#When I tell you I almost went into cardiac arrest

[lost-my-dragon]

A helmet party Wip my dad almost walked in on me drawing

[animeyanderelover]

Can I ask  NSFW headcanon for Muzan? Thank You 😊

What would the reaction be like if Yoriichi, Muzan, Carla and Reiji with a s/o who had an extremely complicated pregnancy, they almost lost their s/o and the baby, pls pls 🤧

I am no doctor so I would appreciate any corrections of errors I might have made. This might also be somewhat more extreme but I went with what I found on the internet.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessive behavior, obsession, toxic relationship, abduction, manipulation, gaslighting, clinginess, controlling behavior, pregnancy, forced pregnancy, labor, high-risk pregnancy, premature labor, birth, cannibalism, illness, cardiac arrest, C-section

Tags: @leveyani @kanaosprotector

Extremely complicated pregnancy

Reiji Sakamaki

☕️A life with Reiji is thoroughly scheduled as he always needs to have control over every little thing in your life. The already tight leash you had on you only becomes tighter the moment you manage to get pregnant with his child. He oversees everything strictly in your life from that day on from the food you consume to the drinks you choose. He’s very adamant that you stay healthy and deliver him a healthy child. A child that he has been planning to have with you for a longer time now. He has read every available source, he has created a diet schedule for you and he feels validated in his speculation and research when you actually find yourself craving occasionally blood which he immediately provides you with since you carry a vampire baby. You normally refuse the consumption of blood from humans because you’re still human yourself which leads always to him forcing it past your lips and down your throat. Consider the health of your baby before being such an unreasonable and neglectful mother-to-be. His own mother always ignored him so Reiji is extremely dedicated to ensure that you are a good mother to his own child.

☕️The first few months of the pregnancy go rather well. Besides the common morning sickness, some headaches and mood swings the baby develops healthily inside your womb. Reiji monitors everything extremely closely and you have him checking on your condition and the condition of the little one almost daily. Whenever you lash out on him due to his restricting schedules, he always quickly puts you back in your place by sharply scolding you for your immature behavior. He's designing the nursery room for the baby, accompanies you whenever he deems that it's time for you to take a walk outside and get some fresh air. The baby starts visibly moving around and kicking your insides when you are 19 weeks along and from that day on Reiji even starts observing the movements of the baby because any lack of it or very frequent movements can also indicate whether the baby is feeling fine or not. He has even already chosen a handful of names although he decides to wait until the baby is born and he can see them for the first time.

☕​It's within your fifth month that you start experiencing complications. There is an increase in your headache, you suffer from shortness of breath, your vision is blurry or you see dark spots dancing in front of your eyes and you also experience abdominal pain. You would like to think that this is normal but you can't deny that some of those symptoms scare you and the way Reiji's eyes narrow when you are forced to tell him about it only adds to your growing anxiety. When he runs some tests on you and realizes that your blood pressure is elevated, he starts getting worried. This shouldn't happen. He has always hated it when something didn't go according to his plan but your current pregnancy only heightens the stress he is feeling because right now he can't afford that anything goes wrong. The slight panic he initially feels manifests itself into accusations against you as he questions if you have done something that has caused your high blood pressure. His preparations should have been perfect. It is not his fault.

☕​Soon he is too busy closely monitoring your increasingly worsening condition to put the blame on you though as your symptoms have worsened. Your vision randomly blurs or darkens, your headache has led to increased nausea and has made it difficult for you to stomach food, your hands and face have swollen and Reiji has even started suspecting that the blood supply to your placenta doesn't work as it should. The baby doesn't grow and develop as it should due to the lack of blood supply and with each passing week he starts worrying more and more about it. He tries everything he can think of to cease your dizziness and your nausea, the abdominal pain and the lacking blood supply to your placenta but nothing seems to really work. There is no medicine or cure to your symptoms and when Reiji realizes that he can't do anything, the only choice he is left with is trying to prolong the pregnancy long enough to guarantee the survival of his darling and his baby. He starts mentally preparing himself to perform a C-section on you if worst should come to worst.

☕​The worst case scenario happens in your 30th week when premature labor starts together with intense abdominal pain. You are weakened from weeks of dizziness, nausea and stress and the sheer exhaustion from labor proves too much for you as you faint after a few hours. This leaves Reiji with pretty much no choice but a Caesarean section, especially since the fetus is in breech position. Normally he would be pretty confident in his skills but there is too much on the line for him and this stops him from staying as level-headed as he would like. The little girl he pulls out from your womb during the surgery is worringly small even if she is a prematurely born baby. The most difficult step should have been overcome but instead dread fills him when he notices that she isn't breathing. Suddenly he feels like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders as he spends minutes trying to keep the baby alive until his daughter finally manages to breathe independently and starts weakly crying and even then he can't allow himself to relax. Neither you nor the baby are out of health risks after all.

☕​You are quite weakened after the difficult pregnancy and the surgery and it takes you a few weeks until you feel somewhat healthy enough again to walk longer distances without any help and do certain tasks without experiencing any pain. Just because you can theoretically do it though doesn't mean by a long shot that Reiji will let you. He has become overly cautious after the birth. He's extremely skittish whenever he monitors the health of the baby due to her breathing issues upon birth and worried for any lasting damage she might have suffered due to her restricted development in your womb. You find yourself spending the first few weeks after the surgery mostly spending time with your daughter whilst Reiji is doing everything else. He monitors the health of his darling and their daughter, he cooks for his s/o and he assists whenever and however he can. He feels stressed out even after the condition of you and the baby stabilize because in his mind he can't stop agonizing over the fact that he could do little to nothing to help you in any way.

Carla Tsukinami

🔮​If you wind up being Carla's darling and can biologically bear children, prepare yourself for giving him a child. Carla expects his darling to give him a healthy and strong heir and there will be no room for discussion. You will bear him his child and you will be a good and attentive mother to his baby. All of this happens only after Carla has already broken your mind down enough for you to be completely putty in his hold. Pregnancy is the final step, the final claim he can lay on you to mark you for all eternity as his and at that point you will happily accept his wish of wanting a baby with you. You love him after all and you're sure that you'll love a child with the same golden eyes as his just as much. It is extremely pleasing to see your quick embrace of the idea and he wastes very little time after he has told you about his plans to see it through that you are pregnant as soon as possible. It doesn't take long for him until he senses the new life deep within your womb. He couldn't be more pleased in that moment.

🔮​Similar to Reiji, Carla will be very controlling as soon as he has confirmed that you are expecting his heir. You are always kept within his vicinity and you aren't allowed to go anywhere without informing him. He wouldn't want anything to happen to you, especially with his brother around. That rarely happens though as you are pretty obedient and listen to him which means that you allow him to lead you outside and go for a walk. You feel pretty sick quite often and spend a lot of time on the toilet whenever nausea grabs a hold of you. Shin has made fun of you once when he saw you hanging over the toilet which struck the wrong cord in you in that moment and actually led you to shed tears of shame. You only know that Carla wasn't too pleased when you started crying because of Shin and told you that he'd talk with his brother. Ever since Shin has been trying his best to not say anything within your presence although he looks like he has a lot of snarky stuff he could say. You spend a large amount of time only with Carla though, basking in his affection and joy due to your pregnancy.

🔮​As soon as your bump really starts showing is when other symptoms start to appear. Your hunger increases significantly as soon as the baby bump shows and this makes it difficult for you since Carla has put you on a diet to keep you and the baby healthy. You have troubles keeping your temper under control when he initially always denies you your cravings but you try your best to stay quiet. Until the intense craving for blood starts one day and you start feeling sluggish and weak. That is when Carla starts paying more attention to your cravings. You’re only human, you would under normal conditions never want to consume blood. Is it the baby that makes you crave blood? He has obviously speculated how a pregnancy with a vampire baby would go for your mortal body but speculations don’t necessarily have to line up with the reality. He decides to give in to your new cravings this time as he notices how your energy gets drained. The blood seems to replenish your energy for a while.

🔮The bigger the baby swells though, the more it seems to drain your energy. You grow more tired and exhausted with each month that passes by no matter how much blood Carla lets you consume or how much you eat. Very little of the food you digest is actually used for your own energy as the baby seems to take all the nutrients it needs and leaves very little for you. You lose weight and feel dizzy and exhausted whilst the baby is thriving. Soon it starts getting so bad that you can’t even walk properly on your own anymore without the danger of collapsing. Carla has to assist you even when you go to the toilet and despite your weak protest and tears of shame, he doesn’t allow you anything anymore without his help. The baby sucks everything out of you, he can see your clear struggle everyday as your energy drops and your pain increases due to the heavy weight of the baby inside of you and its strong kicks that feel like it’ll burst out of you any moment. The closer you get to your due date, the weaker and thinner you become. This isn’t good.

🔮Miraculously you make it to your due date until your water breaks but it comes with a heavy price. You’re exhausted, you’re tired and you barely have any energy left to even push properly. All of this is made even worse by the fact that the baby has grown a lot whilst it was protected inside of you. They are big which makes the entire process even more arduous as your body tries its hardest to squeeze the infant out of your body and down your birth channel. When the shoulders of the baby get stuck though and prevent you from giving birth to the baby, everything takes quickly a turn for the worse. Nothing seems to help. That’s when Carla takes action, fully aware that being stuck could end up harming the baby. You can vaguely recall the burning feeling when he abruptly reaches his hand out into your vagina in an attempt to turn the baby around. It’s a painful and uncomfortable feeling that is the final push you need before you finally succumb to unconsciousness which leaves Carla alone to guide the baby out of your body.

🔮You suffer from a fourth-degree tear and malnutrition for weeks after birth which leaves you completely bedridden under Carla’s guidance. His son on the other hand suffered from fractures to his upper arm bone. All of this is rather upsetting and frustrating to Carla who didn’t expect a shoulder dystocia to occur during the birth of his own heir. He spends nearly all of his time in his chambers where he nurses you and the baby back to health. Shin rarely runs into his older brother for that reason. Every time he does spot Carla, he’s always tempted to ask him mockingly how you and his nephew are doing, considering that you went through all of this hell only because of Carla’s wish for an heir. The piercing glare Carla gives him whenever he opens his mouth to ask that question keeps him from doing so though. The younger Tsukinami brother isn’t allowed to visit you and the little boy either, especially not when neither of you has fully recovered. Until that day comes, no one will see you two.

Kibutsuji Muzan

🩸​There have never been any records of demons and humans procreating. If there would have been, Muzan as the King of Demons would have known about it. Technically speaking he has no real need nor any interest in any children of his own. He doesn't need any heir for he is immortal and doesn't plan to ever give up his position to anyone else for he plans to become the perfect existence. Perhaps there is a spark of curiosity though as soon as he has you in his life as it is a thought that often crosses his mind when he dumps his cum inside of you. He has a fondness for science after all but none of it has ever led him to actively try for a baby with you. Then one day he senses the little heartbeat inside of you, senses the new life that has been spawned in your womb. Whilst he isn't actively thrilled about the pregnancy and might even consider an abortion, ultimately it is his scientific interest that manages to stop him from removing the thing from you. A part of him hopes that this child will be able to develop an immunity against the sun due to being only a half demon.

🩸​Since Muzan has always gotten his way with you, you are left with little to no choice but accept his decision to keep the child for now. Your feelings about the little baby currently developing inside of you are confusing as you despise him for forcing you to keep it. Yet you bow down in fear whenever you are faced with his displeasure when he sees you expressing those feelings and thoughts in front of him. This little life inside of you has been directly created by him and perhaps this plays a large fact in why he won't tolerate you thinking about it in such a way. Because the baby will have more from him than any of the demons he has created throughout his entire life. Muzan views himself in the highest light, as a near god, so something that will have his genetics must be strong too. You don't seem to realize that your unwillingness to embrace the thought of having his child will only make him more determined to keep it since he won't allow you to reject something that has been directly created by him.

🩸​Too prideful to show any lingering questions he has in regards of the unique biology his baby will have due to being created by a demon and a human, Muzan just monitors your pregnancy very closely. Partially because of his fascination to finally know that such a pregnancy will be like and partially because he doesn't know what might happen. It is this selfish mindset that soon leads you down a path of misery. Your body is unable to handle the creature inside your womb that seems to suck out all the energy and proteins meant for you whenever you force something down your throat despite your growing nausea. The growth spurt the baby has is abnormal for the first few months but all of this comes with the cost of your own decline of health. Everything is painful and everything is tiring and the little baby is incredibly strong starting from their first kicks. At this rate it is already far too late for Muzan to do anything. Through your pain and your exhaustion you sometimes bitterly blame him for what he puts you through but you never get any apology from him and you know exactly why. He would never admit it after all.

🩸​Then everything suddenly stops though. The growth of your bump and the kicks and hits of the baby inside. There is suddenly no movement anymore at all and despite your not so positive feelings, you slowly start to worry about it. Your own condition isn't improving too greatly though as your food either gets thrown up by you or still seems to be received by the fetus instead. Muzan has already noticed it too. He can still sense the heartbeat within but to his own growing dread it seems to get weaker by the days. His mind is racing as to why and the steadily weakening condition of you and the baby only seem to be a reminder that the time he has to find a solution is limited. Eventually he starts considering that the baby you bear is technically still a demon too. He starts considering that the baby might have reached a phase within their development where the current food you consume isn't sufficient enough anymore. Maybe they need some human flesh. Even though you refuse when he first brings up his theory, Muzan doesn't care as he shoves it from that day on down your throat and to his satisfaction his idea was right.

🩸​Yet he can't enjoy the fact that his theory was right for too long. Your body, unable to handle the large amount of energy and nutrition the baby steals from it, goes into premature and sudden labor in the seventh month. Neither of you two two are prepared for it and even the baby seems to be unhappy about your body giving up on them as they start making a ruckus inside your womb, only adding to the pain you are already feeling. Muzan is unable to calm the irritated baby down. Everything happens too fast for him to even prepare anything. Your body is in a rush to expel the baby from inside you and their frequent and wild movement only cause them to slide down your birth channel faster. The frequent activity of your baby soon comes to a hold though. Their umbilical cord got flattened and Muzan is met with deafening silence when the bloody infant lays in his arms. It is this silence that makes him suddenly lose his composure as the motionless child reminds him vividly of his own birth. Not his own child too. He spends minutes frantically reanimating the infant before she finally lets out her first weak cries.

🩸If your own condition should have worsened any more, Muzan probably would have turned you into a demon. Somehow your fragile body pulled through though and in a way he’s relieved about that. Because for now it would be more beneficial to let you stay human and care for the little girl you gave birth to. With her black hair and her red and bleary eyes she looks a lot like Muzan and perhaps it’s her visible similarity to him that fills his heart with pride. She recovers quicker than you from her troublesome birth, probably because she is half demon. Her appetite is as insatiable as it was during her time in your womb though and to your slight horror she still has her preferences to the taste of human blood and flesh together with your breastmilk. Muzan gives her what you don’t want to give her as he has realized that she probably needs the different nutrients to develop properly just like she needed whilst being in your belly. Now that the baby is born, he forbids you from expressing any hesitation and confusion when you’re taking care of her. This girl is his own flesh and blood and he won’t tolerate you not loving her who is so much like him.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi

☀️Pregnancy should be a joyful occasion for parents yet despite the expected happiness and joy Yoriichi feels when it becomes known that you are expecting his child, there is also a gnawing fear that haunts him. He can't help but recall the heart-wrenching fate that befell Uta and the unborn baby. Even if he has you now in his life, this is a memory he is unable to forget as he often still blames himself for their deaths through the hand of a demon. The slow growth of your bump triggers those haunting memories and sometimes he dreams of the same scene he saw when he returned home to Uta, only that it is now your body torn apart with the precious child murdered before it even had the chance to live. Yoriichi becomes very protective and paranoid over you as he doesn't think that he could bear a repeat of what has already once happened to him. There is always this underlying fear and paranoia that make him much more aware of his surroundings even as he rejoices when he witnesses the first kicks of his baby. His katana is always kept close, especially when night comes where he finds himself often lying awake.

☀️​As winter is already awaiting, Yoriichi makes an effort to keep you warm and protected and your home as cozy as possible. He never leaves you as soon as the sun goes down as he now knows better. All tasks are usually finished within the day so that he can stay by your side and protect you as soon as it gets dark. Despite his efforts to always keep you warm and healthy though, you seem to catch a cold. It is nothing to be worried over though. You have a light headache, your throat hurts whenever you swallow and you cough. You are not really worried though and even assure Yoriichi that it'll pass by soon. Despite feeling already a bit more fatigued due to your pregnancy and now your illness, you still feel fine. You decide to stay inside nevertheless as he fetches you a doctor to monitor your condition. After all you know of his loss of his first pregnant wife so you try to make him feel better and calmer by letting a doctor tell him that you are fine and that you will be fit in a few days again. When Yoriichi returns with the doctor, you feel slightly febrile.

☀️​What should have been only a mild cold soon turns into a serious condition though. Maybe it is because you are pregnant and are just more prone to bacteria yet such explanations do nothing to help Yoriichi's terrified heart. Despite your weak protests to leave the room so he doesn't catch what you have, he stays faithfully with you as your fever soon feels like it is burning your skin and sweat coats your skin. Every swallow is a small challenge as it brings you uncomfortable pain and you are often thrown into coughing fits, your throat coated with phlegm and constantly itching in a dry way. With your worse condition, Yoriichi has asked the doctor to come by every day. He does whatever he can do to help you. He cooks for you and feeds you even if you should have no hunger or simply feel too tired and he heads the advices of the doctor when giving you the medicine that should help your condition. His chest is tight with fear and worry as he feels anxious whenever he sees your bump and wonders how your sick body may also negatively impact the baby.

☀️​Perhaps it is just his fate to watch helplessly as he loses everyone he loves in his life. First his brother, then Uta and his unborn child and now you and the baby you are carrying. Yoriichi can only watch helplessly how you grow weaker and weaker as the days pass by. Your lips are chappy and dry and your skin coated in ill sweat as your whole body is uncomfortably hot due to your fever. Yet even in this condition you try to soothe Yoriichi in his silent despair and promise him that it'll soon get better even as he has to support your weak body when you want to walk around. Your sick appearance always tears his heart apart, his sorrow growing by the day yet he tries to stay strong for you. But this thin threat snaps when your contractions start at only 30 weeks. His whole body is shaking and silent tears cascade down his face as a the doctor and a midwife he brought with him try their best to help you to deliver the baby. He feels small, insignificant and terrifyingly helpless as he stays by your side and with every scream and cry you let out he thinks he is more desrving of death for not being able to save anyone in his life.

☀️​Even after you have made it through birth and have delivered a little boy does his torment continue. Your health plummets down after labor as your body is left severely weakened after the physical exertion that leaves you in a nearly unconscious state as you are too exhausted and sick to even leave. Your sickness soon spreads out to his newborn son and even if his heart is already tattered and torn enough, Yoriichi only continues to suffer. Wherever he goes, he is only reminded of his cursed fate. He spends his time either catering to your needs, his heart screaming whenever you ask in your weak condition for your son or he silently watches over the baby whose little body is desperately battling against the deadly cold. He is too terrified to fall asleep anymore at night, too afraid to wake up one morning to your cold body or to the motionless body of his baby. Instead he lays awake at night, his heart beating anxiously as he listens to your troubled breaths and the breaths of the little baby. Sometimes it becomes too much for him and he is left muffling his sobs with his hand at night.

☀️​Many days pass before you finally start feeling better. You're still feeling slightly feverish but you are able to move by yourself anymore. Yoriichi, who is feeling an overwhelming urge to hug you, kiss you and show you how grateful he is that you are still alive, has to hold himself back as you aren't fully cured yet and still need recovery. You're finally able to interact with your son and the sight of you holding the child that both of you created is a small remedy for his bruised and broken heart, even if the baby is also still sick. He slowly starts recovering though together with you as he receives all the love and care he could possibly get from you, Yoriichi and the doctor. It still takes weeks until his son as well as you are fully recovered and well again and for the first time in a while he feels like he can see the light again. Despite his own exhaustion and tiredness from all his fear he is especially attentive and loving with you and his little son. He just wants the both of you to know how much it really means to him that both of you are still alive and with him.

[tootiecakes234]

can i request a scenario of bakugou with a chubby!s/o who's confident in her body type?

@burgvndy this is for you. Thank you so much for the inspo💕

You’d always been a plus sized girl and you loved everything about your body. The only person who loved your body more than you was the man you were in love with!

Katsuki was not the biggest fan of PDA this is true, which is probably why all the hero blogs and Stan pages thought he was so uninterested in you. They were always questioning how you got him and why he stayed around.

But they don’t know!!! No one but your close friend really know that this man is WHIPPED!

One of the first times Katsuki had seen you, you’d had on this short skirt with your thighs all bare and you nearly sent the poor man into cardiac arrest.

Your size never stopped you from wearing whatever the hell you wanted and Katsuki was attracted to that confidence too.

Every time you made the slightest move he swore you were gonna flash him and it took every ounce of willpower to keep his eyes off you.

Then you went and sat down! The way your thighs spread out on that chair. For the first time in his life, Katsuki found himself wanting to switch places with a goddamn chair…. He asked you out that same night and the two of you have been together ever since.

One night you stayed at his house and you’d forgotten to bring clothes to change into.

This man had the nerve to tell you to just throw on one of his shirts. Instead of correcting him and telling him to be so fucking fr, you went and grabbed one in of his tshirt and slid it on.

The damn thing looked like a crop top. You walked out to show him was a joke it was and the way this man laughed in your face almost made you end his life.

“You look like fucking Winnie the Pooh.” He was wheezing.

“Are you fucking done jackass?” You say as you pull the shirt over your head and drop it to the floor.

Once his giggling subsided he said “you could’ve just said they wouldn’t fit. I’ll buy some larger ones to keep here.” And he’s wiping tears from his eyes.

While you were walking around to your side of the bed he said “you look better naked anyways… hell maybe I won’t buy the shirts”

“Maybe I won’t ever sleep with a guy that get his jollies off to making fun of me” you grate out as you climb into the bed facing away from him.

His voice is right above your ear when he speaks again, “did I hurt your feelings princess?? Let me kiss it better”

He also did this thing where he’d run his fingers up and down the stretch marks on your side and stomach all the time.

When you ask him about it one day, all he says is that “it helps calm his nerves.” Whatever that means.

And don’t get started on when he fucks you. Hitting it from behind, he hands are planted on your wide hips and his favorite thing about this position is watching how your ass jiggles when he pulls you back on to him.

He also loves your soft saggy titas. Will lift those things and suck them right into his mouth happily.

Going back to that ass of yours, there’s so much surface area for him to slap and leave hand marks on. He’ll have the whole surface area stinging by the time he gets done.

Your thighs are another thing entirely.

He was nervous one night while you two were getting hot and heavy in bed. You could tell.

“Kats, baby, what’s wrong?”

“Nothin” and he tried to bend down and kiss you again but you stopped him.

“Talk to me or we stop.”

“You’re gonna think I’m fuckin weird. Hell I think I’m fucking weird.” He says.

You wait for him to continue.

“Iwannafuckyourthighs” it rushed out of him in one word.

“What? Slow down”

“ I. Want. To. *whispers* fuck your thighs.”

You let out and a chuckle and obviously that was the wrong thing to do because says something unintelligible and starts pulling away.

You rush and wrap your legs around his before he can get up.

“Don’t leave. I’m only laughing because we’ve done some pretty dirty stuff together, and this is what you get nervous about.”

He rolls his eyes, “well what’s your answer?” He grunts at you.

You pull him down to your and whisper against his ear. “Katsuki please fuck my thighs.. I want them all wet and sticky with your cum.”

And you feel the shivers that runs down his spine.

Katsuki loves every inch of you, he has zero complaints. He’s constantly touching you and showing you how perfect he thinks you are

Katsuki Masterlist

Tags: @dreamcastgirl99 @xxvendettaxx @justbepeace @moonpieshawdy @theloveofnagiseishiroslife @mintsbubbletea @darkstarlight82 @anon-mouse223 @b134ch-m4h-ey3z @i-literally-cant-with-this @flowerbedbaby @kit-katsukii @blaize-hewwo @sweetblueworm @tippy-toes @superlegend216 @kxtsxkii @liliththeunqualifiedsimp @burgvndy @fluffismystaplefood @yoyolovesdaiki @zaiban2989

[inuyashaluver]

Hi 👋

If you’re able to could you write an aitana bonmati fic? Where the reader is always picking on aitana (in a loving way) but during a game one of the opposing players does something where the reader steps in?

Love your works!

banter - aitana bonmati

aitana bonmati x reader

description: in which you love to tease your girlfriend, and you’re the only one that’s allowed to do it

warnings: suggestive, silly, spanish in bold italics

a/n: hiya! thank you for the request and love! enjoyyy❤️ help i have mixed feelings again

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

if there was one thing to know about you, you absolutely loved to tease your girlfriend. and if there was one thing to know about your girlfriend, aitana, she absolutely hated it when you teased her.

aitana was just the cutest person ever, you just couldn’t help but tease her at any and every possible moment.

she claimed that she hated it but you knew her amused smile and glint in her eye was full of affection, much like your teasing manner with her.

—

you and aitana played with one another in the spanish youth teams, you were always really good friends but your relationship didn’t really progress until you moved out of spain.

you moved to england in 2014 to gain different skills to adapt to your own style of playing. it was difficult being far from home, away from everyone and everything you knew, but it was worth it.

as it turns out, you moving away caused you to reconnect with the love of your life just two years later.

when aitana saw saw you again in barcelona in 2016, she could’ve sworn she went into cardiac arrest when she saw you. you felt the same, you’d always ogled over aitana over the years and it was no different in the present.

aitana always thought you were gorgeous but god..something about you being in england had made you even more beautiful. to say she was head over heels was an understatement.

when you came back home and aitana stuck to you like glue, you couldn’t help but fall in love with her every day. she was beautiful, funny, caring, everything. you both settled into a relationship quickly after a tipsy night out with the team after a win in 2018.

—

a stumbling aitana passing your teammates on the way to you and mapi sitting in a booth made you giggle. she was smiling brightly and waving at you, excited to see you in the bar even though she had been with you the whole day.

you watch her affectionately until she reaches you, planting herself sidewards on your lap. she wraps an arm around your neck while you sling one of yours around her waist.

she smiles down at you with a giggle and you can’t help but admire how pretty she looks. she’s a little tipsy, claiming she was on a ‘buzz’ that she was pleased about.

“hola, pollito (little chicken)” you chuckle brightly when she tugs herself closer to your body, basically pressed up against you.

aitana rolls her eyes amusingly and moves a hand up to pinch your cheek, “you’re not that much taller than me, shorty” she teases, you huff out a laugh, “still taller” you sing out.

“i’m older” she mocks your tone, “by two weeks” you say cheekily, you pinch her thigh gently and she lets out a little yelp at the contact, placing a hand over yours and pressing it to her thigh.

you convince her to have some water and she seems a lot more coherent, she’s still perched up on your lap and you don’t miss the smirks being sent your way when you two are in your little bubble.

you both chat about random subjects while she cuddles into you, now resting her head against yours and holding the arm that’s resting on her thigh.

“can i tell you a secret?” aitana whispers in your ear, you hum with a nod, “i love you” she says so softly, you almost can’t hear her.

your eyes are wide when she pulls back to look at you for your reaction, you’re shocked but the heart eyes were evident for both of you, “i love you too” you exhale, “but you’re a little intoxicated and i’m scared you won’t remember this” you admit, moving to grab her hand gently as you look at her.

she frowns a little, kissing your left cheek, “i’ll prove it to you” she demands, kissing your right cheek quickly and looking at you with a cheeky grin.

“okay, pequeña (little) tana” you croon, hugging her tightly before you took her home, a designated driver for tonight.

aitana did prove it to you the next day, arriving at your house bright and early with a bright grin and a bouquet of flowers in hand.

“tana?” you say surprisingly, you were both going to training but it wasn’t for hours. she was here so early you were genuinely shocked.

“hi” she says shyly, handing you the flowers with a sheepish grin. you smile and move forward to pull the girl into a tight hug, she immediately reciprocates and melts into your body, “i remember everything, i love you” she says fulls of confidence as you held her, you smile and kiss her cheek sweetly,

“i love you too” you sigh in relief. “chiquitín (little one)” you say cheekily, she immediately groans and squeezes you, complaints spilling from her lips as you hold onto her tightly while she tries to escape from your arms.

—

you’ve now been dating for over 7 years, moving in together in a house full of complete infatuation. aitana was fully convinced that your teasing would be reduced to a minimum, but unfortunately for her, it only got worse.

you were both in training, aitana currently in the gym and training with keira while you ‘train’ weights, definition: you ogling her while ona reminds you to lift the dumbbell in your hands every couple of minutes.

it was until ona begged you to just go and flirt with your girlfriend, sick of you sending her longing gazes from across the room.

you went over without a second thought. “hermosa (beautiful)” you sing out, aitana pauses her movements and looks at you with a raised eyebrow, “what do you want?” she narrows her eyes at you, you scoff, “sorry?” you cross your arms over your chest looking down at her with a little glare.

“you’re not mentioning my height or anything and you’ve been standing here for at least a minute” she states simply, almost like it was obvious.

“tana, bebé (baby), why can’t i express my love for you in a sweet nickname without you thinking i’m teasing you?” you smirk, aitana shakes her head at you and analyses your face, truly thinking you wanted something from her, but it was honestly just her attention that you wanted.

“keira, tell aitana that i don’t always tease her” you grin at keira, she laughs in your face while she looks between the two of you, “but you do?” keira chuckles, you gasp offendedly, a hand clutching at your chest as aitana high fives keira, nodding at her with a satisfied laugh.

“see?” aitana grins, you roll your eyes, about to argue back until you needed to go outside for training.

and of course, as soon as you got the opportunity to, your regular teasing routine started, meaning aitana was about to give an oscar worthy performance.

your hands are on her waist as you stand behind her during a water break, she’s sipping her water while listening to some strategies for the next play.

after it was finished, you move your hands and wrap your arms around her waist, pulling her flush against your front. you tuck your face into the crook of her neck, pressing a gentle kiss there.

you grin into her skin when you feel her tense against you, “amor (love)” she breathes out warningly, you map out kisses along her neck and her breath hitches, her cheeks flushing red when you wouldn’t stop.

“you okay, bebé? (baby)” you mumble in her ear, she swallows and holds your arm wrapped around her, squeezing it gently in an attempt to scold you but you knew she loved it.

you laugh softly in her ear and chills travel up her spine, she can’t produce a response, too focused on regulating her shallow breathing as your lips graze just on her pulse point.

then you suddenly pull away from her, leaving her dazed as she watches you move past her to grab your water bottle.

you look at her and wink, “chiquitín (little one)” you smirk, she slaps your shoulder quickly, “you’re so annoying” she grumbles, you look down at her lovingly, kissing her quickly on the lips,

“you love it” you cheese out, she rolls her eyes but you don’t miss the hint of a smile playing at her lips, “no i don’t” she pointed, flicking your forehead quickly and trying not to laugh when you flinched, moving to kiss you quickly before returning to training.

—

everyone was walking back to the change room after training, you’re walking behind ona and aitana as they chatted, until ona wrapped around an arm around aitana’s shoulder and you knew it was your time to shine.

“don’t touch my ballon d’Or winner” you run behind and sweep aitana into a bridal style hold, she yelps in fear when she’s thrusted into your arms, letting out a slight breath of relief when she realised it was you.

“she’s precious cargo, batlle, the ground doesn’t even deserve her presence, she arrives in style” you croon, looking down at her affectionately, aitana throws you a half hearted glare, “put. me. down” she breaks down the sentence, you shake your head at her and she gives you a stern expression.

you groan and put her down, pushing away a laughing ona as your girlfriend immediately began to scold you. numerous words of: “you’re so silly, stop teasing me, stop bringing it up” etc, the whole works, you got it.

after aitana’s little rant, she looks up to see your reaction to see you slightly pouting, so by instinct, she kisses you gently and you immediately stop walking, gripping her hips tightly and pressing her against you.

she gasps in surprise at the sudden shift, slightly grinning at the thought of you faking being upset just to get a kiss.

you pull away with a satisfied smile with a final peck to her lips, slapping her behind quickly and running off from a now screaming aitana, reprimanding you from afar while you attempt to hide from your girlfriend.

—

“pequeña (little) tana! you’re hot,” you whistle as she changes into her jersey in the change rooms, preparing for a match.

“stop” she glares, you shake your head with a smile, “no” you tease, “any chance for a quickie in the bathroom?” you whisper in her ear, she gasps and slaps your arm,

“(y/n) (y/l/n)” she closes her eyes and prods her cheek with her tongue, you give her a sloppy kiss on the cheek and she shoves you off her.

“if you don’t kiss me properly, you get none for a whole week” she threatens, pointing a finger at you and you grin at her.

she’d never do that and you both know it, “hm okay” you mumble, pulling her into a passionate kiss, leaving both of you absolutely breathless when you pull away from the protests of your teammates.

while she walks in front of you towards the tunnel, you cheekily slap her behind again and she huffs in frustration, not even bothering to turn around.

—

barcelona was in the front by 4-0, aitana scoring two of the goals. it reaches towards the end of the match when you hear it, “move, shorty” aitana’s defender pulls on the back of her shirt and ends up making her stumble to the floor.

you run up to her marker and give her a shove to the chest, “excuse me? do you want to say that again?” you emphasised, the marker looks at you in shock, looking down at a now sheepish looking aitana.

“huh? you talk shit about my girl and expect nothing to happen?” you shove her again, aitana gets up now, placing a hand on your chest to gently push you away, “i hear another word from you and you’re in for it” you warn, yelling over aitana’s head as she pushes you further. the ref interrupts your tangent and holds a yellow card over your head and you chuckle.

“stop it” she pleads, hands moving to your shoulders and giving you a gentle squeeze, “okay, sorry” you nod, kissing her cheek repeatedly before moving off from her and back to your position.

barcelona wins and the players are going around exchanging handshakes, you shake the hand of aitana’s marker nonetheless, not without giving her an icy glare, making the girl falter and move off from you as quick as she could.

aitana crosses her arms with a frown as she watches you approach her with a bright grin, “you go to england and come back getting yellow cards” she scolds, you laugh and kiss her cheek,

“hm, years and years ago” you entertain her, your arm around her shoulder as you walk towards awaiting fans. you take pictures and sign things together, fangirling along with aitana’s fans when they’d talk to her.

“i know, she’s so amazing” you say proudly, talking along with a fan while she raves to aitana how great she is, aitana pinches your waist and you smile down at her,

“okay, i need to get mijita (my little child) home, it’s almost past her bedtime” you grin at the fans, aitana gasps and smacks the back of your head. you laugh brightly and smile affectionately at her. you both say goodbye before she walks quickly in front of you and you have to run to catch up to her.

“so annoying” she gives you a gentle shove and you move right back next to her. she rolls her eyes when you kiss the crown of her head, moving to hold your hand and interlaces your fingers together. no matter how much you tease her, she can’t resist you.

“you love me” you grin, “unfortunately” she shrugs, you squeeze her hand and she giggles.

“i love you” she smiles, “i love you” you kiss her quickly before dragging her towards the change rooms. “shorty” you whisper in her ear, running into the change room with an angry aitana hot on your trail.

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

you know the drill, just pretend it’s you! ily mapiii!!

liked by ona.batlle and 44,232 others

aitanabonmati: no matter how annoying she is, i still love her by some miracle

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yourname: so mean to me, i’m such a saint

↳ aitanabonmati: don’t play with me, it’s not funny

↳ yourname: i’m literally so well behaved

↳ marialeonn16: hah!

↳ yourname: you can’t trust anyone in this world

yourname: you look extra tiny in this

↳ aitanabonmati: point proven

[seospicybin]

PLUTO.

PART I

Chapters: Part II / Epilogue

Hyunjin x reader. (s,a)

Synopsis: Knowing that your life will end soon, you choose to have your desired death by making a pact with the devil with a red hair, Hyunjin. (16,7k words)

Author's note: This was supposed to be a Halloween fic but it seems like New Year is the perfect time to release it. It's about renewal and awakening but with a little bit of chaos in it.

Warning: Mentions sulcidal thoughts and may be triggering. Reader discretion is advised!

Which one is worse: Living or dying first?

You asked yourself as you stood there rethinking all of your decisions that led to this.

A gust of wind blowing your white dress, cold and harsh, like a slap in the face.

You let out a heavy sigh, the steam of your breath formed a curl of white smoke against the dark of the night.

You looked down, down below from the top of the building where everything seemed so small and people looked like specks of dust, looked down beyond your quivering feet, so high you couldn't even see the bottom, the concrete that would welcome you when you plunge to your death.

Was it a good decision? You asked yourself.

Death is easy.

A stab to the heart, a drop of poison, a cardiac arrest, a hypoxia.

Life is hard.

You wake up to another day of a mundane, dull life, work, home, sleep, eat, sigh and do it all over again the next day. Life is pain itself and everybody dies at the end.

You either die now or later, what makes the difference?

All you need was one jump then it's all over.

Death is that easy.

You took a shaky breath, whether it was from the cold or the fear creeping from the inside, a survival instinct in you that told you to get off the ledge and into the safe side.

You carefully put your leg up and are ready to leap, your mind went blank.

You screamed at the vast night sky because the silence got too deafening then like your brain betrayed you, shut you down before you make the worst mistake of your life, you got off the ledge.

You almost slipped and fell off the top of the building just like how you planned, but you found a hand that grabbed yours. Slender fingers decorated with metal rings, pale and hot to the touch, wrapped around your waist, holding you from falling, from death.

He helped you get off the ledge by lifting you by the waist then put you down gently, away from the edge of the building.

"You're hot," you said.

"It's not the first time I heard that," he said with a teeth-baring grin.

You shook your head, "I mean, you're literally hot," you corrected yourself, it was like he had spent hours by the fire and absorbed all of the heat.

He didn't reply but shoved his hands into the pocket of his dress pants.

"How ironic!" He suddenly said.

"An angel," he said, pointing to you who was dressed in an angel costume with its halo headband, "and a devil," he said, placing his hand on his chest to present himself, "met on a rooftop of a building,"

Your eyes were blurry with tears that made you realize that you were crying, cheeks wet and flushed from the cold.

"An angel about to fall but the devil helps her get off the ledge," he finished.

Did he see everything?

You roughly wiped your tears to see him better.

He was wearing a three-piece suit as black as the night, long hair, slicked back, red like hellfire. He has a small face, pale white skin, and small but smoldering eyes, then the lips, red and plump, like a cherry.

He looked at you with his head slightly tilted to the side, observing you like you were an object that intrigued his mind.

And if he weren't blinking, you would have mistaken him as a statue, a perfectly carved marble statue more beautiful than David by Michelangelo.

"Why don't I buy you some drinks and you can tell me how you got here?" He offered, one corner of his mouth raised higher than the other, forming a sinister smile.

You hugged yourself, either your body was seeking warmth or trying to comfort yourself, considering his offer like solving a math problem.

And he took a step closer, held out his hand at you.

You were slightly shivering from the cold, you started to get a runny nose and the invitation suddenly got so tempting, knowing that his hand would offer you some warmth.

You nodded and let him lead you back inside.

He didn't take you back to the Halloween party your company was having, he took you somewhere else, an empty lounge bar that you didn't know even existed in the building.

He welcomed you to sit on one of the stools that face the counter then he stood, took his suit jacket off in an elegant manner, folded it then placed it on the next stool next to you.

He smiled when he caught you watching him rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows without blinking, he spared you from being embarrassed by hurriedly going behind the counter.

He put his hands on the counter and leaned forward at you, "what do you want to drink?" He asked you with eyes pierced right into yours.

"Anything," you answered. You couldn't decide when it felt like all the knowledge in your brain suddenly vanished when he looked at you dead in the eyes like that.

He squinted his eyes as he thought of something to make for you.

"I think I know the perfect drink for you," he said then went on to grab everything.

It was so riveting, seeing him gathering all the ingredients and pouring them one by one into a shaker: ice, red liquid, red-colored syrup, and vodka, finished it with a spritz of lemon.

He started shaking all the mixture together, shaking your thoughts away then hurriedly clearing your throat.

"Are you working here?" You asked.

He cracked a mystifying laugh at you but not answering your question.

He placed a glass on top of the counter and then poured the cocktails into it, seamlessly without spilling a drop.

For the garnish, he put raspberries in a stick into the glass then presented it to you, and slid the glass right in front of you.

The red cocktail sparkling in the dim light, you lifted it close enough to take a sniff of the sweet-smelling drink.

You glanced up at him and he bat his eyelash at you, giving you permission to drink.

You took a careful sip, it was a bit sour, a bit bitter but it was sweet in the end.

You have to admit that he has a prowess for bartending.

"This is good!" You praised him as he cleaned up the counter.

"What it's called?"

"A love potion," he playfully answered.

You blinked a few times, thinking you misheard him.

He laughed, "it's just a raspberry martini!"

He picked up a cherry from a bowl, stuck his tongue just enough to put it on it, bite the stem between his teeth then pulled it out.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

Once again, you got caught ogling over him doing such a mundane thing as eating a cherry.

"I like it," you said, whether he asked about the drink or the scene that just happened in front of you.

He poured himself a drink, a whiskey and you could feel the alcohol burnt your tongue as he filled the glass half full, then added an ice cube.

He went to sit next to you, took a sip of his drink once he was seated then placed the glass on the counter, the ice made a clinking sound inside the glass as he moves.

You clank your drinks together then took sips of your drinks at the same time and it was getting sweeter the more you drink your cocktail.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get there?" He asked, licking his lower lip that made it even more luscious, inviting you to get a taste.

"I don't know. Desperation, I guess," you answered with low giggles. It baffled you that you got to act like that around a stranger you met barely an hour ago.

"Why would a beautiful girl like you be that desperate?" He asked with eyes that secretly assessed you like you were a Rubik's cube that needs to be solved.

"I'm dying," you shortly replied as you stared deep into your drink.

"Figuratively?" He asked.

You laughed but skipped on answering.

"You must think I'm dramatic," you said, you weren't even going to try to shoot your shot. You have no chance with him, there's no use in trying.

"No," he strongly denied yet his voice remained low and calm.

"There's nothing dramatic in letting yourself deep in your feelings," he added.

You looked at him or braved yourself to do so, for a few seconds before looking away.

"I just want it to end," you said.

It surprised you that the words fell out of your mouth like that, you blamed it on the drink but you saw that he only put a shot of vodka in it. There was no way you let loose like this without being drunk first.

"I just want to end my life my way," you said to him, correcting your first statement.

"I'm conflicted because if I do it, my parents will get sad," you explained, "but I don't want to wait for my life to end either. I want to end it my way, at a time that I decided for myself," you said with sadness in your eyes.

"It's my life after all. I get to decide how and when to end my life, right?"

He hummed, trying to catch on to what you were trying to say and gently nodding.

He propped a hand under his chin with his index finger touching his lower lip, looking into your eyes as if he was searching for something in them.

He slightly parted his mouth open and licked his lower lip, making it wetter and redder than before.

"How about you sell your soul to me?"

You burst out laughing, he said it as if he really is a devil with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Yeah, sure!" You played along with him, stirring your cocktail with the stick.

"And in return, you get to have your desired death," he offered a deal.

You ate the raspberries and chewed on them, "that's actually... a nice deal," you said to him.

"I know, right?" He exclaimed, then took a small sip of his drink, "but you have to give me three reasons why I should approve the deal."

"You want me to appeal?"

He nodded.

"Well, first, I don't want to make my parents sad. If I end myself, I can imagine how devastated they would be and I believe they'd blame themselves for it. I don't want that," you explained.

"Second, my life..." you heavily sighed as it summed up how fed up you were with your life, "I feel like there's nothing I can do with my life anymore, it is stagnant like that, it can't go further than this,"

"Or maybe, you haven't looked thoroughly enough," he commented.

"I don't intend to find out anyway," you meekly said, you hurriedly drank your cocktail and let the alcohol burn down the cries trying to escape your throat.

He stayed quiet but intently listened to you, tracing the rim of his glass with his index finger.

"And the third?"

"I told you," you beamed with a foolish smile, this time you were convinced you got a bit drunk.

"You're dying?"

You nodded then finished your drink with one long gulp.

"Figuratively?" He asked for confirmation.

You shook your head, "sadly, no," you said.

You folded your hands on the counter and rested your chin on it, "that's why I don't want to wait for my end to come," you said to him.

He sighed then tilted his head upward, looking up at the ceiling, "And they say life is beautiful?" He sneered at the vast emptiness of the bar.

You let a scornful laugh with eyes drooping lower with each passing second.

"Are those enough to appeal to you?" You asked.

He finished his drink and gasped once he gulped down all of his drink, "I'll think about it," he said.

You snickered, amused that he treated this as if it was real and that he seriously considering it.

"Yeah, take your time," you joked to him with a sleepy smile, and after that nothing.

-

A day in your life always went like this.

You woke up at 5:30 am, did your laundry then cook breakfast, showered then dressed up for work.

You went out and listened to your neighbor arguing about the trash bags again for the umpteenth time as you passed their door. You bought a cup of coffee and got on a bus to work, on a good day, someone would offer you to sit on their seat but that rarely happens.

You worked as a columnist for a newspaper but mostly, to write a review of children's books and or an event of people who paid the newspaper to write about it, who wanted it to be publicly known.

Your boss never took you seriously, that's why he only gave you jobs that other people won't take and also because you would accept everything he gave you.

"Let me guess, a reunion?" Kim asked, a co-worker who sits next to your desk.

"Close. It's an anniversary of a nursing home," you answered, "one of our executives is one of their biggest donators.”

"Well, of course! You'd better make his name big and bold in the article," she sneered.

"Noted!" You beamed in response.

The little delight in an office like this is to talk about lame things that would make you feel better about your life at least for a few seconds before you descend into the pit again.

You swiveled your chair in her direction, "did you perhaps see me leaving the Halloween party?"

She pursed her lips while tugging a pen between her teeth, "I think the last time I saw you was when you said you needed to get some fresh air," she answered.

You recalled everything you did that night, including the part where you went to the rooftop and almost plunge to your death but that didn't happen. You remembered someone stopped you, took you inside to have a drink then from there, it was a big blank.

You didn't know how you get home that night and woke up in a sweat, your Halloween costume stuck to your skin and your shoes neatly placed on the threshold.

"But I can't remember that night either. Someone from the printing got me on a taxi home," she grimaced.

"Oh yeah, I got a little drunk as well," you said despite your memory of last night was still blurry to you.

"I better get started on my article," then swiveled your chair back, pushed to your desk, and started working.

On the afternoon, you went to the pantry to make your fourth cup of coffee of the day. You waited for the machine to finish while looking out the window.

"Can you make me a cup too?" Someone asked from behind you.

You turned around to find Minho. Your friend since the first year of college, the one who asked you to intern at the newspaper together and got the jobs at the same time, the sole reason why you were still here and the one you've been secretly in love with, your first love and the only person you ever fall in love with, staring at you with a smile on his face.

"A black coffee for Minho. On it!" You said to him.

He walked up to you and helped you get a clean mug from the top cabinet.

His hand brushed yours as he handed the mug to you.

You carefully poured the hot coffee into his mug and ripped a pack of brown sugar to add to it.

"Exactly how I like it!" He exclaimed to you with a satisfied smile.

You walked out of the pantry together while carrying your mugs in your hands, catching up with each other since he worked in a different department with you.

"I didn't see you much at the Halloween party," he said.

You swallowed, "I left early," you quickly answered.

"Why? I think I looked for you all night," he said.

He exaggerated it but you took it that he was being nice to you like he always does to you, "I didn't feel well," you lied, but not entirely.

"It's going to get cold, you better start wearing warm clothes," he softly spoke with a hand on your shoulder.

"Sure, I will," you said.

Someone called for him from across the room and he excused himself and squeezed your shoulder before leaving you.

You followed where he was going, knowing well that what was going to happen next would agonize you.

He came to her girlfriend, stood next to her while she talked to him about something, putting all of his attention on her with a smile on his face.

"Is that for me?" She asked him, pointing to the mug of coffee in his hand.

He considered it for a second and handed it to her, "You can have it!"

And there you were, could only look at someone else having what you wanted the most, his love.

It was your fault. You want all that is not yours. You want someone who doesn't want you back. This was all your fault.

You walked back to your desk and plopped down your chair, took a haste sip of your coffee, and let it burn your tongue as a way to avert the stinging pain you felt inside with a physical one.

"I'm going home!" Your co-worker announced once the clock strike 5 o'clock.

"See you tomorrow!" She said to you then gathered all of her things from her desk.

"See you!" You said back before she exited the office.

You dragged yourself to put your things back into your bag and waited for that one saddest part of your day.

You waited and waited, then there he was, Minho glanced at you with a smile on his face, "hey, aren't you going home?"

"In a bit," you answered and forced a smile for him.

His girlfriend came to his side in a matter of seconds and held his hand, it was like she has a radar that would tell her whenever he got too close to you.

"Let's have dinner next time!" He said and he had said it more than dozens of times already but never did.

But still, the intention alone was enough for you, "Bye Minho!" You said to him.

"Bye!" He said to you then left with her girlfriend.

There was nothing that excites you anymore for the rest of the day, but to mourn your life in your tiny apartment.

You saw your mother's shoes on the threshold and knew right away that she came to your apartment unannounced like she always does.

"Mom, you came without telling me again," you told her because just like all mothers do, she likes being nosy and digging through your things.

She was squatting down in front of your fridge, then sighed, "You know what makes me really sad? When I found your fridge empty like this," she said with an edge to her voice.

"What did you expect, mom? I rarely cook," you told her.

"I'd rather have leftovers and expired food in your fridge than just these," she said as she took out all the empty water bottles.

You sighed because talking back to her would only lead to an endless argument so you refrained and tossed your bag on the empty chair.

"Come! Have dinner with me!" She ordered.

You reluctantly sat on the chair and let her serve you food, obeying her like this so she would go on her way faster and leave you alone for the rest of the night.

She asked the same questions, about life, work, friends, and everything that you have no interest in anymore, which is life in general.

"How's dad?" You finally asked, to stop her from asking more about your life.

"Enjoying his retirement like always," she answered.

Your parents were on the verge of giving up the idea of having children when they had you.

Your mom was in her late 30s when she had you, she almost died when she gave birth to you and that made you precious to them. You are their only child, the one that gave them a chance and the joy to be a parent, their only hope to continue their bloodline and carry their genes and soon to be their biggest disappointment.

She left after giving you a series of scolds, ruffling your hair like she always does since you were little and hugging you, then finally leaving you alone in your own private space.

You sat by the small balcony, hugging your knees while looking out the window, wrapping yourself in a blanket because of the cold gust of winter wind even though spring is around the corner.

You fell asleep on your bedroom floor and woke up to the excruciating migraine that always comes so suddenly, without warning.

You crawled to the bedside table and hoisted yourself to get on the bed, pulled open the drawer to take out the medicine.

You rummaged inside the drawer in the dark, shaking up the last of the pills onto your palm and shoved it down your throat, swallowed it down with a few gulps of water.

You sighed into the void of your bedroom and the walls echoed it back to you.

-

"You have to start your treatment immediately!" Your doctor insisted.

"Immediately!" He pressured you, completely annoyed with your nonchalant attitude about your own health.

He was the only one who cared about your well-being, even more than you do to yourself.

"I just need pills for the migraines," you told him in a calm manner.

He hissed and sighed through his gritted teeth.

"Do you have any idea how severe your condition is? You are dying! You'll die soon if you don't receive any treatment," he hopelessly reminded you of your grim future.

"I know that really well," you said to him.

Then again, your attitude only pissed him off more.

"Please, let me assist you. Let me help you, it's a shot in the dark but it's worth a try," he said to you, begging with all of his heart. He must have a lot of pity for you, an old man like him feeling sad for a young girl like you, to suffer such an illness instead of him who already bagged so many life experiences.

Aside from the fact that he's taken the Hippocratic oath, he probably thinks of you like his own daughter.

"Doctor, I don't want to receive any treatment. I just want pills for my migraines," you said again, sternly this time.

He reluctantly took his notepad and scribbled something on it, roughly ripped the paper before handing it to you.

"Please reconsider it before it's too late," he said to you.

"I will," you said despite your decision being final.

"Thank you!" You muttered to him at the end.

It started with the constant migraines and pounding headaches, then when it got too unbearable, you got it checked at the hospital.

When you think life can't be more bountiful, it came with a surprise gift: A tumor on your brain.

To put it simply, you were dying, you lived on numbered days and you have roughly 3 months or less to live according to what the doctor said.

You never had any suicidal thoughts before that, but then again, depression is one of the side effects of dying. Because a surprise gift wrapped in the prettiest bow,

You had informed the office that you'd be coming late and once you arrived, you got called to the editor's office because you didn't highlight the amount of donation the executive made to the nursing home and had to redo the whole article. You took one pill before started working, clenching your fists as you began typing on your keyboard, and just breathe.

As usual, you waited for the saddest part of your day to pass, holding his girlfriend's hand like she would fly away if he didn't, fingers intertwined, so tight.

"Hey, have a good evening!" He said to you.

At least he didn't promise the dinner again which made you quietly wish it came true one day.

"You too!" You said back to him with a thin smile.

You popped another pill even though the migraine had slowly diminished, or maybe you took it because you thought it would also lessen the intangible pain inside you.

You spent the night by the balcony again, sitting down by the sill, wrapped in a blanket looking at the half-moon shining so bright above the city.

It was at a time like this you always thought of death.

The question mainly focused on 'when'? When is the good time to die? Now? Tomorrow? Two days again? By the weekend? At the end of the month?

There was always something stopping you, either your brain offering you logical options, to call the hospital and seek treatment but most of the time, it was just the reminder that you need to take care of a few things before the one final, last breath.

It didn't make you sad at all, the more you thought about it the lighter you got like you were stripping away a layer of fear of yourself.

Accepting reality is easier than keep avoiding it.

You got up in the middle of the night feeling nauseous, immediately ran to the bathroom, then vomited into the toilet bowl. Tears, sweat, and hair stuck to your face, you flushed the toilet, collapsing on the bathroom floor after. Curled up on the tiled floor of the bathroom, suffering from the pain that you have to deal with until you eventually die.

After a moment of trying to gain your consciousness, you heard footsteps approaching your way through the vibration on the floor.

Your vision blurred with tears and you could make out the shape of a dark figure looming in the doorway of your bathroom, tall with a hint of red.

You were in no condition to either fight or fight, you barely had any strength to take a stand.

The figure approached you then you felt the warmth of his hand, cupping your cheek.

"You suffer so much," the figure said.

He ran his fingers down your face and forced you to close both of your eyes, it was a simple touch yet it worked to send you into a painless, dreamless sleep.

-

You made a cup of coffee the second you arrived at the office.

You could feel nauseous from last night lingering inside you and felt another cup of coffee would help. You felt a hand resting on the small of your back and quickly turned on your heel to see who it is, "oh Minho, good morning!" You said, half surprised to see him so early in the office like this.

"You came early!" He said to you.

If he paid attention to you just a little, he would know that you always come early, at the same time every morning.

"Yeah," you half-heartedly answered.

"Which is perfect!" He exclaimed, then leaned against the counter to face you, "I need your help," he said.

"What is it?"

"I have an article and I have to turn it in this afternoon. Can you help me edit it?" He asked as he ripped two packs of creamers with his teeth, then poured it into your coffee.

He stirred it with a spoon while you were holding the mug in your hand, he licked the spoon once he was done then tossed it onto the sink.

"Please?" He asked.

It became a habit of yours, to always submit to his wishes whether you intended to or not.

"Of course!" You said.

You huddled close together in front of his computer, editing the article together and mashing ideas together. He couldn't deny that the two of you made a great team, especially when it comes to writing, it has been like that since college.

"It reminds me of our college years," he said to you.

You turned your head a smiled at him, suddenly aware of the proximity that you hurriedly swiveled your chair to the other way.

"Yes," you sheepishly replied.

"Let me treat you to lunch today!" He said.

"No, it's okay, it's nothing," you kindly refused, holding up your hands at him.

He grabbed your hands and put them down on your lap, "just wait by your desk, I'll pick you up later!" he said with a smile.

Kim invited you for lunch like she always does but you refused since you waited for Minho to pick you up just as he promised.

But he didn't come, even after Kim came back from her lunch and gave you a puzzling look.

"I'm not that hungry," you lied to her and assured her that you felt like skipping lunch.

You got ready for leaving the office, shoving everything into your bag, and didn't even wait for the saddest part of your day to pass like you usually do.

You went home and slept the day away, when you woke up in the dark of your home, you found someone sitting on the balcony that you used to sit on.

You scrambled to turn on the light and found him.

The guy with the hellfire hair and luscious lips, eating an apple.

"I hope you don't mind me taking an apple from your fridge," he said to you.

You roughly pinched the bridge of your nose then rubbed the corner of your eyes, "How do you get in here?" You asked.

"Through the window," he answered.

"But uh... I-" your head was still drowsy.

"I don't think I have apples in the house," you tried again.

He softly sighed, "You should check your fridge because you have a whole box of it," he said.

He got off the balcony and entered your room, standing at the end of your bed looking at you, "I wanted to talk to you yesterday but you didn't look good," he said.

"Talk about what?" You scooted to the edge of the bed, then stopped, your head was spinning and your hands were shaking.

"You shouldn't have skipped lunch and dinner altogether," he said to you.

You limped to exit your bedroom and trudged your way to the kitchen, opened the fridge with all of your strength, finding a whole box of apples inside just like he said.

"Mom..." You sighed with your head still stuck inside the fridge.

He fitted himself in the small space and took two apples, "here, you have one and I have another," he said, handing one to you.

He didn't hesitate to take a bite of the apple and it made a delicious crunching sound that strangely evoke your appetite.

You caved in and took a bite, the sweet juice started to fill your mouth, satisfying your hunger and thirst at once.

He leaned against the kitchen counter, across from you, and looked at you as you stood there chewing on your apple.

"I've been thinking about it," he said.

"What?"

"About the deal."

"What deal?"

"That you want to sell your soul to me and in return I give you your desired death," he replied.

And it all came back rushing through your head like a bursting dam. He was the guy from that night, the one who helped you get off the ledge, who made you that sweet cocktail, and probably the one who took you home, that's why he knew your address.

You gasped and almost threw the apple away, "you're the guy from that night," you exclaimed at him.

"Glad you remember!" He said to you with an unimpressed look.

"The devil," you recalled.

"In the flesh," he finished your sentence.

"Except that you aren't real," you said.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion but he decided to move on "anyway, I brought the contract," he said, pulling out something from behind him, a piece of paper, worn and torn at the seam.

"I wrote down everything in the contract and you can read all of it," he paused to walk up to you then stopped just a step away from you, handing the paper to you.

"Just take your time, no need to rush to sign it and I'll be back before midnight," he said.

You took the paper from him and it smelled exactly like you imagined, a page of an old book.

"B–but how?" You asked in pure confusion.

You exhaled a long breath to calm your erratic breathing, "how do I know that this is all real?"

He soft chuckled while rubbing his chin with his knuckle, "just learn the contract paper," he said then took another bite of his apple before throwing the core into the trash bin.

He walked back to your bedroom and you were late to follow him, you caught the last of him getting out of your window to the balcony. But once you looked outside, there was no sight of him or the red of his hair anywhere.

It was like he just vanished into the night.

-

What kind of dream did you have last night?

But the details of your dream were too real to be considered just a dream, the apples were indeed there in the fridge, and the contract paper was on the dining table.

You were reading it when Kim all of sudden asked about it.

"Nothing, it's just a flyer," you waved her off and shoved the paper back into your bag.

The dullness of work suffocated you once again and to top that, Minho's girlfriend celebrated her birthday in the office and invited everyone to have something from the table full of a variety of food she ordered.

If Kim wasn't forcing you to have a slice of cake, you wouldn't have been here and eating the cake in silence, forcing it down your throat with your eyes uneasily looking at her, and then at Minho who stood so close like they were joined at the hip.

She sauntered in your direction and you quickly stuffed your mouth with the cake to avoid answering whatever she was going to ask.

"Seems like you really enjoyed the cake," Minho's girlfriend said.

You nodded with a mouth full of food, "yes, it's delicious," you shortly replied.

She smiled then brushed her hair to the back, intentionally showing something flashy on her hand, a diamond ring.

You knew she was baiting you to ask her the question but you didn't want to give her the satisfaction. You and Kim exchanged a glance, you guessed she noticed it too then looked in two different directions, to anywhere but her hand.

"Minho gave me the best birthday present," she blurted out when none of you asked about it.

You nodded but not saying anything.

"I didn't mean for anyone to know but I think good news should be shared, right?"

You stuffed more cake into your mouth and repeatedly noted, you really didn't want to know anything about that ring.

"We got engaged last night!" She announced, pitching her voice a bit louder for everyone around her to hear.

And suddenly, you had a hard time swallowing your food and it just stuck there in your esophagus.

People started making a ruckus then followed by congratulations from here and there.

You weren't sad or mad at all, you were just a little shaken inside. You forced yourself to swallow it all down inside you, whether it was the food or the bitter, harsh truth that you had to stop this masochistic infatuation.

Everyone's first love is meant to fail anyway.

Minho came to her side a moment later, looking unamused that the news was out. It baffled you how his eyes searched for yours first and not his girlfriend. You looked at each other but nothing came out from both of you.

Minho must be terribly stupid if he didn't know that you have feelings for him. It had been years and all these things you did out of devotion for him were too obvious to be missed.

You believed he knew but he decided to stay oblivious about it.

You got a little disappointed, at him and yourself, disappointed at him for leaving you hanging like this, and at yourself, for not having the courage just to say those three words to him.

"Congratulations!" You said to him, smiling even though you were close to tears.

"Thank you!" He meekly said.

You hated your heart so much for wanting what is not yours, for wanting what is not right, for wanting someone who doesn't want you back, for wanting him.

Your nausea returns when you were in the elevator heading down to the lobby. You felt the queasiness bubbling inside, you quickly covered your mouth and breathed through your nose, calming yourself with eyes uneasily looking at the floor number going down with each level.

You broke into a run when the elevator doors slid open, flung to the nearest bathroom, and pushed any door of the stall to find the one that was available.

You vomited everything out into the toilet bowl which got you retching and gasping for air at once.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kim asked.

You didn't know she was following you until she stood by the door clutching your bag in her hands.

"You dropped your bag," she said, one hand keeping the door of your stall open.

You took a tissue and roughly wiped your mouth with it, "Can you please get me my pills from inside my bag?" You begged.

"Sure, sure!" She fumbled to unzip your bag and shoved her hand inside to take out your medicine.

"Give me two," you said to her, holding out your palm at her.

She complied, shook the container until two pills rolled out then handed them to you.

You dry swallowed them and closed your eyes with your back resting against the partition.

"I have water," she offered, pulling out bottled water from her bag.

She uncapped the bottle before giving it to you.

"Thanks!" You muttered.

"Are you sick?" She asked.

You let out a long shaky breath, "I have this..." you paused to take another sip of water, "acute migraine," you lied.

She checked your body temperature but you seemed fine to her except for how you looked, "you look so pale," she sadly said.

"I just took my meds. I'll be okay," you assured her.

She helped you get up from the floor, smoothing down your skirt and fixing your coat, "you should get a taxi home!"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," you told her since there was no use in refusing her kind suggestion.

-

You sat on the couch waiting for the red-haired whatever man to really come just as he promised last night.

You sat cross-legged and read the contract paper over and over again, still wondering why you played along with him.

"I believe you have read the contract one too many times," he said, appearing out of nowhere behind you.

He walked so gracefully like a model down a fashion runway, poised and cool, his all-black attire supported the whole model's off-duty look.

"How do I know that you're the real devil?" You asked him, never the type to dillydally, especially when it comes to making a deal that involves your life.

"Isn't it obvious enough?" He asked with arms outstretched.

"Or are you hoping that I have horns and red-skinned, scary eyes and claws? Like that?"

You shrugged, "sort of."

He laughed, "my job is to tempt you human and you expect me to do that while looking like a scary creature out of a fantasy book?"

You pursed your lips and shrugged again, "well, that makes sense now," you said, settling the issue with an agreement.

You unfolded the contract paper and pointed to one of the points, "it said that you'll be with me every day. What's that mean?"

"What it literally means. I'll be with you every day, not for the whole 24 hours, of course. I have stuff to do," he said.

"What? Bartending?"

He scoffed.

"That's just ridiculous, I'm not going anywhere," you protested.

"I'm protecting my asset here because what if you had a change of heart?" He sat on the single sofa across from you, crossing his legs and propping a hand under his chin.

"I promise you, I will not," you assured him.

He softly rubbed his lips with his index finger, "are you sure it's not because your unrequited love just got engaged?"

That caught you off guard, "how do you know?"

"I told you, I keep an eye on my asset," he said, now spreading his legs open and propping his elbows on his knees.

You got quiet because you didn’t expect him to know this much about your life.

"So, it's not because of him?"

"No," you strongly denied.

"Let's not take a haste decision," he suggested.

You shook your head, "I think we should sign the contract!” You persisted, took a pen and placed your sign on the bottom corner of the paper.

He laughed when you slid the paper and pen at him, then said, "your turn!"

He burst out laughing, "and you think when you made a pact with the devil signing a paper would do it?"

You glared at him and hissed in irritation, "why didn't you-"

He took the paper and burned it on his palm, turning the paper into ash and smoke.

Your eyes widened in slight shock, it was like a magic trick, except that he wasn't using any trick and no equipment.

"Impressed?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

You cleared your throat and acted coy about it, "no, but you’ll make a great birthday magician," you told him despite what he just pulled off scared you a little but you tried not to get intimidated by him and repressed it by acting nonchalantly.

He stared deep into your eyes as if he tried to look into your head and see what you were thinking. He didn't look away as he pulled out something from the inner pocket of his black suit jacket.

A locket with a thin gold chain and the pendant isn't bigger than your thumb. He hung it around his hand and showed it to you.

He put it inside his palm after you stared at it long enough.

"Before we make a pact, you haven't decided on your death yet," he reminded you.

"Huh?"

"I promise you your desired death, but the how and when, you haven't told me yet," he clicked his tongue repeatedly, "you have to be specific when making a pact with the devil," he said while squinting his eyes at you.

"Oh?" You exclaimed. He was right, you were rushing everything and you weren't aware of who you are dealing with.

"I want to die peacefully," you said.

"Like drowning?"

"How is that peaceful?" You asked in disbelief.

"Well, it's in the water and it's quiet. Peaceful!"

You winced, "I want to go..." you raked your brain for the right word to say, "quietly."

He scrunched his nose, thinking of an idea.

"I want to die in my sleep," you offered yours before he gave you other strange ways to die.

"Okay, I can do that," he said.

"Next question: when?" He asked, leaning forward at you in curiosity.

"Soon," you shortly replied.

"How soon?"

"Soon enough."

"Tomorrow?"

"Too soon," you snarked.

"A week from now?"

"No."

"One month from now?"

"Too long," you said.

He rolled his eyes in a rather dramatic way and came up with a suggestion real quick, "13 days, that's my final offer!"

You thought it over, two weeks. Would you be able to get your affairs in order in two weeks? It was kind of ideal, it wasn't soon nor late, it was right.

"Deal!"

He got up from the sofa and you unconsciously followed him, getting up from the couch as well. You both took a step closer and stood facing each other in the small living room of your apartment.

"Give me your hand!" He ordered.

You complied and held out your hand at him.

He took a breath to finally grab your hand, wrapping his hand around you and you did the same.

"Are you sure you want to sell your soul to me?" He asked, sounding all business and serious.

You swallowed air then cleared your throat before answering, "yes."

"And in return, you want a peaceful death?"

"Yes."

"13 days from now?"

"Yes," you undoubtedly replied.

A fire alight, setting both your clasped hands in a blazing fire but surprisingly, you didn't feel hot or in pain, it was warm, like your hand wrapped in mittens.

"Oh fuck!" You cursed under your breath, it shocked you but weirdly, you didn't try to take your hand away from him. Your eyes flicked to his face, his eyes turned into shades lighter than the usual dark eyes, gleaming like the eyes of a tiger in the dark.

"In a matter of 13 days, your soul will be mine," he said with eyes that looked right into you, so deep like he talked right into your soul that soon will be his.

You couldn't lie but felt a little frightened inside, you could feel beads of cold sweat form on your back and probably seep into your shirt.

"Congratulations, your life is officially cursed and you'll burn in hell forever!" He said with a smile that was the opposite of what he said to you. Then the fire went off, he let go of his hand to take out the locket again and opened it to reveal what looked like a clock but strangely, there was no number on it, just the needles.

"Places your thumb on it!" He ordered.

"Where?"

He gently led your thumb to the little needle in the center of the locket and pressed your thumb on it.

You yelped when your fingerpad made a contact with it, you pulled your hand away out of reflex to see that you had pricked your finger on the needle of the small clock inside the locket.

The drop of blood started filling the locket, crimson-colored liquid spread inside like a blooming flower then magically, the clock started ticking. The clock ran backward and that was when you realized that it was counting down the time to your death.

"13 days!" He said to you, opening your hand to place the locket on your palm.

You stared at the clock that counted down the time that led to your death.

Tick, tick, tick.

You had been wasting a full 60 seconds just staring at it in a mix of wonder and fear, you have a lot to say yet you were so speechless. You quickly shut the locket and put the chain around your neck, then you felt it, the weight of the pact you just made with the devil.

He helped you by fixing the hair caught in your necklace, "I brought just the right drink for the occasion!" He announced.

He poured wine into your mug in such elegance and didn't spill a drop by quickly spinning the bottle, then wiped it with a napkin.

You clank your mugs together since you don't have any wine glasses in the apartment.

"To cursed life!" He said as you both made a toast.

"To cursed life!" You repeated his words in a low, hesitated voice.

He sipped his wine and made it look like he sipped ambrosia in a goblet instead of wine in a mug.

"Having a second thought?" He asked, catching you holding the locket resting on your chest.

You quickly shook your head, "no."

"What are you going to do on your last few days in the mortal world?" He asked, tracing the rim of his mug with his index finger.

"Get my affairs in order," you replied, clasping your hands around your mug like you were seeking warmth from it.

"You need help?" He asked.

You awkwardly laughed, "what can you do?"

"I can do a little mischief here and there," he said, his finger flying to his lips, playing with the plump of his lower lip.

"That would be against my plan of 'going quietly'," you reminded him.

"What's with 'going quietly'? Why not 'go with a bang'?" He suggested, making a gesture of explosion above his head.

"I just..." you paused because you didn't know the answer. Why you should go quietly?

"I think it's easier that way," you replied with an answer that you weren't confident in.

He nodded and didn't ask further about it. He took another sip and let the silence hang in the air between you and him.

You looked at him, in his usual attire of black outfit and red hair slicked back, pale skin with eyes back to their intense black color.

And you wondered how he ended up here?

"What should I call you?" You suddenly asked him.

"You can call me baby, darling, love," he listed all the pet names he liked to be called with.

"I don't like to be called cutie, but for you, I'll allow it," he finished with a wide smile that made him look more human than he was supposed to be.

You rolled your eyes at him and inaudibly sighed.

"Hyunjin," he quickly said.

"You can call me Hyunjin," he said again while taking another sip of his wine.

You nodded, and that was enough information for the day. That he really is the devil, named Hyunjin and you just made a pact with him. Your eyes shot at the locket and at the reminder of it, you heard the sounds of the seconds being deducted from your life.

Tick, tick, tick.

-

D-13.

"That's a nice necklace!" Kim beamed the moment she noticed the necklace dangling around your neck.

"Oh, this?" You asked her.

"Is it vintage?"

"Uh..." you stalled to find an answer, "yes, I bought it online," you lied.

"That's so nice!" She praised.

"Text me the online shop cause I want one,"

You stifled a nod, "yes, I will," you lied again.

At this point, you didn't care about all the lies you tell people, you are going to burn in hell for eternity anyway.

You were coming back from lunch with Kim when you met Minho in the lobby, he looked like he was waiting for you from the way he got up from his seat the moment he saw you coming through the entrance.

"Hey, want to have coffee together?" He asked you.

Kim realized that he didn't ask for her to be present there and excused herself to go back to the office.

"Okay," you replied.

You had been sitting facing each other and the cups of iced coffee dripping wet from the condensation, you waited for him to say something with your hands clasped under the table.

"What is it, Minho?" You asked him because he kept quiet the whole time you sat there.

"You have something to say to me?"

It seemed like he was unable to decide what he wants to talk about first, you guessed he wanted to talk about yesterday.

"I wasn't planning on proposing to her," he blurted out.

You looked at him rather wide-eyed, didn't expect him to say it like that.

"I was planning on gift her a ring. Not proposing to her," he explained.

"But her parents were present and she got ecstatic the moment she saw it," he paused to catch a breath, "I couldn't just say that I didn't mean to propose to her, she looked so happy. I-"

"Minho, I'm not asking," you reminded him.

His face gradually turned sour, "I just thought that maybe I need to explain-"

"Whatever you do or did or done with your girlfriend is none of my business," you quickly told him, settling the matter before he pried more than you allowed him to.

Your words seemed to surprise him and he was quiet for a while, "I don't want things to change between us," he said.

You badly wanted to ask him what exactly you two have. What you are to him? And what he takes you for?

"What are you talking about? We'll always be good friends," you remarked with a sweet smile.

A smile bloomed on his face, "yeah, of course, we'll always be good friends, right?"

You nodded even though he clearly drew the invisible line that you shouldn't cross.

He took a long sip of his coffee and gasped in satisfaction, "I'm writing a special article," he said.

"Yeah?"

He nodded, "yes, it's for the spring special-themed article," he replied.

You stirred your iced coffee with the straw, making the ice cubes clink against the glass.

"That's great, Minho!" You complimented him without looking at him.

"Can you help me with it?" He asked.

"I like it when we work together," he added.

You stirred and stirred, watched as the coffee made a swirl inside your glass.

"Please?"

You stopped stirring when the coffee was about to slosh out of the glass, "sure, I'd love to," you said.

There you go, making the same mistake over and over again, despite knowing that you would only get pain in return.

-

You were brushing your teeth when you saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

You got startled that you spat onto the sink, "coming back from whispering evil deeds into people?" You sneered at him then washed your mouth with running water.

He folded his hands and leaned against the door of your bathroom, "yes, and I should've told you to throw your iced coffee at him," he sneered back.

You got quiet, he wasn't only spying on your life but also knew what happened between you and the people around you.

You got on your bed and covered your body up to your chest with the duvet.

"That's it for the day?" He asked you.

"I'm going quietly," you reminded him with your back facing him.

He softly chuckled, "Goodnight!"

You didn't reply but the lingering silence got you curious if he was still there watching you sleep. You turned on your bed but he was already gone.

-

D-12

You haven't gotten to your desk yet when you got called to the editor's office, papers flying in your direction the moment you got in.

"You called this a piece of writing?" He asked you, the veins on his neck popped and strained in rage.

You opened your mouth to speak but he cut off you again with his shout, "do it all over again!"

You picked up the paper from the floor and took it with you back to the desk, you saw that this wasn't even your writing, it was someone else's but he had done it a handful of times, which means he wanted you to fix the writing and rewrite it again.

"Why does he always blame you for the mistakes others did?" Kim nagged with her head snapped at the editor's office.

You shrugged.

"Why didn't you say something?" She said with exasperation.

"You know it's useless," you responded while stacking the paper by its order.

She heavily sighed but didn't say anything back because she also knew that the editor is a really stubborn piece of work.

You spaced out while clutching your locket on your chest, feeling the ticking with every breath you took.

You could feel every second without needing to open the locket.

Tick, tick, tick.

"I knew that you'll be here," Minho said as he found you waiting for the coffee machine done making the coffee.

You turned on your heels, "yes, hi," you nervously answered.

"Have you got your coffee yet? I want to show you something," he said.

You nodded and collected your mug filled with freshly made coffee, "yes."

He took you to his desk and showed you the article he was writing for the spring-themed article, you scanned the words but the lines kept slipping off your mind, unable to focus.

"Yes, it's good," you said to him.

"Are you sure?"

"Uhm..." you hummed in confusion, your hand flew to your temple but nothing came to mind.

"I'm sorry, I can't seem to focus," you gave up trying and apologized.

He smiled at you, "it's okay, we can work on it some other time," he assured you.

You smiled back at him and took your mug with you, "sorry," you muttered.

"Let's have lunch together!" He suggested again, stopping you on your track.

"I can't. I have a doctor's appointment," you told him and it felt good on rejecting him without having to lie.

"Oh? Okay," he replied.

You didn't have a doctor's appointment but the doctor kept on calling you to come to the hospital, probably his last endeavor to convince you to get treatment.

And you were right, "I have thought it over like you asked and my decision is final, I will not get treatments," you sternly told him.

He sighed in defeat, pulled his drawer open, and placed a brochure right in front of you.

"Will you at least consider coming to this?" He asked.

You could tell that the brochure was a support group for cancer patients and survivors. It was a hard pass but to put an ease on the doctor's mind, you smiled and said, "maybe I will," you answered.

You were reading a children's book for you to review when he came, reading the title of the book out loud, "Chase the end of the rainbow," he recited, then chuckled.

"There is literally nothing at the end of the rainbow," he sneered then plopped down on the single sofa.

"It's just rain and puddles," he added then put his long legs on the coffee table.

You lowered the book enough to look at him, "did you make anyone cry today?" You playfully asked.

"I broke the ice cream machine again," he bragged, "I think yes, a few people cried."

"How fun!" You exclaimed with fake enthusiasm then flipped the page of the book.

He watched you reading the book, then got curious about it, he sat next to you and leaned so close to you so he could read it too.

You could smell the faint of his natural scent, of something strong, a bit musk and smokey. You turned your head just enough to see him, the side profile of his perfectly sculpted face and its facial features that complement each other.

He is so beautiful, it didn't make sense to you.

You shut the book and gave it to him, "you can read it," you said to him then went to your bedroom.

"Goodnight!" He shouted to you before you shut your bedroom door.

-

D-11

"Hey, you haven't sent me the name of the shop for that beautiful necklace," Kim said as she placed a cup of iced coffee on your desk.

You faked an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I forgot," you muttered.

"Thanks for the coffee!" You added and took a sip.

Kim leaned at your computer screen to read the article you were writing and read it loud enough for both of you, she sighed when she came to the end of the paragraph.

"Sometimes I wonder why you're stuck here with me," she mumbled with a hand on her waist.

"You're literally wasting your talent here," she said with a hand on your shoulder.

You could only smile at her but you were sure that a new job wouldn't make a difference anyway. The tumor would still be there in your brain and you still be as miserable as you were here so what's the point?

You were waiting for the elevator to arrive when Minho took your hand and grinned when you looked at him.

"Have lunch with me!" He said while shaking your hand.

You turned your head at Kim, "I'm going with Kim," you said.

Minho looked at her, "mind if I borrow her for today?" He sweetly asked.

Kim uneasily glanced at you and caught the signals you threw at her with your eyes, but she said the opposite thing, "sure."

Minho always looked more relaxed when her girlfriend isn't around, she was having a meeting outside of the office and that was also why he bravely took you out for a lunch.

"You don't like it?" He asked.

"I'm not that hungry," you replied. You've been eating your food little by little. It comes as no surprise that losing your appetite is also a side effect of dying.

He looked at you with his head slightly tipped to the side, "you look a little pale," he said.

You took a sip of water, "I've been having trouble sleeping," you said but didn't tell him it was because of the migraine that kept you awake.

He reached for your face and pressed the back of his hand, checking your temperature, "you're a bit warm," he said.

You put his hand away from your face and gently put it down on the table, "I'm okay. I'm alright," you assured him.

He doubted you but nodded, continued eating his food, and shifted the conversation elsewhere.

"Remember the second year of college? That time we got on the back of the pick-up truck with the stage props, it was raining and we were both sick with flu the next day," he was talking with a smile on his face like the memory was so vivid to him.

Yes, those days were the happiest because it was so much simpler back then. It was just you and him stressing over college and nothing else. There was little responsibility, no articles to write, there was no girlfriend who keeps him on a leash and you didn't know that there was a tumor growing in your brain.

"You were sick but you insisted on taking care of me," he suddenly got all serious.

You gripped the fork in your hand tighter because why did he take you on an unwanted trip down memory lane? Shouldn't he know that those memories would only be nothing more than just memories? Soon he'd be forgetting all about it as he makes new ones with his dear fiancé.

"I'm finished," you said, putting down your cutlery and sliding the plate aside.

"I'll take care of the bill!" You announced because you needed to be as far away as possible from him.

He grabbed you by the elbow, "I'll do it!"

"No, you finish your meal! I have to go to the restroom anyway," you said with a thin smile and put his hand away.

On the way back to the office, Minho talked about the article he was writing but your mind was elsewhere, drifting here and there.

"So, what do you think?" Minho asked.

"Mmh?"

He cracked a laugh, "you weren't listening," he meekly said.

You shoved your hands into your coat pockets, "I'm sorry."

"Have a lot in your head?"

Aside from the tumor? You asked in your head.

"Not really," you answered.

He pushed the door open and held it open for you.

"Shouldn't you have a lot in your head?" You asked back.

He scanned his ID card before entering the building, "what do you mean?"

"You know with the engagement and everything," you casually said.

You didn't mean to but he was the one who started talking about those days when in reality, those days are over and he should be worrying about the accidental engagement.

Minho got quiet but strangely, you didn't feel bad at all. The sound of the elevator dinging open saved Minho from the question and you both got into the elevator.

Right before the doors slid shut, you caught a red-haired man smiling at you from afar, so sinister like a Chesire cat.

Out of reflex, you clutched the locket on your necklace and felt the needles counting down the seconds of your life.

Tick, tick, tick.

"You have 11... uh no wait, 10 days more to live and your plan is to finish your favorite TV series," Hyunjin said as he plopped down on the sofa next to you and took a handful of popcorn from the bowl.

"Did you happen to whisper any evil things into my ear?"

His eyebrows knitted together, "where?"

"At the office."

"When?"

"A little after lunch."

He shook his head, "not sure," he vaguely answered and filled his mouth full of popcorn.

You looked at him and observed him, trying to figure him out.

He grabbed your chin, then turned your head to face the TV.

"If you're the devil that means you've been to hell?" You asked out of the blue.

"You make it sound like going to hell is a hospital visit," he said and slumped on the sofa.

"So?"

"I came from hell."

"You were born there?"

He shrugged and took another handful of popcorn.

"Is it really that hot?" You asked out of pure curiosity and did everyone a favor for asking it.

"You'll find out soon," he shortly replied.

You pouted but despite the disappointing answers, your curiosity remained the same.

"Do you mingle with humans?"

He leered at you, "mingle?"

"You know, have a relationship with human..." your words trailed off, again, this was out of pure curiosity.

"Like us?" he pointed to both you and him.

You snorted, "what we have is a business deal."

"Like you and Minho then?" He teased.

You grimaced, "pfft... I hope not."

He chuckled and tugged a popcorn between his teeth, "why are you so curious?"

You put the bowl of popcorn onto his lap so hard sending some of it falling onto the floor, "You know everything about my life but I don't know anything about you and I'm going to die in 10 days, so please, entertain this dying lady," you complained.

He gently placed a hand on your elbow and it felt hot but bearable, "no need to be that hopeless," he playfully said.

You glared at him.

"The answer is yes," he finally admitted.

That intrigued you, so he did mingle with humans and your focus next was to figure out what kind of relationship he's into.

"How?"

"How?"

You nodded.

"I don't think there are that many differences in how I have sex with how humans have sex," he casually said.

"Oh?" His answer took you aback.

"Oh!" You said again when it finally registered to you. So, it was all just physical to him. You didn't know why you expect more in the first place?

"What? You think I want to be romantically involved with the mortals?" He asked with a condescending smirk.

The way he said 'mortals' made it sound like humans are pathetic creatures just like how humans think of worms.

"Who knows?" You said with a shrug but deep down, you wished that he got karma for saying that.

He sighed and took the remote, replaying the episode from the beginning.

"Hey, I was watching that!" You said and tried to snatch the remote back from him.

"Be honest, you didn't watch any of it because you kept asking me questions," he said and hid the remote behind his back.

"How mature of you!" You sneered.

He stuck his tongue out at you in response.

You shook your head in disbelief that this entity sitting next to you is the devil and he came from hell.

-

D-10

You've been busy trying to finish an article since this afternoon and it seemed like you have to work overtime.

As soon as you finished and submitted it, your editor gave you another one to rewrite.

When you came back to your desk, Minho was there sitting on your desk and playing with your stress ball.

"Why are you here?" You asked and you didn't mean to be brash. It was just that everyone in the office already left and you were stuck there to pick up after someone's mess

If Minho wanted to remember the good old days with you, he should know that this wasn't the right time for it.

"I saw that your bag and coat are still here," he answered and got off your desk.

"I'm busy. I have to finish another article today," you simply said and hoping that he'd just leave you alone.

"Do you need help?"

"I'll handle it myself," you refused with a thin smile.

"Sure. I'm sure you can handle it well," he said but he seemed rather disappointed by the answer.

He smacked his lips together then he put a small paper bag on your desk, "this is for you!"

He slid the paper bag until it was right in front of you, "you said you have trouble sleeping so I bought you some chamomile tea and I think there are other kinds of tea too inside—"

He always does this, putting you on a pedestal, raising your hope and when you thought you stacked your hope high enough to reach him, he knocked it all down.

Over and over and over again and the end is always the same, he left you alone to pick up the pieces.

"You don't like it?" He asked since you got really quiet.

"I like it, thanks. But just stop," you replied and pushed the paper bag back to him.

"I bought it for you," he said and pushed it back to you.

You looked at him right in the eyes, "no. I want you to stop doing anything nice!" You enunciated every word so he heard you loud and clear.

He looked rather confused by what you said and cracked a laugh, "Why?"

"I just need you to stop being nice to me unless you're going to be with me," you dared to hold eye contact with him.

He cracked another laugh, probably thinking you were playing with him.

"You think I'm being funny?"

His laugh died down and his face turned serious.

"See? You can't keep being nice to me and I can't keep pretending that this is something that it's not!" You told him.

Since half of it already spilled out of your mouth, the rest would have to come out as well.

"We've been friends for years. You know me, you know who I am," your voice quivering because it hurts letting these words out of your chest, "you either want to be with me or not."

Minho opened his mouth to speak but close it again, when he managed to say something, he was stammering, "we're friends and I don't want to make it complicated—"

How dare he said all that when he's the one who had been playing with your feelings and made things complicated!

"Bullshit!" You cut him off midsentence, "it's just bullshit!"

It seemed like you just spat acid at him that he stood there with his feet nailed to the floor.

"Where is this coming from?" He probably couldn't believe that his friend who's always said yes to everything he said holding this much anger inside of her.

"From the place I've been hiding from you for about three years," it was painful to admit how miserable you were pining for him for the last three years.

"Three years because I haven't wanted to seem demanding and I haven't wanted to seem needy or pathetic or… whatever!"

The tears rolled down your cheeks and you wiped them with your knuckle, "so, I haven't asked you."

You stared into his eyes again, wide and surprised at your confession.

"But I..." the tears caught in your throat the more you tried to fight them, "I have to. I mean..."

Despite having an inkling of what his answer would be, you gave him another chance by asking him the only question he needed to answer once and for all.

"Do you want to be with me?"

From the silence that Minho let it went on too long, you knew what the answer is. It was exactly like you had predicted and he didn't need to say it out loud, you knew.

Tears streamed down your face and you looked down at your lap, hiding your sadness from him.

You quickly recovered, wiping your wet cheeks with the back of your hand, and looked at him again.

At that moment, you decided that it was time to put an end to this.

"I can't do this anymore, Minho."

You left him and went someplace to cry by yourself, consoled yourself with the fact that you can start letting him go. Years of loving him only brought you tears and pain.

Minho left the paper bag on your desk and you shoved it inside your drawer and started working on the second article before it got really late.

"Before you go home, can you do another one?" Your editor asked as you've just submitted the article.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir!"

His forehead creased, unamused by your answer, "what are you talking about?"

As you worked by yourself at your desk while crying from breaking up with someone who's not even your boyfriend, Kim's words replayed in the back of your head. She spoke the truth that day, that you've been wasting your talent here and no one even had an ounce of respect for you in there.

And you came to a decision to, "I quit," you said and handed him the freshly printed resignation letter.

"Thank you for these past..." you paused to think of a word to describe your experience of working in this office and none came to mind except negative words.

"...wonderful years, sir!" You decided to end it with a nice note because you weren't the same with them but you didn't wait for his approval.

You let out a big sigh when you got out of his office, packed your things, and left.

You used to think that losing a job is a frightening thing but after you did it, it wasn't that bad at all. The world is still spinning and the sky isn't falling down on you. If anything, you have fewer things to worry about.

You sat on the balcony with a blanket wrapped around you, looking out at the view and the night sky.

Funny that you missed having Hyunjin around when all he does is annoy you.

This empty space only made you think of what happened that day, with you and Minho, and how things ended.

Maybe you were selfish for wanting him but he has no right to toy with your feelings, maybe you did ruin years of friendship but it felt so right.

Yet you were crying as you curled up on the bed and the tears seeped into your pillow.

A part of you was glad that Hyunjin wasn't there. You could imagine him making fun of you for looking so miserable on your last days on earth.

-

D-9

You forgot that you're unemployed, you woke up, showered, and cooked breakfast then when it hits you that you didn't have to go to work, you have no idea what to do next.

You might be dying but how could you forget being a normal person?

You ended up watching TV and ate the endless supply of tangerines your mom secretly put in your fridge. You napped and ordered lunch, watched some more TV, read some news on the internet, ate some more tangerines, and tried to cook yourself dinner.

You gave up when you couldn't find anything in your fridge. Your mom is right, it was an alarming thing to see an empty fridge.

"How do you like your unemployment?" Hyunjin appeared when you closed the fridge.

You sighed and took your phone, scrolling down the list of restaurants to order your dinner. "Fantastic!" You replied but with a deadpan.

He leaned on the kitchen island and looked at your phone screen, "Let's have some meat for dinner!"

You tipped your phone and got it out of his sight, continued scrolling.

When the food came, you spread them on the table in the living room and sat on the floor. You treated yourself to a big dinner since it was your first day of unemployment. From the amount of food you ordered, they put in three pairs of chopsticks and Hyunjin successfully secured a pair.

"You can't finish all this food by yourself," he said with squinted eyes then tore open the paper wrapper with his teeth.

You ignored him and started opening the lids, sending the mouth-watering smell wafting around the room. You slapped Hyunjin's hand as he went straight for the sliced meat.

You hissed, reminding him who had the right to eat it first since you bought it and doing so with a smirk on your face while he waited for you to finish, tugging the end of the chopsticks between his teeth.

"Can I have it now?" He asked.

Something about him reminded you of that naughty kid you knew in kindergarten, who liked to scare you by holding a caterpillar close to your face with a stick. He's annoying but in the most childish way and that was strange when you remembered that he came from hell.

"You were so cool yesterday," he said with a mouth full of rice but managed to put on a proud grin at you.

You continued eating but listened intently to what he said with stuffed cheeks.

"Breaking up with Minho," he continued.

"Oh wait, is it called breaking up even though you're not dating?"

You stabbed a piece of omelet with your chopsticks and ate it in one bite.

"I think you're the coolest when you..." he put down his chopstick and demonstrated how you slammed the resignation letter on your boss's desk.

"That's so badass!" He added in awe.

You couldn't remember the last time someone complimented you and how nice it feels, you didn't want to show him that so you suppressed your laugh by stuffing your mouth with more food.

"But winter isn't really a good time to quit your job you know," he continued, "I heard you spend more money during the winter because of gas, electricity..."

You blocked his chopsticks from taking more food and put them away, glaring at him.

He grinned at you with apologetic eyes, "I mean... why don't you get another job?"

"Why should I?" You simply asked.

He shrugged, "you have that thing called what... ambition or something like that."

"I'm not that ambitious," you said and it was true, you have enough from living day to day.

"If a painter dreams of having their paintings hung in the Louvre then a writer like you must have dreamed of seeing your writing somewhere, right?" He asked again.

It took you back to when you were in college and thinking of getting a job as a writer. You did the internship intending to fill in your resume and what happened years after that, let's say you were foolish enough for following a man and not your dream. You do have one and it is to write for the Daily K newspaper.

"I do," you answered.

He pointed his chopsticks at you, "Why don't you try to apply for a job there?"

You took a sip of water and thought why do you bother trying, it's a shot in the dark.

"I only have to live for a few more days anyway," you answered with a shrug.

"That's the point! You only have a few more days to live so you have nothing to lose, right?" He was talking but his eyes were looking at the last piece of meat and he knew that you noticed.

When you thought about it again then yes, you have nothing to lose. You can apply for a job and whether you got accepted or not, it wouldn't hurt since you'll be leaving the world forever.

You pushed the plate with the last piece of meat at him.

A smile rose on his face with his eyes formed two crescent moons.

How long was it since the last time you updated your resume? It was a long time ago that you couldn't remember it and you've been staring at your laptop screen, didn't know what to do with it.

"Shouldn't you be like... write something about yourself?" Hyunjin said, lying on the sofa and flicking the channels on the TV while you sat on the carpeted floor.

"Yeah sure, my bleak life story would make them hire me," you sneered and propped a hand under your chin, still trying to come up with something to write.

"Maybe all you need is a shot of courage!" Hyunjin said.

You looked over your shoulder but he was no longer on the sofa, he was there in the kitchen holding a bottle of tequila at you.

"No thanks!" You turned down his idea straight away and looked back at your laptop, still having no idea what to write. "Where did you find it though?"

He uncapped the bottle, "it was hidden under the sink," he said and poured himself a shot of tequila.

Ah, you remembered that's where you hide your alcohol just in case your mom is coming unannounced and doing an inspection around your place.

He hissed after taking a shot and looked at you, "you sure you don't want it?"

"Nah."

"To relax the nerves?" He persuaded you once more and shook the bottle at you, his red hair looking like a swaying flame under the fluorescent light.

It was really tempting and you really did need a shot of courage, "I can't do this sober anyway," you finally caved in.

Hyunjin brought the bottle and two shot glasses to the living room with a grin on his face. He initiated a toast, raising his shot glass in the air, and said, "To cursed life!"

You clank your drink with his and meekly repeated his words, "To cursed life!"

You were too confident in yourself and could handle the alcohol well since you had a big dinner earlier. Somehow, your brain worked after a few shots and your fingers started typing nonstop. When you were done, you read it out loud to Hyunjin and asked for his opinions.

"Booooooring!" He booed, stacking his hands together and putting his chin on top.

"You should write it how you would write an article for them," he said, his plush lips red and puckered.

"Can you even get drunk?"

He closed his eyes, then grinned, "No."

You scoffed and started writing again while Hyunjin refilled both of your glasses with more alcohol. He really is the goddamn devil that you couldn't keep track of how many shots you have taken. It was blurry from there, your fingers didn't feel like they were typing but you saw how the page slowly filled with words.

You remembered reading it to him after and he laughed. You didn't know what was so funny about all this but you laughed to the point that you almost spit your drink. You both huddled in front of your laptop together and drank more tequila straight from the bottle in turns.

"This is it!" He said.

"I don't know. This sounds... so..."

"Out of this world?"

You laughed.

"Send it!"

You moved the cursor to the send button.

Hyunjin brought his mouth close to your ear, "hit the send button!"

You shivered, "oh, the devil's whisper!"

"Hit it!" He said right into your ear, a little louder.

You pushed him away while giggling and covered your ears, "okay, okay!"

You squinted your eyes with your finger only an inch away from clicking, sending in your resume through an email.

When you opened your eyes, there was a pop-up notification that the email has been sent.

"Oh fuck!" You sighed and lay yourself down on the carpeted floor.

Hyunjin lay there next to you, "see? It's not that hard!"

You stared at the ceiling with your eyes started drooping, "I'm so tired."

"You should go to bed it's cold in here," Hyunjin nudged your shoulder with his.

But it felt comfortable and you could barely keep your eyes open anymore.

"I'm sleepy," you whined.

"It's cold!" He grumbled.

Without opening your eyes, you grabbed his arm and held it close. His body heat was enough to keep you warm.

"It's warm now," you slurred and started to slowly drift into sleep.

-

D-8

You woke up with a cold sweat and fumble to get off the bed, then reality hits you like a bucket of cold water.

"Fuck, I keep forgetting that I'm unemployed," you groaned and went back to sleep.

You woke up after a few more hours of sleep and ordered lunch right away. Ignoring the mess from last night, an empty bottle of tequila, the dirty dishes on the table, and your laptop died from running out of battery.

Your head was pounding but you knew that it was not the usual migraine, it was the hangover.

You took a shower next, trying to get rid of the alcohol stinks, and washed the hangover away.

You felt a little better in the afternoon but your stomach still felt a little sick. You opened the fridge to only groan at how empty it was except for the bottles of water and a half box of tangerines.

You rummaged through the box of your office stuff and found the paper bag Minho gave to you that day. There were boxes of different kinds of teas inside with the name of the tea and what it's good for written on each box.

Putting your pride aside and making yourself a cup of chamomile tea, the smell of it instantly relaxed you.

"Make a cup for me too!" Hyunjin said, lying on the sofa with his hands under his head.

"Make one yourself!" You said and took a small sip of your tea.

"I feel like dying here!" He whined while lying sideways on the sofa like he was posing for a photoshoot.

"No offense," he quickly added at the end of the sentence.

You took another sip and felt better already, or you suggested to your brain that it was working on you.

"None taken!" You plainly answered.

He got up from the sofa and stretched out his long arms, his red hair messy on the back, "what's for dinner?"

That reminded you to start looking at restaurant menus, went to your bedroom to get your phone, and saw two missed calls from Kim.

You were about to hit a call back when the doorbell rang.

"Is that the food?" Hyunjin asked from the living room.

You got out of the bedroom while holding your phone, "I haven't ordered yet," you answered.

You came to the door and opened it, got stunned at the person behind it.

He was the last person you wanted to see but there he was, standing in front of you, Minho.

"Can I come in?" He asked with a smile.

You let him in because it's basic etiquette, you wanted to be polite, nothing more than that.

Hyunjin was already gone when you got back inside but Minho saw the paper bag he gave you on the kitchen island.

"You were having tea?" He asked.

You didn't want to give him the satisfaction that you cherished the things he gifted for you but it was too late to hide it. You decided to play coy, "you want one?"

"Yes, please!"

You went behind the kitchen island and made him a cup of tea, doing it to ignore looking him in the eyes because you knew what those eyes can do to you.

You kept doing it when you served the steaming hot cup of tea to him.

"Thank you," he muttered but didn't take a seat on the chair.

You stood there next to the dining table, suddenly feeling like you were the one visiting his house and not the other way around.

"You are eventually going to look at me, aren't you?" He asked.

So he noticed that you've been trying to avoid them, you took a deep breath to finally look him in the eyes. There was a part of you that was glad of seeing him again and you hated yourself for it.

"I came here because I had to see you," he began, taking out the hands that has been deep inside his jeans pockets.

"Had to," he emphasized.

And that part has taken a bigger part of you the longer you stared into his eyes.

"I just don't understand this," you said.

You put your hand on the table for support as you felt like you were about to crumble down all over again.

"I mean... I was right there for years, remember?"

Even the soothing smell of the tea didn't work on relaxing you anymore.

"'This was a mistake' that's what you said to me once, that we weren't right for each other."

He looked a bit perplexed, lost in your words. "Well, I don't remember that," he innocently said.

Unlike you, he wouldn't remember saying that but you remembered how and when he said it, how those three words stuck with you ever since.

He took a step closer and placed a hand on yours, "I just know that I hated when you're gone."

He held your gaze before continuing to talk, "I kept looking at your desk at work and it was driving me crazy that I wasn't hearing from you."

He puts his forehead on yours and sighed in relief as he has just found a haven, "I don't want to lose you."

You were on the verge of plunging into another heartbreak but at the same time, couldn't say no to the thrill, "Oh... Minho," you said so hopelessly. And you hated yourself for letting him get to you, holding you by your neck, and winning your heart all over again.

"Come here," he held your face in your hands and leaned in, putting his lips on you, tearing down your guard like it was nothing but a mere warning sign.

Here you were, letting him take you to your bed and kiss all of your doubts away.

The shape of his body fits you perfectly as he lay there next to you and held you close, if this was a mistake then why it feels so right?

You pulled away to catch a breath and looked at him again to confirm that you weren't imagining it.

"I'm taking a long break at the end of the year," he said.

His hand splayed on your back with his thumb teasing the hem of your t-shirt, "I was thinking we can go on a trip together," he came up with the plan out of the blue.

"Somewhere warm with good food. Somewhere where I can see you wearing that red swimsuit I gave you," he added and pecked your lips. He once gave you a pair of swimsuits on your birthday since you planned on taking a summer vacation but the trip was canceled because your father got sick.

"What do you think?" He asked.

The invite came too suddenly and the end of the year was a month away, you only have a week in your life but sure, a trip with him, anywhere it is would be nice.

"It sounds great," you replied.

He puts a strand of hair away from your face before placing a gentle kiss.

"Do you mean that? I mean, are you free to do that?" You asked because you still couldn't process this, him coming and he made out with you on your bed, then asking you to come on a trip with him.

"Well, I came here to see you. I'm here now," he said and pecked your lips again.

You got a little uneasy from his vague answer and jerked your head back, "that didn't exactly answer my question."

You propped your elbow against the mattress and put a space between you and him, "does this mean you're not engaged anymore? I mean, you come here to tell me that, right?"

Minho sighed with his eyes closed and placed a hand on your shoulder, "I wish you could just accept knowing how confused I am about all this."

You shrugged his hand off your shoulder, "so you are still engaged?"

He took a second, "yes, but—"

"Oh my God!" You groaned and couldn't be faster to get off the bed, you stumbled to stand on your feet.

Minho fumbled to get up as well and sat on the edge of the bed.

"You were right about us... this was a mistake," you meekly said.

"You didn't mean that," he refused to believe you said that.

You raked your hair and tried to gather your thoughts, "I'm about three years late in telling you this but Minho, you broke my heart so many times."

You held yourself back from snapping at him by taking a deep breath, "and you acted like somehow it was my fault, my misunderstanding, and I was too in love with you to ever be mad at you. So I just punished myself for years!"

"No, I didn't—"

You didn't want to give him a chance to interrupt you so you kept going, "then you came here and told me that you don't want to lose me whilst you're still engaged to someone," you spat the fact right at his face.

It had been like that for years but that was the first time that everything became clear to you.

"It's over, Minho," you said.

He grabbed your hands and opened his mouth to speak.

You shook your head and let go of his hands, "I'm done being in love with you."

You went out of the bedroom and took his coat from the sofa, then walked to the threshold knowing that he'll follow you there.

"What's going into you?" Minho asked and it was his usual card trick that is playing the victim again.

"A realization that I've got a life to start living and you're not going to be in it, that's what got into me," you answered, handed him his coat, and opened the door for him.

He took a long, hard look at you with eyes that always work to soften your edges but it seemed like the magic has worn off.

You showed his way out with your hand and stared at him with hatred in your eyes.

There was an intense staring contest happening for a while until he reluctantly took his coat and stepped out of the door, turning around to see you for one last time.

Before he could say anything, you got ahead of him and said, "Goodbye!"

You shut the door right in his face, walked back to the living room, and lay down on the sofa. You planted your face into a cushion then screamed at the top of your lungs. You kept doing it until you ran out of breath and your throat burned dry.

"Fucking asshole," you cursed when you got up from the sofa, then started pacing around the house trying to burn the rage inside you.

"Shit! Fucking asshole! What a fucking jerk! Fuck! Argh!!!" You took the cushion and started squeezing it until it turned misshapen.

"Maybe you should make a new cup of tea!" Hyunjin said from the kitchen, leaning against the counter and sipping his tea.

"That goddamn tea!" You grumbled through your gritted teeth and shoved the tea back into the paper bag, throwing the whole thing into the trash bin.

"You can have mine then!" He offered.

You couldn't stay still, you kept pacing around with your hands balled into fists and ready to throw a punch if you have to, "argh... I have to—"

You have so much rage inside you but didn't know how to let it out, "I want to break things and scream and punch something without worrying my neighbors."

"Or maybe sit down and have a glass of water," Hyunjin suggested but doing it so calmly because he enjoyed the sight.

"I swear if I don't get it out, I'm going to fucking explode," you angrily told him with clenched jaws.

You got your coat and headed out of the door, walking aimlessly while carrying your rage inside your chest.

You ended up in a batting cage, you just wanted to tire yourself out with physical stuff and hope the rage would die down eventually.

You don't know how to play baseball but you kept batting the ball so hard and loud that it made a ringing sound and when the pitching machine stopped.

You turned at Hyunjin, "again!" You said, signaling him to put the coin into the machine.

You kept playing until there was no energy left in you and your palms were blistering from gripping the bat so hard and shaking since you didn't have dinner yet.

"Here!" Hyunjin said, handing you cold cans of beer.

You took them and held them in your hands to soothe the blisters, sighing at how good they felt.

Hyunjin opened a can for himself and started drinking, "feel better now?"

The exhaustion did work to make you forget that you were mad but it was still there, you could feel it in the pit of your stomach.

You opened a can in your hands and took a long gulp, gasping when you swallowed it all down.

"You know, he's the first and the only person I have had sex with," you blurted out.

You stared at the night sky and there was no stars or moon, only the vast darkness.

"And that's when he said it..."

You turned at Hyunjin and his red hair looking like cotton candy under the bright neon lights.

"This was a mistake," you enunciated the words one by one with a feeling like someone squeezed your heart dry when you said it.

"Since then I kept asking myself. Was it the sex? Was I not attractive enough? Was it my body? Was it me?" you rubbed your temple and sniffled, either from the cold or you were about to cry.

"A girl like me just couldn't forget such words," you said and took a small sip of your beer, you wiped the drop that escaped the corner of your mouth.

"I told him about it earlier and he said he couldn't remember saying that to me," you said in disbelief with creases on your forehead.

Tears just rolled down your cheeks like a bursting dam and you couldn't fight them but let them flood.

"How could I love such a man for three goddamn years?" You croaked and rested your forehead on Hyunjin's shoulder, closing your eyes and crying.

“I’m so fucking stupid,” you cursed yourself with a lot of regrets woven in your words.

Hyunjin put his arm around you and pulled you closer, letting you bury your head in his chest, helping you hide your sadness from the world. He kept quiet and calmly drank his beer, listening to your crying while sitting together on a bench outside a convenience store.

Your tears seeped into his clothes but in return, you felt the warmth of his embrace.

He let out a long sigh and said, "Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur."

He spoke Latin like he was a native and it sounded so beautiful coming out of his mouth, not to mention his gorgeous lips that are as red as his hair.

"Even God finds it hard to love and be wise at the same time," he translated it.

It was surprising that it was coming from him, the last person you ever wanted to hear words of comfort from yet here he was, resting his head against yours and kept shielding you from the cold, the heartbreak, and the world. 

-

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[maimurariki]

𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Synopsis: you wake up in a dream, a rather eerie dream. There was a boy, a boy that just seemed so familiar to you, but you don’t know why….

Pairing: ni-ki x fem!reader

you woke up in a forest, the sun peaking through the leaves in the trees up high. You were barefoot, wearing some sort of white babydoll dress? You didn’t know what was happening. but something in your head was telling you to get up and go explore whatever this place was.

You stood up and looked around, looking down seeing a white bunny at your foot. You looked back up and suddenly saw a tall boy with black hair standing in front of you. Startled, you fell right back on your butt, holding your chest

“the hell? Don’t just pop up in front of people like that! jeez I almost went into cardiac arrest…”

“sorry about that. I’m niki. What’s your name?” He asked, helping you back up.

“I’m y/n… are we the only ones here? It seems a little creepy…”

“Creepy? This place is peaceful. grab my hand. I’ll show you.”

after hours and hours of running all over the place, you were actually having fun in the dream. You both came to a stop, seeing a field full of dandelions. You both sat, talking to eachother.

“So… exactly how long have you been in here?”

“dunno… maybe since last week? I haven’t found a way out, nor do I plan to. Time doesn’t really exist here either. The sun comes and goes as it pleases. but when I wake up, everything is back to the real world. All noisy and stuff. I’m glad I get stuck here when I sleep”

“let’s hope I get stuck here too then. It seems fun here.”

Before you can utter anymore words, you suddenly woke up. Your mom had been calling your name for the past 10 minutes, telling you to come down for breakfast.

You went downstairs and sat at the table, your older sibling teasing you for waking up so late. Throwing a whack at the back of her head, you sat down at the table and began to eat.

“we have some new neighbors across the street, why don’t you guys help them move in after breakfast? Make new friends instead of staying inside the house all the time?”

your mom suggested, taking a sip of water. You thought it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It was summer, you and your older sister didn’t have jack to do. You ate your food and put your shoes on, going outside to help your new neighbors move in.

You were about to cross the street when you saw a familiar boy carrying a box with the name ‘niki’ labeled on it. your world came to a stop. That couldn’t have been the boy from the dream… right?

after helping them, your mother invited the new family over for dinner. You were done eating, so you just decided to sit in the trampoline out in your backyard, looking up at the constellations that flooded the sky. You felt the trampoline dip a little bit, your head turning to see who was next to you.

“I found a small lake in our little world. whad’ya say we go swimming tonight?”

*ೃ༄

[earthtooz]

𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗢𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗣

in which: there always seems to be a mistletoe above your head whenever todoroki's around...

warnings: 4k+ words, fluff, swearing, kissing, jokes of k*lling someone bc bakugou is there, bad writing :/

a/n: welcome to the first day of my xmas event! ofc bc todoroki is my ULTIMATE bias ☝️ i just needed to start off with him. enjoy!

˗ˏˋ XMAS MASTERLIST ´ˎ˗

“You idiot! I’ll kill you!” 

You stand idly by on the porch of Class A’s dorms, pitifully watching Kaminari getting chased by Bakugou, who has clear murderous intent for the electric boy as sparks erupt threateningly from his palms. The squeals and screams from both blonds have attracted a crowd of students, noting the way that Jirou and Sero both cackle with delight, their laughter from inside the dorm audible where they watch from the window, and Mina looks proud of herself standing beside you.

As the snow fell and temperatures began to drop, it indicated the beginning of the Christmas season. Meaning, Mina thought it would be a good idea to put up mistletoes where people least expect it around the dorms, and poor Kaminari was stuck with kissing Bakugou as his first victim. You watched in amusement and horror as the yellow-haired swiftly pecked Bakugou’s cheek before running away, and now, he was stuck in a never-ending chase until his head is blown off. 

“Is this a good idea?” You ask the acid user, concern lacing your expression.

“Oh absolutely! It’ll bring some excitement to our holiday season!” She responds. “Kaminari just got the short straw having to kiss Bakugou first! He won’t be the only one though, I guarantee it.”

You huff. “This is cruel.”

“I don’t think you’ll feel that way when I set you up with a certain boy,” she winks, causing you to choke on nothing, sputtering at her antics as you try to rack some sort of reply in your mind.

You regretted telling Mina about your crush on a certain classmate, and before you could stop her, her expression shows that she’s already setting something up, calculating a plan in that mind of hers

“C’mon, don’t do that to him, Mina. He wouldn’t want to kiss me,” you mutter, crossing your arms in defeat, a frown gracing your lips at your own misfortune. Just as Mina opens her mouth to deny your claim, a voice pops up behind you that almost sent you into cardiac arrest.

“Who wouldn’t want to kiss you?” 

“Hey Todoroki,” Mina greets, poking you in your ribs. “What’s up?”

“Hey Todoroki,” Mina greets, poking you in your ribs. “What’s up?”

“Hey Todoroki,” Mina greets, poking you in your ribs. “What’s up?”

“Dinner’s ready, I came to get you guys but it looks like Bakugou and Kaminari are busy, huh?”

“Busy trying to make a crime scene? Yeah, you could say that,” you quip sarcastically, trying to recover from your embarrassment of Todoroki almost discovering that you’d like to kiss him. On queue, Bakugou yells out a ferocious ‘die!’, paired with an explosion and Kaminari screaming. “We were waiting for Bakugou to calm down but I don’t think he will any time soon.”

Todoroki chuckles at your statement. “You’re right. What are they fighting about?”

“I hung up some mistletoes around the dorms and Denki had to kiss Bakugou. You can imagine how that went,” Mina looks proud of herself, despite the chaos that she’s responsible for. Kaminari has probably fit in a weeks worth of cardio training at this point, Bakugou too.

“Like, on the lips?” 

“No, just on the cheek.”

“And he got that mad?”

“Well, he’s always that mad,” you retort. Both your classmates agree with you. You finally step in when the explosive blond grabs Denki by the collar, effectively giving him whiplash before raising his heated palms to his friend’s face. “Bakugou, let Kaminari go already!”

“Hah?” Bakugou exclaims, his raspy voice echoing throughout the open space of your dorm’s garden as he lowers Denki to sag on the floor. “You wanna die?”

“It’s dinner time, twat,” you retort. “Can you continue your plans of murdering Denki after dinner?”

He growls, dropping your classmate into the snow before stomping over to the dorm entrance but not without sending you the stink eye. 

As he pushes past, Kaminari stumbles into your arms, sagging in relief as you struggle to hold up all of his body weight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he cries repetitively. Were those tears in his eyes?

“You’re welcome… everything okay?” 

“I thought I was about to be sent 6 feet underground.” 

Todoroki grabs the electric hero by both his arms and helps him stand upright from where you were struggling to hold him. There’s a little more force required in the way that he picks up Kaminari, and you’re almost shocked by how smoothly he does so. “It’s dinner time, you should go get some food.” 

If you looked a little closer, you would be able to see the presence of jealousy lingering in his eyes.

“You’re the man, Todoroki!” Your classmate sobs before leaning on Mina’s shoulder, actually breaking into tears this time. He’s chanting things that you can’t decipher, the pair leaving you and Todoroki alone outside.

The wind picks up, sending a chill down your spine as you tug on the sleeves of your sweater. “Let’s go inside too, I’m freezing.”

A hand on your wrist stops your advances and you turn around to meet Todoroki’s eyes, immediately becoming entranced in the grey and blue of his irises. The heat from his hand is enough to wither the cold that seeped into your bones. “What does Mina mean that she put mistletoes around the dorms?”

“Oh, she’s just hung them around the place. I don’t necessarily know why but I guess it’s a part of the festive spirit?”

“How many of them?” 

“Well, it is Mina so my guess could be twenty to a thousand,” you murmur. “I don’t care to find out.”

Todoroki’s face is unchanging, but you feel like he’s scheming something. He always is in that brilliant mind of his, but you don’t enjoy the churning of your gut that tells you you’re going to be involved somehow. What business could he have with a mistletoe? Is he planning something on a classmate? Someone he’s interested in perhaps?

Thinking about it brings a frown to your face so you pull your hand out of Todoroki’s grasp and head back inside for a little relief from an unpleasant feeling that plagued your body; a sensation that didn’t exist solely because of the cold.

A few days later, Mina would strike, starting a series of fortunate, but also, very embarrassing events.

“Morning, Y/N!” Uraraka greets when you appear in the common area. Having just brushed your teeth and done your morning routine, you feel rejuvenated when greeting your friends. Asui pops her head over the couch at your entrance and waves.

“Good morning. How did you both sleep?” You ask, walking over to where she was sitting on the couches and jumping over the back to sit down. 

“Great! Tsuyu and I are planning some things for the Christmas dorm party. Care to join us?”

“I’d love to, what’re you doing?”

The amphibian-like hero turns her laptop around so its screen was displayed at you. You take note of the decoration site that she was currently scrolling through. More specifically, the seemingly endless flow of plastic Christmas trees that this website provided.

“I thought we already had one?”

“We don’t, not until the boys broke and it ended up in flames,” Asui reminds you and you laugh at the memory of the poor Christmas tree you had last year. Somehow, Kirishima managed to push Denki to crash into it and then all the lights malfunctioned, burning the branches a little, but since the tree was near a lit fireplace, one thing turned into another and marked the end of Class A’s Christmas Party for second year. It definitely wasn’t funny at the time when Aizawa had to reprimand the lot of them, but it definitely is something to chuckle at now.

Core memories with Class A.

“I guess they did, huh?” You sigh. “To be fair, they can break the one this year because it’s our last Christmas celebration at U.A.”

“Don’t remind us!” Ochako slaps your shoulder quite firmly and you slip out a little ‘ouch’ from the impact. “I’m gonna cry again!”

“Please don’t cry,” the green-haired commands.

“Hey, I have an idea that we can do for the Christmas tree!” You pipe up, raising your pointer finger to the ceiling, mimicking an ‘eureka’ position. “We should order some Christmas balls and get art supplies so everyone in the class can customise one and put it on the tree!”

Both of them light up at your suggestion, nodding in agreement.

After a few more discussions over the logistics and decorations of the party, your stomach grumbles in protest, reminding you that you hadn’t eaten breakfast since getting up. Asui about sends you off to the kitchen, banning you from contributing any more until you’ve had food.

As you’re halfway through cutting some fruit for a bowl of cereal when a familiar, deep voice breaks the silence of the kitchen.

“Good morning, L/N.”

You almost jump from shock, tightening your grip on the knife before turning around to see who the perpetrator was.

“Oh, hello Todoroki! Did you just wake up?”

“Yeah, slept in a little longer than I would have liked. Midoriya and Iida were supposed to wake me up to go for a run but they didn’t follow through with their promise,” he complains.

“To be fair, you sleep like a log,” you comment, turning around to resume cutting the fruits. The half-and-half takes his place by your side, watching you. Suddenly the knife handle feels slippery.

“I do not.”

“You do! We literally had a competition at training camp to see who could wake you up and it took seven people!”

He grunts, rubbing his eye. “No one comes between me and my slumber.”

You chuckle, letting silence engulf the atmosphere momentarily as you walk over to the pantry. You pretend to not see him snag a slice of banana, popping it in his mouth before you can miss it too much.

“What’re you gonna make for breakfast?”

“I might just boil some eggs and have miso soup.”

“That sounds good. Nice and warm for the morning.”

“I’m happy to share.”

You shake your head, rejecting his offer. “No, it’s okay thank you. I am going to make some barley tea though, would you like some of that?”

He nods and for the next few minutes, you both operate in silence, nothing but the sound of kitchen appliances operating filling the air. You pour four cups of tea, two for you and Todoroki, and two for the two classmates you were just talking to.

You leave the kettle out for everyone though and by the time you were done plating the add-ons to your cereal, Todoroki had heated up his miso soup and finished boiling his eggs.

“Would you like to eat together?” He asks, gesturing to the dining table near the kitchen counter.

Your heart flutters, flattered that Todoroki didn’t mind spending time with you one-on-one. It’s uncommon for him to spend time with another alone; whenever you see him he was always in at least a group of three or by himself in content solitude. Settling in seats beside each other, you both discuss weightless conversations with no depth behind them, but you adore his presence regardless, satisfied with any chance to spend some time with him.

As the food in your plates lessens to zero, you begrudgingly rise to end your conversation and put the dishes in the sink. After breakfast was when you had your morning stretching session before going into quirk and strength training, then you had to finish off your assignments because even though homework was the last thing you want to do, Present Mic is quite terrifying when he puts you on the spot during English lessons.

But, before you could walk away, a hand pulls at your shirt, capturing your attention.

Glancing at your classmate in confusion, he answers any questions you had by pointing to the ceiling, where, to your horror, hangs a beautifully innocent mistletoe that you know was not there before. Judging by the ripped edge of the tape- Sero’s tape- that held the mistletoe to the ceiling, you could tell that this was a recent scheme.

Todoroki then stands up assertively, pushing his chair out as he faces you and you find it hard to meet his gaze.

“I- We don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable with it!” You exclaim, the words coming out as a jumble of nothing that he was somehow able to decipher.

He shakes his head in reassurance. “No, I’m okay with it. So, should I be expecting a kiss?”

You can’t think straight, you think you’re dreaming, is this a hallucination? Has your feelings finally gone off the rails that you’re imagining the way that Todoroki was ever-so-softly smiling down at you? He looks so joyful for the predicament that he’s stuck in. What if you ruin his plans? You thought he was scheming something with the mistletoes so someone in your class could kiss him, and said person was probably not you.

“We never speak of this again.”

Something within you whispers ‘fuck it’ before leaning in, cupping the left side of his jjaw to place a gentle and quick peck on his right cheek. If you were a little more aware, you would’ve seen the way he gleefully shut his eyes as a reflex to your close proximity.

When you part, you quickly swipe the dirty dishes before scrambling away, mind in scrambles.

His skin was so soft that you almost feel horrible for tarnishing it, but the memory was so euphoric that as you continued along with your day, it only got sweeter each time you replayed the moment. You just hope Todoroki forgets about what happened because you sure as hell can’t, the scribbles on your homework lay testament to that claim.

When you finally emerge from your room after slouching over your homework for five hours, it seems like whatever happened in the morning between you and Todoroki was out of mind, out of sight; the best option for your psyche.

Regardless, the memory keeps you up at night, often making you cringe as you bury your head into the pillow as if you were sealing the moment away into a coffin, locking it up and throwing it in the ocean of your forgotten, ‘here lies…’ recollections. The worst part is that your classmate doesn’t realise the inner turmoil he throws you in, acting as if nothing happened between the two of you whenever he smiles at you, or comes a little too close into your personal space, whispering jokes lowly into your ear. It’s outrageous how you have to sit there and pretend like everything is okay. 

Eventually comes the time when all of the blank, white Christmas balls you ordered arrive at the door of Class A’s dorm, and no one in the class can contain their enthusiasm when ripping apart the package. Aizawa stands to the side, untroubled so long as the mess is cleaned up. 

The art and craft materials are spread out along the clothed dining table, some glitter has already been spilled, there’s paint everywhere, and Jirou’s playlist pleasantly occupies the space alongside the excited chatter of your classmates. As you converse with Kirishima and Midoriya, often letting them get a glimpse of your artwork whilst enjoying the cookies that Sero baked for this occasion, you realise that everyone’s Christmas ball reflects a little of who they are.

Kirishima’s is red and beautifully glittery despite all the ferocious, strong idioms he’s written on the surface. Midoriya’s resembles the colour of All Might’s hero costume. If you look down the table, Mina’s has pink snowflakes, Aoyama has stars upon stars, and Hagakure’s has little drawings of her friends- their designs were just to name a few. 

Those who finish immediately go to put up their decorations on the Christmas tree. With Bakugou going first and despite the speed that he finished his ball with, you cannot deny that it is intricate and well-crafted. Then, others start to follow him, and somehow, it’s just you and Todoroki left behind to finish up.

“Yours is nice,” he compliments, suddenly materialising in the seat beside you.

“Thank you!” You exclaim. “I’m really trying.”

“I can see.”

Glancing over to his work, you notice that it’s also split in a half-and-half, with white glitter on one side and red on the other. “Yours is really pretty,” you comment, reaching over the table to grab a gold star to put on your ball.

“Thank you. How much longer til you’ll be done?”

“I’m done now! Were you waiting for me?”

“Yeah, I would like to put our decorations on the tree together, is that okay?”

He’s so cute you want to squish his cheeks. As always, you find yourself easily complying with his demands as he leads the way toward the Christmas tree that was already occupied with various Christmas balls and tinsel, topped with a gold star. You take the time to find a good place the last two decorations and despite how full it is, you find places right next each other. 

“We look good beside each other,” Todoroki mindlessly comments and you splutter at his choice of words. Did he have to be that shameless? The clueless boy he act going on only made you more flustered at your own embarrassment.

“Y-Yeah, we do,” you mutter, rubbing your neck. 

Glancing up at the gold star, the corner of your eye catches onto a suspicious red and green thing. A part of your stomach churns in knowing before you can fully process what it is and when you do, a part of you wants to curse Mina for setting this up. She purposefully put it in a place that wasn’t visible from the doorway and would be slightly hidden so unsuspecting victims would fall into her trap.

What do you do? Do you point it out for your own selfish reason or do you avoid telling Todoroki? That’s not very festive of you but you couldn’t find it in you to care about tradition when-

A pair of soft lips meet your forehead, effectively shutting down your brain. 

When Todoroki pulls away, cheeks slightly tinted pink, you are literally frozen to your spot. Pressing the off and on switch multiple times would not work, this time you needed rewiring and a new pair of batteries.

“I- uh, yeah- cool, thanks, uh, for that,” you fumble, letting the lingering touches of your classmate sink into your skin. You were fine, everything is fine, there is nothing to worry about. “Wow, you are beautiful- okay excuse me now, I will be going to my room and I will be staying there for the next three business days.”

Without giving him a chance to respond to your strange reaction, you turn on your feet and mechanically walk away. If you had paid a little more attention to your movements, you would have realised that you were walking same arm and leg, but it didn’t matter much because Todoroki just kissed your forehead and in the same moment, embedded himself into your system.

Then you made a fool out of yourself because you don’t know how to act around Todoroki. 

The paint on your fingers linger mockingly, especially the red and white coating your skin because days later,you’re reminded of how quickly life can change, and similar to that a cruel joke; how quick your life changes because of some stupid plant that people attached a stupid tradition to. 

It’s 6 pm or so and the Class A Christmas party is occurring in less than two hours. With all the decorations hung up and almost all the food ready, you found yourself sitting around the dining table with a bunch of classmates, playing several rounds of card games to kill time. There’s a teapot of steaming tea that Yaomomo made to the side, one that you reach over to occasionally to fill your cup again.

Everyone is laughing at Denki’s misfortune of drawing 16 the third time this round, adding to the unreasonable amount of cards in his hand, laughing even harder when he struggles to hold it all. Although some part of you should feel sympathy for him, there’s just something hilarious about the sight of poor Kaminari always drawing the short stick. You’ll apologise to him after the game.

Although, you don’t think that apology is going to happen, not when Todoroki calls out your name from where he was in the kitchen. Without even asking what he needed, you immediately jolt out of your chair and walk over, leaving your cards behind despite your close Uno win. 

Uno was temporary, whatever Todoroki wanted was forever.

“You called?” You asked upon entering and the first thing that hit you was a delicious aroma that floated around the room. Then, the telltale sound of sizzling follows.

Glancing to the stovetop, there was a pan full of oil and the half-and-half hero stood in front of it, adorning an apron whilst holding an oil strainer. He brightens upon your entrance, fishing out three pieces of what looked like chicken karaage and your mouth waters at the sight alone.

“I did, I would like your opinion,” he informs, reaching over to his plate full of fried chicken whilst you close the distance between you, eyeing his dish curiously. He eagerly gestures it towards you.

Looking at him for his confirmation, you take a piece, blowing on it to cool it down before taking a bite with little hesitation, letting the pleasant mixture of salt and spices mix whilst the enjoying the crunch of the chicken. Wow, this was good.

“This is amazing!” You exclaim, mouth half-full with chicken and fried batter. 

He seems relieved at your approval, and judging by the mess he made on the countertops, you’d say that Todoroki put quite a lot of effort in this dish for it to be bad. “This is my sister’s recipe; I tried my best to replicate it, but I wanted to make something for everyone tonight.”

“I had no idea you could cook! I’m genuinely stunned, I’m sure everyone will love it as well.”

“Thank you,” he offers you a gentle, but heartwarming smile that causes your stomach to flutter and your heart to sigh in content. Your tastebuds are in love too. “You should come over sometime to try the real thing. I’d love for you to meet my sister and brother.”

Your first instinct is to accept, as one does when going over to one’s house, but when you process the weight of his words, your mind erupts into a mash of concerns and delighted squeals. All that comes out of you is a muffled ‘I’d love to’- one of the better responses your mind could make up.

You note the way that his gaze flicker to your lips before quickly venturing back up to make eye contact once more. Suddenly, it’s getting harder to breathe, the atmosphere is heavy with intimate tension, and your heart is racing in anticipation because you’re certain he’s about to say something before-

“Hey guys! Something smells good in here, what’s-” Midoriya’s voice slices the air in half with an entrance that you don’t know whether to be grateful for or if you should strangle him. He then cuts himself off when he realises that he probably interrupted something, looking especially suspicious when his eyes gravitate towards the ceiling. “My bad! Sorry guys! I’ll take my leave now!” He squeaks before disappearing just as quickly as he came in.

“That’s weird, I wonder what he was talking about,” you begin, turning your head to look back at Todoroki before you find the air being sucked out of your lungs, being replaced by a pair of soft lips over your slightly dry ones.

Oh- wait, Todoroki was currently kissing you. This was nice. You feel like you’re floating despite how short-lived it is, because just as you melt into his warmth, he pulls away, hovering away slightly from your face, creating enough distance so he can scan your expression for any discomfort.

But your body moves on its own, causing you to jerk back from the half-and-half, brain racking to find something to say. ‘Thanks for the kiss. It was great but I’m not too sure if that was real or not’ or ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that’ are not appropriate options to say to someone after single-handedly creating the best moment of your life, so you choose an even better option; run.

You scramble out of the kitchen quickly enough, ignoring the surprise of your classmates that you run past at the dining table and trying even harder to ignore the footsteps that follow you from the kitchen to dorm’s entrance. Going outside into the expanse of endless snow and cold was your first option because you needed some remedy for what you were suffering through. Fresh, crisp air would aid the light-headedness you felt, and the frost could freeze the fire that was your face.  

Although you were quick to escape, Todoroki is quicker in his chase, grabbing the door before you could close it, slipping outside into the cold with you before shutting the door close with a little more force than necessary.

“Why do you keep running away from me?” He asks, a hint of hurt in his otherwise steady tone. The only light source is from within the dorm, illuminating him in a deliciously warm glow that replicated that of an angel, making him appear even more out-of-reach than he already was. 

Freaking out, you blurb out a: “Would you like the truth or would you like me to lie?”

In truth, your question was to stall the inevitable conversation you were going to have because you can’t find a way to lie from this. It was either the cold hard truth or… you run from Todoroki again but if there’s one thing to know about the half-and-half is that he’s persistent. Even if you flee from the face of the Earth, he’d venture into the solar system to find his answers.

Todoroki’s dual-coloured eyebrows furrow in confusion, looking at you inquisitively. He must think you’re the biggest fool on Earth- which, you are. “I would like the truth,” he answers slowly but surely.

You unknowingly inhale before confessing. “Please don’t hate me for this, but it’s cause I kinda like you a little too much?” You don’t look at him before continuing because if there’s one thing you aren’t brave against, it’s pretty boys with extraordinary pouts and puppy dog eyes. “This is literally so humiliating, but uh, you kinda like… intimidate me, and I don’t think you actually want to kiss me so I save myself the embarrassment and-” 

“-You like me?” 

“Well, obviously. You’re kinda perfect and it’s so unfair, I’ve never seen you with eyebags, or a single pimple, do you even have bad hair days? Plus you’re so talented and-”

“Perfect, you say?”

“Even the way you speak is per-” you cut yourself off before shifting your gaze upwards to look Todoroki in the eye. There’s mirth in his eyes, enhanced by the slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. You want to throttle him because of course, out of all the things you just confessed, he’d hang on to your admission of his perfection. “Don’t look at me like that, I actually hate you.”

“No you don’t, you like me a little too much,” he parrots.

You were actually going to lock him outside in the snow where little shits belong. Here you stand, pouring your heart out to him and he capitalises on your moment of weakness! Unbelievable.

Just as you turn around, Todoroki tugs on your sleeve, pulling you back. “Wait, don’t go,” he pleads. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist myself from having a little fun messing with you. I don’t mean to be cruel.”

“Well, you are, and I really don’t appreciate it,” you counter jokingly, huffing, watching the way your breath condenses before fading again. Now that the heat from your face had dissipated, the chill was getting to you and you’d really like to get back inside and hide from Todoroki for the rest of your life.

“I apologise sincerely,” his hand fishes through his pocket to look for something, pulling out something that you recognise all too well. “Will this make up for it?”

The half-and-half smiles at you shyly, unravelling the mistletoe he stuffed to become its true, expansive form. A part of you dies inside, the other cheers in victory as he raises it above your heads, the internal whoops and exclamations audible in your ear, but when you realise that there are a little too many voices, it causes you to turn around- only to see your friends gathered around a window, all looking at the two of you in excitement. 

You laugh and Todoroki groans, and in the blink of an eye, a wall of ice materialises in front of your eyes, blocking you from the prying snoops that are your friends.

“It will absolutely make up for it,” you murmur, grabbing both of his cheeks to pull him in.

[gadriezmannsgirl]

The White Jersey -P.G

I know I'm not feeling well but Gavi in the white Barça jersey is my weakness 😍😍

°°° °°° °°° °°°

Summary: You just love how good your boyfriend, Gavi looks in the white Barça jersey

"¡PABLO MARTÍN PÁEZ GAVIRA!" You yelled as soon as you saw him enter the hotel room "¿TE PARECE MUY BONITO ANDAR POR AHÍ DÁNDOME PAROS CARDÍACOS A CADA CINCO MINUTOS?" (Do you think it's very nice to walk around giving me cardiac arrests every five minutes?)

"What did I do now?" He asks with a light smile on his face

"Don't you dare. For starters, you are going to end up decapacitated one of these days and no one will be surprised..."You looked at him in the eye

"Like, I get football is also a brain game, you need to make up estrategies and stuffs... BUT THERE'S NO NEED TO LITERALLY USE YOUR HEAD WHEN SOMEONE'S BOOTS IS ALMOST IN THE WAY!" You yelled desperate grabbing his pillow and hugging yourself to it

"You can just use your foot, amor, ¿Sí?" You asked with a light smile "You're basically sending me to an early dead, like I shat my pants when I saw that. I didn't faint because God was having mercy on me, pero... HERMANOO" (BRO) You opened your arms wide open in disbelief watching a small smile come into his face

"Also" You continued "YOU DO WANT TO KILL ME BECAUSE I'M FREAKING IN LOVE WITH THE WHITE KIT AND OH MY GOSH!" You screamed into his pillow before letting it go "You looked absolutely ravishing like I wanted to jump on your bones everytime I saw you, which was basically everytime" You opened your eyes a little as if you were caught "You just seem like a wine, the older you get, the more sexier and handsome you are and I just can't take it!" You exclaimed looking at him

"And congratulations on the match today, you did so well, except the head onto the boot moment, I'm really happy you guys won, you deserve it" You went over to him and kissed his lips.

Even tho, Pablo was surprised with your outburst, he followed the kiss back passing his arms around your waist and pulling you into him, your lips molding into his and moving in sync.

"Did you just called me 'hermano'?" He asked in the moment you separated from him

"Is that all you got from my speech?"

"No" He smirked "I also got that you think I'm sexy and handsome each day passing and that you want to jump on my bones everytime you watch me" He wriggled his eyebrows a bit making you laugh "I want you to do that" He opened his arms dramatically "Anytime you want to" You laughed hitting his chest lightly

"Eres tonto" (You're silly) You said in between laughs making him smile

"I'm far from being your brother" He insisted, you laughed reaching up to kiss him again

"Estás dale que te pego, it was just the sprout of the moment! You know what I meant when I called you that way"

"No, I don't! Because you say hermano to your friends or to your brother and I'm not either of those!"

"You're right, you're my boyfriend" You say standing on your tiptoes and kissed him slowly hearing him hum a bit against your lips

"I am" He said proudly after you both separated from each other "And I'm so tired" He sighed moving the two of you to lay on the bed, you on top of him

"I can imagine, you were running around one place to the other and doing everything, Pablito. I really can't understand how you do it"

Pablo hummed leaving a trail of kisses down your neck as you smiled lightly "Weren't you just so tired a few seconds ago?"

"No with you by my side" You laughed "Can you tell me more of how good you think I look in the white jersey?"

"You egocentric ass" He laughs widely "You very well know how I feel about you in the White Jersey" He hums tongue sticking out to wet his lips

"It looks good on you too, mi vida. Mostly with my name on your back" You hum leaning up to kiss him

"That can be my name as well, one day; I've to wear it proudly" Gavi smiled widely nodding

"One day, it'll be"

"You're not getting away from the way you pushed your head into the other players boot, okay?"

"You looked absolutely beautiful tonight" He said inmediately hoping to get away from the long chat you'd have with him

"I know that. But don't try to sweet me up, Gavira" You said sternly but with a smile on your face "It won't work this time"

"I love you" He kissed your face "And I love how much you take care of me"

"I love you too" You kissed his lips "But, Pablo, you just can't believe yourself Superman!" He sighed

He knew what was coming and he only had to accept it and hear the lecture of needing him to be more careful, secretly loving it.

°°° °°° °°° °°°

@gaviypedrisbride

[becauseimanicequeen]

Timelines and the Color Red in 4 Minutes

(I've already published this in a reblog of my timelines post. However, since I know not everyone has the energy to read through all that (since it's basically three long-ass posts so far), I've decided to add this in a separate post as well.)

First, let me summarize my thoughts on the timelines so far so that you have an idea of what I've been thinking these past 4-5 episodes. (Also, I've highlighted my theories in purple so that you can choose to ignore them if they want, lol.)

I still believe there have been at least 3 timelines present so far:

The present timeline.

The 4-minute timeline (which is Great's do-over timeline).

The real past/Tonkla's timeline.

I also still believe that both Great and Tyme are having OOBEs (and a possible third character), and that we will now get to see Tyme's perspective on what's happened. In other words, I will most likely add another timeline to my list at the end of this post.

How I've been able to see/notice the different timelines so far, has been primarily through:

The clocks/watches and the times they display.

The difference between Great's environment before vs after his 4-minute phenomenons (4MPs).

Details that change throughout the scenes (like items and their positions, lamp colors, etc.).

I won't go into detail about these two aspects in this particular post because I want to focus on something else this time. However, we did get to see the clock move to 11:03, first on Great's wall:

And then on the news:

There was also the way Great's mom talked to him before vs after he had his vision of her getting shot. Before he was sent back, she was almost pleading for him to apologize to his dad, while after he was sent back, she was more commanding. Also, as he came back, the gunman was ready to shoot before Great even had a chance to leave his mom and drive off, the way he did before his visions.

(This moment of precognition was very different to his previous ones, btw. This time, he only saw the things happening rather than "living" them.)

There also continue to be the smaller details that tell me there are different timelines/realities at play. Like the things on Chanin's desk in the scene where Samarn went behind Korn's back vs in the scene when Korn is scolded by both his dad and Great's mom:

The lion figurine is facing the wall behind the desk in the first scene while it's facing the room in the second, and the framed family portrait is on Chanin's right-hand side in the first scene and on his left-hand side in the second. (Those two items in the second scene are placed in the same positions as they were in the 1st episode when Korn walked into his dad's office to talk about his new position at the company, btw.)

In other words, this episode was also consistent with the time, the differences in the before vs after Great's precognitions (even though this one was different than the 4MPs), and the other details to show us that different timelines/realities are at play.

With that out of the way, though, I want to focus on something entirely different in this post. It's still related to the timelines, obviously.

I want to see if a theory I have about a specific color is true or not, and if that specific color can help us figure out the backbone of the story (about the core events of the story). In other words, I have a theory that may (or may not) tell us which of the events we've seen in Great's 4-minute timeline so far also happened in the real past.

So, in this post, I'm going to go back for a moment before I make some predictions of where we might be heading in the next episode and onwards.

But, first, I need to emphasize Den's research, and especially what he reiterated in the 5th episode: What people go through during their cardiac arrests varies because of their experiences.

In other words, if what we've seen so far has been Great's OOBE (which I believe), then it means that (most of) what we've seen so far was his interpretation of what really happened (as well as filler content of stuff he might've wished had happened, but I won't focus on that here). And now that we're going to get Tyme's perspective (at least I believe we will, in one way or another), that will be colored by his experiences and be his side of the story (and possible filler content from him as well).

We've all heard the saying that "there are two sides to the story", which is true. But that doesn't mean either side is completely forthcoming about what really happened because the truth is usually somewhere between those two (or more) sides. But that doesn't mean there isn't at least some truth in the two (or more) sides of the story.

I want to focus on that middle ground in this post. Specifically, if the color red tells us which scenes are the backbone of the story. So, let's get into it.

Does the Red Reveal What Happened in the Real Past?

I think we all know that the color red is often used to indicate the red thread of fate (mostly in Asian media). Where I'm from (northern Europe) we also have a red thread saying, but it's used more as a synonym for theme. For example, an essay can have a good red thread if the theme throughout the essay is clear and concise.

Red is also a great color to use to capture attention (which mine was as soon as I saw the trailer). So, I've been tracking the red (and other colors) throughout the show so far to figure out if it had a specific meaning. (I even made posts for the red in episode 1 and in episode 2.)

It might.

And, it might not.

But, let's go with Great's idea and start connecting the dots with the red...

My theory as I go into this is that the red shows us the things in that middle ground I wrote about above. Those scenes/events might be the backbone of the timelines that are at play. Let's see if that's a hit or miss (or somewhere in between).

I will only focus on a few major scenes from the currently released episodes and mostly focus on Great and Tyme's part of the story (because I only have 30 images to play with, which is giving me a headache, btw). So, let's start from the beginning and go through it in chronological order of the episodes.

When Tyme is shot in the first episode, there's a red light behind the shooter:

And when the patient is flatlining in the same episode (whom I believe is Great), red lights are blinking:

Whether everything we've seen so far was triggered by these events or if these events were triggered by something else, Tyme being shot and that patient flatlining is at the core of the story.

Then we see Great and Korn's dad wearing red when he gives Korn the responsibility of managing the illegal gambling sites:

That surely happened in the real past as well, right?

Chanin also wears that same outfit during the family dinner later on in the episode. And while I don't believe Manee survived in the real past, I do believe the dinner happened, it's just that the conversation would've been different.

Then we have Great, who hit Manee with his car, where the seats have red lines on them:

So far so good, right?

Then there are red roses when Tyme gets home and jokes about Coachella:

He and his grandmother also eat from porcelain plates with red flowers on them when we find out Tyme's motivation for becoming a surgeon (to make a better life for his grandmother and himself), which I'm sure was part of the real past. (Unless Great, in his OOBE state, made up the story about Tyme's parents being murdered by his dad...)

Then we have Lukwa, who carries something red the first time she enters Den's office to talk about her own cardiac arrest experience.

She clearly has an important role in the story since she's the woman in that gallery with the red lights where Great saw her. (Perhaps it's the red from that gallery that spills into the story to show us what the key events are?)

I will forego the legendary Tonkla by the lighthouse opening of the 2nd episode where he has blood splattered across his face because I feel like that's the future from our current vantage point, and right now I'm more focused on looking at the things that could've happened in the real past.

Dome clearly saw what happened between Title and View in front of that red trashcan (with a 4 on it, btw):

Which led into this scene where we have the red lights from the car plus the red blood when Title kills Dome:

Considering I think that most of Tonkla's timeline (at least in the beginning) is the real past, Dome was definitely killed.

There are also red folders on the desk Win is leaning against when Tonkla comes in to identify his brother's body:

Which is probably how they met in the real past as well.

And then we have the red Aston Martin Great parks as Title barges in and accuses Great of betraying him:

Now, what's interesting about this scene is that it only seems like Great is in the timeline where he saved Dome while Title isn't. First of all, Title already had that bruise on his face when Great got into his car that night he killed Dome:

The other side of his face doesn't even display any evidence that Great clobbered him with the rock. That's why (apart from the red) I believe this scene happened in the real past as well. It's just that, in the real past, Title was pissed at Great for betraying him about something else rather than saving Dome.

Then we have the hacker attack, which turned their screens into a multitude of reds:

Then we have the shareholder with the red umbrella who was, more than likely, shot in the real past as well. What impact he may or may not have on the story remains to be seen. But I still wanted to mention him here (even though I'm saving on the image limit with this one, lol).

Then there's the red tea Tyme gave to Great:

Which he might've given Great in the real past to get closer to him (due to his family) rather than telling him to check his wound at the hospital (which might not even exist in the real past). Great might've taken that as a sweet gesture, which might've been why this scene popped up in his timeline.

After that, we have Great in the red gallery with a mystery woman (which we know is Lukwa):

This is where things might get a little wonky. But, I think this is meant to highlight a connection between Great and Lukwa that happened in the real past, which is why they are both in that (subconscious?) gallery together. That's why I've included it here. (Also, like I mentioned before, what if it's the red from that gallery that spills into the story to show us what the key events are?)

Then we have Great driving Tyme home after their claw machine date in his red car:

I don't necessarily believe they had a claw machine date at the mall in the real past, but I do believe Great drove Tyme home after a possible date at some point.

Then there's the red light as Tyme walks out of the operating room:

That leads into the scene outside where Tyme tells Great to get out of his sight (before the 4MP changes things). The way Tyme acted in that scene (before the 4MP) was a lot more like the Tyme we saw in the 1st episode than Great's rizzless version of Tyme. So, that might've been the real past Tyme bleeding through in that particular scene.

Then we also have Tonkla's red cat collar, which goes even further back in time as he buried his cat while at Uni, but also now that he's thinking back to that time when he and Korn started their relationship/situationship:

Both those scenes (burying the cat, which leads to his thing with Korn, and looking at that collar after having a fight with Korn and fucking Win) could've happened in the real past.

Why do I think this matters to the story, though? And why do I believe it's part of the backbone of the story? Well, I'm basing this off my theory that Title is Fasai's brother. If that's true, there's a chance that Title knew about Dome's brother (Tonkla) being Korn's "toy" (as Fasai put it). That could very well be the reason Title clearly hates Dome as much as he does. And it all started with Tonkla burying that cat at Uni.

Then there's the blood around Nan as she's held captive and is beaten (and later shot):

Which, in the real past, might've led to Great and Korn fleeing town in Great's red car:

And considering we still haven't seen the scene from the trailer where they're lying in a boat out on the water (which I think is at the same glamping site as at the beginning of the 5th episode), they're probably going back there again in Tyme's timeline. And if they're going back there, there's a big chance it happened in the real past as well (since both characters are imagining it).

The same goes for when they returned to the city in Great's red car. They likely returned to different circumstances in the real past, but they must've returned either way.

Then there are the red features on the news as they report about the accusations against Great's dad and his company (which can be seen in an image above).

I'm sure the evidence Tyme had gotten on the illegal gambling sites leaked somehow in the real past as well (it might've been Tyme who did it, which might've led to Great and his mom being shot).

Then we have the sign on Tyme's place saying "House for rent" in red letters:

Whether he (in the real past) left because Chanin bribed him or because he just wanted to take his grandmother somewhere safer is up for debate.

But at least I'm pretty sure Great was shot (and, most likely, his mom too):

Just look at that red splatter.

This is as far as we've come in the show right now.

So, does it make sense that the red tells us what happened in the real past and/or which events are the backbone of the story? Yes.

Do I think I cracked a code or something? Not really.

But it does make me eager to keep tracking the red in the remaining episodes to see if it will keep being the red thread of the real past/the backbone of the story or if any pitfalls will come up.

Now, let's move on to my predictions of what might come in the coming episodes.

Jewelry, Clothes, and Bruises

At first, I was going to write about the jewelry after the 5th episode because I've been tracking them (besides clocks/time, numbers, and color, to name a few things) since the start, and I think it will play a role now that the show is moving toward Tyme's perspective instead. But, @yakdee wrote amazingly about the jewelry in this post, which means I don't have to. I recommend you read that post first.

To that post, I want to add that the 5th episode ended with Tyme wearing the clothes he was wearing when he was shot in the 1st episode (he also doesn't wear any jewelry in the scene when he's shot):

Is he still in Great's timeline here, running towards his own death so he can have his own OOBE, or is he in the real past?

Or, a third option, perhaps he's in both at the same time, which could be indicated by the bruise on Tyme's nose that he had in the 1st episode when he was shot (image above), which also showed up every other time the lights flickered in the last scene in the 5th episode:

Perhaps the spinning of the camera in that last scene was to show these two versions merging together. Perhaps it showed one Tyme ending while the other Tyme beginning. Or, perhaps it just showed that everything is upside down.

Now, whichever version of Tyme it is that gets shot, I believe that will be the trigger that moves the show into Tyme's perspective of whatever happened in the past. Because I do believe we will be sent back into the past again (somehow) since there are scenes from the trailer that haven't yet shown up and yet would've chronologically happened in the past from our current vantage point (I'll get back to these in a bit).

(I would personally argue that the Tyme with the bruise is the Tyme from the real past. I also believe it's that version of him we'll see get shot in the next episode like we did in the 1st episode, and that will be the trigger that sends us into his OOBE timeline.)

In other words, this is where I believe we're headed.

Tyme's Timeline

I've had the theory for a while that Tyme is having an OOBE as well because there are times when the thunder has broken through into the events we've seen, which I think is his real present reality bleeding through (the thunderstorm at the abandoned place where he was shot in the 1st episode).

So, what can we expect from Tyme's timeline? Or, what will I keep my eyes open for when (if?) we get Tyme's timeline?

Again, considering the things Den commented about in his research, it's obvious that the person from which perspective we're seeing is coloring the narrative.

We might be getting a completely different vibe going forward when seeing things from Tyme's perspective. And just like @yakdee wrote in that post, there's still the scene at the bar from the trailer as well as the sex scenes Great had visions of. The vibe in those scenes is very different (in my opinion) from what we've seen so far from Great's perspective.

There's also this scene of them lying in that boat out on the water:

Which I believe is at the same countryside/glamping site they were at in Great's timeline.

We know that these scenes will show up at some point and we'll likely get to see them from Tyme's perspective, which will be an interesting contrast to Great's.

Also, from a color perspective, Great's OOBE timeline had him in white and Tyme in black for the most part (that might not change very much in Tyme's OOBE timeline, but it's definitely something I'll keep my eyes on). Just look at that image of them in the boat, though. Great is wearing primarily dark clothes with a white jacket while Tyme (who has basically only worn black clothes excluding his doctor's robe, his gray clothes when visiting Great's Uni, and the clothes he wore when he was shot) is wearing a black shirt and white pants... (Also, look at the yin and yang they're creating lying there in that boat. It's just so visually stunning.) That's super interesting to me.

I will keep tracking clocks/time, the color red (and other colors), numbers, more tilting camera shots (which also appeared in this episode, but I don't have the brainpower, or the images left, to write about that right now), and more as the show continues.

So, if I'm to summarize the major timelines right now, they would be:

The present timeline (where Great and Tyme are dying).

The 4-minute timeline (which is Great's do-over timeline).

The real past/Tonkla's timeline (which may be the same timeline or have diverged into separate ones as the show has progressed).

And the addition I think we'll get in the next episode: Tyme's timeline (which may get another name if he also develops a supernatural ability).

I can't wait to watch the next episode and see how wrong I am.

Is it Friday, yet?

[henneseyhoe]

COUNTRY LOVIN’

Trevante Rhodes x BLACK!FEM!PLUSSIZE!reader

WARNINGS:nsfw, mentions of spirituality, mentions of death, childhood trauma, smut, slow burn(ish), friends to lovers.

SUMMARY: A sweet country story that will have your teeth aching! Follow Sorie on her journey through womanhood and attempting to break free from the child her father still sees her as. Will the love she has for her childhood friend prevail with a crazy dad around?

Ps. Starting out slow (for now🤭)

2 3

✮✮✮✮

The sun beamed down on the big yard of grass, the temperature rising to a heated 87. Since it was the Deep South, a heatwave was bound to happen that month with how the weather was this week, and the towns people could sense it. Though it was hot and the temperature was going up by the days, it didn’t stop anyone from getting a days work done.

from farmers farming, to craftsmen crafting, my father and the rest of the small community we had included in that group of people still continued to work through the week till we got a break on the weekend.

I walked outside with a wooden tray, six glasses of fresh lemonade and iced teas set right on top of the oak, ready to be downed by the group of working men I approached. They were building a small stage for the children in the town, the enthusiastic kids giving them a suggestion to put on a play for Juneteenth the week before, so they got right on it to make it happen.

The wind blew against my resisting picked out afro, my straw hat almost flying off before the wind calmed back down. “Y’all boys thirsty?” I asked, the men turning to me with smiles while setting down their many tools, the conversation they were having before immediately coming to a stop.

“You right on time, babygirl!” My father smiled widely, a single golden canine gleaming at me. I smiled back and set down the tray of drinks on the halfway built stage, letting the men help themselves to the drinks.

My father took his own drink and kissed me on my cheek before taking a sip of the sweetened drink of his choice. I wiped his kiss off and made a face expressing annoyance, the men around me finding humor in the treatment. “don’t nobody want your sweaty kisses, daddy” I complained and he chuckled, finishing his drink. “You’ll be alright, I’ll be sure to give you a clean one right on that big forehead when I wash up for dinner” I shook my head.

He was always an affectionate man, wether it was in public or at home. The man still tries to hold my hand when we cross the street, and I always have to remind him that I’m a grown *ass* woman, which he still seems to dismiss like he doesn’t hear me.

I found it cute sometimes. One day I hoped to have a man who was just as affectionate as he use to be with my mother, and I already had an eye on who I wanted that man to be. Quickly reaching at the tray, I picked up a sweet tea and handed it to the same man in mind; Trevante. He was already reaching for the glass first, but I had to make sure I handed it to him directly, just to have that small interaction I hated to admit that I craved. He chuckled at my gesture and grabbed the glass from me.

He nodded to me as a “Thanks”, his hand softly grazing mine. Shivers went up my spine. That man could make me melt before the sun, and that was a fact. It seemed like everyone but my father could tell I was sweet on him, cause if he did I would have never had the chance to be around him like this, especially this close. You could tell Trevante was always cautious with his body language when we were around, afraid that my father would pick up on anything. It had been like that since we were teenagers.

It wasn’t like we were doing anything anyway. just a few late night conversations on the phone here and there, a few ‘accidental’ meet ups, the flirting, and two other situations that would probably send my father into cardiac arrest, but it never went farther than that. I hated that honestly.

Our relationship dynamic always felt like a constant tug of war, neither of us trying to go over that line. My reason being the fear of upsetting someone I rarely upset, and his being not wanting to break a clear boundary set in stone, but not spoken of. He knew I liked him, definitely, and I knew he liked me. I think.

If my father even found out we were talking on the phone, let alone late at night, he’d go off and then proceed to curse his bestfriend for raising such a “sly fox” of a son, thinking he had corrupted me into thinking what we were “doing” was okay.

He was a traditional man and he was that dramatic about me dating. What made it worse is that he never expected the potential date to be someone he saw as a long lost son, and thought I saw him as some kind of sibling, which never was the case. All that pretend best buddies bullshit ended when he decided he wanted to kiss me in a shed after church a year ago. That was as far as we ever went, but obviously there wasn’t much learned from the holy book.

“you made this yourself?” He asked with a hum, setting the halfway empty glass back onto the tray. I nodded with a genuine smile, holding my sun hat down on my head as the wind blew. I couldn’t even help but watch how his tongue ran across his lips, licking up any droplets of the sweet drink.

It was only for a few seconds, but I made to to quickly snap myself out of it to answer him. “That’s all me. I made sure I didn’t make it too sweet for you” he smiles and takes my hand into his, my heart skipping a little beat. “Thank you, beautiful” he complimented, holding my hand. For a second it seemed like the world stopped as I watched him caress the top of my hand, but it was really just the effect of the sounds of working slowing down again, almost everyone peeping our exchange.

Trevante glared back at the nosy crowd and let my hand go, tucking his own in his pocket.

I cleared my throat and looked away, fluffing out the bottom of my afro as Trevante looked away into the distant field. “…Anyway! I should be heading back to the house, check on the greens I put on” I lied, knowing damn well we weren’t having greens tonight. Turning away to quickly dismiss myself, my dad called out to me “Before you go! I need you to go get my other tools from the shed in the back to finish up this flooring” he said, pointing towards the back of the house. I huffed silently and turned to him, my hands sassily sitting on my hips.

“I look like some big man to you? I can’t carry whatever it is that you need!” I complained, the men laughing. My father shook his head and pointed to Tre, snapping his fingers to get his attention as all of it was currently on the shape of my hips. He pretended to look around in a toolbox sitting near the end of the stage to cover his tracks before turning to my father. “Yes, Sir?”.

“Son, be a good man and help my suddenly weak daughter carry those tools?” The man asked. I was too busy trying to control the thumping of my heart beating against my rib cage that I almost barely heard my fathers request. “Yes, Sir. I’ll get right to it” he spoke with respect, putting aside the toolbox he was pretending to plunder in, and walking with me towards the back of the house.

“Ya’ daddy losing his sight or sumn?” He looks at me, smirking a bit. I raise a brow. “boy, what?” I asked, genuinely wondering where that question could come from. “He don’t seem to see the way you be lookin’ at me. He must be losin’ it” he joked, and I playfully pushed him. “Shut up, you had me worried for a second!” we both laughed, approaching the red painted shed.

“He still runnin’ every nigga that like you outta town?”

I shook my head, sighing. “You know he crazy. He’d run a nigga off earth if that meant I’d be untouched” Trevante kissed his teeth and opened the sheds doors, walking in. I reached for the lights string and pulled it, turning the light on. “You think he’d do that to me?” He asked, beginning to look around for the specific tools my dad asked for.

I smile, butterflies filling my stomach. “Why you ask?” He looks at me for a spilt second, smiling. “Just wanna know” he responds. Nodding, I stand back, allowing him to look for the asked for tools.

“Nah, he’d probably throw up a few times at the thought of us doing anything together, then lock you in the basement though” I joked, both of us laughing again.

“You gonna bring me down dinner every night if he catches me?” I roll my eyes, pulling myself up onto a table to sit. “oh, honey… You have very high hopes for me like I’m not gon be locked in this damn shed” he shakes his head.

It was already a surprise that my father sent us back here together and alone at that, but that just meant he was getting too comfortable with the thought of us being strictly platonic. It scared me a little. How would he really react if our friendship, *if you could even call it that*, grew into something a little more? Yes, we joked about it together, but the thought of it genuinely made me anxious, my stomach turning.

If there was one thing my father could do, it was drag a situation out so bad until there was nothing left to say and his opponent had no choice but to let him win, which I did often. I barely rebelled against anything he said, actually.

“Aye! You gon’ sit over there lookin’ stuck the whole time or help me look for these damn tools?” Trevante asks while snapping his fingers in front of me. He must’ve been there for a few seconds.

“Boy,- “ I slap his hand away.

“you the big strong man, use your big strong brain to find it” I sass, the man squinting at me. “What a doll you are” he says, sarcasm plaguing his tone, making me giggle.

About a minute later, he pulls a big blue tool box from underneath a tarp. the box was locked up, most likely to stop anyone or anything stealing my fathers “good tools”, as he would say.

“Look at that, you aren’t just muscle after all!” I laugh and hoped down from the table, brushing my dress off to rid it of any dust from the wooden table. He mimics my laugh and starts looking around for the keys to the box.

“You know where he keeps the keys?” He huffs, lifting the heavy box on his shoulder and turning to me. I shrug, genuinely not knowing where that old man placed anything. “I dunno. Maybe hanging up somewhere” I suggest, not really caring too much to look around for that either.

He hums while looking around striding closer to me. “Maybe get up and help me look?” My lips formed a straight line, my expression becoming blank. My hands began fiddling with the lace on the bottom of my dress, my nerves getting worse the closer he got. “No?” He asks, his face now close to mine. I refused to turn away and give him the satisfaction of making me visually nervous, so I stayed still. Letting him get closer.

He paused for a moment, our noses almost touching. It was radio silence for a split second, only the cicadas and distant laughter being heard until I spoke.

“No…”

The response was more timid than I wanted it to sound, but with how my thighs were clenching together as I felt his breath on my lips, the intensifying second heart beat that had appeared just a few seconds ago, I doubt that I would have been able to say it confidently anyhow.

I felt bold enough to close the gap, but he had already pulled away, leaving me awkwardly leaning forward on my tippy toes into nothing. with keys in his hand, he held them up to my face, dangling them. “look at that, they were hanging up. Behind you actually” he smiles, his pearly whites that were decorated with golden slugs making an appearance.

“They were..” was all I could say as he walks out of the shed, me following closely behind him with a stupid look on my face.

“Damn! Y’all must’ve been chasing y’all tails back there!” My dad yells, referencing how long we had been gone, occupied with the task given. “They was back there chasing something alright” one of the men interrupted, making the group erupt into laughter. “Catch it, buck” another said, using my fathers nickname while referring to him not catching onto the joke, which wouldn’t have been a joke to him if he had caught on.

“I apologize, but I can’t say your daughter was much help looking” Trevante says, bumping my shoulder and setting down the box. I scoff, setting my hands on my back. “I helped! I told you where it usually was, and you found it!”

“Five minutes after we walked in! Then you just sat there the whole time”

“you must’ve bumped your head if you think imma get my hands dirty to find some old tools and risk staining my dress with rust. I just finished sewing this!” It seemed like everyone either found humor or slight annoyance in how I refused to mess up my nails and clothes, regardless of being surrounded by nothing but nature.

Usually I didn’t have a problem with getting dirty, but I didn’t put on this dress right after I finished it for no reason. I wanted to look pretty. Not like I had been working all day. Even if I had gotten one little stain on it, if it was something I couldn’t get out, I probably would have cried. I was very serious about my crafts.

Going back and forth for a few more minutes, I had realized I passed more than enough time by as I faced the sun, watching it prepare to set. It was now time to go back in and prepare dinner.

[dovkss]

bath sex with katsuki would probably send me into cardiac arrest (/srs)

word count: 699

warning: 18+; dom! katsuki; dirty talk; praise; size kink; light degradation; unprotected; cervix hitting; kinda fluffy, katsuki is in a romantic mood here; i love him sm good greif somebody help me

all characters are aged up !!

There was nothing you were more obsessed with than Katsuki’s lips. They were so cute and plump and pink. You loved feeling them on your fingers when you caressed them, kissing them softly not long after.

You especially loved when they brushed against your neck. When he trailed small pecks up your neck, undeniably giving you a hickey or two, making you shiver under his tender touch.

You threw your head back and let him take care of you as you sunk down on him as steady as you could. Your body shivered as the cold air hit your wet skin. Your arms wrapped around his neck and your hands got tangled in his damp, blonde locks.

No matter how many times you took him, you would never get used to his size. He was so big.

“That’s it, babydoll,” he praised, his fingers traced circles on your lower back in an attempt to calm you down.

You whined in response, feeling yourself sit on his big cock. You were almost fully sat on his lap.

He groaned and grabbed your hips, pushing you down so he can be all the way in you. Deep inside of you. He was an impatient man.

You moan loudly, flinching when his cock pushed right into your g-spot.

“You’re so tight,” he teased.

The water in the tub splashed up a little. Katsuki leaned back against the wall of the tub, wanting to fully eye your state.

He enjoyed getting a good look at you. His little babydoll.

The soft yellow light from the vanilla scented candles you lit earlier just for this occasion illuminated your features. Your pretty body glowed on him and your eyes locked with his. He wanted to cum just from looking at you.

“Ride me.”

His words made you throb again. He always knew what to say to make you putty in his hands. You panted and moaned as you bucked your hips against his. His hands guide yours to place them on his broad chest.

Your mind went blank in that moment. You wanted nothing more than to be good for him. To do what he tells you and to do it well. You closed your eyes softly, continuing to move back and forth on his cock.

Katsuki let out soft breaths as you clamped down on him, running a hand up and down your waist. “You’re so tight, baby, fuck- make yourself feel good on my dick.”

You nod your head and roll your hips, slighter harder this time. He watched you with sharp eyes, a small smirk formed on his face as he took in the sound of your desperate cries.

He leaned further back as subtle as he could, the water in the tub rising to cover just below where your hand were on his chest. He pushed his hips up into yours, making you jolt.

Your eyes shot open to look at him. A moan escaped his lips when you continued to clench around him as he thrusted into you from below.

“‘M gonna fill you up to the brim, baby, would you like that? You’d loved that, wouldn’t you?”

You were losing it. Your legs trembled slightly and you threw your head back as he kept slamming into your g-spot. You needed to cum.

Katsuki could tell you were close. He reached up and grabbed your chin to make to look at him.

“What? Does it feel good? I know, baby, I know.”

You nodded, not being able to keep your eyes open any longer.

“Cum, babydoll, cum on my cock while I fill you with my seed.”

You scream out, your arms almost giving up on you while holding yourself up. Your body shook slightly as you finally release onto him.

Your moans mixed together with his as he came as well. The feeling of his cum in you made your heart swell.

You leaned forward and rested on his chest, trying to catch your breath. You heard him chuckle and give your ass a slap. You yelp; you could feel his blood red eyes piercing through the back of your head.

“Get up. I still need to taste you.”

[gloryhrs]

━━ ⟡ 𝓒𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐆, shunsui k.

✿.*･｡ ꒰ 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 — r. & shu are happily married! ◝(^◜◡◝^ )◜, pet name usage — hubby, kitty, my dear, shu being an extreme romantic, r. is part kitty! /ᐠ . ˕ .マ, smth short n' sweet until i finish my kenpachi & ichigo os! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝ ꒱

“Kitty, where are you?" The captain of the 8th division Shunsui Kyoraku walked the corridors of the Seireitei, waving the bell. The man had been looking for a you for nearly ten minutes and didn't want to sleep without his darling husband by his side, so he kept ringing the bell. He thought it was strange because you could hear and smell him from a mile away.

“Aw, man, did he fall asleep without me?” The captain's shoulders slumped with sadness until he heard the sound of footsteps. “There he is!” When he sensed a familiar presence approaching, he instantly turned around and opened his arms for the man, who turned out to be you, his husband. You smiled and quickened your pace as you saw your husband's arms wide and ready to catch you. “Shu!” You laughed as you wrapped your arms and legs around his neck and nuzzled your face against his cheek, causing him to laugh and return the hug.

The captain kissed your forehead with a tiny eye squint, as the amount of sunshine radiating from you was astounding. “Kitty! I thought you went to sleep without me.” You shook your head, your ears swaying with you, while the captain faked a pout. “You know that I can't sleep without you. You’re my giant teddy bear!” You nuzzled your head into his cheek once more, making a small purring sound. When he noticed your charming demeanor, Shunsui swore he felt something pierce through his chest.

“Did you bring any cake?! I can smell cake!” Your eyes twinkled as you smelled the air for the scent of strawberry deliciousness. “Hm? Oh, yeah. Jushiro made some, so I bought one for you and me.” He laughed again when you leaped out of his arms and started bouncing on your toes. Shunsui knew you liked strawberries, so whenever he saw something strawberry-related, he would always get it for you. That explains why your ring is red!

When the captain took out the plastic container containing the pink frosted strawberry cake, your eyes sparkled even more. “Ah! Shu, I love you!” You jumped back into his arms, almost knocking him down in the process. As he stood and accepted it, you held and kissed his face ceaselessly; the feeling of your soft lips against his skin made him feel like he was in heaven.

“I love you even more, my dear hubby. But we should leave because I'm still meant to be working on the paperwork Nanao gave me earlier.” The man scratched the back of his neck, the thought of Nanao discovering him and chewing him out sent shivers down his spine. You watched as the man turned around and knelt down slightly, beckoning for you to climb on his back. He didn't have to tell you twice! You jumped on his back with ease and kissed his cheek one last time.

The tree shade remained over the couple as they slept comfortably, without a care in the world. Shunsui buried his face in your hair as the wind blew through his gorgeous brown hair. The pink flowered kimono was draped over you and his shoulders, with him frequently fanning away the butterflies that flew around your ears with his straw hat. The man slept into your soft h/c hair until a familiar sensation pricked his nose, causing him to awaken and sneeze.

“Eh?” He observed your h/c ears twitching when he looked down. Shunsui's heart burst out of his chest when he watched you nuzzle your nose into his chest before flicking your ears once more. He moved one of his hands up to your scalp, giving it a light scratch. Your purring could have put anyone into cardiac arrest. “How adorable.” The man commented as your luscious lips snorted peacefully. Because you and he were both busy people, you would constantly slip away to your favorite hiding locations to nap and eat your favorite snacks.

You were the most handsome thing in his eyes. From your soft brown skin that was little to no scars, your soft hair that blended in well with with your adorable cat ears, and your soft but fierce ( e / c ) eyes that he loved staring into. Ah, he still can’t believe you chose to marry someone like him. The man was too busy admiring your beauty that he didn’t notice you had already woken up. “Hm? Is there something on my face?” You rubbed your eyes while he watched you touched your cheeks and nose. He chucked, “No, I’m just admiring how beautiful my husband is.” He gave you a lazy smirk, his thumb stroking the crumbs off the corner of your lips.

You smiled before crawling onto him, now straddling his hips. Shunsui raised his eyebrow before a pervert like smile appeared on his face. “Oh? Are we gonna get busy? Don’t worry, I’ll let you be in charge this time.” He smirked as your cheeks warmed up, causing you to pinch his cheek making him hiss in pain.

“Will you stop that Shu!” You continued to pinch his cheek as you waved his hands around in a surrendering motion. Once you let his cheek go the man rubbed his face with crocodile tears leaving his eyes. “My dear kitty doesn’t love me anymore! What shall I do?!” The man whines dramatically as you snickered and rolled your eyes. “Don’t be such a baby, Shu. You were the one who was having a negative mindset! Who the hell wants to get busy out in the open like this?” You sighed and pinched your nose as Shunsui muttered something under his breath. You tilted your head, “Hm? Did you say something?” You narrowed your eyes at your husband who had a pervy smile on his face. "Me, besides—we’re pretty far away from everyone—" "Don’t even think about it!"

© gloryhrs, 063023. — notes and reblogs are appreciated! (≧∇≦)

[hmshermitcraft]

Etho got bit not terribly long ago. He successfully convinced Pause and Beef to go on without him. The bite take a while to make someone undead, like, it has to kill you first and then it'll bring you back, so Etho's been getting weaker and slower and sicker over a few days now and he knows that it'd be detrimental to his friends survival if they stuck together until Etho but the dust. twice. So with a tearful goodbye he watched his friends continue on to their ultimate destination.

Problem being, Etho hasn't turned yet. He's miserable sick and missing a chunk of memory which makes him think that he's now a zombie, but he's not mindless or hungrier than usual or violent or anything. So what gives? Another thing, the infected pass him by. A few come over and sniff at him, some even including him in their daytime huddle piles. (He's pretty sure they do that to protect their eyes? They all crowd together and shove their faces at one another to cover their eyes, so. That's Etho's theory.)

So the infected don't mind him, awesome! that'll make travel so much easier! But! He can't really stand anymore. He has trouble breathing and moving in the day and it's even worse at night. He doesn't know how to make it better but he's sticking by a river so he at least has water.

He hears engines and laughter, he must be finally dying. (He's not)

It's Scar! Scar on a 4-wheeler electric solar powered wheelchair that looks more like an off road go kart than a mobility aid. The things decked out and to top it all off Scar's got a shotty that don't miss.

Scar finds him, introduces himself kindly, and then almost kills him because Etho looks dead as hell and can't really articulate words of any sort. Scar sees him, sick and immobile and in a great deal of pain, and thinks "ah yes, I shall take it with me" so he gets Etho up and wrapped in a sleeping bag and curled up sideways on his lap.

The journey starts slow, with Etho doing just. Terribly. The movement of riding on the chair makes him queasy and he's awkward talking to Scar when he has the energy to do so. Over time Etho gets a little better, being able to rest easy with the promise of protection helps him out a lot. He's sleeping a lot, which means Scar can go fast through the woods and down abandoned roads.

Etho gets strong enough to walk alongside Scar, though they both prefer to just cuddle the whole time to uh, "make faster progress". But he's doing good, and scars really nice, and it turns out that they're heading to the same place that Etho was originally, so the odds of running I to his friends are high.

Then they start smoochin, gods the first time they did that Etho nearly went into cardiac arrest. He got actually ill because he was feeling so many feelings that his body didn't know what to do, they both laughed about it, and scar gave him lots of kissies to get him used to it.

By the time they make it to the safe zone Etho can race scar through the woods on foot and is proficient at kissing, much to the surprise of a delighted pause and beef, who thought he was dead for sure.

-carrie

Sorry it's so long, I got 'carrie'd (hah) away

Etho still isn't sure what he is, or what this means for him. It feels like he went through the whole zombie process, yet... He's fairly sure he isn't a zombie. But he's not necessarily sure if he's unturned, either.

The zombies still don't bother him, which makes supply runs a whole lot easier. Even sitting on Scar means they don't get much more than a few curious zombies sniffing at them. He takes advantage of it to go out of supply runs as often as he can. He wants to make sure he's earning his place in this safe zone.

All four of them decided not to tell anybody about Etho being bitten. It's safest, they don't know how people will react and- they won't let Etho get hurt. They can't.

Scar promises that if they need to be, they'll be out of that compound. They'll make their own safe area, together. Scar promise.

[bonny-kookoo]

we all know you would make the saddest ✨️yoongi-kitty-flashback-scene✨️

:') [warnings for major angst, rather long drabble because I love them so much :( ]

Guilt is a heavy feeling.

Yoongi has always been an awfully private person, and so he's never really talked to anyone about what goes on at home. It's what he's been doing to keep himself sane, in a way; his work and private life have always been two separate things he never mixed up. It's also why he doesn't really let anyone of his coworkers he considers friends into his home- he keeps people at a comfortable distance, so to speak.

He cherishes his privacy. Needs that control over things.

Maybe if his friends had known about you, they could've helped. Especially Jungkook- maybe the hybrid specialist could've warned him about something, could've noticed anything he himself did not.

He remembers how angry he'd been that day.

His work had simply sucked the life out of him when he came home- two cardiac arrests he couldn't bring back during his shift in the ER, combined with the news that one of his patients in neurology had rapidly declined after barely making any improvements. It had made him feel like a failure, irritated, and frustrated about everything.

He knows you only wanted to help. He's never told you he needed you, always scoffed when you told him he'd be lost without your help.

But he does need you. And he wishes he could tell you now.

You always did that, almost with a sense of secrecy, as if he wouldn't know it's always been you. When he fell asleep on the couch, you'd get a blanket and a pillow to make it more comfortable. When he'd be too tired to make himself something to eat, you'd cook anything you knew you could while he would shower, and he always loved it, no matter how awfully simple it would be. And even though he knew you always wanted to do something with him like go on trips or vacations, you never complained when he just used his days off to sleep and laze around.

He loved you. He still loves you.

He remembers how he'd yelled at you in anger of himself and not you, how you'd just left him by himself like he wanted, the last sight of you up and walking one of faint hurt in your eyes as you'd left him on the living room couch to sleep. And when he woke up, you weren't there anymore.

He'd searched around the house for you, had panicked and ran out front to check the pool, but you were nowhere- until he found you on the kitchen floor, unmoving, unresponsive, cold to the touch.

And even in the ambulance he'd yelled at people, especially when the diagnosis fell that he himself refused to believe.

He knew it, deep down, that it was pretty cut and dry. Everything had pointed to exactly what the paramedics had suspected, and after weeks of you staying in this unresponsive state, and Jungkook continuously talking to him about your condition, he'd accepted it.

He had to.

There's no clear understanding yet as to why it happens only in hybrids. Medically, there's such limited research in it that it doesn't even have a name yet. All that's known is that similar to sudden infant death, hybrids fail to either properly wake up from deep sleep, or when awake, experience something similar to a brain stroke. But what exactly causes it isn't at all conclusive, mainly because it's extremely rare.

It's what makes it even worse to him.

No matter what treatment he comes up with, there's been almost no significant improvements. The only thing that really happened was, that you went from a coma into a persistent vegetative state- and he doesn't really know if he could really call it an improvement at all. You sometimes move, sigh, smile or even cry, and it claws at his heart every time he's witness of it.

But the worst time is when your eyes are open.

It makes him almost nauseous to see them look at nothing, dart around occasionally, without any soul behind them. They're lifeless, there's no consciousness behind them, no actual reasonable cause for them moving around. It's like your body is back, but your soul is still lost.

And he hates it. He wants you to come back.

"HR is bothering me again about taking days off." He mumbles to you, carefully brushing your hair today. It's barely becoming day outside, but he likes this time of day most. He won't be bothered until a few hours later when nurses come to care for you, check up on you and keep everything up to date. "I should maybe clean out the pool in the backyard... it's getting warmer these days now." The doctor says quietly. He does this a lot. He plays music other times, or simply talks about random things, or does things just like now- brushing your hair, touching your hand, has even brought blankets and pillows from home to you.

Jungkook said that it could help stimulate your awareness. And Yoongi is grabbing at any straw he can reach at this point.

"Remember how I hated that pool?" He chuckles, running the bristles of the pale pink brush over your scalp and through your hair- something that made you purr, before this had happened. "..I was actually scared, you know?" He admits softly. "I was scared that you might.. fall in and drown, when I'm at work. Because I dreamed it once." He shrugs, watching how you don't respond whatsoever. "I'll take more time off in the future, I promise." Yoongi tells you, exchanging the brush for his hand, fingers massaging the base of your cat ear on your head.

It's then that he notices something, against the tips of his fingers.

A soft almost unnoticeable vibration, causing him to immediately stand up from his chair, leaning in closer. If it is what he thinks it is, this might be an actual improvement worth investigating- but as soon as it was there, it's gone the moment he attempts to confirm it. "Come on, tell me you're coming back to me.." He pleads under his breath, disappointment hitting him hard as he rests his forehead against the side of yours, a kiss placed against your cheek. "I need you.."

And suddenly, it's there again, a little louder than before.

You're purring.

[ugh-yoongi]

Jungkook + things you said that i wasn’t meant to hear. thank you

thank you for the request, anon! this kinda went in an unexpected direction, so i hope you enjoy it anyway. please forgive me for how late i'm getting around to finishing these requests and the fact that this has absolutely nothing to do with valentine's day!

pairing: reaper!jungkook x f. reader

genre: supernatural au, crack/humor

warnings: this is pure idiocy, idk what to say. jungkook is a reaper who is easily embarrassed and extremely bad at his job. swearing, name calling, bickering, mentions of death and near-death situations, one (1) mention of a sexual thing. unedited bc i'm on mobile and posting anything from my phone is a fate worse than... you guessed it.

wordcount: 1.6k

requests are closed, but you can still come talk to me!

“Don’t stop there! Oh my god, what the fuck are you doi—you idiot, keep walking!”

You pause in the middle of the sidewalk, completely ignoring the voice in your head. That’s nothing new; whoever it is seems to have taken up permanent residence over the last few weeks. The first time the voice had called you a feckless dipshit with a deathwish had, admittedly, been a little jarring (especially since you’re in the prime age range for delusions to start manifesting), but you’d (for some reason) listened and narrowly-avoided getting flattened by a car.

Now that you’re used to it, the voice is nothing but a nuisance.

Still, whoever it is seems determined to keep you alive. You resume your walk to the coffee shop, and you don’t make it another ten steps before there’s a horrendous crash behind you. You spin around, disoriented for a second, and then there’s a man hanging halfway out of a window on the verge of tears, screaming apologies.

On the ground lies a window AC unit that almost certainly would’ve been the last thing you saw before you met your maker.

“Thank fuck,” the voice says, and it sounds exasperated, which stings a little. It also never speaks to you directly, because the next thing it says is, “How does she keep getting away with this?”

Because it’s one thing to have an amorphic voice in your head.

It’s something else entirely to answer it.

Answering it would imply things, so you just… don’t. And it isn’t like the voice is there all the time, just pops in every now and then when you’re, apparently, about to die. Like your own personal death cheat code, because not only does it tell you to get out of the way of air conditioners dropping out of the sky, it also makes snide comments about your caffeine intake.

Case in point: “This is her third fucking espresso today! No goddamn wonder she wound up on my list. Fuck getting smushed by an air conditioner, she’s gonna go into cardiac arrest—”

“Ma’am?”

You swear under your breath and mutter an apology to the barista. Just to spite the voice in your head, you order some kind of overpriced, bougie water with soggy fruit in it. You don’t hear it again for the rest of the day.

Another two weeks passes, and the disembodied voice saves you from getting sucked into the mall escalator and an unfortunate mugging outside the sketchy bar Taehyung had dragged you to one night after work.

It’s a completely unremarkable Tuesday night when you drag yourself home from work, drained and feet aching because the subway was out of service and you hadn’t wanted to waste money on a cab. Joke’s on you. Some expenses are worth it. And it just figures that the voice has nothing to say about this, because in your exhaustion you drop your keys and whack your head on your door when you bend over to pick them up. You’re expecting another what an idiot, but there’s… nothing.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a looming, dark figure to your right. Now you’re really expecting the voice to say something, because surely something that large and nefarious means certain death, but there’s still silence. So you straighten up slowly, heart rate spiking, and once you have your key stuck in the lock, you dare a glance over.

It’s… just a guy. Looks to be close to your age—kinda cute, but dresses kind of like a dork. Has a black baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, but it’s got hoops pierced into the bill. It matches the rest of his aesthetic (also all black), but it definitely looks a little goofy. Still, you breathe out a sigh of relief at this being the looming, dark figure. Just a guy, and Mrs. Min had mentioned having a thundercloud for a grandson before, so you figure this is him.

“I haven’t seen your grandmother lately,” you say in lieu of a greeting, unsure what else to do. Surely this guy has noticed you standing here. “Is she all right?” He startles, lets out a sound that’s somewhere between a shriek and a strangled yell, and you drop your stupid keys again, heart pounding so hard it nearly jumps out of your ribcage entirely.

Then, the response you least expected: “You can see me?”

Two things happen in quick succession: all the blood in your body turns to ice, and you’re certain all of this has been nothing but a cruel delusion. Because—

Oh, no.

Oh, absolutely fuck no.

“See you? You’re the fucking voice in my head!”

What once was a look of pure fear melts into one of disbelief. “No fucking way,” he responds, eyes wide as saucers, voice awed. “Holy shit. No way. You’re the idiot woman!”

“Fuck you, I have a master’s degree,” you retort automatically. “Who the hell are you? What did you mean about seeing you? Why are you at Mrs. Min’s?”

“She died,” the guy replies, and there’s an air of condescension about it. “I’m here to collect her.”

“Collect her? Do you work for the morgue? Why aren’t you in a uniform? Where’s your ID? Shouldn’t the police be here?” More silence. “Wait, she died? Oh my god, she was so nice, she always baked me cookies, what the hell—”

“I can’t believe you can see me,” he says again.

Your brows knit together. “Again: why wouldn’t I be able to see you?”

“Because I’m Death.”

And you… laugh. You can’t help it, but it’s so unexpected and so clearly bullshit that you laugh. “You’re Death? Really? And you’re wearing that stupid hat?”

“What’s wrong with my hat?”

“It’s stupid, like I said.”

“You’re stupid,” he fires back petulantly.

You roll your eyes. “Grow up.”

“I can’t,” he snaps back, “I’m literally dead.”

Once you take a second to think about it, everything makes sense. And then you promptly black out and fall to the floor.

“Hello. I see you’re alive.”

This has to be a new record for the longest-running delusion of all time, because the guy is the first thing you see when you come to. You’re on your couch, judging from your view of the ceiling (aka the water stain near the light fixture), and he leans into your line of sight to press a cool washcloth to your forehead.

“Why are you here?” you grumble, words all slurring together.

“Just because I’m a Reaper doesn’t mean I’m an asshole. I was raised with manners.”

A Reaper. Yeah, that makes no sense at all, despite whatever you thought previously. “A reaper that makes sure I don’t get myself killed? Yeah, right.”

“…What.”

You groan. The water stain looks like it’s gotten bigger. “Every time I’m about to meet my untimely demise, I hear your stupid voice in my head yelling at me.”

“…What.”

“Can you use your brain cells for two seconds? I feel like I just woke up from a coma and having to explain this to you is giving me a migraine.”

“You could hear all that?”

“Yeah.”

“The whole time?”

“Yes. I literally just said that!”

The guy—whose name you learn is Jungkook when it isn’t Death—seems… stunned, to put it mildly. Seems like you took his world and turned it upside down, because he’s stammering over his words when he says, “You were not supposed to hear, like, any of that.”

“Mm, including the time you called me, and I quote, a feckless dipshit with a deathwish?”

“Definitely not.”

You sit up. Ignore the initial pang of dizziness and swing your legs over the side of the couch. Put your Very Serious face on. “Why do you keep doing that? Saving my life?”

“Because you’re not supposed to die yet.”

Oh. Well, that’s… good to know, you suppose. “I’m not?”

“No. I know when and how you’re going to die, and it wasn’t from the mall escalator, I can tell you that much.”

“…When and how am I going to die?”

Jungkook holds up a hand. “Confidential.”

“Jerk,” you mutter under your breath. “Why can I hear you, then?”

Jungkook, for his part, looks genuinely befuddled. “I honestly don’t know. Same reason you can see me, I guess, and I don’t have a fuckin’ clue what that is.” He strokes at his chin, bites at the ring through his lip. Stupid (endearing) how it matches the one in his hat. “You have any relatives who were Reapers?”

“How would I know?”

“True. Guess you wouldn’t. That’s all I got, though.”

You sigh. Of course the powers that be would bestow this upon you. “Is there any way to turn you off?”

Jungkook startles again. Goes all red in the face, which you wouldn’t have assumed was possible before meeting him. Looks like he’d drop dead if he wasn’t already Death. “Well, I—I’m not really i-into piss?”

“Excuse me? Oh my fucking god, I meant your voice! Your voice in my head, not your kinks, Jesus Christ—”

“This is so embarrassing,” he whines. “Please forget I said that! Please!”

“How can I?” you fire back. “You’re gonna save me from walking off a roof and all I’ll be able to think about is your opposition to water sports!”

“Let’s talk about something else! Please! Can we please talk about something else!”

“Answer my question!”

“I don’t know! Plea—hey, you like coffee right? I watch you drink, like, fifty cups a day, of course you like coffee. How about you make us some? And we can talk about how much we love coffee instead.”

You take in his face—almost cherubic, doe eyes, redder than you’ve ever seen a person’s face be—and take pity on him. “Fine,” you relent, “but then we’re also gonna talk about boundaries.”

[kywaslost]

Hi! May I have a platonic head cannon of reader pranks Hawks by grabbing his ankle under a bed and playing hide and seek with him?

Hide-And-Seek - Hawks

A/N: Hello! I love this idea! I hope you like how it turned out!

Poor man was just trying to make his bed in the morning

Hawks had made breakfast and went to wake you up only to see that you weren’t in your room

You weren’t anywhere in the house, in fact

He thought maybe you were on patrol and he’d just forgotten

Or maybe you picked up a shift and forgot to tell him

So when he’s humming to himself, trying to enjoy life while fixing his pillows and moving his blanket

Keigo gets the life scared out of him

All he knows is that one moment his pillow is in his hand and the next moment he’s three feet off the ground and ready to fight

Something just grabbed his foot from under the bed!

Years of training with the commission couldn’t have prepared him for that moment

But then he heard you laughing hysterically, and immediately lowered himself onto his bed. He hung over the edge to peek under his bed

And there you were, crying you were laughing so hard

Meanwhile he felt like he was about to go into cardiac arrest

“What the hell are you doing down there kiddo?” He reached down and dragged you out by your ankles. “You scared the daylights out of me.”

You only giggled, looking up at your best friend. “Will you play hide and seek with me?”

You almost melted this man’s heart

He knew you didn’t have much of a childhood because of the commission and you got to miss out on a lot of things. So how could he deny playing hide and seek with you?

He cheated, using his feathers to find you at first

But them you got on to him and he played the game right

Hawks could hide very well because his huge red wings got in the way

Nevertheless, he really enjoyed the two hours he spent playing hide and seek with you. He was happy as long as you were happy :)