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taexual · 8 months

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sleepwalking ● 17 | jjk

pairing: jungkook x fem!reader

summary: due to unfortunate circumstances, you ended up managing your ex-boyfriend’s band. you thought you’ve both made peace with it, but suddenly he’s very eager to prove to you that first love never dies.

genre: rockstar!jungkook / exes to lovers

warnings: explicit language and depictions of medical treatment (mentions of an IV, not overly descriptive), fluff (!), angst, A LOT of pent-up emotions, SLOW BURN

words: 15.5k (help)

read from the beginning ○ masterlist

chapter 17 ► looking sideways when i say i’m okay with the past, but i’m afraid of what i might say if you ask

When you regained consciousness, it took you a few more minutes to understand what was happening.

In your hazy mind, the first clear thought you could grasp was a memory: Jungkook had gotten into a fight. Instinctively, you imagined yourself standing up and finding him. Not because your job required you to—honestly, you weren’t sure what job you even had at this point, your mind hadn’t sorted itself out yet—but because you wanted to see if he was okay.

You tried to open your eyes, but the room was spinning, and you felt a little queasy from the unexpected vertigo.

You shut your eyes again and tried to focus on your other senses—as best as you could without moving—hoping that this would answer some of the new questions forming in your mind.

You did not know where you were or how you got here, but the room was warm. The lack of proper ventilation made the air feel stuffy.

You didn’t hear any background noise, so you assumed you weren’t at a hospital. But you could hear a lot of shouting in the room. You thought you discerned three different voices, but they were all talking over each other, so it was hard to tell.

You were lying on something soft but scratchy, and a heavy duvet pressed you into the bed. It felt comforting, but you were starting to sweat.

Someone’s hand was on your wrist, their fingers cold.

Reflexively, you squeezed their hand.

“Don’t move,” someone whispered right next to you. Jungkook, you realised. “We’ve called a doctor.”

Your initial reaction was relief. He was here, so he had to be okay.

Your next reaction, however, was pure panic. You didn’t need a doctor. You just needed a minute.

“We should have taken her to a hospital,” another voice argued. “I’ll never forgive you if anything happens to her.”

That had to be Luna, you were sure of it. Your eyes remained closed, but you could envision your friend with her arms crossed over her chest, regarding the boy next to you with a scorching glare.

You didn’t like this mention of a hospital.

You squeezed Jungkook’s hand again, but even as he tried to explain to Luna that you would go on a particularly bloody rampage if he took you to a hospital—he had a point and you would have felt grateful if you hadn’t been so distressed—she still wasn’t hearing him.

You opened your mouth and felt your chapped lips tighten painfully.

“No hospital, please,” you croaked in the voice of someone who had been a successful chain smoker for over fifty years.

You heard Luna whisper-yell, “you’re unbelievable, the both of you!” and you tried to open your eyes again, but nothing had changed. It still felt a bit like gravity had taken a day off as the room and everyone around you continued to float.

You heard a faint voice that you did not recognise, and from the official tone and the immediate chill you felt inside, you deduced that it was the doctor.

“I’m going to administer a very mild sedative,” he said—to whom, you weren’t sure. Your insides felt very heavy. “And set up a drip. Make sure she doesn’t move much or the catheter will—oh, see, like that. That can’t happen.”

Your muscles spasmed involuntarily. Something pricked your arm. You didn’t mind needles, but you did not like IVs. You didn’t need to be sedated.

“I don’t think—” you tried to say when you felt something cold on your arm—the doctor’s hands, presumably, in very unpleasant, squeaky latex gloves. “I don’t think I need this.”

“Can you open your eyes for me, please?” the doctor asked.

“No,” you said with what you hoped was a shake of your head. In reality, you merely wrinkled your nose. “T-that is not something I can do right now. But in a—”

“Your body needs rest,” the doctor explained. Jungkook moved closer until he was clutching your hand with both of his. “It won’t knock you out, but it will relax you, make you a little drowsy. That will likely help you fall asleep naturally. Is that all right?”

You lacked the strength to tell him that you were already very tired—or the strength to tell him that you still had things to do, so you couldn’t just sleep.

The memory of the flooding at the venue in Manchester came back to your mind and your muscles tensed again.

Really, you were about to refuse, but there was hardly anything you disliked more than inconveniencing people. They had invited a doctor for you. He was just doing his job.

“Okay,” you said in quiet defeat.

“Your friends are in the room with you,” the doctor said. You felt a cold sensation on your arm. “They will stay with you and make sure you get plenty of rest. Even after you wake up, you must spend as much time in bed as you possibly can.”

“Don’t phrase it like that,” you heard Jungkook object. “Give us a specific time, or she’ll be out of bed as soon as she wakes up.”

Silence followed. You tried to imagine what was happening. Jungkook must have looked very eager—in his exaggerated manner, which resembled desperation rather than hope. Luna probably nodded in agreement. The doctor, if he was kind enough, smiled at them patiently.

“Two days,” he finally stated. “Today and tomorrow, at the very least. If she has to walk, someone should accompany her. But don’t keep her on her feet for too long. I’ve seen the crowd of people outside this room—don’t tire her out. There should only be one or two people in the room with her, all right? Proper nutrition, sufficient sleep, and a—”

You felt yourself drifting off, and the doctor’s words faded and merged together until you were no longer sure whether you were imagining what a doctor would say in this situation, or if he was actually speaking.

When you opened your eyes again, Luna and Maggie were seated in the armchairs next to your bed. The room had stabilised, allowing you to take in your surroundings before Luna glanced up from her phone and Maggie pulled out her earpods, noticing that you were awake.

The space around you appeared to be a hotel room. Next to the bed stood a metal bar with bags of faint yellow liquid on it. A catheter was attached to your arm and an intravenous line led to it from the drip. You shivered at the sight of it.

“Oh!” Luna’s gasp drew your attention back to her. She dropped her phone on her seat and straightened up. “How are you feeling?”

Right away, Maggie jumped up and removed her earpods.

“Confused,” you spoke and immediately tried to clear your prickly throat.

Maggie leapt forward and grabbed an empty glass from the bedside table. She poured some water from one of the three bottles on the floor and handed it to you.

You couldn’t remember the last time you had water. It tasted heavenly.

“You’re in a hotel room,” Luna explained as you drank. Maggie sat down on the armrest of her friend’s chair. “In Manchester.”

The mention of the city made you glare at her, and both girls breathed a sigh of relief. At least you knew where you were in a broader sense.

“It’s 7 PM,” Luna said after checking her phone. “The band has a day off tomorrow because the concert’s been postponed—”

“Because of the flooding,” you finished, leaning forward to put the glass back on the table. “I remember, Luna. Thanks. What, um—how come I’m here?”

Luna looked at Maggie for a moment, wordlessly asking her to take over the story.

“Well, you fainted,” Maggie started. She wasn’t usually a woman of many words, and this time was no different, which you found comforting. If Maggie didn’t think it was necessary to talk for hours, then you must not have been doing that bad. “Jungkook found you.”

“Yeah,” Luna had to interject with more details—she was still irked about his decision to book a hotel room instead of a hospital room. “And then he spent half an hour describing your symptoms. It took the doctor all of one second to diagnose you with burnout and put you on a vitamin drip. He told us to keep you on bed rest and watch for any more nosebleeds or fainting spells. If they continue, you’ll need to go into urgent care.”

You wanted to ask questions—where did they find this doctor? Where was this hotel? What was happening at the venue?—but the girls were on a roll.

“Meanwhile, I wasn’t even allowed in the room,” Maggie said, returning to her chair and sitting down properly. She was upset that she had missed what Luna had just summarised for you. “The doctor told us that only one person could stay, but neither Luna, nor Jungkook agreed to leave. So, no one else could come in until you were feeling better.”

“Jungkook was the one who decided on the hotel room, by the way,” Luna remarked, seemingly glad to finally express her frustrations. “I argued. I think you should at least have a blood test done. What if you’re anaemic? But—”

“I’m not anaemic,” you finally interrupted as you settled back on the bed. The mattress quickly adjusted to the shape of your body. Closing your eyes, you had to admit that the bed was really quite comfortable. Perhaps you could stay here for a few more hours. “This has happened to me before. I’ll be fine.”

Luna sighed. Her knowledge of the last time this had happened to you came from Jungkook’s haphazard stream of thought as he tried to explain to the doctor that the two of you had been in this exact situation before—you, unconscious, and he, on the verge of losing his mind.

Honestly, for a moment, Luna thought the doctor had considered sedating Jungkook instead of you.

“I knew you were going to say that,” she muttered after a minute. “Jungkook seemed to believe you’d shoot us all dead if we took you to a hospital.”

Gratitude bubbled up in your chest, but when you saw your friend’s solemn features, you tried to soften your response.

“I wouldn’t have shot you,” you said. “I would have smothered you all with pillows."

Maggie scoffed, and Luna rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips still turned up.

“Nice to see you haven’t gained a sense of humour while you were out,” Maggie teased.

“Ha,” you responded dryly—but you were smiling, too.

Luna crossed her legs on the armchair to get more comfortable. She glanced at Maggie anxiously. The girls weren’t sure if they were tiring you out with their conversation, but you were looking up at the ceiling, not indicating that you were tired in any way, so they decided to continue.

“So, want to tell us how this happened, then?” Luna asked.

You turned your head to her. “I was hoping you’d tell me. I can’t exactly remember.”

“You fainted,” Maggie reminded you. Luna leaned over and gave her a pat on the arm, thanking her for this valuable reminder.

You smiled gently. “You mentioned that. Where’d the doctor come from?”

“Oh, Jungkook found one,” Maggie said. “There’s a clinic across the street from the venue. And this hotel is right next door.”

“Oh.”

A minute passed as you attempted to piece it all together.

You could not remember any of this, but the news that Jungkook had taken care of most things was not calming. He must have really been going out of his mind.

You were curious about where he was, but you didn’t want to ask. Your paranoid mind made you think that any question about Jungkook that was not related to Rated Riot was unnecessary and would, therefore, be misunderstood. Your friends already seemed like they were resisting a few additional comments for the sake of your health.

“So,” Luna started after a quiet minute, “how come you fainted?"

You exhaled and tried to scratch your eyebrow, but the catheter tugged painfully at your skin, and you winced instead.

You dropped your hand back down. “I-I... I guess I overestimated myself.”

Luna pushed the IV stand closer to your bed so you could have more freedom with your limbs. You nodded gratefully.

“You’re going to have to slow down,” Luna said. “It’s no longer negotiable, I’m afraid. If you don’t listen to us, we will take you to a hospital.”

It was the plural pronoun that bothered you the most, but you forced yourself to swallow your discomfort at disrupting the daily routines of your friends.

“I’ll be alright soon,” you said. “And I promise this won’t happen again.”

“It had better not,” Maggie chimed in. “And what’s with this hatred of hospitals? You don’t like that they’re full of people who want to help you feel better?”

“I don’t hate them,” you said, which wasn’t entirely true. Your experiences in hospitals included your mum crying, and you’d rather not relive that—not so soon after your brother broke his leg. “I just don’t have time for them. I’m okay.”

Luna gave you a stern look. Even Maggie, who was usually quite calm when you said you were fine, was glowering a little.

“Fine,” you conceded. “I’ll endure this drip and then I'll be okay. Thank you for being here.”

Luna made a deliberate scene of fixing the bags on the metal stand—clearly intending to emphasise the seriousness of your condition—and then lowered herself back into her armchair.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

Smiling at both of your girls—to distract them from further discussing your health—you said, “I love you.”

“We love you, too,” Maggie said. “And, babe, just so you know, it’s not just us. There was—everyone was here. The concierge nearly fainted when he saw us all in the hallway.”

Your smile quickly fell. “What do you mean, everyone?”

“We took care of it, don’t worry,” Luna interjected, sensing your growing panic. “Maggie and I talked to Seokjin, Jimin, and Namjoon, who then spoke to the rest of the staff and escorted them out. And Jungkook took care of his band.”

The panic lingered. Your job was solving crises, not causing them. You did not like this.

“He took care of them?” you repeated, swallowing.

“Well, they were very worried,” Luna explained, glancing at Maggie for help. Maggie only nodded, indicating her agreement. “And, uh, they were very loud, too. He told them to go and texted them updates every ten minutes.”

“God.” You closed your eyes and carefully tried to prop yourself up into a half-sitting position. “What updates? I was asleep.”

“That’s what he’s been texting them,” Luna explained. “Every ten minutes, on the dot. And then Taehyung texted me, asking why I kicked his best friend out of your room—which is ridiculous because I did not kick him out. But you’re my best friend, so technically, I would have had the right to kick him out if you were uncomfortable.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose with your hand and shook your head, an involuntary smile creeping onto your face at your friend’s protectiveness. “I’m comfortable. Thank you.”

“Are you going to see him?” Maggie asked.

You looked up at her. “Jungkook?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “He’s right behind the door, you know. Glued to the wall in the hallway.”

Your gaze slid down her dark blue jacket and focused on the mirror on the wall behind her. “Oh.”

“The doctor said he would need to go to the hospital, too, by the way,” Luna said, earning a surprised look from you. “He said the bandages around his head looked very threatening.”

You pressed your lips together. You’d expected that, but you still felt a fleeting twinge of disappointment—you’d covered his wounds to the best of your ability. And the bandages were honestly not the worst part of this.

“The doctor hasn’t even seen what’s underneath,” you said.

“He has now, actually,” Maggie replied. “He went to the emergency room about an hour ago to have them changed.”

You were too taken aback to properly understand her. “Jungkook did?”

“Yeah,” Luna said, pulling her phone out. Your mind tuned out her next few sentences as you struggled to come to terms with the fact that Jungkook had gone to the emergency room on his own accord. “—and he called us from the hospital. Apparently, he pestered the nurses with questions about what else we could do to help you feel better. They told him to leave, but he wanted to hear from us—in case we thought you needed anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought a heart monitor here, just in case.”

Maggie snickered—but caught the serious looks on the faces around her and covered it up with a fractured cough—while you groaned and rubbed your eyes. You wouldn’t have been surprised, either.

You exhaled. “Yeah—I-I’ll see him. If that’s okay with you?”

Both girls nodded and got up from their seats. Before they went, however, they convinced you to accept their help to complete the difficult task—as you pointed out while rolling your eyes—of walking ten steps to the bathroom, and then ten steps back to your bed. Clearly, they were taking the doctor’s orders very seriously.

“We’ll be right outside,” Luna said once you settled back in bed. “Call or text—”

“No,” you protested. “You can’t—you don’t need to stay here. You’ve already done so much.”

“We were just sitting in your room with you,” Maggie said. “It’s hardly anything. Don’t worry about us.”

“It’s not hardly anything,” you disagreed. “At least get something to eat.”

The two girls looked at each other. Maggie shrugged and then looked back at you, still doubtful. You nodded with more conviction.

“We’ll pick up some food for everyone and come back,” Luna finally decided. “Okay?”

You nodded again. “Okay. Thank you.”

As soon as the girls opened the door to your hotel room, you heard shuffling outside—as if someone had been leaning right up against the door and scrambled away before it opened.

“You may come in,” Luna told Jungkook with excessive dramatics as she and Maggie turned to wave at you again.

You gave them another nod and watched as Jungkook tentatively walked inside. He turned to close the door behind him and lingered, for an awkward moment, at the entrance.

His bandages were fresh and none of the scantily wrapped bruises were visible any longer. Perhaps they would heal in time for the concert.

Before you could express your hopes out loud, however, Jungkook took a shaky breath and approached you.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so fucking sorry, I don’t know what I would have done if—”

“W-why are you sorry?” you cut him off, disturbed by the absolute devastation in his voice.

He was right next to your bed now, barely able to inhale. “It’s—you—you fainted—and—it was because—I shouldn’t—”

It hit you, suddenly, why he was hyperventilating so much. And the shock of this realisation was so great that you could not react immediately, and he proceeded to stutter for another few moments.

“This—it has nothing—this isn’t about you,” you finally said, almost as coherent as he was.

Still, he persisted, “but I—you—I was—I should have—”

“I didn’t faint because of you, Jungkook,” you said more firmly. There were several reasons why he should have felt guilty, of course, but this was definitely not one of them.

He finally stopped speaking, although the rapid process of inhaling and exhaling—which caused his shoulders to hunch and straighten from the intensity of the motions—continued for another minute.

Then he gave you a long, uncertain look. You maintained eye contact and watched as his breathing gradually slowed. You had never seen him panic so much and so suddenly—he had seemed almost perfectly fine when he came in, but it took him all of two seconds to fall apart.

Slowly, he regained control of his breathing and looked you over once more.

“Okay,” he said, shifting his weight to his other leg. “I-I don’t know if that—if it makes me feel better, but—”

“Thank you,” you said.

Lost in his own thoughts, he craned his neck towards you. “Hm?”

“Luna and Maggie told me you’re the one who found me.”

Jungkook looked briefly embarrassed.

“I explicitly asked them not to tell,” he said.

You smiled. “I’m sure this was Force majeure, so don’t blame them. And they’re my best friends anyway.”

“Clearly.” He brought his hands down his face before admitting, “I just—I thought you wouldn’t want to see me.”

A part of you thought he was right to assume that. You shouldn’t want to see him.

But another part of you forced you to lower your gaze and twiddle your thumbs nervously as you linked your hands on your stomach.

“No, uh, see,” you began with a nervous chuckle. “That’s, uh—that’s almost the worst part of this whole thing. My plan, really, was to avoid you.”

Jungkook raised his eyebrows, then politely lowered them. He placed his hand on the back of the armchair and said, profoundly, “very mature.”

“You don’t get to judge,” you warned.

The corner of his lip quirked. “Just making an observation.”

“So, my plan was to avoid you,” you continued. “But we both know how that ended. And then I woke up here, sort of feeling like I was floating in a space station somewhere near Saturn, and you know what my first thought was?”

Jungkook thought he was floating in a space station somewhere near Saturn.

“Wh—um, what?” he asked.

“My first thought was if you were okay.”

You looked at him as you said that, and he thought he saw the rest of his life flash before his eyes—a life that, just a few days ago, he’d deemed meaningless.

Without any proper distractions, it was just him and his thoughts, and they were never good company. They hated him for losing you.

But then you fainted and now that you’ve regained consciousness, your first thought was if he was okay.

He didn’t trust his legs very much anymore.

“Can I sit?” he asked, a little breathless again.

You took a second to reply, and he interpreted it as a sign of hesitation. “You can.”

Suspicious, he asked, “will you try to leave if I sit?”

You gave him a questioning look and nudged your hand, causing the IV bags to wobble. “Does it look like I can move around with this?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “You might still try.”

You snorted and shook your head. “Just sit down, Jungkook.”

He sat down.

The two of you were a peculiar sight like this. If this were a role-playing video game, there would have been exclamation marks over your heads—and if you had been approached, the list of conversation starters the player could choose would have been, simply, endless.

There was so much you wanted to say and ask each other, but the strength of your resistance was absurdly impressive.

One thought, however, overwhelmed everything, and it was very simple: how little everything else mattered compared to your health.

Jungkook took a deep breath and looked at you, taking in your tired, but ceaselessly dreamlike features.

Slowly, he found himself calming down. As long as you were here, as long as you were okay, things would work out one way or another.

“I, um—your mum called, by the way,” Jungkook said. “I have your phone. It fell out of your jacket when I—when I found you.”

Right away, you felt a surge of panic. You and your mum had a deal. She knew you were busy, so she would text sometimes, but never call. Unless something had happened.

“My—she called me?” you repeated with so much concern that Jungkook noticed the drip stand shake a little from the force of your distress. “Did you answer?”

He felt his own hands return to their almost natural trembling. “Uh, well, as it happened—I did.”

“Why did she call? What happened?”

“Well, nothing,” he said. “She said she hadn’t heard from you in a while, and she was worried.”

Mother’s intuition, she had called it when she spoke to you. When you returned to your dorm after your hospital stay six years ago, she had called you because “for some reason” she couldn’t sleep for two nights in a row. She didn’t know you were ill, of course, but it touched you, this maternal feeling that transcended all logic.

It could have been a coincidence, you supposed. Lots of things were.

“What did you say?” you asked.

“I said you had a lot of things to take care of,” Jungkook replied. “But you’d call her when you had a free moment.”

You watched him as he spoke and noticed his eyes widen momentarily, clearly taken aback by what he’d just seen in your expression. You realised you hadn’t expected him to hide this from your mum, and your surprise must have shown.

Blinking, you turned away and gripped the edge of your duvet.

“Thank you,” you said.

“I also told her you’re very stressed,” he added quieter.

“Oh—well, that—you could have kept that to yourself,” you said, less enthusiastic about his thoughtfulness. “She’s going to freak out about it.”

“Let her,” he countered. “You’re her child. She’s worried about you. You have to let people worry about you when there’s a reason to.”

You had a different opinion, of course. But instead of arguing, you chose to find out what conclusions your mum had drawn from this brief exchange. She hadn’t heard from Jungkook directly in years, even though she knew you were working together.

“What did she—was she surprised to hear from you?” you asked.

Your question made Jungkook appear as if he was trying very hard to tap dance while sitting down. He bounced his legs, tapped his feet, and occasionally scratched something under his chin, above his nose, or on the back of his neck.

“Uh, well, we’re, um, you know,” he said. You were almost ready to assume that he was hiding something else. “You and me—w-we’re working together. She wasn’t that surprised.”

“Right, but I mean—”

“I told her not to worry too much, and that you’d love to hear from her,” he finished, skilfully diverting from the topic and speaking even louder so you wouldn’t have a chance to interject with another question. “She said she’d text you, and you should call her when you have a minute. Not right now, though. You’re resting now.”

Again, you tried, “I’m just—”

“She put Kai on the phone, too,” he added. “So, I talked to him for a second. He called you an idiot.”

That took a very unusual turn, you thought in surprise. Your mum hadn’t spoken to Jungkook in years, and now she wanted to put your brother on the phone, too—you were simply confused.

“He—why’d he say that?” you asked, presently more unnerved by the name-calling than your mother’s unexpected choices.

“For forgetting to call your mum, he said. And for working too much,” Jungkook replied. “Which is precisely what I warned you about in Amsterdam, so I honestly can’t believe this happened to you again. We asked you to take it easy, so at least listen to us now, and—”

It was hard to breathe in this still room, with the force of everyone’s concern weighing you down.

Slowly, you kicked one leg out from under the duvet. “I did take it easy.”

“Right,” he said, closing his eyes and mumbling, “you never fucking take it easy.”

You heaved yourself up to your feet, holding onto the IV stand for support. “I was—”

Jungkook looked up and jumped to his feet as soon as he realised what you were doing. “Where are you going? Sit down.”

“I’m fine. I’m just—”

He blocked your way, quickly ensuring that you did not have enough space to take another step.

“See, I told you you’d do this,” he groaned, his chest pressed against yours. “Just sit down.”

You tried not to stagger backwards—which was his intention, of course—and still stood your ground. “I just want to open the window, I’m—”

“Sit down.”

Huffing in angry resignation, you sat back down.

“Okay,” he said, stepping back from the bed to give you more space. “Now lie down.”

You rolled your eyes but settled back into a horizontal position, glaring at him all the while.

“Should I roll over, too?” you bit. “Give you a paw?”

“Not unless you want to.”

You bared your teeth. “Funny.”

“Just lie down, please,” he reiterated. “And just—just rest, okay? For a little while, at least. I’ll open the window.” He saw you open your mouth and added hurriedly, “I know you can do it yourself. But let me.”

Sighing, you surrendered to the warm confines of the duvet. “Okay. Thanks.”

He crossed the room and struggled with the curtains for a moment. He could tell you were watching him, and he felt irrationally nervous—he thought that if he did something wrong, you would try to get up again. Finally, he grabbed the handle of the window, twisted it and pulled. A moment or two later, a welcome breeze finally filled the stuffy room.

Relieved to be able to breathe something other than your discomfort, you watched Jungkook return to his armchair.

“You didn’t tell me if you’re okay,” you reminded him. “How’s your eye?”

He looked confused as he lifted his hand—as if to verify if the eye in question was still there—then paused and dropped it again.

“It’s working,” he said, sitting back down next to your bed.

“And the pain?”

He shrugged. “Bearable.”

“Good,” you said, slipping your hands under the covers and resting them on your stomach. “I’m glad you took out your eyebrow piercing before the whole thing with Sid, by the way. Otherwise, we might have had even more problems.”

Jungkook didn’t want that to be your shared problem—he was determined to carry out his plan, which he boldly referred to as “Getting My Shit Together”—but at the same time, he was glad that he didn’t cause you any additional distress. Honestly, he couldn’t have cared less about his piercings right now.

“I—yeah.” He rubbed his eyebrow absentmindedly. “I hadn’t planned it like that, but it worked out, I guess.”

“Did you get any rest?” you asked then.

The question felt misplaced, and his stomach sank at the sheer wrongness of it. You were always worried about others. And he always gave you reasons to worry.

Really, while he was happy—alright, ecstatic—that you thought of him, he should have been the one asking you this.

“How, uh—how do you mean?” he returned.

“After the flight,” you said.

He looked down at the beige carpet under his boots and shook his head. He couldn’t have slept even if he wanted to—not until he was sure you weren’t on your feet, insisting you were okay.

“I don’t need rest,” he said.

But as you looked at him, it was clear that rest was exactly what he needed. Beneath the imposing bandages, his eyes were bloodshot, and his skin was pale and waxy. He was still beautiful—Maggie would have made a joke about it—but in a way that made your heart ache if you looked at him too long.

“You should go,” you said. “Get some sleep.”

Jungkook gave you a look as if you had just confessed that you enjoyed beheading people in your spare time: incredulous and slightly offended.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

This was going to turn into a childish game, you knew it. But you tapped your thumbs together and still tried.

“What if I want to be alone?” you asked.

“Then I’ll call Luna and Maggie.”

Your arched eyebrows challenged his solution.

“When I said alone,” you clarified, “I didn’t mean not with you.”

For just a split second, he looked almost relieved to hear this. Then he bit his lip and brought a hand over his knee.

“If my presence is not the problem,” he said, “then I’m staying.”

“The problem,” you argued, “is that you’re going to end up in this bed, connected to an IV, if you don’t sleep.”

“Let’s cut to the chase,” he offered. “I’m not leaving you alone. In fact, I’m staying. Unless you explicitly tell me you can’t stand to look at me anymore.”

He gave you an opening to tease, and you enjoyed building up to it as you looked down and ran your tongue over your lips.

“And, uh, you’d leave then?” you asked—taunted, really.

“Begrudgingly,” he replied, as discontented as you were amused.

You nodded. “Alright.”

He raised his eyebrows, slightly dispirited. “You’re going to tell me to go?”

“No,” you said. “Stay.”

So he stayed.

And this moment in the hotel room, as the vitamin drip dribbled quietly into the intravenous tube, did not just feel bizarre. It felt a little like a parallel universe—like you’d lost consciousness in a world where you were very angry and very stressed, and had woken up in a world where only subtle echoes of all the fervent emotions you’d once felt existed.

In this world, all that you were feeling was eclipsed by what really mattered: the people who were in this room with you and had been waiting outside of it.

But you felt another particularly prominent sentiment, which was heightened even more by Jungkook’s relentless focus on you. You did not want to name it, however. To identify it was to give it power over you, and you liked to believe that you had your heartbeat under control right now.

“It’s like—this is just like back then again,” Jungkook said suddenly. “Isn’t it?”

You exhaled, returning to the jagged, uncertain moment.

“Yeah...” you said, stretching the vowels in a frantic attempt to fill the space that would soon turn into an awkward silence. “Thank you for not taking me to a hospital this time. This really isn’t so bad.”

“It is bad,” he disagreed right away. “But I didn’t want you to have another reason to feel stressed. I thought a hotel room would relax you more than a hospital room.”

“It would,” you said. “Thanks.”

He hung his head. “Yeah.”

Not the awkward silence, not the awkward silence, not the—

“Well,” you inhaled, “at least you won’t have to study for any finals this time, right?”

You expected him to smile back at the gentle jab about him failing his exam the last time you were in the hospital. But when Jungkook looked up, he looked crestfallen somehow—almost like he was disappointed that he did not have to study for finals this time.

“Yeah, um, actually—I-I didn’t fail my exam because I didn’t study for it,” he said in a slow, contemplative tone. He wasn’t sure if he could ever admit this to you, but he figured he didn’t have much left to lose. He’d already told you so much. He might as well tell you all the rest. “I failed because your friend texted me about twenty minutes before my final, saying that you left your exam looking very disoriented. She asked if I could check on you.”

Horror descended on your face as you realised what he meant.

“You went to look for me,” you surmised painfully, “and didn’t show up to take your final.”

He nodded and you shook your head with a newfound ferocity.

“Jungkook,” you said, remembering how you reacted when he first told you he had failed—how you immediately blamed his recklessness and his friends. How you brought up all of his mistakes and thought this was another one of them.

“You passed out,” he said. “I don’t regret it.”

“I yelled at you so much!” you continued, lost in your own guilt. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“You helped me study, too,” he defended, feeling almost uncomfortable. He’d never felt your reaction was inappropriate, even under the circumstances. He had failed the exam, after all—like he’d failed several others before.

You shook your head again. “Yeah, but—”

“It’s fine,” he cut you off.

“It’s not fine!” you refuted immediately. “It was my fault you failed.”

“It wasn’t your—”

“I thought it was your friends again,” you said. “I thought they distracted you, and you didn’t study.”

There it was—this vast precipice between what you thought had happened and what had actually happened. Now that years have passed, Jungkook didn’t even know where to start.

The fact was this: you believed that every time he failed you, it was his friends’ fault—and that belief comforted him. It was so appropriate, so fitting.

And sometimes it was true, but even when it wasn’t—when it was just him, not being good enough—your assumption that it was Sid’s fault didn’t paint Jungkook as desperate; merely reckless. Not hopeless, only a little dumb. He preferred it this way.

But now he took a deep breath.

“My friends did distract me from a lot of things,” he said. “But the truth is, sometimes… I tried too hard, and I didn’t want you to know about it. I couldn’t stand the thought of trying to do something for you and then—just completely fucking everything up and letting you down. Sometimes blaming my friends was a convenient excuse.”

You frowned. “What—what are you talking about?”

“Well,” he wiped his palms on his black cargo pants and stretched out his legs, “remember when we were planning to go on holiday together and I fucked up?”

Your frown deepened.

“Hawaii?” you asked. “When you bought the tickets home for the same day we were flying there?”

“Uh…” He hadn’t realised he’d messed up several times. “No. Different holiday. When I missed the train we were supposed to take to the beach? For our summer break?”

“Oh.” You nodded. “I remember. But I saw Sid’s Instagram videos with you, drinking at his garage. I know you were—”

“Those were old videos. And he posted them at a very bad time, which, honestly,” he chuckled sadly, “it’s nothing new for Sid. He seized every opportunity to make me miserable, and I was—I relied on that sometimes. I think he wanted to start an argument between us on the train, that’s why he posted those videos. The truth is, though, I didn’t even see him that day. I missed the train because I wanted to rent out a car and surprise you.”

The quiet confusion on your face prompted him to keep going.

“I didn’t want just any car,” he explained. “I wanted the same Cadillac convertible I’d rented out for our first anniversary.”

You had fond memories of the convertible. Not of the actual drive, which was, honestly, quite painful—there were bugs and unruly strands of your hair everywhere—but of the laughter you’d shared inside.

“It was summer, finally warm enough outside,” Jungkook recalled. “I thought it would be a nice way to relax after studying. I even, uh—I made decorations and everything. Glittery, silver letters that said, ‘just passed our finals’. It’s a play on ‘just married’, you know? It’s a—a joke.”

Eager to understand where this was going, you remained frozen on the bed, and Jungkook felt himself waver slightly. He was glad you weren’t laughing—he dreaded you’d laugh or find any of this as embarrassing as he did—but he slid his hands under his thighs anyway, as if to warm them.

“The thing is, though,” he continued. “I didn’t take my passport with me. Because you don’t need a passport when you’re taking the fucking train, but you can’t rent a car without one, and those fucking assholes at the rental shop—anyway. I went back to my dorm to pick it up, and by the time I got back, the rental shop had closed for lunch. And I missed the train.”

Your heartbeat was steady—fast, absolutely speeding, but steady nonetheless. It hadn’t slowed since he started speaking.

Your expression, however, was almost painfully concentrated. When he looked at you, it seemed as if you were listening to a séance where a spirit was recounting their death.

You cleared your throat and tried to speak. “I thought—”

“You thought I forgot about our trip and went out with Sid,” Jungkook finished for you.

You didn’t have to confirm it, he knew. The hope that this was what you would assume was his safety blanket—this way, he didn’t have to face the fact that he could never do anything right for you, not even when he tried so hard to.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you asked.

You weren’t angry at him for this because he’d made it to the beach later that night, after all. He had taken the last train and barged into your cabin just after midnight. You had nearly knocked him out with a bedside lamp, assuming it was an intruder.

But you didn’t understand the point of allowing you to believe—for years—that it was Sid’s fault. Why didn’t he defend himself?

“Because—did you not hear me describe the letters I’d cut out from glittery paper?” Jungkook asked, his voice high-pitched in irritation at himself. “It’s embarrassing. I should have just met you at the train station like I said I would.”

“Well, why didn’t you?” you questioned. “Why put all this effort?”

“Because I love you,” he replied. You tugged on the IV tube again as you squirmed and unconsciously flexed your arm. “And because I saw your friends get picked up by their boyfriends in their cars. I saw those boyfriends bring them massive bouquets of roses. I saw all the grand fucking gestures that I could never do for you, because I didn’t have enough—I wasn’t—it was mortifying. I thought that you deserved the world, and all I could give you was… some fucking wildflowers before our dates.”

The corners of your lips twitched as you tried to speak, “it’s—I loved your wildflowers, though. And I never cared about anything else.”

“I know,” he said. “But I did.”

You looked down at the white duvet. “You and your gestures.”

Jungkook hummed, but did not add anything else. He was thinking—and regretting his silences. You were thinking, too—and wondering if this was the only time he allowed you to assume that his friends were at fault when they weren’t.

The room around you stilled, adapting to the atmosphere of the conversation. Even your drip quieted.

But then someone knocked on the door of the hotel room, and you and Jungkook almost lit up with relief.

“It’s us!” Luna’s voice called out just as Jungkook stood up to check who it was.

Your friends had returned with paper boxes of Thai food—enough to feed at least five people, from what you could see from your bed—and waved at you from the doorway.

A conversation followed—one that you couldn’t quite hear, except for irrelevant snippets, such as “are you sure?” and “well, okay”—and then Jungkook stepped away from the door, allowing the two girls to address you.

“Apparently, we’ll be heading back to the bus for a quick nap,” Luna said. Jungkook gave her a disapproving look that she promptly ignored. “Is that okay with you? Jungkook will stay.”

Your reflexive response was, of course, to try to dismiss their responsibility. “He doesn’t—neither of you have to stay—”

“Someone is staying,” Jungkook stated, his voice strict, final. “And I would like to be the one to do that.”

You weren’t protesting against him specifically, but as you prepared to reply, you realised it might seem that way. Your hesitant silence was a chance for Jungkook to nod at the two girls again. They nodded back, but then glanced back at you.

“Our phones are on,” Maggie said, lifting her device up for you to see. “So, you can still call or text us at any point, and we’ll rush over here right away.”

Jungkook raised his eyebrows. “That certainly does not make it sound like I’m about to torture her.”

You bit back a smile on your bed while Luna said simply, “just a precaution.”

“I get it,” he said. “And I’ll personally call you if I say or do anything that’s over the line.”

Neither Luna, nor Maggie had a response to that, and you looked up to meet three pairs of expectant eyes.

“I—it’s okay,” you said to the girls. “You—yes, get some rest. We’ll be fine here. Thank you.”

“Okay. We’ll be back!” Luna promised, shooting a warning look at Jungkook, while Maggie waved her phone and called out at you, “text us!”

You wanted to give them a small wave, but the thick duvet and the persistent catheter digging into your arm made it difficult to pull your hands out, so all you managed to do was just shuffle around under the covers and nod at them.

The girls left the take-out boxes inside, waved at you again, and walked away.

Jungkook closed the door and slowly returned to his seat, his shoulders hunched, hands in his pockets, and steps unsteady. He looked lost and frightened.

He didn’t want you to misunderstand his intentions. He didn’t want to stay here just to have you to himself, to apologise and to beg for your forgiveness. He wanted to stay because he couldn’t breathe when he didn’t know if you were okay.

As his hesitation hung in the air, memories of your previous hospital stay returned to you again, and you closed your eyes to shake them off.

“You should eat something,” you said.

Jungkook refused.

“When was the last time you ate anything?” you prodded.

Again, he mumbled and hummed under his breath, evading the question and sitting very still—as if he was expecting something. As if something was coming.

And you realised that something was coming. But you had to speak to bring that something here.

“So, then—w-was there anything else?” you finally asked.

Jungkook knew you were referring to the moment he’d just revealed, this deliberate misunderstanding. It was all he could think about. This was the something.

“There was,” he said with a sigh. “But I don’t—”

“Tell me about it.”

He had a lump in his throat that he couldn’t swallow—but not due to his lack of trying—and he suddenly felt like he was standing in front of a jury of his peers.

He didn’t want you to keep thinking that he hadn’t made an effort for you when he had, only it never turned out well. But he was also nervous about you learning how hard—and how impossibly much—he tried. He thought it would only highlight his shortcomings—and there were many of them.

He’d convinced himself that if you didn’t know about them, then he wasn’t letting you down. It was challenging to break out of this conviction now.

“Well—t-that Valentine’s Day,” he stammered. “Our second one—do you remember?”

You remembered right away. Despite your distaste for the commercialisation of the holiday, it still stung that Jungkook had avoided you the whole day. And for several days after that, too—although you’d assumed that to be deliberate. He’d missed Valentine’s Day and didn’t want to see you out of guilt.

“Sure,” you said.

“Well, that wasn’t Sid’s fault, either,” he said. “I know you thought we went on a drinking binge that weekend because Sid happened to conveniently go off the grid right at that time. He had a habit of—”

“But you weren’t with him?” you interjected, impatient.

“No. He was—it was nearly a Weekend at Bernie’s situation. There was some event happening at Jude’s summer house that weekend,” Jungkook said, and you tried to control yourself before you made mocking comments about the idea that people had enough money to own seasonal houses. “And Jude got so high that Sid and some of Jude’s cousins had to pretend he was just not feeling his best whenever his parents asked about him. They mimicked his voice through the door and everything.”

“So, where were you then?”

“I was—well, I—I spent that whole day—ah, no,” he stopped abruptly and brought his palms over his face, lacing his fingers over his mouth as he changed his mind. He couldn’t do this. It was awful. He was such a mess. “You know what? Maybe it’s better if you keep thinking I was at that summer house with them.”

“No,” you opposed in frustration, lunging forward to sit up. You did not listen to him drone on about Sid and Jude just to have him change his mind. “Now you have to tell me.”

Jungkook raised his head when you moved—his concern for you overwhelmed his chagrin.

“Okay, okay, don’t—lie down,” he asked, gesturing at the pillow.

You complied to get him to keep going. He took a breath.

“Just so you know,” he cautioned, “this might finally ruin my bad boy reputation.”

“You never had one.”

He clicked his tongue against his lower teeth. “Okay, ouch.”

You grinned. “Tell me. What really happened?”

He hesitated for another second, bouncing his knee up and down, up and down, and then stilling completely.

“Well, for one thing,” he began finally, “I was going to make dinner. That didn’t go well, because the communal kitchens were—well, you know. But that’s fine, I didn’t worry too much because there’s always take-out.”

You nodded. The communal kitchens in both of your dormitories were typically crowded with people or they smelled so terrible from a failed cooking experiment that it was simply wiser not to set foot in there.

“There was a great pizza place literally two blocks from your dorm,” you pointed out.

“Yeah, exactly.” He nodded in agreement. “But, um, we’d already gone out for a fancy dinner on Valentine’s Day the year before, so I wanted this year to be more… special. I don’t know. Or different, at least. So, I thought I’d cook and make you a slideshow. And—okay, you’ll have to stop smiling if you want me to continue.”

You hadn’t realised you were smiling. You pursed your lips and pulled them to each side to compose yourself.

“Sorry,” you said. “Continue.”

“Right,” he said. “So I made a PowerPoint. Added all of our pictures that I could find in my camera roll, wrote some funny captions. There were going to be at least 200 slides, I’m pretty sure you would have fallen asleep in the middle. I even recorded an acoustic Sleep Token cover to use as background music.”

You told yourself you’d stay quiet, but your disbelief was uncontrollable. “You didn’t!”

“I did,” he said, smiling, but trying not to, for the sake of the story. “It’s gone, though. I erased all traces of that night.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Well, I, uh—I didn’t want just to play you the slides on my laptop,” he said, scratching nervously at his chest over his dark grey hoodie. “I wanted something more.”

You nodded. “Of course.”

He looked away instead of acknowledging your comment.

“Then I remembered something I saw on Instagram that could have been cool. It was one of those aesthetic accounts. They had a picture of this dark, cosy room with a projector screening a film right on this white wall,” he said. “So, I thought, well, shit! I have a white wall behind my wardrobe. And the science lab downstairs has a projector.”

You didn’t like this as you stiffened on the bed, mumbling a dreading, “dear God.”

“Yeah.” He paused to lick his lips. “But it’s probably not what you think. I got the fucking projector.”

He said that with so much grandeur that you couldn’t help but raise your eyebrows—questioning if this was really something to be proud of.

He recapped the story anyway, “I took my roommate’s wrench, and it really didn’t take more than fifteen minutes to open the lab door, unscrew the projector, and bring it back up to my room.”

You shut your eyes and scrunched your nose at the step-by-step description. You wondered if there was a statute of limitations here, and if you would have been considered an accomplice now that you knew about this.

“They have security cameras, though,” you said, glancing at him again. “Don’t they?”

“They do,” Jungkook confirmed. He had a sardonic smile on his face. “Why do you think I was suspended for a month after Valentine’s Day?”

You lost him there. “Wait—they knew you stole the projector?”

“Borrowed,” he corrected. “I returned it two days later. But, yeah, uh—Minjun actually pulled some strings here. His dad went to university with the dean, so he vouched for me. Told him it was all a misunderstanding, and that it would never happen again.”

You looked away, frantically sifting through memories of the month after that particular Valentine’s Day. You remembered not seeing Jungkook for a few days after it, but you saw him fairly regularly later on. He would hang out in your dorm while you had classes, claiming not to have anything better to do.

It took you a full minute to properly recall the explanation he’d given about his suspension.

“Oh,” you said. “Minjun told me that you got suspended because you were caught completely wasted, spray-painting one of the campus buildings.”

Jungkook nodded, his eyes cast low.

“To be fair, I did spray-paint that one,” he admitted. “And I was probably wasted when I did it. But I wasn’t caught.”

You weren’t sure if “spray-painting” was a lesser offence than “stealing a projector from a laboratory” in your eyes, but you didn’t want to question Minjun’s decision now.

“Okay,” you said. “So what happened after you stole the projector?”

“Well, I took the borrowed projector up to my room and set it up,” he replied. “Everything looked great. I was going to give you the best Valentine’s Day dinner this world has ever fucking seen.”

He smacked his palms against his thighs as he spoke, showing off his determination, and you found yourself resisting a smile again. Jungkook had a certain way of telling stories—his changing smiles and small chuckles, his hand gestures and even his tone of voice always made it feel more vivid.

“But, um, I had to move the wardrobe to get a bare wall,” he continued. “And, uh, what I did not foresee was that, earlier that very same day, my roommate’s electric kettle had broken. He went out, purchased a new one. And he put the old one on top of the wardrobe to save space.” Jungkook gave you a moment to think back on this roommate. “You remember the guy, he hoarded everything, all kinds of fucking cables and wires, and—anyway. So, I started to push the wardrobe, and the fucking kettle—it fell and hit me right on the top of my head.”

A surprised gasp left your lips—a stark contrast to the easy, laid-back way he had just spoken.

Jungkook nodded in response to your reaction. “Yeah. My vision sort of darkened and I thought I heard something crack—I, uh, I did think it was my skull, not going to lie.”

He chuckled again—to minimise the impact of his words once more—but you sat up despite his inevitable protests.

“Jungkook!” you scolded. “And you didn’t tell me?!”

“Well, my skull obviously didn’t really crack.”

“I’m not so sure that it didn’t.”

“Anyway,” he stressed. “There wasn’t any blood or anything, so after a few minutes of sitting on the floor, I figured I was good to go. Then I stood up, and, uh—I don’t think you need a visual of what happened then.”

You closed your eyes.

Really, no. You did not need a visual.

About a year ago, at one of the smaller Rated Riot concerts—at a club that seemed harmless at first glance—Jungkook had climbed over to a wooden ceiling beam and swung his arms over it to brachiate across the narrow joist. The beam turned out to be heavily lacquered, and his sweaty palms slid right off, forcing him to crash onto the table below.

He gave himself a concussion, dislocated his shoulder, broke $200 worth of bottles and glasses, and frightened the living hell out of the middle-aged couple who were sitting at the table that he’d landed on.

“Yeah,” you said in your quiet hotel room. “I can imagine.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook breathed out. He recalled this exact same moment—and he knew that, once again, the cause of his injury was his own overexertion. “So, I spent the whole night in my dorm room, on the floor—because I couldn’t crawl to my bed—hoping that I wouldn’t die.”

“And it didn’t occur to you to call me?” you asked—not gently. “Or the fucking ambulance, actually?”

“No,” he replied, unfazed by your disapproving tone. “Not if it meant having to explain what I was doing before all of that happened.”

“You’re crazy,” you said, shaking your head. “You clearly got a concussion, and you didn’t do anything about it.”

“To be fair,” he said, “it’s not that I was embarrassed about it or anything. I was just—horrified that I’d let you down. It was Valentine’s Day. I wanted to give you a slideshow and a romantic fucking dinner. Not—not lie on the floor of my room, half passed out.”

You fought against a pensive sadness. It seemed unfair that this night had not gone the way he’d planned.

“W-well, what did your roommate say when he returned?” you asked instead.

Jungkook poked his cheek with his tongue. “He wasn’t very happy that I broke his old kettle.”

“You broke his—Jesus Christ.” Your hands were on your face as you fell back and buried your head into the pillows. “So, he just left you there on the floor?”

“I assume he thought I was drunk.”

“Fucking—what a—and he was valedictorian, wasn’t he? What a fucking moron,” you groaned. “I knew I should have kicked his ass while I had the chance. I never liked him.”

Jungkook felt a warm rush of comfort to hear how agitated you were getting on his behalf.

“Yeah, he didn’t like me very much, either,” he said. “But that’s um—that’s the story. I missed Valentine’s Day, almost died, and got suspended. I couldn’t possibly tell you what happened.”

“No, how could you?” you deadpanned. “Your reputation was at stake.”

He smiled. “Precisely.”

Even though you joked about this, and he was grateful that you did, both of you knew that this was not entirely about upholding some specific “bad boy” image.

You’d already witnessed this side of him – the side that felt anxious and dreaded the thought of not being good enough. Of not meeting expectations. Of letting others down.

In fact, now that you thought about it, your first proper conversation during this tour had been about this very issue.

“The time I was arrested,” Jungkook said, his shaky voice interrupting your thoughts, “that was—it might have been another one of those times.”

“What?” you asked, perplexed again. “How—I was at the police station with you—the officers—”

“I don’t remember a lot of details,” he interrupted. “So, I’m—I’m not really sure. But, uh, apparently, that night we didn’t just spray-paint a building. Or spit at the officers, allegedly, while we ran from them. The police assumed Minjun and I were the “drunk and disorderly” call that they received an hour before they found us.”

Your memories of that night were hazy, too—mostly because you refused to go over the details in your mind. All you could remember was Jungkook calling you from the precinct and asking—in the most resigned voice you’ve ever heard—if you could come pick him up. The story that you were given when you arrived at the police station only came back to your memory in fragments: property damage. Assault of police officers. Resisting arrest.

“You weren’t?” you asked.

“No,” Jungkook said. “We had some drinks at a bar outside of town, and Sid started harassing some bikers across the street. Someone called the police. Jude said he even punched someone there, I don’t know. Minjun and I were already back in the city at that time. I asked him to come with me to keep watch. I wanted to spray-paint these song lyrics for you—”

Your head jerked as your surprise prevented you from shaking it properly. “Wait—you—what? What lyrics?”

“It’s—well, you know what lyrics,” he replied, timid suddenly. “There was only one song we listened to all the time.”

You remembered.

It’s you and me ‘til the end of time.

You swallowed, breathless, and almost completely weightless as you clutched the duvet tighter in an attempt to ground yourself.

“The building I chose was downtown,” Jungkook continued. “Right across the street from the park where we had our first—well, our first date. I wanted that place to have something—something that we both loved. To commemorate all that we had, I don’t know. I haven’t been a very good boyfriend to you at the time, and I wanted to redeem that.”

The unexpected tightness in your stomach worried you for a second, but the sedative must not have fully worn off yet, because you took a deep breath and felt your body wind down a little. The room continued to blur behind Jungkook, but you suspected that your condition or medication had little to do with that.

“And, uh,” you tried to ask, “the police found you there?”

Jungkook nodded.

“I think Sid guided them to us,” he said. “It never made sense to me why the police would even go there. No one patrolled those streets, what was the point? Not to mention, it was dark, we were dressed in black, and—honestly, it wasn’t our first time with graffiti. But what happened was, I got a text from Sid, saying that someone at the bar had called the cops on him. And not five minutes later, he and Jude both showed up downtown, and we heard sirens.”

“So, what did you do?” you asked—uncertain, suddenly, if you’d actually asked him this before. You had talked to one police officer that night and had accepted everything he told you as the truth.

“Well, Minjun and I ran, of course,” Jungkook said.

“And the other two?”

“I can’t remember the exact sequence of—I was—I was drunk,” he said, giving you an apologetic look. He wanted to share the whole story with you, but he wasn’t sure if he knew it himself. “I remember Sid and Jude shouting at us that they would hold the cops back while we ran—and I didn’t even—we didn’t even think that there was anything weird about that. Minjun and I just ran.”

You felt your memories frantically rearrange themselves after every word that he said. Your head had turned into a disorderly, confused mess.

“The, um—the spitting, then?” you asked.

“That had to be Sid and Jude,” Jungkook speculated. “But I guess I might have done that, too. I, uh—I want you to have the full story, so I won’t deny things that I can’t even remember. I’m thinking about it now, and I don’t know which moments were really Minjun and me, and which were actually Sid and Jude. We were all very drunk, and nobody at the police station believed a word we were saying anyway.”

You nodded, urging him to continue, and he did—grateful and a little scared that you were listening to him so intently.

“Minjun and I got a good head start,” he spoke. “I don’t know what Sid and Jude meant by saying they’d hold the police back, because three officers still chased after us. But they were always at least five metres behind—I could tell from the distant sound of their shoes. I remember feeling so disconnected from my feet as I ran, I could sense I was going to trip. I don’t—honestly, I’m not saying this to defend myself—but I don’t know how I would have managed to look at the cops over my shoulder, spit at them from five metres away, and keep running without breaking my neck or falling over.”

“Hmm—yeah. I don’t know, either,” you said, turning away from him. You understood that it was important for him to clear his conscience, especially if he had been held accountable for something he didn’t even do, but you had other questions. “I’m confused about something else, though. If you and Minjun were being chased while Sid and Jude stayed back, why weren’t they brought into the station?”

All Jungkook did was raise his head and give you a look.

“Right,” you realised. “Of course. Money.”

He looked back down and nodded.

Exhaling, you studied the ceiling tiles for a few seconds before admitting, “I’ve always had a feeling that Sid had set you up.”

“Yeah,” he replied with surprising calmness. “I think so, too.”

You ran your fingers over your hair and pulled a strand from the back of your head to toy with it as you tried to think.

In every conversation that you’ve had about Sid using Jungkook as a scapegoat, Jungkook had either insisted that you were misunderstanding, or he simply fell silent (to avoid arguments, you assumed, and not necessarily to indicate his agreement with you).

This felt very new and particularly unusual. He wasn’t feeding into your dislike for his friends. He was doing something else now, but you were hesitant to draw conclusions about what it might be.

He had claimed he was done with Sid right after their fight, but after enduring his insufferable friends for years, you weren’t ready to believe that you wouldn’t have to see Sid’s nauseating mug again.

“But, anyway,” Jungkook said after a quiet minute. “Minjun and I apologised. Minjun paid bail. We signed something—I don’t even know what that was. And I went home with you. That’s the, um—the whole story as I remember it.”

You simmered in your cluttered mind for a moment longer, attempting to form a thought that you could voice. But all you could manage was a question. “Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“Would it have made a difference?” he asked. “I was still caught. You had to come and pick me up.”

“At least I—it would have—okay. I don’t know,” you finished lamely. This was a ‘what if’ that you didn’t have the strength to consider.

He hadn’t lied to you, though, you realised—and you weren’t sure how that made you feel. He allowed you to make assumptions that his friends were to blame, and he went along with it. That wasn’t worse than outright lying to you, but it wasn’t much better, either—it still put an unnecessary strain on your relationship.

Logically then, knowing the whole truth about what was happening with him might have made a significant difference. He had good intentions—yet he did not use them to defend himself.

You felt a little sorry that he only told you now, when you couldn’t go back and see what would have happened if you’d known about this all along.

But you realised you did not feel angry. You couldn’t find a specific point in his revelations that you could point at and say, “this is the one. This will be the reason why I can’t stand to look at you anymore.”

You couldn’t say that his choice to be silent made sense, but you knew him. And you understood why he made that choice. The way you saw it, this was partially his friends’ fault anyway.

All on his own, Jungkook wouldn’t have felt this uncertain, this insecure to admit to you that he loved you and that he wanted to show that to you in unorthodox ways—a lot of which didn’t work out.

“So, you just…” you spoke up again. “You were okay with me assuming that you were out with friends every night? That you chose them over us repeatedly?”

Jungkook sighed. If there was anything he’d learned over the past few days, it was that communication was not his strong suit. But now he’d reached a point of no return. He had to talk.

“Honestly, I thought it was a better alternative,” he said. “I thought I was a miserable try-hard. And I realised after our conversation in Amsterdam that, well... this is part of the reason why I didn't—why I assumed that you broke up with me because you didn’t love me anymore. And not because I kept fucking up.”

Your breaths were shallow as you listened to him.

“I think that it turned against me, this unnecessary secrecy,” Jungkook continued. “I wanted to be the best for you, and when I couldn’t be, Sid became a great excuse. But in my head—for me, he didn’t seem to have that big of a presence in our relationship. But of course, after I blamed my own mistakes on Sid, too, they built up. And, in the end, I think what happened was that…”

He faltered and you finished his sentence for him, “I started to see that all the reasons why something went wrong in our relationship were Sid. Sid. Sid. Sid.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I made you think that if I was given a choice, I’d choose my friends over you. Which I wouldn’t! But, um—I had a very poor way of showing that. Have, actually. Still do. I’m sorry.”

“Hmm.” You turned away. “Do you—you know what else I think this is?”

He looked at you. “What?”

“Sid’s influence,” you said. “You were so scared that he would think you’re hopeless or pathetic that you couldn’t even talk about the things that you did—the things that you wanted to do for me. You thought you were a ‘try-hard’ because your friends convinced you that you were.”

Jungkook felt stunned and a little nauseous.

He didn’t know if this was something he’d implied in his endless attempts to apologise for the bet, but you articulated everything he had struggled to convey.

He was trying to prove to Sid that he wasn’t pathetic—and he was doing it long before Sid suggested the bet. He was doing it every time he went out with his friends. He was doing it every time he allowed you to blame these friends after he missed your dates—just so he wouldn’t have to admit how much he tried to make these dates special, and how miserably he’d failed at that.

Eventually, he began to accept that he was truly pitiful for being so stubbornly in love with you. He hated their pity. He wanted to change it. Make it not so.

But the aftermath of the bet made him realise that all he really did, was prove that he was pathetic—he wanted to get you back in any desperate way possible.

He was okay with that now.

He was okay with being so in love with you that he couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t focus on anything else. Couldn’t stay where he was, repeating the same mistakes, going round and round, because he needed to grow. Needed to become someone who deserved you.

He was okay with it because being pitiful meant being in love with you, and he would never try to fight against that.

And you knew all these things about him. You knew everything.

He didn’t really understand how the world worked and he didn’t know if destiny played favourites. But he remembered writing a line in one of Rated Riot’s earlier songs—you weren't made for me, that much is true / but I was made for you—and he was once again confronted with the weight of this realisation.

He loved you. He’s always been yours so completely and wholeheartedly that you read him without looking at him.

He liked to think he knew you well—but that was extremely presumptuous of him. You were a universe within a universe. Really, it was you who knew him in ways he didn’t know himself.

“I—you’re right,” he said, running his tongue over his chapped lips. “I shouldn’t have given a fuck about what they thought, but I did. And I don’t—I, um—I don’t want this to seem like I am an angel for telling you about all that. No, I fucked up. Many times. We went binge-drinking, drag-racing, we skipped classes, failed tests, spray-painted buildings—”

“Stole projectors,” you interjected.

“—stole projectors,” he repeated reluctantly. “It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, while I only pretended to fuck up. No. I took you for granted many times, I know I did. And I’m—I’ll always be sorry about that. But I’m—I’ve kicked him out. Sid. I’m done. Truly done this time. And I don’t even care if Jude stays.”

The way his voice broke off at the last sentence sounded like he cared a little, but you recognised the determination in his eyes when you looked at him. He’d made a decision.

“And Minjun?” you asked.

Jungkook inhaled. “Minjun… said he’d stay.”

“Good,” you said.

“Good—yeah?” he asked, evidently surprised. “You think so?”

Minjun had constantly looked like a kicked puppy when you were in the room. Now that you understood why, you thought you liked him a little more for it.

“Yeah,” you said. “I think he’s the only one of your friends worth keeping.”

“I’m starting to see that, too,” he admitted. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

You looked down. With half of the vitamin drip gone now, you felt your body start to return to you—and, automatically, the surreal haze inside this hotel room began to clear. You were no longer floating somewhere on the ceiling and only pretending that you were perfectly fine.

You were coming back to yourself. And the return was rugged and painful.

“You, um—you keep apologising to me like—like you’re obligated to respond to me,” you said. Jungkook didn’t know if you realised it, but your voice changed when you spoke to him as his manager and not as someone he’d known and loved for over seven years. “I’m your manager, but these things—you can—I shouldn’t tell you how to live your life. That’s not my—”

“I want it to be, though,” he cut you off with a sudden boldness that he hadn’t realised he still had in him. “I-I mean, I don’t want you to worry about me like that ever again, but I—I want you to think about me. Sometimes, you’re the only person who truly does.”

You shook your head—not to rid yourself of the responsibility, but to remind him, yet again, that he had people who wanted what was best for him.

And, honestly, he knew he did. He just wanted you.

“You have your grandma,” you said.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, nodding distractedly. “But, um, you know.”

“And you’re loved by thousands,” you continued. “They all want you to stay safe.”

He smiled—appreciative but oddly apologetic.

“I’m grateful for that,” he said. “It’s just that—I want you to be the one who wants that for me. I’ve only ever loved you, I’ve never—never been in a relationship with anyone who wasn’t you. And I don’t want to be, so the next thing that you say better not be about me finding someone else, because—”

“You have been in other relationships, though,” you said despite his warning. You didn't know if this was really true, but you ploughed ahead anyway—just to say something. “I don’t know how long or short, but Sid always bragged about your double dates whenever he called me to pick you up, so—”

“The double dates,” Jungkook said, “meant that Sid was on a date with two girls at the same time. And I was there for decoration.”

You scoffed. “I hardly imagine that to be possible, considering Sid looks like a sewer rat on a good day.”

Jungkook wanted to argue, but he was too amused by this image.

“And, um—what do I look like?” he asked.

You blinked, taken aback by the question, then quickly turned away to gaze out the window instead. “You look… you know what you look like.”

“No,” he said, fully grinning now. “Now that you mention it, I realise I actually have no idea what I look like.”

“There’s a mirror on the wall right behind you.”

“It’s like I’m blind, I don’t know what’s—”

“You’re ridiculous,” you groaned, your face warm. “You look nice. Move on.”

“Oh! That’s high praise coming from you.” He made an effort to bow. “Thank you.”

“Fuck off,” you retorted because you couldn’t smack him on the shoulder. Instead, you motioned with your hand, urging him to keep going. “Sid couldn’t get a date with a personality worse than his looks. Not if you were there.”

“I’m sure the expensive restaurant worked in his favour,” Jungkook remarked.

You threw your head back, realising the significance of money yet again. “Ah.”

“In any case, I don’t care,” he said. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his seat. “I never wanted to be with anyone who wasn’t you anyway. Which—as you’ll be happy to point out—sounds silly because when Sid was in a good mood, he was very dedicated to making sure neither of us left the club alone.”

You shrugged one of your shoulders, trying to come off as casual. “Well, since you brought it up.”

“Yeah, well.” He sighed, not running away from this, because, frankly, there was nowhere to run. “And you’re, uh—you’re my manager. You know what I’ve been doing after hours anyway.”

“Hmm.”

You didn’t have a better response, because there was something that Luna had said to you the other day that would not leave your mind alone.

He had the option to keep the bet a secret from you.

This evening had been filled with these options.

It would have been easy not to mention his miserable attempts at grand gestures or the people who were there after you. But he was bringing up everything—every little detail from your relationship and after it—and you sat expressionless on the bed, not knowing what to make of any of it.

“I meant what I said, though,” Jungkook said, leaning forward again. He felt restless; as if he could jump out of his skin if he tried hard enough. “You’re the only meaningful relationship I’ve had. It wasn’t fair for me to pretend to be interested in a second date with someone else, when I constantly caught myself thinking about if I’d ever see you again. Or when I’d see you again, after we started to work together.”

Your eyes were focused on the sheets of the bed, but he still didn’t dare to look at you.

“I didn’t want to believe that I could still be in love with you after all this time,” he said. “But—well, the evidence is against me.”

“W-why’d you go with Sid then?” you asked—quickly. Before he said something else that you didn’t know how to respond to. “Clubbing and on these dates?”

He clenched his jaw. “Well, you said it. I was trying to prove to him that I wasn’t pathetic. That I wasn’t in love with you anymore.”

“But why did you care so much about what he thought?” you pushed, and there was a hint of hurt in your voice. Jungkook felt his heart leap over several beats as it pounded against his ribs. “Why did his opinion matter to you more than mine?”

He exhaled so deeply that it was almost a miracle his lungs hadn’t collapsed. His insides were burning with regret. With an urge to turn back time. An urge to make things right.

“Because I was—I was a fucking idiot. For years before I met you, I thought Sid had everything I wanted,” he said—which was equally as simple as it was unfair, and, in retrospect, stupid. “The freedom, the audacity to do whatever the fuck he pleased. No consequences, ever.”

You remembered him saying the same thing to you on the bridge in Stockholm and felt yourself shiver as though the wind from that night had followed you all the way here.

“And the way he treated me when I was single was different, too,” Jungkook continued. “I was single, I was in a band, and it finally felt like he approved of me, like we were actually friends. Like we were equals. And I cared about that so fucking much. It felt like I finally had everything that he had, and I was just—blind.”

“But you didn’t,” you said. “You didn’t have what he has. I don’t think you ever will.”

Jungkook was surprised to realise that hearing this did not sting.

He agreed.

“Yeah,” he said. “I actually—I had so much more than Sid would ever have, because I had you. And that’s—that’s probably why he dragged me around with him. He was determined to make me truly lose you like he always made me lose everything. And I let him—I helped him make that come true. I can’t—I’m not much better than him. I want to believe I am, but I’m—I made the bet.”

You remembered thinking that Jungkook and Sid could never be equals, because Sid always needed Jungkook to have less. And now that you heard Jungkook come to a similar conclusion on his own, you thought you felt the room shift a little.

“Yeah,” you said, distracted. “T-that—the bet was fucked up.”

“I know. I’m—I’m sorry,” he said. “I just—I want you to know that I meant everything I had said. All of it. And I understand why you don’t want to believe me. I, uh—I know your family history. But I’ve got mine, too. My grandpa is almost eighty. He’s only ever loved one person his whole life. So did my dad. So will I. It’s just—regardless of what’s going to happen, you’re—I’ll always love you.”

You cleared your throat once, then once more—louder.

Jungkook was about ready to get up, alarmed suddenly, but you quieted and looked around. He caught a glimpse of your eyes as you scanned the room and he realised—in a paradoxical sense of relief—that you were frightened.

Not angry. Not refusing to believe him. Not disappointed or frustrated.

Just scared.

“It’s uh—it’s really late,” you said, looking back at the window. “Isn’t it? The sky’s completely dark.”

He swallowed. You didn’t want to talk about this. And you shouldn’t. You needed rest.

“Yeah, uh… do you want me to close the curtains?” he asked, swallowing all that was still left unsaid.

It was impossible anyway, he supposed, to pour seven years of misguided decisions into one conversation. He was just relieved you hadn’t asked him to leave.

“No,” you said. “Keep them open. I want to see the sky.”

He’d hoped you would say that, and he felt an almost forgotten lightness in his chest when you did. Lots of things had changed over the past few days, but a lot of things hadn’t—including your love for the night.

“A lot of stars tonight,” he said meaningfully. He was glad he had accidentally picked a hotel room with a view of boring back alleys: there were no lights to cover up the stars now.

“Yeah,” you agreed, much calmer. “They’re beautiful.”

There was a quote in a book his grandmother had once read to him: “are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?”

He remembered feeling oddly wistful when he heard it. He imagined the night sky behind his closed eyes and he felt as though he was lacking something crucial—something that would come, but not yet.

He remembered watching the way you watched the stars back in Tilburg—hours before it all fell apart.

The night sky had always reminded him of you—really, even before he met you.

“I could open the window wider,” he suggested.

You closed your eyes.

“Could you?” you asked quietly.

“Yeah.” He stood up and approached the window, pulling the frame until he saw the ends of the curtains lift off the floor. “A distinct smell, isn’t it? The night.”

“It is,” you agreed.

It probably shouldn’t have been possible at this point, but as he turned around and traced your features with his gaze, he thought he fell in love with you a little more at this moment.

“We, um, we have this song,” he found himself saying as he returned to the armchair next to your bed. This song had been buzzing in his head nearly the whole night tonight. You could feel his nervousness as he mumbled, “ah, you probably know it already, it’s so obvious. And I told you in Oslo—okay, anyway. We have this song. It’s a B-side on our second single.”

“Cursed,” you said, recalling the title easily enough because this was your mum’s favourite song.

You always thought that the single—“Haunting,” which was their second title track and the very first Rated Riot song that you’d heard—overshadowed “Cursed.” Perhaps unfairly.

“Yeah.” Jungkook nodded. “Who, um—who do you think inspired it?”

Swallowing, you willed your thoughts to clear, so you wouldn’t have to think about the lyrics, but could not do it.

You remembered the entire chorus with perfect clarity, as though you were listening to Rated Riot perform the song in concert right now—Taehyung heavy on the bass and Jungkook yelling out the lyrics with his whole body leaning over the edge of the stage towards the audience.

You’re for the stars and for the moon to see /

You weren’t made for me /

You’re for the night and for the day to breathe /

You’re everything they want to be /

You're the enchantment that makes planets turn /

You’re more than the entire world /

You weren’t made for me, that much is true /

But I was made for you.

“I have no idea,” you said finally. You hoped, against all odds, this was a song that Yoongi wrote when he was drunk—those tended to be very emotional. “Was this the, um, absinthe one?”

Jungkook snickered humourlessly and shook his head.

“Don’t do this to me,” he asked, looking down for a moment—just until he could count the four loose threads in the carpet. Then he returned his gaze to you.

“It was you,” he said. “Your love for the night sky. I know it’s your favourite thing in the world.”

He said that and suddenly your chest was filled with them—with these stars that you loved to watch and he loved to sing about.

“W-well, that’s—you’re, um,” you struggled, “you’re not wrong about that, I guess.”

“It’s a song about my favourite thing in the world, too,” he added.

“W-what’s that?”

He had a sad smile on his face. “You.”

Your stomach tightened again and you squeezed your eyes shut—a feeble attempt to get away from this situation and from all the thoughts that your head could no longer contain.

“Not tonight,” you whispered. “I can’t—I don’t want to talk about us or about—about anything else tonight.”

“Okay,” he agreed immediately. “We won’t talk about it.”

“Okay,” you echoed, even though his laid-back response did not relax you.

You sensed longing in his words, and anguish. He would have done anything you asked him to—and this power scared you. You didn’t want it. You just wanted—

Exhaling loudly to drown out your thoughts, you turned to a side and glanced at the bandages on his face.

“Tomorrow, we will have to—we’ll have to figure out what to do with your eye,” you said.

Jungkook had not fully returned to this planet yet. “My eye?”

“Yes,” you said, giving him a longer look—as if to check if you hadn’t dreamt him—and then closing your eyes again. “Your black eye.”

He reached up to touch the bandages, perpetually confused about his injuries. “Oh—what do you mean, what to do with it?”

“Well, it’d probably be weird to cut it out, so we’ll have to cover it up.”

“Hmm.” He smiled at the ease in your voice. If everything else was lost, he hoped that he would at least get to keep your banter. “Okay.”

“I’ll think of something,” you promised as the gentle night wind brushed a strand of hair away from your face and fluttered your tired eyelashes.

“Thank you,” Jungkook said in a hush—his courage had finally abandoned him. “I’m sorry that this is another thing that you have to—”

“No,” you cut him off. “It’s not that bad.”

You tried to turn your head towards him, but lying here with your eyes closed felt very pleasant. You thought you’d felt revitalised before, you thought your body had started to feel more like it belonged to you again, but that had been momentary. You couldn’t keep your eyes open long enough to properly look at him.

“Do you mind if I… keep my eyes closed for a minute?” you asked.

“Do you mind if I stay here?” he responded.

“You—”

“Actually, I don’t care,” he decided. “I’m staying.”

You forced yourself to look at him. “You don’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

“You always say you’re fine,” he reminded you. “Look at where we are now.”

“It was a one-time thing. Look at this.” Lethargically, you raised your arm with the catheter. “I’m being pumped full of vitamins. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” he said. “I want to believe that. Really, I do, but you have to stop. You can’t keep going like this. I-I mean—”

You shook your head against the pillow. “Jungkook, this is really nothing.”

“I have a hard time believing that when you’re connected to a—”

“It��s—”

“Look, just—” he took a breath and extended his hands, “—p-please—please don’t let this happen again. Please look after yourself. I can’t lose you.”

He knew he might have to keep working with you without ever calling you his again. He’d have to learn how to deal with that.

But he could never deal with being here without you.

“Okay,” you said, your eyelids heavy. “Okay, I’ll be careful.”

“I’m going to need a promise here,” he said, reaching out his hand.

You chuckled weakly and extended your hand to gently graze his palm with the tips of your fingers. “I promise.”

He leaned in closer to fully grasp your hand in his, and saw the gentle—likely unconscious—smile on your lips as you squeezed his fingers. His chest filled with a warmth so big and powerful that, reasonably, there had to be no space left for his heart there anymore.

And yet something kept beating. He felt his own pulse reverberate against your fingers as he clutched your hand in his.

You’d be alright.

You hadn’t foreseen how calming the gentle dripping of the IV would be. You’d only meant to rest your eyes for a quick moment. You didn’t realise you had dozed off.

Only when your mind sobered up sometime in the early morning hours—you based the time solely on the colour of the sky outside—did you force your eyes open and concluded, with a painful jolt of your exhausted muscles, that you’d fallen asleep.

You looked around and for a moment, the dark, strange room filled your exhausted mind with terror. Then you noticed Jungkook sleeping in the chair next to you, and you felt yourself calm down.

Thank God he was here.

Blinking suddenly, you parted your lips as if preparing to argue with your own thoughts.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. He had a performance tomorrow. And a bandaged black eye that you still hadn’t figured out how to hide.

“I can tell you’re overthinking from all the way over here,” Jungkook said, his voice drowsy, eyes half-open. He must have heard the rustling of your covers and woken up. “Go to sleep.”

“What time is it?” you asked.

He was too tired to note the urgency in your voice as he mumbled, “sleeping time.”

“Jungkook, I’m serious,” you said. Finally, he caught your alarmed tone and his eyes shot open. “What time is it?”

He straightened in his seat and regarded you for a minute while he searched for his phone somewhere on the armchair. You didn’t appear to be in pain, but the emergency in your eyes threw him off.

“It’s three-twenty,” he said after a brief moment of blindness from the bright screen of his phone.

“Shit.” You looked around in the darkness, not sure when you had last seen your phone. You couldn’t remember Jungkook mentioning that he’d picked it up when he found you, and you hadn’t asked for it back. “I have to—”

“No,” he said, getting to his feet.

“No,” you argued back. “I need—”

He leaned over your bed and took hold of your hands right as you tried to throw off your duvet and sit up. You tried to evade him, but Jungkook proved he’d known you long enough to guess every move you were going to make—in complete darkness.

“No,” he said again, struggling with your relentless dedication to flail your limbs around until you stood up. “Lie down, please. I don’t know what you think you must do at three in the morning, but I promise you, it can wait. It’ll be done. I’ll do everything to make sure everything is okay.”

You stopped resisting his hold and allowed him to gently guide you back onto the mattress. He only let go of you when your head hit the pillows.

“You can’t be here. You need rest,” you insisted as he pulled the duvet over you, tucking it under your sides until you were firmly cocooned inside. You couldn’t tell if he did that for your comfort or to make sure you couldn’t escape this bed.

“So do you,” he countered.

“I'm fine—”

“No—for once, just... please stop saying that,” he asked, his eyes bright, but his voice completely spent. “You’re not fine. You’re getting a vitamin drip because you fainted. You need to sleep.”

You kept your eyes on his for another minute, trying to adjust to the thick darkness, so you could make out his silhouette as he towered over your bed. He was watching you and waiting.

“Okay,” you gave in. “I'll sleep.”

“I’ll be here,” he said, finally sitting back down.

You knew that wasn’t right. He needed to get proper rest. He shouldn’t have kept watch over you.

“Okay,” was all you said despite everything. “Thank you.”

He mumbled something unintelligible in response and you didn’t dare to ask him to repeat it. The room gave space to the night as your conversation wound down.

You could hear a faint screech of a lost bird outside the hotel window. Bugs were singing somewhere in the distance, too. And, as you drifted off, you thought you heard Jungkook whisper a weary “I love you.”

chapter title credits: bad omens, “the grey”

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multifandomimagines999 · 2 years

Note

May I get mark sloan x reader please? Like reader has been on call for like three days straight and is super exhausted. And while charting, reader falls asleep standing up and Mark props them up and takes them to an on call room and makes sure they get some rest ? Thank you so much !

Exhaustion, Mark Sloan x reader

Summary: An exhausted reader collapsed and her boyfriend comes to her rescue...then it all makes sense

Warnings: Fluff, Exhaustion, overworking, throwing up

Note: I tweaked it a bit @theichabbieclub but I hope you still like it! I'm just getting back into this.

"You look like crap," commented Alex as we walked down the hallway.

"Oh thanks. I feel like it too," you admitted, "I've been working a double because we're short staffed on the peds floor as you know. So I've been bouncing around non-stop. I'm exhausted."

"And crabby. Clearly you haven't been able to screw your secret boyfriend too."

"Shut it Karev!" you growled, slapping him in the arm, "I am never going to tell you who it is if you keep making comments like that."

"Fine," he grumbled, "I've gotta get to the Nic-U. What have they got you covering today?"

"I've got a marathon surgery with Robbins, Shepherd, and Sloan on a 6 year old girl with a facial tumor."

"Damn that's rad. Good luck."

"Thanks."

You went into the surgery with a clear head, ready to save this little girl's life. We began and about two hours into it, Mark showed up to help work on the facial reconstruction and repair. His portion of the surgery took about three to four hours.

"Alright...I'm done here. She's all yours to finish up with."

"Take my tool," you whispered to Avery, suddenly not feeling well.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

He took it and then immediately everything went black.

3rd POV

"Dr. (Y/L/N)!" yelled Robbins as her resident's body hit the floor.

"That's why she handed me her tool," Jackson realized.

"Can someone please check on them please?" asked Arizona as she continued working.

"I got it!" Mark announced before rushing over to her side.

Their relationship was still a secret, so he tried his best to hide his romantic concern in the moment. He scooped her up as carried her out of the OR to an empty gurney. He took her to a private room and began examining her.

--------

You woke up to a flashlight shining in your eyes and a hand on your forehead. As the darkness disappeared, you saw that the flashlight belonged to Mark. You groaned as your head pulsed with pain.

"What happened?" you asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You might want to tell me... You passed out in the OR. I hooked you up to an IV because from the looks of it you're severely dehydrated."

"Mark I-" you were interrupted by a horrible feeling in your gut.

You jerked up, reaching for the bucket before puking. When you were done emptying you stomach, you collapsed back on the bed. You suddenly felt sweaty with hair plastered against your forehead.

"Dr. Sloan, I may know what's wrong?" Karev jogged in, out of breath, "I heard the news about (Y/F/N). Three of the peds kids just came down with the flu. All three kids were your patients that you've been dealing with during this double shift. And with you being so overworked, your immune system was weaker, so combined with the dehydration, you got sick."

"Well shit."

"Looks like I have my diagnoses," Mark replied, and you just glared at him.

"I hate you right now."

"I know."

"Wait a minute?" Karev questioned, stepping in the room and shutting the door, "Sloan's your secret boyfriend?!"

"You tell anybody, I will kill you. You understand me Alex? I will make sure every girl in this hospital knows what a man whore you are and you will never get laid again. Got it?"

"Yeah yeah, calm your panties. I'll let Bailey know you're so sick with the flu that you can't drive and that I asked Dr. Sloan to take care of you since he's already been exposed. Okay?"

"Thank you Alex."

"Yeah whatever."

***

You laid on the couch with Mark, all cuddled up in sweats and his shirt. While you were hot to the touch, you yourself were feeling cold. Your body ached and your head was still throbbing. You rested your head in his lap while he played with your hair soothingly.

"How are you feeling babe?" he asked, looking down at you.

"Like shit," you admitted, making him chuckle.

"Well you still look cute if that makes you feel any better."

"A little."

"Mark please. You shouldn't see me like this. We've only been together for three months."

"(Y/F/N), we slept together before we started dating and on the first date we talked about our deep dark issues. I think it's okay if I see you with the flu. Now let me please be there for you."

"Fair point."

Anytime you felt you were going to be sick, he was there, holding your hair back and assuring you soothingly. Anything he could do to help you, he wanted to.

Mark held your hair back as another round came up. God this was hell. Physical and emotional hell. When he walked out to go grab something, you laid down on the cool tile. He came back in with a water bottle and some crackers along with a smile.

"What? The tile is nice and cold."

He helped pull you up so you were sitting up against the cabinets, "You know you need to drink to re-hydrate. And these crackers might help."

Your hair was a mess as he brushed it out and sat beside you. He rubbed your back lovingly until your eyes felt heavy and all you wanted to do was sleep.

"Alright. Lets get you to bed," he spoke, sweeping you into his arms.

He placed you into bed and disappeared before coming back with a fresh garbage can. After placing it beside the bed, he climbed in next to you.

"Mark, you don't have to stay with me. You could get sick and-"

"I'm not leaving unless you need me to get something."

"What about work?"

"I'll call in. You're more important."

A smile crossed your face as you rolled over, resting your head on his chest. His arm snaked around you, one around your waist and the other stroked your hair. Finally, you were feeling a little bit better.

"Try to sleep. I'll still be here."

"Thank you," you mumbled sleepily, "I love you."

"I love you too."

#greys anatomy x reader #mark sloan #mark sloan x reader #mark sloan fluff #greys anatomy imagines

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blegh-110 · 4 months

Text

iv. "i've still got you all over me"

Pairing: older brother's best friend!Sam x fem!reader

Summary: When you try to get over Sam when you were 14 and he was 16.

Warnings: None!

Word Count: 1.9k

Your winter break was a bad time for you. There was no escape from Sam.

It seemed like every single day he was over at your house, and what you used to think was a dream come true, it was now a slow torture. You barely saw him during those two weeks, but you heard him. His laugh in the living room, his footsteps walking down the hall, just his very presence, and it killed you for fourteen days straight.

And even when he was gone, he was still on your mind.

You had more than enough of your own sadness by the time break was over. And after the harsh realization that you can’t live your life staying infatuated with a boy who no longer looked your way, you were ready for the upcoming semester. Your focus and undivided attention would no longer be on Sam, but on yourself because you missed being happy.

This determination came from a sleepless night a few days before the second semester began. You were up late just reminiscing about him when you saw how truly pathetic you were being; what were you doing helping him cut his classes just so he could stay in your life? You put off so much of your own life just for him, and none of it was worth anything.

So when school began, you immediately threw yourself back into your academics. That meant no more doing the bare minimum when it came to homework assignments, in class work, tests, quizzes, presentations. You did as much as you could for two reasons: to resort back to your studious self, and to distract yourself from any thoughts of Sam.

Instead of spending your lunch time in the cafeteria, you either went to the library to do some work or went to your next class and ate there, plus more work. And instead of spending your Friday nights and weekends with or thinking about Sam, it became an opportunity to do any extra credit and to get a head start on any assignments.

And in the midst of reverting back to your former self, you avoided Sam at all costs. And it wasn’t subtle.

If you entered the living room and saw him sitting on the couch, you left. If you saw him walking in your direction in the school halls, you turned right around and took the long way to your class. If you saw him in the cafeteria, you would leave and buy a bag of chips and a soda at one of the vending machines instead of waiting in line.

It was difficult to live this way but not abnormal. Before, you were constantly on the lookout for Sam only hoping to see him. But now, you looked around the room just to make sure he wasn’t there as well. And it made you equally anxious and frustrated. When you were actively looking for him he wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but now that you were avoiding him he seemed to be everywhere. It made respecting his wishes to stay away from him a lot harder. Then it got even worse when he suddenly took a strange interest in you, and it once again felt like all your efforts went to waste.

The first time was when he knocked on your bedroom door to hand you your book that you’d left in the kitchen. It was an interaction that ended very quickly with you shutting the door in his face as soon as he started talking. You didn’t do it with the intention to hurt him, you were over being angry with him, mostly(if you thought about what happened too much then you’d resort to holding that grudge against him). It was because you weren’t a confrontational person and any conversation with him would only remind you of how you acted when he was with his new friends.

Then he tried the same thing at school when you were just about to enter the library during lunch when he saw you, but he was stopped by the librarian because the last time he came in he spilled his entire bag of chips on the floor and was being extremely loud.

“C’mon, it was only one time”

“No it was not, Sam. Now go, you’re not welcome here anymore.” She shooed him away with a scowl on her face.

“Please, I’ll be gone in like five minutes, I just need to talk to my friend real quick.” And he gestured to you. The title made your breath hitch, his friend. Since he’d met you, he hadn’t referred to you as anything. And really you didn’t either. Even though it was nice to hear and it did give you butterflies, you just weren’t ready for whatever conversation he wanted to have, so you shook your head before you said “I can’t, I have a test to study for.”

You almost turned back when you saw the disbelief in his face.

Then there was the time you finally gave in to him, but only because it was pouring rain on your walk back home and you failed to bring an umbrella.

It was hard to hear at first because it was raining so hard, but you heard the rumble of an engine next to you then saw a slightly beat up, faded red car. You would’ve ran if you hadn’t seen Sam in the driver's seat with the passenger window rolled down, when did he get a car?

“Get in.” Was all he said but you shook your head once again.

“I’m okay, Sam.” You really weren’t. You were freezing cold and your shoes were really wet, and you were pretty sure all the papers in your backpack were soaked.

“(Y/N), I swear to god, get in the car. I’m not letting you get home like this.” It was a bit aggressive the way he said it, but he looked worried sick. And maybe you shouldn’t have felt this way, but you liked that he was so worried about you. The hope that he still cared about you never died. It was miserable at times, like how you thought he’d magically change his ways last semester and you were continuously let down. But at times like these, there was the smallest amount of faith that barely convinced you that this time would be different. Maybe he still cared about you, just a little bit. And it was that small amount of hope that was enough for you to get in. Then you immediately wished you hadn’t.

It all would’ve been perfect; him saving you from walking in the rain, the warmth, the softest music playing. But as soon as you got in the car, the tension was there, the hurt was still there, and it stopped you from appreciating it all.

“How’s school?” He asked and you wanted to die. Is that what you two resorted to? Small talk? Months ago you would’ve told him without him needing to ask because you wanted to. But now you were afraid to tell him anything, the fear of being annoying and a burden took all the words out of your mouth.

“Good.” You whispered.

“That’s good.”

It was silent the rest of the ride, which was only a few minutes but felt like an eternity. And you were ready to jump out when he parked in front of your house before he called your name.

“What?” You sighed out, exhausted and ready to forget the last seven minutes. Why wouldn’t he just let you go? Isn’t that what he wanted? You to be gone? Why the sudden change of interest? Did he know this was killing you? You just wanted to be left alone.

“I’m really sorry,” That surprised you, very much. So much that your growing annoyance simmered away and you were left confused, “for what I said to you, and-and how I treated you.”

“Oh, okay.” You whispered the only words that made sense to say at the moment because you were at a loss for words.

“I know that I treated you like shit, you helped me cut classes and tried to help me with school and I was acting like an asshole.”

What he said was true, but you still believed that you were bothering him and being obnoxious about it. You also thought how embarrassing it must’ve been for you, a younger girl, to be so concerned with him, an older boy. If there was a younger boy breathing down your neck like it was his job you certainly would’ve told him to go away as well. So you couldn’t really blame him for telling you to leave him alone, but Sam seemed to think the opposite when he saw you shake your head in disagreement.

“(Y/N), stop it. You did nothing wrong, I was doing some shitty things and you were just trying to bring me back. I’d do the same thing if I were you,” You got butterflies from his words, “and I promise, if that happens and you totally fall off the rails, I’ll be even worse.”

Maybe it was because you were the forgiving type, which was very unfortunate at times, and you had too big of a heart to fault anyone, but you hated to hear him talk about himself that way.

“I did those things myself though, you didn’t make me.”

“But I let you do it fully knowing you didn’t want to,” He paused again, “and I know you’ve been avoiding me, and I thought I could ignore it but… seeing you so upset, I don’t know, I hated it.”

You were weak, or maybe you were just young and still so, so in love with Sam and liked the idea of him fighting for you, but you forgave him at that moment. And it was relieving. No more tip-toeing around him or feeling uncomfortable in your own home when he was over. Honestly, you wanted to have this talk with him, but confronting the person who hurt you is never an easy task. And you didn’t think he’d respond well to it.

“Besides, I did miss you.” You rolled your eyes and shook your head again, but with a smile. It was a wonderful thing to hear but you didn’t believe him in the slightest. You could take his apology and his admittance to being a jerk, but that was something else. It felt too good to be true.

“No, I really did! I like talking to you. Your brother’s cool and he is my friend, but he’s not the most sympathetic person.” Now that you knew. He simply could not sit and listen for the life of him, anytime you tried to tell him about your day or how you’re feeling, he just wouldn’t care.

It was silent for a moment after, and you resorted back to that nervousness around him that made your heart pound, but in a good way.

“I, um, have to go now. I have a test tomorrow.” It was true, but you also needed to get out of the car because now you were starting to take in the cozy, warm atmosphere in the small space.

“Alright.”

“Bye.”You gave a smile and a small wave when you got out of the car.

“I’ll see you around, (y/n). Y’better not leave the room if I’m in it, okay? I’ll track you down.” He teased. Or was he being serious?

You giggled at his words, “No, I won’t, I promise.”

And with that, he drove off after you got in the house and you went back to daydreaming about him.

divider by @dollywons , next part may be shorter because this is peak drama in their blooming love story. it's all cute from here. and if you guys want to send any thoughts or anything like that to expand upon, i would love them! these two are my babies rn<333

#hayden christensen x reader #hayden christensen x you #hayden christensen imagine #hayden christensen fanfiction #hayden christensen #hayden christensen x fem reader #hayden christensen x y/n #sam monroe #sam monroe x y/n #sam monroe fanfiction #sam monroe x reader #sam monroe imagine #sam monroe x you #sam monroe fluff #life as a house

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myoddessy · 2 years

Text

out with the old, in with the new | w2s/harry lewis

summary —new accounts, new lifestyle, new clubs every night. an insight into just what—and who—youtube's non-youtuber it girl got up to during her split from harry

*once again following the lead of @whoetoshaw and her bog universe's iconic breakup era ALSO, one of the twitter threads is rlly grainy and I'm sorry abt that, i couldn't properly fix it so you have to just zoom in on it 😭

2023, January

2018, July.

liked by zoeleonards, taliamar, masonmount, and 11, 824 others

yourusername lay all your love on me 🌻🍹☀️

tagged: zoeleonards, chloemitchells

zoeleonards london reality, greece fantasy 💔😞

yourusername ibiza couldn't come sooner!

wroetominter OMGOMG IVE DREAMED ABOUT YOU RETURNING TO SOCIAL MEDIA

ynfan omg shes glowing 🤩🤩

chloemitchells mykonos has never looked better 🤤😍😘

yourusername love u, lover girl 😘😘 ❤️❤️

2018, August.

liked by chloemitchells, tobjizzle, leahwilliamson, and 20,349 others

yourusername snuck behind a dj booth and had a blast, had a few more shots than I should've, fell more in love with my girls. ibiza, you will forever be famous 🍾✨️

zoeleonards it was nice having the hotel room to just myself and Chloe for a bit x 🤣🤭

ynfangirl DOES THIS MEAN THE MASON MOUNT RUMOURS ARE TRUE??

chloemitchells @ynfangirl who's that? never heard of him 🤷‍♀️

ynloverrrr it HAS to be true

freyanightingale beautiful girl ❤️

yourusername ❤️❤️❤️

sidemenfav the way that her, freya, and talia still like each others posts and support each other 💔

liked by yourusername, taliamar, and freyanightingale

ynandharry tobi likes every one of her posts, too. they really are family no matter what 😭

2019, January

liked by pierregasly, zerkaa, mabel, and 30,568 others

yourusername we're able to have semi-classy girls trips, who knew?

tagged: zoeleonards

chloemitchells gutted I couldn't make it, I miss u two beautiful girls 😭❤️

yourusername CHLO!!! it wasn't the same without you, babe xx

zoeleonards I missed placing bets on who y/n was gonna make a move on 💔

yourusername IM NOT THAT BAD ZOË JESUS

chloemitchells yeah, give her some slack... it's usually placing bets on who's gonna make a move on her 😉

ynfanpage queen we need tips on how to live our best lives because you are teaching us all rn

yourusername 1) the only long term relationship you need to focus on is the one with yourself. 2) surround yourself with people you love and support & who will love and support you. 3) learn to not give a fuck what anyone else things because everyone's too busy in their own heads to care ❤️❤️

taliaminterr how is your life so aesthetic?? irl gossip girl vibes!!

yourusername babe trust my life doesn't look like this day to day, I only show the fun bits. rn it's 4am and I've got four day old greasy hair, dried mascara under my eyes (I watched UP without taking off my makeup first), and I'm eating cereal and drinking flat coke zero. I am not the standard you should aim for 😭😭

ynslover I love how open and honest she is about her content. she's actually such a good role model

liked by taliamar, freyanightingale, chloemitchells, and 19,519 others

yourusername apparently people think the party life in my photo dumps is my day-to-day? babes, if I can teach any of you one thing in life, it's that half the shit you see online is fake. half the 'candid' moments are staged, same goes for almost every picture you see. so here's a little dump of my actual reality

zoeleonards yeah guys she's actually so messy it's insane. it makes me want to move out

yourusername SHUT IT. zoë has about three different vases of dead flowers in her room because she forgets to take them out.

zoeleonards that's nothing on the old cups in your room

yourusername BLOCKING U

ynslover how does it feel to be the most relatable influencer ever even though you're not an influencer?

taliamar omg you've still got the vinyls!!

yourusername ofc, babe! I needed something to remember our days of charity shop hopping

2023, January

#harry wroetoshaw #harry x reader #harry lewis #harry lewis x reader #wroetoshaw #wroetoshaw x reader #w2s #w2s x reader #w2s imagine #sidemen #the sidemen x reader #the sidemen #social media au #talia mar #miniminter #ksi #tobjizzle #freya nightingale

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kuroppiii · 1 month

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Hi! I saw your Brazilian reader and I was wondering if you could do it again? This time its Sugawara x Filipino reader where she is an exchange student from the Philippines? I hope this is ok, thank you!

binibini ᵕ̈ sugawara kōshi x filipina!reader ˎˊ˗

⋮⋮ ˒ ₍ᐢ..ᐢ₎ 𖥻 ⿻ : japanese boy tries to ⋮⋮ harana no clickbait

📋 content ♡ # 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧 🐮 ♡ # 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴 🥛 ♡ # ~850 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 ( wow i got carried away )

🎶 on shuffle “ mundo ” - iv of spades

🧸 directory ‹ ✩ like what you read ? check out more of my blog ! •ᴗ•

💬 kuroppiii ─ “ SOBRANG OKAY YAN ! started doing backflips when i first saw this nonnie , salamat sa request mo 🫶 i hope you like it !!! ( i ' ve said this before but my tagalog isn ' t the best :,) so pls correct me nicely if i ' m mistaken anywhere ! ) ”

sugawara was spacing off the day you arrived

he didn’t even catch when the teacher announced their section has just received a new transfer student

but what he did notice, was how stunning you were once you walked into the classroom

like the grip on his pen goes slack and it rolls off his desk and onto the floor clattering (😭😭😭)

he quickly picks it up before looking back up to find which desk you just sat down at

he sneaks glances at you the whole rest of the period

AND WHEN YOU ACCIDENTALLY CATCH HIM 🫠

internally he panics and freaks out and almost shuts down completely bc what if you thought he was looking at you bc he thought you were weird or something

when that is DEFINITELY not the case!!!

so on the outside he gives you a warm and reassuring smile

if you smiled back before looking to the front of the classroom again

you’d miss how his ears have turned an excruciatingly obvious shade of red

he’ll ask around about you during volleyball practice, specifically with the other third years

“have you seen that new girl in your classes too?” [sugawara]

“which one?” [asahi]

“y/n? the one from the philippines?” [daichi]

“the philippines?!” [sugawara]

he had no clue (since bro was not locked in when the teacher first introduced you)

now he’s wondering how you’re getting by, coming to a completely new country and all

can you speak the language here? are you having a hard time? can he help you with that?

sugawara’s such a gentleman, he can’t help but worry for your well being!

(he especially can’t help it when you look so pretty whenever you pass him in the halls in-between classes)

sugawara isn’t necessarily a shy guy, so he eventually (bc granted it took a few days for him to muster up the courage) comes up to you one day at the end of class

“hello! how is school here for you so far?” [sugawara]

“oh! um, it—” [you]

“MY NAME’S SUGAWARA BY THE WAY OR YOU CAN CALL ME SUGA EITHER IS FINE.” [sugawara]

yeah he totally nailed that. went totally to plan

“my name’s y/n. nice to meet you sugawara!” [you]

you know enough to talk to him oh my god you’re talking to him so he feels more encouraged to keep talking to you more!

whether that’s after class, or in passing in the halls

or for instance he’ll eat lunch with you if he ever sees you eating alone while you’re still in the process of making friends after your initial transfer

shows interest in what baon you have packed for the day

always eager to listen to you talk about where you’re from and your stories from back home

as you talk, he listens sooo intently with the most admiring look on his face "he wants that cookie so fucking bad"

if you get hung up on finding a translation for a word, he’ll help you through it

is quickly looking up translations of words in tagalog on his phone under the lunch table

he thinks you don’t catch it but you totally do he’s not slick

(despite this, sometimes you make it into a little game)

“so it’s like mcdonald’s?” [sugawara]

“nooo! jollibee isn’t a… a… ? oh, what is it in japanese—?” [you]

“franchise? like more than one shop?” [sugawara] (furious typing can be heard)

“no, it’s the person with makeup.” [you]

“mascot? the one in a costume?” [sugawara] (more aggressive backspacing and typing as he occasionally glances to something at his side)

“almost! the one with big shoes!” [you]

“clown? pasayo?” [sugawara]

“yes, clown! thanks suga!” [you]

(your smile is so cute as you thank him for helping you that he feels like he can melt right then and there) (you knew the word for “clown” the whole time)

asks ukai like every week if his store is carrying any of the snacks or foods you’ve mentioned—chippy, clover, piattos, mang juan, pancit canton—anything he can get his hands on to see your face light up when he surprises you with it

will watch any teleseryes you recommend

and when he sees the whole harana courting deal on those shows, he’s like “ok bet”

that’s how he’s going to turn this friendship to something more!

will start offering to walk you home sometimes, and if you live with family members he would try to get good on their good side and always politely waves hi to them when he drops you off

writes you small and cute notes in class or slips them into your bag when you’re not looking as his own kind of love letter sitch

and when he’s ready to really shoot his shot

he has kiyoko to help him fold origami flowers (real ones would’ve been harder to hide in his bag) so cute i’m sobbing </3

and before he drops you off one day, he might not feel confident enough to sing to you 😭

butttt instead he finds popular filo songs and queues them up to play from his phone in his pocket

then he gives you the flowers <3

“p-pwede ba kitang maging boyfriend? (google translated "can i be your boyfriend?")” [sugawara]

🗒⋆ *. ��୧⋆｡ taglist : @akaakeis , @19calicos , @berrisweet kumusta lovelies ;)

#🌱 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 #🌼 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗸𝘆𝘂𝘂 #🌼 𝘀𝘂𝗴𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗸𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗶 #WOOOOO #*the philippines anthem starts playing*#haikyuu #sugawara koushi #sugawara x reader #sugawara #sugawara kōshi #kochi sugawara #haikyuu sugawara #hq sugawara #sugawara fluff #sugawara headcannons

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lacystar · 1 month

Text

some of my favorite and least favorite details from royal:

when you go with sumire to the shrine and bump into the rest of the thieves, they basically say they all agreed to go together. this is backed up by futaba saying she's going in the morning. this means they specifically went out of their way to not invite you. either theyre shady as fuck towards joker or they knew you were gonna be on a date and didn't want to bother you, but I think its funnier to go with the first one

most of the people in Tokyo's dreams coming true bc of the actualization are met with some doubt or confusion from family members, as seen in passing conversations and the loading screens. this is to show the cracks in the plan and how the actualization hasn't been . well. fully actualized yet. however, the phantom thieves told maruki what they want directly and therefore have their realities so tailor made to them that you have to go out of your way to break them out of it. this includes Morgana. but the only ppl who can hear Morgana are people with personas. this means that some time between Christmas and new years, maruki heard Morgana saying he wanted to be a human and decided to go "fuck it, sure, the cat that the weird kid owns but that ive never met can have his wish too". this tracks because maruki has a persona and is not shocked or confused when he sees Morgana in the metaverse.

Yusuke did not wish for his dead mom to be alive again. just for her painting to hit the trending tab 😭

even if you are dating sumire, like I was, she will not say goodbye to you or give you a parting gift. this creates the awkward situation of her saying goodbye to you at the station with an unusual coldness and disassociation from you, even if you and her are boyfriend and girlfriend. I actually hate this. why the fuck isn't my girlfriend saying goodbye to me.

the winter outfits are the best designed outfits in the game. ann and makoto are in ugly 2010's H&M shit for 90% of the game and then get a fresh wardrobe for the new years.

in contrast, maruki's villain outfit is so fucking ugly. he looks like a golden toenail. the final villain in your game and you have him looking like that? come on man.

not royal exclusive, but Morgana has a talking sprite of himself in his cat form. for some reason, they refused to use this until the end of the game when he "loses" his metaverse form. this makes absolutely no sense, as the talking sprites of every other character changes on their clothes/appearence. why doesn't Morgana's change to his cat version in the real world and why doesn't he just have his "true" form in the metaverse. for some reason, this frustrates me to no end.

when you date sumire, she will not shut the fuck up about her dead sister. also, 90% of your relationship with her is based around her false identity she assumed of her dead sister. you are basically dating this girl's dead sister.

^^^ this is not helped by the fact that her "sumire" sprite looks ugly as fuck and she only looks cute when she's cosplaying as her dead sister. the devs even knew this and changed her back to her Kasumi sprite as soon as they justifiably could 😭

speaking of, royal REALLY REALLY makes it obvious that they see joker x sumire as the canon romance. in the base game I think they saw it as makoto or Haru, but in royal its uncanny how much they push you into dating her. however, she's objectively the worst girl to date because you can only date her at the very end of the game, and therefore only get to experience valentines and white day with her, whereas with most of the other girls you get Hawaii, Christmas, the school fair, etc.

^^^ however, this makes sense, as the realization that you were never dating sumire and instead were instead dating her dead sister would probably come as an uncomfortable surprise to the player. atlus had no choice but to wait until the truth came out to let you date her. they wrote themselves into a corner and then were unable to show off the character who has the biggest model on the poster 😭

when you go around and get goodbye gifts, you cannot say goodbye to certain phantom thieves members if you haven't maxed them out. this resulted in a weird situation where I hadn't maxed out makoto, Haru, and ann, and therefore joker, despite that in universe having helped them through trauma and loss and difficult times, did not say goodbye to some of of his closest friends and teammates . I understand not getting a goodbye gift from them, but its SUPREMELY weird that you dont get a one-on-one goodbye if you dont max their confidants 😭

not royal exclusive, but shinya Oda's voice acting (English) is so fucking terrible its actually laughable. in a game with outstanding voice acting, the fact that this 12 year old sounds like a 50 year old woman really sticks out. this is unfortunate, because Oda is one of my fav confidants and makes him hard to take seriously, but also fortunate because its fucking hilarious.

Akechi's evil Loki costume is ugly as fuck, but is saved singlehandedly because he's wearing thigh-high boots. if you dont believe me, look closely at his thighs. you'll see it.

maruki looks like wilbur soot and it really unsettles me.

#persona 5 #long post #sumire yoshizawa #takuto maruki #lacy liveblogs #ren amamiya #goro akechi #trinket close them peepers

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sunfyresrider · 1 year

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𝑪𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓

Synopsis: In 1989 you're forced to go on another one of the Targaryen family vacations except this one is to a summer camp. Crystal Lake isn't renowned for its beauty and exciting activities. Instead, it's well known for murder and strange disappearances; this doesn't deter money hungry counselors from setting up here. The twins swear it's folklore, Aegon claims you're going crazy but ever since you stepped out of the car you knew, this summer was going to be one to remember.

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x You T/W: dead bird, bad omens, nightmares, bullying, anxiety & paranoia, new friends, 80's slang, and all the bad vibes. A/N This is only kind of a Friday the 13th AU, I stole some names and lore but otherwise this is coming from my brain. Ive been listening to cruel summer nonstop hence the name. I really hope the first chapter got you as excited for the rest as I am!

Summer of 1989, you, your best friend and ride or die Hel, plus her army of obnoxious brothers are making your way to summer camp. Hel’s mother, Ali, she’s a sweet lady but her choice of family activities is never the greatest. This has got to be one of the very worst so far.

To be fair, you would roll over and bark if she asked. She deserved it considering she basically adopted you like a stray cat after your family disappeared… That’s another story for another day where you aren’t trapped in the back seat with the biggest tool known to mankind. “Play this!” You scrunched up your nose, “No! Keep the radio on!” You reached to snatch the cassette from his hand, but he shoved your face back, “Hell no! I don’t wanna listen to Bananarama.”

You shoved him back, “Shut up, Aegon. No one likes your music.” His eyes rolled into the back of his skull, “Shut up, Aegon. no one likes your music.” You huffed, “Stop mocking me!” He copied, “Stop mocking me!” You became desperate, anything to make him shut up. “Hellll! Make him stop.” With his obnoxious voice he continued, “Helllll make him stop.”

“Will you both shut up!” He turned the dial on the radio and began blasting whatever was originally on. The mood killer of all mood killers, Aemond Targaryen. The perfect student, son, and total stick in the mud. Granted, he did get his eye snatched out by his nephew. You’ve never heard the full story and don’t dare to ask but they don’t speak any more to say the least.

There’re some good things about him. He has a super soft spot for Hel which sorta extends to you. That is why you’re listening to cruel summer instead of whatever shit Aegon had planned. He also barely speaks to you, almost like he purposely avoids you. In the years you’ve known each other there’s only been a total of ten conversations you remember.

That’s fine with you, not everyone has to like you. That’s what you tell yourself to make yourself feel better at night. Your eyes drifted to the rear-view mirror, a perfect view of the man himself inside. In some lights Aemond truly was handsome, as if he was carved from marble. It didn’t help that his face almost always remained in a stoic position, unmoving and unwavering no matter the circumstance. The faux eye or eyepatch he chose to wear didn’t ruin his looks at all. In fact, it made him all the more alluring to certain girls.

You’ve known him for years, lived with his family, basically a constant in his life since you were young, and he still remains a mystery. You enjoyed mysteries a lot, one of your favorite genres of books. You got caught, His good eye flickered to meet yours. Eye contact with Aemond made your breath hitch in your throat. It was intense, everything he did was intense.

“Aemond watch Out!”

Helaena screeched, a large black object landing directly into the windshield, cracking it. His eyes flickered back at the road as the car spun out of control. None of the three in the back had any seat belts on. Aegon grabbed ahold of you and the door handle, both of you screeching like little girls. The car made a god-awful noise as Aemond slammed on the brakes, shrouding the car in dust. In the very back you heard Daeron fall to the floor, waking him up immediately.

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” Hel opened her door, leaping out of the car. Aemond quickly followed behind as the rest of you scrambled to get up. The dust from the road was finally starting to settle as you managed to pry yourself from your seat. “Ew.” Aegon murmured under his breath as he stood over the dead body of a raven. She was silently crying to herself as she bent over the lifeless thing. Helaena had always held an intense love for animals.

You peered at Aemond who remained completely composed, eerily silent as usual. He peered back at you, was this your fault for distracting him? You weren’t even doing anything besides staring! “Ravens are bad omens ya know… Great start to summer guys!” Daeron chirped from behind. “I’m going to the car,” Aegon said with disgust, brushing aside his sister's mourning. Daeron followed quickly behind, excited to go back to napping.

It took Aemond a few tries to get Helaena to leave the bird and return to her seat… She’s too gentle for this world. For some reason you were stuck in place. The second you stepped out of the car you felt eyes on you. You didn’t know where they were coming from, but they were there or everywhere. Instant anxiety coursed through you; this place had bad vibes in the first place. It didn’t help that you were watching a bird slowly choking to death on its own blood.

Bad omen

“Hey! We’re going to be late, get in the car.” Aegon’s screeching pulled you out of your trance, “Oh piss off!”

The walk through of camp was rather boring. Immediately the girls were separated from the boys and to be completely honest, the girls' cabins were shit. They were wooden and lined with poorly built bunk beds. No plumbing whatsoever besides the showers which only ran cold water. A bug infestation was definitely on the horizon. The camp tshirts weren’t terrible, just a little ugly in design. The counselors were only a few years older than you, which teed you off because they were barking orders left and right.

Helaena didn’t seem to mind any of it, lost in her head as usual. The dead bird definitely ruined her mood for today… You on the other hand couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It came just as quickly as it went, and it fucking followed you… You were actually going insane. Or one of the boys was playing a long prank on you.

The tour was painstakingly long as you walked the grounds looking at the lake, the yard, the forest trails and the other buildings of importance. The recreation room, the dining hall and kitchen, the banned counselor area and finally the “special building.” It was where all the electricity came from and probably plumbing too.

The events for welcoming day were as follows: settling in, tour of the camp, dinner, and the huge bonfire in front of the lake. It seemed simple and easy to digest but you couldn’t shake your anxiety. You didn’t like being around strange people, you didn’t like being far away from home and you definitely didn’t like that they separated your bed from Hel’s. Also, Daeron’s comment from earlier was making you paranoid. Little shit always has a way of getting in your head.

“Aegon is already flirting with the girls from the other cabin.” You peered from across the dining room to watch him shamelessly chat up randos. Your face twisted in minor disgust. “Oh, gag me with a spoon… I don’t know how you’re related.” You slid down the line grabbing the food the “chef” had made. Without a doubt there was a few mystery meats and a hair lurking in the applesauce. Maybe you were being pretentious, but shouldn’t a rich camp afford better food?

You took your seat after meticulously avoiding all of the possible bowel killing food and settled on Mac n Cheese. Even at camp the tables were separated by categories, freaks aka rebels, geeks/brains depending on who you ask, the jocks, the heathers aka bitches and the outcasts. Obviously, you the Targaryen’s stray cat and the weird girl obsessed with bugs aka Hel say with the outcasts.

Aegon had wormed his way into the jocks even though he didn’t play sports. Daeron fit in anywhere because he was just sooo charming. And well, Aemond, was staring at you from across the room at the brains table. Gracefully avoiding direct eye contact when you glanced over. He always did that, ever since you were kids.

A normal person might ask why or go and talk to him. You weren’t normal and unbelievably awkward when alone with him. It was just because he was intimidating and obviously didn’t like you very much. Or maybe he was madly in love with you and just couldn’t find the strength to speak to you… Of course, it was the former.

“Hey!” A short girl with pretty curls took her seat in front of you both. Hel and you glanced at each other, shocked someone were talking to you. She was beaming, sunshine literally radiating off of her skin. A total surfer chick from the west coast. You learned her name was Rhaena, her twin Baela had ditched her earlier for a boy and she was trying to make new friends.

“So, this is your first time here? That’s totally tubular!” Helaena spoke up,“You’ve been here before?” Rhaena propped her knees up on the seat, so she was basically in Hel’s face. “Yeah! Baela and I have been coming since we were kids.” Helaena smiled, eyes twinkling with something you hadn’t seen before.“That’s rad.” You paused, when has seen used slang before? “What about you? Have you been here before?” Her voice sounded muted, as if asking you was a total pain. “Oh no. This is my first time.”

“Oh my god I can totally show you guys around and tell you all the secrets.” Helaena cocked a brow, “What secrets?” Rhaena smiled mischievously, “Likeee there’s this abandoned shack not too far away that everyone goes and explores. Apparently, it’s haunted.” You were nodding your head along getting lost in thought.

“Oh, and the boys get all the hot water, and we don’t… and they only use knock off versions of food to save money… Don’t eat the Mac n cheese, I’m pretty sure it’s spoiled.” You dropped your spoon, apparently nothing was edible here…. Wait?! The boys got hot showers and you didn’t?! And there’s a fucking haunted house… You knew this place was fucking creepy.

“Baela! That’s the twin I was telling you about! Come on, I want y’all to meet her.” She grabbed Helaena’s hand and gently tugged her in the opposite direction. “Hey, you coming?” There it was again! The feeling of your hair standing up and someone watching you. You froze in place, eyes scanning the area. Aemond wasn’t looking at you anymore, too preoccupied with Daeron.

“She’s zoned out again… Bestie we’re gonna be right back.” No one in your peripheral vision either… Which means they were behind you. You jumped around in your seat, prepared to surprise whoever was there.

Except, there was no one but an empty building. You spun around looking for any sign of life and found none… How long have you been sitting here? When did Helaena leave you? The lights turned off and you felt your heart sink to your ass…

A masked figure emerged from the darkness of the kitchen holding a kitchen knife. He was soaking wet, as if he had just come out of the lake. You stumbled back in place, bumping into the table behind you. Your breath hitched in your throat; your heart began thumping rapidly.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

You weren’t able to scream, your legs had turned into wet noodles that wouldn’t move. You were going to die; you were totally going to fucking die. It cocked its head to the side, “Run Rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run,” it sang in an eerily sweet voice. Not the fucking tune from the thirties!

All of the sudden he charged; you squeezed your eyes shut preparing for the worse… You felt two hands shaking you, violently shaking you.

“Mrs. y/l/n, please wake up.” The counselor shook you a few more times, “Hey! Rise and Shine sweetheart!” You jumped in place, gasping for air and startling the counselor. “We’re going to be late for the bonfire, please hurry up.” You looked around, the lights were still beaming, and the sun had only just started to set. There were still a few counselors around and your face was sticky…

You fell asleep in the fucking Mac n Cheese!

“Hey.” You awkwardly took a seat in between Aemond and Aegon seeing as Helaena was being fussed over by the twins. “You only come to me when your girl gets stolen. Don’t worry babe, I can make you forget about her.” You shoved him into Daeron, nearly knocking him off the bench. “Can you be normal?! For like five seconds, please.”

“Impossible, his brain is made of jello.” Aemond deadpanned, eyes burning holes into Aegon’s skull. You giggled to yourself, “The off brand Jell-O.” The camp counselor marched in front of the four of you, pointing fingers. “Hey! Don’t tell me you four are gonna be the troublemakers this year. I’ll have you know-“

“Ms. Dunn! I just saw a kid go into the electrical cabin!” Baela, you assumed, just caused a perfect distraction. The counselor went running in the opposite direction. She winked at you all and walked off to join her sister and your best friend. Aegon sat up, dead silent. He had that look in his eyes, the look of a boy who found a new boy. “He’s found a new conquest.”

You peered at Aemond, unable to hide the smirk creeping onto your face. “Let’s hope this one has some standards.” The head counselor stepped up, clapping their hands together to announce their presence. Ghost stories, a nice welcome to a strange camp. It was tradition according to Rhaena, a weird fucking tradition.

It took a minute for everyone to settle down, specifically Aegon who kept poking you in your side. He did this consistently throughout your life, teased you until you gave him attention. Aeg was like an older brother but worse and more pervy. Introductions, getting to know each other, and then finally the fucking story. The entire thing was unbearably boring.

“Many years ago, a mad woman lived here with her son before her land was sold to us. It is said after years of listening to the campers next door she went insane. She butchered every single camper, except one who drowned her own son believing him to be the killer!” The crowd was silent, except the few gasps of some younger girls. You sat up in your seat, fixated on lore.

“Not long after, a group of campers decided to explore the lake and the supposed haunted cabin. Of course, they were brave and didn’t believe in myths or legends. As they walked along the shore, they heard strange noises coming from the trees. Branches cracked, leaves rustled, and something seemed to be following them.” You weren’t easily frightened… but for some reason your nails were picking at the tips of your shorts.

“They picked up their pace, escaping into the abandoned shack they originally thought to be safe. One brave boy ventured deeper inside, until he fell through the floor. An ear-piercing scream could be heard across the lake… He fell right on top of the mother’s remains!” Aemond wasn’t amused, he was far more entranced by the way the fire lit up your face. And the way your jaw hung with suspense at a silly ghost story.

“They ran back to the main grounds, hoping to find safety! However, when they returned the camp was nearly empty. Not a single soul remained on this land. Ripples began forming in the lake below them, tree branches cracking the distance. They all began to panic, huddling in a circle… From the darkness of the lake emerged a looming figure, soaked head to toe with blood. He held out the machete in his hand and stormed towards them.”

The outdoors became eerily silent, only the crackling fire provided comfort. You were on the edge of your seat, anticipating blood shed… “The next day the authorities arrived and found no trace of the bodies. No blood or weapons could be found anywhere in the vicinity. Twenty campers and counselors disappeared that night without a single trace…” You leaned back in your seat, that wasn’t an epic ending at all. It was like almost reaching an orgasm then being cut off. “it’s said every few years he comes back... He waits for the campers to get comfortable… to feel safe… Until-”

“Ahhhh!”

A dark figure in a black mask with a blood coated axe jumped out of the darkness. You screamed like a banshee, you jumped back in place, landing against Aemond’s chest. It felt like your eyes were going to pop out of your skull, or maybe your heart would explode. His arms wrapped around you lightly, you could barely feel them securing you into place.

“Ahahaha! Ahahaha! you’re so fucking jumpy! You’re like a little rabbit.” You stared at him blankly, then you stared at the people around you… No one else was screaming but you. Was the jump scare seriously not that terrifying to anyone but you. Aemond cleared his throat, “You good?” He didn’t mind you being close, he didn’t mind that you crushed his groin. In fact, he could stay like this for hours if there weren’t camp counselors staring him down.

It was like an alarm going off in your head, you turned to look at Aemond for a second. Embarrassment quickly drowning all of your sensations. You slid off of his lap and back on the bench. No words were coming out, no thoughts being processed. Your cheeks were beaming red, this summer was going to be fucking hell.

After the bonfire, aka your personal torment, your family and the new add ons Baela and Rhaena huddled into a lopsided circle by the lake. “I have an idea,” Aegon announced to the group. “Baela told me about the broken-down shack, and I think we should totally go check it out!” You looked around at everyone’s faces and they all seemed to be in agreement… “Haven’t you seen the movies? This is how everyone dies dumby.”

Aegon scoffed, “Ok freakazoid, did you and Aemond switch bodies? ” He just killed two birds with one stone, or one sentence. Aemond was used to the slander, you however had a short fuse when it came to Egg boy. “Eat my shorts, Aegon!” He cocked an eyebrow, “Only if you ask nicely.” You faked a vomiting noise. Helaena made a sour face, “That’s grody.” You paused; Helaena never used slang before. Aegon chimed in, “Are you done being pussy?”

You began bickering instantly, the sounds of your petty argument and Aegon’s obnoxious laughter obviously killing the vibe. Daeron pushed into the center of the circle. “Everyone take a chill pill! How about we go to the cabin, and you stay here as a lookout.” Aegon clapped his hands together, “Awesome! We gotta go now before the counselors wake up.” You took a step back watching the group disperse towards the forest. Rhaena took Helaena’s hand and started bouncing off, leaking excitement. “Hel? Are you not gonna stay behind?”

She paused, glanced between you both. “I- I just want to check it out! I’ll be back in a sec.” Rhaena raised a hand to wave, “Don’t stress! We won’t die!” You watched silently as your best friend got whisked off into the darkness. She’s never left you behind before, she’s never done adventurous things. She’s calm, quiet, quirky and, and you don’t like this. You don’t like this one bit.

“You look jealous.” You whipped your body around, nearly stumbling on the leaves behind you. “Aemond? I thought you were going with them.” He smiled, just barely, “Exploring abandoned shacks isn’t my forte.” He definitely wasn’t staying behind because you were. He especially wasn’t staying behind to be alone with you. “Oh…” you stared at him, not a single thought in your brain. Why were you so nervous? Have you always been so nervous around him?

It might be because you had to crane your neck up to look at him. “I’m not jealous!” He stalked behind you with his hands behind his back. “Is that so? You’ve looked pissed the past few hours.” Your brows furrowed, “Pissed? What no. It’s just… ever since we got here, I’ve had anxiety out the butt.” Aemond paused his steps, “I’m sorry about the bird. I should have been looking but I-”

“It’s not the bird. I mean it is kinda the bird, but this place gives me the creeps!” You held your arms out wide and twirled in a circle. You were trying to make a point. Aemond smiled to himself, “I get it. It’s too calm, the perfect place for a monster to hide out.” Your mouth gaped in faux shock; your hand went to swat at his arm. “Don’t joke! I’m being serious, it has bad vibes.”

“Hm,” he nodded his head as if agreeing or thinking, you couldn’t tell. “You just need to distract yourself from the bad vibes.” You cocked your head to the side, “How?” Aemond sat down on the little beach, motioning for you to follow. “We could play a game.” You followed suit, sitting with your legs crossed. “Which game?”

He picked up a pebble and threw it into the water. “I was hoping you would know.” Who would offer to play a game then not even know what game! “Uhhh all I know is twenty questions.” He tossed another pebble,“Great.”

He was always straight forward and maybe a little too quiet. You couldn’t tell if he was doing this out of pity or he really wanted to play with you… Aemond Targaryen was a confusing man. “You’re agreeing that easily?” He finally turned to look at you, sincerity gracing his features. “I mean, all we know about each other is from what Helaena says so I don’t see why not.” You tapped your fingers on your chin, “Okay… Why’d you choose Vhagar as a pet name.”

He hummed to himself, “I was twelve and thought it was a cool name for a big lizard. What’s your favorite song?” The same song that almost caused a car accident earlier, you thought to yourself. “Easy. Cruel Summer by Bananarama.” Aemond smiled, a smile that could genuinely light up the world. “Ah, that’s why you almost fist fought Aegon for radio rights.” You clapped your hands together, “It’s a great song! And it totally fits the vibes. Next question… What’s your favorite song?”

“For Whom the Bells Toll. I can play pretty much every Metallica song on guitar.” Your eyes lit up with excitement, “You’re a metalhead and you play?! Aemond I never knew that!” You sat up and grabbed his shoulders, tugging at them gently. “It’s not that impressive.” He made eye contact for a split second before his lips curled into a tiny smirk. “Oh please! don’t be coy. You need to play for me sometime… If you-”

“Of course.” A sudden sting of embarrassment rose through him as quickly as he said it. He didn’t mean to cut you off, or seem so excited… “What’s something you regret?” You stopped invading his personal space and sat back, criss cross applesauce. What was something you regretted? You could be completely honest and go for it or make up a lie. You regretted many things in your life, too many to count. The only one you could think of now, “I regret not getting to know you sooner. You're super cool, Aemond.”

Aemond felt his heart rate pick up its pace and his palms were getting all sweaty. He always knew you were pretty but seeing you excited over him took it to a new level. The way your eyes sparkled and the moonlight reflecting off of the water perfectly illuminating your features. For a second, he swore he saw your lip's part. Did you want to kiss him? No, he avoided you for years, no way you’d be into him now. Unless…

“What’s your favorite memory?” Aemond paused, obviously he couldn’t say the day you moved in. The day you nearly bit Aegon’s finger off for shoving it in his face. The day you awkwardly danced with him at prom because no one else would… “I think I’m gonna create my favorite this summer…” He leaned in, slowly but purposefully. Your cheeks lit up bright red, eyes bursting out of your skull. Was he going to kiss you? Is Aemond trying to kiss you?

Why aren’t you pulling back? Why are you leaning into him! Aemond murmured under his breath, “…with you.” For a second, and only a second you thought you would kiss. You never moved this fast, was he always this alluring? Ever since you got here everyone had been acting strange. Helaena is using slang and ditching you. All of the sudden Aegon is a natural born leader. Daeron is going on dangerous adventures with Aegon of all people… And you are about to kiss your best friend’s brother whom you barely know!

“Ahhhhhhh”

An ear-piercing scream immediately caught both of your attention. “Helaena,” you said in unison. Aemond shot to his feet first, you quickly followed suit. He sprinted towards the forest, fastest you’ve ever seen him run. This wasn’t the time for I told you so but, you fucking told them so!

All you could hear was yourself panting, twigs breaking, and leaves being crushed beneath your feet. Why did everything go quiet?! It felt like you were in the twilight zone. It felt as if you had been running for hours when you approached the cabin. Though it didn’t bring you any relief.

Your heart sank as you realized that the door was left open, which could only mean that they were inside. You picked up the pace, thinking that you were running out of time. Believing they might be getting chopped up by an axe wielding maniac.

When you finally reached the cabin, you saw your friends huddled inside. Helaena, Daeron and Rhaena stood there pointing flashlights towards the floor, unbothered. They looked more spooked by you two crashing their party than anything else. “Are you guys okay?” Aemond asked.

“We’re fine,” Daeron replied. “Aegon fell through the floor, though. He landed on a pile of bones.” You walked towards the hole, searching for any signs of life. “Is he hurt?” you asked, in a voice that sounded too sincere.

“Ah sweetheart! I knew you cared about me,” Aegon shouted beneath the floorboards. You deadpanned, “I change my mind, die.” You reached into the darkness anyways, trying to help pull Aegon out of the floor. “Jesus have you always been so heavy.” He snickered, “You’re just a weakling.” You slapped the top of his head, “I’ll drop you and you can spend the rest of your night in the hole.” As you bickered with Aegon, who was taking his sweet time crawling out of the floor.

Aemond looked around the cabin, something was off. “What types of bones were they?” Helaena sighed, “More animal bones but I think it was from a deer this time.” He tapped his foot on the ground, “hm.” His eyes narrowed as he scanned the cabin, “which one of you screamed?” The girls looked at each other, confused. “None of us screamed, Aemond.” The group fell into a heavy silence before Daeron spoke up. “Let’s get the hell out of here. I don’t want the counselors to find us.”

You all quickly exited the cabin, making sure to leave it the way you found it, and made your way back to camp. The closer you got to your temporary home the worse you felt. Were you slowly having a psychotic break why are you so anxious? No, it wasn’t paranoia, something was wrong.

Something was missing, someone was missing. You counted, one for Aegon, two for Helaena, three for Aemond, four for Daeron, five for Rhaena, six for… You stopped walking, causing everyone to turn their heads towards you. “Where’s Baela?”

#aemond targaryen #aemond one eye #aemond fic #aemond au #aemond imagine #aemond x reader #aemond x you #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen x you #aemond targaryen au #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond targaryen fic #house of the dragon #hotd fic #hotd au #hotd imagine

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moonysimp · 2 years

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i've got my eye on you –pedri

pedri and gavi met y/n and they both have a crush on her, pedri decides to step aside and let his best friend go after her. but turns out things are not as simple as that.

all pedri could think about was that girl he had just met. his friend laura had came by his house to return something she had borrowed from pedri and she had brought a friend with her. y/n was by far the prettiest girl he had laid eyes on. he had asked them to come in and have a drink with him and gavi, who was also at his house. gavi had introduced himself to y/n, and also invited her and laura to come him but the girls couldn't stay so they left. and that what all it took for pedri to have y/n constantly in his head for the rest of the day.

what he didn't know was that the same thing was happening to gavi.

"look man im pretty sure i fell in love at first sight", gavi said in the car, while pedri drove him to his place.

pedri laughed, "well that's the first time ive heard you say that"

"i know, i don't usually say this but you know the girl that was with laura today? y/n? ive been thinking about her all day" , gavi brought his hands to his face, embarrassed.

pedri's stomach sank. okay, they both thought y/n was a pretty girl, nothing was wrong with that. but he had never ever heard gavi -who was never seriously interested in any girl- speak like that about anyone.

"she is beautiful, the most beautiful girl ive seen, and she also seemed pretty sweet", gavi said looking at his best friend. "you gotta invite laura to hang out, and tell her to bring y/n"

pedri laughed again. "okay, lover boy." he tried to wipe y/n's pretty smile off his mind. gavi was interested in her, and he was like his little brother, he couldn't be in the way, no matter how much he thought of y/n. he wouldn't let his attraction to her go any further.

...

"im gonna ask you a favor, and it's one that you'll probably like", laura said wiggling her eyebrows and entering your room.

"what is it?", you asked smiling, knowing nothing your roomie could be planning would be good.

"i know you have to go out today to buy some food so on your way here could you please give this to pedri? he left this sweater here forever ago and now he wants it back for whatever reason", she said. "you know where his place is, i'll let him know you're the one going because i am busy."

"laura you are NOT busy", you said giving her a judgy look.

"i know but im in my pajamas and i don't want to get changed", she whined, "besides you can see your new crush."

you threw her your pillow, "oh my god i only said that he was really cute shut up!!"

"same thing darling", she winked at you, "but please i'm being serious, would you do it?"

you were actually excited to see pedri again so you couldn't say no to her.

you remembered where he lived since you had met him about a week ago, you got to his front door and knocked.

"hi, y/n", pedri said with a smile.

"hey", you replied, "i brought your sweater", you handed it to him awkwardly.

he thanked you and before he could really think it through he said, "do you want to come in and have a drink?" he knew he shouldn't, but he had been thinking about you for days and now that you were here he couldn't resist to try yo make you stay a little longer.

you said yes, maybe even a little too quickly but you were a bit nervous so you just blurted it out.

and just like that you spent all afternoon talking, to be fair time went faster when pedri was with you. even though he was quite shy for a football player, you two seemed to connect and conversation would flow easily. you told him how you had met laura and he told you how she and him were friends since they were little.

"wow i should probably get going, surely lau is wondering where i am", you chuckled.

"yeah no worries", pedri said standing up, and he accompanied you to the door. "it was... very nice talking to you", he couldn't help to say it, he had loved every minute of it, getting to know you a bit more. just as friends, of course, he kept repeating that to himself.

you blushed a little and you heart started beating faster. "i feel the same way", you smiled at him.

he opened the door for you, "see you soon, y/n"

you remembered that barcelona was going to play tomorrow so before courage left you, you leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "good luck on the match tomorrow", you said and giving him a little smile, you turned in your heels and left.

pedri closed the door and let out a sigh. he really wished that gavi suddenly had forgotten about his crush on you because the last thing he wanted to do was stay away from you.

two weeks had passed and now laura, gavi, pedri and you were sitting together. the four of you had been all day planning fer's birthday surprise, the birthday of pedri's brother was in 3 days and even though he would spend most of the day working, pedri wanted to surprise him with a little something when he got home. and so, he had asked laura to help him organize everything, and to bring y/n along because 4 minds thought more than just 3. and of course, he really wanted to see you again.

"should we get some food? or just a cake and some drinks?", gavi asked.

"well i know we can get a bunch of free bananas from pedri, count that as the first thing ready for the party", you joked and he laughed, your eyes finding his immediately. you loved his smile. whenever you two shared a smile, or a look, you felt like everybody else disappeared from the room, only the two of you remaining present.

he felt it too, like you were the only one there with him, and his heart couldn't help to beat faster. but then reality would hit him, and he would hear gavi's voice asking you something, trying to make conversation, and he would look the other way. because it was not right.

gavi hadn't forgotten about his crush on you and in fact, he had told him that he would ask you the day of the party to go out on a date with him. so pedri had decided to step aside because his best friend liked you, and he couldn't do that him, no matter how he felt towards you.

the party was here and even when pedri invited only a couple of people, the place was crowded and he didn't know how that had happened. he went to get a drink to the kitchen and on his way back to the backyard he found gavi eagerly talking to you. he paused and stayed there, watching the two of you from a distance. gavi was probably asking you out right now. he turned and went looking for his brother.

you felt very weird. you arrived to the party with laura, and quickly found gavi with who you started talking. he introduced you to some of his teammates from the club who had attended to the party, you thought it was really sweet of him. but, you couldn't find pedri, and you found that really weird.

"im gonna find something to drink", you said to gavi.

"oh if you want i can bring it for you", he offered smiling.

"oh don't worry i'll be quick", you said and went inside the house, heading to the kitchen, you opened the door and there you found pedri. you couldn't help but to smile. "well hello, i finally found you"

"hey", god you looked gorgeous tonight, he thought. he really needed to stay away. "have you seen fer? im looking for him"

"yeah he's talking to one of your teammates", and you hadn't finished when he rushed past you, murmuring a "thanks"

the night was really different from what you had expected. from pedri being far away from you for a reason you couldn't comprehend, to gavi looking nervous and then asking you to go on a date with him, and you awkwardly telling him that you saw him as a friend and that you actually liked someone else. after the party ended, you stayed to go talk to pedri.

he was in the kitchen, yet again. "did i do something?", you asked, his behavior was hurting you, why would he act distant so suddenly?

"what do you mean?", he acted he really didn't know what you were talking about.

"you've been avoiding me all night, don't act like you haven't realized that"

he closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "it's for the better", he murmured.

"what is that supposed to mean?", you furrowed your brows, you were getting angry by all of this confusing conversation.

"did gavi left?", he asked you suddenly, completely changing the topic.

"i don't know and i don't care, pedri", you said truthfully, all you cared about was the boy in front of you.

that threw him out of balance, and he realized that you both had taken steps throughout the conversation and now were face to face. "didn't he... ask you out?", now he furrowed his eyebrows. he had stayed away from you all night because his friend was gonna shoot his shot with you.

"he did, and i said no", why would he care about that? it was obvious that you didn't have eyes for anyone else but for pedri.

his eyes widened and he couldn't help but to ask, "why?"

you gave in, you placed your hand on the side of his neck and leaned in to kiss him tenderly. he kissed you back and his hands found your waist. he felt like he was dreaming. you broke the kiss smiling and slight shaking your head, "you're the reason why"

everything clicked then, and he understood that it didn't matter if he stayed away, it didn't matter if he looked the other way, because it wouldn't change the way you felt about each other. he pulled you to him and kissed you again. this one being very different from the one moments ago. it was the kind of kiss that left you breathless, the kind that left you spinning. the type of kiss that made you feel like you were the only two people on earth.

but you weren't.

"you son of a bitch", you heard. you both separated from each other and turned to the kitchen door. gavi stood there, his jaw clenched.

———————

part 2

#pedri gonzalez #pedri #fanfic #football #fc barcelona #gavi

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superaznchick · 4 months

Text

i had a whole rant typed out like 2 days ago that i made while emotional but it will rot in my drafts forever now because i have now spent the required amount of time in the timeout corner and properly digested my emotions to come back and make a fresh new post

idk what corporate girly out there slaving in front of a laptop needs to hear this AGAIN, because i certainly have heard this before but subconsciously dismissed it because Surely That Won't Happen To I, but it DID so i am now yelling at you from the other side

DONT FUCKING TRUST YOUR MANAGER!!!!!!!!! the nuance here is that YES they can be nice, and they can 100% be the best person ever, and they might not even consciously manipulate you. but you are never safe from subconscious manipulation or just straight up incompetence.

if your manager does their job well, it means you are manipulated. BUT if they do their job BAD, you STILL get manipulated!! this is because even if they are incompetent, you will always end up bridging the gap for their incompetence and it will weigh you down and you will NEVER get credit for your work. in fact, you are in danger on both ends of the spectrum - if you manager is good, they'll take credit for your work. if your manager is bad, they'll STILL take credit for your work AND make you suffer for it because they won't even have the skills at least get you the reward you deserve.

ive spent the last 3 years under my do-nothing manager always giving him the benefit of the doubt, "oh he's just a silly lil guy this is his first management job he doesnt know what hes doing" type shit, and i have nothing but stress and resentment to show for it.

i have LITERALLY been DOING HIS JOB FOR HIM. i revamped our meetings, i put sprint processes in place, i drew our team scope/borders and weighed in on who should staff projects. and on TOP of that i did tech lead and regular ic work. i was doing both my job and at least 50% of his because im not a fucking manager and theres only so much i can do.

but all this time my actual skill set as an engineer is deteriorating because ive been begging for mentorshop/coaching since day one i joined the team, which is 100% the manager's job to coach and level up their engineers, but these needs were completely ignored in favor of me trying to get this dumb fucking team together because my manager literally does nothing. he doesn't do his fucking job, and he gets away with it because he has high soft skill!!!! his boss likes him!!! so he will not be punished!!!!!!

i on the other hand am severely punished because i have revealed my hand as a do-all "superstar", im the one that gets 3 projects with the same deadline that i have to do all by myself, im the one thats expected to do all my work and more AND i am the one that takes the brunt of flack when external teams are ultimately disappointed that the deadlines are not met. i get no protection from any of this shit because my manager is fucking incompetent and refuses to step up. whether he consciously or subconsciously does this DOES NOT MATTER!!!! you will ALWAYS eat it at the bottom line!!!

treat your manager like your enemy, never trust them. size them up in your first few 1:1s to see how much they can do for you in terms of your career. if they are NOT delivering results within the first 2-3 months, CLOCK OUT!!!!!! decenter work from your life, shut the laptop at 5pm sharp, put in your bare minimum to not get canned and turn your brain off from all work problems. sometimes the corporate grind is worth it but ONLY if you have someone competent managing you and they are smart enough to recognize that engineers under them need reward and respect to be retained. if they won't or can't retain you, just let it happen!!!! dont overextend yourself it's never worth it

obv im yelling this from my jail cell as a software engineer so idk how much of this is applicable to other fields, but that's my two cents. i have spent way too much time being upset and angry these last few weeks to not vent about it. if this applies to you, pls save yourself the heartache and learn the skill of decentering work for when it comes in handy. im not advocating for indiscriminate quiet quitting bc that can actually be harmful to your financials, but the art of quiet quitting should still be mastered for when the appropriate time arises. use your discretion

#personal

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gardens-of-may · 1 month

Text

ENTRY TWO - chap. 23 to chap. 50

spoilers ahead

AAAAAAAAAAA

that was me singing opera

you wish you heard it

also i can’t stop talking in a british accent because guess is on repeat

good lord jennifer

😐😐😐

this book is getting BORING

caves are amazing 😑

WHY IS THERE A CHILD

is the child okay????

eughhhhhhb

fuck you child

ugh him

I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THERES A CHILD

oop he’s fAcToTuM

i’m sorry this book is getting more boring by the second

*an hour later*

the boy’s a liar the boys a liar he doesn’t see ya he’s not think about blahhhh

idk

i’m also currently falling asleep rn so 😗

CHILD LABOR

I DESPISE CHILD LABOR

I HAVE CERTAIN TOPICS IM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT

AND VHILD LABOR IS ONE OF THEM

*days later* (i wasn’t lying when i said this book is boring)

okay good consent!!!

oop he knows

i thought i was smart for knowing the french

i didn’t know bonne chance meant good luck 😑

it’s like avery is nonexistent and i HATE it

because in the main trilogy, his presence was very shown

but i keep forgetting that avery’s even here because of this shitty narration

oh hi gray

oh my god grayson in shorts would actually scar me

oh my god

that’s evil

and she’s such a saint

i forgot that we’re dealing with his dad

oops

technically avery didn’t kill him

so what’s so bad about putting the evidence of what he did against avery out?

i love xander i miss him sm

bonjour!

sisters

hehehe 🤭

that’s true tho

sav and gray are very similar

gray also likes to deny his feelings tho

same bro 😜

nash is the best

ily him sm

suspicious

oh no

was gray told abt the devils mercy thing?

i don’t really know what whom is

LYRA

AHAHAGAHHAHS

ISVTHAT LYRA

IM GONNA SCREAM

STOP

MY ABAY

IVE BEEN IN LOVE WITH HER SINCE I HEARD OF HER AND THIS IS THE FURST TIME I MET HER

OMG

ASSHOLE 😍😍

IT IS LYRA

IM LIT DYING

NEW CRUSH

she’s so funny

that’s one way to deal with mental health

get a lyra!

no not shorts 😭

ughhhh

i love gigi

lemonade? too sweet?

oh shit

i js realized i can only imagine gray with a british accent

the aaron warner effect

grayson davenport hawthorne

i find it hilarious that it’s in autocorrect

“I am so sorry that Avery girl took all of your money,” one of the others said seriously.

“And chose your brother,” another one added.

“And broke your heart!”

“But not your spirit.” The bravest of the girls reached out and laid a hand on his arm”

HAHAHAHA

stop it’s like a fanclub

what has gotten into me?

😟😟😟

she isn’t a bitch

her future is probably brighter than your fucking phone screens

oh yeah i forgot

gigi doesn’t know who he is

GIGI NO

GOOD LORD NO

no he is not your boyfriend or anything like that

GIGI STOP

GIGI UGHHHH

THAT IMPLICATION ISBT

SAVANNAH IS NIT A BITCH

gigi what cleavage?

gray’s reaction tho

NASH 😍😍

i’m in the rural rn

an ode to nash

cupcake a palooza?

ohhhh

WHAT

tallllll

as a 5’5 girl anything above 6’ is tall

seems ugly

NOOOOO

FUCKING BITCH

UGHHHHHH

THAT BACKSTABBING BITCH

ARGHHHHH

USNT SHE RICH NOW?

a flashback? NOW???

TREE HOUSE YAY

how tall was jamie at ten?

that’s so mean

yeah what about nash ?

he’s amazing

okay gray might be perfect and xander can think outside the box but jamie is good at taking and measuring risks

is that a skill? i don’t know

js triggering pain and insecurities atp

wait they’re supposed to lose

ohhhh

okay so the point of the flashback is to show why he’s doing what he’s doing

wait what did he do?

ZELLA IS THE PROPRIETOR

I BET

BET

mr. hawthorne js has a aura that is

you know

i js read smth kinda sad and it lowk ruined the vibe

ANYWAY

i had hoped the proprietor was zella

ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU GOT GOING ON DOWN THERE

sorry 🙂

THE HELL JAMIE

i forgot avery and jameson weren’t married

i don’t know why i thought they were

GODDAMN JAMIE

oh shut the fuck up

this feels so wrong

WHAT

WHAT DO YOU MEAN

brother?

ARGHHHHH

UGH

not this

where’s nash then?

AUGGHBBBBBB

EVE THAT FUCKING BITCH

what does that bitch want?

a boyfriend? not even once she’s six feet under

WHY ARE YOU SYCH A CREEP???

“my existence?”

your existence pains everyone

AHHHHH

i love gigi

oh shit

😳

anywayyyyyyy

LYRAAAAAAA

oh my god

hmmm

THATS SLATER???

BITCH IS UGLY AS FUCK

i love gigi 🥰

“prone to eyebrow arching, very fond of imperative sentences, blond and broody.”

how cute?

NO IT JUST GOT GOOD

WHAT TGE HELL JAMIE

WHAT HS WRING WITH YOU

i’m gonna kill you

“oN tHe cOnTrArY-” shut the fuck up

ugh

that’s terrifying

i hate him

awwww i love avery tho

I HATE YOU

WHAT

I THOUGHT THAT IT WENT

nash > gray > jamie > xander

i think im used to leo

“privileged, prep school boy”

ughhhh

HE WON

i didn’t think he would

oh shitttttt

😣😣😣😣

i’m not describing this

good lord jameson

risk?

OM MY GSIF

oh yeah

his brothers are gonna kill him 😀

why would you purposefully do this to yourself?

that’s cute rohan, but i don’t think so

heheh 🤭

bitch

what did you do in prague jameson? what?

no you did not

MMMM-

oh nooooo

AGHGHBBBVBVVVVVVBHHH

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED IN PRAGUE???

gigi no

ajaksjjw he’s your brother you cannot date him 😭

that weirded me out even typing it

GIGI SYOP

HAHAHAHA

SAV AND GRAY NO

your imaginary girlfriend okay

(it’s me guys)

limes

our forever is limes

mhm

not like that

huh (i took a break if you couldn’t tell)

OH FRIENDLY WAY

UGHHHHH

FUCKING BASTARD

acacia is more of a mom to gray than fucking skye will ever be

good lord

UGHHH

NOW???

anw eight years ago everyone 🙂

this is so traumatic

yay

#the brothers hawthorne #tbh #tig #the inheritance games #🗝️⋆｡ may’s recs #🗝️⋆｡ fairy stole a book

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castiel-barnes · 10 months

Note

Request: Marcus Moreno(After his last mission(He retires permanently after this final mission))wakes up(with coughing and breathing heavily) with nasal cannula on his nostrils, his face and body still battered and bruised(but healing with some stitches on some of his cuts) with his one eye still bruised & half-swollen closed(but healing as well) with chest tube(due to 3 broken ribs with one of them hitting lung) and wearing cast on one arm in the intensive care unit with his budding new girlfriend(fellow Heroic who saved him, she retires permanently as well.) comforting him. - Not too angsty and not too long please.

Hospital chairs.

Pairing: Marcus Moreno x Reader.

Wordcount: 552

Warnings: mentions of hospitals. Mentions of injuries. Reader being gentle.

Tags: @phoenixhalliwell @wanderrghost

A/N: I know I've not been too active, so I appreciate the request and I'll try my best. I'm a bit out of practice at the moment. It tried my best.

Image not mine.

The hospital machines beeped obnoxiously. Though you had managed to block them out as you stared at Marcus. He was lying there, covered in bits of medical equipment. A nasal cannula and a tube to Marcus' chest kept him breathing. A cast wrapped around his arm and stitches tracked over deep cuts.

This was his last mission. This profession took to much of a toll on him... And you. Maybe it was time to settle.

You sat there quietly watching Marcus. Not the machines. Marcus. Willing him to wake up. You were almost in a day dream, when you saw Marcus' eyes shoot open as best they could. Breathing heavily and pain ridden on his face.

"Marcus! Honey... Hey it's okay... Take it easy. You're okay." You spoke softly helping him lay back,

His body racked with coughs as his mind struggled to comprehend. He grabbed your hand tight in a panic.

"it's okay... It's okay." You spoke again. He felt his hair be stroked back out of his eyes and he looks up at you with his one good eye, his other swollen shut.

"Y/n..." Marcus' coughs. You grabbed a glass of water for him.

"what happend?" Marcus asked, his voice croaky from coughing and lack of use.

"You had a rough mission Hun... Doctors... Doctors saying that any more stress on the body can cause harm." Your hand fiddled with his slightly greying hair, which honestly needed a cut.

"I think... I should retire... Y/n... I can't do this anymore." Marcus stared up at you, reaching for your hand.

"I know... I'll be with you okay? I'll look after you... I'll stay... I'm not doing anymore missions either okay?" You spoke. You didn't want to leave him... Especially since there was so much recovery ahead.

"I love you..." Marcus smiles as best he could. "How long have you been in that hospital chair?" He continued seeing your weird angle of sitting.

"Dont worry about it." You smiled. "We'll go home soon okay? Everyone's been in to see you. Your mama and Missy. Plus some of the guys from heroics... They're all worried about you. But we know you're strong."

Laying your head softly on Marcus' lap you looked up at him. You knew he didn't want to be treated like glass. But his body was bloody and broken. He stroked his hand through your hair, being wary of the IV line that was in his arm.

He was tired. He knew that much. But he looked at you and knew everything would be absolutely fine. No matter how much pain he was in.

"No more missions Y/n." Marcus spoke,

"No more missions." You responded. Glad that he had come to a decision that benefited his health over everything.

Marcus didn't realise how tired you were. That was until he heard a light snore over the sounds of the machines beeping. Marcus closed his eyes again, resting more peacefully this time round.

From now on, there would be no missions. A harsh recovery, yes. But you and Marcus would be together without any possibility of danger. The heroics were still your family, but you'd both be living a much quieter life now.

#writing #asked and answered #marcus moreno #we can be heroes

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tv-gh0st · 1 year

Text

Day 1- But now this room is spinning while im just trying to fill in the gaps

Day 1- "But now this room is spinning while im jus trying to fill in all the gaps" (726 words) by Prime_Path Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Four & Legend (Linked Universe) Characters: Legend - Character, Four Additional Tags: Sickfic, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Four (Linked Universe)-centric, Wumptober, Is that not a tag?, Damn, Legend is a good big brother, or atlest hes trying to be, im pissed that isnt a tag, i will make that a tag with my own bare hands if i have yo, Four (Linked Universe) Needs a Hug, Legend (Linked Universe) Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug Series: Part 1 of Wumptober 2023 Summary: Four is just having a bad day, and Legend is trying his best to help he swears. Wumpee- Four, kinda Legend Characters- Four, Legen

today was a doosy, im posting this technically on october 2nd yes but the fic was posted on 11:59 pm so it counts

now why is this so horribly done and posted so late, because although ive started almost all the prompts already i technically havent finished them all(im not gonna be ad bad as today i swear) and i had really bad writers block on todays the today came around and its all shit

anyways thats my rant you can actually ready the fic now ig

Everyone was cold wet tired hungry and you know one or two of them would be sick(they couldn’t sleep out unless they all wanted to get sick), and it seemed like a miracle when a portal opened up, bad news they got thrown into Wilds goddessdamned Gerudo dessert. And it was fucking cold.

Atlest they could make a fire now.

But that really didn’t matter right now, because the moment Four walked through that portal he passed out, the last thing he heard was Legends squeaky noise as he was suddenly on 'make sure Four doesn’t die' duty.

The next time Four woke up he was very disappointed to find out they were still in the dessert. Apparently they got fucking split up And Four got really sick from the rain from the last Hyrule. He also felt very very fuzzy when he woke up. His head was pounding and he could barly hear anything his vison had black all around it and whatever wasn’t black spots was blurry as fuck. The thing that bothered him the most was how loud it was, he couldn’t hear anything yet everything was so loud in his head.

"F-r -OUR!"

"R-red?"

"ye- m- tuic red"

Four couldn’t hear a word of that so he just squinted at Red? Well he tried but the need to close his eyes won and Four effectively passed out, the last thing he hears being a grunt of some kind.

The next time he wakes up Four feels every so slightly more lucid, he can even hear again(the static in his head is sounding more and more like fighting by the minute) everythings still hot and blurry but he soon feels a wet towl? On his face.

"Hmm"

"Four!"

Said boy tilts his head, that’s not red is it? Maybe it is. No.

"thank godesses your finally awake." Legend? He thinks that’s who it is.

"yes im Legend."

Oh hes talking outloud.

"mhm"

"Come on you have to eat something, which means you have to sit up, I only have rations and ingredients but its better then nothing." as he said that Legend was helping him sit up, well Legend was kinda just doing it all but Four aprecieted it a lot actually, as he had to get helped eating the tastless jerky that the captain hands out for rations.

And that’s were they were now, Four getting basiclly fed and he just felt horible and the arguing got louder in his head and it felt like it just kept getting louder and louder and louder until.

"SHUT UP"

Hed barly been awake for 10 minutes and he couldn’t take it anymore he just wanted to go back to sleep and wake up in a nice cool inn where they had food and water and were his brothers were with them.

"-our Link?"

Oh yeah legend, fuck legend. Hed yelled, it wasn’t ment at him everythings just so loud and everythings spinning and he just wants everything it shut up shut up shutup shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup.

"link!"

He felt heavy presence of Legends hands on his shoulders and everything else stopped.

Legend sighed.

Besides that it was silent

"m sorry…"

Legend just looked at Four in a way that screamed, confused, a little mortified even, sad, and angry but not at him Four hoped atlest.

He really looked like that little kid who was trembling in his tiny boots thinking he didn’t need Elzo while he was really listening for Elzos every word.

He really did think Elzo was just a saftey net didn’t he.

"no- god no Four fuck uhm. Your sick im sorry I know somethings happening its loud er like in your head right? Im ausuming the mutturing you’ve been doing was them right? The uhm I don’t know what you call em."

What?

Wait.

Did Legend know?

"How-"

"I sorry I didn’t say anything I- your like uhg I cant do this now im sorry I Shouldn’t have said anything I just, I get it well I don’t but it- your sick and it cant be easy I just im not mad or anything okay"

Four sighed, hed deal with the fact legend knows later, and the fact that the yelling is still promanint hes tired and everythings still spinning, and well hes happy that legend isnt mad? He supposes"

#wumptober2023 #linked universe #fanfic

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heartsofpearls-en · 1 year

Text

Criminal Love : Getting entangled.

CHAPTER ONE ⸙͎۪۫｡

[Previous] [Masterlist] [Next]

Pairing ~ Jake x reader (Jisu)

Genre ~ Fake dating, contract relationship, forbidden love.

Warnings ~ contains excessive use of Cuss, angst, one or two punch scenes, kiss scenes, etc. (But nothing too over the top). Mention of Karina & Ningning (Aespa), Yunjin (Le Sserafim), Yujin (IVE), Hanni (New Jeans), Beomgyu (TXT), and Enhypen's Hyung line.

Author's note ~ idk how to use Tumblr for the love of god. So, I hope you'll enjoy this as, I've wrote it after listening to criminal love. You can also find this work on wattpad too. And as for the oc, her name will be Choi Jisu as I really don't like working with Y/N. Anyways, happy reading <3 and another thing is that, I've excluded some parts like the texts and social media parts because it would've been too lengthy.

Word count ~ 5.3k

When it comes to your first love, it usually hurts more than you think.

If you've never been in love, that's not my problem.

But the fact is, if you get dumped by your boyfriend, who you dated for a whole year, it hurts. It hurts more when you find out the fact that he was bored with you.

The current situation of Choi Jisu was that. She dated this untouchable boy, Han Renjun who broke her heart.

They dated the entire senior year, well, he was in the freshmen year. And the break-up was too painful.

But right now, Choi Jisu was more focused to get to her new dorm. She didn't know who her dorm mates were, but she hoped that they would be, a bit nice. If it's her friends, that will be an Oscar award for her.

She was already assigned a dorm room and was walking towards it. Sliding the door open softly, she took off her shoes, dragging her two big suitcases in.

She scanned the place until she heard two girls, too familiar voices. They walked out as Jisu gasped.

“Yujin and Yunjun!” She screamed, along with the girls, as they hugged each other and started to jump.

“Oh my gosh! Jiji! I never thought we'll be dorm mates." Yunjin exclaimed, pulling out of the hug as they smiled at each other.

“I guess all of us got on with our high school friends. Hanni got on with Karina and Ningning" Yujin stated as Yunjin dragged her suitcases in.

“What do you have in here? Atom bombs?” Yunjin groaned, dropping them on the living room floor.

“I'm happy that I'm living with the indistinguishable Jin's” Jisu smirked as both the girls groaned.

Well, one's Ahn Yujin and another one's Huh Yunjin. They both have 'Jin' at the end of their names, one had 'Yu' another has 'Yun'. So, during high school, the girls used to tease the hell out of these two girls because of this.

“There's still two days until the college” Yunjin stated. “And, the guys asked us to go to the club tonight” She finished as the three slumped on the couch.

“Who's gonna be there?” Jisu asked as Yujin threw her a water bottle.

“Us, means you, me and her," Points at Yunjin “Ningning, Karina, Hanni, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Heeseung” She finished as Jisu finished drinking and placed the half bottle on the center tea table.

“Are you certain, he'll—”

“No he won't” Yunjin cuts her off with a sigh. “You've to admit it, Jiji. Renjun is a fucking asshole that doesn't deserve you”

“That jerk deserves to rot in hell” Yujin joined Yunjin as Jisu giggled.

“Okay, I'm already trying to get over him. And I will, don't worry” She stated as the other two girls smiled at her.

“Alright girlie, we need to get dressed and,” Yujin points at a closed door, “that's your room” She smiled as they shoved Jisu's suitcases in the room with her and shut the door behind her, a giggled falling off their lips.

The strong smell of alcohol, fluttered in their noses as they walked inside the bar.

Yunjin practically dragged Yujin and Jisu inside when she spotted their friends group. They were already chugging on their drinks as the three girls approached.

“Ah! The best girls are here!” Jay exclaimed, handing out 3 vodka shots to the girls who just joined them.

“So, are you saying that we're annoying?” Karina glared at Jay as he just shrugged.

“See, except for Jisu, Yujin and Hanni, none of you are normal” Heeseung stated, as a matter of fact, drinking his whiskey.

“Dude I'm offended!” Yunjin smacks his arm as he hissed. “I'm two years older than you! You should respect me!” Heeseung screeched. His voice was really audible through the loud music, blaring through the speakers.

“I'm genuinely sorry, Grandpa” Yunjin mocked as Heeseung sighed out of annoyance.

Jisu sat herself on the barstool, along with Yunjin and Yujin as they ordered some drinks. For a certain moment, Jisu's eyes got caught with this particular Aussies boy.

Jake.

She smiled and nodded at him as he returned the same gesture, before turning to Ningning who was suddenly whining.

“You know, it's so shit that we're in college!” She exclaimed as Jisu, Yujin and Hanni scoffed in disbelief.

“Weren't you crying a few months back because you wanted High school to end?” Sunghoon mocked playfully as Ningning sent daggers towards him.

“Speaking of crying, how are you Jisu?” Heeseung asked as Karina jumped off her stool and gave a tight smack on the back of Heeseung's head. He whined, rubbing the spot as Karina sat back in her seat, gulping down her vodka from the shot glass.

“You literally poured salt on her drying wound, asshole” Sunghoon slapped Heeseung's back as he raised his hand in surrender.

“Don't worry. I'm fine and doing way better from last month” Jisu offered as smile as Heeseung smirked.

“I told you, be my girlfriend instead. I would've treated the way better than that son of a bitch” Sunghoon grudged, drinking the scotch as Jake sighed.

“He's really an asshole. He might act all smart-ass and shit, but he's just, an idiot” He said, gulping down the scotch in his glass in one go as he ordered for another one.

Jisu was about to say something but stopped when she saw an awfully familiar physique, pacing towards them with a girl.

Others stopped their bickering and looked at the boy who stood in front of them.

Han Renjun.

The boy who broke Jisu's heart and left her numb. The same boy who said that he was bored with her. He had a girl by his side who was clinging to him.

However, Jisu's face remained stoic, but fists clenching at her side. He had this beautiful, innocent face for when she fell, despite warnings from Heeseung, Jay and Sunghoon. Maybe, if she had talked to Jake, Renjun's best friend who, he shared a dorm with, wouldn't have led things too face.

The girl beside him was annoying the whole friends group. She was giggling, her hands all over Renjun.

Hanni poked Jisu on her side and slowly, entangled their hands together, just to make hr know that they were here, for her.

On the other hand, Yunjin, Heeseung and Jay looked disgusted. They didn't even try to hide it. The others threw him a glare but Jake, was disappointed.

His lips twitched, dissatisfied. He was never ever unhappy with his best friend, but now, his actions are telling him the opposite.

“Hey guys” Previously, his voice used to give Jisu butterflies, but now she felt nothing. “Meet my girlfriend” He motioned the girl to speak.

From her left side, she could already sense that Yunjin had turned her body sideways and is, making gagging noises. She hated fake people, and that girl's behavior explained everything.

If Yunjin throws up right now, it's that clingy girl's fault.

“Hey guys!” She exclaimed in a whiny tone with made Hanni, who was sitting next to Jisu, scoff. “I'm Sooji"

Multiple snorts and few coughed up laughs emitted from them during her introduction. Including, Jisu. She tried hard to not let out any sound, but she snorted.

This current situation explained everything. This girl, Sooji, wasn't welcomed here.

No matter how he dumped her over a five-minute phone call, he checked Jisu out. Karina and Sunghoon saw that as they came forward, but Renjun simply walked away with his new girlfriend, waving a small 'bye'.

Jisu didn't wasted the time to drink her third shot. They all did. Even though they were a group, the actions of Renjun had been pissing everyone off.

“Jisu” Yujin spoke out.

“I'm completely fine Yu" She offered a smile which didn't reach up to her eyes.

She wasn't jealous of that clingy girl, but her mind was messed up.

The sound of the alarm clock, startled Jisu as she groaned as turning it off. Her headache from her hangover not helping at all with this situation.

She then spotted a bottle of water and some pills on her table. She sat up and quickly gulp it down. Furthermore, she turned her head to the side and screamed.

“Fuck!” She looked at Yunjin, sitting on a chair, which was in a corner. “What are you doing here?” She hissed, messaging her head.

“The girls called. We're going for a lunch-ish brunch. So, get showered and get ready. We're leaving in thirty minutes” Yunjin spoke as she walked out of the room and shut the door softly.

A groan emitted from Jisu as she walked into her bathroom and took a quick shower and dressed up in a sage green crop top and some light blue mom jeans with, her Gucci sneakers.

She blow-dried her hair and let it fall over her shoulders as she quickly grabbed her bag and her phone and walked out of the room.

She wanted revenge, that was clear. But didn't know how to. She wanted to ask Yujin and Yunjin but she knew, they were still in hangover, and she'll get scolded.

Soon after, they walked out of Yujin's car and linked their arms together as they walked inside the restaurant. Before she could sit somewhere, Sunghoon grabbed her arm and pulled her to sit beside him. So, she sat in between Sunghoon and Hanni.

Ningning started to tell, how drunk Jay got and kissed the wall, crying. The scene played on their head as they burst into laughing, making Jay whine more.

Dude didn't like to made fun of.

The laughter soon died down as soon as Renjun walked in with his girlfriend.

“I didn't remember inviting you” Jay pointed at them as Jake sat beside him. Jake was invited too, but not Renjun and his girlfriend.

“Hey man! Don't be like that” Renjun spoke, sitting on an empty seat with his girlfriend.

Jake and Jisu looked at each other and smiled a bit. “Should I punch this asshole straight across his face?” Sunghoon asked as she shook her head. She came here to have a fun time with her friends, not to waste over some asshole.

Then, Sooji kissed Renjun and giggled. Disgust plastered on each and every one at the table, except for Sooji and Renjun.

Now, Jisu was questioning whether, she felt like puking for them or of the hangover. “I just lost my appetite” She stated as Sunghoon looked at her and Hanni grabbed her jaw.

“No honey” She shoved a piece of meat in her mouth as Jisu widened her eyes at her sudden move. She slowly chewed the meat as her phone vibrated.

Both Renjun and Sooji were eating each other's faces. It might not be believable, but Renjun and Jisu never kissed.

The drive back to the dorm wasn't really long as Yujin played some songs.

As soon as they got in their dorm, Yunjin shut the door shut as both the girls narrowed their eyes at Jisu. “What?” She asked, setting herself on the couch.

“Spill” Yunjin stated. “You're thinking about something and it's bothering you” She completed.

“Fine! I want revenge. He looks too happy and hi? He's greeting me like he didn't dump me!” Jisu ranted out as Yujin and Yunjin looked at each other, baffled.

“Got any plans?” Yujin asked as Jisu shook her head.

“Google is only saying to flirt with other guys in front of him” She stated as Yujin blinked.

“It's not like he'll get jealous of a random guy” Yujin stopped herself from snorting as she grabbed a water bottle.

“And it's not like you'll date Jake to make Renjun jealous” Bad move, Yunjin.

Upon hearing that, Jisu's lips turned up into a wicked grin. That caused both Yujin and Yunjin to exchange nervous glances.

“So, are you considering it?” Yujin asked nervously as Jisu nodded, sprinting towards her room to text Jake.

“You did it again” Yujin smacked Yunjin's arm, hard.

“I didn't mean to. Who knew she'll actually consider it” Yunjin whined, making Yujin sigh.

Jisu opened the Starbucks door and walked in as the smell of coffee immediately hit her nose. She looked around to see Jake, sitting in one corner with a book in his hand.

King of Pride by Ana Huang.

A blush crept up on her cheeks because, she read books, written by Ana Huang. Let's speak about research because her major is literature because she, particularly, wanted to become a writer.

She walked towards him and cleared her throat, making her presence known.

“Oh, hey!” Jake greeted, offering her a small smile.

“Hi” Jisu smiled back and sat in front of him. He closed the book and kept it by his side of the table.

She never thought Jake, The Jake who's good at studies and was called a nerd before they graduated from High school two years ago, would read, billionaire, smutty romance. And the main thing, Jisu was obsessed with Kai Young, the male protagonist of, King of Pride.

“I never knew you liked to read, these kinds of books” She said, looking at him as, a small smirk set upon his lips.

“Well, they say, don't judge a book by its cover” Jake smirked. Jisu knew, all nerds were freaks, and her theory was, hence, proven. He stood up and looked at Jisu. “What drink will you have?”

“Jake it's fine, I dragged you here! I should be the one to—”

“Shh. Now tell me” He looked at her intensely as she gulped.

“Vanilla sweet cream cold brew. But I should be the—” He gave her a smile and walked away.

A few minutes later, he came back with two cups in his hand and set hers, in front of her.

“I know you'll say that you should pay but, I can't let someone pretty like you pay, can I pretty?” He smiled and sat down. He was drinking an iced latte. She saw him drinking this once. “So, what's up?”

“I know it's sudden, weird and stuff, and I like…" She trailed off, searching for words but, she couldn't. She looked down at her drink and sighed. “Well, will you answer a question for me?”

“Umm, sure” He said, sipping on his drink.

“What if I asked you to pretend to be my boyfriend?�� She asked straight away as Jake looked at her, baffled.

“Umm, okay”

Jisu blinked a few times at his reply.

“Is it like a question 'okay' or an answer 'okay'?” She tilted her head, confused, as Jake chuckled softly at her confused state.

“An answer. And I know you'll not just ask me to pretend to be your boyfriend. So, what's up, Jisu?” She knew Jake was smart and today, all her theories were being proven.

“Renjun” She muttered out quietly. “I want to make him jealous and when he realizes his mistake of dumping me, I'll tell him, and I'm over him” She said, looked directly at Jake's eyes, but her tummy did a flip as she diverted her eyes.

“So you're saying that we'll date to make him jealous? Sure! That asshole deserves it anyway" Jake stated as Jisu's eyes lit up.

“Alrighty! Let's lay down some rules!” She look out her notebook and a pen, amusing Jake.

“You came well-prepared" He chuckled. As she started to jot down some points.

“By the way, Jake, what's your age?” She asked, not glancing at him as she kept writing down.

“Twenty” He spoke softly, sipping on his drink.

“Nineteen” Jisu replied as she placed the pen down. “Okay! Let me spell it out for you. Rule one: do not fall in love” She stated as Jake nodded.

“Rule two: drive to uni together”

“I would've added that myself”

“Rule three: hold hands in public”

“Okay”

“Rule four: act lovey-dovey in front of our friends group”

“Yup! That's a must”

“Rule five: no kissing”

Jake smirked and looked up at her. “But don't you wanna feel my lips against yours, princess?”

Jisu's eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed with a pretty shade of crimson. “Hey." She looked at him as he raised his arms up in surrender.

Man's definitely freaky.

“Okay so Rule six: no one should know except for Yunjin and Yujin" She stated as he blinked.

“So I assume they already know about this?” He asked as she nodded.

“Rule seven: break up once the goal is reached and Rule eight: go on some dates and post each other on social media to make it look obvious” She ended and pushed the notebook in front of Jake as he read through.

“Can I write it freshly?” He asked as she nodded. He gripped the pen in his hand as he started to write the rules down. “And I'll add one more rule”

His veins popping out, making him look undeniably hot as he slid the notebook in front of her.

She looked at Jake after reading the last rule.

“Well, don't they act too clingy?” He asked as she nodded.

Rule eight was going on dates and posting each other in social media and rule nine was too much PDA.

Both of them shook their hand as they finalized the contract.

This was unexpected.

It was the first day of college, first day of freshmen year for Jisu, Yujin, Yunjin, Hanni, Karina, and Ningning. Sophomore year for Jay, Jake, Sunghoon and Renjun. Junior year for Heeseung.

Yujin, Yunjin and Jisu walked out of their dorm, just to see a black McLaren, standing outside with, a familiar blond guy, leaning against it.

It was Jake.

He had a denim jacket on and denim jeans with Prada formal dress shoes and black sunglasses. Everything about him screamed rich as Yujin and Yunjin's jaws dropped open.

They never expected that Jake, The Sim Jaeyun will come to pick up their best friend, even if they're fake dating.

“Oh you're here?” Jisu spoke, making Jake look up. He had a charming smile on his lips as he nodded.

“I came just now” Yujin and Yunjin gushed over him.

“You guys look so cute!” Yunjin squealed, pushing Jisu towards him.

“Have a great time, lovebirds” Yujin waved, walking away and getting into her car with Yunjin.

Jisu blinked a few times in disbelief as she looked up at Jake. “They definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed” She stated, making Jake chuckle a bit. He ruffled her hair and opened the car door for her.

Renjun never once held the door open for her.

She smiled and spoke out a small 'thank you' and got inside the car as Jake shut the door and jogged towards the other side and got into the driver's seat. He started driving.

It wasn't an awkward silence. Both of them felt comfortable and peace with each other. That's until Jisu spoke.

“Well, you never told me why you agreed to the contract” She stated, looking at Jake as a smirk, played on his lips.

“Why butterfly? Are you curious?”

Jisu's eyes almost popped out at the nickname he gave her. No one gave her a nickname, except for 'Jiji' which is her world-famous nickname, given by Hanni. But butterfly, princess? Never.

“I am. Never have I thought that, the Sim Jaeyun will agree with my proposal” She stated, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks.

“Well, you see, the girls on the campus are a pain in the butt. They're always asking me out, which is fairly annoying. And if they see that I have a girlfriend, who's as pretty as you, they'll stop bothering me” Jake said, glancing at Jisu then smirking. He turned back to face the road.

Jisu was as red as a tomato. The blood rushed to her cheeks, burning them.

The car comes to halt, indicating that they've reached their destination.

Sure as hell, the girls on the campus would go bonkers after seeing Jake, coming out of his car with a girl. Jisu tried to open the car door but, was stopped by Jake.

He walked out of the car and towards her side and opened the door for her. He extended a hand towards her, as she smiled and grabbed it, getting out of the car.

“You're sure as hell a gentleman, Sim” She teased as he swiftly shut the car door. He crouched down to her lever to meet her height and smiled at her.

“I am. Does that make you flustered?” He tilts his head, innocently, as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“You're flirting with me” Jisu stated with a done tone, trying to hide how flustered he made her feel.

Nerds are the biggest freaks.

The reminder crawled up to her head as Jake smiled. “I'm doing it with my girlfriend” Jisu blinks a few times, registering what he just said.

“Fake girlfriend” She stated nonchalantly as Jake brought his hands near her hand and squeezed it a little.

“No one needs to know” He said, kissing her cheek and pulling her out of the parking lot.

“Before you lash out, Heeseung, Jay and Sunghoon were looking at our way” Jake stated as they reached the entrance.

“But, do you know where the literature classroom is?” She asked as they stopped by their lockers. Coincidentally, their lockers were next to each other.

“It's on the third floor. There are multiple rooms there, so you can check it out. And all the classes of the literature department and the architecture department in this building by itself” He explained as Jisu blinked.

“Right, you're in the architecture department” She took out some notebooks, along with her pen pouch and shoved it in her book bag as Jake did the same.

He turned towards her and ruffled her hair. “See you later, butterfly” With that, he flew away to his class, leaving Jisu who was completely baffled.

'Sim Jaeyun is dating a fresher'

The news spread like wildfire around the campus. Jisu felt a little uncomfortable, getting all the glances in the corridors.

But what bothered her more was this sudden flirty behavior of Jake. He was someone, who's unapproachable. Scholar who never had a girlfriend and, untouchable.

And him, calling her nicknames and acting flirty, surely shook Jisu but, Yujin and Yunjin almost had a heart attack, seeing Jake's drastic change.

But Jisu told herself that, it was just an act, nothing else. They weren't supposed to fall for each other, as it's simply a contract.

Suddenly, Jake came near her and slid his hand around her and squeezed it, which snapped Jisu out of her daze. They took steps towards the cafeteria as they spotted their group, huddled around in one table.

Karina and Hanni notices them and wave a hand at them. To which, both Jake and Jisu started to walk towards them. The whole group froze as they approached them. Jake asked Sunghoon to scoot a little as he sat beside him with Jisu and Yunjin was sitting next to her.

Taking a quick scan, they saw Sooji on Renjun's lap. But Jisu didn't give a damn but met eyes with Heeseung who looked at them, suspiciously.

“Fish in the air” He stated, looking or more like piercing Jake's and Jisu's soul with his gaze.

“Why is it floating?” Jisu asked, faking innocence.

Jake was silent all along. He slowly wrapped his strong arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Yunjin noticed that and poked Jisu on her knee, as Jisu poked her back.

“Number one, we saw you getting out of Jake's car, and he placed a fucking kiss on your forehead” Jay noted, sipping on his drink.

“Secondly, holding hands to class” Heeseung added, looking at the two.

“Thirdly, Jake's smiling too much, which isn't like him” Sunghoon finished as Karina chuckled.

“It's a great theory you got there, buddy” Ningning patted Jay's back, thinking that the boys were joking around.

Hanni blinked a few times, looking at the expression of the three boys. “I don't think they're joking” She said.

“It's not! Not, at least this time!” Sunghoon argued, happy that Hanni agreed.

“Does that mean—” Karina's eyes widen.

“That they are dating!” Yujin gasped. Her acting was too believable.

“What?” Collective gasps left their mouth as Jisu tried, so hard, not to laugh out loud.

But Jake watched Renjun who looked extremely baffled. He never thought that his best friend would date his ex.

“They fucking are! Look at Jake's fucking arm around her." Sunghoon almost shouted, over dramatically.

“Guys—” Jisu was cut off by Jake, pulled her hand up to his lips and kissing it.

“It's fine butterfly. They know it now, or else they'd snack on our brain” Jake smiled at her as Ningning banged her hand on the table. That caused Sooji to flinch on Renjun's lap.

The most quiet one was Hanni, who had a pretty smile on her face, seeing one of her best friends in a lovely relationship.

Yunjin and Yujin should burst her bubble.

“They guys are right. We're dating” Jake said, pulling Jisu into a side hug as the group started to mutter out stuff.

“For how long?” Yunjin asked as Jisu smiled.

“A week” Both Jake and Jisu spoke at the same time as they started to create chaos in the table.

Jisu leaned her head on Jake's chest as they were, either debating, arguing or cussing. Her eyes fell on her ex, whose face was slightly red, and his veins were popping out on his forehead.

Jake opened the door of his shared apartment and walked inside, closing the door shut.

He walked inside and saw, Renjun, sitting on the couch with his legs on the table in front of him with a beer bottle in his hand.

He came back after dropping Jisu off, but before, they stopped by a café to take some pictures to post it online.

“So, you're dating, huh?” Renjun asked, taking a sip out of the bottle. His face showed no expression as he stared at Jake.

Jake chuckled, knowing exactly where it was going as he met his eyes with Renjun. “Yeah. No one saw it coming” He gripped on his bag, tighter and sat on the couch, across him.

This caused Renjun to chuckle along, but it wasn't as hearty as Jake's. It ended with a scoff, almost. “I especially didn't saw it coming” It kind of sounded like a taunt.

“You don't really sound happy for me, dude” Jake stated in a teasing tone.

“Why do you think so?” Renjun was trying to keep his fake smile up, but was failing.

“Your smile, it isn't the one you always have” Jake pointed out, grabbing a water bottle from the table in front and taking a sip out of it.

“How can you fucking date her? She's my ex. What's up with the bro code?” Renjun snapped, making Jake hide a smirk.

“Why? Weren't you the one to dump her?” Jake asked, failing to hide his smirk but brushed it off, drinking the water.

“She's my fucking ex!” Renjun yelled, slamming the beer bottle on the table.

“She's your ex. But now, she isn't yours but, mine” Jake smiled, keeping the bottle on the table and standing up, proceeding to walk away.

“She never gave me her virginity, let alone her first kiss” Renjun yelled, making Jake turn at him. A bit surprised but masked it off.

“I'm definitely not with her for those shit. And yeah! Try to be happy for us, Jun. I don't want my butterfly to be upset because of you” Jake gave him his infamous eye smile before pacing towards his room, locking the door and dropping his body on the bed.

He himself didn't know why he was flirting with Jisu but, somehow, it felt right.

The feeling he was getting, being with Jisu was driving him crazy.

A week went by swiftly. Their friends group believed their relationship so much that they started to gush over them. Especially, Ningning and Karina.

If Yunjin and Yujin didn't know about this setting, they too would've gushed over them. But Hanni on the other hand was so happy.

You can tell that she's like those innocent bunnies which got happy or blushed in bare minimum.

And on this side, Jisu was distressed. All these girls on the campus came up to her and asked if she's really dating Jake or how cute they looked together.

And simultaneously, Jake and Renjun started to hit off in a bad way. Renjun would never speak to Jake normally after that confession session they had a week ago.

Both Jake and Jisu knew that everything was going smoothly. But will we call it a life if there's no hole in a plain road?

It was the end of the day as Jake was waiting for Jisu in his car. Soon, she got inside the car, closing the door shut.

“I'm—no, sorry. We're so doomed” Jisu said urgently, as Jake looked at her confused.

“What's wrong, butterfly?” He asked, concern latching in his tone. She secured the seat belt in the hook and brushed off her hair from her face.

“My mom came back from Canada yesterday. She's saying that I should make my boyfriend meet her. And she's too, like you know, close with the girls and Jay, so she'll probably blow off our cover” She sighed, looking at Jake for his reaction.

The man just smiled as he secured his sear belt. He looked far too calm for Jisu, who was freaking out.

“When is she expecting us?” Jake asked as Jisu's eyes widened and jaw dropped.

“You'll meet her?” Jisu gasped, looking at Jake as he nodded.

“If we can, we can meet her now” She said ask Jake gave her, his infamous eye smile and started to drive.

The drive was of 45 minutes as Jisu kept on giving Jake the directions and occasionally both of the swayed their head on the track, playing on the radio.

“By the way, have you finished reading King of Pride?” Jisu asked, as Jake glanced at her and then, looked back at the road.

“Just finished it today” He answered as Jisu took out a book out of her bag.

Ignite me by tahereh mafi.

“Never thought that you'll be a bookworm too” Jake smiled as he looked at the book which, Jisu kept back in her bag.

“Don't judge a book by its cover” Jake chuckled at Jisu's words. He said the exact thing that day, in the café. And she's saying that back. “We're here. Another thing” She started as Jake stopped the car, unbuckling the seat belt.

“An aunt is gonna be here. You know, mom's mutual friend. Just saying” She stated as he nodded, getting out of the car as he opened the car door for her.

To everyone on the campus, Jisu belonged from an average family. But they didn't know that she was from one of the richest families in Seoul. But Jake and Jay were richer than the Choi family.

They house was big and modest. Few plants by the driveway and big ones behind the house. The house was of two storeys.

Jisu and Jake were greeted by a maid as they walked inside. A collective gasps were heard as they turned to look at the main lounge area.

“Mom?” Jake asked, baffled.

“Mom? Wait, no. Aunt Miyeon is your mom?” Jisu blinked a few timed, registering the current situation.

“It was funny to see our kids, dating each other. It was, destiny” Jisu's mom, Minju exclaimed.

There's the thing, Minju, Jisu's mom and Miyeon, Jake's mom were childhood friends. Both Jake and Jisu knew each other's mom, but never knew each other.

“How's it, dating each other?” Miyeon asked as both Jake and Jisu sighed.

It's gonna be a long conversation.

@ heartsofpearls-en — 2023

#enhypen imagines #kpop boys #enhypen #heeseung #jake sim #engene #enhypen jake #enhypen x reader #jake x reader

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