" he teased, somehow seeming to know he was flustering you again, taking a deep breath as you stepped out from behind the curtain.

"How does it look?" you asked softly your hands, smoothing the fabric nervously.

"Well you do look beautiful in it, but I think you would look gorgeous in something a little shorter or maybe tighter?" Felix mused tapping his chin as the assistant returned to agree with him as he sent her to find exactly that.

"Felix, didn't you have suits to collect?" you mumble as you were now left alone again.

"Yeah but this is much more fun" his eyes lit up as you looked at yourself wistfully "besides you will spend the whole night watching women who aren't as pretty as you get attention for men who would be rather talking to you as you take notes for an editorial that might change your career, live a little".

"You are a terrible influence on me" you laughed disappearing behind the curtain to get the zipper back down as the girl returned with a rack of things for you to try.

"I have several different styles and a mix of black and color so you can find exactly what you think would be right" she chirped, sliding behind the curtain to show you the rack which was filled with ridiculously expensive and gorgeous dresses. Leaving you to change she left the room allowing you to slip into a black mini dress with hot pink lining, the pink was going to be visible every time you took a step but you liked it, you were just nervous that Felix might not, which logically made no sense to you as you were not buying any of these dresses and you weren't trying to impress Felix, but you still took a deep breath before stepping out.

"Now that one looks amazing" Felix whistled playfully looking you up and down.

"You don't need to pretend she isn't here anymore" you sassed rolling your eyes.

"I'm not lying, you look incredible Miss R" he sighed, his eyes finding yours and looking almost innocent "try the others" he encouraged. After trying on every single dress your favorite was the black and pink satin mini, a black long sleeved mini that was studded with crystals and a one shoulder red and black mini. Felix had said that he liked all of them but those three got the best reactions from him.

"What were your favorites?" He asked sweetly as you reemerged in your own clothes.

"The black and pink and the black with crystals" you smiled as he gestured towards the door.

"They were my favorites too" he whispered temptingly in your ear.

"Shame that is the only time I'll get to wear something like that" you sighed as the assistant returned to the shop floor with the rack.

"Did you want to get a coffee with me Miss R? I have another 45 minutes before my suits will be ready.

"I would like that" you stuttered, heat rushing up your throat and into your cheeks.

Sitting with Felix in the open was very different than sitting with Felix in a Club 143, firstly the looks and stares he attracted were constant and second he was much less of a smooth operator when he wasn't on the clock. Ordering you both coffee, at his insistence, and coming back with cake was somehow unsurprising even though you barely knew him, you still thanked him and took the chocolate cake with a happy smile making him almost grin at your reaction.

"You look like you like sweet things" he spoke softly as he sat opposite you at the little table in the back of the cafe.

"I do like sweet things, guess you busted me" you chuckled taking your first bite and just about moaning at how good it tasted.

"I'll let you in on a secret" he winked exaggeratedly "me too".

"So is this your life when you aren't hosting?" you asked genuinely as your coffee was being brought over to you.

"Sort of, I do all the normal things during the hours most people work and often a bunch of us hang out or work out together" he shrugged while sipping his coffee.

"So just the reverse of everyone else" you nodded "That must make meeting people hard".

"It would be if I actually wanted to, but I don't think a lot of women are that understanding of my job" he replied easily like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah I get that I guess a lot of women wouldn't see that it's all just smoke and mirrors, it's an experience that you tailor to your customers needs it isn't real". You conceded sipping your drink and not noticing the look Felix was giving you as you continued eating.

"You said you were single too though, didn't you?" Felix recovered quickly "Is that because of your job or because you aren't looking?".

"Bit of both really, my job means I have to be flexible to go to any event I get sent to regardless of what else I had planned" you smiled "guys often don't like it if they aren't your main priority".

"That's shitty of them then" Felix scoffed, making you laugh, it was so easy talking to him he was much more relaxed even though he still looked like he should be on a runway with his perfectly tousled hair and designer look.

"I think your suits would be ready by now, it's been an hour Felix" you said finishing your coffee "I shouldn't take up anymore of your free time since you don't have that much of it".

"Nah, you can take up as much as you like but you still have dress shopping to finish, so will I see you tonight then?" He agreed, offering you his hand to help you to stand.

"Of course I will be in tonight and each night this week" you smiled as he walked you back towards the place you needed to be "See you tonight Felix" you waved before walking towards the escalator to find clothes you could actually afford to buy.

The rest of the day had been dull you had bought a tighter than normal floor length emerald green dress and a black mini dress in a satin fabric that reminded you of the mini that Felix had said he liked so buy the time you were packed up and ready to head to Club 143 to start your evening you weren't feeling nervous about having to meet so many different hosts to get a feel for how they liked working for Chan or how they became hosts in the first place because it felt like, in Felix, you had at least a friend on your side hoping for you to succeed. You had not bothered to dress in your work suit since you would be changing into more appropriate club attire before the night actually started so when you arrived in jeans and a sweater you were not expecting the almost same response as you had gotten the night before when you were far more dressed up.

"Looking good Miss R" Yunho called as you walked through the staff door with a large bag in tow.

"Hello Yunho, did you have an eventful night?" you called back knocking on Chan's door before wandering in when you got no answer and depositing your things in the corner he had said you could use.

"Yeah the only fun part was talking to you" he told you with a slightly flirtatious tinge in his voice.

"I'm sure" you chuckled as Chan appeared through the staff door from the bar.

"Ah good you're back, I was hoping last night didn't frighten you off" he teased dimples flashing as his own joke.

"Hyunjin tried his hardest but he couldn't chase me off. Sorry" you shrugged.

"Ooh immune to Hyunjin, you will be hard to win over" he scratched his chin in jest "but you met some of my hosts last night and tonight you will probably get to meet a few more but I have found a handful you haven't met yet if you wanted to talk to them about this place".

"That would be brilliant Chan, thank you" You smiled genuinely.

"I figured you can speak to our regular hosts as they float around before they start and if you wanted to join me for dinner I thought you might want to speak to Seungmin and Changbin" Chan continued please with your reactions.

"That sounds perfect. Who are the hosts for me to catch before they start?" you asked, remembering that Chan said he had thirty odd hosts who worked for him.

"I have asked San and Hongjoong to hang out with you on and off while everyone gets ready" he explained "I assume since there are bags in my office you will be getting ready here?"

"Yeah I figured I can get ready after the night has started so I don't take up too much space" you smiled.

"So like yesterday, make yourself at home and use whatever you need. I'm thinking of a slightly early dinner so I will come grab you if you like for that" Chan continued watching you closely.

"Oh that would be great if it isn't too much trouble for you I might get lost in what I'm writing otherwise" you agreed easily.

"Well I will leave you to your work then I'll send whichever of the boys is free and ready first your way" he grinned as you went to sit at one of the tables that littered the room getting out your laptop to start your work and figuring a coffee wouldn't go astray either at that point in the afternoon. You had been sipping your iced latte and going through photographers that you could get in to get the best shots of the club for your article. You hadn't even noticed the two suited up men making their way towards you.

"Miss R" the first one interrupted, breaking your concentration "Is now a good time for us to talk or would you like us to come back later?".

"Oh no, now is good" you blinked up at them as they took seats opposite you.

"I'm Hongjoong, and this is San" he continued smiling at you casually.

"Nice to meet you both" you greeted, remembering that San was the one that had collected Yunho the night before "Thank you for speaking with me" trying to not look like you had been totally floored by their good looks.

"Did you want to talk to us about why we started hosting?" San asked leisurely, leaning back on his chair.

"Yes but also about working for Chan and how you entertain your guests. It's a good way to sell your particular skills since you all seem to do things slightly differently" you explained.

"We can do that for you Miss R" Hongjoong grinned as you opened your notes and started listening to them. Both were very sweet so it was easy for you to get lost in the conversation until Chan reappeared at the table suited up and looking stupidly handsome.

"We are having dinner in a few. Did you still want to join us?" He grinned looking at how your eyes widened and you realized the time.

"Oh yes, yes I will change after if that is alright" you nodded, collecting your belongings together and thanking both the hosts for taking the time to talk to you. You followed Chan towards the elevator which took you both up to the fourth floor which was confusing to you.

"We are going to use this area tonight to give you a bit more time to chat since this area isn't open until after the bar" Chan explained, picking up on your train of thought instantly.

"How is it that you guys do that? Pick up what someone is thinking or feeling?" you narrowed your eyes at him in faux suspicion.

"We make our living on exploiting what women want, we wouldn't be very good at our jobs if we couldn't read you well" Seungmin sniggered as Chan pulled out a seat for you to sit in.

"That's very honest of you" you chuckled looking at him across the table.

"I'm Seungmin in case you haven't heard enough names over the past 24 hours" he smirked.

"Thank you for the reminder Seungmin, it isn't easy to talk to a dozen ridiculously handsome men without the added burden of remembering their names" you smiled dryly making Changbin laugh.

"He's just poking fun because he thinks he can" Chan sighed, giving Seungmin a look that you didn't quite understand.

"You can poke as much fun as you like Seungmin, I am after all just an interloper into your world" you continued smiling but pulled your face into the professional expression you used for work.

"I like you, you're way more fun than we expected" Changbin grinned casually as food started to arrive at the table.

"I took the liberty of ordering things you hadn't tried yet" Chan explained as you curled your brow at the plates in front of you, knowing that somehow he was responsible for it.

"So how does this all come together? Did you know each other before this? How do you make the jump from maybe I'll host to I'll escort on the side to, I'll open/work at an elite level like this?" You mused looking between them for clues to how this all worked because you had an inkling that at least the 8 core of elite hosts were closer and more equal than it first appeared.

"Well I told you how we came to open already but I'm assuming you want how we specifically found ourselves here?" Chan smirked already seeing that you had put more pieces together than he had supplied information for. You nodded as you put the first mouthful of souffle into your mouth before you paused savoring how good it was. 

"Well I met Chan years ago" Changbin started putting his fork down as he watched you eat a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips "We have been friends for years it was him that got me into hosting to begin with we were far younger then but it wasn't all that different except that working for other people meant a smaller cut of what you got paid but it was easy money while we were in uni".

"I met them later when I got a job as bar staff, not as a host at the same club. Jeongin was the same, we both became hosts at a different club later but we kept in touch" Seungmin added before taking another mouthful of pasta.

"So when and why did it jump from hosting to escorting?" you questioned letting Chan carve the large steak that was on the table and serve you a few slices.

"Why is easy, that was because the money was fantastic and being young and horny with easy access to women every night why not" Changbin laughed "The when was, I think just before my 21st birthday I had been hosting since I was 19 so I already learned all the skills I needed to flatter my way into that situation so why not get paid for it".

"Practical" you quipped sipping the wine that had been delivered to you "I mean why not get paid for what you like doing". All three of them laughed then as you didn't pass any judgment on them for their choices.

"This would be why everyone you have talked to so far is so enamored with you" Seungmin smirked, making your eyes widen in confusion.

"Excuse me?" you spluttered completely caught off guard.

"I agree doesn't judge openly and is oblivious to how she is seen by others" Changbin added as though it was an afterthought.

"I would respectfully call bullshit on that observation" you grumbled as your phone began ringing and your boss' name and number flashed across the screen "excuse me, my boss" you smiled. They nodded watching your change in demeanor as you answered the call mouthing thank yous to Chan.

"Good Evening Sir" you chirped, faking your enthusiasm to speak to him as you made your way across the room to the lift so you could slink out the back and get yourself ready.

"Your request for a photographer who can take artful photos is for what reason?" He gruffly demanded without greeting you.

"Well the bar is particularly attractive and last night alone I saw politicians wives, and half a dozen socialites if we can capture how beautiful and opulent it is we might be able to swing some fashion comments from them to boost out fashion pages and the male hosts here are very attractive the readers would very much like to have decent photos of them" you explained quickly trying to spin as much of a positive for him as you could even though you were wanting to move past him and to the editorials boss.

"If you can't take the photo's yourself then you can't expect us not to take the photographer fee from your paycheck" He continued telling you off subtly.

"Of course sir, I will do that instead sir" you swallowed as he hung up on you hoping that he would not be calling back with another complaint once you submitted the first draft of the editorial in a few days time. 

Stepping into Chan's office you locked the door and quickly slipped into the dress you had brought with you, after last night you had decided that you should also put a little more effort into your makeup so you blended in a little more so you weren't surprised by the knock at the door indicating you had taken longer than you should have.

"Sorry Chan" you apologized, unlocking the door and pulling it open coming face to face with Felix and Hyunjin.

"We meet again Miss R" Hyunjin purred playfully, taking your hand and kissing the back of it.

"Hello Hyunjin" you rolled your eyes at his dramatic flare.

"You look beautiful in emerald, it brings out your eyes" Felix smiled as you met his eyes instantly becoming transfixed with how beautiful he looked with his hair slightly tousled in a deep navy suit.

"Flirt" you mumbled shyly as Chan cleared his throat behind them both. 

"Sorry Chan, I didn't mean to take your office for so long" you apologized again as he chuckled.

"It's not a problem Miss R, shall we?" He offered you his arm in a friendly manner which you took before he led you out on the floor, missing the expression on both Felix or Hyunjin's faces but not the loud whoop of laughter that erupted as the door started to close.

Most of the second night was not as intense as the opening night less pomp and ceremony and far more rich women on a mission, you were content to sit on the second level watching the hosts come and go entertaining and the farewelling their guests, occasionally getting winks or nods of recognition before they dived back in for the next guests. You hadn't seen Felix, Hyunjin or Chan again during the course of the night but you had caught glimpses of Seungmin and Minho as their guests arrived and they escorted them upstairs but the more fly on the wall view of them working was making it much easier for you to think up how the start of your editorial would go and how you would sell the speakeasy bar of the enterprise at least. As the night wore on you found yourself more and more comfortable with the idea of being at Club 143 which was, you assumed at least, Chan's entire plan for you. He had welcomed you, fed you, given you access to his employees but you were struggling to actually figure out how you could justify the next few nights of sitting around observing when you really had probably gotten everything you needed. You made a note in your phone to speak with Chan about whether he had already had any professional photos taken of the place or his hosts that you would be able to use for the article.

After several hours had ticked by you made your way back towards Chan's office so you could change again and head home, entering the staff area you noticed there were a few of the boys sitting either having a break or getting ready to head back into the club.

"Miss R, you alright?" San called to you looking slightly concerned.

"I'm fine San, I just should be calling it a night" you smiled warmly back at him, his concern for you making you feel genuinely thankful. Entering Chan's office you collected your bag so you could change out of your dress and into your jeans again.

"Did you want me to grab you a car to take you back home? I'm sure Chan would want to make sure you were safe" he continued appearing at the open office door.

"That's too kind of you San" you chuckled as he made his way towards you to help you with the bag, taking it effortlessly from you and offering you his arm.

"I know I'm not Felix or Hyunjin but I still would like you to get home safely" He joked guiding you to the back entrance to the building to where the cars were and once again you found yourself being helped into a black luxury car "See you tomorrow Miss R" he grinned shutting the door for you to let the driver get you home.

After getting a decent night's sleep you decided it would be better to get as much of the draft done as possible so you could run through any final questions you had with Chan later that night. You were sure you had enough now to be able to write the article without needing to spend a full week taking up Chan or any of the others further time and preventing them making the full amount they should for an opening week, and if Chan had photo's of at least the hosts that you could use the article would be pretty much done and could go off to the editor to go over. Without meaning to, you managed to work all the way to lunch time before getting your things back together to head back to Club 143 for perhaps the last time depending on whether you needed to add any extra information to your editor, or Chan for that matter, request.

Arriving at 12:30 you made your way through the empty bar after being greeted by the doorman and waving to the bar staff who were preparing for the night's service. Making your way into the staff area you were surprised to find Chan meeting with some of his top hosts making you pause as you closed the door behind you.

"Miss R, you return to us again" Hyunjin smiled, waggling his eyebrows at you.

"I promise I will be out of your hair soon Hyunjin" you smirked watching him deflate slightly and the others to laugh.

"Hopefully not to soon" Chan grinned standing to take your bag and place it in his office "Come join us it will give you some more insight" he gestured for you to take a chair somewhere in the room so you did without argument, partly because you were being paid to learn about his business and partly because the closest empty chair happened to be besides Felix totally missing the look Chan gave the others as you sat yourself down and got your phone ready to take notes.

"We have been discussing how the first two nights went" Seungmin added, making you look up at him in case he was going to continue.

"It has been pretty profitable" Felix added easily.

"Have the ladies down stairs been interested in meeting the more exclusive hosts?" Chan asked, turning to you.

"Of course they have, have you not watched them just about drool every time they see any of you?" you chuckled knowing that they knew damn well how they were being received.

"Told you" Changbin smirked looking at Chan "Miss R is a professional, she sees things the same way we do".

"It's a different point of view to ask a woman though" Chan half smiled before looking back at you. "How have you found it though you have spent time in the bar, the third and fourth floors is this place a worthy use for your time if you weren't writing an editorial about us?". 

You paused thinking exactly how you should answer such a loaded question.

"I think you have achieved what you set out to do, the bar is beautiful you feel welcomed and safe there, your hosts are handsome and all slightly different so you can cater to a thousand different women's fantasies without much trouble and from what you have shown me so far the actual host experience is very enjoyable so I think any woman would enjoy it here" you explained watching him as you did you could tell he was very pleased with your answer but you could feel that he wanted just a little bit more from you.

"As much as all of that is exactly what I wanted to hear you missed on little detail" he smiled roguishly, his host persona peeking through "Would you want to spend time here if it wasn't for your job?"  

"Yes, I would come to the bar at least" you replied, careful to keep some of your professional face on so that you didn't need to admit to the fact that you could never afford their services.

"But you wouldn't use the host service?" Seungmin pushed which made you quirk your eyebrow at him.

"I'm not sure the smoke and mirrors are going to be all that believable now that I have seen what's behind it" you shrugged "Plus I'm not sure if you have noticed but you boys are expensive". They laughed loudly at that leaving you hoping that they thought you were joking about their costs.

"Well I guess we will have to set you up some proper host experiences for you over the next few days" Hyunjin smirked at you but his eyes filled with mischief.

"Are you going to tease me about level 5 the whole time I'm here?" you pouted dramatically, rolling your eyes.

"Honestly it might be good if we have you try hosts from each of the tiers so you can write which sort of experience you can get at each level to make it obvious we are only super exclusive at the top end of the scale." Chan agreed, looking at you to gauge your reaction "If that is alright with you I can give you a rough price estimate of each encounter and you can see if it meets the experience you have" he scratched the back of his neck as he continued to watch you.

"That's actually very sensible if you want me to include all the services you have here but if you only want me writing about the first tier or two of the hosts to leave the others more exclusive you wouldn't need to bother setting up more than one or maybe two hosts willing to waste their time with me" you nodded "as long as they will still be paid properly I will feel endlessly guilty stealing their earning time on me".

"Oh they will all be paid, it's for the editorial and therefore good for the overall job we will all be doing so don't worry about them but I think Hyunjin might be right you should sample all the levels so you can experience what each type of guest can expect". Chan mused before getting out his phone to check the booking calendar. "I'll put you with San tonight or perhaps Yunho depending on their bookings, you can be on level 3 then with one of us on level 4 the same and if we get you to agree maybe you could see another room on level 5". You knew your face flushed at his final statement but you couldn't help it. You couldn't escape the connotations that level 5 was going to lead to a full host experience including sex if you agreed and although it was incredibly tempting you didn't know if morally you should. "So you would get the same treatment as our most elite clientele who cannot be seen on the lower floors" Chan finished.

"That is a huge out of pocket cost to you Chan I couldn't possibly accept that" you almost stuttered covering it by clearing your throat.

"I insist, really I should have thought of that sooner" Chan sighed looking back at you with a soft expression "I have San for you tonight so you will get the first tier host experience tonight he has a free opening that you can fill as a favor".

"The last favor I did for you I ended up tipsy" you bit your lips embarrassed.

"That's exactly how the experiences should be though" Hyunjin grinned again, looking like he had won some sort of grand prize.

The rest of the afternoon was spent going over photos with Chan that he had already had taken that you could use for the editorial. Most were only of the establishment that sold how opulent it was so that made your life a little easier to be able to write about each different area and show what was to be expected. The photos of the hosts however were going to be a little more difficult, Chan had given you a hard drive that contained photos of each of the hosts in his employment and not you needed to pick which ones you wanted. You knew you would obviously need to use one of Chan but then should you just use pictures of the hosts you were going to see as part of this experiment or should you pick the most enticing pictures you could find. Unwittingly you stumbled onto some which were virtually softcore porn, some of the escorting hosts had done a series of photos to show off their bodies to entice customers, Hyunjin with his suit jacket off and his shirt open, Chan in just his suit pants his tie undone and hanging loosely around his neck, Changbin flexing his large muscular arms and Felix laying in silk sheets looking sinful. You could feel your face heating up but you couldn't stop staring at him, Felix even in this far more sensual pose was still so painfully beautiful that you didn't want to stop looking even though you knew you shouldn't be seeing him like that.

Shaking your head to clear the lust that was begging to cloud your eyes you walked to Chan's office to see if it was empty so you could get ready, it was now almost opening hours and you couldn't be late to your appointment with San. That would be most rude. You slipped into a royal blue satin dress that was simple yet flattering to emphasized your hips and chest while remaining not too low cut or short so appropriate you figured to be just another guest in a bar and not someone begging for attention, you fixed your makeup adding to what you were already wearing and returned to the waiting room to pack up your laptop and notes. Stepping back into the room you heard a soft whistle.

"Each dress makes you look more enchanting than the last" Felix smiled, taking your hand and twirling you.

"Thank you Felix, I thought I should look a bit more expensive since I'm spending a week here, don't want to make the place look shabby" you grinned feeling thrilled with his compliment.

"You always look beautiful" Felix reassured "and San is a lucky boy tonight getting to spend his time with you, we are all very jealous he whispered leaning in as though he was telling you secret information.

"I doubt I'm that interesting to him Felix" you chuckled, feeling warmth spreading through you at his words and the feeling of his breath on your skin.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get another coffee tomorrow? Before you have to come in to work some more" He asked softly without the host bravado that he showed out on the floors above.

"I would like that very much" you nodded, catching your bottom lip in your teeth as nerves suddenly set into your stomach.

"Can I have your number to text you so we can organize it?" he continued smoothly, seeming more confident at your reaction, handing you his phone you added your details and gave it back to him quickly. "Can I escort you out to find San?" he offered easily, his arm already in position for you to take.

"Thank you Felix" you grinned, taking his arm and allowing him to lead you out into the bar. 

San stood casually by the bar and appeared to be scanning the room for you as his eyes stopped on you the moment you appeared with Felix, smiling at him nervously you made your way over to him only for Felix to lean in and whisper something in his ear before turning his attention back to you.

"Enjoy your evening Miss R" he grinned cheekily allowing San to take his place at your side moving back into the crowd you assumed to tend to his own booked guest.

"You look gorgeous Miss R" San drawled softly his arm slipping behind you to guide you towards the stairs "We will be heading up to level 3 tonight so that I can thoroughly indulge your every whim"

"Thank you San" you almost blushed at the seductive tone his voice had taken on "you look very attractive yourself". With his arm wrapped protectively around your waist he led you to and from the elevator into the booth that had been arranged for you, it seemed to be further back towards the bar which seemed to give off the illusion of even more privacy as he pulled the curtains around you after helping you into the booth. The deep red velvet absorbing the outside noise enough for you to almost feel like you were alone with San.

Reaching just behind you, San pushed a discreet button which summoned a waiter with a bottle of chilled wine and San discreetly thanked him before pouring you a glass.

"So Miss R, tell me about you, tell me about what you have always wanted" San smiled one eyebrow raised

"You know about my job already San" you blinked wondering where he was going with this.

"Not your job, about what you want in life, kitten your future" he chuckled softly, his eyes trained on you with a softness that made you feel safe.

"I want to be a serious journalist, it’s still pretty male dominated in the world of journalism and women don’t seem to get a look in when it comes to crime reporting or heavier news. We are always left with lifestyle and beauty and I want more than that” you answered sincerely letting your guard down a little knowing that San wouldn’t admonish you for having aspirations.

“Aren’t you a serious journalist now? Looking into the seedy underbelly of hosting?” he smiled slyly leaning back into the plush velvet seat back and extending his arm behind you.

“That’s not what this is San, and you know it” you almost sighed knowing that he was only playing his role.

“I know but you are still taking your job seriously and working diligently on this editorial, I know your work will be noticed, how could it not be?” he encouraged, letting his arm drop from the top of the seat to sitting comfortably around your waist. You shivered unintentionally at his touch even through the layers of fabric that separated your skin, it was becoming very clear why Chan’s hosts were as in demand as they were.

“What do you want to do in your life, San?” you tilted your head to look at him through your fluffy eyelashes. 

“Being a host can have a short shelf life depending on how good you are” he explained gesturing around you both “you have more options if you move into a more companion business but it's not guaranteed” he shrugged casually as he finished topping up your glass.

“Companionship?” you knew it was probably a dumb question but you had to ask.

“Escorting” he chuckled watching your face change to one of understanding “guys like Chan or Minho will stay handsome well into their 30s and 40s so they can continue the work for as long as they like. But hosts have to be young to flatter the woman seeing them that's part of the fantasy”.

“So is escorting the plan then?” You questioned breezily hoping it wouldn't come across as an interview.

“Maybe, or I could open my own place” he smirked cheekily “would you visit me if I did?”

“San!” you fake gasped clutching invisible pearls at your throat “how scandalous”. You dissolved into giggles that were helped along by the bubbles you were drinking.

“Well I'll take that as a yes” he laughed heartily, shifting himself closer to your side and another waiter appeared through the curtain to deliver another bottle of wine. “What else do you have planned for your life? It can’t be all work and no play?” 

“I want to travel. I want to see as much of the world as I can. So Paris, Milan, Prague, Rio, Nepal I want to see everything. But mostly I want to find someone who won't push me into a life I don't want" you replied slowly each thought coming out of your mouth without being filtered by your better judgment as the rapport you felt with San felt real even if that was just the alcohol and his excellent acting.

"I would love to travel too" San nodded, "I would love to see the world with you" , his sly smile feeling very flirty as you sipped from your glass.

"With me?" you blinked the wine making its way through your system and removing a little more of your inhibitions.

"Of course a beautiful woman like you should be fed dessert in fancy restaurants, doted on completely while shopping and being bought every single thing that brings you joy, and worshiped nightly in every place you wanted to stay. How could any man not want to be the one giving you that life" San purred, sliding himself closer to you so he was now touching you with the whole side of his body, the warmth from his chest seeping through his suit and into you "I couldn't think of a more enjoyable way to spend my time than making love to you in moonlight in Paris or Prague".

You swallowed hard, your surprise was probably obvious to San but after a moment you remembered this was an act, San was being paid to charm you and say all the right things. Once again he topped up your glass, when he lent closer to speak to you his breath fanned across your skin giving you goosebumps at the thought.

"You are very good at this San" you smiled, turning slightly more towards him.

"But not that good as you can still see what I'm doing" he chuckled, breaking the sexy character slightly and showing the more playful side that you had already met.

"I wouldn't say that I was very swept up" you admitted softly making him grin further "But I should be letting you get back to actual paying guests".

"Stay just a little longer no unnecessary flirting I promise" San faux pouted before breaking into a grin.

"Oh no don't pout like that I can't say no to that face" you giggled the wine now making you feel a little less professional and a little more cheeky.

"Ah I found a weakness" he almost crowed proudly "I will have to make sure the following guys know".

"You wouldn't betray me like that would you San" you pouted in return trying not to laugh as his eyes widened at your reaction.

"You are not meant to get upset" he whined as you melted into giggles.

"Happily tipsy looks very, very good on you" San quipped once again leaning back into the plush fabric of the booth.

"You're being paid to say that" you challenged, raising your eyebrow at him before leaning towards him "It's nice to be flattered though".

"I'm not being paid to tell you the truth I'm paid to make a fantasy and this isn't fantasy" San replied honestly as a new waiter reappeared with a tray containing several dishes that you weren't expecting San instantly picked up on your confusion his pretty laugh filling the booth "Chan wanted you to have a full experience and with our level of host that includes dinner so he ordered for you, I hope that is alright".

"Of course he did" you rolled your eyes making San's laughter continue "that man knows no limits when it comes to flaunting the sense of opulence does he?".

"He does but he wants to make sure you can write a proper review and that is worth every cent to him" San's eyes were still crinkled into attractive little moons.

"I do appreciate where he is coming from but surely he knows I am writing a favorable editorial by now" you continued watching San carefully watching for any sort of tell to show he was being disingenuous.

"I'll be honest I figured you would stop staying after the opening hours if you hated it. Just do your interviews then leave" he shrugged carefully, portioning a fork full of lobster that he then brought to your mouth to try, his other hand hovering under your chin to catch anything that might fall. Strangely enough you found yourself opening your mouth for him to place the lobster against your tongue before grinning at you.

"I forget you are all strangely perceptive about women" you lopsidedly grinned savoring the delicious buttery taste “Is feeding me also part of the experience?”

"It's all part of the deal kitten" San laughed lightly winking at you for dramatic effect. You ate the rest of the meal chatting with San about anything and everything before letting him lead you back downstairs where he told you Chan had arranged a car to get you home, because Chan really did think of everything.

Waking slowly, after having more drinks in the past week than you were used to, you were very happy to write the rest of your editorial, you had everything you were going to need you would just add a few bits and pieces about the experiences that Chan had decided to give you but the rest, including the photographs, was now ready to be fully drafted and read over by one of your editors. You attached the draft to an email saying that there was still one more page that needed to be done but that they could go over the first few and the photos that Chan had graciously provided to make sure that it was what they were looking for before you started getting ready for your day and your potential coffee catch up with Felix. 

Getting together your outfit for the day and choosing your outfit for that night was a very strange experience. You had been dressing yourself with a little more care to spend your days looking as nice as you possibly could but picking your outfit for the evenings had so far been a little daunting, it was a need to look the part of the patron so that everything looked normal to anyone who viewed you in Club 143 but also wanting to look attractive and even a little sexy just because you wanted to see how whoever you were paired with would react. Each outfit had been a little more daring; the emerald dress you had been far more form fitting around your chest, the blue had flattered your figure making you feel more womanly and tonight’s outfit was a form fitting silky burgundy dress with fine straps and a low cut back and a slit up the thigh. 

Arriving at Club 143 after lunch you had still not heard from Felix but it didn’t really surprise you he had been booked out every single night you had been there to observe and he must have been needing to catch up on sleep. You continued through the bar waving to the staff you had already seen several times and making your way to Chan’s office to drop off your things before making yourself comfortable in the normal corner of the waiting room. It was still quiet none of the hosts had arrived yet and you passed the time talking to the bar staff and writing up thoughts that you could flesh out later about the next level of host experience, even though you were yet to find out who you were going to be paired with. Chan arrived two hours later and waved as he passed you talking on the phone to someone before entering his office and closing the door.

“All by yourself again?” a very familiar voice asked from the doorway behind you.

“I guess I am Felix, how was your night?” You smiled to yourself before turning your head towards him.

“It was work-like” he shrugged, plopping himself down in the chair opposite you.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” you mused furrowing your eyebrows as you took in his appearance, he was still beautiful as ever but his eyes looked a little more downcast than you had seen them before.

“Both I guess” he sighed “It was profitable but it was just going through the motions, some nights are just more routine than others although I rarely have interesting ones” he admitted, his eyes flicking downwards before making contact with yours again.

“I never really thought about how all this must just be a day at the office for you guys, not everyday being enjoyable, some just tedious” you frowned slightly, the few glimpses you had been given of the darker side of the job were very unappealing to you.

“It’s not that any of us hate it” Felix countered “It’s just that it can get monotonous the same vapid women, the same fake interactions, the same facade over and over again but there are always going to have perks most of the time it's very easy to still see the attractive woman underneath who just wants to feel worshiped but sometimes you do come across women who you cannot find a single good quality about”.

“Hmm” you hummed not really knowing what to say. It made you feel a bit awful that there were nights that he had to pretend to feel attracted to someone and then have sex with them even though he had no interest in them.

“Let's talk about something else” he smiled trying to pick the mood back up “maybe we should have that coffee now” 

“Sure” you nodded hoping you would be able to perhaps make him feel a little better. Felix got up and went towards the kitchens to ask them for coffee you assumed and you were back to being alone saving your notes for later you decided to perhaps email Chan a draft copy of what you had written but he was still in his office so you didn’t want to disturb his work. Felix returned and offered his hand to you.

“Come on, follow me” with a mischievous glimmer in his eye you took his hand and allowed him to lead you to the elevator where he quickly swiped his key card before hitting the button to the fifth floor.

“Felix, where are you taking me?” you whispered a small smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

“Do you trust me?” he grinned impishly, not giving you any further explanation.

“Yes” you answered instantly, surprising even yourself by your own admission.

“Then you will see when we get there” he teased stepping closer to you. The door dinged and opened showing you the navy blue hallway that Can had shown you once before. Taking your hand in his again he beckoned you to follow him until he stopped at door 3, the room you had already seen briefly. “I’m not breaking any rules in showing you the room you have already seen” he soothed after noticing the slight trepidation in your eyes.

“You can read everything about me can’t you?” you contemplated following him into the room where there were already two hot coffees and two pieces of cake waiting for you in the lounge area of the large room.

“Not everything which is why you are so interesting” Felix clarified “Your honesty is what masks things from us, we all find it fascinating that you can see through the act without much trouble but also never judge us or behave as though you are better than us”.

“That’s because I am not better than you” you uttered feeling a little confused “I’m just a person like you Felix, like all the guys that work here”. You sat at one end of the lounge opposite him taking your cup and sipping from it.

“That right there is why every host here wants to have their five minutes to talk to you” he grinned toothily “A few sentences and you make us all feel better about a world of different things”.

“You are being too kind” you argued softly.

“You are selling yourself short” he shot back the dazzling smile still on his face “We had several media sources wanting to cover this opening mostly because it aligns them with the powerful women who come here whether they are CEO’s in their own right or the wives and girlfriends of powerful men. All of them spoke with Chan but you were the only one who didn’t speak down to him as though he was just another whore. You treated Chan with respect and with honest interest which is why your publication got the job”. Felix’s explanation hit you like a truck. You had been the one to volunteer for the position to pitch the editorial and also write it when your boss had mentioned it and your coworkers had seemed to have no interest but you hadn’t realized that there were other media companies vying for the same editorial.

“Who else did he speak to?” you asked concerned that maybe the job would have been done better by one of your competitors and Chan had only settled for you.

“SM Media Inc, KQ Publishing, YG Multimedia Co. None of them would have done as good a job as you” he shrugged again eating a mouthful of cake.

“Well I’m pleased he wanted me for the job. I'll send him the article before it’s published so he can go over it” you nodded slowly considering how you would get away with changing the editorial you had already sent in for viewing if he hated it. Felix laughed heartily, he seemed to be taking great pleasure in watching the cogs move around in your head.

“So tell me what else you do in your life Felix? I want to know something you have not told me yet” you smirked, making him stop laughing and turn serious again.

Returning back downstairs you found that half a dozen other hosts had arrived including Hyunjin who blew you a kiss as you walked past him, and also that Chan had emerged from his office. He stood from behind his desk and wandered into the waiting room as he noticed you pass by his office doorway

“So I realized that it might be a better idea to let you choose who you would like for your last host experience” Chan smiled kindly watching you take a seat and log yourself back into your laptop to continue working.

“Oh really? I assumed it would be whoever didn't have a booking” you blinked looking at him with curiosity as he continued over to where you were sitting.

“Well if I asked for volunteers I think Hyunjin would have fallen over himself to put his name down, and I'll admit I wouldn't mind it being me either but it should be your choice so you are totally comfortable” he continued a slight glint in his eye making you unsure if he was teasing you or not while Hyunjin nodded vigorously just behind him

“Well who have you decided I'll be seeing tonight?” you raised your eyebrow at him.

“Tonight you're with yours truly” he grinned smugly, making Hyunjin and Seungmin roll their eyes in unison.

“Let me think about it then” you smiled, laughter coloring your voice as you began typing up a few more notes.

“Booking is at 9 Miss R” he chuckled, heading back towards his office door.

“I won’t be late” you called after him.

You started changing at 8 o’clock sharpe so that you would have enough time to get your hair and makeup sorted as well as changing. Chan was nowhere to be seen so you assumed he was out on one of the floors or entertaining another guest which allowed you to take your time. When you finally emerged it was almost time for you to meet him so you opened his office door and stepped into the waiting room.

“Woah!” Jeongin whistled, looking you up and down slowly.

“Thank you Jeongin” you flushed slightly, your hands moving to smooth invisible wrinkles in the fabric.

“Would you like an escort to find Chan?” he offered a wide smile, his eyes turning into pleasant little moons as he offered his arm to you.

“Actually, yes please” you breathed knowing that he would probably see your nerves if you tried to hide them.

“You don’t need to be nervous Miss R. Chan doesn’t bite unless you ask him to and even then you would need to ask nicely” Jeongin joked trying to alleviate your fears.

I’ll try to remember that for the editorial then” you laughed lightly feeling slightly better.

Stepping onto the level 4 with Jeongin was a little odd. You could still see Changbin and Han entertaining two girls who looked like sisters in one booth and Minho leading his client towards another booth. The curtains of two others were pulled closed already meaning they were full but all the others were only half closed or still empty. 

“Here you go Miss R, step this way” Jeongin pulls aside one of the half pulled curtains to reveal Chan in all his glory leaning against the side of the booth watching the empty portions of the room.

“Not even a second late” Chan chuckled, offering you his hand to take as Jeongin winked at you before leaving. Helping you to get comfortably seating he moved to pull the curtain closed giving you a single glimpse of Felix who was looking straight at you, eyes wide, and distinctly not at the woman beside him who looked every bit the beautiful and rich CEO, his slight frown before the curtain separated you leaving you with an odd feeling in the pit of your stomach.

“So gorgeous, are you ready for me?” Chan’s velvety voice surrounded you like honey as you turned your face towards him. You had obviously spent time with Chan, you had even seen the professional photos that they had all had taken but it hit you like a lightning strike just how easy it would be to be wooed by him in this setting.

“You look devine tonight” he purred, sliding a little closer to you, watching you closely he slowly took your hand to kiss the inside of your wrist “you also don’t need to be nervous”.

“I was told you wouldn’t bite unless I asked you nicely” you tilted your head to gauge his reaction.

“For you I would do anything if you asked me nicely or not” you raised one eyebrow almost challengingly making you swallow hard and your eyes widened slightly.

“Good to know” you breathed a flush creeping across your cheeks.

“I was told by a reputable source that you like sweet things” he continued with a teasing smile gracing his handsome face as a waiter appeared with a tray of cocktails “so I took some liberties and ordered you some dessert”.

Placing down two cocktails you could see quite obviously that Chan had asked the others what you had drank, eaten and spoken about because the chocolate martini that was for you was very close to a favorite drink of yours.

“Thank you Chan” you whispered, picking up your glass to sip at it, your mouth suddenly very dry.

“I also heard you do not want to be placed in a cage” his dark cinnamon eyes made you feel like he could see into your soul.

“San has loose lips it seems” you added the corners of your mouth twitching as his grin increased.

“No, I am just incredibly persuasive when it comes to you” he advised sipping his own drink which to you looked very much the opposite of your drink. Chan seemed very good at keeping you somewhere between flustered and hypnotized but after a few more moments your brain caught up.

“I can see the difference now, from level three to level 4” you admitted coyly relaxing your posture slightly “San was particularly good but you are exceptional at this”. Chan faulted slightly before breaking into a breathtaking grin.

“I have to say you are quite remarkable at seeing through the act, it’s a bit of a rare gift” he hummed approvingly “Had to admit it’s a little bit of a turn on actually”. You coughed as you almost inhaled your drink at his words making him chuckle at you.

“Did you actually say that or did I imagine that?” you sniffed trying to regain your composure.

“No I said it, Hyunjin told me it was a completely different feeling watching you see straight through our usual way of working and I get now why he wanted to take you upstairs” Chan divulged “San let me know that you were the most fun he has had so far and you seem to have bewitched our little Felix”. Your jaw dropped slightly allowing Chan to slide closer to you lifting one finger to shut it again for you his fingers then moving to grasp your chin gently tilting your face towards his. It felt magnetic like you were being drawn closer to him every second but the illusion was shattered when you heard a loud shrill laugh from somewhere outside the curtained bubble you were in.

“I think perhaps I need another drink” you murmured as Chan dropped his hand away from you. He tilted his head slightly and a waiter appeared as if summoned, although you were sure CHan was just more subtle about the button to call the staff than San.

“Can we have another round and bring dessert this time please” Chan instructed smoothly not moving away from you instead slipping out of his jacket, leaving him in only a black shirt with no tie.

“The drink isn’t dessert then?” you mused, thinking he had been mentioning the sweet drink earlier.

“No I have something far more substantial for you, after all I need to leave a sweet taste in your mouth from the experience” he flirted effortlessly knowing that the choice of words would push you just a little.

“Still hoping I’ll come back after this editorial is done then?” you teased back knowingly

“Oh I have no doubt you will come back, I’m hoping to sway you to come back to level 3 or 4” he cheekily retorted, his dimples shining.

“Well Mr Bang that all depends on what you have got for me?” you giggled as the waiter reappeared and stopped Chan’s comeback in its tracks. Placing down another martini for you excused himself to collect the rest of Chan’s request. Moments later he reappeared with a tray full of what looked like chocolate truffles and strawberries dusted with gold flakes.

“As with San last night I like to go all out” Chan grinned like a cat that got the cream “We get these in from France they are made with the finest Swiss chocolate and the best French champagne”. He lifted one off the tray and brought it to your lips which you opened keeping your eyes locked on his. He was right they were the most delicious chocolate you had ever eaten and you were quite alright with the idea of sitting drinking your martini with him feeding you, but you assumed that was due to the rather strong cocktail you had already drunk and the one you were about to start. You continued chatting to Chan a little more casually after he started hand feeding you strawberries and chocolate until you had accidentally had a third martini and your head was actually fuzzy.

“Would you like another drink or would you like something else?” Chan murmured sensually his lips only inches from your ear.

“I think I’m good” you smiled lazily, enjoying the warmth of his breath on your neck.

“I’m sure you are very good gorgeous, but that wasn’t what I meant” he quipped leaning in closer so his lips brushed your earlobe making you involuntarily shudder “I love that you are so eager to please, such a perfect little tease”.

Your brain wasn’t fast enough to react with wit instead opting to just hum and let him get even closer to you, being ever the gentleman Chan gave you time to respond between each gentle touch of his fingers running down you bare back, each brush of his lips against your skin until you were almost embarrassingly pliant.

“Tell me to stop and I will, gorgeous” he whispered huskily in your ear before actually pressing his lips to your neck making you gasp softly turning your head toward him. Following the line of your jaw Chan kissed his way to you lips each one slightly more passionate than the last until his lips pressed against yours. His soft plump lips felt stupidly good against your own especially when he dragged your bottom lip between them using his teeth and making you sigh with pleasure, his tongue traced the seam of your lips teasing you and hoping you would allow entrance which you did too caught up in the moment and the alcohol to be thinking quick enough to stop yourself. 

“Mmm… wait Chan stop” you slurred slightly as he broke away from your lips to kiss his way to your earlobe, your brain finally registering what you were doing. To his immense credit Chan did stop instantly removing not only his lips and hands from you but also sliding away from you so you were no longer touching.

“I apologize” he replied instantly “I didn't mean to overstep”.

“You didn’t, not really, I’m just a little too drunk for this to be a good idea” you admitted trying to shift the alcohol from your brain so you could think better.

“I will get you a car home” Chan smiled genuinely, his eyes shining with something that looked a little like admiration and a little like affection.

“Thank you” you swallowed as Chan moved to help you stand from the booth, steadying you by wrapping his arm around your waist as he walked you to the elevator. Moving past the tables you saw the booth that Felix was in earlier still occupied which gave you a strange sense of relief that he was still on this floor and not the one above but that was shattered we the curtain opened and you saw him, his arms wrapped around his patron feeding her strawberries the same way Chan had fed them to you. You looked away quickly hoping that both Chan and Felix would not notice but you had a feeling that Chan already had as he pulled you slightly tighter against his side as the elevator doors opened stepping inside you turned towards the closing doors to see Felix’s face fall as his eyes landed on you for the brief moment before the door separated you both.

Chan led you to his office to collect your things, easily carrying both your bags on one of his arms making sure you were stable enough to not hurt yourself. He mentioned to the driver that he was to escort you into the building and help you with your bags before taking your hand in his and kissing your knuckles.

“We will see you tomorrow Ms R” he beamed, helping you with your seatbelt even though it was unnecessary.

“But we haven’t talked about tomorrow’s host experience” you protested, suddenly aware that you hadn’t even discussed the topic properly yet. You felt yourself flush, hoping that Chan wouldn't notice it over the pink already dusting your cheeks from the alcohol you had been drinking.

“Good thing I had already put him aside for you then” his eyes twinkled as he spoke and his dimples were on full display.

“What?” You stammered “I haven’t told you yet”.

“I know, Felix asked to host you if you requested him and I figured you would. You seem to have already formed an attachment to each other” He continued before chuckling.

“Goodnight Chan'' you mumbled a tad embarrassed that you were so transparent to him.

“Goodnight Miss R” Chan replied teasingly, shutting the door and allowing the driver to take you home.

The following morning was not as pleasant as the previous few mornings, you woke up nursing a headache and a mortifying recollection of embarrassing events where you had almost let yourself take things too far with Chan then practically told him of your little crush on Felix, which you realized the night before was exactly that, a crush, there was no way that you would ever entertain the idea that a grown woman like yourself would end up with a silly little crush on a man you were writing about. It was the least professional thing you had ever done and now you needed to turn up at the same place that he worked and face not only him but his boss who knew about it. You needed to distract yourself. You needed coffee and something sweet for breakfast then perhaps you would feel better.

You washed up and got dressed into a simple shirt and jeans before venturing out for the sustenance you needed to help with your predicament. You knew deep down you hadn’t actually done anything wrong, the host experience is to sell a fantasy of feeling loved or desired or more often than not both and that every single one of Chan’s hosts lived up to that. Each fantasy they created absolutely made you feel that the average woman they saw would have been totally swept off her feet by them. You, once tipsy, were almost swept up in it too so you knew they were good, you knew they were worth the money but still a little part of you was sad it was all just a fantasy and potentially the hosts themselves were not as happy as they seemed.

Your constant thoughts had made you almost miss the door to the cafe you were heading to. It was almost a twenty minute walk from your apartment but the coffee was so good you would happily make the trip. Moving your way through the few filled tables you found yourself an empty seat and sat down looking through your phone as you waited to order. The quiet chatter and the smell of freshly ground coffee gave you some much needed comfort after your order was taken sitting staring into space. You barely registered your phone's message alert, checking it you noticed it was from an unknown number, you frowned but opened it anyway.

 Hey. It’s Felix, are you alright after last night? I saw you leave the floor with Chan so I wanted to check in.

 You read it twice to make sure you had read it correctly then smiled of course the first text he sent you and it’s asking about your welfare, he was too sweet for his own good and that was the problem. He was otherworldly beautiful and far too sweet which of course is what made him so successful as a host, but it also made him too attractive to you. Sighing you thought about how you would reply you didn’t want to sound like it was a flippant thing given he was concerned but you didn’t want him to think the worse either.

Hi Felix, I’m ok just nursing a little bit of a headache but I’ll be fine by the time I head in this afternoon. I hope you had a successful night.

You put your phone down to concentrate on the pancakes that had been delivered to you. The sugar and dough no doubt likely to help with how you felt you would just need to remember to pace yourself a little bit better tonight.

That’s great, I’m glad you’re feeling alright. I know Chan has a tendency to be a little intense sometimes, especially on the 5th floor. I saw on my schedule you're with me tonight so I’ll do my best to keep you entertained :) 

You stopped completely, almost dropping your fork, as you looked over the message coughing when some of the pancake you were eating went down the wrong way. Felix had assumed you had gone upstairs and had sex with Chan. Your stomach dropped, you didn’t want any of them thinking that you had, but especially Felix, because you hadn’t. Sipping some water you blinked the stray moisture from your eyes that the coughing fit had caused and pressed the call button.

“Sorry to call Felix but this is easier to explain than text” you blurted as soon as he answered his phone.

“That’s fine Miss R, you sound stressed, are you sure you feel well?” he asked, his voice sounding concerned against the noise in the background of his surroundings. 

“I really am fine, just a headache, but I had to correct you. I didn't go to level 5 last night. I got a little too tipsy and Chan took me downstairs to put me in a car to get me home. I swear nothing happened with Chan” You explained your tone at a higher pitch than normal making you sip your water again to soothe your throat.

“It’s fine if you did, I wouldn’t judge you for that the way you don’t judge me” Felix reassured you, sounding almost relieved if you were honest with yourself. You let out a large breath making him chuckle slightly.

“I didn’t want you to think the wrong thing that’s all but about tonight Chan told me that I would be able to be in with you since you had an opening which I was surprised about actually” you admitted shyly a flush decorating your neck as you spoke.

“Oh you requested me then” he teased sweetly “Well I’m happy to be your first pick and I’m glad I had an opening”.

“I will see you tonight then Felix” you added not knowing what else to say.

“You will Miss R” he replied, hanging up instantly and leaving you staring at your phone. God, you felt even more embarrassed calling him to assure him you hadn’t had sex with anyone, in public, when he didn’t even seem to mind. You finished your breakfast quickly before returning home so you could overthink every word you had said over the past week while you picked out the final outfit from your closet for your final night at Club 143.

You settled on the outfit that most made you think of Felix a black off the shoulder mini dress with a flippy hem, like the one you had tried on in the department store the morning you had run into him, and simple black pumps. You decided you would just add some winged eyeliner to your everyday look and maybe some bolder lipstick to take it from regular working to host experience working and hoped it would be enough to make a slight impression on Felix so that he would at least potentially remember you after the night was over and you had left his life. Furrowing your brow you looked at yourself in the mirror your bag packed behind you on the bed to change and your simple jeans and a square necked top you were utterly plain compared to every single host you had met, and although they had all been sweet and accommodating during the past week with them you couldn’t help feel a little sad it was over. You did suppose that Chan had a point you could always just attend Club 143 as a patron you didn’t need to buy their time you could always just say hello in passing and pretend that it was enough, pretend it didn’t feel strange that they pretended so well to almost become friends to actually not be at all.

Collecting your bags you made your way back to work taking the slow and scenic way wandering the neighboring streets to see what else was around. Finally making your way into the main entrance you were greeted like you had been before by Chan’s bar and floor staff before entering into the staff area to set up your laptop with the final bits of writing you would need to add. It was later than you normally showed up and Chan was in his office with several of his elite hosts so you just bypassed his office for now. Your editor had sent back a few tweaks for you to make to the editorial but was overall quite supportive and approving of what you had come up with so it was just finishing up the experience with San and writing out Chan’s before finishing it all tomorrow and submitting it. For the final draft stages. You started typing, noting to yourself to add a head shot of both San and Yunho to hopefully further their customer base as a thank you for their time, only to hear a huge roar of laughter from Chan’s office making you jump. 

“Miss R” Seungmin sang as he wandered out of the office towards you. “Could you join us for a moment?”.

“Of course Seungmin” you eyed him warily, making him waggle his eyebrows at you “what are you getting me into?”.

“Nothing bad. We just want to go over last night with you” he grinned his eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Well shit” you sighed, standing slowly and following him into Chan’s office. 

“We were just talking about your date with Chan” Seungmin started as you stepped through the door.

“Yeah and how you disappeared with our dear boss” Hyunjin grinned, making you look at the ceiling for help.

“Chan claims he cannot kiss and tell, but we are pretty sure we know where you ended up” Changbin teased, looking from you to Chan.

“Really? And where was that?” you mocked his tone slightly making Chan grin and Minho laugh loudly.

“Upstairs of course” Hyunjin whispered, shouting dramatically as though he was helping you jog your memory, making Changbin snicker.

“Really? Because I’m pretty sure upstairs looks nothing like the inside of a car. Or my apartment block for that matter” you replied dryly, making Chan and Seungmin laugh while Hyunjin’s jaw dropped and Changbin looked confused.

“Felix said he saw you getting in the lift with Chan and that Chan gave a thumbs up” Changbin argued as though you didn’t know where you had been.

“Felix did see me get in the elevator, but you do know that elevators go both up and down” you tried to hold in a laugh at the indignant look on Changbin’s face.

“So you didn’t go upstairs with Chan?” Hyunjin repeated.

“I did not” you laughed “How much money did you have riding on that?”.

“More than they should have” Chan smirked as Hyunjin opened and closed his mouth a few times.

‘Can I finish my editorial now? Or did we need to discuss the sex I didn’t have with Chan further?” you raised your eyebrows waiting for one of them to answer.

“You go back to work Miss R” Chan smiled “I think Hyunjin will be bringing you a coffee in a little while”.

“Aw thank you Hyunjin” you grinned, walking back to your chair and going back to what you needed to get done. Still having the occasional giggle about the conversation you just had.

By the time the other hosts started appearing and it was time for you to start getting ready you were beginning to get nervous. An elite host experience Chan had called it and it was exclusive to only those willing to pay a small fortune to spend time in private with a host of their choice. Felix would probably meet you out in the bar like you had done with San since you were heading straight up to level five and bypassing the other host floors. There would be dinner and you would have Felix all to yourself for the whole night which was a huge amount of time compared to the other experiences Chan had his hosts offer. Closing down your laptop you packed away all of your work items and moved towards Chan’s office to change.

“Am I able to use your office again to get changed or are you still busy?” you enquired sticking your head into his office where he was sitting at his desk already decked out in his deep gray suit. Chan got up and walked over to you taking your work bag from your hands and placing it beside his desk

"Sure and what color are you wearing tonight? just out of interest" Chan smirked stepping out into the staff area.

"Black" Felix answered for you before you could say a word, his voice surrounding you like smoke.

"How did you know I bought a black dress?" you turn towards his voice, your eyes widening the moment you saw him in his satin black suit jacket looking like a model straight off the catwalk.

"Oh I didn't know that I just knew what I bought" he smiled dazzlingly, holding out a large white gift bag tied with a deep red ribbon.

"I don't understand" you mumble, your brow creasing in confusion looking at the bag before he took hold of your hand and placed the handles of the bag in your palm, closing your fingers around it.

"You didn't think you could try on that dress and look that good and I wouldn't insist you wear it?" He smirked, leaning forward and lowering his voice.

"You didn't!" you squealed loudly as he laughed and wandered out into the bar you guessed so he was out of the room before you could argue back.

"What dress are we talking about?" Chan asked, perplexed, his eyes scanning the bag for a label.

"Oh is that the McQueen one? Felix said she looked a million dollars is that one" Hyunjin grinned following Felix's trail through the room and stopping beside you.

“No!...he’s not allowed to do that…fuck where did he go?” you scoffed while still holding the bag.

“He is and he did” Hyunjin winked at you “Now go put the dress on so I can see if he was right”. You gave a resigned sigh you knew this would be a battle you would never win. Too many rich boys with too much money was always going to end in stupid decisions like buying dresses for women they barely knew because they could.

Turning silently you went into Chan’s office and shut the door but not before hearing Hyunjin announce loudly that you were about to knock their socks off so they should all wait around for a bit. You unwrapped the dress carefully, trying to not mess up the ribbon or the tissue paper it was wrapped so beautifully in, your fingers caressing the silk that you had already tried on and secretly loved but had thought you would never in a million years own. Your eyes stung slightly as a stray tear fought to make its way free of your eye, Felix’s gesture proving that his kindness and sweetness knew no bounds and that you and your little crush were doomed to an inevitable heartbreak at the end of the night. Slipping out of your clothes and into the dress you remembered you were going to struggle with the zip again.

“Hyunjin?” you called through the door

“Yes princess” he called back obviously just outside the door.

“Who is waiting out there with you?” you asked as sweetly as you could.

“Oh! There is Chan, Minho, Hongjoon, San, Yunho, Seungmin and of course me” he listed off.

“Excellent” you popped your head out of the door “San can you help me with the zipper please?” you smiled as he grinned and stood up immediately.

“Wait, I can help” Hyunjin protested.

“I know, but I asked San” you quipped as San moved past Hyunjins disappointed face and into the room with you.

“You look exquisite” San whispered appreciatively as you turned around, his fingers easily sliding the zipper up your back.

“Thank you San” you smiled genuinely as you turned back to face him.

“Felix is a lucky, lucky man” he smiled lopsidedly before slipping back out of the room which caused Hyunjin to protest all over again.

You fixed your makeup and took a steadying breath, your nerves were now sky high but you knew there was no turning back now so you stepped out of Chan's office and into a room filled with silence, except for San’s whistle. 

“You look incredible” Chan grinned, taking your hand and kissing your knuckles.

“Thank you Chan” you smiled while worrying your lower lip slightly between your teeth.

“You look far better than just a million dollars” Hyunjin whispered reverently, his eyes wide.

“You are going to make me blush if you keep complimenting me” you shuffled on your feet slightly. 

“Can I escort you out to meet Felix?” Yunho interrupted getting in before any of the others could say anything else.

“That would be amazing, Yunho” you grinned at him as he raced across the room to take your hand and place it in the crook of his arm. You didn’t feel any different stepping out of the staff area into the bar, it was the same as every other evening the difference was going to be when you came face to face with Felix.

“You don’t need to be nervous” Yunho muttered trying to hide he was speaking to you from prying eyes “Felix won’t do anything you don’t want him to, and there is no expectation on you” his hand squeezed yours where it sat in the crease of his elbow “I didn’t even know you could get nervous”.

“Funny Yunho, I’m not immune to everything” you whispered in reply knowing he was right everything that would happen tonight would be the same as all the previous nights you had spent in the club. The ball was entirely in your court. 

Yunho walked you to the entrance where Felix stood waiting for you, several women trying to get his attention but being politely declined until his eyes landed on you.

“Excuse me ladies, my queen awaits” he smiled graciously, walking towards you and Yunho. Yunho for all his imposing presence disappeared effortlessly into the crowd as Felix stepped into your space to take your hand moving it to his lips to kiss the inside of your wrist softly.

“Felix” you smiled coyly, making his perfect face light up as he moved to wrap his arm around your waist to lead you to the elevator.

“You look bewitching” he breathed in your ear making you shiver against him which seemed to only encourage him into pulling you tighter against him. Virtually every woman in the bar watched you with envy at being beside him.

“You look incredibly handsome yourself” you replied feeling more comfortable now that you were with Felix again. He grinned as he stepped into the elevator swiping his card to get you to the exclusive fifth floor starting what you knew would be a once in a lifetime night.

“Chan made sure you had seen one room when he gave you the tour so now I can show you a second” Felix broke the silence between you.

“Did you pick which room you would show me?” you tilted your head to look at his profile.

“Yes, because it's a particular favorite of nearly all of us hosts” he admitted, easily meeting your eyes.

“A favorite as in it makes you guys a lot of money or favorite as you guys actually like being in that room?” you teased gently 

“We like being in this room, it's the easiest to make comfortable for clients who perhaps aren’t interested in certain things” he carefully explained letting you know before you even reached the room that there would be no pressure on you.

“Good to know” you beamed as the elevator door opened to the navy blue hallway. Taking your hand he led you down the hallway passing door number three and leading you to door number 8. Unlocking the door he allowed you to step inside the room first letting you take in your surroundings before wrapping his arms smoothly around you from behind.

The room was the opposite of what you expected it wasn’t some overly ostentatious room styled after a luxury hotel room instead the blue and gold continued only instead of navy blue it was more of a deep teal blue with antique gold light fixtures and dark coloured furniture but the main focal point was the dozen upon dozens of candles flickering on almost every surface in front part of the room stood a black glass table with place settings for two large floor candelabras covering the area in a romantic golden glow. Further into the room dark lounge suites and the further again a bed made up in matching teal sheets all surrounded but flickering light.

“Do you think you prefer this room?” his deep honey voice in your ear.

“Yes this room is beautiful” you replied in awe, feeling his arms squeeze you slightly before unwrapping them from you and leading you towards the table pulling out your chair for you.

“I thought rather than the normal ridiculous menu I would try something new with you” he started taking his own chair as you heard the keycard beep for the door to open revealing a waiter wheeling a food serving cart with large silver cloches covering several dishes. The waiter placed the dishes on the table and then left himself out of the room as quietly and discreetly as possible.

“New in what way?” you tilted your head looking from Felix to the covered dishes.

“I already know that your immune to the normal charm act so I figured instead of playing the part I usually would, I’ll just be me” he shrugged “ I can still give you the full experience without pretending to be something that you will see through anyway so why not have a normal dinner together like we would if this was any other normal date?”. Lifting the cloches and placing them back on the serving cart you were met with two types of pasta, Caprese salad and arancini with aioli. You realized immediately what he meant instead of ridiculous amounts of over the top food he was trying to keep you as comfortable as possible.

“This looks fantastic Felix” you grinned toothily making his shoulders relax a little more. Felix served you a little bit of everything insisting you could eat whatever you liked but you were more interested in just spending the time you had available with him.

“This is the last night you’re going to be here isn't it?” Felix enquired quietly between mouthfuls.

“For this editorial yes” you nodded, taking a sip of the white wine that Felix had chosen to go with your meal. “But I thought I might come back for a drink or two sometimes, the bar is great and it feels really safe as a woman to be in here”.

“But that is only the bar” Felix pressed you slightly “You won’t return to the hosts will you?”.

“I might, I couldn’t obviously be paying for Chan or you to entertain me, you are too pricey for a lowly journalist. But I could see San or Yunho occasionally” you admitted pulling your bottom lip between your teeth as his eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second.

“Are you interested in seeing San or Yunho again?” I know you spent time with Yunho for the editorial and you had the mid level host experience with San” he continued but you could tell he was selecting his words carefully. 

“That was just an example, someone like me could only afford the basic or mid level host experience at a place like this. It doesn't have to be either San or Yunho specifically although they are both a lot of fun” you confessed hoping that he liked that answer better.

“Oh so you would be happy to see anyone then?” he teased.

“Well I’d see you but your price tag is more than I could afford unless you take payment in other ways” you teased back making his eyes widen before he laughed, the rich deep sound sinking into your skin like the sun's warmth. 

“I’m sure we could figure something other than money out if you were interested in only seeing me” he smirked, his eyes darkening as little as he wet his lower lip.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t be playing the part tonight” you raised your eyebrow “yet here you are flirting like Hyunjin would”.

“This isn’t the facade, this is me” he confided, his voice deeper than it had been before as he stood from the table and slowly walked around to your chair pulling it away from the table so you were now facing him. “I’ve never been more serious”.

“Felix” you whispered softly, confused where this was going.

“How about I show you what I mean” he murmured leaning down he cupped your face gently angling your chin higher so you were looking into his whiskey colored eyes, his thumb gently traced along your bottom lip as he leaned in tentatively pressing his lips to yours in a featherlight kiss giving you time to pull away. When you didn’t move he smiled graciously, pressing his lips against yours again this time with a little more force allowing you to kiss him back with your hand moving to wrap around his wrist. Taking your other hand in his he helped you stand his plump lips never leaving yours, pulling you flush against him.

“Do you understand what I mean now or should I explain further?” he whispered against your lips letting you decide how much you wanted from him.

“A little more should make it crystal clear” you sighed softly you words cut off as his soft lips claiming yours tenderly once more, Felix teasing your bottom lip with his teeth until you were gasping breathlessly into the kiss, his tongue dancing with yours sensually he moved one hand around your waist to hold you to him. 

“You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted this” he smirked, pulling away from you just enough to slide his hands around you deftly gliding the zip of your dress down and watching it fall from your chest. Licking his lips as your upper body became completely exposed to him “I had never been so jealous of Hyunjin before after he said he had kissed you”. His fingers caressing your cheek while he leaned in to kiss your neck his lips softly tracing your pulse point before continuing down to your chest.

“I wanted to end Chan when he bragged about touching you, kissing you” he continued his hands cupping and lightly squeezing your breasts as he kissed his way back to your face. You couldn’t move, enjoying the feeling of his hands and lips on, your arm wrapped around his neck to keep yourself upright, carding your fingers through the hair on the back of his head..

“Neither meant anything if that helps” you whimper feeling his lips turn up against your lips as you pressed them back against his taking the initiative for the first time since Felix had touched you. 

“It does” he smirked, stepping back from you and leading you towards the bedroom area of the suite, the warmth of his hand anchoring you to him. Sitting on the bed he guided you into his lap, your skirt bunching up around your waist as you straddled his strong thighs. You kissed him again allowing him to slip his tongue between your eager lips to slide against your own in a slow dance for dominance beginning between you which he easily won as you pushed his jacket off of his shoulders to get closer to his skin. Felix let his hands roam your sides and arse encouraged you to grind yourself against him while you buried your hands in his amazingly soft hair tugging slightly as your need for him started to build, making him hum against your lips. Without much effort Felix switched your places you back now pressed against the soft mattress as he discarded his jacket and returned to kissing his way across your body, his lips left a scorching path down your chest until he reached your breasts taking one into his mouth while his hand played with the other.

“Fuck your tits are incedible” he breathed against your nipple circling the now swollen bud with his tongue as you arched against him slightly letting out a string of whiny noises “and you are so sensitive, your going to drive me mad baby”.

Your heart skipped a beat at the term of endearment that fell from his beautifully plump lips as he made his way across to your other breast giving it the same torturously pleasurable treatment. Nipping and sucking at your flesh like he was a man possessed. Moving lower he kissed his way to your belly button before hooking his fingers into the material of your dress that remained bunched around you carefully lowering it down your thighs dropping it beside the bed leaving you is just black lace underwear that he admired slowly dragging his finger along the pattern that covered your core.

“Lix” you whimpered softly your skin one fire beneath his warm touch.

“Fuck call me that again” me purred sexily closing his eyes while his fingers continues to trace across your flesh.

“Lix please” you whined watching his adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard, his head tipping back slightly seemingly turned on further by your words. Smiling wickedly he licked his lips and lowered himself between your thighs kissing the inside of one before placing a chaste kiss on your covered core making you shiver in anticipation. His smirk was covered by your mound as he began to trace the lace patterns on the small piece of fabric separating the two of you making you whimper again you were sure he could probably already feel how wet the fabric had become. His teasing continued as he unbuttoned his dress shirt stopping only for him to toss the garment behind him and pull your underwear aside his tongue gliding through your drenched folds earning you the pleasure of a deep groan falling from him before he swiped his tongue through them again collecting your essence and began eating you out as though it was going to keep him from from dying of thirst. Your whines and soft moans spurred him on as went between kitten lick to your clit and long dragging figure eights that drove you insane reaching down you grab a handful of his hair to ground yourself and making him groan loudly against you the vibrations sending you into an unexpected orgasm with a loud sob of his name.

“You taste delicious baby” he teased, moving away from your sensitive core, his angelic face covered in your arousal making him look like he had fallen from grace and straight into your bed. “Can’t wait to feel you fall apart around me baby”.

Standing from the bed he began to undo his belt, removing it slowly his pants and boxers following abandoned where they fell he leaned in to pull your now very wet underwear down your legs before climbing back over you to kiss you, his rock hard cock pressing against your thigh. He ran his hands up and down your sides making sure you were relaxed again he kissed you softly giving you time to come back down from your high to not push you too fast you could taste yourself on his lips and tongue making the knot in your abdomen begin to tighten again.

“Lix” you whispered cupping his face softly as he pulled himself away from you slightly to look into your eyes “I want to feel you, please” you soft pleading making his eyes widen and genuine look of adoration cross his features.

“God you are everything I could have ever dreamt of” he breathed almost inaudibly allowing his length to slip between your thighs coating himself in your juices “I need you to tell me you want this”.

“Please Felix, I need you” you pleaded again the desperation in your voice showing through making him nod pecking your lips gently as he continued to coat himself in your juices, the head of his cock brushing your clit and making you gasp loudly. Slowly rutting against you he finally lined himself up at your entrance and began leisurely pushing himself inside your still fluttering hole.

“Fuck you feel amazing baby” he groaned bottoming out inside your plush walls before gradually pulling himself out and sinking back into you again. You had never felt so full his dick stretching you to the point you felt like you were being split in half, the pleasure tinged with pain bringing tears to your waterline. 

“Lix…ngh…ah” you moaned uncontrollably each snap of his hips making you feel utter blissful pleasure. Taking his time Felix unhurried pace was leaving you feeling almost drunk as he leant his forehead against yours sweetly humming every time you loudly moaned his name. You met each of his thrusts, your hips rolling against his.

“You’re breathtaking like this” he whispered, increasing the strength of his movements “like you were made just for me” he groaned as you clenched at his words.

“Just for you Lix, only for you” you babbled as white hot sparks spread through your veins making tears fall from your eyes running down your temples into your hair. You were sure Felix could feel your body tightening below you as he moved one hand to wrap your leg around his waist giving him the ability to go even deeper than before, his cock head almost kissing your cervix making you cry out.

“That’s it baby” he purred, burying his face into your neck to kiss and suck on your skin pushing you to the edge again.

“Felix!” you screamed convulsing around his length as your entire body shook and your vision went white, his name tumbling from your lips again and again like a prayer. Felix continued his pace helping to prolong your ecstasy only stopping when you felt him fill you with his thick warm seed. 

Felix peppered your face with sweet kisses as he carefully pulled his softening dick from you, pulling you into his arms as he lay beside you stroking your skin softly until you returned from the fog of pleasure that was currently filling your head. After a few moments he began to massage your thigh easing the muscles that had so tightly squeezed him.

“Is that what it is always like?” you rasped looking up at him with still watering eyes.

“It’s never like, not for clients” he admitted pulling up the blankets to cover your sweat sheen covered bodies. “But for you it would always be like that”.

Felix held you tightly letting your body recover, allowing you to doze off in his arms for a few minutes. When you woke he was wearing a silk robe tied tightly at the waist and was hanging up both your dress and his suit in an empty wardrobe.

“Lix?” you questioned softly sitting up and letting the blankets fall away from your still naked form.

“I didn’t want to wake you baby, you needed to rest” he chuckled quietly, bringing you a glass of water and another glass of wine, climbing into the bed beside you.

“What happens now?” you asked, sipping from the glass of water before allowing Felix to wrap you back up in his arms.

“That is up to you” he conceded, his voice tinged with nervousness.

“Did you want this to be more than tonight?” you continued hoping that you had understood him correctly “Do you want me?”.

“So much, I never expected to meet anyone like you” he confessed “I’ve not been interested in anyone for such a long time that I just thought it wasn’t going to happen ever. But then you appeared and I couldn’t help it, I want to try to make it work with you if you will let me”.

“How would it work though? You here every night and me at work every day we would be like ships passing in the night” you sighed trying to think of what sort of schedule would actually work for the both of you.

“So your first concern isn’t that I make my living like this, it's my hours that are the issue?” he chuckled looking at you with disbelief.

“Well, I mean…. Look Lix I know what you do, and I know you have been doing it for years so it isn’t fair for me to just demand you change your life for me when we don’t even know each other that well” you exhaled looking up at his face.

“The others were right, your honesty is insanely attractive” Felix hummed, placing a soft kiss against your forehead. “But I am willing to go back to just hosting and not escorting if it means I get a shot with you”.

“Have I not been obvious enough?” you giggled your fingers drawing patterns on his beautiful honey skin “I thought you could read women like a book?”.

“Women yes, you no” he groaned, his muscles twitching under your gentle ministrations.

“I like you a lot Felix” you whispered your hand sliding lower brushing his warm skin and eventually wrapping around his half hard cock. “I want to be with you”.

Felix tilted your head with his fingertips connecting his lips to yours in a long kiss that he only broke when the gradual pumping of your hand made him hiss in pleasure.

“I will never stop worshiping you baby, especially now you are mine” His breath fanned across your face and he rolled you back under him grinning devilishly once more.

a/n: Thank you for reading you beautiful people, all your likes reblogs and comments are adored and I hope you enjoyed this one even though it is a bit of an epic. Thank you again to everyone that has followed me and left messages of love and encouragement for me you are amazing xx

Taglist (open): @christopher-bangnaldoskzz @armystay89 @damnyouficc @roamingpolar @tara-skyhold @bakedlilgoonie @krishastumblernow @mrsseals16 @fawnpeaks @leeknowinggg @uno7 @tanzen-ist-gold

[thelovelylolly]

Hobie gotta beat a mf up cause they stared being a misogynistic asshole to his girl🙏🏽🙏🏽

Problem?

Summary: You start your dream job as a journalist, only to have a sexist co-worker and your boyfriend won't let that slide. Warnings: a misogynistic man (icky icky), fem! reader (she/her pronouns used), not proof read bc im tired, let me know if i missed anything :) Notes: hobie would NOT let that behavior slide period

You loved your job. It was your dream since middle school to be a journalist at one of the top news companies. It was everything you wanted, and more. You had the freedom to investigate what you wanted, when you wanted. You had control over how your stories looked in the paper and online, and you weren't as censored as other places were. It was perfect, except one thing.

Your co-worker, James, wasn't the most...welcoming to you or your ideas. You preferred stories about everyday people doing good things in your community, or focusing on local and small businesses. He thought that your stories weren't as gripping or enticing as they needed, and told you to try harder.

At first, you thought it was just because you were a new employee. But when his targeted critiques didn't stop, you realized it was something else. He wouldn't say the same things to your male counterparts. He also didn't respect your assistant, a sweet girl who needed a job during college. He treated her like garbage, which pissed you off even more.

You had a meeting with all the journalists to get updated on what everyone was investigating and reporting on. When you stood up and explained what you were doing, a simple piece about a bakery owned by a sweet lady and her girlfriend, James rolled his eyes and leaned over to his buddy to whisper something.

"I'm sorry, James, but I'm talking right now. You whispering is distracting me and getting me off track, I'd appreciate if you'd stop," you said calmly, trying to call him out as well.

He sighed dramatically. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. Didn't mean to hurt your precious feelings."

You wanted to slap him, but you took a deep breath and went back to what you were talking about.

----

You kicked your door shut behind you and dropped your things next to it. "Hobie, I'm home!"

You walked into your living room where Hobie was on the couch, tuning his guitar. He looked up and smiled, immediately setting his guitar aside and going over to you.

"Hey, love, how was work?" He asked, pressing a kiss to your cheek and giving you a hug.

You grumbled and hid your face in his neck.

"That bad, huh?"

You pulled away from him, pacing up and down the room. "It's my god damn co-worker! He doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut! All he does is criticize me and belittle me, along with the other women in the office, but not with the guys! That sexist piece of shit! It's just...I hate it and I can't do anything with causing a HR nightmare, and I don't wanna lose this job, Hobie. It means so much to me and I…I just can’t lose it.”

You stop and wipe the frustrated tears that had slipped down your cheeks. You look at Hobie and give him a wobbly smile. “‘M sorry, didn’t mean to explode on you like that.”

“Don’t apologize, babe. You’re frustrated, I get it,” he replied, walking over to you and running his hands up and down your arms soothingly. “How ‘bout we order your favorite take out, yeah?”

“And we can watch my favorite movie?”

“Anything you want, love.”

----

On his patrol as Spider-Man, Hobie kept his eye out for your…problematic co-worker. He didn’t know what the guy looked like, but he could figure it out. He swung by your office and took a look inside.

There was only two people left, a man and a woman. He was at his desk, sipping some drink and yelling at the poor woman who was just trying to organize some files. He eyed her like a piece of candy and yelled at her for putting the papers in the wrong place. Then, he stood up and grabbed his things before heading to the door.

Bingo.

Hobie swung down to the front doors of the building and waited for the man to walk out. A few minutes later, the man strolled out on the phone.

“Exactly, Tim. I don’t get why she got hired. She just does some stories with zero…what’s the word, content to them? I don’t know, it’s just a matter of time until she gets hit with reality. She even had the nerve to stand up to me-“

“Pardon me, mate,” Hobie said, catching the man’s attention.

The man froze at the sight of Spider-Man, hanging up the phone. Hobie glanced at his badge and saw his name.

“James, is it? Well, I heard you were giving the women you work with some grief.”

“W-what do you want?” James stuttered.

Hobie started to back him into a corner. “You know how Spider-Man believes in…fairness and what not?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Well, I believe your attitude isn’t very fair to your co-workers.”

“Listen, man, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I-“

Hobie didn’t let him finish, giving him a shove back to cut him off.

“Consider this your warning, James,” Hobie said in a low tone. “Stay away from my girl, and you won’t see me again.”

With that, he swung away, leaving James shaking like a leaf.

----

The next day, when you got home from work, you immediately went to Hobie. He was in the kitchen, fixing some dinner for the two of you.

“Hey, babe, how was work?” He asked, putting his spoon down and going to you to give you a kiss on the cheek.

“It was…good. James didn’t bother me at all, or any of the girls, actually. It was weird, but I’m not complaining.”

Hobie hummed and went back to his cooking. You tilted your head to the side, confused at his reaction. You hopped up onto the counter next to where he was working.

“Hobie…did you do something?” You asked.

“What? Nah, I don’t even know this guy,” he answered.

"Hm, okay," you said. You hopped off the counter, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and went to get changed.

Hobie smiled to himself, knowing that James wouldn't mess with you anymore.

[juneisafantasyaddict]

The writers of the SaB show seem to be pulling the exact same shit that lb did in the books. because there’s no way they think ignoring everything the grisha have been forced to endure, pretending that the darkling is the beginning and end of their issues and ravka’s, making sure alina never understands what she’s actually fighting for, etc is going to do anything except make me root for the darkling even more.

The entire second season gives me flashbacks to that insane trilogy because somehow they managed to be even worse than the books. they have alina telling the darkling that he doesn’t understand sacrifice?? really??? a man who has spent centuries of his life fighting for the betterment of his people doesn’t understand sacrifice?? the person who literally made protecting grisha his life goal doesn’t understand sacrifice??? does alina realize that the only reason she wasn’t killed the moment she was discovered was because of him?? because of the work he has done??

They had time for baghra to tell stories about her crazy family and how she killed her sister, but there was no time for her to say “this is what life was like before my son decided he was going to make it better for our kind?” if anything, they just pissed me off more because how the fuck is it possible that they are pretending the biggest issue they have is the darkling?? not the monarchy that has exploited grisha and ravka, not the fjerdans who hunt and kill grisha, not shu han who experiments on them??

Sigh, I can’t even write out my thoughts coherently because I’m so irritated by pretty much everything that happened this season. I’m irritated that instead of telling a complex story, we got this dumbed down garbage that tells us nothing, accomplishes nothing beyond “guy in black is bad.” the narrative condemns him for using merzost because he was so desperate to save his people, he tried forbidden magic, but 20 seconds later the hero is using that same forbidden power to bring her boyfriend back to life??? With zero repercussions?? I want to scream!!

If the narrative is so sure they are right, if they are so sure the darkling is wrong about everything, then why are they so afraid to expose the hero to the suffering of her people?? Let her see what they have to deal with, let her truly understand then. She has been a grisha for less than a year, and somehow she knows what’s best for them?? She doesn’t even know them. The show writers literally spent this season making her chase Mal around. Look what happened when they were going after the seawhip, two people died because she didn’t want to kill it, but they moment it went after Mal, suddenly killing it was ok. Her side of the war got attacked and instead of checking to make sure everyone was ok, including her friend’s brother who was literally about to lose his arm, she was screaming about Mal. You want to tell me about sacrifice?? She only cared about one person, and he was perfectly fine at the end. What does she know about sacrifice?? Why oh why is this fucking story just so determined to make her make all the worst possible decisions??

Incase you haven’t noticed, I haven’t talked about the crows at all, because I hate their presence in this story. They are a distraction!!! The grisha are fighting for their right to exist, Ravka is in the middle of a civil war, I do not have the time to follow the shenanigans of a group of criminals from a different country. I still don’t understand their purpose in this story, except comic relief?? 🤦🏽‍♀️

I love Alina, I really do, but jfc you cannot girl boss your way out of real solutions. They have her basically serving the monarchy and the whole time I kept thinking, if I were grisha, I wouldn’t follow her. She’s the leader of the second army but she’s wearing a first army uniform, she’s more interested in protecting the Lanstov throne than she is in protecting her people. She’s so blinded by everyone saying “the darkling is bad, the fold needs to go” she’s not stopping to say “what happens when the fold is gone?” “What happens after the war?” Because surely, she isn’t naive enough to think the people who started killing grisha as soon as they thought the darkling was gone are going to live peacefully with them now?? It took 2 seconds after the darkling died for Fjerda to send an assassin on jurda parem into ravka. Now that there’s no fold to stop them, what will stop Fjerda or Shu Han from sending an army?? Ignoring everything else the crows did, Kaz was right when he said “when they stop looking at her with gratitude, they’ll start to wonder if she hasn’t overstayed her welcome.” Which is basically what Aleksander kept saying btw, they are not going to love you for long, they are going to hate you eventually because they are afraid of what they don’t understand.

I don’t even know what the point of this was, but yeah, I guess it was a rant about how Fucking ridiculous season 2 of shadow and bone was.

[skzpixiekaifei]

Taglist: @mynameisnotlaura, @palindrome969

Kai: Hey, you want some leftovers?  Minho: What's that?  Kai: You've never had leftovers???  Minho: No, because I'm not a quitter. 

-

Chan: I drink to forget but I always remember.  

Kai: You're drinking orange juice. 

-

Kai: Can we talk about that mass email you sent?  

Changbin: Why? It was important.  

Kai: All it says is, "I'm back on my shit".  

Hyunjin, shrugging: The people need to know. 

-

Kai: *pitches an idea*  

Jeongin, impressed: Huh, there might be something here!  

Seungmin, under their breath: Yeah, a lawsuit. 

-

Kai: You know the sound a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That's the sound that my brain makes all the time. 

-

Kai: Twilight Sparkle was the main character because she represented the element of friendship—  

Hyunjin, tied up: PLEASE, I JUST WANT TO SEE MY FAMILY AGAIN!

Kai: I'M NOT DONE!  

Kai: And Rainbow Dash was the sporty girl— 

-

Felix: Coca Cola can remove rust from metal, imagine what it’s doing to your body.  

Seungmin: Pfff, getting rid of the rust, idiot.  

Felix: THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!  

Kai: Hmm... I've been drinking soda and my body's rust free... not sure where you're getting your facts from... 

-

Jeongin: Don't have a bookmark? Try ketchup instead!!  

Kai: What makes you think I read? 

-

Kai: Christmas lights?  

Chan: Check.  

Changbin: Thermos of hot cocoa?  

Chan: Check.  

Felix: Santa suits?  

Chan: Check.  

Kai: Shovel?  

Chan: Check.  

Minho: Alibi and bail money?  

Chan: Check- wait, WHAT?! 

-

Han, taping a knife onto a Roomba: Be free, my child.  

Kai, entering the room with a small cut on their ankle: Who the f- 

-

Changbin: I love you.  

Kai: I love you too. I've waited so long to hear you say that.  

*Kai and Changbin kiss passionately*  

Minho, to Seungmin: You owe me 20 dollars. 

-

Seungmin: Changbin, I don't like you.  

Changbin: What did you say?  

Seungmin: You heard me!  

Changbin, internally: And it turns out I actually didn't hear what the fuck you just said. 

-

Chan: WHOEVER CAUSED THIS MESS IS GOING TO-  

Felix: It was me...  

Chan: ...Is going to be forgiven because everyone deserves a second chance. 

-

Felix: We call that a traumatic experience.  

Felix, turning to Seungmin: Not a "bruh moment".  

Felix, turning to Kai: Not "sadge".  

Felix, turning to Han: And DEFINITELY not an "oof LMAO". 

-

Jeongin: You use emoji’s like a straight person.  

Kai: That’s literally the worst thing anyone has ever said about me. 

-

Hyunjin: What do you think Kai will do for a distraction?  

Han: She'll probably, like, make a noise or throw a rock. That's what I would do.  

*Building explodes and several car alarms go off*  

Han: ...or She could do that. 

-

Kai: Am I a boy? Am I a girl? It doesn't matter. I'm going to burn your house down. 

-

Kai: *cocks gun* Go to Bed. This is no longer a request, This is now a Threat. 

Hyunjin: I’m not stupid, you know.  

Kai: Well, you’re doing a really good impression of it! 

-

*Kai and Felix texting*  

Kai: Come downstairs and talk to me please. I'm lonely.  

Felix: Isn't Hyunjin there?  

Kai: Yes but I like you more. 

-

Jeongin, referring to Han and Felix: Those guys are dorks.  

Kai: Yes, but they’re my dorks. 

-

Seungmin: Is anyone going to tell me what's going on in here?!  

Changbin: It's kind of complicated, but Kai- 

Seungmin: Got it. Forget I asked. 

-

Seungmin: Hey do you wanna hang out this weekend?  

Kai: Generic excuse.  

Seungmin: I can’t believe you said that out loud, to my face.  

Kai: I can. 

-

Felix: CHARACTER. FLAWS. ARE. FUCKING. IMPORTANT.  

Kai: Me when someone tells me to stop eating mayo packets like they’re gogurt tubes. 

-

Changbin: If you want my advice-  

Han: No offense but you’re the last person I want relationship advice from. You tried to kill your significant other. Multiple times.  

Changbin: First off, that was before we started dating. Secondly, they’ve also tried to kill me.  

Hyunjin: It’s true. It was mutually attempted murder. 

-

Kai, singing to the tune of I Kissed a Girl: I killed a guy, and I liked it-  

Seungmin, whispering: Should we call the exorcist?  

Hyunjin, also singing: The taste of his cherry chapstick.  

Chan, appalled: Call the exorcist. 

-

Kai: What’s your name?  

Changbin, whispering to Jeongin: Can I tell Her my real name?  

Jeongin: No!  

Changbin: I’m… Jeongin.  

Jeongin, whispering to Himself: The ONE TIME he gets my name right… 

-

Kai: The shadow realm? No, I’m sending you to Ohio! 

-

Hyunjin: Subs are so fun to play with. All you have to do is hint at what you might do, back them into a corner with a look, or grab their wrist in a certain way and they're a wide-eyed mess.  

Kai: What the fuck kind of Subway are you going to?  

Han: Substitute teachers deal with so much shit.  

Seungmin: Guys. 

-

*at 3am*  

Felix, holding the vlogging camera: *runs into Changbin’s room and turns on the light* Wake up sleepyhead!  

Changbin: *wakes up* Dude!  

Felix: *cackles*  

Kai: *sits up from where they were sleeping behind Changbin* What the fuck, Felix?  

Felix: *jaw drops* Wait WHAT- 

-

Kai: Clownery. Tomfoolery. Absolute fuckery, I am going to revoke your life privileges. 

-

Changbin: Stay foxy.  

Han: Die lonely. 

-

Kai: How many children do you have?  

Chan: Biologically, legally, or emotionally? Because there is a difference. 

-

Chan: Hey, Changbin? Can I get some dating advice?  

Changbin: Just because I'm with Kai doesn't mean I know how I did it. 

-

Kai: “Ladies and gentlemen” is unnecessarily gendered, overly formal, lengthy, and honestly, I’m falling asleep already. “Cowards” on the other hand, is inclusive to all genders, to the point, and dramatic. 

-

Kai: Hey guys, I’m making french toast sticks in the oven. I’m gonna take a quick nap, so wake me up in 5 minutes to flip them over.  

*5 minutes later*  

Jeongin: Kai it’s been 5 minutes, time to flip your sticks.  

Kai: snnnzzzz...  

Jeongin:  KAI YOUR STICKS! 

-

Han: Life is like Kai. It's short. 

[astroenchanter]

As was promised, it's Eva time.

Starting off broadly, with Artemy and Daniil being narrative foils, two halves of a whole one might say, I think it's fair to assume they would have similar narrative beats. With Artemy's big heart wrenching girl event being self sacrificing for Murky, and with Daniil being, lets just say... not a nice man, I think that's going to result in the event making the player even more like garbage. I have 2 main ideas for what could happen, first one is simpler, and I came up with it before the new teaser and leak so I'll discuss it first. Based mostly on the time travel aspects and systemic focus, I think that with cleaver sequencing and being distracted with quests, IPL could make us think Eva survives into the late game. Then doing a time travel back to do a seemingly net positive systemic action that results in her death and it's going to have to be a "Good ending" OR Eva, but not both situation. With the "You can't save everyone" motif, Artemy can't save Aglaya without betraying the town, I don't think Daniil could save Eva without betraying something VERY important to him.

Now this 2nd one is where the gameplay crackpot shit begins. The screenshot of Daniil's gay little People Journal gives SO much to work with. This'll take a minute to get to Eva so hang on for a sec. First, it has "previous day" "next day" and "all files" With the time travel elements I assume this implies you're filling in people's profiles throughout different pockets in time. Second, day 8 has a ping / update or some sort on Peter. And since it's 00:15 it's likely a condition that develops strike of midnight day 8 (or whatever the time travel equivalent is). Now, P2 has had a habit of rearranging, scrapping and remaking quests out of whole cloth, but keeping narrative threads and fleshing them out. The only thing in that time frame with Peter is likely to be the drama that happens with Maria and Aglaia. Peter was notably was in a bad state during the events of that scuffle, I think that it's possible Peter's "diagnosis" in that notebook, would be one of the mental variety, ie, depression with "Harmful Habits ... Alcohol abuse..." like what was shown in the screenshot. With that update it could result in Daniil doing some sort of "mental health checkup" on his friends. Where he treats them in his harsh and clinical way where he goes through a similar process of diagnosis to figure out what's wrong and how to proceed. The thing is, pathologic loves to put you mental state where you're fighting and you're so focused on people being shitty and horrible and the fighting systemic shit and the plague, and then when you're fully immersed in that mindset it pile drives you with the most painfully human thing you've ever seen. If they do that mental diagnosis, I think Daniil won't see the signs in Eva. Like yeah Peter is a depressed wreck, but everyone can see it. But the whole point of the classic plot with her was that you couldn't really understand what she was saying or going though until it was too late.

It could be both of these, or neither of course. I just figure I could get some hopeful predictions out, there since I know there's a lot of people worried the Bachelor route.

I also think the "Diagnosis" of all the main characters could be good characterization of Daniil, where he views everyone through that medical lens, maybe even noticing small details about people like Artemy's leg injury from his train fight.

[aria-ashryver]

yooooo im SO tired, have a health update 💞

(which was going to be another video update but then a bird came and i got distracted and now im too tired to speak lol. also WOW imagine being so pale you create your own god rays slkdjf)

so, ive been feeling like hot garbage for some time, which is perhaps not surprising with the whole "was poisoned via chemo for a year, is still recovering" thing. Recently my heart has been feeling Not Good TM, and the fatigue waves are getting pretty extreme at times.

So, I followed this up with my doctor, very much expecting it to be a case of "no you're just out of shape / your asthma is playing up / you're just being super lazy, try harder, etc". He booked me a specialised heart test which I had last week.

Uhhh apparently I wasn't just being pathetic! (Which is somewhat gratifying to know that there is a reason things have been so hard lately and it's not just in my head)

There is a thing called your Ejection Fraction, which is essentially a measure of how much oxygenated blood your heart is pumping around your body -- its the factor that keeps you feeling energised.

Mine has dropped. Fairly significantly. When I had the same heart scan in October, mid-way through chemo, I was still retaining a lot of my heart health and muscle mass from when i was pre-chemo, so my EF was sitting at about 80. Which is a sign I was initially quite physically fit (or, to quote my oncologist: "giiiiirl, you a Boston Marathon runner or what?)

Since my last scan, my EF has dropped to 58. Which is still actually higher than average, most people sit at about 55, so I've dropped to an average range lol.

My heart is working, but such a significant jump is still cause for concern. My oncologist said that if I had been less young and fit, it would have been a case of dropping from 55 to somewhere in the 30s, to which he said "you'd struggle to even walk down that corridor at that point."

At this stage, I have a (hopefully reversible!) cardiomyopathy. Unfortunately, reduced heart and lung function can be complications of the two immune therapy drugs I am taking to prevent my cancer from coming back. So the current course of action is to put my immune therapy treatments on hold for 9 weeks to let my heart recover.

Yes, that is a tad spooky, but the drugs have a very long half-life, so I should be okay not taking them for that short period. On the plus side, this should hopefully improve my overall quality of life while my heart heals, and a break from immune therapy will be really nice anyway, because that shit hurts lmao.

Otherwise, the metastatic cancer in my spine and my hips remains stable and is still showing signs of healing because I am AWESOME AND COOL. Oh, and I also had a massive internal lesion (a chemo complication I never mentioned here bc like... if I told you guys every little thing that's wrong with me, we'd be here all day lmao) but that is now healing on its own too!! Woo!

So... ye. Gonna have a nap, knowing that medically my heart is broken and I have yet another reason to take it easy now haha.

Send me lots of "oi don't get cancer again in the next 9 weeks you absolute nugget" type vibes. I don't think I will, I'm not worried, but yk yk vibes are nice 🥰💝💖💓💕🩷💞 if you are still reading, I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

[curseofpower]

One more post before I go. Bit of a downer. About writing and fandom in general.

It genuinely saddens me that just because a fic is ship-centric people don't expect it to be anything other than trash.

They don't expect you to have a plot. To have any deep character analysis inside the narrative. They don't expect you to go into things like how the world the characters live in works. They don't expect you to treat the characters like you care about them or think deeply about their pathos.

The amount of comments I get that tell me they're shocked my writing touches on those things or follows a comprehensive storyline or gets them to actually think about things and consider maybe Ganondorf is someone worth thinking about rather than just using as an evil plot device has been through the roof.

I never used to get comments like that. Now it's every comment I get.

Now don't get me wrong, that shit makes me so happy, to know that I've been able to make someone think, to distract them from the porn because what I've written is truly interesting to read for them. Something that made them not only think about the depth of the relationship but also my favorite character. I love comments that tell me this. It really is validating! but it also...

reminds me of this.

This fact that being someone who is a shipper and proud and flaunts their stuff actually makes people look down on me. They don't want to even give me a chance and are therefore shocked when they do and what I've written is somehow not utter garbage. Because of course, it's got smut in it, it's trash, it's not worthy of anyone self-respecting and must be nothing more than an insult to the universe. To the characters they love. It's got to be OOC and awful and have no thought put into it whatsoever.

Yes I am being dramatic. I put a lot of work into what I write and to know it's defaulted as something lesser before it's even been conceived... hurts. It really honestly does. It hurts that my fellow fans will always look down on me as a person. It hurts that nothing I do will ever be taken seriously by people I look up to, that my options on who wants to interact with me are limited, because I have the gall to write something other than gen.

[midnightsunnyday]

With Good Intentions (Chapter One) (Updated) ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Masterlist A03

"Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works."

➥pairings: MC & Everyone ➥content warnings: not beta-read. We cook our stories like Solomon. Hurt/comfort with some humor. Using alcohol and food as coping mechanisms. Curse language. Mild violence. Mentions of suicide. Panic attacks. The brothers are kinda assholes in this story. And so is MC. Also, Diavolo is kind of suspect and so is Barbatos. ➥summary: after the events of Chapter 16, the brothers and Diavolo are forced to deal with the inevitable fallback of their actions towards MC, all while attempting to help them through their growing existential breakdown Or... what would happen if the MC didn't "serve as a bridge" for the brothers after lesson 16? How would their relationships change? And how would the brothers navigate their emotions without the MC's help? A/N: holy shit guys, when I say this story took forever, it took FOREVER. I had this idea in my head since early 2022, but due to some personal issues, it never came to light until now. I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please let me know how you feel about it in the notes. As always, take care.

Before all else, you were just your average, regular, no-name human. A statement in which you were fine, just perfectly fine, with admitting to.

You liked decorative mugs with cute animals on them. You were consistently outraged by the rising cost of food. You gave unwarranted opinions on topics that you knew little to nothing about. More importantly, you were wonderfully oblivious to your stake in the status quo, pursuing life as you pleased, unbound by fate or duty. On a flying rock in the middle of nowhere filled with billions of people, there shouldn’t be anything special about you. Until it was.

You sat there, peering out from yourself into a world that wasn’t quite yours. At loved ones that only mimicked those you’d left behind. You would’ve objected to all of this, the food, the drinks, the general merriment, if only you weren’t so tired, being dragged along without qualm into the common room to indulge in this nonsense. The celebration had only started, yet it felt as if you were trapped in time, watching the same scene for eons.

With great fanfare your death and all ones committed or attempted thereafter, were made completely inconsequential, the existential implications of one’s life being erased with the snap of a finger rendered irrelevant at the pop of a cork and the fizz of white champagne. One of the brothers spoke to you. Honestly, it was hard to tell which one. Everything was too bright, too loud. Some nonsense about wanting a muffin or other. You’d replied, yet were unsure of your words, as no part of you, not even your voice, felt like it belonged in this space.

Right, well, sure watching your mangled corpse be tossed down the stairs like a leaking bag of garbage to be disposed of might be traumatizing for the next person…no, forget trying to rationalize it. This was definitely traumatizing.

And this feeling. It was like dying all over again, slowly with each breath, but there was no urgency, no threat to twist and break your neck, no end to this "pseudo-death." It was your body who turned against you, a painful ache that gnawed itself from the depths of your stomach and came ripping, screaming, up, up, until the only thing that held it back was the clenching of your eyes. You sat with it. Struggled with it. Wondered if anyone noticed. But when you finally opened your eyes again, the same scene remained: a family—nearly ripped apart from centuries of pain, anger and regret—were laughing like it never happened. And you—still wallowing in what only lasted a few moments—were losing it.

You tried to steady your breaths. Tried enjoying the warmness of your tea. Distracted yourself with cookies, and cupcakes, and stories of failed schemes and embarrassing “childhood” photos. Maybe with time, you would learn to accept what seemingly couldn't be changed. Like with Belphegor, who nuzzled himself into the crook of your arm, dawning a face that made you realize, though with slight disgust, why it was easy to baby him. In time, you’d look back at this day, laughing away fear for awkwardness. In time, you’d find a way to raise your hand without clenching it into a fist to stroke the top of his head. But that time would only come once you allowed yourself to accept it all. This shitty prize, whether you wanted it or not, was yours. You were their family now, forever. Always in sight. Always fretted over. Always followed. The beginning, middle, and unforeseen end to the lives of the seven strongest rulers of hell. What good would it do to run ruin such splendor with your finite problems? For now, you should be happy. For now, you should be grateful. For now, you should breathe, relax, and just—

“Hahaha. There must have been so many things you’ve all wanted to do for Lilith over the years.”

“I’m not Lilith you insensitive asshole.”

The silence wasn’t sudden, because at first, it was hard to believe you’d said it. Like a misheard lyric in a song, everyone’s mind halted, replayed, then with clarity, lost it. Mammon and Leviathan gasped. Satan dropped his fork. Asmodeus covered his mouth. Belphegor winced. And Beelzebub, who never stopped eating, stopped eating. Even the flames from the fireplace seemed to dim slightly as if all the collective oxygen of this now incredibly warm, incredibly small room was sucked in and held. And as you stood there, fists clenched and teeth so tight they could crack brick, did you realize…

Oh.

Shit.

I could’ve sworn I said that to myself.

You waited, expecting a certain demon’s voice to rumble up from the quiet and reprimand you, yet Lucifer, like the rest of his brothers, did not speak, his mouth tight and twisted in not quite anger, not quite shock. Instead, he turned, with all the caution of a startled dog, towards Diavolo.

“I believe there’s been some miscommunication on my part,” Diavolo spoke. For a man that was just insulted to his face, he remained a bit too relaxed. “It was not my intention to offend you.”

"That's not the point!" You yelled again.

So what was the point? At the very back of your mind, beyond all the anger and anxiety, a thought struggled to form. It might’ve been inadvertent, yet your comment wasn't exactly misdirected. You didn't care being compared to Lilith, yet it wasn't what upset you. No, it was more complicated than that. Diavolo was unmoved, the shadows from the fireplace deepening the lines of his face, the mass of his body appearing larger in the dimness.

In the corner of your vision, a hand reached for you. "Hey, cool it, will ya?" Mammon urged, placing it upon your shoulder. "Everyone here knows you ain't Lilith."

You shook your head, hoping it would rearrange your scattered thoughts. "It's not about her."

"Eh? Whad'ya mean it's not about her? Didn't you just--"

"I know, I know!" You stamped down your foot. "It's before. Before the past. There were all of you. And Diavolo said...he said I had to come here, so I did and Barbatos took me to the door and...he took me to the door and..."

And there, like all fools who learned too late, did it dawn on you.

“Did you plan for Belphegor to kill me?” you asked.

Diavolo blinked. “Pardon?”

“Did. You. Plan. For. Belphegor. To. Kill. Me?” You pulled yourself from Mammon and stepped forward. “When you made me go to the past to check who let Belphegor out of the attic. Did you,” you gulped back a sob, “did you know I’d be in danger?”

Diavolo paused, and you envisioned the winding gears struggling behind his eyes. “I understand that the last few hours have been hectic for you," he said," perhaps it better if we continue this at another time?"

“I asked you a question.” Your voice rumbled, unsteady by the weight of your chest.

"And I heard it. Unfortunately," his smile was slight, "I feel no need to answer it."

"No need?" You weren’t sure whether to laugh or grab the nearest object and beat him with it. "Am I not worth an answer? The person you dragged down here and had killed isn't worth an answer?"

"I'm sorry, but I will no longer discuss this matter here." It wasn't long ago when Diavolo told you he could never lie, yet it seemed withholding the truth was another thing. You quickened your mouth to speak, yet Barbatos was far quicker.

“I believe the Young Master has spoken," Barbatos said, stepping into your view. “Regardless of what offense you believe occurred, I must ask that you refrain from continuing this outburst.”

“Or what?" You jabbed your finger into Barbatos's chest. "Will you tie me up in vines and drag me down to the dungeons?”

"Nothing of the sort," he said, brushing your hand away. "Yet your behavior is unbecoming, and furthermore, lacking in respect."

"Respect?" Your laugh was pained. "What do any of you know about respect? You think because you’re royalty you can just say and do what you want?” You swept your arm across the entire room. “You think you all can just say and do what you want and afterward just…fucking eat cake like it never happened? Huh?”

Some part of you expected them to act, to do anything other than sit there with those insipid looks on their faces. In some, like Satan, you could see the very bubbles of reflection beginning to float to the surface of their consciousness, eyes sharpened and red with stinging hindsight. Yet there were others like Leviathan, head tilted toward the ground as if contemplating burrowing himself beneath it. It only made you want to fill the room with your voice. Until it rang the walls of the House of Lamentation. Until it echoed out into the night. Until the entire Devildom could hear you screaming, “Say something you selfish bastards.”

“Oi, that’s enough,” Mammon called to you. “Let’s just calm down before we get ourselves into something we can’t get out of, yeah?”

“Mammon’s right,” Asmodeus said, yet not before peering toward Lucifer. “Just…forget about the party, ok? Go relax in your room.”

"With all due respect, that isn't your decision to make, Asmodeus." Barbatos turned to Diavolo. "Young Master?"

Everyone looked to Diavolo, his face pensive. It was insulting, really. That after all was said and done, now was the time that he considered your well-being. "I believe it best," Diavolo spoke, "that you listen to Mammon and Asmodeus."

You scoffed, face wet and heated. You'd gone a bit past the point of common sense. If this ended in your punishment, then so be it. Until then, you would not move. Not until you got your answer. Not until he and Barbatos admitted what they did. Not until--

"Enough of this, please." Lucifer was not the type to plead, something you, and everyone else for that matter, responded with various expressions of disbelief. "This was supposed to be..." he clutched his breaths as if catching himself from slipping into someone less than his title suggested. “Let’s not continue this further.”

It was the softest you've ever heard him speak, and the most tired he ever looked. The brother's confirmation of Lucifer’s words hung in the air, and with it, your bravado. You never expected them to get it. After all, how could beings that would never know the brush of death or time understand your feelings in this moment? Though you also never expected them to just…do nothing, either. It hurt you, in ways too tired to yell further.

You turned, silent, and moved. Into the halls and towards your room door, tossing it open before slamming it shut and locking yourself inside. Not that it ever kept anyone out. A great heaviness sat upon your shoulders, and you carried it towards your bed, allowing gravity to do the rest as you plopped face-first into your sheets.

Maybe I could suffocate myself in my sleep if I stayed this way? A grim thought. And, unlikely.

For a while, the only sounds were your own heartbeat and shallow breaths. Your room wasn’t far from the common room, so you supposed the shock from before hadn’t died yet.

Finally, with a voice carrying all the weight of a vagrant, Lucifer spoke, “Pardon me for stating the obvious but, I believe it best...that we all call it a night."

And no one, not even Satan, called him out on it.

[nattousan]

Two roommates and a priest stood huddled around the rotting remains of a hideous oozing creature laying quite dead on their living room floor. Next to it, strewn across the peeling linoleum, lay the shredded remains of a peace lily Yuri's mom had left the night before after she'd "dropped by".

The creature had a ring of foam crusted over a hole on its head they assumed was its mouth, on account of the endless rows of needle sharp teeth jutting from its putrid green gums. Its multitude of bulging glassy eyes stared unblinkingly up at the ceiling.

"Told you it wasn't rats." said Lila to Yuri.

"Must've been the lily that got im, the poor thing, those plants are toxic to most everything they come into contact with" the priest mused.

"Oh really?" Lila said, "That makes sense, my mom used to keep them around the house around Easter and that's usually when one or both of our cats would get really sick. She'd still buy em though, every year, even after one of em died. Said it was apart of god's plan as one of gods creatures"

"This is not one of God's creatures." said the priest, nudging one of the things many segmented limbs, oily black and uncomfortably soft in death.

"Yea no shit"

Yuri ribbed her in the side.

"Ow! Ugh, i mean, no kidding!"

"So, mr. uh..."

" father- "

"Right, Mr. Father, you can get rid of this thing right? Like its a demon? You can just purify it or whatever and it's disintegrate into dust, right?"

"I'm afraid its not that simple." The priest said grimly, "We're going to need to burn the whole house down to its foundation.

"WHAT" both roommates shouted simultaneously.

"I would contact your landlord as soon as possible and get things straightened out, you only have about 4 more hours until sun sets. In the meantime I'll call the fire department and see if they can come out and do a controlled burn. That's the only way you're gonna get out of this safely.

"Wait a damn" -ouch!- "wait a FUCKING second, this is our house!" Lila protested, "the things already dead, why does the whole house need to burn?? You can't just throw us out on the fucking street just like that!"

The priest pursed his lips.

"If you're intent on wasting what little time you have asking for explanations, I can talk while you pack, but I must reiterate that time is of the essence here. Once the sun goes down and they smell one of their own has died, it's not going to be pretty.

"And what the fuck does THAT mean!" wailed Lila, "what are these things!?" but Yuri was already ushering her to her room with a garbage bag.

With Lila distracted, the priest and Yuri moved to the kitchen, where he started transferring what little food they had from the fridge into an insulated cooler.

"So what was that thing? How did it get into our house? None of the windows were broken and its too big to have squeezed in somewhere."

"Oh, no, it lived here already, these types of demons choose a single location to habituate and then remain there for as long as the structure still stands."

Yuri nearly dropped the glass jar of kimchi he was holding.

"What? We've been living here for almost a year, I think we would have noticed a poodle sized blob monster oozing around our apartment."

"Yes, usually people call us within days of moving in, or we hear about it post mortem, but I assure you, that creature has been living here for far longer than you have."

Yuri blanched.

the priest cleared his throat. "Do you both sleep with your door closed?"

"Yes?"

"That's probably why. For the sake of brevity I'm just going to say that they don't really exist during the day. They spend the daytime their own dimension and get called back to this one with the setting of the sun. They are extremely social creatures though so when one of them gets hurt, it releases a smell that marks its attacker and then nowhere is safe for the marked come nightfall."

Yuri finished emptying the fridge, there really wasn't much in there, and moved onto the cabinets. He straightened up and pushed back his long black mop of hair out of his eyes, a gesture he often did when he was stressed.

"So these things have just been crawling around our apartment at night and we just never noticed because we were in our rooms too much?"

"Most likely, did you ever notice things going missing or moved around in the morning? Mysterious moisture spots that didn't seem to clear up?"

"Dude have you seen the apartments in this area? They all have rat problems and mold. This was the only one in the city with two bedrooms under $1200 a month."

The priests demeanor softened a bit.

"I'm sorry. I know this is short notice but the longer you remain here the more likely it is that the mark will transfer to you both and then you'll truly never know peace again."

Yuri gripped the box of expired hamburger helper he was loading into a duffel bag.

"Never had it to begin with..."

The priest gave him a knowing look but didn't pry.

"My church can provide housing in the interim if you don't have... relatives.. in the area."

"You're damn right I don't"

"I'll make the necessary arrangements then."

Over the next two hours the two roommates packed up what little they had into whatever would carry it. Most of it was still in cardboard boxes anyway so it went quick. Still, Lila took her sweet time going through her closet to the point the Priest had taken to pacing by the door after loading everything else into the church's van.

"Lila! What else is left, it's getting close to sundown!" Yuri hollered down the cramped hallway. The priests pacing made him nervous and he'd rather not sour the good graces he'd extended towards them.

"I'm almost done!" Lila hollered back, " You didn't hear me bitching about moving your ridiculous rock collection you insist on dragging around"

"We're nearly out of time here, gentle people," The priest said tersely, glancing out the window, "I suggest you take what you can carry and we seal up the building, Yuri was it? Did you get into contact with your landlord?"

Yuri was helping scoop armfuls of colorful shawls into a laundry basket. "Oh, yea, I called but he didn't pick up, which is usually the case, so I left a voicemai-"

A series of short sharp knocks echoed through the empty apartment before the key turned and swift footsteps filled the hallway.

"Hello?? Ms. Kalimaschev? Ms. Engels?"

Yuri rolled his eyes.

"In here!"

A man appeared at the doorway whom the priest assumed to be their landlord. He was young, maybe his late 30's, with pommed back blonde hair, a bleached white button up and boat shoes. The smile he gave didn't reach his eyes.

"There you are, sorry I missed your call ladies, I was out on the lake." He fixed his gaze on the priest. "What's all this I hear about having to condemn my property?"

The priest stood up and brushed off his knees.

"Yes, I'm sorry sir but the house will soon be quite uninhabitable due to circumstances beyond these two's control, I'll be happy to explain it all at length outside, but first we must get out of the house immediately"

The landlords lips drew taught over his perfectly straight teeth in a hostile grin. He reached into the leather messenger bag hung over his shoulder and pulled out a thick packet of papers.

"Oh, no no no, these two still have three months left on their lease, they can't just declare the place unfit and skip out on rent."

The priest glanced out the window at the diminishing daylight, a bead of sweat running down his dark skin.

"I understand that sir, but like I said, we really do need to move this conversation outside."

The man straightened up, filling the doorway.

"Oh no no no no, no one's going anywhere, what about my property? Do you know how much I've invested in this place? I'm sure whatever damage they've caused can be covered by their deposit. Did you already call the fire department? Can you get them to turn around?"

Yuri bristled. "He says we gotta get out of here, have a look in the living room if you don't believe us."

The landlord smile tightened.

"Oh the thing on the floor? Oooh yea, I'm going to have to fine you for bringing pets in, the lease clearly states "no pets all-"

"Sir, we really don't have time for this, move aside please!"

"Yea, get out of the way dude, lets take this outside!" Yuri said, voice raised with anxiety.

The landlord dropped his smile and narrowed his eyes in a sneer. One hand pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"I will not be talked to like that, young lady, I've already been generous enough letting your kind rent this place, we're staying right here until the authorities arrive. This is my property after a-

Before he could finish his sentence a writhing mass of elongated limbs and gnashing teeth attached itself to his face with a horrid squelch. His body was thrown to the side like he's been punched and they could hear his muffled screams leaking out over the sound of bones crunching.

Lila let out a blood curdling scream and the priest ran to slam the door shut.

Immediately after it shut a heavy and wet weight slammed itself against the cheap particleboard door. The priest threw his weight against it to keep it shut as it was rammed over and over, warping the door a little more each time.

"Alright! We're going to have to go with plan B!" the priest shouted over his shoulder, "Yuri, reach into the holster underneath my cloak!"

"What about Lila??" Yuri yelled, flinching each time the door shook.

"Don't worry about me!" yelled Lila, pulling a katana out of a box in her closet.

The priest crossed himself.

[sw1mmingfoolz]

🌻 sunflower sheets, sunshine boy - lee donghyuck🌻

requested? Y/N

genre: pre-established best friends to lovers, only one bed, fluff, mentioned mark lee being a lil shit, honestly very self indulgent lmao

content warnings: implied past abuse (it isn't discussed, also pre-established), reader has a lil nightmare

pairing: haechan x gn! reader

wc: 2.3k

a/n: i have SO many WIPs going atm and the motivation to actually write none of them, so i apparently wrote this instead. the only one bed scenario is something that actually happened to me (it did not go this way though i didn't really like the dude we were both just drunk so we shared a mattress lmao. he sucked.) and this all came to me after a nightmare of my own past abuser so this is just self indulgent garbage really lmaooo :') as always feedback is super appreciated even if this is just a lil vignette kinda oneshot! much love to you all mwah mwah 💞💞

You cursed whatever deities may exist for your current predicament as the warmth from Donghyuck's torso radiated over your back. Well, more specifically, you supposed you cursed Mark Lee and his horrendously obvious attempts at matchmaking; a lone double bed made fresh with sunflower patterned linens that emanated a faint lemony scent sat in the small attic of his family home and the other beds somehow already claimed before everyone had gone over to celebrate his birthday. For whatever reason, Donghyuck hadn't seemed to find it suspicious that you and he were the only ones who hadn't been asked where you'd prefer to sleep the week prior. Or if he had, he hadn't mentioned it, simply shooting you a lopsided smile and informing you with a smirk that he sleeps shirtless before accepting the arrangements without question.

And so here you were, rolling to lie on your back and stare at the ceiling, where in the dark your brain conjured warping patterns that didn't exist as if trying to distract you from your racing thoughts. A small square of moonlight bathed golden skin next to you, filtering through the window on the roof like a spotlight. Donghyuck let out a small snore and you wondered how on earth he was able to sleep so easily like this, his feet grazing yours under the sprawling duvet and his face smushed unceremoniously into the pillow he'd claimed for his own. The trees rustled outside in the audible breeze, a sound that would lull you into peaceful dreams any other time. Yet you'd never felt more awake in your life than you did at that moment.

You hadn't exactly protested yourself; in fact you knew Mark would be awaiting your exuberant thanks for giving you such an opportunity with a man only he knew you to have had a silent crush on for years by that point. But you were far too stubborn to actually admit that his plan was pretty decent. You knew if you'd dissented he would have found other sleeping arrangements for you without complaint, but his smugness had almost felt like a challenge, and you were adamant you’d never lose a challenge to Mark of all people.

You and Donghyuck had been best friends for longer than you could even remember—he'd seen so many of your triumphs and losses, your highs and lows, the big moments in your life and the little ones you didn't even know if he remembered and treasured the way you did—and far be it from you to threaten a connection you weren't sure you'd find again if you lost him. Your heart raced and you prayed it didn't cut through the silence in actuality the way it consumed your sense of hearing, pulse thrumming in your ears like a kick drum. After probably too many minutes of being definitely too aware of the process of breathing, Donghyuck stirred with a small groan and turned to face you.

"Can't sleep?" He asked groggily, rubbing at his sleep laden eyes with a clumsy fist before looking up at you through heavy eyelashes.

"No," you responded simply, voice coming out as more of a hoarse whisper than you'd intended. He nodded, and you heard it against the fabric of the pillowcase. A weighted silence followed briefly, the air weirdly stuffy, and you felt like you were fighting for breath. You eventually looked over to find him watching your face, contemplative, as if studying every detail for the first time.

"Do you wanna, like, cuddle or something?" You blinked at him, amazed as always at the way he was able to be so bold as if it were no big deal. He threw the suggestion out so casually that it threw you off. If it were any of your other friends you would have laughed, joked about it and probably accepted because of the comfort the contact provided, but in your lovesick state you found yourself entirely frozen where you laid.

"Um," you faltered, biting the inside of your cheek. He exhaled through his nose, a somewhat-laugh quiet enough to be appropriate for the time of night, and smiled up at you, though you didn't feel strong enough to look at said smile for more than a few seconds. Truly dazzling, you thought.

"It was a totally good-natured suggestion," he clarified, feet nudging yours again but more purposefully this time. He resisted the urge to intertwine his legs with yours fully and moved his hair from where it had fallen in front of his tired eyes, still looking at you with more focus than you felt you desired. "Since I know you like the touch and it might help you sleep. There's no pressure, you can say no." You smiled at him, grateful for the way he offered you an out so considerately, but you then realised this wasn't a situation you were in often. And, in your humble opinion, if there were any time to indulge in such timid desires, it totally would be at buttfuck o'clock in the morning with your entire friend group a floor below.

"Sure." His eyes widened slightly; he obviously didn't expect you to agree, but his expression quickly softened when he noticed you falter. Before you could change your mind or stutter out a nervous string of "but only if you wanna!" adjacent sentences, he wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest. As if on instinct, your fingers tried to ball into his shirt; however in its absence it looked more like you were trying to pinch at his chest. It made him laugh heartily, your face heating up, though he appeared to think the teasing was best saved for later as he bit his tongue and adjusted his arm to lie under your neck.

"Comfy?" He asked gently, breath hot on your ear before he nuzzled his chin against your head. You nodded the best you could, nudging further into his neck as you let his warmth consume you. He let himself slip a little further, tangling his legs with yours just a bit to see if you’d back away and feeling his heart swell when you intertwined them further. His other arm rested loosely over your waist, steady breathing inspiring yours to mimic, and before you could even realise how tired you were the security his presence offered you finally lured you to sleep.

The peace apparently didn't want to linger, however, as only an hour later Donghyuck awoke again to you trembling in his hold. He looked down at you blearily as your hand clutched at his side and your breathing staggered. He took a moment to come to and realise what was happening before shaking you gently to wake you up.

It happened with a start, your breath catching dramatically in your throat as your eyes blew wide. He shushed you gently, one hand stroking through your hair, as you silently searched his face with frantic pupils. They weren't looking for anything in particular; just the familiarity your heart apparently craved, your brain fighting to come back to reality fully and shake the remnants of the nightmare that plagued you.

"Are you okay?" His voice was so quiet it was barely audible, hand ceaseless in its careful motions. "Seemed like you were having a bad dream."

"Yeah," you whispered unsteadily, suddenly aware of the hand with which you held onto his side like you were scared he'd vanish from under it. He hummed in understanding, tightening his hold a little.

"Was it about who I think it was?"

"Yeah," you repeated, still too internally distressed to show any real outward emotions the way you wanted to. "They're less frequent these days, but y'know." He hummed again, hand dropping to draw comforting circles into the skin of your hip and bring you back a little.

"Just try to focus on me," he murmured, still obviously sleepy. You nodded, doing your best to divert every conscious thought you had to his movements, his breathing, his very presence; and after a few moments you felt grounded enough to actually form sentences.

"You always know how to help," you laughed drily, voice low. You knew your friends couldn't hear you; even beyond the floor difference they were all insanely heavy sleepers, to the point you'd think they never slept a day in their life. Donghyuck giggled against your hair, more high pitched than he'd like, and manoeuvred you both so that he was lying on his back with your head resting on his chest. His heartbeat was steady against your cheek, and his hold remained tight. "What time is it?"

"I dunno, like, four in the morning?" He shrugged at his own estimate, phone too far on the nightstand for him to bother finding out. "Why?"

"Because." Your insecurity leaked through into your mumbles but you couldn't find it in you to care, knowing beyond your own mild discombobulation that Donghyuck was not all there himself. "I just think early morning hours are the time to be vulnerable."

"True." He stared at the ceiling, thumb massaging your shoulder absentmindedly. "Why, did you wanna talk about it?"

You took a deeper breath to try and steady yourself before snuggling into the crook of his neck. "I just think I had that nightmare because I'm sleeping with you."

"That sounds like something I should be offended by," he chuckled breathily. "Why me?"

"I mean. Being helplessly in love with you complicates a lot of things." You'd spoken before you could allow yourself to hesitate, though now that the words were out there and his body had stiffened beneath you regret started flooding your nerves, burning them like an electrical current under water.

"What?"

"You heard me," you pouted, growing more self-conscious by the second.

"Just wanted to make sure I heard you right." Another tense silence followed, one that made your ears ring and your chest flutter. "What does that have to do with the nightmare?"

"I dunno, just. The usual shit, allowing yourself to be vulnerable and all that stuff again. It's scary at the best of times, even without everything that happened with Hyunwoo." You hated the way your tongue felt jammed, unable to express the fear that festered like rot in the bottom of your heart. It was pervasive, parasitic almost, something you struggled to cast out even if you had reduced its impact greatly in the years since you'd escaped. You looked up to find him watching you yet again, expression fond and curious. "You can do a lot of work," you tried, brows furrowed as you searched for the words. "You help yourself as much as you can, you do the therapy, you get better at functioning, all that stuff." He nodded, entirely attentive and patient, giving you the odd encouraging squeeze around your shoulders. He could tell you'd been wanting to get this all off your chest for a while.

"You've come a really long way since then, we're all proud of you," he smiled when you hesitated, wary of interrupting but not wanting to lose the moment to tell you. While Donghyuck was one to poke fun a lot—one to be sarcastic, one to make constant jokes—he was also always the first to compliment you and encourage you, a balance you were always thankful to have in your life.

"Thank you," you grinned, continuing. "But it doesn't matter how much work you do when you meet someone you fall for because you kinda have to accept that there's a whole other kind of shit under the surface that you can't unpack on your own, and you have to hope the person you've found sees all that and tells you ‘it's okay’ while you figure your shit out together."

"Everyone has their own baggage." You sat up a little to look at his thoughtful expression, moonlight shimmering on his soft features. After a moment of intense eye contact, he broke the silence with a serene smile. "Hey Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"It's okay." You stared at him for a moment, his words running laps around your own in your brain, the simplest kind of acceptance that seemed to short circuit you as your heart swelled. "And hey, I’m pretty in love with you too, so maybe you're not that hopeless."

"Is my want to kiss you right now equally as not hopeless?" You asked somewhat clumsily, grin mischievous. He took a moment to gawk at you being the bold one for a change before smirking, shaking his head.

"If you wanna kiss me so bad then do it."

You stared at him for a while longer, his gaze unwaveringly confident, and in sensing your slight hesitation he chuckled complacently before being the one to take the dive. You weren’t sure if it was the time of morning or the rawness in vulnerability that made you feel slightly delirious, head spinning as your mind took a second to catch up. The feeling of his lips on yours was unfamiliar but far from unwelcome, the warmth he radiated spreading like fire from the legs that twined together to the cheeks he cradled so tenderly. He smiled against your lips, breaking the kiss with a slightly bashful laugh, and you swear you saw galaxies in his eyes with the way he looked at you.

“What are you laughing at?” You watched him bewilderedly, the pull of his lips increasingly adoring as he pulled your head back to his neck and rocked you in his arms with another childish giggle.

“I’ve just wanted to do that for longer than you know.” His voice was angelic and light, like chimes in the wind, making you smirk against his collarbones. “It’s okay,” he repeated in a gaily hum, hold on you safe and reassuring. “We’ll get through anything, together.”

tell me what you thought? | masterlist

[zuzsenpai]

This is another personal post with TW mental illness. I'm sorry there have been so many recently. I really have nowhere else to put these things. Feel free to ignore.

I don't think my depression has ever been this bad before, in the almost 13 years I've had it. For maybe the past two months it's been steadily growing to a point of intensity that I can't ignore. The absolutely awful feelings won't go away. I can't stop thinking about how miserable I feel.

I can barely take care of myself. I eat takeout every day. There's garbage everywhere at my house. I can't get shit done at work and at some point people are going to notice. I have multiple really REALLY urgent doctor's appointments/calls I HAVE to make (one of which is to my psychiatrist who apparently I'm blocked from messaging on the healthcare app), yet I can't seem to pick up the phone. I am mentally incapable somehow. There's a wall there.

I have been told to exercise and meditate and I physically and mentally cannot. Again, there is a wall.

I have a video game I wanted to play, I try to play it, and I feel completely unattached to it (even though I have loved it in the past). I joined a really exclusive roleplay community for that game and proceeded to be too overwhelmed to make the character application and now the mods are asking me what I want to do. I haven't written fanfiction in two months because of severe burnout, and I miss it so desperately that it's making me realize I might have been using it as a bandaid/distraction. But my brain is so fried that I feel too overwhelmed to write again. People are leaving me nice comments on my fics and I can't even bring myself to read them let alone respond to them. My memory is so bad that I can't remember a lot of what happens in any of my fave series' and I feel like creating good fan content for those things is impossible at this point.

I'm ignoring online friends in my favorite server. I promised multiple IRL friends I would watch animes they like and I am feeling guilty that I mentally cannot do that. I'm dreading the two anime cons I have coming up in March because I don't think I'm going to feel comfortable in my cosplay this year. I have a close friend (who is also my coworker) who keeps trying to get me to do things with her and her husband and I keep turning them down because I'm worried I'll get overwhelmed by social anxiety and general awkwardness. Just the thought of having awkward social interactions is terrifying me and pushing me down harder than it ever has.

I had a boyfriend between October 2022 and December 2023, but I felt like it was a huge chore every time I had to see him and I developed zero feelings for him. I felt repulsed by the thought of us being romantic. We ghosted each other in December and now I feel like shit about it because he may have been the only chance I'll ever have at a relationship... but I also am in such a bad state that it's probably good things are over. Why don't I feel relieved?

I'm having physical tics in my abdomen and jaw that are getting worse and worse to the point of pain and people noticing. I can't talk to literally anyone without sounding upset, negative, angry. I had my best friends from out of state over a few weekends ago and I was so sick the whole time, I felt like I was letting them down. I've been repeating awkward interactions with friends and coworkers over and over in my head to the point where I think about it at night.

I haven't put my Christmas decorations away because I fucking CAN'T.

This week has been particularly bad. Yesterday I was working from home because of snow. When the snow stopped I rushed to my parents' house because I needed to be somewhere with people I know. But I was so negative in how I spoke with them, and it's making me feel even worse. I used to be really talkative and intelligent when having conversations with my family, but depression has taken that away from me pretty badly over the years, to the point where I can barely talk without thinking about how absolutely dreadful I am at conversation.

But today might be the worst of it (unrelated to Valentine's Day, though it certainly isn't helping). It pained me emotionally and physically to get out of bed, and I wanted to take a mental health day. Literally fell back asleep for an hour before I had to get up and DREAMT about taking a mental health day. But being alone at home is actually so much worse than being at work where there are at least people I am comfortable with. So I went in. I have been absolutely bombarded with depressed feelings all day though. I get up to walk down the hall to the bathroom and somehow that feels worse than sitting and staring at my computer without accomplishing anything. I'm sitting here crying at work, completely destroying the four months of tally marks I had for 'days without crying at work'. I didn't break my record, sadly.

I have a therapist. I have an appointment with her today actually. Maybe I'll just read all of this to her. I don't know where it's going to lead or what she's going to tell me to do, but all I want is to walk down the hall to the bathroom and have at least average, neutral emotions instead of carrying a chest full of raging depression. I want to be able to say something happy to someone so that they don't dump me as a friend for being toxically negative. I want to live, and I have things to live for. But damn if this depression isn't making it extremely difficult to enjoy those things.

[lonelysatoru]

one piece characters as goodwill workers

Luffy

somehow became a team lead (nobody knows how)

before he was a team lead he used to always get in trouble for always going into the breakroom for a “quick snack” (a full meal and 15 minutes laughing at the gc)

he used to never show up to work on time until he forced his roommates to come work there (roommates being zoro, sanji, and ussop)

hasn’t gotten asked to close since the time he fucked up the counting machine i the cash office so bad everyone was stuck there until 11:30pm trying to figure out how to fix it so that the store manager wouldn’t kill them (the cash machine was broken for months after)

works best in hardline

works morning shift bc that’s when sanji comes to work

usually works door because he’s super friendly and can carry a bunch of stuff inside at once

sorts through donations slow bc he gets distracted by the cool stuff

also isn’t allowed to price anymore bc he once put a vase worth $2,000 on the floor for 5.99 bc he thought it was ugly and didn’t think to look it up

whenever they get secret shopped and he’s at the door they get high scores

when ever he has to roll carts he takes forever because the regulars like to stop him and talk to him (and he could talk forever)

got banned from dressing the mannequins because he’d put the ugliest shit known to man on them for a good laugh

got employee of the month once and never ever let anyone forget it

songs along to the songs that play over the speakers EVERYDAY, regardless what song it is

uses the company card to buy food for everyone

is the person that buys cupcakes for a employee birthday or milestone 🥹

zoro

is also a hardliner

he’s only allowed to do sorting tho bc he’s rude to the people at donation door

their lowest score was when he was at the door in luffy’s absence (made a side comment about someone donating their garbage, or as he called it, useless shit)

got wrote up BAD for that too but he didn’t care

he’s better at sorting than luffy is bc he doesn’t get distracted and thinks a lot of the stuff is trashy

also always shows up to work on time and doesn’t ever miss a day

pretends to be annoyed when luffy sings along to the songs over the speaker but got super concerned the one day luffy didn’t sing along

has never gotten employee of the month and despises it so much bc sanji always makes fun of him for it

disappears for a realllyyyy long time every single day to go to the bathroom (goes to sleep for 20 minutes)

got in trouble for taking super long bathroom breaks so now he cuts his breaks down to 15 minutes and doesn’t get in trouble for it bc they don’t have the employees to fire him

usually works afternoon shifts bc that’s when ussop comes to work

only works there bc luffy begged and bribed him with the fact that they offer gym memberships through one of their programs

got banned from using the intercom bc during closing he got asked to make the closing call and went “attention goodwill shoppers. if you’re still in here at 8pm you need to get your shit and go. i wanna go home”

always takes his lunch with ussop bc he works in the front and is always willing to take him to go get something to eat if he’s still hungry after the lunch sanji packed

hates closing bc the people that show up around that time don’t leave fast enough for him

whenever he has to grab price checks from the front customers stare at him bc they think he’s hot

got made fun of by luffy bad when a grandma tried to set him up with their granddaughter after he helped her take her stuff out to the car

is the guy the cashiers call to grab stuff from top shelves

sanji

is a PRICER in hardline

works very quickly and efficiently bc he doesn’t like getting in trouble and wants to impress the store manager (happens to be nami)

has gotten employee of the month 3 times and rubs it in zoro’s face BAD

has gotten asked to help at other stores a few times and always smirks at zoro while they ask bc he knows zoro will NEVER get asked that

is always making side comments about zoro while he prices, which always leads to them fighting but they stop whenever nami comes into the back cuz they know to shape up when she’s in the area

always gets the store bonuses bc he noticed the super expensive items before they go out and sends them to ecom

they always make count when he’s the one pricing, even if it’s a slow day at the donation door

is the designated training buddy for new comers so he knows how to do everything in the store

drives luffy to work in the morning so that he’s not late

always makes lunches for zoro, ussop, and luffy (also makes lunch for nami and gets so red whenever she comments on how good his food is)

brings baked goods to work for everyone to eat sometimes and pretends he doesn’t like the praise

takes full advantage of the grocery and gas option goodwill has for workers (they pay for employees groceries and gas)

writes those stupid little praise cards for everyone in the store but swears he only writes ones for the women in the store

always goes home for his lunch break

sits in his car for his 15 minute breaks bc if he sits in the breakroom with luffy he loses track of time and they end up getting in trouble (once sat their for 40 minute cackling with luffy and a coworker)

ussop comes to him and tells him what areas in the store needed to be decorated and he keeps it in mind by putting his decorations in a different cart

when ussop calls for a price check he goes to get it to see if he’s having an anxiety attack (can always tell over the speaker no matter how crunchy it is)

when he goes up front to get price checks he never notices but people stare at him when he walks by

gets asked what kind of cologne he’s wearing everytime he steps foot out onto the floor

usopp

is a cashier

got super bad anxiety working up front by himself the first few weeks he started, but once he got used to it he was able to hide it better

gets REALLY bad anxiety when he’s left up at the front alone bc someone called out and they’re spread thin

never ever forgets to tell everyone the return policy

whenever he finally gets backup he gets told to roll carts or fill up the endcaps of the aisles until he feels calmer

dresses the mannequins bc he has the best fashion sense/eye for display out of the other employees

excels during holiday seasons bc he’s fantastic and bringing together the random donated items

always takes his lunches and 15 minutes breaks at the same time

always goes on lunch with zoro so that they can get food

was the unlucky soul who got stuck with luffy until 11:30 when he fucked up the cash machine

begs nami to switch the station to the throwback station every thursday bc at night when everyone’s gone he gets to sing along to california girls at the top of his lungs (zoro always tells him to shut up)

gets pretty good reviews when the secret shoppers comes to his register bc he’s super easy going and will have a conversation with anyone

knows all the tea in the store and more often than not ends up sitting with nami in her office or while they price new goods and just GOSSIPS

keeps trying to convince sanji to become a store manager since he knows how to do every job in the store

nami

is the store manager

rules the store with a iron enough grip that they know not to mess around too much, but loose enough that everyone knows they can come to her with anything and talk

isn’t super strict about the dress code unless one of the big bosses is coming

she loosely follows the rules and policies goodwill sets in place if she thinks they’re stupid

for example: there’s a rule that employees can’t buy the color of the week. but she’ll let you buy the color of the week if you want it (she just doesn’t give them the employee discount)

lowkey hates being the store manager bc she always has a ton of paper work and meetings and emails to tend to like everyday

prefers to help in softline over hardline bc luffy’s off key singing makes her head hurt. plus sanji and zoro’s bickering also irritates her

on the rare occasions one of them isn’t there she’ll go back there and stay bc usually luffy without zoro/ zoro without luffy is just less annoying

is super serious about everyone making count and sending stuff to ecom bc she wants her bonuses (also bc if they can reach their budget continuously the workers can get raises but she’ll never say that)

whenever a customer is being rude to her workers they know to call her bc she’ll kick them to the curb IMMEDIATELY, regardless of if they were gonna pay for their things or not

gave zoro the title of “security guard” bc if a customer is particularly aggressive she gets on the unofficial pokémon walkies and calls for him. as soon as he comes out from the back and the trouble maker sees him they ALWAYS take the base outa their tone and leave 😭

okay i’m all outa ideas 🫡